June
2006
Remember the days of Cold War espionage and intrigue, popularized in Bond films and John Le Carré novels? Well, times have changed geopolitically, but businesses have come to embrace the merits of "tradecraft": They want to gain market advantage through a better understanding of the competition. In the corporate world, tradecraft is called "competitive intelligence." A former CIA agent-turned-management expert tells how to make it work for your company.
Most of us have become masters of multitasking, adept at responding to e-mail messages during meetings and making time for multiple distractions when we're actually trying to get work done. But is it possible to be productive when we're constantly interrupted? Workplace expert Gloria Mark tackled this question, and offers some counterintuitive findings, including this one: Interruptions can actually be quite beneficial.
As employees are increasingly outfilled with laptops, cell phones, and Blackberries, telecommuting has become much more common. Even so, it's still uncharted territory for most companies. Here's how to manage workers you rarely see.
Although age discrimination is sometimes overshadowed by media focus on other forms of discrimination, recent Gallup research indicates that American workers think it's a big problem. It could be demoralizing your workforce, and costing your company money.
Call centers are meant to be a customer convenience -- a place where customers phone for help or to make a purchase. But all too many of them alienate callers and drain money. It doesn't have to be this way. Here are proven strategies to help turn around poor-performing centers.