Archive | Getting the Job Done

When you get to work for a former employee, student, etc.

A Point of View

Melissa Pigott, Ph.D.

On October 15, 2014

Category: Business personalities, Careers, Employment, Getting the Job Done, Small Business Success, Trial Consulting

It is impossible to know where the twists and turns in life will take us. I have always lived by that motto, as well as the motto to be as nice as possible to everyone because you just never know how a certain person will be involved in your life in future years. My spouse/business […]

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Another View

David H. Fauss, M.S.M.

On October 15, 2014

Category: Business personalities, Careers, Employment, Getting the Job Done, Small Business Success, Trial Consulting

In contrast to the line from the song Paperlate by Genesis “There’s no need to be nice on the way up, cos you’re not coming down” the truth is you never know where things can lead so you’d better be nice on the way up, down, or sideways when dealing with support staff, associates, students, […]

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Technology transitions can be painful

A Point of View

David H. Fauss, M.S.M.

On October 9, 2014

Category: Careers, Employment, Getting the Job Done, Small Business Success, Workplace Technology

As we have developed our blogs and topics, we’ve found often one thing leads to another. My recent post on scanning the horizon for changes led me to this post. When we started our trial consulting business, Magnus Research Consultants, in 1993 we had to provide clients with VHS videotapes of the proceedings. I researched […]

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Another View

Melissa Pigott, Ph.D.

On October 9, 2014

Category: Careers, Employment, Getting the Job Done, Small Business Success, Workplace Technology

I enjoy change, but sometimes change comes at a high price. In the example David mentioned regarding our company’s change in video equipment, the costs were enormous, in terms of both financial expenditures and personnel. In fact, we lost a long time employee, largely due to mistakes he made during our transitional period between analog […]

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Scanning the horizon for changes

A Point of View

David H. Fauss, M.S.M.

On October 2, 2014

Category: Careers, Employment, Getting the Job Done, Small Business Success, Workplace Technology

Everyday in business is a good day.  But, being is business isn’t the same from day to day; doing business the same way it has always been done is not a recipe for success.  Many of the changes we’ve faced are the same ones faced by any small business.  Changes in technology, changes in the […]

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Another View

Melissa Pigott, Ph.D.

On October 2, 2014

Category: Careers, Employment, Getting the Job Done, Small Business Success, Workplace Technology

As with many things in life, some changes are positive and others, less than positive. Regardless of how we feel about changes, they are going to happen, so it is important to be ready to adapt to our new situation as soon as the inevitable change occurs. I have a lot of friends who are […]

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Been there, done that

A Point of View

David H. Fauss, M.S.M.

On September 25, 2014

Category: Business personalities, Employment, Getting the Job Done, Small Business Success, Travel

I first heard this expression when I arrived in Sydney in 1985 and was speaking with the woman from whom I rented a room – she said it in a travel context of having been to a destination and not being impressed, so she was never returning. Subsequently I have heard this with the addition […]

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Another View

Melissa Pigott, Ph.D.

On September 25, 2014

Category: Business personalities, Employment, Getting the Job Done, Small Business Success, Travel

David is right. I have “been there, done that, got the t-shirt, got the coffee mug” and I am not going back to many, many places. I have also “been there and done that” when it comes to spending my valuable time with certain people; in other words, I have moved on, I am over […]

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Hiring friends – don’t

A Point of View

Melissa Pigott, Ph.D.

On September 23, 2014

Category: Business Partnerships, Careers, Employment, Getting the Job Done, Managing Employees, Small Business Success

My husband/business partner and I made a serious mistake early in our company in hiring one of our friends. Several people told us not to do this and several people told our friend not to take the job. Alas, hindsight truly is 20/20; hiring a friend is truly one of those things no one should […]

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Another View

David H. Fauss, M.S.M.

On September 23, 2014

Category: Business Partnerships, Careers, Employment, Getting the Job Done, Managing Employees, Small Business Success

My comments on this are not as strong as Melissa’s because in our experience the person/friend in question was more her friend than mine. So, while I will never say never to hiring a friend, doing so again would only be done under exceptional circumstances. In a demanding working environment, flaws or mistakes made by […]

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Be ready to go

A Point of View

Melissa Pigott, Ph.D.

On September 16, 2014

Category: Careers, Employment, Getting the Job Done, Life Outside of Work, Travel

My job requires travel, lots and lots of travel. I travel to places where many people would never want to go; it’s my job, it’s the life I have chosen. Because I have to travel in order to perform my job, it is not in my best interests to: (1) be surprised when I need […]

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Another View

David H. Fauss, M.S.M.

On September 16, 2014

Category: Careers, Employment, Getting the Job Done, Life Outside of Work, Travel

Many, many years ago I came to know some new neighbors who moved into the big riverfront house next door. The Goederts had moved into Mr. Goedert’s dream house because it had a dock and boathouse on the river. My brother and I became his buddies because he had raised 4 daughters and had no […]

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Pushing each other, nicely

A Point of View

David H. Fauss, M.S.M.

On September 11, 2014

Category: Business Partnerships, Careers, Employment, Getting the Job Done, Small Business Success, Work-Life

Working with a business partner to whom one is married does present some challenges over more traditional, business only, arrangements. In an employee/employer relationship, the norm is probably for the boss to say to an employee, “do this…” But, when the relationship is partner to partner, or if the employee wants to suggest something to […]

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Another View

Melissa Pigott, Ph.D.

On September 11, 2014

Category: Business Partnerships, Careers, Employment, Getting the Job Done, Small Business Success, Work-Life

As David mentions, the timing of a “gentle reminder” or suggestion is, for me, often more important than the actual content of the suggestion. My work requires me to concentrate and focus on complicated matters and the last thing I want is to be interrupted by anyone, including my well meaning spouse/business partner, with a […]

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Rules – when to bend them

A Point of View

Melissa Pigott, Ph.D.

On September 9, 2014

Category: Careers, Employment, Getting the Job Done, Life Outside of Work, Managing Employees

Some people say I am a “goody goody,” then they get to know me! Overall, however, I usually follow the rules of the particular game I am playing, especially when I am playing the game of life. There are times to follow the rules and there are times when the rules can be bent, just […]

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Another View

David H. Fauss, M.S.M.

On September 9, 2014

Category: Careers, Employment, Getting the Job Done, Life Outside of Work, Managing Employees

I would add that sometimes one has to remember the reason behind the rules and decide if they still apply and/or make sense in a given situation. In the workplace we often have rules to ensure uniformity in performance and to reinforce the ways to work toward a common objective. If you, like us, are […]

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NO CURSING AT WORK

A Point of View

Melissa Pigott, Ph.D.

On August 25, 2014

Category: Business personalities, Careers, Employment, Getting the Job Done, Managing Employees, Small Business Success

I have never been in the Navy, or the Coast Guard for that matter, but I run a tight ship. And, in the ship that is my corporation, cursing has absolutely no place during work hours. This prohibition against cursing includes the times when we are working in the office as well as the times […]

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Another View

David H. Fauss, M.S.M.

On August 25, 2014

Category: Business personalities, Careers, Employment, Getting the Job Done, Managing Employees, Small Business Success

Professional decorum is an important part of the image of a company and this is one of the reasons for our policy against foul language. But, the tone set in environments where such language is common is also damaging beyond the corporate image – it damages employee morale. The hostility of workplaces where such language […]

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Adapting ideas from other fields & industries

A Point of View

David H. Fauss, M.S.M.

On August 21, 2014

Category: Careers, Employment, Getting the Job Done, Life Outside of Work, Workplace Technology

There are few roadmaps for how to run a business, of any size. And, with both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in business, I can attest that how to actually operate a business, small or large, is not taught in college or graduate school. It comes from doing it, or observing it, and a lot of […]

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Another View

Melissa Pigott, Ph.D.

On August 21, 2014

Category: Careers, Employment, Getting the Job Done, Life Outside of Work, Workplace Technology

This is an interesting topic for me because it is my field of social psychology that has been adapted to many other fields, including organizational behavior, marketing research, health care, law, and many more. There are numerous research techniques, such as focus groups, that were developed by social psychologists that have a large following in […]

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