Restructuring Drama

By Matt:

My company is going through a reorganization this week, and it has been pretty difficult. They kicked it off about five weeks ago when they told us, and announced to the press, that there would be a 15% reduction in workforce within the next 4-6 weeks. Since then we've all been anxiously waiting for the proverbial "hammer" to fall, and now the time is upon us. So far the week has been filled with a lot of closed door meetings, hushed hallway conversations, a general sense of foreboding, and the occasional awkward joke in attempts to lighten the mood.

This is the second restructure I have experienced in the corporate world, the first being last winter. Last year the slash-and-burn happened quickly and abruptly - an email was sent on a Friday morning, and throughout the day, one-by-one, each individual was called into their manager's office... some did not return to their desks.

This year, in attempts to be more considerate to employees, they gave us a long advance warning, and to their credit are doing their best to communicate issues delicately. But I'm not sure there is a way to do these things that isn't messy.

I'm curious to hear about reorganizations you have been through... is there a good way to do these things? Is it possible to witness 15% of your company being let-go and in the end say, "You know, that was a really positive experience"? I know we have some Human Resources readers out there, and would be interested to hear your take as well.

Hack Your Desk Phone - Filter Calls To Voicemail

By Jon:

I don't know if everyone has one of these contraptions these days, but many desk jobbers are forced to respond to the beck and whim of the dreaded office phone. It's a voicemail receptacle, an instant communicator for those ignorant of IM or email, and a major distraction against productivity.

I rarely use my desk phone to make calls and I've come to dread it's familiar ring. To help cut back on calls and help increase my productivity, I have permanently enabled the "Send Calls" function on my phone. This function is found on most desk phones and sends all incoming calls to voicemail.

Now, it's not total communication shutoff -- you hear half a ring, the caller's name appears, and you have about 10 seconds to answer before voicemail takes over. On the caller's end, they hear a beep and then a ring; this also occurs when you're on the other line. As such, most people associate this sound with the latter and think you're on another call.

Most people, upon hearing this, either hang up or leave a voicemail. There's a slim group that I always pick up for, but a majority of my calls I don't answer anymore. The majority of those I ignore send me an email, and a slim few leave a voicemail, while one or two choose to pay my office a visit...!

For the most part, this has become an incredible filter for me and has saved immense amounts of time. I like this method better than a rambling voicemail greeting about my preference for colleagues to email me; it's not as rude and allows you a chance to answer the phone. Do you have methods of dealing with your phone calls too? Does your desk phone have a Send Calls button? Do you even have a desk phone?

This Guy Fires People Who Don't Like Their Jobs

By Matt:

This post by Jason Calacanis created quite a stir a few days ago when he quipped, "Fire people who are not workaholics... go work at Starbucks if you want balance in your life."

After a buzz of comments and debate he actually modified that line in his post, but wow, quite a bold statement. I like my job, but I'm not a workaholic, and I certainly appreciate balance in my life. I wasn't sure where this guy was heading, but the outset didn't feel good... but you know what, once I read the whole post, I'm kind of a fan!

First of all, Calacanis is speaking primarily about running a startup company, and you need to have some pretty driven and dedicated people to manage a startup. Secondly, his post is largely about keeping your employees happy and motivated (though I concede there are some undertones of keeping employees at work longer hours).

Nonetheless, you should check this out. Calacanis suggests things like buying Macs for all your employees, buying them lunch four times a week, and unlimited free soda. Heck, can't complain with that. Pass these suggestions onto your HR team an see if you can make any progress. *wink*.

How To Save Money Running A Startup (17 Really Good Tips)

Work Better By Working Less

By Matt:

This comes from an old post, but it's a good one. If you've worked more than 12 minutes in a corporate setting, people have asked you to do things that are either not your responsibility or are beyond your capacity. And if you've worked in a corporate setting more than 13 minutes, you've tried to tackle a lot of those requests - whether to impress a boss, move up in the organization, or just out of fear to keep your job.

Penelope Trunk over at Brazen Careerist offers 7 tips to help you minimize the amount of frivolous requests and time-sucking endeavors. She rightly points out that not all tasks are equal, and to get home in time for dinner, you need to be able to determine the difference between what your boss is telling you is important and what truly is going to be a home run for your company.

7 Ways To Decrease Your Hours Without Harming Your Career