Syndicated GateHouse Media Columns

Manager Mechanics president Eric Bloom is a nationally syndicated weekly columnist with GateHouse Media on management related topics.

Below is a list of his published columns.

Congratulations, you get to manage your friends

The management dress code

Developing trust with your employees

Motivating your group

Managers live in fish tanks

Work is not a democracy, it's a dictatorship

Allowing for employee's personal needs

Following the company line

The rule of 'no surprises'

Making promises you can't keep

Giving constructive criticism

Being the chief cheerleader for your department

Manager-level politics

Working with other managers

The basics of managing up

Knowing what not to send in a business email

Giving promotions

Getting permission to hire

Parity in pay among peers

How to give a raise

The rules on 'span of control'

The importance of communication

Contractor-to-employee conversions

Working with vendors

Working with the finance department

The 7 types of difficult employees - part 1 of 3

The 7 types of difficult employees - part 2 of 3

The 7 types of difficult employees - part 3 of 3

How to review resumes

Deciding which person to hire

Succession planning

Performance reviews

Management by objective

Employee training - who needs what

Organizational change

Components of your budget

When an employee gives notice

Defining your management style

Watch and learn from other managers

How to find a mentor

Leadership verses management

About the budget-planning process

Make sure you want to be a manager

Consider your next move

Salary planning

How to interview job candidates

Expenses versus capitalization

Protecting employee data

Making promises to your staff that you can't keep

Making racial, sexual or other jokes in bad taste with your staff

Office gossip about the people who work for you

Playing favorites with your employees

Start thinking like a CEO

Have an open-door policy? Make sure you're inside

Managers and mentoring

Setting team expectations

Value of 360-degree analysis

The work/life balance

8 questions that can help you improve your team's performance

The volunteer manager

Don't take best people for granted

8 Time management To-Do tips for managers

Making decisions using other people's expertise

What does your office/cube say about you?

Look for the invisible

Bloom's Law on Technology Skill Set Marketability: Your technology skill set has a 2-year half-life

Being a player/coach in the workplace

How young bosses can learn from older workers

Managers and knowledge workers work in different time chunks

Your friends come and go, but your enemies accumulate

Celebrate your team's successes

Making decisions using other people's expertise

What tai chi taught me about being a manager

7 advantages of knowing your manager's constraints and limitations

The 3 parts of every job

Don't let the corporate nod happen to you

What kind of manager are you?

Value of diversity within your team

Hire people that love their work

People join companies and leave managers

How do you measure your team's success?

4 Great Root Cause Analysis tools for managers

The Five Whys: A great root cause analysis tool for managers

Cause mapping: A great root cause analysis tool for managers

Brainstorming: A great root cause analysis tool for managers

Fishbone Diagrams: Another great root cause analysis tool for managers

Working in the shower can be very productive

Do an Annual Goals Reset

Your Department's Balanced Scorecard

7 Ways to Treat Your Team Like They Are Smart

What Marathon Running Taught Me About Being a Manager

The Power of Ethics

10 Great Negotiation Tips for Managers

Power of Immediate Action

Management Gone Wrong: 10 Ways To Fix Your Mistakes

10 Ways Moving Laterally Can Get You Promoted

Beware of Organizational Shift

Learn to Make Decisions Through Other People's Expertise

Learn management by talking to strangers

You don't need all the answers, just the right questions

10 Things your department can do during slower work times

Importance of hiring the right people

A fish rots from the head down

Manager Bench Strength explained, and why you should care

14 ways Google and YouTube can have tremendous value to a manager

5 Steps to help newly hired employees succeed

10 Tips on running a successful staff meeting

Read management books and learn

What is your department's primary objective?

Coaching vs. Mentoring

Do you really listen to your staff?

What kind of manager do you want to be?