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Northern Telecom designed its new head office as a dramatic, original workspace to inspire 'innovation and creativity.' While the result is certainly dramatic, it's no edgier or inspirational than a [...]

With 2000 looming, the workplace is about to be overrun by digital soothsayers and gurus of the apocalypse. Woe to those who heed them. Remember how, as a kid playing [...]

In the past 18 months I've seen at least half a dozen acquaintances change jobs. They've all been under 40, with young families, and they've made the decision to take [...]

The truth about women business travelers can finally be told. They're slobs Of course, the first thing I do after checking into my hotel room - and I'm sure it's [...]

The convenience and immediacy of electronic mail is outweighed by such disadvantages as its vulnerability to abuse by malicious users and snooping by technologically adept individuals. Nevertheless, the technology is a blessing which has to be used well to avoid its becoming a bane.

Though a decade of downsizing has sapped corporate loyalty, most workers are still committed - to each other Who the heck do I work for, anyway? The question has always [...]

Still see reunions as just another chance to network? Better look again I should have expected, I suppose, that the first person I would recognize at my high-school reunion would [...]

Is it wrong to tell lies at work? It depends how often and to whom they're told Today I told a whopper to someone in Vancouver. 'Of course I made [...]

Office morale slipping? Check out your walls. The problem could be a dreary company paint job ''Pond Scum,'Masking Tape,'Sweat Sock' or 'Lint.' Take your pick.' The guy from facilities holds [...]

No one likes performance appraisals. But if you can't avoid them, there are ways to get by I should be somewhat of an expert in carrying out performance appraisals: after [...]

The list of endangered workplace species has a new member: the executive secretary Unmarked by any anthropologist, there is a whole tribe disappearing out there in the corporate jungle. We [...]

Why is it that, for so many men, bad hair days are a chronic condition? I've always thought that one of the great things about being a guy is the [...]

So you think your workers want a boss they can like? Better think again You can be a leader or you can be liked. Take your pick. That may sound [...]

Think you know the business world inside and out? Imagine how a bike courier sees it 'We're looking down,' Tom Ellis mutters into his two-way radio before swooping across Toronto's [...]

Mentorships, like affairs, often end badly. So why have they become such a popular corporate fad? In organizational life, there may be no relationship more complex - or fraught with [...]

For many ex-Olympians, adjusting to the workplace is the toughest test of all Certain sports resist the notion of a team player: boxing, small-boat sailing and - a sport that [...]

Do corporate festivities leave you shaken, not stirred? At the launch party for the new twice-monthly version of this magazine, I'm told, a 'Working Principles' martini was on offer. I [...]

Large organizations in the corporate, government, military and educational structures are conducive to the development of pompous characters. The failure of organizations is caused by pompous characters whose inability to laugh at themselves is mistaken for true leadership qualities.

Women's earnings may equal men's if they knew the rudiments of bargaining. Women are often shortchanged because they are ill-prepared to fight for what they want and are less prone to use bombastic tactics.

Why fret about attention deficit disorder? At work, it's the stuff of greatness It's not often I challenge the medical profession - except when that quack who ministers to my [...]

Where do baby boomers draw the line on sacrifices for their kids? Early retirement A pile of resumes landed on my desk recently, all from 20-somethings, all detailing stunning accomplishments: [...]

Yes, more working women are embracing color. But can you really get ahead in red? Picture yourself in cobalt blue: does it put you among the 'princessas' or the peasants? [...]

The first rule of successful recruiting? Never judge a candidate by his halo Some people, you may have noticed, are better at being interviewed for the job than doing the [...]

Comments on the annoying beeps that computers, cell phones and other electronic gadgets make. The author's way of dealing with the beeps and other interruptions; Mention of a study showing that random interruptions lower people's scores on intelligence tests; A colleague of the author who gets called accidentally from a co-worker's cell phone at all hours of the night.

Discusses the passages in the memoir `The Soccer War,' by Polish foreign correspondent Ryszard Kapuscinski on the socio-economic realities of desks in workplaces. How desks warp ordinary human interaction, tilt the balance of power and destroy friendships; Author's reflection on his own desk; What kind of desks are used by Canadian executives such as Maureen Kempston Darkes of GM Canada.

Discusses sports betting pools in the workplace. The author's decision to join the hockey playoff pool; The rewards of participation.

Presents information on Verticore Communications Inc. and their plans to equip elevators in Canada with view screens offering information and advertising to elevator passengers. Author's opinion of such a service; Verticore's product aimed at highly-paid executives; Secretaries, bike messengers and mail clerks seen as riding elevators most often.

Focuses on the increase in the use of surveillance cameras in everyday life. Comments of Frisco Bay Industries Inc. chief executive officer, Barry Katsof; Why cameras are increasingly being used in work situations; The great number of office cameras which are hidden from sight; Why companies use the cameras; Cost of video surveillance; When cameras are the only solution; Issues companies should weigh before committing to electronic surveillance.

Questions why some people adapt better to the business life than others. Valuing of a person's origins; Economic deterioration of small towns creating professionals with varied backgrounds; Need for social skills; Need to leave family baggage behind.

Discusses the lunch habits of the corporate world. Lunch at a desk, in the company lunchroom, food court; Boardroom working lunch; Business lunch.

Comments on the nature of being pompous and its origins. Whether being pompous is a result of genetics or environment; How pomposity is generally a male disorder; Effect of corporate environments on the nature of pomposity.

Presents the author's views on the gender gap in equitable pay for comparable work. Reasons why women do not earn as much as men; Their bargaining abilities and questions as to whether or not these are weaker than those of men; Guidelines for compensation negotiation; Whether or not women should mimic men; The male ultimatum; Being prepared to walk if compensation is not fair.