Managers trying to meddle with the work of their subordinates are often experienced in most offices today. The reason being is that most of the time, managers; being in their position, feel that what they know is always best. While this may not hold true all the time, the entire department’s performance evaluation shall be dependent on their management capabilities and how effectively they can motivate their staff into performing into one well-oiled unit.

This occurrence may sometimes backfire. Not all people can work efficiently when manager’s try to step in and want things to be done their way, most of the time the proper way as far as they are concerned. Normally, this occurrence would be natural in nature, but on the employee’s part, this becomes an obstacle for them to be able to grow out of their shell and excel in their job, especially for people who take pride in their work. Such an incident is academically a stumbling block, and worse may trigger friction and probable denial in obtaining career goals.

Here is a good article on Workplace Conflict Resolution for further insights.

Based on the discussion that went on for one of our previous postings on how to quit your job right, I’m interested in how big of a motivational factor a poor work environment is to entrepreneurs.

Personally, my I didn’t start working for myself as a result of personality friction, but rather as a need for further personal growth.

So, an open question:

What is the strongest factor driving you to start your own business

Alternatively, what keeps you from doing so?

So, your employee morale is at an all time low. You just don’t have the money to give them raises and you can’t change the things that are getting them down. Should you just give up and accept the miserable work environment? Actually, studies have shown that money is not always that important to employees. There are plenty of low cost ways to try to improve morale. Although they may seem silly, they still work. A few morale boosters:

1. a company “trophy” that goes to a different employee each week. (The employee who’s never late, the employee who had the most sales…) If you don’t have the budget for trophies, try certificates of achievement.

2. an extra half hour at lunch.

3. a gift certificate to a favorite restaurant.

4. meaningful recognition. Thank your employees in front of other people for a job well done on a specific project. (Have you seen the commercial where the boss gives his employee a cupcake and calls him by the wrong name? It doesn’t mean much unless you are sincere.)

With the business world being as competitive as it is, if you’re not already at the top of your profession you’re thinking about how you can get there.

A strategy that’s worked well for me is double tracking my resume. I do freelance work at the same time I have a job. This serves two purposes.

First, it broadens my resume to include both the freelance work and the full-time job as areas in which I have experience, and opens both up to me as potential career path.

Second, the double track of experience on my resume opens up jobs that would be beyond me in experience. Let me give an example. Say I’m applying for a VP job that requires 10 years of business experience. I might have 5 years of experience in a business management position, and 5 years of experience as a business blogger, with both having occurred over the same 5-year period. While this might rank me lower on the list than someone with 10 years of pure business management experience, it still stands a chance of getting me in the door.

As anyone who works in investment knows, the riskiest propositions can have the best returns, or you can lose all of your money. This is my choice. While it might not work as well as some strategies, so far it has served me well.