8 Steps to Become an “Easy to Manage” Employee

You can receive no higher praise in a performance review than being called “easy to manage.”  But what does it mean to be an easy to manage employee? Part of it is just being a decent human being and treating everyone with kindness and dignity. But what specific steps can you take to be an […]

Dealing with Workplace Grief & Personal Tragedy

How to Support Co-workers During Personal Tragedy

Last month, Jessica wrote eloquently about the disaster that befell Oklahoma, tearing a swath through the community of Moore where she lives. In this post, she outlined the ways employers can help during disasters. I’d like to expand on that excellent advice to cover personal tragedy. Last year, our family went through a personal tragedy […]

How To Improve Your Business Writing Skills

Tips for Improving Style and Avoiding Common Pitfalls

A few weeks ago, I wrote about grammatical errors that can make you look bad to the important people at work who care about such things.  Grammar, punctuation, and spelling are important mostly because people THINK they’re important. They are not intrinsically, practically, or morally important, despite the protestations of your 9th grade English teacher. […]

5 Persnickety Grammatical Errors to Avoid in Workplace Communication

Workplace Writing Errors to Avoid

Disclaimer: Dan Lovejoy is the grammar snob about whom your mother warned. Dan holds a Bachelor of Arts in English and a Master’s Degree in Technical Communication, but don’t hold that against him. Every company has one or more grammar snobs who will berate you for any actual or imagined mistakes you make in your emails […]

Emotional Intelligence 2.0: Getting Along and Thriving in the Workplace

Emotional Intelligence At the Workplace

In the first part of this two-part series on, we answered the question, What is Emotional Intelligence?. In this part, we’ll share a review of the book Dr. Jason Jones recommended in Part 1, Emotional Intelligence 2.0, along with a few tips from that book to get you started. How many books earn praise from […]

What is EQ? Emotional Intelligence in the Workplace

EQ, Emotional Intelligence, Workplace

 This is Part I of a 2-part series on Emotional Intelligence and the Emotional Quotient (EQ).  Have you ever met someone who can’t help telling you his IQ? Isn’t that charming? Ironically, bragging about a high IQ indicates a deficiency in another kind of intelligence, emotional intelligence. How can learning about Emotional Intelligence help you? If […]