Health care coverage if the job’s gone
Given the high cost of health care, many employees worry about what they would do if they lose their jobs. Experts offer this advice: Use it before you lose it; sign onto your spouse’s plan; look into COBRA.
3 little words can spell success
Enhance people’s positive impressions of you by changing three little words, suggests Joan Burge, administrative trainer and founder and CEO, Office Dynamics.
The high cost of rudeness at work
Rudeness and incivility at work have a huge effect on performance, according to a Harvard Business Review study. For example, in response to rudeness at work, 48% of employees decreased their work effort, and 47% decreased their time at work.
Whittle down errors with a checklist
Since employees began using checklists in Michigan hospitals, the infection rate has gone down by two-thirds. Could a checklist help you reduce errors or streamline a recurring task?
Keeping up with all the online chatter
Tracking web sites, blogs, social networking sites, Twitter—it can be overwhelming. And if you’re not fluent with online tools, it can sometimes feel like a serious waste of time. Here are four tools to help you keep track, without straying to web pages you don’t have time for.
Stay tuned in to free professional advice
A podcast can turn a morning commute into a chance to work on your professional goals. And it’s completely free. Here are some of the best for administrative professionals.
Ever think about being an ‘intrapreneur’?
You’ve been hearing a lot about creating value at work, especially lately, right? Being an intrapreneur is one way to do it. Intrapreneurs create a new process, product or service where they currently work. It’s like being an entrepreneur, but without venturing off to start your own business. It’s what Google famously allowed its employees time to do.
Be prepared: Plan for all the ‘what-ifs’
Financial advice maven Suze Orman says the motto of the day is, “Hope for the best, prepare for the worst.” Many of the factors that lead to layoffs are not within your control, so plan for the “what-ifs,” so you’re prepared for anything. Her advice:
Leave a tip, take a tip
Pick up money-saving tips at TipJar (www.google.com/tipjar), a site created by Google employees, where people submit and rank tips for home and the workplace.
Tell a tale to sell your ideas
As many companies cut back on expenses and, in some instances, cut staff, how do you maintain your edge and ask for what your department needs without immediately seeing your request denied? Tell a tale, become a storyteller and see your words make an impact.