List three statements you might make to a colleague who has experienced a personal or professional loss/setback. How well do you think your statements communicate empathy for her/his loss?
Think about the last job you left. How and when did you announce you were leaving? What steps did you take to help transition your work effectively? How did you handle important connections/contacts? What could you have done to better manage your transition?
Most private sector employees are covered by the National Labor Relations Act, which, among other things, protects workers’ rights to discuss salary with each other (so long as you are not a supervisor). Ask yourself: Are you reasonably aware of what your peers make at your company?
Before your next presentation (or even just a meeting in which you’ll have a speaking role), take 15 minutes to organize the information you’ll speak about into “chunks”—first thought, pause, second though, pause, and so on.
Think about the responsibilities you have in your job, and come up with a maximum of five broad categories to describe how they break down. For example, “managing my team,” “working on my own projects,” and “communicating with clients.” In a normal workweek (with no overtime), what percent of your time should you spend on each of these items?
Take a look at your to-do list for this week and choose three items to analyze in more depth. Ask yourself: How could you complete this task if you only had half the time?
Think about a colleague who presents themselves effectively in virtual meetings. List three behaviors your colleague demonstrates that contribute to his/her effectiveness. How do your behaviors compare?
Reflect on your interactions with your colleagues over your past two days of working from home. Identify at least three actions you took to maintain your connections with your co-workers. If you are struggling to come up with three actions, identify two actions you could have taken that would help to maintain effective working relationships.
As your next staff meeting, take five minutes at the start to sharing recent successes and giving “shout-outs” for work well done. If your team is small enough, go around the room and let each person share one personal success and give one compliment to another team member.
If you’re like most people, leaving empty pauses when you’re speaking makes you uncomfortable. However, a short pause between sentences can enhance your point, whereas filling in that space with “um” or other filler words detracts from it. Practice leaving a one- or two-second pause at the ends of your sentences during the next presentation you give, and see how it feels.
