Entries with tag management .

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Blair McPherson
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20 Mar 2015 - 11:43

null The Crisis Team Meeting

This was one of those team meetings, the kind where grievances are aired and frustrations expressed. Whether intentionally or not there's always the risk of being undermined as the manager. I've been here before as a team manger of front line staff, as a head of service and as a director. On one occasion it was a bad inspection report, on another a serious allegations of wide spread abuse and... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
16 Mar 2015 - 15:37

null Why do some people make such good managers

I'm very fair, I give them three chances then that's it. I wanted to find out what "it" was. I don't think she meant she sacked them although she could have meant she had them transferred to another department but I think she meant she gets tough with them. I couldn’t pursue the conversation as the disco kicked in and some not seen very often relatives joined our little group prompting a... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
12 Mar 2015 - 12:58

null Business is bad.Business is good.

The public sector aims to be more business like. Business is finance driven. The numbers don't lie. The numbers tell their own story. Fiddling the figures, everyone does it. It's ok as long as it not illegal. It's ok as long as you don't get caught. Getting caught is an occupational hazard. Success is measurable. What gets measured gets done. Targets motivate. League tables identify the best.... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
09 Mar 2015 - 12:37

null Time to go

Four former colleagues have decided to call it a day. They will leave at the end of the financial year. Officially they are taking early retirement but as they are all under 60 they don't consider themselves to be retiring. They still feel they have something to offer. Like so many other public sector managers their departure was advanced by continued budget cuts necessitating a further cull... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
09 Mar 2015 - 13:06

null Trained to feign indifference

The receptionist came out from behind the desk, spoke to and then stroked each one in turn. She clearly likes dogs. Not surprising you might say being as she works at a vets. Not so, we have been going to our vets for years and they are far more professional, they never smile, keep conversation to a minimum and never ever come out from behind the counter. Clearly the receptionist at the first... See more
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Blair McPherson
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21 Feb 2015 - 17:25

null Beware the Hippo

The most dangerous animal in Africa  is not the lion or rhino or even the bull elephant it is the hippo. This animal causes the  deaths of more people than all the others put together. The hippo is a very large animal, it is not carnivorous but it can quickly turn from mild mannered to aggressive, it submerges itself grazing on the river bed and surfaces without warning causing... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
12 Feb 2015 - 11:49

null You don't want to know the answer

Effective leaders ask good questions but too many people in charge don't ask questions. After all if you don't ask the question you can always deny knowledge. The Americans call this plausible deniability; we call it wilful blindness and selective deafness. "I didn't know some of my very senior managers were walking away with £million pay offs. I didn't ask the details of individual... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
27 Jan 2015 - 11:11

null Should you tell the Boss

Should you tell the boss if you don't have enough work to do? May be the reorganisation has left you in a bit of a limbo, maybe your new boss doesn't know how best to use you or doesn't know much about what you and your team do. You could of course use this opportunity to spend more time with your team, take it in turn to shadow each of them for a day, move to weekly team meetings, offer more... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
26 Jan 2015 - 11:45

null The Tudors are trending

 First their was the prizewinning book Wolf Hall now there is a critically acclaimed BBC adaptation. The central character is Thomas Cromwell who is undergoing a modern day rehabilitation of his reputation. He is no longer the cold blooded,cynical manipulator behind the throne of  Henry V111  or rather he is but to modern audiences being a ruthless pragmatist is a recognised... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
26 Jan 2015 - 11:39

null My wife's driving is inceasingly alarming

"My wife's driving increasingly alarms me but attempts to discuss it with her meet with her hostility". These are not my words I hasten to add but those of a husband seeking advice from a problem page. "A trip with her at the wheel feels uncomfortable and erratic boarding on the reckless at times". "She shows scant regard for the speed limits is easily distracted and makes me very nervous".... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
14 Jan 2015 - 12:26

null An Unreliable Witness

If you listen to senior managers particularly in organisations where things have gone badly wrong it's not difficult to see why they might be unreliable witnesses.   I want to put the record straight. The politicians and the journalists have past judgment, my former colleagues have distanced themselves and even those I trusted most have spoken out against me.    ... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
13 Jan 2015 - 11:59

null Reasons to be fearful

There is never much sympathy for senior managers from the rank and file who view the higher ups as detached, over confident and over paid. If the general public have a view on the reduction of management posts in the public sector it is probably that there were too many in the first place and government ministers have picked up on popular disapproval of large redundancy payments for senior... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
28 Nov 2014 - 16:21

null Make them laugh

 Make them laugh Whether face to face, in your blog or through your tweets, whoever the audience, whatever the topic it helps if you can make them laugh. Humour can defuse a tense situation and it’s hard to stay angry if you’re smiling. People like a laugh and they like people who make them laugh. But it’s risky. Service cuts and redundancies are no laughing matter so your joke may be... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
20 Mar 2015 - 11:39

null Pornography and the work lap top

Three Judges are dismissed and one resigns caught viewing pornography on their work lap top.   Does the social media enable staff to share knowledge and experience or share sexists cartoons and racist jokes? The internet opened up a world of information, and  easier access to pornography. Facebook and Twitter allows fiends to share photos and the minutiae of their day, and... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
30 Sep 2014 - 12:32

null leave early, take the rest of the day off, have as many holidays as you like

Richard Pay no attention, the media like nothing better than poking fun at rich and successful entrepreneurs. Today’s eccentricities will be tomorrow’s management wisdom.  "Take as much holiday as you want when you want", may be a reward for an outstanding piece of work from one off your creative geniuses who has just doubled your personal fortune or the sort of thing a caring employer... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
19 Dec 2014 - 14:33

null Memebership of the 700 club

It’s an exclusive club you don’t want to be a member of. The average tenure of an NHS chief executive is 700 days but the issue of the high turnover of senior managers is a concern across the public sector. A study by consultancy Hoggett Bowers found that the main reasons for chief executive departures included difficulties in personal relationships with their chair or a senior figure in a... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
22 Sep 2014 - 12:36

null Are you a team player?

You read it in the job adverts. It appears it the qualities necessary for the post and it's often an interview question. Are you a team player? The honest answer would be no but you say yes. You're good at what you do. You have a track record to back up the claim. You're a leader, you're decisive, determined, persuasive, creative and industrious. When you are in charge the team delivers.... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
17 Sep 2014 - 11:55

null Deputies are Rubbish

One of the few good outcomes of budget cuts and subsequent management restructuring has been getting rid of all those unnecessary management posts, the ones that had deputy or assistant in their title. The ones that seemed to carry status but had no real power. I mean what does the deputy president of the US do or our own deputy prime minister? Likewise what did those assistant chief... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
05 Aug 2014 - 12:06

null Hypocrisy and senior management

You won't find many chief executives who will admit to hypocrisy but you will find plenty of their staff who accuse them of it. So it's interesting that  in the recently published top 100 places to work chief executives placed an emphases on values, integrity and business ethics. If chief executives think it is so important why do staff think it so rarely happens and have those in the... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
12 Jul 2014 - 12:54

null Can you be too good?

  Its tempting to think it doesn't happen in the public sector because we are nice people but do people recent success? Do colleagues feel threatened by someone who has just arrived and starts raising the bar, hits targets with apparent ease, races up the league table and does it whilst delivering efficiency savings and budget cuts? Do colleagues in other departments fear they are... See more
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Showing 161 to 180 of 224 entries.