When pulling together a team for a project, there will be ‘types’ of players – often with good skills – who will put their own ambitions ahead of the team’s objectives. By Angela Carroll

How your team interacts can make or break a project. However, often little time is spent at the front-end of the project, recruiting the right personalities and working out how the team fits together.

Sally-Anne Mitchell, lead consultant of analysis and change at business and consulting company Ajilon Australia, argues that identifying key personality types and discovering whether they are the right “fit” for a team are a

Email, one of the world’s greatest communication tools, has morphed from servant to tyrant. By Ainsleigh Sheridan

Globally, 100 billion business emails are transacted daily. It is predicted this will rise to 132 billion by 2017. You’ve got mail – and potentially a serious problem.

That’s certainly how John Borghetti sees it. The Virgin CEO says he gets up to 500 emails a day and still has hundreds to read on a Sunday – at 3am!

However, an email counter-culture is rising in executive ranks with CEOs taming inboxes using extreme techniques, some of which are getting the click of approval from email experts.

Illawarra Yacht Club CEO Matt O’

Australian demographer Bernard Salt has carved out a unique niche as the go-to man when managers or the media have questions about the forces shaping the nation, writes Leon Gettler

What’s keeping managers up at night? Australia’s most celebrated demographer Bernard Salt says it’s a completely different proposition from 10 years ago.

“The thing that used to keep CEOs awake at night were operational matters, like how do I reduce my staff turnover,” Salt says.

“What do I do if the dollar rises? What do I do if interest rates fall? What is scaring CEOs witless now is the possibility of a fundamental shift to the business model.

“We have always a

Starting a new job can be stressful, but there’s no need to sweat. You can stifle the nerves by being prepared and in no time, the scary new environment will be old hat. By Emma Williams

No matter what your experience level, the first day and even the first week at a new job is a nerve-racking experience. Starting a new job is strangely reminiscent of the first day at school – everything is different and unfamiliar, you don’t know anyone and even the little things, like not knowing where the lunchroom is located, can be distressing. The pressure to hit the ground running can be immense, so we’ve put together some simple tips to keep you

AIM in Victoria played host to the first Management Today Roundtable last month, discussing productivity and innovation with Federal Minister for Small Business Bruce Billson and executives and management experts. By Tom Skotnicki

Australia’s manufacturing industry is under stress following the decision to cease local vehicle production. The mainstay of industry policy for the past 60 years is about to disappear.

The answer lies in more innovation and increased productivity. However, a recent study of almost 2500 businesses conducted by AIM and Melbourne University found management is not up to the task of introducing and maintaining an innova

Dealing with an employee’s personal problems is a difficult yet crucial part of managing a team, writes Leon Gettler

Dealing with life’s ups and downs is now the big challenge for managers. A worker can be unfocused at work because they are going through a messy divorce, or their child has a learning disability. Maybe their eldest has a drug problem. Perhaps they are not putting in because they have a chronic illness and are in constant pain. Maybe they are suffering from depression. Or alcoholism.

How do managers cope? Do they say it’s that person’s personal issue and they have to sort it out? But what happens if it affect

Gabby Leibovich, co-founder and director of Australia’s biggest online shopping business Catch of the Day, has grown from a minnow to Jaws, snatching a sale every two seconds. By Leon Gettler

Unlike many business owners and managers, Gabby Leibovich embraces change. He relishes it.

Life is about change, he says. It brings new opportunities. Certainly Leibovich, co-founder and director of Australia’s largest e-commerce site, Catch of the Day, has the track record to prove it.

The Catch Group is Australia’s No.1 online shopping business. At the moment, it comprises five online stores: catchoftheday.com.au, scoopon.com.au, groceryrun.com.au, mumgo.com.au and eatnow.com.au. There are

Tom Skotnicki discovers that managing one of the largest cruise ships in the world requires both outstanding leadership skills and an unwavering focus on safety and security

A luxury liner is one of the most unique environments on earth. Captain Sverre Ryan, who is responsible for one of the world’s largest cruise ships, Royal Caribbean’s Voyager of the Seas, projects an aura of calmness that is in contrast with the frenetic activity taking place on board.

“It is a very complex operation,” he says. “It is a city at sea and there are few people you can call on if something goes wrong. It is a type of mosaic.”

Aboard there are thousands of passengers intent on making the most of th

The benefits of a good night’s sleep are well documented, but getting enough rest is still a challenge for many. Amy Birchall reports

If you hit the snooze button more often than you wake up feeling refreshed and ready to face the day, you’re not alone.

Respiratory and sleep physician at the Institute for Breathing and Sleep Dr Fergal O’Donoghue says most Australian adults aren’t getting enough sleep – and it’s because they fail to make it a priority.

“People are constantly pushing boundaries and skimping on sleep. It often isn’t considered as valuable as other activities,” he says. “If you take people out of their ordinary lives and put them in a controlled test en

Beating a much bigger opponent or turning a hopeless situation around are better odds than you think, according to intriguing research by bestselling author Malcolm Gladwell, as Gerard McManus reports

The idea of unlikely victory, of the insignificant defeating the mighty and of triumph over adversity, is part of the human condition.

They are the things that give people the hope to persevere – against all odds.

Malcolm Gladwell’s latest work, David & Goliath, examines this in a new light and his conclusions are intriguing, provocative and in some cases troublesome. For example, Gladwell says it is statistically provable the loss of a parent at an early age – one of the worst things that can happen in