Krisp Tips of the day

Avoid Communication Fatigue When Working Remotely In an effort to stay in touch, virtual teams tend to spend a lot of time communicating digitally — on emails, in messaging apps like Slack, or texting. When you’re leading a remote team, consider these two strategies to limit digital communication: Routinize updates. Move your team toward brief status reports or bulletins — give them a template. Post it to a dedicated spot on a team site rather than sending it out by email. Hold virtual office hours. Make yourself available to the whole team for a few hours each week. Keep the time consistent if you can, and let everyone know how to get in touch with you.

Take on Uncomfortable Tasks to Help You Grow It could be small talk with strangers at a networking event or maybe the idea of speaking in public makes you break into a cold sweat. But the reality is that even if you find these tasks unpleasant, they’re necessary to growing in your career. You have to get out of your comfort zone, so start with small steps. Instead of giving a talk at an industry event, sign up for a public speech class. Instead of speaking up in the boardroom in front of your senior colleagues, start by doing it in smaller meetings with peers to see how it feels. You may stumble, but that’s OK. In fact, it’s the only way you’ll learn, especially if you can appreciate that missteps are an inevitable — and in fact essential — part of the learning process.

Beat Procrastination by Thinking About the Future   Visualize. Take a moment to paint a vivid mental picture of the benefits of completing the task. If there’s a phone call you’re avoiding or an email you’re putting off, imagine the sense of satisfaction you’ll feel when it’s over. Pre-commit, publicly. Most of us don’t want to look foolish or lazy to other people. So dare to say, “I’ll send you the report by the end of the day” — it can be just enough to make taking action more appealing. Confront the downside of inaction. Instead of telling yourself you can do the task tomorrow (or the day after), force yourself to think about the downside of putting it off. What are the real consequences of not getting it done today?

How to Attract the Best College Talent   Many companies have on-campus recruiting plans, where they focus their sourcing and branding efforts, but being present on campus isn't enough. To build a brand among college grads, you need to get your story out there. Use language that Millennials relate to, and go where the students are (which is often not at college fairs) – go online. Invest in a visually appealing, easily accessible, content-rich site where students can go to learn about your company. Showcase the right alums, intern experiences, and the basic message you want to deliver. A good "brand page" should tell the story of your mission, your culture, and why someone should join your team. You can also engage through social media. Look at grads’ specific interests, who they follow, what they're talking about, etc. Most online communities don't like being marketed to, so be authentic, bring users value, and be cautious of blatant self-promotion.

Gratitude Can Inspire Patience, and Long-Term Success   Most of us favour short-term gratification over long-term rewards, and that’s not a good thing. For example, if offered a choice between receiving $75 today or $100 in a year, most people would choose the $75 even though that’s less money. The tendency to discount future value can contribute to various problems like credit-card debt or substance abuse. We’re often told that using willpower to suppress our emotions can curb this desire for instant gratification; however, using emotions can actually be helpful. According to a new study, after prompting participants to think about things they’re grateful for, they demonstrated more patience, and were able to keep their impulses in check. This suggests that gratitude can foster long-term thinking. Because we all know that willpower can (and will) fail at times, having an alternative source of patience – one that stems from something as simple as reflecting on an emotional memory – offers an important tool for long-term success.

Two Ways to Leave Work Stress Behind   After a long day, it can be a struggle to leave work behind you. Too often, we take out job-related stress on our friends, children, or partners. Here are two ways to make sure your work troubles stay at the office: Have an end-of-work habit. Signal to your brain that it’s time to go home with a ritual that helps you unwind. Take a more scenic route home, listen to music on the bus, go to the gym. Make time for this habit so you can switch gears before you get home, not as you’re walking in the door. Create a third space. It’s easy to just shuttle back and forth — physically and emotionally — between work and home. But having a third space besides these two locations will help you decompress. It might be anything from a quiet café to a book club to a poker night. It should be a place where you explore your interests, relax, and ideally find fulfilment.

How to Tell Your Boss You Disagree  It’s normal to shy away from disagreeing with your boss. You may think that doing so will make your manager perceive you negatively or trigger a defensive reaction. To disagree constructively, try these things: Provide suggestions that your manager can act on, not just objections. Instead of pointing out that a system is faulty, say, “How about we contact others in the industry who have used this system to see if they’re having the same problems? Would you like me to draw up a list of people to call and schedule some time with them?” Offer a range of options. Binary choices (“Your way or my way”) are likely to meet resistance. Suggesting a few possibilities signals your flexibility and invites your manager to respond in kind. Avoid “hot button” language. For example, if your boss always recoils when someone describes an approach as a “best practice” or “the next big thing,” find another way to express yourself.

Brand Yourself While Maintaining Your Integrity   In the American workplace, self-promotion is seen as a way to differentiate yourself and advance your career. But for people who grew up in cultures where modesty, composure, and self-control are strongly valued, it can be hard to meet the need for personal branding. In this case, it helps to reframe the idea of self-promotion – instead of viewing it as a selfish endeavor, think about whom else might benefit from your efforts. For example, if you’re known as a sought-after expert, clients will hire your company to have access to your skills. And if you come from a culture that emphasizes the group over the individual, highlight your achievements within the context of what the team or organization was able to achieve. This way, you can maintain your integrity while still getting name recognition for all that you do.

What Went Wrong in Your Last Presentation? Have you given a presentation recently? If so, try this exercise to strengthen your next one. Reflect back on your performance and assess your talking points. No matter how well you planned your presentation in advance, the actual delivery will often expose flaws, gaps, or other shortcomings (even for polished presenters). You may discover glitches, such as a missing step in a process you outlined. Make a list of these flaws as soon as possible, while your memory is fresh, and promptly incorporate the changes into your slides. Watching a video recording will also help you identify minor problems with delivery, like weak opening remarks or awkward attempts at humor. You may also see trouble spots regarding the audience’s reaction: Are people nodding, or nodding off? Taking notes, or engrossed in their phones? Note weak moments, and develop specific fixes to sharpen your skills.

How to Build a Feedback-Rich Culture Direct feedback is the most efficient way for people to understand their impact on others in working relationships — but few of us realize that interpersonal feedback is as much a product of the surrounding culture as of the relationship itself. To cultivate a culture conducive to feedback: Start small. We miss opportunities to provide positive feedback every day because we think only big wins merit discussion. When you see any behavior you want to encourage, acknowledge it and express appreciation. Make it OK to say no. A risk in feedback-rich cultures is that people feel obligated to say “Of course” when asked, “Can I give you some feedback?” If people feel free to postpone such conversations when they’re not ready to have them, they’ll feel respected and be more willing to listen when the conversations do take place.

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