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The boss pulls the plug

By That's life, Work

Frank's boss pulls the plug

Have you ever thrown the baby out with the bath water?

I can’t recall a time I have, but I have heard of some horror stories. The one that comes immediately to mind involved a woman who placed all her precious jewellery into a garbage bag for safe keeping whilst in the middle of a big house pack up before the move. You can guess what happened next… the safe package of jewellery was turfed along with the other rubbish and sen to the tip.

Any horror stories you know of?

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Do you have SMART KPIs?

By Work

Poor work KPIs

Our work has just finished setting KPIs for the year, so I’ll put Frank out of his misery and move on to the next work challenge.

What would you like to see Frank tackle next?

Making work KPIs look better

By Work

Can KPIs be manipulated in your favour?

Franks padded KPI scales

Maybe Frank should just empty the office paper recycling bin into his scales and see if the boss notices.

What do you think?

 

Frank’s boss invents the ultimate business tool

By That's life, Work

KPI tips for the boss

After the series of mirror antics (here, herehere and here), I couldn’t help but continue with the idea of work inventions.

Perhaps Frank’s boss could team up with the inventors at Japanese company Thanko. they have developed the USB powered neck tie fan. And it has the special geniuss touch that Frank’s boss specialises in – being USB powered, means that you need to connect yourself into your computer to get the benefits of the equipment.

Thanko USB powered fan tie

Would you buy a tie like this for yourself or as a gift?

Multi tasking mirrors

By That's life, Work

Who's the fairest of them allPoor Frank, but perhaps there is one thing the two of them have in common…the love of coffee!

I admit, it’s my weakness. I can’t start the day at work without one. Even though I would like to think of myself as a coffee connoisseur, my coffee of choice shows that my palette is one of an amateur – café latte. But perhaps I shouldn’t feel too bad as I recall the man who came into my favourite coffee haunt the other day and ordered a double double espresso (no, you are not seeing double, it was his coffee that was). Noticing the look of surprise on the barista’s face, he obviously felt the need to explain. Apparently it was only the second time he had ordered one – Oh, I get it, that makes it OK… I guess.

Wiki, has an amazing list of over 53 coffee types, including some you may not be that familiar with, such as:

  • Guillermo: One or two shots of hot espresso, poured over slices of lime (sounds terrible)
  • Café bombón: Espresso with condensed milk, popular in Spain (I’ve tried similar in Vietnam and I must admit, a bit too sweet for me)
  • Caffe Zoro: Double espresso  added to hot water with a 1:1 ratio (I liked the sound of the name)
  • Greek frappé: Originating in Greece in the early 1950’s, it is a foam-covered iced coffee drink made from spray-dried instant coffee.
  • Red Tie: A traditional Thai iced tea, comprising of a single shot of espresso and a spicy and sweet mixture of chilled black tea, orange blossom water, star anise, crushed tamarind, sugar and condensed milk or cream (Umm, what can I say? I think I would need to try it before passing judgement)

So what’s your brew of choice? Ever tried an unusual one?

 

Triple in equals triple out

By That's life, Work

How mirrors improve work revenue

Just imagine if your in tray tripled over night – Scary thought, huh?

Office in tray management is a big thing these days and many graduates are subjected to assessment centre exercises as part of the job interview process. One of the activities tends to include the in-tray exercise where you are given a hypothetical in tray which you then have to work your way through. With no definitive right or wrong answer, the objective is to assess the candidate’s ability to prioritse, work to a time frame and effectively determine actions to handle the information.

Thank goodness they hadn’t invented this when I went for my initial job interviews, as my uni degree certainly didn’t arm me with these skill sets for when I entered the work force.

Have you ever sat one of these tests and how did you go? If you haven’t, how do you think you would go?

When mirrors talk in the workplace

By That's life, Work

When mirrors take sidesTalking mirrors, eh?

Well, IKEA have done exactly that with their Motivational Mirror. Their research suggested that in the UK

  • 49% of the British receive no compliments in an average week
  • 43.6 million people in the UK are self-critical about their appearance
  • 33% of the nation feel they look their worst before 9am on a Monday morning

The solution to this issue – the talking mirror, which compliments you as you stand in front of it.  Take a look at the customers’ reaction as they pass by in this You Tube video. Currently on trial in UK IKEA stores; I guess time will tell if it’s a success or not. I don’t think this one is for me, but it could be a fun way to start the day.

So over to you. Will you be rushing to pre-order one today?