Tough conversations at work can be difficult, derailing, and sometimes catastrophic. They don’t have to be though. Often we get caught up in the emotion of the moment. Perhaps we don’t take the time to structure our conversation. Our communication may be unclear and misleading causing greater obstacles to navigate. All of these reasons are common. With the pressure of business today conflict can be prevalent in many organizations. Having a strategy can make the world of difference.

In the first part of this series on Performance Appraisals, I discussed how we as managers should approach this process. It is a valuable tool when used appropriately. When it is viewed as a “paper drill”, then it is of no value to anyone. My attempt in this post is to provide you with steps to manage the Performance Appraisal Process.

One of the most routine and (in my opinion) abused management tools is the Performance Appraisal.  Now I know my readers won’t let me get away with giving an opinionated statement without clarification. Therefore, why I feel it is abused is because it can be an amazing tool yet so many managers see it as a tedious task that occupies their time when they could be doing more important things. What could be more important than improving your employees’ performance? Now generalities can be destructive so I will not say this applies to all managers but it does too many. As a result, it presents me with a great opportunity to help surface the value of the Performance Appraisal and provide some helpful tips to navigate the obstacles that may be in the way.

Hopefully after reading “Delegation: What’s In It For You”, you realize the benefits and the need for every manager to use a delegation strategy. First steps can be scary. Perhaps an absence of delegation has gotten you to this point. It’s difficult to adjust and change when your experience is telling you otherwise. One of the biggest obstacles to trying something new is having a plan to do it. Simply convincing you of the power of delegation is hardly enough to make the transition easy from the way you managed in the past to this foreign style of management that you are not accustomed. The Delegation Risk tool is designed to help you put your strategy in perspective and protect those concerns you have that prevent you from managing through delegation.

Delegation can be one of the most crippling tasks for a new manager. New managers often cling to their workload as if it were their first born child, or any child for that matter. They protect and hide these proverbial children as if protecting them from the evils of the world. They fear that it can never be done as good as they do it. Therefore their misplaced pride leaves a disengaged workforce on the sidelines. Delegation doesn’t have to be painful. In fact any seasoned manager will praise this strategy as necessary. An avoidance of delegation is a rookie mistake when managing. This blog post is one of two designed to help you overcome that hurdle.

When I was a boy scout in my early teens, my troop had taken a trip to canoe down the Delaware River. As I partnered with my canoe buddy, we had to develop our strategy to navigate the rapids.  Every time we came upon new rapids, we had to work collectively to avoid capsizing and continue our journey. The rapids were inevitable. They were going to come whether we were ready or not. The only thing we could control was how well we worked together to make it through the challenge. Change is like this. We can close our eyes to the inevitable and hope we wake up from the nightmare or we can work together to navigate the obstacle and continue our journey.  This blog post is about managing your team through change.

This post was encouraged by a conversation I had today with a wonderful young professional who reached out to me via Twitter. She is, like many today, searching for a job. Luckily she is in a position where time is slightly more on her side than others. She has a few months before her company relocates. She came to me asking for help with her resume. I was so impressed with her courage, how could I refuse. As I reviewed her resume and compiled my thoughts and comments, it dawned on me. This needed to be a blog post. Once again it may seem that I am giving away the secrets of management as I did with, “Acing the Interview”. I disagree. The information in this blog can work for the internal resume as well.

Difficult people can range from a speed bump to Armageddon when it comes to progress. They can interrupt meetings, cause mutiny, raise your anxiety and in some cases make you think the unthinkable. Lucky for you and us, you haven’t acted on the latter (we hope). Difficult people are a challenge. This is true whether managing or simply falling in the rank and file. This blog entry will help you de-code their behavior and perhaps even turn those difficult people into one of your top performers or advocates.

Although I have Gen Y in mind when writing this blog, it applies to everyone (as most of my blogs typically do).  It was actually sparked by a chat with R. Stavros Bezas (@stavrosbezas on twitter). He was looking for feedback for his blog (www.Bezas.com) on how to navigate negative individuals when you are trying to get ahead.  I encourage you to view his video blog for some great tips.  Ambition is something that has to be nurtured but at the same time managed, as it can destroy a career as much as help it.  Following are some tips to consider to guide this mighty power and come out on top.

With the new year approaching I am focusing the next few blog entries on potential “Resolutions” that any of us can proclaim. As a Generational Enthusiast (I have no idea what that means but some people like titles), I will focus this entry on Generation Y. Like a previous blog entry, “Tips for Managing Generation Y”, I will once again stress that if you are looking for rampant proclamations about negative perceptions about this generation or any for that matter, you are reading the wrong blog. I want to help build the bridge connecting the generational gaps, not push them further apart.