So, how does it feel to return to the office after your summer break? Quite possibly, the "daily grind" of commute, office politics and demanding managers leaves you feeling as stressed as you were before you had your holiday. For many people, this is the time of the year when they start to question their work-life balance, and maybe even think about the possibilities of working from home.
August 26th 2008 |
Business culture
How often do you travel on business? According to
Christopher Elliott, travel columnist, business travellers make three big mistakes: believing that their company's travel manager is "on their side"; thinking frequent flier miles are a reward for loyalty; and complaining too much. Read his article and advice
here.
August 18th 2008 |
Business culture
Geoff Colvin, in
Fortune magazine, writes that Europeans work as hard as Americans, if you take into consideration the amount of unpaid work that Europeans do (gardening, cooking etc) which Americans normally pay others to do.
August 8th 2008 |
Business culture
In her excellent
blog on business writing, Lynn Gaertner-Johnston gives her best
tip for writing: only include one idea per sentence.
The UK government wants to stop restaurants from using tips to bring salaries up to the minimum wage. The National Minimum Wage in the UK is £5.52, but staff at the Hard Rock Cafe in London are paid a basic wage of only £2.06 and tips are added on top of this to make up the minimum wage.
Is this the worst ad ever for freelance work? How many mistakes can you spot?
July 24th 2008 |
Writing skills
In a recent
article, a man wrote how he had agreed to give some lectures on art, and was asked to include some humour. As he isn't a funny man, he decided to take a course in comedy. Over the course, he learnt about the different types of humour, and how to be funny. And his conclusion? "I will never resort to Powerpoint in a lecture again. I will always talk to, and not at, audiences."
July 22nd 2008 |
Speaking skills
A journalist on the Boston Globe was recently criticised for using non-standard English in an article. According to the critic, the column in which the article appeared qualified as "formal written English" and so shouldn't include non-standard English.
July 17th 2008 |
Writing skills
A recent
article from the India Times reports on how business outsourcing companies in India are training their staff in accent neutralisation.
