Office Management

Do you worry that you need absolute proof of wrongdoing before disciplining an employee? You don’t. Employers have to be fair, not absolutely right.

Staffers at design firm Ideo spit out hundreds of new ideas every day—including the ideas for the Apple mouse and the stand-up toothpaste squeeze tube. So if anyone knows how to conduct a brainstorming session, it’s Ideo. One thing that’s evident from looking into one of their conference rooms: You’ve got to get the space right.

Layoffs, shortened workweeks, stressed-out workplaces … it all can lead to another byproduct of the recession: increasing workloads and work slippage. How are administrative professionals ensuring that, with stakes soaring higher than ever, no work falls through the cracks?

Admit it: You’re too busy for all that time-management jazz. You prioritize in your head—who has time to make silly lists? And you’ve tried to block out appointments, but emergencies always throw everything awry.

Admins are taking on more responsibility and those who can help leadership reduce operating costs by securing more advantageous service contracts, streamline a process or reduce spending, for example, will score big points.

If you’ve made it this far into the worst economy in decades without experiencing a layoff, chances are you’re out of the woods. Most economists agree that while businesses won’t be hiring much this year, they also won’t be firing much. Could this be the time to ask for a raise?

Whether it’s a speedy way to create a bar chart or a trick for switching from one window to the next, keyboard shortcuts can help even power users knock out work faster. Here are a few of our readers’ faves.

It would be nice if all employees came to work on time, performed efficiently and pleasantly, and were thankful for their paycheck. But employers know that employees sometimes fall far short of your hopes. Here are the steps to work through as you decide how to proceed:

Fewer federal employees will miss work this winter when the government shuts down because of snow. Under a new federal Office of Personnel Management policy, employees with existing telework agreements will be expected to work from home.

For all the talk of teamwork in corporate America, your co-workers should be oozing with collaboration. Right? Yet that’s often not the case. What do you do about another administrative pro who gives you the cold shoulder? How do you draw more collaboration out of that co-worker?