It’s sometimes really hard to know what to say to a coworker who is obviously upset about something. You want to help that person to feel better, but you might also be afraid of saying the wrong thing. Author Deborah Grayson Riegel recommends that you avoid telling the person how they should be feeling. For(…)
You work hard at your job. You want to be productive and effective. And in order to be productive and effective, it’s important for your manager and coworkers to have confidence in your work, and trust you to get it done right. But according to author John Brandon, there are four mistakes that you can(…)
If you’re a manager, it may be common practice for you to email one of your team members and say “I need you to do this task/project.” But according to author Monica Torres, this isn’t the best approach. When you say “I need you to do this task,” it can come across as abrupt. In(…)
Have you ever had a coworker come to you with an idea that they think is wonderful and amazing – and you absolutely hate it? What should you say to your excited coworker? How can you tell them that their idea is trash without coming across as short-sighted and mean? Well, if you’ve ever been(…)
Optimists are positive, upbeat, and enthusiastic. Pessimists are realistic, cautious, and somewhat negative. Optimists are full of ideas. Pessimists tend to oppose new ideas because they focus on all of the bad things that could happen if those ideas were put into practice. Thus, this can sometimes lead to conflict at work. On a team(…)
I think that honesty is always the best policy at work. If a project isn’t going well, I tell my manager about it. If I make a mistake, I own up to it. But I do sometimes struggle with being honest when I know that my message is going to hurt a coworker’s feelings. Should(…)
Videoconference calls can be kind of awkward. People often talk over each other. It’s difficult to see people’s expressions clearly. It can be challenging to interact and communicate. As a result, even though you might be very charming in person, that may not come across during a videoconference call. A videoconference call is very different(…)
You probably send a lot of emails over the course of your workday. And you probably have a standard “closer” – the word or phrase that you include at the end of the email, right before your name. It might be something like “best” or “thanks” or “sincerely.” My standard closer is “thanks” or “thanks(…)
In 2018, Adobe conducted an interesting survey. They asked 1,001 people what they thought were the most annoying phrases used in work emails. Here are the results: “Not sure if you saw my last email” – 25% “Per my last email…” – 13% “Per our conversation…” – 11% “Any update on this?” – 11% “Sorry(…)
It’s not unusual for people to have more than one boss. According to a 2017 Gallup survey, 44% of U.S. workers report to more than one person. This can sometimes lead to stress and conflict, especially if the two bosses are demanding that the employee devote all of his or her time to different projects.(…)