Management Archives | MoneyDigest.sg

How to Handle Conflicts with Your Boss

Sometimes the toughest part of your job is not the work…it is the people. The mixture of personalities and individual differences can cause conflicts. In the workplace, conflict causes a significant degree of frustration, discomfort, sadness, anger, and pain. It is a different story when the conflict is between you and your boss.

Where your boss is concerned, you want to be sure to apply plenty of finesse. It is crucial that you remain calm and objective. There is nothing to be gained and much to lose by getting angry and being disrespectful. You may not be able to see each other eye-to-eye, but you will have shared thoughts by further nurturing your relationship. Thay being said, here are some tips you can apply to handle the conflicts with your boss:

#1: ACKNOWLEDGING AND RESPECTING AUTHORITY

Put all your energy into understanding and empathizing with the management’s point of view. Ask open-ended questions until you fully understand where your boss is coming from. Resolution begins with respecting each other’s point of view.

#2: RE-DIRECT THE DISCUSSION

Find a common ground that makes sense for you, your boss, and the organization. Stay on this topic until you identify a mutually beneficial outcome that you can work towards to.

#3: ASK FOR HELP

An honest, sit-down conversation is more likely to yield a thoughtful response than an emotional exchange sandwiched between meetings. Unless it is an emergency, you can ask your boss for an appointment so that you will have time to gather your thoughts. It is best to approach your boss with a calm and collected attitude to get your point across and to ask for necessary help.

#4: KNOW YOUR TIMING

Timing is essential when approaching your boss about issues and other combative events. You may be the perfect target for a feisty exchange if he or she just had a major setback.

Know your timing! Try to avoid addressing conflicts before lunch when hunger might distort reason or just before the end of shift when everyone is eager to go home.

#5: ASK IF YOU CAN SHARE YOUR VIEWPOINT

Once you are given permission to discuss your concern, be clear and compelling. Link your perspective to what matters most to your boss, the organization, and your common goal. If your boss is not (physically and emotionally) available to talk, reschedule the discussion when the dust settles.

Image Credits: pixabay.com

Sources: 1 & 2

How To Create A Healthy Workplace

A healthy workplace allows its employees to focus on producing quality products and services. This type of organization leads the key-players to work on development and growth.

On that note, here are 3 ways to build a healthy workplace:

Attach Positive Meaning To The Tasks

Experts in Employee Motivation have been following the framework of the “Job Characteristics Theory“. The theory, developed by Hackman and Oldham, included task significance. Task significance adds meaning to the assignments or projects in order to increase the employee’s efficiency. It highlights how one contributes to a wider scope beyond himself. For instance, the employee will be motivated more if the compensation scheme benefits everyone in the firm.

Studies by Social Science Professor Adam Grant found that telesales teams who were exposed to positive testimonials before their shifts performed significantly better than the control group (i.e., group without intervention). Giving meaning to the tasks improved the employees’ effectiveness.

Make The Space Vibrant And Stimulating

Decorating the dull office with colorful walls can freshen the minds and stimulate thoughts. Paint the walls orange to induce happiness and warmth. It can also increase the employees’ energy levels. Paint the walls blue to induce intelligence and mental calmness. Research has shown that people who are inside the blue rooms are more productive.

Conducive lighting must also be considered in order to take care of the employees’ health.

Offer More Flexibility And Freedom

As a member of the Millennials club, I can attest that many of us dislike structural tasks. Lack of opportunities for development and growth is a part of the reasons why Millennials quickly file their resignations. This why it is easy to gravitate towards jobs that integrate flexibility and freedom. Just observe how common freelancing is right now.

Image Credits: pixabay.com

People who are given reasonable freedom to shape their own roles lead to increased engagement, according to a study. Consider providing this luxury to your employees.

Sources: 1 , 2, & 3

5 Ways To Grind Like A Boss Even When You Are Not

You may not be a boss yet but if you start acting like one, you can just snag a chance at a beaming promotion!

I am not encouraging you to point fingers and demand orders to everyone at the office. Instead, I suggest that you act like the boss that you wish to work for. Not only are you serving as an inspiring role model for your own boss but you are also giving your colleagues a glimpse of what it about to happen when you climb up the ladder.

On that note, here are some tips to act like a good boss:

1. GIVE ATTENTION TO ISSUES

Always channel your inner boss by asking yourself if there are current issues that the management needs to address.

I remember a friend of mine who started as a receptionist at a fitness studio. She used to do the attendance by typing the names of each participant in the room. Imagine doing this for a class of more than 30 people. You can easily lose count! Then she discovered a faster way doing things by assigning each participant with a bar code, which they can scan before they enter the room. The management was really pleased. A year after that, she became the manager of the studio for more than 4 years.

2. TAKE THE INITIATIVE

Good bosses have initiative and enthusiasm. Showing that you are dedicated to do every task and are taking control of your responsibilities would make people feel that you are an asset to the company.

Even without the guidance of the management, there are some simple things that you can solve by yourself. Do not waste time and get things in motion.

3. HANDLE PRIORITIES WELL

Business owners and supervisors have lots of things on their plates. Because of our competitive environment, several things pull them on different directions every single day. This is why they must handle the significant priorities first before moving on to the non-essential tasks. Do the same thing!

Start by keeping a list of all your daily tasks. Move the items up if they are really important. When a new project comes along, ask yourself about its importance and organize accordingly.

4. MANAGE YOUR MONEY

It is essential for a boss to understand the fundamentals of managing money including budgeting. A budget is your understanding of the materials needed as well as its costs – be it in the currency of money, time, and people.

Practice the basics of money management by budgeting your personal household expenses. Also, make sure that this is aligned to your financial goals.

5. EVALUATE YOURSELF

Performance appraisals help the management decide whether or not they shall give you a pay raise or a career advancement. Go inside the mind of your boss by reflecting upon your previous feedback or review. Know which areas you need to improve on and which areas are your strengths.

Do a self-assessment every few months to remind yourself about the changes that you shall make.

Image Credits: pixabay.com

Cost-Effective Ways To Reward Your Employees

If you want to drive performance, engage employees and drive results…non-cash rewards are the most effective tools in your toolbox.

~Kimberly Abel-Lanier of Maritz Motivation Solutions

Underlying the theories of motivation comes the idea that rewarding your employees in meaningful ways can lead to higher satisfaction. These meaningful rewards are driven by the internal currencies of each individual. For instance, your senior employee may consider flexible hours as more valuable than merit pay.

On that note, here are 6 budget-friendly ways to reward your beloved employees:

1. FLEXIBLE HOURS

One key feature that Singapore employees possess is that most of our time revolve around work. My first job followed a 44-48 hours of work each week (including overtime) similar to how most companies operate. Due to the relatively long and stressful shifting hours at the office, my days off work were precious. After walking away from the office set-up and transitioning to freelancing, I realized that flexibility in time weighs more than any cash incentives I received. Being able to have a flexible timetable gives you the opportunity to do more of what you love.

So if your company works on a fixed schedule, perhaps you can incorporate a flexitime incentive whereby excellent employees can control their working hours for the following month.

2. RECOGNITION AND CERTIFICATE

A simple act of recognition goes a long way. As David Ciccarelli, co-founder of Voices.com, once said: “Something all bosses can do that doesn’t cost anything but means the world to people is recognition for their contributions to the organization.”

You can personally acknowledge the achievements and efforts of your employees thru group memos, writing an email, handing a personal note, or awarding a certificate.

Image Credits: pixabay.com

Remember how proud you were in primary school when your teacher proudly bestowed you with a certificate for performing well in class? Replicate those emotions by presenting a special signed certificate to your best employees once a month. The amount of effort you put on the presentation assembly will make it all worth it.

3. EXTRA PAID VACATION DAYS

Without the slightest doubt, having extra paid vacation days are some of the most wonderful rewards an employee can receive. Award your best performing employees with additional vacation days each year by turning it as a friendly competition. For example, the employee that acquires the highest sales on a quarter will receive extra 2 paid vacation days for the year.

Image Credits: pixabay.com

This may increase the productivity, satisfaction, and morale of your team.

Sources: 1 & 2

World Value Invest Fest 2015 Power Lessons [David Kuo]

Previously we explored into the mind of Warren Buffett through Mary Buffett’s invaluable lessons on Mr Buffett’s Value Investment Methodology and some of the power pointers on how to select a company to invest in. This time, let’s draw from David Kuo’s experience on Managing Risks In Stock Investing!

What is ‘Risk’?

A term we hear too often, yet never really having a perfect definition of what risk is. There are so many types of risks out there and how do we effectively manage all of them at once? Almost impossible! At best, we can mitigate them, but probably not completely eliminate them. But what good is identifying all the various types of risks affecting you, when you fail to know yourself? Risk profiling. If we don’t even know what is our risk profile, how can we select investments that have risk profile that is aligned to our own? Is it important for them to be aligned? Definitely! Say a 65-year old man who wants to invest his retirement fund for income, would you recommend him to buy speculative stocks with P/Es in the hundreds and no fundamentals? Of course not! Similarly, have we overlooked the risk of not a comprehensive risk profiling of ourselves and check if our investment decisions are aligned?

Different Strands of Investing for Different People!

There are so many different strands of investing:

Growth
Income
Blue Sky (Start-ups)
Sideways
GARP (Growth At Reasonable Price)
Bottom-Up
Top-Down
Value
Index Trackers

You don’t have to be afraid that you won’t find one that doesn’t suit you! First you need to identify where you are in life, what your investment goals are, and how much risks are you willing to take on to achieve your investment goals. Different strands of investing entails different risks and requires different investment mindset and strategies. Identify the strand that you want to focus in, read up on the skills and mindset required for the different strategies. For example, Index Trackers would adopt a very different mindset require a different skill set from Value or Growth investing. Index Trackers take on a more passive approach towards investing while gladly accepting the diversification it provides. Growth and Value Investing however requires the ability to not just read financial statements, but also, understand business as a whole and consider it from the point-of-view of a businessman. Both method works, but it depends on your investment goals. Are you trying to get from rags-to-riches? Or do you want to simply take a back seat and enjoy the ride? There’s no right or wrong, but it’s worth exploring and knowing yourself a little more.

How To Avoid Panicking

David Kuo shared this very powerful quote which many of us tend to forget – “Do not confuse the price of the stock with the story behind the stock.”

Indeed, does the price of the stock dictate the story behind the stock, or is it the other way around? If you only knew the price of the stock and not the story behind the stock, you would definitely panic because you have nothing to fall back on! David emphasises on the importance of knowing why you bought your stocks in the first place. If you knew the story behind the stock, would a falling price cause you to panic or would you see it as an opportunity to buy more at a cheaper price? If you knew the story, you would at least have the mental and emotional capacity to ride out the rough patch, having quiet confidence that the company’s results will show for itself in the long-run. “There will be delays in our investing journey”, so ALWAYS have a margin of safety! If we can’t eliminate, at least mitigate the temporary losses! Lastly, ask yourself, do you have the courage to invest when times are bad? 🙂

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