Our Corporate Life
June 10, 2014   •   Volume 5, Issue 12   •   ISSN: 2154-3240    
In This Issue
♦   Feature Article: Managing Friction
Ask Amanda: What’s the best way to structure a team?
♦   Practical Tips: Motivate Creativity
 
Managing Friction

Personality conflicts are inevitable when people work closely together. What often happens is that people learn to live with the dysfunction and work around it. It’s inefficient in the best case and downright toxic when relationships go south.

If you’re the manager of feuding employees you don’t have to accept the feud as permanent. After all, there are implications when a staffer is unable to work well with others. First, manage your own expectations. It’s unlikely those involved will ever be good friends, and that’s fine because they don’t need to be buddies to work well together. Make sure you don’t expect a fast turnaround, either.
read more

Thought to Ponder

Done is better than perfect.

  
Practical Tips:
Motivate Creativity

Inspiring and motivating creative teams means more than adding a foosball table to the mix. For many creative people the work itself is a motivator—they are passionate and energized when working on projects they enjoy. Keep them busy and, within reason, let them do the work their way.

Be careful with compensation. Adding one-time financial incentives can be a distraction.
read more

    
 ask Amanda
Question:

We work on several concurrent projects with many team members who are assigned to multiple projects. Sometimes the team works, sometimes it’s a nightmare. Any suggestions on how to best identify which people go on what team? L.B. NY, NY

Amanda Mitchell
Answer:

There’s no perfect way to construct a team but there are some practical steps you can take. Beyond their skill sets and whether people already like each other, think about who you think will work well together under stress. Focus on matching personalities that will bring out the best in each other.
read more

    
     
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About: Our Corporate Life LLC (OCL) is a company that offers a new system for reducing unnecessary workplace suffering caused by the organizational, interpersonal, and ethical issues of our time. It is founded on the belief that acting humanely and achieving business success are always compatible. Working with both companies and individuals, OCL helps create solutions that enable corporate employees at every level to optimize profits while thriving in the workplace.

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