Contributed Post - Mike McRitchie | Resume and LinkedIn Profile Writer | Telecom Marketing Content Writer

Stress at Work Affects in More Ways than you Perceive

May 7, 2018 by Contributed Post Leave a Comment

Did you know that almost half of the workforce feels overworked, and about 38% suffers from excessive pressure at work? Do you know what causes stress at work for you? It can be as casual as settling into a new workplace, which mostly gets resolved with the passage of time to as toxic as bullying and harassment. It could be high workload, unreasonable expectation, excessive work hours, or poor work environment that makes space for blame culture.

By understanding what triggers stress at work, you would be able to address them better and stay productive at the workplace without falling prey to them. There are many ways in which you lower the stress that is caused due to the aforementioned reasons besides various other stressors at a workplace. At times, it is as easy as discussing your problems with a senior team member and strategizing to resolve the issue from its root. Whereas, on occasions, you might have to confront the situation head-on by standing up for yourself against a bully or communicating to your boss about being overloaded with additional responsibilities.

Not taking action towards resolving an issue at work that is causing stress may have hazardous repercussions for your physical and mental health. Click here to check out this infographic from Armstrong Appointments for tips on staying stress-free at work.

From Me To Us: What’s Stopping Teamwork?

May 5, 2018 by Contributed Post Leave a Comment

When the business lingo is filled with one-liners that promote the importance of teams, from ‘there’s no I in the team’ to ‘together we can do so much’, it’s fair to say that companies are not given any chance to forget about their teams. Nevertheless, just because you insist on calling your employees a team doesn’t mean that they feel and behave like a team at all. When the full-length teamwork quote that you’ve put on the office wall doesn’t make it happen, then it’s time to review your team strategy. Indeed, contrary to the common misconception, the most common obstacle not teamwork isn’t the team itself. It’s the way the company fails to make it happen. From your internal processes in place to the way you manage your employees, you could inadvertently be counterproductive. Are you the one stopping teamwork in your company? Here’s how to find out.

Teamwork in Business

Is it even part of your process?

Ultimately, if you haven’t established collaborative habits in the workplace, it’s unfair to blame your employees for failing to work together as a team. Using open communication tools to improve the dynamics of your teams cross-company can help people from different department to exchange knowledge easily and smoothly. Tools such as Slack or Trello, for instance, create a sharing platform for everyone. To see continuous improvement you can implement several tools and processes that can increase the team’s opportunity to work together as one. It’s a behavior that you need to support by showing the example first; namely, you need to remain approachable and encourage an open atmosphere so that ideas can circulate without any hierarchic barrier. As a manager, your role is to offer transparency and guidance in this instance. Ultimately, if company-related information can’t travel from you to the team, you can’t expect the team to favorize collaborative processes.

Do people know and trust each?

At the core of a team, there’s the ability for employees to trust each other. Transparency and fair treatment from all managers can help to create an atmosphere where people are not competing against each other but working together. But, you’ll find that for newly established teams, team building activities can make a great deal of difference in bringing everyone together. Through games, such as by creating multiple teams to compete in a playful environment you can help people to develop their individual bonds and trust. Additionally, there’s always a motivation with these games. Namely, there’s the prospect of winning the awards for the best team building effort. Favorites are racing games and treasure hunts.

Do you praise the team?

Giving praise is important when your employees perform positively. Praising is your way of recognizing efforts, and it’s not the kind of thing you can substitute with paychecks. Nevertheless, when praising teams, it’s essential that you consider the while team efforts instead of one individual. Success is never the result of one single person’s work. Failing to identify this basic truth in your praises can lead to demotivation and lack of team consensus. Additionally, you’re at risk of creating conflicts within the team and pushing people against each other for the sake of recognition.

Ultimately, the question is whether you’re a team-aware manager. It’s your role to help the team to come together and perform. So, make sure to become the catalyst for the team and not the element of disruption.

4 Ways to Create a Healthier Office Environment

May 5, 2018 by Contributed Post Leave a Comment

Office Environment

If you’re responsible for managing an office and overseeing a team of people, or even if you’re just in charge of your home office and responsible for managing yourself, you’ll want to ensure that the office space you’re operating in is as healthy as possible.

“Healthy” in this context is a multi-dimensional measure, encompassing physical health, healthy social dynamics, and a wholesome effect on a person’s overall well-being and productivity.

Without further ado, here are some ways you can set about creating a healthier office environment today.

Take steps to remove all contaminants from the environment

One of the great scourges of the modern world is that we are constantly bombarded with toxic chemical contaminants which have a profoundly negative effect on our physical and mental wellbeing.

Xenoestrogens found in everything from the food we eat, to the water we drink, are associated with disruption of the endocrine system, leading to severe hormonal imbalances, and also to various forms of cancer and other health maladies.

Mold spores that are allowed to proliferate can contribute to chronic inflammation in the body, which is in turn connected with poor mental function, brain fog, and a host of associated health disorders.

Clearly, ensuring a de-contaminated work environment is of the utmost importance, for a variety of reasons. To tackle some of the most common irritants and pollutants that might be present in your office, investigate BPA free forms of printer paper and the like, as well as investing in a strong HEPA filter, for starters.

Maximize lighting in the office

Poor lighting may seem like a “merely” aesthetic issue, but there are ramifications for operating in a dim environment that you might not have realized.

For starters, it is often estimated that a majority of people in the developed world suffer from chronic vitamin D deficiency, due to insufficient sun exposure. Vitamin D is essential not only for the proper functioning of our immune systems, and the proper creation of various hormones, but it also mediates processes in the body which tie in directly to our mental acuity and mood.

In addition to that, many people suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder, and fall into a state of depression in the colder, darker months of the year. Vitamin D supplementation may play a role in combating this condition, but it seems that light itself plays some vitally important role in boosting mood. Hence why SAD lights, featuring full-spectrum white light, seem effective at treating the disorder.

The ideal for your office would be to have an array of skylights and large windows, allowing the morning sunlight to stream in whenever it was available. Unfortunately, it’s not always possible to undergo such a large remodeling operation on the spur of the moment.

The next best thing is to fill your office with full spectrum white lights.

Consider investing in adjustable standing desks and even treadmill standing desks

Recent research has painted a grim picture about the negative health consequences of excessive sitting. Sitting for too long each day appears strongly correlated with a higher chance of all-cause mortality, and it appears that the harm done by sitting around too much isn’t offset by working out vigorously for an hour in the gym each day.

The solution? Standing and walking more during the course of the day. It’s generally recommended that office workers stand and walk for at least 5-10 minutes per hour they’re sat in their chairs.

As employers typically don’t like the idea of their staff spontaneously strolling laps around the office as the mood takes them, some of the more daring have begun investing in adjustable standing desks — and even standing desks with added treadmill features — to improve their workers’ health.

The benefit of these desks is that a worker can easily switch from periods of sitting to periods of standing as the mood takes them, without abandoning their work in the process.

Allow sufficient time for lunch

Ideally, a “lunch hour” should actually be a lunch hour, not a “lunch-20-minutes”. It seems to be the case from what researchers have discovered, that eating more slowly and mindfully, and chewing food more thoroughly, has potentially striking benefits for a person’s health.

Among other things, eating in such a manner seems to reduce hunger to a greater degree, for longer, while also improving digestion and satisfaction. This, in turn, can lead to stable blood sugar levels, which in turn results in improved energy levels and concentration and better focus and mental clarity.

Allow your employees — or yourself — sufficient time to enjoy their lunch.

Five Characteristics of Inspirational Workspaces

May 5, 2018 by Contributed Post Leave a Comment

If you would like to build a strong brand and a good relationship with your employees, it is important that you are able to express your vision and values through your business premises. Design matters when it comes to workspaces, and you are more likely to be productive if you choose your location and design carefully. If you would like to create an inspirational workspace for your creative business, check out the below list of what to pay attention to.

1) Innovative

The space you are creating should be innovative. You don’t want it to be uninspiring and boring, especially if you are in the creative industry. Open spaces work well for young companies that are encouraging collaboration and new ideas. Innovation can help you improve your communication and collaboration skills, too. When constructing your new office space, check out structural-innovations.com for finding the right style and construction method.

2) Personal

While open plan offices work well, you will also have to allow your employees to personalize their own space. You might install a digital photo frame at every desk where your workers can customize their decor and their environment according to their taste. If you would like to attract and retain talent, it is a good idea to involve your workers in the design and planning process, so they can add their personal touch.

3) Adaptable

Modern spaces are also multifunctional, so they accommodate different activities that take place in the office. You might want to create a separate breakout area for your workers so they can spend some quality time together while having a break. Don’t make your meeting rooms dark and boring, and allow your workers to choose the furniture for the canteen and kitchenette, so they feel relaxed and at ease.

4) Entertaining

An office workspace should be entertaining, too. If the work you are doing allows background noise, you can let your employees choose the music or radio station. Alternatively, you can reward some of your best performing workers with choosing the music, entertainment, and event services offered at the office. Ask for a list of things they would like in the chillout areas, such as darts or air hockey, and reward them based on their performance.

5) Creative

Using the same colors and decoration as any other company in your industry will not help you stand out from the crowd and encourage creative thinking. Make some spaces ever changing; set up a quote board that everyone can contribute towards, or create team projects to design a new canvas that represents the team spirit. Make the spaces interactive, easy to interact with, and fun to use.

Company owners often choose standard designs when constructing or customizing their company premises. Making workspaces inspirational pays off long term You will be able to encourage collaboration, creativity, and having fun, which, in turn, will result in higher performance and job satisfaction. Don’t settle for the standard design, and create a workspace that your employees love and are proud of.

Trade Show Tips From The Expo Pros

May 5, 2018 by Contributed Post Leave a Comment

There are various ways you can improve your company’s exposure. For instance, effective marketing, using both digital and traditional methods, is a great way of helping the public find out about you and the services or products that you offer. But there are certain limitations to marketing, and it can only take you and your business so far. But thankfully, there are some other methods of finding that all-important company exposure, and one of the best is attending trade shows and expos.

At a trade show, you will be given the chance to set up a display and stall to show off everything there is to know about your company. It also puts you face-to-face with potential clients and other industry experts, so also doubles up as a fantastic networking experience.

Never taken a company to a trade show before? No problem; here are some tips that can really help you make your first time a success.

Customize Everything

You will need to think of some really cool event branding ideas so that your stall or display can stand out from all the rest at the trade show. Every company that attends will be putting its creativity to the test and trying to go all-out with their branding. You need to compete with this and try to make sure that it is your stand that sticks in people’s mind once they get home. That way, you will be a lot more likely to get potential new clients get in contact with you once they are back in the office the next day.

Offer Freebies

It’s always a good idea to offer some branded freebies to everyone who comes to meet you and your team. That way, they have something that they can take home that’s covered in your brand. They then won’t forget you for quite a while! There are lots of freebies that go down well with expo attendees, including branded bottles of water to branded stationery. For something a little different, though, you might want to give out some T-shirts with your logo on.

Hand Out Your Business Card

It’s not just freebies that you need to hand out to people who you introduce yourself to – you should also offer your business card to everyone who stops by your stand. That way, they can take your contact details with them and they won’t forget how to get in contact with you. If someone gives you their card in return, you should send them a friendly email after the event to follow up with them.

Create An Experience

When it comes to your stand and display, you shouldn’t treat them simply as a sales pitch. That can be quite boring. Instead, create a stall that offers attendees an experience. This can be something like an interactive hands-on display. By doing something like this, you will stick in their mind for longer!

Hopefully, all of these great tips will help you create a winning stand at your next trade show!