The Telework Enhancement Act, which President Obama signed into law last month, is expected to give about a million more feds the opportunity to telework. Here are some tips for successfully working out of the office without losing your status in the office: * Make a written agreement with your supervisor, as the law requires, about the mechanics of your teleworking. For example, will you regularly telework on the same day every week, on different days every week, or only occasionally? Will you be permitted to telework several days in a row? And remember: Don’t push your telework privileges too…
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Like most things in life, the more you put into a relationship, the more likely you are to get what you want out of it. Here are some tips on how to make the most of a relationship with a mentor: Consider recruiting a team of mentors, something akin to your own personal board of directors. If you want to develop the broad range of skills required in most leadership positions, you will probably need assistance from a group of individuals that offers those skills, not just from one individual with limited skills. Mentors do not have to be in…
Amicitia Maloon-Gibson, an executive coach and co-author of the best-selling book “Stepping Stones to Success,” recommends you begin a mentoring relationship with two documents: a worksheet/questionnaire for your mentee and a set of binding agreements between you and your mentee. The worksheet/questionnaire is intended to help your mentee conduct a rigorous self-assessment of his strengths, weaknesses, short-term goals and long-term goals. The resulting information should help you both identify the focuses of your future coaching sessions, which skills you should help the mentee develop and which obstacles you should help him conquer. For example, suppose the mentee’s worksheet reveals that…
My May 3 column explained how to give negative feedback and correct otherwise diligent staffers in a humane, respectful way. Some more tips. * Remember your purpose. Your negative feedback should be designed to provide constructive feedback that will help your staffers increase their contributions to your office — not to embarrass or demean or “gotcha” them. * Watch your voice. When you criticize or make suggestions to subordinates, your tone should be as calm, tactful and respectful as when you speak to your superiors. * Don’t pry into personal matters. Don’t relate your staffer’s mistakes to his personal problems…