Alexandra Levit's Water Cooler Wisdom

Cyber Monday: Only the Beginning of Holiday Shopping on Company Time

Today’s the first day back at work after a long holiday weekend.  It also happens to be Cyber Monday, the online equivalent of the day-after-Thanksgiving retail shopping phenomenon Black Friday.

According to research performed this month by CareerBuilder, 29 percent of workers say they have holiday shopped online at work. Of those planning to shop online this year, 27 percent will spend one hour or more.  More than one-in-ten (13 percent) said they will spend two hours or more. 

There is probably no way to prevent your employees from at least taking a peak at their favorite online retailers today, but more importantly, what should be your strategy for the rest of the season?  Here are some suggestions for handling holiday shopping at work:

Don’t institute a blanket “no shopping” policy:  Your team members will feel that you don’t trust them and may perceive that you are acting more like a babysitter than a manager.  After all, productive employees will be productive regardless of whether they shop now and work at home later or vice versa.

Using a low key tone, suggest a moderate approach:  You might say something casual, in passing, such as:  “Hey guys, I know there are some big online sales this week.  Let’s just try to limit the shopping to a few minutes a day, okay?”  This will clue them in that you’re cool about it…and also that you’re aware of what they’re doing.

Talk to any team members who are abusing online access individually:  If you catch an employee surfing Amazon.com for large periods of time, take her aside and ask if she’s feeling challenged enough.  Perhaps suggest a new project that will re-engage her.

Make sure they’re aware of the organization’s larger e-communication policy:  Although you don’t necessarily have to do this now, at some point you should host a meeting for your team to discuss appropriate Internet usage on company time.  Many organizations have policies in effect that determine what sites your employees should visit, and how often, and you don’t want any of your employees to land in hot water.

This post was originally published on Intuit's Quickbase blog.

 

How to Lead in 2025

The business world will change dramatically in the next 10-25 years.  For one thing, due to a declining worldwide birthrate, the U.S., China, India, Europe, and parts of South America will struggle with labor shortages as the Baby Boomers retire en masse.

Global corporations will increase in size even as they become flatter in structure, virtual workspaces will become commonplace, social welfare will be a priority, and technology will remain king.   As an up and coming leader, what can you do to prepare for success in this brave new world?  Here are some topline ideas:

Focus on the training and development of Millennials 

Generation X, the group in between the Boomers and the Millennials, is too small to take over the reins, so Millennials must be primed for leadership positions at a younger age.

Combat employee burnout

Meetings occurring across time zones and 24/7 access to technology mean longer work days.  Be on the lookout for employees who seem overwhelmed and take steps to help them cope with this increasingly complex work environment.

Consider your mobility strategy

Competitive organizations will engage in more and more cross-national initiatives (for instance, an Indian company may hire a Brazilian team to manage a project in Europe), and PriceWaterhouseCoopers predicts a 50 percent growth in overseas assignments by 20/20.  Employees want the opportunity to help their companies expand – can you give it to them?

Increase your social focus

In the future, corporate social responsibility will be a business imperative rather than something we’d like in an ideal world, so the most successful leaders will be able to help their organizations “do well by doing good.”  Also, you will need to be concerned with the social welfare of your employees if you want to attract and retain the best talent.

Be collaborative and well-rounded

The top-down management model is quickly becoming a thing of the past.  Successful managers in the near future will be expected to lead by motivating and sharing responsibility with team members.  This approach will require an ever-widening skill set, including technical, administrative, human resources, and financial abilities.

This post was originally published on Intuit's Quickbase blog.

 

How to Fire a Client or Partner

As a business and workplace author and speaker, I’m always getting asked about how to cope with getting fired, or how to fire a wayward employee.  But no one ever talks about the best way to cut ties with an individual you’re working with as a client or a partner.

In my native world of public relations, the idea of firing a client who is paying you is virtually unheard of.  You simply put up with the abuse no matter how severe.  Talk to any business relationship expert, however, and you will surely hear that this is not a good situation for anyone.

Give Them a Chance, Then Show Them the Door: Provided you have had a heart-to-heart conversation with the problematic person and their negative or counterproductive behavior has not improved, it may be time to part ways.  Otherwise, the financial compensation will quickly be overshadowed by a vicious cycle of toxic conversations and hurtful actions.

Ask to Meet Face to Face: So how do you extricate yourself in a professional manner?  Tough as it may be to stomach, the most mature approach is to meet in person.  A public location is probably safest because having other people present will likely prevent an unseemly outburst.

Prepare for the Conversation: Jotting down notes in advance can help you come across kind, assertive, and concise.  Write down your ideas for tying up loose ends so that you don’t forget them in the stress of the moment.   If the client/partner tries to persuade you to stay, hold your ground, but if you want to save face you can leave the door open for a business relationship in the future.

Be Friendly But Firm: The more incendiary the relationship, the easier this conversation may be to have.  It will likely be more difficult if you and the client are on friendly terms, but for whatever reason the engagement isn’t working.  If this is the case, assure him or her that you have enjoyed the partnership but circumstances dictate that you need to move on.

This post was originally published on Intuit’s Quickbase blog.

 

Pulling a “Heath Shuler:” The Right Way to Get Someone Else’s Job

The Nation sums up Congressman Heath Shuler like this:

A chiseled ex-football star and devout Southern Baptist from the Smoky Mountains of Western North Carolina (WNC), Shuler was the prize recruit of Rahm Emanuel’s class of ’06. Despite his conservative stances on guns, abortion, immigration and gay rights, Democratic activists in WNC rallied behind Shuler, who ran as an economic populist and promised to fight for new jobs and better healthcare for his mountain constituents.

“The Democratic Party helps those who cannot help themselves. That’s the Christian that I am,” he was reported as saying.  Shuler then proceeded to become one of the most outspoken dissidents inside the Democratic Congress, voting against the stimulus, healthcare bill and Consumer Financial Protection Agency.  And he is now  gunning for Nancy Pelosi’s job as House Minority Leader.  “If she doesn’t step aside, I will challenge her,” he announced to CNN this week.

There are a few problems with Shuler’s strategy, and these are the same issues you should consider if you’ve decided you want someone else’s job in your company.

He is jumping the gun before natural events could take their course.

Pelosi still has significant pull within the Democratic party, including the friendship of President Obama, and she hadn’t yet announced her intention to run for party leader again.  Shuler stepped in before Pelosi even made a move that people could disapprove of.   Your best bet in securing another person’s job is to sit tight and wait for that person to be ousted by their own making rather than taking action that makes you look like the bad guy.

He is being openly antagonistic and divisive.

Everyone recognizes that the Democratic party needs unity now more than anything, so Shuler’s bid looks like a ploy for attention and press rather than an honest and earnest desire to do what’s best for the organization.  No one likes a self-centered bully.  If you want your contributions to be recognized and rewarded, you must play nice in the sandbox.

He does not have the support of his colleagues.

Even Shuler readily admits that he doesn’t have the votes to win this challenge.  By proving it, he will undermine his own effectiveness as a representative and make some bitter enemies in the process.  If you truly feel you are the best person for a particular job, then you must not be the only person who thinks so.  Gather substantial support before announcing your intentions.

This post was originally published on the Intuit Quickbase blog.

How to Make LinkedIn Work for You

I receive at least one question a month from readers who want to know why and how they should bother with a presence on LinkedIn.

First, the why.  As you probably know, LinkedIn is an online network of millions of experienced professionals from around the world, representing hundreds of industries. When you join, you create a profile that summarizes your professional accomplishments and helps you find and be found by former colleagues, clients, and partners.

By establishing a network consisting of your connections and your connections’ connections, you are automatically linked to thousands of qualified professionals.  It’s a painless means to get introduced to advantageous contacts through people you already know and to create new relationships with people who may be in a position to help you down the line.

Now, the how. In his book, I’m on LinkedIn – Now What???, Jason Alba suggests the following best practices for making the most of your LinkedIn participation.

Share information freely

Make sure you are showing enough information on both your public and private profiles.  If you want to promote who you are and why you are valuable, make it easy for people to learn about you without having to sign up or log in.

Advertise your profile

If you don’t have your own website, use your LinkedIn profile as an online resume.  Put the URL in your e-mail signature and in blog comments or online articles you write.

Collect recommendations

Request endorsements from people you’ve worked with successfully in the past, and write them endorsements in return. Potential clients and employers are much more likely to contact you if you can prove that others have been satisfied with your work, product, or services.  Don’t go too crazy with recommendations, though, as too many will diminish their value and credibility.

Join relevant groups

Search for and become active in groups to expand your search visibility.  The ability to search for new contacts within a LinkedIn group is particularly useful if you have a small or non-diverse network.

Use the Answers feature

LinkedIn’s Answers feature allows you to ask a question and invite your network to respond.  Asking a question once a month provides an opportunity to probe your contacts in a creative way.  In turn, if someone asks a question that you can answer intelligently, do so, as this increases your visibility in the broader LinkedIn community.

This post was originally published on Intuit's Quickbase blog.

Career Lessons from NYC Marathon and Edison Pena

Sunday's New York City Marathon was notable for several reasons.  First, with more than 45,000 participants it was the largest marathon to date.  And then there were the runners themselves.  Gebre Gebremariam, an Ethiopian, became the first man to win in a marathon debut since 1980.  Other racers included a double lung transplant patient, Meredith Viera and Al Roker from the Today Show, and, most surprisingly, Chilean miner Edison Pena.

Not even a month ago, Pena was rescued after being trapped for 69 days in a collapsed mine, where he kept his hope alive by running in a winding network of underground tunnels.

“What I thought about as I ran in the mine was that I was going to beat destiny,” Peña said in a news conference. “I was saying to that mine, ‘I can outrun you, I’m going to run until you’re just tired and bored of me,’ and I did it.”

Compared to this life-or-death experience, running on the streets of New York City didn’t seem nearly as daunting – it was almost like a victory lap!   There is much we can can learn from Pena’s journey.  Among the lessons I took away:

• Even when a situation looks hopeless, you must still maintain your faith in yourself and your abilities, and model that faith for others who are looking to you for inspiration.
• Pace yourself through difficult periods.  Not only did Pena do this in the mine, but he struggled with intense physical pain throughout Sunday's race due to a knee injury he sustained while trapped.  His time of nearly six hours wasn’t enough to win, but the accomplishment was in the finish.
• You must take advantage of opportunities to increase your visibility and gain support for your cause.  By seizing the chance to participate in the Marathon just after his rescue, Pena received international attention for his country and the miners’ plight.

This post was originally published on Intuit's Quickbase blog.

Learning from my Journey to Brazil

Last week, I had the opportunity to visit Sao Paulo and Rio De Janeiro Brazil as part of a conference I was keynoting for Latin American HR executives on the future of the global workplace.  I had a wonderful experience learning about what it's like to be a citizen in Brazil today (exciting, stressful, expensive), and where Brazilians see their careers going in the future (multiple jobs, more traveling).

I also had the chance to ask two young professionals, Marcelo Cuellar, Manager of Human Resources for Michael Page International Brasil, and Alexandre Ma Ling, a freelance tour guide in Rio, about the fastest growing industries in Brazil.  Here's what they had to say:

Marcelo in Sao Paulo:

Alex in Rio:

They Aren’t Better Than You

There is a viral video series called Mompetition making its way around my circle of Mom friends.  I have to confess that I haven’t watched all of the pieces, but one video in particular had us all laughing about the ridiculously competitive conversations you have as soon as you become a parent.

The piece portrays two moms talking in the park as one mom tries to one-up the other in terms of what feats of motherhood she performs for her children – breastfeeding them all through the age of 5, feeding them only organic food – and what her children can do – walking at 8 months, speaking several languages, etc.

When we who work in the business world attend dinners or cocktail parties, we find ourselves in some of the same conversations related to our work lives and careers.  So-and-so gets paid by her company to stay at luxury resorts all over the world.  That dude knew he wanted to be an environmental engineer since the age of three and would do his job without receiving a salary.  And wow, this gal gets to sit in her private office and ideate on new product ideas all day long. 

Listening to these people go on about their job situations, it’s easy to feel envious – like you’re the only one who doesn’t have it all together.  So I’m here to tell you that these people are no better off than those of us who keep switching jobs in an attempt to uncover the holy grail of work.  They may think their jobs are perfect or that they have the rest of their lives figured out, but I assure you, their paths will be fraught with just as much peril and uncertainty as ours.  They just haven’t realized it yet.

If Something Is Needed, Create It

Those of you who have been reading the blog for a while may recall that I was a complete dud in my first corporate PR job.  My boss despised me and my colleagues thought I was overeager, and it took me two years to get a promotion that people with half my work ethic achieved in six months.

The second company that employed me kindly spent a few thousand dollars sending me to a professional development course that changed my career and my life.  I’d like to think that everything the course taught me about developing a strong reputation at work, being diplomatic with colleagues, and driving my career forward was a good investment since I was much more effective after that. 

The truth is, though, that not every college graduate has access to training like I had, and some really gifted people spend their post-college careers floundering because they aren’t given the chance to learn the skills and strategies that will meet with success.

I got tired of waiting for someone else to fix this problem, so I worked with the Business Roundtable, the HR Policy Association, and Accenture to create JobSTART 101, a free online course that prepares college students to meet and exceed employer expectations when they enter the workforce.  It includes video and workbook components covering topics like how to establish your e-brand and how to problem-solve on the job – basically, all of the information I wish I’d had in my back pocket when I was just starting out.

If you’re a student or recent grad, I hope you’ll check it out for some decent advice, but more importantly, I hope each of you goes into work today and thinks about what’s sorely needed in your company and industry. And then if you can create it, go for it.  The world – and your career – will thank you for it.