In traditional win-lose position based negotiations , negotiators employ several manipulative tactics to maximise their interests while disregarding the other party’s interests. Learn how to recognize these tactics, avoid these tactics and neutralize them to keep negotiation on the principled track. Have a look at the ultimate cheat sheet you need on dealing with competitive tactics: https://www.noodlefactory.com.sg/course/how-to-deal-with-competitive-tactics 1. Good guy/Ba

You have probably noticed that projects don’t always run according to plan. Too many projects start life doomed to failure. Poorly defined business objectives and unrealistic delivery deadlines are very common. Managers rarely inherit a fully fledged and effective team. Putting together a great team, whether for a new project or initiative, requires more than technical skills. Building the right team is one of the factors critical to the success of any project. Here are 5 sec

When you become a manager, it isn’t just your job title and responsibilities that change. Your idea of work and your identity evolve too. The nature of your work changes when you go from an individual contributor to a manager. As an individual, you focused on your contribution to the team. As a manager, you have to set the direction for your team and coordinate resources to achieve business goals. As you adapt to this new way of working, there are several skills you need to a

It is 6pm at a technology trends conference. The attendees are a mix of entrepreneurs, service providers, recruiters and techies who have come to source for clients and hunt for jobs. Hannah is there to network. How does she do it in 10 steps? Here is a face to face networking survival guide: Click here to access our module: https://www.noodlefactory.com.sg/course/a-face-to-face-networking-survival-guide 1. Don’t go in cold A week before the event, Hannah researches the eve

“The function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers”Ralph Nader, American politician Today’s rapidly evolving business landscape means that managers not only need to actively manage their careers, but they need to provide career guidance for their employees. Here are some ways on how good leaders help employees develop their careers: 1. Create growth opportunities Give your team new and professionally challenging work experiences to get them out of

Are you truly managing your career or leaving it to chance? Careers need to be managed as much as people do. As a manager, you will need to take a pro-active approach and make career opportunities for yourself. Career management begins with you and not your employer. It involves looking at what is working in your career development strategy and what’s not. Learn to manage your career with these 10 quick tips: 1. Know your boss’s expectations of you Agree on SMART goals so

Self-awareness is one of the keys of being a great leader. But learning to be self-aware does not come easy for most people. Being aware of your emotions, understanding your personality and what motivates you are some factors that are important to developing effective managerial ability. If you cannot manage yourself, you will not be able to manage anyone else. Here are 5 steps to increase self-awareness for managerial success: 1. Seek honest feedback We may not always be

The most successful leaders are not those with the highest intelligence quotient (IQ) but those who demonstrate great emotional intelligence (EQ). The ability to deal with feelings may not come easily for most managers, so here are some practical tips to boost your EQ. 1. Have empathy By understanding others’ feelings, thoughts and behaviors, we can then create stronger and deeper relationships. Learn to read the emotions of others as you interact with them. One way to do t

Is it me or is it them? Maintaining control in today’s hectic workplace is a challenge- everything is lean, mean and competitive. With the onset of technology, most of us were not prepared to manage our time or information. We had no idea how overwhelmed we would be with the amount of information we receive on a daily basis. How do you feel less trapped and more in charge? There are a lot of competing demands on our time. How do we become effective at work? Managing our time

We all know the frustration of searching for that crucial piece of information or losing files without a single trace. In today’s digital age, no amount of organisation can guarantee that you will be able to find everything, but being organised can save you a significant amount of time . As a manager, you will need to create an impression of being well-organized on top of operating at high efficiency. Here are 5 things good managers do to stay organised: 1. Provide updates

“No great achievement is possible without persistent work”-Bertrand Russell In Singapore, Labour Day falls on May 1 every year. It is a public holiday that commemorates the effort of working people who have contributed to the success and strength of the economy. While you are enjoying the day off, take a moment to remember and acknowledge the people on whose your work and success depends on. Here are 10 employee appreciation ideas your team will love: Lunch with the CEO/Found

As a new manager, it is a good idea to expand your network both inside and outside the organisation. But some of us are inhibited by fears of networking. It is more practical to confront these fears and develop strategies to overcome them. Here are our tips for how to tackle common fears of networking: 1. Fear of rejection Rejection happens everyday. It happens when you ask a peer out for lunch but she has made plans already or when your boss disagrees with you on ho

The traditional time to promote employees is during the annual performance review , but a promotion can and should happen when it is most appropriate. When a key management position is coming up and an internal promotion seems obvious, the office comes abuzz with colleagues championing their peers and the managers already having a candidate in mind. There will be resentment from those who missed out. So what is the best way to handle a promotion? Here are some do's and don't

Every year, Earth Day is celebrated on 22 April to show awareness and appreciation for the environment. Celebrating Earth Day is not only good for our planet, but good for your employees too. One of the ways to level up employee engagement is through team-building activities and rounding up your employees for meaningful action and efforts that have a direct impact on their daily lives. Here are 6 ways your workplace can get involved and play a part in preserving our limited

Preparing for the performance appraisal meeting helps employees focus on examining their performance in a more objective way. Whether you are a manager or employee, overcome the fear of performance appraisals with our useful guide on how to prepare for the appraisal meeting! Try our bite-sized module here: https://www.noodlefactory.com.sg/portal/module/4719a698-4bf7-11e7-8a48-06fb09d22481 For Managers Before the meeting Schedule it in advance Inform the employee at least

For many of us, the annual performance appraisal feels like we are being put in the hot seat where we and our work performance becomes the hot topic for discussion with our bosses. It can be an uncomfortable session for most of us as we go through menial paperwork and go face to face with our direct supervisor. While supervisors have the upper hand as far as performance appraisals are concerned, employees can also set themselves up for success by actively preparing for the pe

“You are what you eat”. What we eat can have a direct influence on our work performance on a typical weekday. Research has also revealed that employees with unhealthy diets were 66 percent more likely to report a productivity dip than healthy eaters. If you are serious about performing your best at work, try including these 8 superfoods in your diet to help you stay productive on a work day: 1. Salmon Did you know that your brain is the fattest organ in the body and consi

Ever since the scandal involving Hollywood media mogul Harvey Weinstein broke out, more women are starting to speak up against sexual harassment at the workplace. Whether we realise it or not, most women (including myself) have faced some form of discrimination at work or been on the receiving end of sexist remarks. These statements undermine women and also perpetuates typecast gender roles. Here are the 8 things you should never say to female colleagues or bosses, ever: “C

Being a woman today is a major balancing act. We are nurturers, caregivers, as well as thinkers, do-ers and bread-winners. We are also mothers, sisters, friends, wives, daughters, bosses, and employees. All these responsibilities mean that women play multi-faceted roles in their daily lives with tremendous conflicts. Unfortunately, many companies do not have policies in place to cater to the needs of working mothers and many well-educated women end up making hard choices abou

In celebration of International Women's Day, we interviewed 4 amazing women who inspire us with their success stories. In this post, we sat down with Sofia Howard to find out how she balances kids and life as a busy career woman. Sofia Howard Senior Leader in Financial Institution, Mother, Runner, Book Nerd Describe your typical day. SH: Normally, depending on if I train in the morning or not, I will, if I do sometimes I'm gone before my girls wake up. I have 2 daughter