Set the stage creatively and your team will be encouraged to think more innovatively, managemetn professor Michael Roberto says.Jodie Coston/Getty Images
Most offsite strategic retreats occur in a resort boardroom with an elegant table and comfortable chairs, a notepad and perhaps a copy of some important charts laid out before everyone's place. Michael Roberto, a management professor at Rhode Island's Bryant University, instead urges you to decorate the room with photos and other materials that might spark dialogue. Have your rival's latest product on display, for example, or some prototypes from your own innovators. "To think outside the box, CEOs have to set the stage," he says.
-Professor Michael Roberto's Blog
LEADERSHIP
Which do you like: enabling, or doing?
Selina Lo, president and chief executive of Ruckus Wireless in Sunnyvale, Calif., resisted becoming a manager for a long time because she didn't want to deal with other people's pace and style, preferring to do her own work. She says all new managers should ponder whether they really enjoy enabling people, rather than doing the work themselves.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
Accumulated wisdom 'undervalued' asset
With so much change occurring in business, consultant Brett Morris says it's important to remember that when performing a process that didn't exist five years ago, a person with 35 years of experience has no great advantage over someone with only five years experience – other than accumulated wisdom: "That's an advantage that cannot be understated. Unfortunately it's all too often undervalued."
-Fortune Group Blog
TECH TIP
Changing gears in Word spell check
When you check the spelling and grammar of a document, Microsoft Word keeps track of which errors you choose to ignore – even if you go back to check again later.
If you want to toss out your earlier decisions and recheck from scratch, go to the Tools menu in pre-ribbon forms of Word, then Options, followed by the spelling and grammar tab. Click on Recheck Document, and then when it asks if you really want to recheck from scratch click on Yes.
For later versions of Word, click the Office button, word options, proofing, and check document, and then in dialogue box indicate you wish to recheck everything.
-Allen Wyatt's Word Tips
Harvey Schachter