4 ways to stretch your budget
Small budgets and the need to save money for the company are the reality for many organizations these days. Writing at Business.com, Brian Hughes shares tips for finding cheaper travel plans and activities.
Keeping the office party planner at bay
Q: “A woman in our department has become the self-appointed party planner. ‘Renee’ is constantly trying to organize office celebrations for birthdays, weddings and other events. Now Renee is trying to arrange a send-off for someone who is retiring. Since I have worked with the retiree longer than anyone else, Renee says I should do something for her. To be honest, I do not enjoy working with this person and am actually counting the days until she leaves. How can I politely tell Renee to stop bothering me?” Uninterested
1-Minute Strategies: September ’16
Ask the right questions to make meaningful connections … Get mental reminders from visual cues … Sometimes to-do lists can be more overwhelming than helpful.
When to use ‘between’ and ‘among’
The words between and among aren’t always interchangeable. Mignon Fogarty shared examples at QuickandDirtyTips.com to illustrate the distinction.
Deal with the well-meaning interrupter
Q: “You have previously said that cubicle conversations cannot be considered private because they take place in an open area. However, my situation is slightly different. Whenever someone comes to me with a question, the woman in the next cubicle yells out the answer before I have a chance to speak. I think it is very rude of her to butt in when someone has specifically asked for my opinion. How should I handle this?” Drowned Out
Rating your co-workers: Is honesty really the best policy?
Question: “The one thing I don’t like about my new admin job is that we have to rate our co-workers every year! I’m dreading filling out that form. It asks us to rate people on a scale from 1 to 5 in a number of different work categories. The ratings are anonymous, but I’m afraid being really honest will cause resentment and strife if someone receives an accumulation of mediocre ratings. Realistically, wouldn’t it be better to avoid giving 1s and 2s no matter how I feel, and just let our manager deal with visible performance problems?” – Monty, Tech Documentation Specialist
The right way to handle feedback
Feedback is crucial in the workplace. The problem is that giving feedback can put you or your work position in jeopardy, depending on how it’s perceived by your co-workers or boss. Stephanie Vozza, writing at Fast Company, suggests ways to give constructive feedback without hurting your relationships or opportunities at work.
Checked your E.Q. lately?
Being aware of others’ feelings (emotional intelligence, or E.Q.) can help to improve work interactions. Melissa Moore, writing at Time’s Motto, offers these tips to stay aware of co-workers’ personality styles and make meaningful connections.
‘I didn’t see that email’ = ‘I’m somewhat clueless’
One of the things every co-worker has a right to expect of us is that we’ll read and react to all our emails from them. When we claim we didn’t see one, or forgot about it, it’s reasonable for them to question our work methods. After all, those messages just hang out in our inbox, […]
Protect your docs with a laminator
Here are the Top 10 Best Thermal Laminators In 2016 Reviews, by top10bestpro.com (with Amazon.com prices).