Humor: The Office Fridge

The office fridge can be a battleground.  Approach at your own risk.  It’s certainly been a source of angst for many office workers over the years.  While most people have a name tag on their office door or cube, you’ll never find their office fridge name displayed anywhere.  Here’s a listing and definitions of those office fridge names to help you out.

It's Not My Job!

Have you ever been asked at work to complete a task you felt could only fall in the ‘perform other duties as assigned’ category of your job description?  Or perhaps you perceive there are others in the organization far better equipped to perform said task?  Or maybe there are others that should be performing the task, but aren’t, and now you have to pick up their slack?  Diagnosis:  ‘It's Not My Job’ syndrome.  Course of treatment:  Bite the bullet and do it.  Or read on.

Work-Life Abundance?

Jennie Wong has a great article that looks at work-life balance from a different angle.  I’ve had many previous posts regarding this topic including Work-Life Balance Advice, Work-Life Balance Choices, and We Work Too Much.  But Ms. Wong’s article hits on a point I’ve long feared may be true.  To many people, work-life balance has become polite code for working less.  And so work becomes the bad guy. 

Start Your New Job Right

So you landed your new job.  Great.  Now what?  Just like new parents have to immediately flip the switch from pregnancy-focused to parenting-focused, so do the legions of people who land a new job.  The job seeker becomes the newbie.  So how do you start your new job right?  Scott McDowell, Hannah Morgan, and Katharine Brooks make some good points in these articles.  As Pianaman routinely cuts to the chase, here are my crystal ball offerings:

Here's Why You Should Be Networking

Networking.  In many ways it's like flossing, exercising, and eating right.  We know we should do it, but we never seem to get around to it.  And if we do, it's sporadic at best.  So why don’t we network effectively?  I surmise a main reason is because we generally don’t experience the full benefits of networking at the time we are doing it.  Many of the benefits may not be realized until far down the road.  However, in today’s instant gratification culture, that’s usually not good enough to warrant our attention. 

So, assuming you need a little motivation to help keep your networking efforts further up your priority list, try thinking with this mindset.  All jobs are temporary.  The days of working for the same company your entire career are long gone.  Median job tenure for 2012 was 4.7 years.  Over the course of a typical career, that equates to over 9 different jobs.  Go in with the mindset that all jobs are temporary and you will realize how important it is to network.  Here’s a few ideas to help you get the most out of your networking efforts.  Some other good points on networking can be found at Amazing Business, Help Guide, Passive Panda, and About.

Delegation is Not Easy

Delegation is most definitely not an easy task.  That's because knowing what to do and how to do it are two completely different things.  Delegation is an art, not a science.  Delegation is subjective, open-ended, and can be very emotional.  Unfortunately, many owners, managers, and workers do a very poor job of delegating.  Here's three decent reads on understanding the pitfalls and improving delegation skills: The Art of Delegation: 11 Ways to Work Smarter Today; How You Can Become a Better Delegator; and The Triple Whammy of Poor Delegation.

Humor: The 7 Habits of Highly Annoying Co-Workers

We've all had those co-workers with the annoying little habits that drive us up a wall.  Here's a list of the 7 most highly annoying habits (plus some honorable mention candidates).  Enjoy.