the best management ideas ever

Meetings have always had a bad rap. According to a Clarizen survey, 35% of employees think they're a waste of time, and 46% would prefer to do anything instead, including going to the DMV. But now that most of us are working remotely, meetings have taken on all-new importance. They're an opportunity to catch up, talk to other humans, get on the same page about work, and connect as colleagues.

At StellaPop, we don't think it's meetings that are the problem per se, but rather how they're run. Here are our tips for making meetings something we can all look forward to.

In our constant push for convenience, optimization, and productivity gains, it's easy to lose sight of one of the most important factors in workplace success: being human. Sure, it may be faster to assign a task in Asana than it is to talk to someone, and knocking back a protein shake may be more convenient than having lunch with coworkers. Still, both of those choices mean missing out on an opportunity to interact, share, and empathize with others.

Just as it takes two to tango, it takes two to realize a successful recruitment effort. As the nation slowly reopens for business and organizations look to bolster their staff rosters, both recruiters and job-seekers are hard at work looking for that perfect fit.

Let's take a look at what a winning recruitment effort looks like from both sides of the interview table.

Who in your leadership is an expert on the impacts of global trauma, stress, and anxiety? Whose your specialist in pandemic response?

Do you have someone or a team that can assess and predict the effects of stress on consumer behavior? Who in your C-suite has the authority to make decisions based on market scenario planning? Whose your expert futurist?

Do they have the tools to find patterns and shifts quickly and accurately? 

The terrifying boss who shouts commands and berates subordinates may make for good TV, but not so much for a good leader. In fact, it turns out that bosses who have mastered the "soft" skills - i.e., the people-centric skills - are the ones who get top marks in today's workplaces. Unlike the organizations of old, where hierarchies reigned, and workers simply followed orders, today's workplaces are built around adaptiveness, collaboration, and flat leadership structures.