Not getting enough sleep? Don’t fear May 20, 2014 It's been billed as the supreme “arrogance” of our species. A group of eminent sleep experts recently criticised our willingness to ignore our natural body clocks and to get by on too little sleep. In particular, over-exposure to the blue light from smartphones and tablets is disrupting sleep patterns, leaving us exposed to illness. Even [...]
The three main working types: Which are you? May 19, 2014 Our quick quiz could boost your efficiency in the workplace, writes Diane Gallacher We’ve all got a colleague who doesn’t know how to use the photocopier, or a manager doing trainee-level work. Failing to work at the right level has a profound impact on your efficiency, and blocks the progression of others. The first step [...]
How to get a pay rise: Four tips on how to ask for more money at work May 18, 2014 If you work in finance, here’s some good news for you. According to a Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development survey, finance professionals were the most likely to have received a pay rise last year (64 per cent did so), well above the private sector average of 54 per cent. Yet broaching the subject of [...]
How to get a promotion at work May 15, 2014 It's a question everyone has: what's the best way to get a promotion at work. But as few firms spell out the criteria for advancement, it’s important to have a game plan. Such are Najat Vallaud-Belkacem’s – the French minister for women’s rights – concerns about the female battle for top jobs, that last [...]
Four tips for a better business trip May 14, 2014 Follow Nasa and Ronald Reagan’s tip to beat jet lag, and break out of the business bubble WE’VE all heard a business trip horror story. Whether it’s falling asleep in a crucial meeting due to jet lag, or realising you’ve forgotten to pack suit trousers minutes before a presentation, travelling abroad on business can be [...]
The new science of management? May 13, 2014 “Social Physics” can lead to incremental improvements, but risks marginalising strategy Thinkers influenced by the Enlightenment have long dreamt of applying the rigour, precision, and predictive power of the physical sciences to the social world. Seduced by the elegant laws of Newtonian physics, David Hume, Adam Smith and Auguste Comte sought to uncover rules governing [...]
How to end your day productively May 12, 2014 As work draws to a close, here are some useful tips for staying awake, focused and on form FIND yourself clock-watching before home-time? Or failing to disconnect when you do finally walk out of the door? Theories abound (from taking an afternoon nap to chugging caffeine) on how best to beat the 2pm productivity slump, [...]
Four routes to better time management May 11, 2014 Much of the waste isn’t your fault, but there are ways to make the most of the hours you have left THE WRITER Tom Hodgkinson has made a career out of doing rather little. Author of How to Be Idle, his philosophy follows that satisfying maxim of eighteenth-century essayist Samuel Johnson that “the happiest part [...]
Four skills all business leaders need May 8, 2014 In today’s challenging environment, the role and expectations of leadership are changing WHAT do Margaret Thatcher, Mahatma Gandhi and former GE chairman Jack Welch have in common? According to a recent PwC survey, they have all exhibited leadership skills that today’s global chief executives most admire. Yet the demands of leaders today have evolved since [...]
Three ways to make better decisions May 7, 2014 Intuition will only get you so far – businesses can learn a lot from the Catholic Church In his 2005 book Blink, Malcolm Gladwell argued that many of the best choices are made in microseconds – snap judgements based on intuition. The application of this idea to business decisions has been controversial ever since. Can [...]