co-workers Archives - Office Dynamics - Executive And Administrative Assistant Training

August 29, 2016 By Joan Burge 4 Comments

How to Positively Slay Your Office Dragons

I have been speaking on how to slay your ‘Office Dragons’ for 25 years now. It is a favorite topic in my Star Achievement Series® training program.

Dragons are huge, dominating, fictitious creatures. Medieval writers had vivid imaginations for big, scary things. For many people, work is like a dragon. It can be overwhelming and certainly dominates well over half of our waking hours. Sometimes the people we work with can be pretty “fiery” creatures to deal with, too. In dragon-fighting, the important thing to remember is that it’s a matter of the mind. Take care of your attitude today … it’s your primary weapon against office dragons!

There are many dragon species at work. Three of the most common perceived species are leaders, co-workers and self. Yes, you can be a dragon to yourself. [Read more…]

August 22, 2016 By Joan Burge 2 Comments

8 Tips To Help You Deal With Conflict Better

How do you deal with conflict? Are you a person who holds onto everything or do you let your anger out?

Conflict affects our attitude, which impacts our ability to be productive. Conflict is destructive if not positively handled. It damages peace and orderliness within us as relationships are broken. Our ability to trust people is hindered, and we pull away rather than build relationships.

C = closed-minded
O = opinionated
N = negative attitude
F = frequent frustrations
L = low self-esteem
I = ignorance
C = creates hostile work environment
T = temperamental

Now is the time to resolve conflicts or any long-time resentment. Conflict actually can be good if we use positive energy and strategies to deal with it. Here are a few quick ideas: [Read more…]

May 9, 2016 By Joan Burge 6 Comments

How to Build Consensus in Place of Conflict

As more companies embrace the spirit of teamwork, you must learn to work with other people and truly become a team player to get the work done and help your organization be more competitive. In fact, if you are like most employees across the country, your organization has right-sized or may intend to merge or downsize, thereby creating more work to be done by fewer people. In addition, the constant push for quality and improved customer service necessitates cooperation among employees.

Conflict can hold you back from being your best and giving your best. You don’t feel confident or happy when you are in conflict with co-workers or even a customer. Maybe right now you think of someone you work with whom you are in conflict. It doesn’t make you feel good, does it? It may be uncomfortable enough that you dread going to work. As long you come in contact with others, however, you will experience conflict.

Big or Small
Conflict does not necessarily mean a big blow out! Just different views and opinions can create undercurrent. You think a project should be completed one way and your peer thinks it should be done another way. Maybe your executive thinks you did not thoroughly plan his trip the way he would have liked and you believe you did an excellent job. It is the little disagreements and perspectives that hinder our performance—slow us down. So don’t ignore little misunderstandings. [Read more…]

May 6, 2016 By Jasmine Freeman 11 Comments

Hired, then abandoned–how to become part of the team?

This month’s question from our friends at The Admin Pro Forum is from Maddy who is struggling to become part of the team at her new office.

Take a moment to read her question and let us know what you think in the comments of this blog.

Have you ever found yourself in a similar scenario? What did you do?

Question: “I was really looking forward to working for the company that hired me a few weeks ago, but right away I got the sense that no one was very interested in making me feel like I was a valued part of a team. I wasn’t introduced to anyone but my boss, and no one sitting near me has introduced themselves. I won’t be working with them directly, but it still feels uncomfortable to go into work each day with strangers who seem to want to remain strangers. What course of action would you recommend to a person who’s shy and doesn’t want to walk around telling people who I am?” – Maddy, Customer Relations

It’s your turn to chime in and offer up your helpful solutions to Maddy. How can she get plugged in?

Find more comments to Maddy’s question and other questions like this from your administrative peers here: Business Management Daily.

April 22, 2016 By Guest Blogger 11 Comments

How do you work for someone you dislike?

Question: “Five months ago I was hired as an admin at a telecommunications company. Recently I’ve come to realize that while my boss and I do get along, he’s kind of a classic jerk—and everyone warned me about it. He’s rude, condescending, argumentative and sometimes just plain mean, but he seems to get away with a lot because he’s apparently terrific at bringing in profits. Does anyone but me feel there’s something not right about working so hard for someone you find personally offensive, even if you need the paycheck and your work relationship is perfectly functional?” – Valerie, Administrative Assistant
[Read more…]

September 4, 2015 By Guest Blogger 3 Comments

My Coworkers Appear Frustrated with My Disability

It’s just a common, minor handicap–so why does it frustrate staff so much?

Question: “I wear a hearing aid, but still I often have the need to ask co-workers to repeat things. They all know about my handicap but naturally they don’t always remember to speak a little louder until I ask them to. I sense that a lot of them find it very aggravating to have to repeat sentences when they talk to me, and sometimes I get a polite ‘Oh, never mind, it’s not that important,’ which is very frustrating. I wonder why people don’t have a little more patience with this disability, and what I can do to adapt and not get on their nerves.” – Miranda, Digital Archivist [Read more…]