Difficult situations

A Little Humor – Here are My Top 5

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It’s time for some humor to help us get through the week. I was laughing so hard at some of these. Hope they can also bring out a belly laugh or two for you. Here are my top 5.

What surprises you most about this…

A little morbid humor …

Looking cool…

Trump …

Words…

  • Half of us are going to come out of this quarantine as amazing cooks. The other half will come out with a drinking problem.
  • I used to spin that toilet paper like I was on Wheel of Fortune. Now I turn it like I’m cracking a safe.
  • I need to practice social-distancing from the refrigerator.
  • PSA: every few days try your jeans on just to make sure they fit. Pajamas will have you believe all is well in the kingdom.
  • Homeschooling is going well. 2 students suspended for fighting and 1 teacher fired for drinking on the job.
  • I don’t think anyone expected that when we changed the clocks we’d go from Standard Time to the Twilight Zone.
  • This morning I saw a neighbor talking to her cat. It was obvious she thought her cat understood her. I came into my house, told my dog….. we laughed a lot.
  • Quarantine Day 5: Went to this restaurant called THE KITCHEN. You have to gather all the ingredients and make your own meal. I have no clue how this place is still in business.
  • My body has absorbed so much soap and disinfectant lately that when I pee it cleans the toilet.
  • I’m so excited — it’s time to take out the garbage. What should I wear?
  • I hope the weather is good tomorrow for my trip to Puerto Backyarda. I’m getting tired of Los Livingroom.
  • Classified Ad: Single man with toilet paper seeks woman with hand sanitizer for good clean fun.
  • Day 6 of Homeschooling: My child just said “I hope I don’t have the same teacher next year”…. I’m offended!

Remember, we will get through this and come out stronger. Stay safe and stay home everyone.

Your Comments: Do you have any to share? What’s your favorite? I look forward to your comments ...  read more

5 Tips – How to Manage a Remote Team During Covid 19

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It’s day 24 of our “self quarantine.” Thankfully, I still get to work full time, as do my team. I am writing to share 5 tips on how to manage a remote team during our new covid 19 reality. Prior to this, only 2 out of 10 of my team members were remote. While the sudden change has been jarring, we have learned to adapt, stay connected, support each others and still make progress. Hope these tips can help you continue to be a great manager during this difficult time.  ...  read more

A New Reality Created by the Threat of Coronavirus – 7 Tips on How to Cope

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Another week has gone by in this new reality – First the Bay Area and then the entire state of California is told to “Shelter in Place.” I breathe a small sign of relief – finally we are deciding to act before the numbers get bad. While there is no cure for this novel (aka new) Coronavirus, we can now perhaps buy enough time  ...  read more

Coronavirus Situation – A Positive Perspective – 5 Reasons to be Grateful

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I really wanted to write about something else this week – anything but the coronavirus. But alas, I cannot escape how this pandemic is fundamentally changing all of our lives and rapidly. This is one “lemon” many of us didn’t foresee, even after the Wuhan situation in China in late January. We all thought we were far away enough to be safe. We all have heard the saying “when life give you lemons, make lemonade.” Can we this time? I am going to try with this post.  ...  read more

How to Manage and Deliver with Limited Resources – 15 min coaching call

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This is such a common issue as well as a highly stressful one. I am so glad one of the members asked me to talk about it in our January group coaching call. Here is her question

“We are asked to be financially savvy and not outsource any activity during Q1. We still have smart goals to achieve and I am understaffed. I am already running a lean organization. To continue to deliver results with all activities done in-house I need to overload the team. What should I do? Should I do the right thing and continue to explain the need for outsourcing activities or do the right thing for my career?” ...  read more

How to Handle a Difficult Situation as a New Manager

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New manager

A member asked me this question recently and agreed that I can share. Let’s call this member – Alex. I really appreciated how much detail Alex shared in his questions. I was able to better guide him toward how to best resolve this difficult situation as a result. Here is Alex’s situation and our email exchanges. Thank you Alex for agreeing to share this. ...  read more

Working with an Incompetent Colleague – When and How to Escalate

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I was agonizing about what to do for weeks. I have dealt with incompetent co-workers before. Most of the time, I can make up for their incompetence fairly easily or at least work around it and not be affected. Not this time. This time, this colleague is a key partner to my work. If she or her team is not doing their job to the highest quality, neither I nor my team nor my program can be successful. ...  read more