LiveSmarter offers 20 tips for Web workers on how to do simple exercises with common elements in most offices. Check them out: 20 Simple At Your Desk Exercises for Web Workers.

We received this email from a reader: “I have found your site very helpful. On conflict resolution, how would I handle a supervisor who is less qualified and less capable than me. It is really frustrating!”

Well, that is a tough spot that you’re in… Before jumping to conclusions, try to ascertain whether there are underlying reasons to your supervisor’s actions. You may not be aware of all the circumstances, that’s why you may not understand why your supervisor does certain things.

That being said, if your supervisor is clearly not as competent as you, you may be perceived as a threat to him or her. This might impede on your performance because you may not be given projects that match your capabilities or your supervisor might try to undermine you. Try to get work from other people if possible. You should also envisage changing group or job. Whatever happens, if you feel you are in an unhealthy environment, take steps to rectify the situation.

Newsweek has an article highlighting five things about our working environment that impact our well-being.  For a discussion of these five elements and tips on how to address them, please see Five Reasons Your Office Is Bad for You.

Work is more than just receiving a paycheck. We spend a lot of time at the workplace, so working in a good environment is important. For companies that do not have the means to reward their employees monetarily, they should acknowledge their employees’ contribution and make them feel that the company’s success is a group effort.

The article referenced below somewhat plays down the impact of giving out bonuses because people have short memories and so the impact of bonuses will not be felt long-term. Many companies use bonuses, however, as an incentive to reward better performing employees. Why not? Why should everybody be treated equally? If someone does better, shouldn’t that person receive more? And won’t that also be an incentive for others to get going? In addition, bonuses are flexible and can be adjusted annually depending on the profitability of the company. There is a slippery slope however when bonuses are used as a substitute to acceptable pay increases, meaning that a company or firm uses the excuse that it already paid out a big bonus as a reason to only bump the salary slightly. Bonuses, as opposed to base salary, are not cumulative. In other words, salary increases add to your previous year’s salary, whereas a bonus has a “fresh start” every year.

All that being said, money is still very important for many people. Many companies waste money on little things that are often useless. If they could only save where they can and spend where it matters, meaning by increasing their employees’ salaries, that would be appreciated. It is very frustrating to be employed in a company where you see money wasted on useless things and to hear at the end of the year that you won’t get a good raise because of “money crunch.”

How to Reward Employees When Money’s Tight, TheStreet.com

Stephen Viscusi, author of “On the Job: How to Make it in the Real World of Work,” gives some tips on how to face backstabbing co-workers:

• Don’t be afraid to confront the co-worker directly.
• Avoid using e-mails, as they could be turned against you eventually.
• Keep the conversation short and professional.
• Choose your battles.
• Don’t assume the co-worker will change on his/ her own.  That won’t happen.

The above being said, avoid falling to the same level as the people that are backstabbing you.

When Co-Workers Play Dirty, CNN/ CareerBuilder

CareerBuilder did the research and came up with 10 possible reasons:

1. The person has a good relationship with someone higher up.  By relationship, we mean family, romance, friendship, etc.
2. The boss relies on the employee and is somehow more inclined to attribute the employee’s bad performance to factors outside of that employee’s control.
3. Everything taken into consideration, the employee brings more than he or she costs.
4. What if replacing that person ends up being worse?  In other words, what if management isn’t sure it can find someone better?
5. The boss is afraid of the employee.
6. The boss doesn’t want to be hurtful (has sympathy for the employee).
7. It may be easier to deal with the current employee than having to go through a hiring process, meaning screening, training, and integrating someone new.
8. The employee knows something (either about the boss or has expertise that just can’t be replaced).
9. The employee has everybody fooled.  In other words, he/ she is a good talker and always find his/ her way out of a bad situation.
10. Maybe the person is not such a bad employee after all…

Why Bad Employees Don’t Get Fired, CareerBuilder/ CNN

The article referenced below makes a joke on the back of U.S. Vice-President Cheney to the effect that the latter has been caught many times falling asleep during important events. That drop of humor, however, was meant to lay the foundation for a more serious issue, which is that we all tend to “slow down” between 2 and 4 p.m. That’s why, in many countries, workers actually have the right to take a nap. Yes, a “right!” I’m not talking about Mexico, but countries like China also.

That being said, instead of having recourse to short-sighted tips to stay awake like poking your arm with your pen to wake you up, taking it upon yourself to transcribe what people say during the meeting to keep your mind active, taking a walk before a meeting to prevent the inexcusable, or preparing yourself a nice cup of coffee at least 40 minutes before a meeting (yes, it takes 40 minutes for the caffeine to take effect)… maybe we should include into our daily routine a moment where we allow ourselves to actually take a short “sleep at work.”

Nodding Off on the Job: How Not to Pull a Cheney, The Globe and Mail

When does work become routine? Well, work can become routine for many reasons, but the real question is what to do when work so becomes. In the article referenced below, a person was passed over for a promotion because she had no more passion for her work. The article gave few tips to help her get back on track.

It basically comes down to doing an introspection and identifying areas that you think you are strong at and enjoy doing. From there, take steps to achieve your goal of getting more interesting work. If you don’t want work to be boring, there has to be a challenge involved. You have to take the initiative and get moving. Take control.

One interesting advice from the article is to do more things outside of the workplace. If your personal life is interesting, you will feel better about yourself and life at work will take another turn. Melva Brown, Dean and Executive Director of the State University of New York at Brockport Rochester Educational Opportunity Center, mentioned the 5 F’s: faith, family, friends, fun, and finance.

On a last note, change is the remedy to boredom, but change requires an open mind and a willingness to explore new things. Sometimes, a career change should be envisaged.

How to Deal with a Boring Job, Rochester Democrat & Chronicle

Mary Lorenz, from Career Builder, wrote an article on 10 habits you should definitely try to get rid of if you don’t want people to look at you as the “one to avoid.” Although there is a funny aspect to the article, the fact of the matter is that most of us carry with us bad habits… but we sometimes don’t realize “how bad” those habits are. An example from the article is the habit of going home a few minutes early to beat traffic. Why would others care? Yet, sometimes they do and sometimes, not only do they care, it annoys them. Worse, sometimes, not only does it annoy them, it gets them really mad to the point where they’ll start labeling you names.

That’s one of the problems working in an office environment. We have to nurture other people’s feelings, otherwise, you never know why people suddenly roll their eyes when you enter the meeting room, etc.

10 Habits of Highly Annoying Workers, MSN/ Career Builder

There is an interesting article on ReportonBusiness.com on how disabled workers feel the need to hide their disability and how this has become to some extent their “second job” on the job. A joint study by Ryerson University (in Toronto) and the Royal Bank of Canada revealed, however, that people with disability have shown persistence and ingenuity in meeting the demands of their work environment.

Disabled Workers’ Other Job: Hiding Their Disability, Report on Business