Employee Engagement Activities

We usually think of (and I usually write about) workplace team building as something that business owners, leaders, and managers need to think about and address. But other times it needs to start from the bottom and trickle up to make the workplace culture more cohesive.

Workplace coach Marie G. McIntyre addressed this aspect of employee engagement last weekend in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. In response to a reader's question about a boss who micromanages too much and plays favorites, McIntyre advised this employee, whose industry is "dying," to "reduce your daily stress by learning to 'manage up' more effectively."

She says this involves:

lowering expectations for the boss
building a better relationship with the boss, in this case starting with a fact the employee has identified – that compliments get his attention

When factoring in a tough economy and a risky industry, McIntyre ultimately advises laying low. This, of course, provides the added protection of a paycheck while the employee considers training in a new field so he or she can make a move if it still isn't clicking with the boss after some time in his or her new communication approach with the boss.

Related: Our webinar with the CEOs of two 2007 Top Small Workplaces on designing strategy from the bottom up.