Rick Ross on Business, Technology and Life

Moving Beyond Performance Reviews

Performance reviews have a seductively logical appeal. There's no need to belabor the point by enumerating their obvious positives. And besides, aren't they essential as an "objective" basis for raises?

Despite their merits and ubiquity, there's a pervasive sense that this staple of company life is hopelessly flawed. Is his post, Do You Have a GOOD and SIMPLE Performance Evaluation Form?, bestselling business author Bob Sutton laments: "As many of you know, I have expressed considerable skepticism about whether performance evaluations are even worth using".

Mistakes New Managers, and Sometimes Experienced Ones, Make and How to Avoid Them

Many are thrust into their first management position with great fanfare, but without any idea of how to be effective. From family businesses to major corporations, there's an epidemic of manager's who, instead of enhancing results, leave their team members miserable and disengaged.

Effectiveness starts with an awareness of the most common and damaging problems.  

Is Repetitious Communication a Good Idea?

As you listen to the workplace conversations, what ideas and phrases are regularly repeated?

Rethinking Meetings: Why Virtual is Better

As technology blazes forward, so too does the quality of the interactions available to those who choose to meet virtually. Yet, the perception that in-person meetings are superior somehow remains.

In the HBR blog post, How to Conduct a Virtual Meeting, the author begins with the assertion: "Virtual meetings are the suboptimal reality of most information workers' lives." While there's no doubt they're increasingly commonplace, are they necessarily "suboptimal"?

How to Ensure that Your Employees Feel Valued

In his recent HBR post, How Are You Feeling?, author Tony Schwartz writes:

"The more we feel devalued — and we all do at various times, to varying degrees — the more energy we spend defending and restoring our value, and the less energy we have available to create value."

He continues:

"Unfortunately, this issue rarely gets addressed in the workplace."

When employees feel undervalued, not only do they underperform, they're also more likely to leave. The problem's prevalence and substantial cost (usually grossly underestimated) make it an issue that's well worth addressing.