EMail Management ...

Lori, I agree completely. One of my biggest irritations is people who don't reply to emails. It takes about 5 seconds to type, "Checking... (on your request) Will respond by Friday."

Don't forget to use the Flags feature in your email client. But you must remember to review those flags on a daily basis. I do it each morning.

Also, I practice "Inbox zero." My philosophy is that my inbox is a runway, not a parking lot. By the end of the day, emails are filed in folders or deleted.

Finally, I've set up rules so that newsletters go straight into folders, not my inbox. They're less of a distraction then. This rule frees me up to focus on more important tasks--like reply to emails.

Regards,

Glenn ...

No class ...

Susan,
Some people just have no class.

Blackberry or not.

The Franchise King
Joel Libava ...

Stealth Destroyers Are Cancerous and Contagious ...

Stealth destroyers are not only cancerous, but they are highly contagious.

Like a cancer, stealth destroyers are poisonous to the organizational system. In my experience over the past fifteen years with clients, there are only two options. Avoid hiring a passive aggressive stealth destroyer or complete the proper documentation and remove the cancer. I've found it fairly straightforward to detect passive aggressive behavior in behavioral interviews.

Unlike real cancer, which is not contagious, the stealth destroyer is highly contagious for two reasons. First, they can drag others down to their level. Secondly, fellow employees can see clearly what's going on and can't believe that managers are buying their truckload of crap. That can deflate the engagement level of a workforce very quickly.

So, my suggestion is to take aggressive action against the stealth destroyer. Thanks for the thought provoking articles.

Great series ...

Susan, I'm really enjoying these posts. very helpful insights.

The "new economy' bully ...

A new type of bullying has recently become prevalent - the manager who chooses not to manage and address situations on an ongoing basis - but rather uses the increased occurences of layoffs to be his / her management tool to quietly address what once had been addressable performance situations. That bully in essence hides from the day to day, does not manage or interact with team members, but chooses to use the layoff tag to deal with situations they should have been managing through. How often recently has a laid off individual been a 'complete surprise' to both and individual as well as to his / her team? The behavior goes further still when dealing with older (bad term) or more highly paid individuals.......managers don't dare to address or manage those individuals for fear of claims and at the same time do not address performance on a day to day basis....rather, by surpise attack. Companies should be very proud of their managers that use their newly created management tool repeatedly - the layoff. We all know a few of these managers, don't we?