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Work Environment

6 Best Ways to Give and Receive Constructive Criticism

How to best give and receive constructive criticism? It can be tough for both ends. Read this guide for details.

 

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Business Trends

What is an Intrapreneur, and Their Value to Your Business?

You may have heard of an intrapreneur, but what exactly is their value to a business? Read further on.

 

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Work Environment

6 Employee Appreciation Ideas for the End of the Year

Do you need employee appreciation ideas this year? Don’t worry, we got you covered with only the best. Read on.

 

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Business Trends Work Environment

The Rise and Importance of Employee Flexibility

Why is employee flexibility trending now? It’s an important business practice with many benefits, that everyone should consider. Read on.

 

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Business Trends Work Environment

The Ultimate Morning Routine Checklist for a Productive Workday

If you’re looking to create a morning routine checklist or simply trying to find tips on how to improve it, then look no further. A good routine to stick with is pretty essential for a productive workday. Read more.

 

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Business Trends Work Environment

How to Better Guide Your Distributed Teams for Success

If you’re managing distributed teams and it’s been quite stressful, then it’s always ideal to find ways to better guide your employees. Here are helpful tips to keep in mind!

 

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Work Environment

8 Ways to Strengthen Your Work Team Culture

How is your work team culture? If it’s time to evaluate this important part of the business, then it’s ideal to keep these tips in mind. Read more below.

 

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Work Environment

How to Deal with Incompetent Coworkers in A Shared Workspace

Aside from the benefits that are part of a shared office space, there are also challenges that may arise such as dealing with incompetent coworkers. Below are a few tips to better handle this.

 

An unprofessional, annoying, or incompetent coworker is the bane of any professional workspace. But they aren’t avoidable, and many can slip into a professional setting without hinting at the problems they’re about to bring to your organization.

 

However, that doesn’t mean you should simply let their incompetence stand.

 

Whether you’re another worker or a team leader, there are a few things you should consider doing (and they don’t involve immediately tattling to the management or firing them on the spot).

 

Do Not Vent to Other Coworkers

 

First things first – maintain professional common sense in this kind of situation. Under no circumstances should you turn an incompetent coworker into a gossip topic.

 

While it might be really easy to succumb to this, and just blow off a little steam by badmouthing the one employee, it’s definitely not worth it.

 

Perpetuating an atmosphere that encourages gossip can be extremely toxic and does not make for a healthy work environment.

 

Document Everything You Can

 

The worst thing you can do when talking to someone a little higher up about what’s been going on is to come to them with pure hearsay. You need evidence, witnesses, and information. Gather as much of it as you can and keep it ready.

 

Most importantly, talk to them.

 

An annoying and incompetent coworker might be really difficult to work with, but there could be a good reason – not one that excuses incompetence, but one that might help you get them the time they need to sort out their problems before returning to work for a second chance.

 

Leave Emotions Out of It

 

Do not let things get out of hand, regardless of whether you’re the manager/leader of the group, or another fellow worker.

 

When an incompetent employee is being unreasonable in a professional setting, it’s not an excuse to drop all pretense and make things ugly.

 

Regardless of what words get flung around, do NOT resort to ad hominem attacks. Do NOT vent to other coworkers outside of the office.

 

If you find yourself close to a breaking point – take a break. It’s definitely not worth exploding and making a scene simply for the satisfaction of finally being able to say what you’ve been wanting to say all along.

 

Regardless of your position, do NOT let yourself get burned in the long-term for letting things get out of hand with someone who has dug themselves a professional grave.

 

 

Don’t Pick Up Their Slack

 

If you’re witnessing a coworker being sloppy with their work, your first instinct might be to ‘help’. But there’s a limit to how much help can actually do any good.

 

If it’s clear that your coworker is going through a genuinely tough time (or they mention it), then helping them is the right thing to do. It will be appreciated, and you know that their problems are temporary.

 

But if you decide to ‘help’ with a coworker who is refusing to do the work properly, all you’re doing is giving them even less of a reason to change or improve, while erasing any evidence of their incompetence.

 

If a coworker is unwilling to pull their weight, they shouldn’t count on others simply doing the work for them.

 

Furthermore, it sends a terrible message to the other workers in the group. They won’t be held accountable and won’t be as proud of their work as they should. They put in hard hours to see this business flourish while one person gets to take it easy without serious repercussions.

 

Yes, everyone has their limits, and there are variables in how much weight one person can pull. Some work harder and better than others, as expected. But when it’s clear that a coworker simply isn’t even doing their level best, that needs to stand on its own.

 

Unless it’s clear that they need help, and unless it’s an incredibly minor task, do not help. That’s where empathy stops, and manipulation (on their part) begins.

 

Be Prepared to Remove Them

 

If you’re the group leader or manager for an organization at a shared workspace, then it’s your responsibility to maintain a healthy work environment.

 

Even if you don’t own the rented office space and share it with other businesses and workers, your team is your responsibility – the workers under your command reflect on you, and the organization, and externally, that reflects on the entire space.

 

That means knowing when it’s time to remove someone from your group.

 

Firing a worker unjustly is the last thing a small organization should do, but when there’s no room for growth or improvement, and it’s clear that the relationship you have with your coworker is adversarial at best, having them removed would be the healthiest thing to do – and the health of the business comes first.

 

The last thing you may do is fragment your team, either as a member of the team itself or as its manager. But regardless of how you feel about potentially creating a wedge, it’s important to know where you believe your priorities should lie.

 

In most cases, it’s better to prioritize a healthy and productive creative office space and a business that can continue to do work for its clients, than to avoid a confrontation with an incompetent coworker, who is unwilling to change or adapt.

 

Conclusion

 

It’s not a matter of cruelty or empathy – the needs of the organization come before the needs of the individual, and a difficult coworker isn’t just a problem for your group or business, but for the entire coworking space, putting not only them in a bad light, but your business, and in turn, the space itself (which can definitely hurt your reputation with its owners).

 

If you’re a coworker, document your coworker’s shortcomings to maintain evidence of their incompetence. Also, ask why they’re not finishing tasks.

 

If you’re a manager, then know that this is part of the job. An effective leader knows when it’s time to give leeway and push, and when it’s time to cut someone out of the organization entirely. Take responsibility.

 

And if you’re in need of finding a quality shared coworking space, feel free to contact us here at The Collection located in downtown, Los Angeles. We’re happy to assist with your coworking needs.

 

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Work Environment

9 Ways to Practice Mindfulness in the Workplace

It’s very easy to overlook our mental health when we have a full list of tasks to do each day. But to prevent burnout and becoming overly stressed, below are 9 ways to practice mindfulness in the workplace.

 

Mindfulness is more than just a means of paying attention to your surroundings or attempting to be aware of what you’re doing. Mindfulness is a state of mind describing a sense of being in the moment, of being aware, and of embracing a healthier perspective. 

 

To be mindful is to calm yourself from a reactionary state, and instead choose to be attentive. It’s to focus your time and energy on a single thing, rather than go on autopilot. And to pull yourself out of a daydream and be productive. 

 

Mindfulness has its distinct advantages in life, especially as part of a mental exercise program to combat anxiety, irritability, and depression. Many mindfulness exercises are rooted in the ideas already established and researched through cognitive behavioral therapy, wherein patients are taught to be cognizant of how their disorder affects their thoughts and behaviors, and how they can recognize those errant thoughts and replace them. 

 

Patients are taught to be mindful above all else and recognize when they need to step out of their head and take in the moment around them. 

 

These lessons aren’t exclusive to people with serious mental health issues. Mindfulness can be a great protective tool for preventing burnout, reducing the long-term impact of stress, and being aware of your own mental health and your boundaries (and how your work might be affecting them).

 

Mindfulness in the Workplace

 

Research shows that mindfulness provides a number of benefits, including reduced aggression and stress, as well as improved productivity and sociability. By incorporating mindfulness into your daily routine at work, you can become more focused and improve the rate at which you get things done, and help you become open to opportunities for learning and growth – critical aspects of career-building that, when ignored, can lead to a sense of stagnation and dissatisfaction with one’s work. 

 

One of the key factors behind the effectiveness of mindful practices at work is that it decreases mental rumination or breaks from focused cognitive activities. 

 

It also helps boost what is normally referred to as your “working memory,” and allows for greater cognitive flexibility (the ability to adapt to situations and think on the fly), as well as much less emotional reactivity (learning to disengage from distractions and upsets, and focus on productive tasks and activities). 

 

Yet for many, implementing mindfulness in the workplace is far easier said than done. Most people feel they don’t have time to meditate in the mornings or begin doing mindfulness exercises at their desk. 

 

But practicing mindfulness doesn’t require a huge time commitment or drastic lifestyle overhauls. You can become more mindful in your daily life and reap those benefits in your professional life through a few simple ways. 

 

1. Start Your Day with a Task Journal

 

It might seem a tad simplistic or overdone to start this list with a journal, but this is not the same as writing a self-reflecting journal or starting a diary to keep track of your mental state. 

 

Think of this as a slightly expanded to-do list, meant to help give you the chance to start the day with a list you can work through step-by-step throughout the workday. 

 

A task journal also lets you time yourself, and review over the weeks how you spend your day, and where you might want to improve your efficiency or swap tasks around to make the most of your time. 

 

2. Take 5-Minute Mindfulness Breaks Regularly

 

A 30-minute meditative session is a utopian goal for most people with busy workdays. But a 5-minute break is easy to fit in. Even if you pride yourself on never taking breaks, the truth is that we don’t run well on fumes. There is a chance that if you never give yourself any room to breathe, you’re running your long-term productivity into the ground. 

 

Every hour or two, take five minutes to get up from your station and be mindful. Use the opportunity to get a glass of water and focus on each sip, make a cup of coffee and focus on the process of making it, or step out into the balcony and be mindful of the scenery around you. 

 

3. Set Reminders to Refocus Yourself

 

If you’re prone to daydreaming, sometimes all you need a reminder to snap out of it. You can set these reminders yourself with a simple vibrating phone alarm. 

 

Set it to vibrate every few hours and use that as your cue to take a break or snap back to the moment if you’ve caught yourself ruminating or drifting away. 

 

4. Grab Some Time in the Nap Room 

 

Sometimes, repeated distractions and poor cognitive function at work is a simple sign of sleep deprivation. Instead of grabbing yet another cup of coffee, just get some more rest. This can mean improving your sleep hygiene to grab extra ZZZs at home or getting a regular power nap in at the coworking place

 

5. Enjoy the Little Pleasures

 

Rather than rushing through the day like clockwork, stop and remind yourself to enjoy the pleasures of any given moment – whether it’s the first sip of coffee in the day, your first bite of food, the feeling you get when you complete your first task for the morning, or the satisfaction of a good stretch after an hour or more spent sitting down. 

 

6. Quit Multitasking

 

Multitasking is not as efficient as you might think. It is far more effective to pick a single task at a time and focus on it, than it is to try and complete two or three tasks at once.

 

7. Be Consistent

 

Mindfulness is not a panacea for productivity issues and stress, but it can make a major difference in your workplace – provided you are committed to implementing it on a daily basis

 

Being mindful for a week or two isn’t enough to see lasting change. Be consistent, and reap your rewards. 

 

8. There Will Always Be Slow Days

 

We should aim to be productive most days but cannot be productive all the time. There will always be slow days, when you’ve hit your creative and productive limits, and when you just need a break. 

 

One or two slow days is fine, and you have to learn to cut yourself slack for that. 

 

One or two slow weeks may be a sign that you need an extended break, or that something in your life is causing some serious issues that need to be addressed through more than mindfulness exercises. 

 

9. Consider Seeking Help 

 

There are certain states of mind that won’t always be improved with just a bit of mindfulness. 

 

Crunch time at work, an abusive or hostile work environment, serious financial trouble, or a mental health condition cannot always be thought away, or tackled alone. We all need support sometimes, whether it’s friends and family, the authorities, or healthcare professionals. 

 

Sometimes, the greatest act of mindfulness is to know when you’ve exhausted your own options, depleted your stores, and reached your boundaries. You need to know when to seek and accept help, and preserve yourself. 

 


Read More:

5 Ways to Reduce Anxiety at Work

Categories
Work Environment

9 Ways to Improve the Employee Experience

Prioritizing the different areas of the employee experience has definitely shifted since the start of the pandemic. Here are a few ways to continuously improve it.

 

The employee experience was once centered around creating a comfortable and productive workplace, conducive towards drawing out strengths and compensating for weaknesses. But with COVID-19, some of the priorities among both employers and employees have shifted towards better crisis management, greater decision-making in the hands of employees as company stakeholders, and better transparency between management and the workers – all alongside a culture of growth and safety.

 

As we seek to find ways to improve the employee experience in 2021 and beyond, we need to consider how our workers are any company’s greatest asset, and that managing teams and people must be about providing opportunities for growth, autonomy, and feedback, over control and workplace regulations. Here are nine ways companies can seek to improve the employee experience in a post-pandemic world.

 

1. Work from Anywhere Policies

 

COVID-19 has taught us that a whimsical approach to implementing work-from-home policies carries massive drawbacks, particularly to employees struggling to create healthy boundaries between work and home or tasked with caring for young children. Not everyone can successfully implement and reap the benefits of remote work through their living room or home office – but that doesn’t mean we need to go back to purely centralized office spaces and greater investments in expensive commercial real estate.

 

Instead, we should look towards the potential of work from anywhere policies, and the growing coworking market, as well as its potential to help companies form hub-and-spoke workplace arrangements that allow them to greatly expand their physical presence throughout a region or country while reducing the employee commute.

 

The ability to work from anywhere, be it the main office, the home office, a coworking space, or a local café, gives workers the autonomy they need to develop their own creative space and find an arrangement that allows them to be as productive as possible.

 

2. Establishing Trust in Leadership

 

Some companies have failed to instill a sense of trust in their employees throughout the pandemic, providing little to no information on how employees should protect themselves, or how the company is planning to respond to mandated lockdowns, social distancing rules, and other hygiene concepts.

 

Management and business leaders need to do better in taking charge in critical moments such as these, and training themselves and others to develop better communicative skills with employees, reach out to them on multiple channels in the event of an emergency or crisis, and provide clear instructions on how to proceed for everyone’s sake.

 

3. Open and Transparent Channels Between Management and Employees

 

The ability to freely communicate between employees and management is important – management can only truly receive effective feedback through transparent communication, and employees need to be empowered to honestly reflect on managerial decisions and weigh in on company policy, especially when it affects them.

 

This is critically important in a post-pandemic world, where employees want both job security, and the ability to feel safe in the workplace. The decision-making remains in the hands of those in charge, but better actionable feedback can help them make better decisions.

 

4. A Culture of Employee Advocacy

 

63 percent of employees do not trust their company’s leadership. Many feel that executives are perhaps self-serving, or don’t know how to do what’s best for their employees. Promoting spokespeople within teams and departments to collect and voice employee’s concerns and problems can go a long way towards fixing the rift existing in many companies between employers and employees.

 

In the absence of other forms of advocacy, companies need to give employees a platform to clearly communicate their demands and help them give input on the company’s direction. Without that, companies lose the trust of their workers.

 

5. Ample Opportunities for Growth and Development

 

The simplest individual motivator once an employee has reached an income level they’re happy with is the opportunity for self-improvement and professional development.

 

Companies should invest in skills labs, educational opportunities, and the chance for employees to become greater assets to the company through training and learning programs.

 

 

6. A Culture of Recognition

 

Making sure credit is given where credit is due is another important step towards improving the employee experience. Employees want to be appreciated for their hard work and are more likely to give more than the professional minimum when knowing that their efforts are being seen and rewarded.

 

7. A Clear and Actionable Company Vision

 

A company’s vision for itself and the future is definitive to that company’s culture and identity, and these are two important factors that greatly influence a worker’s relationship with the company they work for.

 

People want to feel like they are part of something greater, something meaningful, whether it is a business dedicated to world-class quality, promoting local talents and traditions, or simply shaking up and innovating in an old industry.

 

A stronger and clearer company vision also massively helps businesses who lack physical cohesion in the form of a single office, by helping a scattered group of professionals rally behind a shared dream.

 

8. Smaller, Autonomous Teams

 

Teams too large for a single manager often lead to professional waste, in the sense that time and resources aren’t funneled where they should be, certain accomplishments and efforts get overlooked, and employees who might otherwise become important assets look towards other opportunities where their skillsets might be better valued.

 

To that end, companies should consider allowing smaller teams to form within departments, autonomous and self-sufficient, given the responsibility of choosing and completing their own tasks and coordinating with the rest of the department on a regular basis to decide how tasks are best divided between each team.

 

This way, each group develops its own working dynamic and leadership, and isn’t dependent on the sole decision-making of a single overwhelmed manager.

 

9. Room for Slack and Rest

 

A company culture dedicated entirely to the hustle may bring in the most dedicated and hungry talent but is also prone to greater amounts of stress and burnout. Employees need time to recuperate physically and mentally and divorce themselves entirely from their work.

 

Make sure every worker understands the importance of having clear-cut boundaries that allow them to charge their batteries while away from the office and come back reinvigorated and reinspired. Promoting rest also helps turn workers into creatives, allowing them to contribute to a company in a more unique and innovative way.

 

Slack time is important, too. It helps employees recover between sprints of work on tight deadlines and demanding projects, ensuring that they’re ready for their next challenge after a few slower days at work.

 

Conclusion

 

The employee experience in a post-pandemic world prioritizes the communication between team members and team leaders, between workers and managers, and of course, between employers and employees.

 

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