Who's That Sitting At My Desk?

Jan Yager

Description

Building on two decades of original research into workplace issues and friendship patterns, and based on an international survey of 400 men and women and over 100 interviews, sociologist Dr. Jan Yager offers insights into how to succeed by mastering workplace relationships. Yager discovered a relationship unique to the workplace and business that she calls it a workship--more connected than an acquaintance but not as intimate as a friendship. Workships, especially positive ones, help work and business to be more productive and even more fun and are the AAasAA"safestAAasAAA and least complicated work connections.

Sujets

• Gestion et management
• Interpersonal relationship

Informations

• Publié par: Hannacroix Creek Books, Inc.
• Date de parution: 12 novembre 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781938998638
• Langue: English

Extrait

Reviews and endorsements for
WHO’S THAT SITTING AT MY DESK?
by Jan Yager
"Solid advice about how to get along and make friends at work, as well as many relevant quotes and stories from people describing their own experiences with their co-workers, make Who’s That Sitting at My Desk? a useful guidebook to creating more productive work relationships."
Soundview Executive Book Summaries ( www.summary.com )
"Carefully noting that workships often protect one’s career and even help it survive, Yager describes their benefits (e.g. increased morale, teambuilding, and worker comfort), advises readers on which relationships to cultivate and which to abandon (with an eye toward identifying helpful alliances) and shares structured lists (e.g. ten principles for beginning a model workshop) that help frame the discussion."
Library Journal
"Anyone seeking to improve workplace relationships will benefit from reading this book."
ForeWord Reviews magazine (Leonard F. Charla)
" Who’s That Sitting at My Desk? is the best researched and most useful book on getting along with friends and foes at work I’ve ever read. Don’t go to work without it!"
Don Gabor, author, How to Start a Conversation and Make Friends
"A terrific and enlightening guide to understanding the various types of relationships that exist in the workplace and the ways your career can benefit from them."
Josh Piven, author, The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook: Work
"Jan Yager offers an invaluable guide for maintaining your workplace relationships in a genuinely rewarding and balanced manner. Bravo!"
Nella Barkley, President, Crystal-Barkley Corporation
"A much-needed book about an important subject that is often discussed but rarely understood. Who’s That Sitting at My Desk? will provide readers with new insights and skills to improve their workplace relationships and their careers."
Mark Sanborn, President, Sanborn & Associates, Inc.
"A must-read for anyone who needs to manage workplace relationships."
Whitney Fleming, Managing Vice President, Environics Communications
"Dr. Jan Yager seamlessly integrates scholarly research results with clear examples and practical advice. The result is brilliant: an accessible book that will empower its readers to improve their relationships with co-workers and hence to further their careers."
Rebecca G. Adams, Ph.D., sociology professor, University of North Carolina
"Jan Yager shows us how to create and cultivate the unique relationships we build with our colleagues, clients, and virtual teammates. Soloists at all levels of experience can gain valuable insights from this book, and use it to expand the impact of their business both in economic terms as well as personal satisfaction."
Terri Lonier, founder, WorkingSolo.com
"A good read, full of great examples. Use this book as a reference for managing your critical relationships through the journey of life called your career. Keep it permanently in your business library."
Laurence J. Stybel, Ed.D., Stybel Peabody Lincolnshire
"Jan Yager has explored an arena, workplace relationships, and redefined it by clarifying it in a refreshing and eye-opening way. While reading Who’s That Sitting at My Desk? I kept thinking, ‘Aha, now I see.’"
Jane Pollak, author, Soul Proprietor
"This book is destined to become a classic. If you are involved with any form of business, small or large, if you own your own business or are an employee, you will find gold in these pages."
Carl Sanger, principal, Serenity Wealth Management, LLC
WHO ’S THAT SITTING AT MY DESK?
Selected Other Books by Jan Yager [a.k.a J. L. (Janet) Barkas]
Nonfiction
Grow Global
Productive Relationships
The Fast Track Guide to Speaking in Public
Work Less, Do More (2 nd edition)
When Friendship Hurts: How to Deal With Friends Who Betray, Abandon, or Wound You
Friendshifts: ® The Power of Friendship and How It Shapes Our Lives
Friendship: A Selected, Annotated Bibliography
Road Signs on Life’s Journey
Business Protocol: How to Survive & Succeed in Business
Creative Time Management for the New Millennium
Creative Time Management
Effective Business & Nonfiction Writing
Making Your Office Work for You
The Help Book
125 Ways to Meet the Love of Your Life
Single in America
Victims
The Vegetable Passion: A History of the Vegetarian State of Mind
365 Daily Affirmations for Creative Weight Management
365 Daily Affirmations for Happiness
365 Daily Affirmations for Friendship
365 Daily Affirmations for Time Management
Sleeping Well (co-authored with Michael J. Thorpy, M.D.)
The Encyclopedia of Sleep and Sleep Disorders (co-authored with Michael J. Thorpy, M.D.)
Career Opportunities in the Film Industry (co-authored with Fred Yager)
Fiction
The Pretty One
Untimely Death (co-authored with Fred Yager)
Just Your Everyday People (co-authored with Fred Yager)
The Cantaloupe Cat (illustrated by Mitzi Lyman)
WHO ’S THAT SITTING AT MY DESK?
WORKSHIP, FRIENDSHIP, OR FOE?
Jan Yager
Hannacroix Creek Books, Inc.
Stamford, Connecticut
Copyright © 2004 by Jan Yager, Ph.D. (hardcover) Copyright © 2012 by Jan Yager, Ph.D. (e-book, trade paperback) All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form without written permission from the publisher; exceptions are made for brief excerpts used in published reviews.
Published by:
HANNACROIX CREEK BOOKS, INC.
1127 High Ridge Road, #110, Stamford, CT 06905-1203 USA www.hannacroixcreekbooks.com e-mail: [e-mail]
ISBN: 978-1-938998-08-9 (trade paperback) ISBN: 978-1-889262-96-3 (e-book)
Author’s note and disclaimer :
Quotes in this book not attributed to a secondary source are from the original research conducted by the author, in the form of interviews, written communications, or completed questionnaires, and are reprinted verbatim. However, if editing of a quote was required for sense, clarification, or length, care was taken to preserve the meaning and integrity of the quoted material; if appropriate, additions or changes are indicated with brackets. If anonymity was requested, a fictitious first name has been provided; identifying details have also been changed to maintain that anonymity.
Secondary sources cited within the text have complete bibliographic entries in the Bibliography.
This publication contains the opinions and ideas of its author and is designed to provide information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the author and publisher are not engaged in rendering professional career, legal, psychological, or other services. If expert assistance is required, the service of the appropriate professional should be sought.
Publisher’s Cataloging-in-Publication Data
(Provided by Quality Books Inc.)
Yager, Jan, 1948
"Who's that sitting at my desk?" : workship,
friendship, or foe? / Jan Yager. --1 st ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
LCCN 2003114699
ISBN 18892622943 1. Psychology, Industrial. 2. Interpersonal Relations. 3. Industrial sociology. 4. Success in Business. I. Title. HF5548.8.Y333 2004 650.1'3 QBI03-200872
This book is dedicated to my loving family my husband Fred, our sons Scott and Jeffrey, grandson Bradley and to my caring extended family, workships, and devoted friends
Contents
1 Who’s That Sitting at My Desk? An Introduction
2 Types of Workplace Relationships
3 How to Start, and Maintain, a Workship
4 Four Key Positive Workships
5 From Workship to Friendship
6 Power Workships/Friendships and Cultural Concerns
7 Opposite-Sex Considerations
8 Dealing with Conflicts
9 Coping with Endings
10 14 Types of Foes You Might Encounter
11 How Workships and Friendships Help or Hinder Getting a Job or Growing a Business
12 Working from Home or Alone
13 Workplace Relationships Begin at Home
14 School as a Training Ground for Work Relationships
15 Personality Traits You May Find at Work
16 30 Insights on Workplace Relationships
17 Summing Up
Selected Bibliography
Resources including Websites
Acknowledgments
Index
About the Author
1
Who’s That Sitting At My Desk? An Introduction

"The real question about the workplace is: Who are your friends, who are your enemies, and how do you tell the difference?"
Patricia Schroeder, former congresswoman, Former president and CEO, Association of American Publishers
F oes or enemies may be a lot harder to spot than friends in the workplace, and at times it may be difficult to understand why they even became that way. I am reminded of an anecdote shared by a business executive who wasn’t getting the help and support he needed to do his job:
I had just started at the company and was making the rounds, meeting with other managers with whom I would be working, when I did something that would impact my entire career at that firm. The person I was scheduled to meet was in a meeting when I arrived, so her secretary invited me to wait in her office.
A few minutes went by. I read all of the plaques on the wall and then, figuring I had a little more time, I sat down behind the empty desk to admire the spectacular view of New York Harbor.
That’s when I heard a female voice ask in a harsh tone, "Who’s that sitting at my desk?"
As she entered, I quickly got up and moved to another chair. Unfortunately, the damage had already been done. I didn’t know it then, but over the next few years, it became apparent that I had created an adversary who would attempt to undermine my every move.
At one point it got so bad that someone in another department said to me, "We don‘t know what you did, but for some reason she‘s told us not to assist you in any way."
Scenarios like that happen every day in the workplace; even small seemingly insignificant slights can have immediate and long-term repercussions.
What could that business executive have done differently once he became aware that he had somehow cro