Jody Thompson

6 Reasons Why Work Is Making You Sick (And How to Fix It)

In today’s business world, there are plenty of things to be sick about. Urgent deadlines (even when some aren’t urgent), constant interruptions (how many times do you need to hear about Steve’s weekend?!), way too many meetings, endless politics that waste precious energy that could be aimed at the actual work – not to mention [...]

May 16, 2013 CONTINUE READING THIS POST →

Are Your Company Policies Ruining Customer Service?

by Jody Thompson

If you look at companies who consistently provide excellent customer service, you almost always find that those companies create a culture that supports excellence in customer service. Makes sense, right? They don’t just train their employees in customer service skills. Their policies, culture, collaboration, work environment, schedules…it’s all centered around meeting the needs of the [...]

May 2, 2013 CONTINUE READING THIS POST →

7 Collaboration Technologies You Need In A ROWE

by Jody Thompson

As you may be aware, a Results-Only Work Environment is a place where all team members have the freedom to define how they manage their time and locations. ROWE is not telework, flex-time, or a “work from home” program. However, one of the by-products of a ROWE is that not everyone is always together in [...]

April 18, 2013 CONTINUE READING THIS POST →

How to Stop Writing Terrible Job Descriptions

by Jody Thompson

I got an email not that long ago from a woman applying for a Master’s degree level position. She wanted to show me the response she received from her application. What follows is the depressing tale of the terrible job description. After submitting her application, she received this in response as part of the job [...]

April 4, 2013 CONTINUE READING THIS POST →

Should Managers Trust Their Employees, or Spy on Them?

by Jody Thompson

One of my followers on twitter (“Pete”) sent me a link the other day that blew me away. Well, it shouldn’t have surprised me, but somehow this stuff keeps surprising me anyway. Pete was engaged in a lively discussion on his LinkedIn group about this topic: “Should managers trust their employees?” Most of the managers [...]

March 21, 2013 CONTINUE READING THIS POST →

How to Define Your Ultimate Customer

by Jody Thompson

The idea of the “Ultimate Customer” is an important aspect of outcome-based goal setting and creating a performance-based work culture. I always ask leaders, “Do your employees know who their customer is? The answer isn’t always clear and the conversation turns to the specifics of just how an organization goes about defining who the ultimate customer is. This is just one [...]

March 14, 2013 CONTINUE READING THIS POST →

Why SMART Goals Are Sometimes Dumb

by Jody Thompson

If you’ve ever been to a leadership workshop or time-management seminar, chances are you’ve heard all about goal setting. And along with goal setting comes the sacred cow of today’s work culture: SMART goals! To review, a SMART goal is a goal that isSpecific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Timely. Isn’t it lovely how that spells “SMART”? Here’s the bad news: SMART goal [...]

March 7, 2013 CONTINUE READING THIS POST →

Diagnosing Workplace Anxiety & Productivity with Spastic Colon Sunday

by Jody Thompson

It’s Friday afternoon. You’re in the office. You’re watching the clock tick and tock. Tick and tock. You feel the anticipation building because at 5pm you’re free. Free! Well, that is until Monday morning at 8am. The Diagnosis That Drive Workplace Anxiety and Lowers Productivity Welcome to Spastic Colon Sunday. It’s a gradual, but progressive [...]

February 21, 2013 CONTINUE READING THIS POST →

6 Reasons Why Flexibility is Frustrating, Not Freeing

by Jody Thompson

Flexibility. We still think of it as innovative, cutting edge, and available only to the lucky ones. “Really, your boss allows you to work from home two days a week, and leave early on Fridays? Wow.” In December 1930, W.K. Kellogg Company started messing around with schedules to make them more flexible. Wait – did [...]