We don’t like bosses that breathe down our necks all day long. While having a manager on hand should anything go wrong is a good thing, having them critiquing your every action in work has a detrimental impact on your performance. Micromanagement is a concept that has been around for… Read More »
When you think about it, workplaces can seem a bit strange. A group of complete strangers are thrown into an environment where they need to work towards a common goal. Disagreements and arguments are sure to arise at some point although we blogged about some effective ways to deal with… Read More »
Most of us have worked for a bad manager at some stage in our working lives. While everyone can have a bad day there is a big difference between coming into work in a foul mood and being a bad at managing staff. In fact, a bad manager can directly… Read More »
Who is Marvin? #WheresMarvin Marvin is our training company mascot and features on our website, promotional material and our course materials. He promotes our slogan ‘Don’t Duck out of Training’. Every delegate who books onto a course with Project Skills Solutions receives a Marvin stress ball duck. He likes to… Read More »
Managing staff is never easy. Aside from having to supervise their work and deal with conflict or issues within your team you need to focus on your own tasks as well. There are various management strategies out there however positive and negative reinforcement are two of the most commonly used… Read More »
Health and safety is a topic that can spark a heated discussion. Many people think that health and safety regulations have gone too far and others think that they don’t go far enough. For managers this can prove to be a problem. Especially when it comes to managing your team…. Read More »
Meetings are often associated with the worst part of our working day. Sitting quietly in a room and having the dreaded “let’s go round the table and see what everyone thinks” isn’t everyone’s idea of a productive way to spend an hour. Meetings don’t need to be like this. In… Read More »
One of the frequent problems that new (and often experienced) managers have is allocating work to a team. It might sound like an easy task however it is not as straightforward as simply calling a quick meeting and giving everyone something to do. While new managers may struggle to take… Read More »
Small businesses are growing rapidly in the UK. The number of small businesses grew by 97,000 from 2015-16 and this represents an increase of 2 million since 2000. The SME market is booming however what this data doesn’t tell us is that 4 out of 10 small businesses will fail… Read More »
When it comes to preparing for management or improving yourself in a leadership role speaking authoritatively and getting your instructions across seem to have much more importance than listening. The fact is that listening to your team or to the higher ups in your organisation is just as important. We… Read More »
So, you have just got a cushy new managerial job. Perhaps it is your first time being in a position of authority or maybe you have moved to a new company where no-one knows who you are. Either way exercising authority as a new manager is difficult. The last person… Read More »
When your boss asks your opinion on something or puts forward a proposal for changing the way in which a project is being run how many of you simply go along with the idea? Is it because you don’t want any confrontation or is it because you don’t want to… Read More »
Have a look at pretty much any job advertisement and being a strong communicator is going to be one of the main required attributes. This goes for every level in a company from the CEO, line manager and all the way down to the entry level employee. Even though companies… Read More »
How well do you think you perform at work? Does management give you sufficient training or do they offer a mentoring program? Workplace coaching has becoming immensely popular in recent years and it is seen as a new way to improve an employee’s performance while enhancing the company as a… Read More »
We’ve previously looked at the differences between leadership and management on this blog but what does it meant to be an agile leader? There are numerous strands of leadership these days and some work better in certain situations than others however agile leadership is a concept that crops up again… Read More »
What do customers expect from your business? Well, it really depends on what your company actually does however there are some basic services that every client should receive from doing business with you. Perhaps the starting point is to find out what your customers think of your business in the… Read More »
You have your shiny new degree and you’ve just landed yourself a pretty sweet job. That’s you sorted as far as your professional life goes, right? Well not exactly. The thing about the modern workplace is that everything changes so quickly. Laws change, procedures change and the way that you… Read More »
Employees are human, they make mistakes and every once in a while you need to provide some feedback for their performance. Negative feedback isn’t something that anyone wants to receive. The truth is that no one is perfect at their job and sooner or later they are going to need… Read More »
The majority of us get into the office at 9am and then leave at 5pm. 8 hours a day sitting at our desks or attending meetings. When you think about it you spend around 70% of your week in the workplace. Is this really a productive way to run a… Read More »
For many people a manager should be a leader and for someone that is good at providing direction then most people assume they should be moved into a managerial position. The question has to be asked: is a manager the same as a leader? Do they have the same characteristics?… Read More »
Are you currently sitting in your office wondering why you have procrastinated so much? Maybe you have just started a new project and the deadline for completion is on the horizon? Deadlines are part and parcel of most workplaces however actually meeting a deadline is not as easy as it… Read More »
Project Skills Solutions are pleased to announce that we have recently been approved to run Site Safety Plus courses through the CITB. We are at present offering these courses in Essex- Basildon and London- Limehouse. Project Skills Solutions are now running the 2 day CITB Temporary Works Coordinator training course. This course is… Read More »
Project Skills Solutions are pleased to announce, we are now a CITB approved centre! We are now accredited to run the following courses Health and Safety Awareness, SSSTS (site supervisor safety training scheme, SMSTS (site managers safety training scheme) and the Temporary Works Co- Ordinator through the CITB; Health and Safety… Read More »
Very few people thrive in an environment that hosts conflict in the workplace. After all, the point of going to work is to be productive and conflict inevitably leads to a reduction in productivity and a standoff between either individual employees or departments. While this can happen very easily dealing… Read More »
We have all had that dreaded email asking us to attend a ‘brainstorming session’ at work. Your company might need to change direction or a new project is starting and management is asking everyone to come up with new ideas. Sitting in a room trying to be creative? It isn’t… Read More »
Even the very best public speakers get nervous when delivering a presentation to a crowd. You might not be articulating your new strategy to a thousand people however it is natural to get nervous when everyone in the room is focused on you. In fact, it can be even more… Read More »
Not everyone is suited to taking charge. There are some people that relish the challenge and love overseeing all the different parts of a project and watch it come together. However there are also those that prefer to focus on one task, do it well and who are happy to… Read More »
There are two types of people in the workplace. Those that prefer to be monitored on a consistent basis so they know they are doing their tasks correctly and then those that prefer to be left to their own devices. The problem for managers is to strike a balance between… Read More »
Leading a meeting can be a stressful experience for any manager. Let’s be honest, most employees don’t want to sit in meetings all day. Somewhere between getting a cup of coffee and discussing the second order of business their minds tend to wander off to all the work they have… Read More »
Making the step up to leading a team is incredibly daunting. Many people relish this challenge however not every aspiring team leader is cut out to take on the extra responsibility even if it does mean an increase in your wage. No-one knows how they will react when it comes… Read More »
Project Skills Solutions have been providing NRSWA training to individuals and companies since 2004. Our team are trained to give you the very best advice in your course selection and focussed on customer service.
Read More »
