Question: “I often feel like an outsider in my office. I am 61, overweight, and have gray hair. My co-workers are in their 20s and 30s. The whole group goes out for “happy hour” once every six weeks … I usually avoid these get-togethers because I don’t feel comfortable with the youngsters … Do you think I should start going?” — Old & Gray
You may know the difference between the two, but have you ever used one of these homonyms in place of the other? It’s easy enough to mistakenly type one when you meant the other—and not even spellcheck is likely to catch it.
A co-worker makes Donna feel uncomfortable by spewing judgmental comments about her life choices. Donna wonders what to do about it. Is the HR department obligated to fix the problem? Or does this situation call for a frank co-worker-to-co-worker conversation?
Check your writing twice for misuse of these easy-to-miss homonyms, which a spell-checker won’t catch:
That colleague looking intently into your eyes as he answers your questions may be telling you a fib. Pamela Meyer, author of Liespotting: Proven Techniques to Detect Deception, says to look for these common tip-offs that someone is lying:
If an underlying tension exists between you and a co-worker, now’s the time to address it. While it may be easier to ignore it, such tensions can mushroom. Use these techniques to reverse the momentum of mounting conflict:
Steer clear of “oversharing” when it comes to out-of-office messages sent to the rest of the office. For example: “I’ll be leaving the office at 4 p.m. today. I’m taking my daughter to the dentist. Please send any urgent requests to Pam.” Does the message really need to explain where the sender is going?
It’s an old bit of advice that smiling while you’re talking on the phone is one way to improve your phone demeanor. But how many people actually follow that advice? New evidence may convince you to try it. Now scientists say that the people on the other end of the phone line really can tell whether or not you’re smiling.
Become an effective networker even if you’re an introvert, writes Devora Zack, author of Networking for People Who Hate Networking … Know when to use—and when to skip—skycaps while traveling … Track your personal spending with two free online tools … Give your “audience”—the people around you—a new, great story.
New research by Right Management shows organizations prefer employees who are a good motivational fit with the team and the organization’s culture. HR pros say that interpersonal behaviors and organizational fit are bigger factors than technical skills or experience.
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