After a COVID hiatus, in-person retreat meetings are back with organizations in a big way for a few reasons. 

You see the upcoming meeting on your calendar and feel a familiar dread. "Has it already been three months?" Of all your meetings, this is the one that takes (wastes?) the most time. How many people attend these meetings? How many people-hours does it take to put the slides together each time?

When done well, Quarterly Busi...

There were over 637,000 people in the United States employed in the management consulting industry in 2016, according to Statista.com. With annual staff turnover rates of an estimated 15-20 percent, that means tens of thousands of former consultants are released into the wild each year to take 'real' jobs at organizations outside of consulting. Many of ...

You see the "check-in" meeting with your boss looming on your calendar and you feel a familiar dread. Every once in a while, these meetings are useful, but more often, they just generate a lot of questions that mean more work for you. Sometimes, they are just a waste of time, politely wandering around random topics without covering any usefu...

If you work long enough, you will have one - a boss who just isn't getting their job done. Maybe they are overwhelmed or out of their league. Perhaps they got promoted too fast or missed manager training. Maybe they are just checked-out or lazy. Whatever the reason, the impact on you is the same - they are not providing you the coaching and support you ...

The year was 2002. When the new Vice President (VP) arrived at my Fortune 500 company, we had an “off-site” meeting to introduce him to his new team. He was a big shot partner from a high-powered consulting firm who was going to ‘take us to the next level,’ according to corporate communications. As a mid-level manager, I was one ...

In my 20-plus year career from intern to COO, I’ve worked with dozens of executive assistants (EAs). They’ve all made me appreciate how important and difficult the EA job is. Here are the 12 best practices I learned from some exceptionally talented Executive Assistants I've been lucky to see in action.

The Daily Briefing Book is a great tool I learned from other executives. Basically, my executive assistant would gather all the materials that people wanted to cover with me in meetings a day before the meeting. She would compile all of those documents, presentations and agenda items into a binder for me to take home the night before so ...

Done well, staff meetings, board meetings and other recurring get-togethers can be an essential part of great management. Done poorly, they can be costly, counter-p...