Afraid That You Might Hire The Wrong Person?

On this episode of My Crazy Office, Kathi and Katherine discuss a topic that is important to every manager: How do you know you are hiring the right person? They start with a question from someone who needs to hire an assistant director but has a history of hiring the wrong person in the past. Kathi and Katherine talk about different ways that you can protect yourself from making a bad choice when you hire.

Are You Too Busy Managing Down to Manage Up?

On this episode of My Crazy Office, Kathi and Katherine explore a common management challenge — What if you are so busy managing down that you don’t have time to manage up? Kathi and Katherine start with a question from a manager who spends so much time helping her staff complete their work that she misses opportunities to be seen by the people who could promote her and her department.

Have You Inherited a Team with Bad Morale?

On this, My Crazy Office podcast, Kathi and Katherine talk about a very important topic: staff morale. They start with a question from a new manager who discovers that the people she’s been hired to manage are suffering from very low morale. Kathi and Katherine discuss what a manager can do to turn the low morale of their staff around.

Is Someone You Manage After Your Job?

On this My Crazy Office podcast, Kathi and Katherine discuss what to do if you suspect that someone you manage is after your job. They start with a question from a manager who fears that one of their direct reports is trying to take their job. During the second part of the podcast, Kathi and Katherine consider the same topic from the employee’s perspective: What if you want to be your boss’s equal?

Working with a Sacred Cow

On this episode of My Crazy Office, Kathi and Katherine discuss how to handle a very challenging kind of employee — the Sacred Cow. They start with a question from someone who recently began working at a corporate research company. He needs the assistance of a long-time employee to do his job, but that person doesn’t want to help him. During the second part of the podcast, Kathi and Katherine consider what it’s like to manage a sacred cow employee — especially when you know they will never be fired.

Afraid to Manage Your Staff Because You Know Too Much?

Sometimes, the more you know about your staff’s personal lives, the harder it is to hold them accountable. In this podcast, Kathi and Katherine discuss how challenging it can be to hold employees responsible for their work product, when you know too much about their challenges outside of work.

#34: Best Of – How To Effectively Manage Staff – My Crazy Office, Season 5

Kathi and Katherine talk about managing staff on this week’s episode of the My Crazy Office podcast.

First we give advice about how to manage a difficult employee – especially if you are short on time.

Then we discuss how to make and take the time to effectively manage your staff.

#35: Managing Inherited Staff – My Crazy Office, Season 4

Kathi and Katherine talk about inheriting staff on this week’s episode of the My Crazy Office podcast.

First we give advice about how to manage and gain the respect and cooperation of inherited staff.

Then we discuss how to bond with inherited staff.