In 2019, the digital age is very much upon us, and the workplace is unrecognisable when compared with 20 years ago. From open plan co-working spaces, to being able to work from anywhere in the world, communication, expectations and the nature of work are rapidly changing. 

In this shifting landscape, the ability to hold your attention on a task is becoming ever more challenging. Being able to multitask was previously worn as a badge of honour, yet research tells us that the brain, unlike a computer, is incapable of running too many complex tasks at once. Mental overload at work can seriously affect productivity, wellbeing and safety (1). 

While social media connects us to friends and family across the world, instant messaging is making it increasingly difficult to complete everyday tasks and to remain focused (2). US author and blogger, Mark Manson, explains that we now live in an ‘attention economy’ (3). With endless knowledge now available at the click of a button, our attention is of high value to advertisers, companies and organisations. 

In this environment, it isn’t surprising that we struggle to hold our attention on certain activities. Becoming completely immersed in the task at hand, or finding your ‘flow’ is proven to increase contentment at work and improve the quality of work produced (4). This state becomes ever more difficult to attain with so many distractions competing for our attention. 

So, what can you do to improve your focus on tasks? 

Setting up routines you can stick to is a good way to begin. 26th president of the United States, Teddy Roosevelt, is said to have worked at the same time, in the same place every day, and would work ignoring all other distractions that came his way. It was impossible to distract him. Although he would only spend a quarter of the average day working, he completed all of the tasks he needed to by using his time effectively.

In his 2016 book, Deep Work: Rules For Focused Success in a Distracted World, Georgetown professor and author, Cal Newport, explores Roosevelt’s ‘deep work’ ethic.  He defines deep work as:

“Professional activities performed in a state of distraction-free concentration that push your cognitive capabilities to their limit. These efforts create new value, improve your skill, and are hard to replicate.” (5)

Granted, Roosevelt lived in a world where fewer distractions were competing for his attention, but with discipline it is possible to be more attentive. The key is to identify your main distractors and to be aware of them.  These might be thoughts, notifications or particular people! If you sit back and think, you will know straight away what distracts you. Finding a way to block out and manage these temptations is the is the more difficult step, but the rewards will speak for themselves. 

Go1 top tips for maintaining focus at work

Prioritise: Write a to-do list, but only for the day ahead.  An endless to-do list without any consideration for the time you have will not be effective.  If you can write out what you need to do that day, along with your top three priorities, you will have a greater sense of accomplishment when you reach the end of your list. Using a traditional to-do list can easily lead to procrastination and make you feel as though there is a huge, unmanageable mountain of work to do. 

Stick to daily routines: doing tasks and activities at the same time each day can help you to stay focused and make your day flow more smoothly.  When your brain knows what to expect, and when to expect it, it can focus on other processes, such as creativity and deep thinking. 

Manage expectations: Other people, no matter how well-intentioned, are a huge source of distraction, particularly in the workplace. If you are working to a deadline or really need to get started on a task, you need to be sure that your team members are aware of this.  Let them know when you are available for meetings and schedule them in, or arrange a time to catch up with them over coffee. You need to be responsible for communicating your needs to others and making yourself available to them only partially. This might also mean booking yourself into a private room if it is available, or taking yourself off to a quieter area, depending on your office layout.

Manage notifications: research shows that every time your phone goes off, you are distracted by it and taken away from the task you are focusing on. 6 Set aside specific times during the day to respond to emails and messages if possible. 

Meditate: the brain is plastic, meaning that at any point in life we can teach it new things or learn healthier habits.  Focus is a skill that we all have the capacity to develop, and meditation is a fantastic way to practice it. Meditation involves training the mind to focus on the breath, and this focus can translate to your daily life long after you stop practising (7). You will also be able to catch yourself when you are thinking about how cute your dog is or what you ate for breakfast, instead of writing up the report due at the end of the day. 

Rubinstein, J. S., Meyer, D. E. & Evans, J. E. (2001). Executive Control of Cognitive Processes in Task Switching. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 27, 763-797.

Vitak, J., Crouse, J., & LaRose, R. (2011). Personal Internet use at work: Understanding cyberslacking. Computers in Human Behavior, 27(5), 1751–1759. 

Davenport, T. H., & Beck, J. C. (2001). The attention economy: Understanding the new currency of business. Harvard Business Press.

Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2013). Flow: The psychology of happiness. Random House.

Newport, C. (2016). Deep work: Rules for focused success in a distracted world. Hachette UK.

Iqbal, S. T., & Horvitz, E. (2010, February). Notifications and awareness: a field study of alert usage and preferences. In Proceedings of the 2010 ACM conference on Computer supported cooperative work (pp. 27-30). ACM.

Wax, R. (2013). Sane new world: taming the mind. Hodder & Stoughton.

False

How to maintain your focus in the ‘attention economy’ 

It is Monday morning. After struggling for a few hours to get started with your day, you eventually get going with the first item on your to do list. Although it doesn’t always happen, you find yourself diving into the task, and, before you know it, a few hours have passed by. Was it pure luck or is there a reason you felt so immersed in your work? 

Although it may seem to occur at random intervals, being entirely focused on the job you are doing is in fact a state you can aim towards. In modern science, the experience is referred to as ‘flow state’, a term coined by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihályi in the 1970s.

Despite being a relatively new area of research, historically there are references to this sensation across the Eastern philosophies. Athletes also talk about ‘being in the zone’ when they are completely focused on their movement and immediate goals.

In Japanese culture, the first step towards reaching ‘flow state’ requires an individual to discover their ikigai, or reason for being. An ikigai could be something as simple as gardening or cooking, but it will be a task that the person is both good at, and one in which they can become purposefully engaged (1).

The first step towards finding your flow in any task is to first ensure that the assignment is within your range of capabilities. Ideally, what you are doing will allow you to confidently use skills you already possess, while challenging you to learn something new. At this point, you will be able to meet your edge, and will be far more likely to become fully immersed.

If you are able to reach this sweet spot, what you produce will also be of a higher quality, meaning you can go home at the end of the day with a greater sense of satisfaction and of having achieved something meaningful. 

As human beings, we are driven by the need to learn, grow and discover more, both about the world and ourselves. When we experience growth and learning, it can be difficult but, ultimately, the satisfaction of having completed a new challenge will outweigh the scary part of taking the first few steps towards it! We are happiest when we are both open to new opportunities and given the chance to explore. 

For managers and employees alike, this has real implications for productivity and could be used as a starting point for communication on which tasks are allocated to who.  Managers, are you setting your employees manageable tasks which enable them to find their flow?  Employees, are you communicating with your manager? Is the task too easy, or too difficult? 

Of course, in an ideal world, we would be completing tasks that engage us at all times, and it is important to be realistic. However, if you could reach ‘flow state’ even a few times per week, you are far more likely to be happy in your job.  Sometimes we need to get down to the nitty gritty and complete the mundane yet necessary tasks that every organisation requires for daily operations, but this could improve morale and make the workplace better for everybody. 

Whether you see flow as an exciting area of scientific research or a snippet of ancient wisdom, here are our top tips for working towards it, or supporting others in your team to do the same: 

Think about where your strengths and weaknesses lie.  What are you really good at?  Which areas might require a little more attention? 

Are the tasks you are being set playing to your strengths?  If not, think about ways you could communicate this to your manager and see if there is any room for change.

If being allocated different tasks isn’t an option, which areas of learning or personal development would you like to focus on? How could you apply these to your current tasks?  For example, if your goal is to communicate more clearly, you could challenge yourself to complete a course on communication skills and apply what you learn to the emails you send. 

If you really can’t connect with an activity you have been set, the chances are it is either too challenging, too easy or not interesting to you personally. If the task is too easy or uninteresting, think about how you could make it more challenging, either by checking with your manager if there is anything additional you could be doing, or setting yourself a personal goal within the task.  If the task is too difficult, you could break it down into more manageable steps or ask for further clarification. 

Sometimes, an activity will be pitched correctly but we are fearful of getting started and procrastinate.  If you think this might be a problem for you, say to yourself that you will spend 25 minutes on the task and then take a break.  More often that not, you will find that the 25 minutes flies by once you get started. 

So, next time you find your mind wandering and you can’t connect with a task you are doing, think about how you could find your flow and make everyone’s day a little bit better!

Looking for more training materials? You’ll find thousands of online courses in the Go1 marketplace. Or use our 24/7 Go1 Training Assist - the easier way to source, book and deliver training for your team. 

(1) Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life, Hector Garcia and Francesc Miralles, 2016, Penguin Books, New York.

Finding your flow: why focus is a skill that can be learned

Welcome to our second episode of The eLearning Assist Podcast for 2019!

In this episode, Go1’s VP of Marketing Scott Cooper talks to Jacque Lachmund about the importance of domestic and family violence (DFV) training in the workplace. 

Jacque is the CEO of Australia's CEOChallenge (ACEOC) - an organisation that provides domestic and family violence training for companies all across Australia. ACEOC is a recognised, award-winning charity that supports the business sector to help break the silence surrounding domestic violence. Their aim is to make sure workplaces are aware and responsive to domestic violence, and have in place a strategy to raise awareness and support their staff who may be living with violence, abuse and control at home. 

At Go1 we truly believe that workplaces can play a critical role in responding to DFV, which contributes to ACEOC’s vision of a world without violence. Last year, we partnered with ACEOC to deliver a Workplace Domestic and Family Violence Training Package to ensure that organisations are getting a succinct message, and a succinct way on how to respond to colleagues and to others. 

As Jacque says, "We're called Australia's CEOChallenge, because we challenge CEOs to address this issue and be a responsible organisation. It starts from the top." Together, we can make our workplaces safe environments where conversations about DFV can take place, without creating further stigma, shame and fear. 

Throughout the podcast, Jacque shares her tips around how to provide effective training on sensitive topics. She also touches on some general rules about what support services organisations can offer internally, as well as how as a collective, both in community and business, we can all work together to tackle this issue. 

So without further ado, let's dive in and get some valuable insight from Jacque on this important topic. Listen to the podcast here:

In this episode, GO1’s VP of Marketing Scott Cooper talks to Jacque Lachman, CEO of Australia's CEO Challenge, about the importance of Domestic & Family Violence training, and give some tips of how to provide better training around sensitive topics.

The eLearning Assist Podcast: How to provide training on sensitive topics by GO1

You can also hear more about the company’s experience with Go1 in our upcoming case study, which will feature Jacque and Scott talking more about Australia's CEOChallenge’s experience in using Go1 and how it has impacted their employee learning experience. So stay tuned for that!

Jacque Lachmund, Australia's CEOChallenge and Scott Cooper, VP of Marketing at Go1 

Don’t forget – the Go1 eLearning Assist podcast is available through iTunes, making it even easier for you to keep up-to-date with our episodes.

What’s the Go1 eLearning Assist all about?

Go1 eLearning Assist is a monthly podcast covering trending industry information.

With each episode of the podcast you’ll hear from a different member of the Go1 team or industry expert, sharing their knowledge and expertise. Through the sessions, we’ll cover all aspects of learning and development from:

With our iTunes podcast you can tune in and catch up at a time that suits you.

Subscribing to Go1 eLearning Assist is easy. Simply go to the iTunes store on your device and enter ‘Go1’ in the search toolbar. When you see this image, you’ll know you’re onto the right one!

Press 'Play' to start listening. And don’t forget to click the ‘Subscribe’ button, to stay up-to-date with new podcasts as they're released.

If you have any questions about any of the items covered in the podcast please let us know as we’d love to help you out!

Also, feel free to contact us if there are any topics that you would like to see covered in future episodes. That way, we can make sure we’re talking about things that are important to our listeners!

Our eLearning Assist podcast will feature regular interviews with industry experts. If you think you'd be a good fit to be a guest, get in touch!

The eLearning Assist Podcast: Tips from Australia's CEOChallenge around providing effective training for sensitive topics

This is part 2 of a two-part series. To read part 1, click here

Welcome back. Previously we discussed some of the basic certifications you will need to jump start your journey into the IT Security field and open many opportunities for you. But what if you want to take it to the next level. Perhaps you are aspiring for a Director of Security or CISO role. What certifications lay the foundation to purse that direction?

There are actually many other specialty areas in security available for us to discuss (like those created by industry leaders like Cisco, GIAC, SANS, ISACA, (ISC)2 and many others). But for the interest of brevity, I’d like to highlight some of the more popular ones. The first two I’d like to introduce are from ISACA and are favorable certifications for those who wish to move into management positions. Those two are: Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) and Certified Information Security Manager (CISM). 

There are more than 140,000 professionals certified globally with CISA and it is one of the top paying IT certifications of 2018 as reported by Global Knowledge. As companies are faced with increasingly more security challenges including new global threats (e.g. ransomware), new government regulations (e.g. GDPR), and new technologies to secure; they are under enormous pressure to hire the right talent to manage it. With the CISA certification, you will be recognized as someone that can take a comprehensive view of information systems and their relationship to a success business-wide security initiative. In addition to passing the exam, this certification requires the submission of a formal application which requires certain levels of education and work experience. Check out their web site for more information.

The CISM certification is different and comes at security from a company policy standpoint. It covers four key areas: information security governance, Information risk management, information security program development and management, and information security incident management. Passing this certification demonstrates that you understand security and how it relates to the overall business goals. It shows that you not only understand security, but also how to build and manage an information security program within the company. 

But perhaps you’re looking to achieve an even higher position, one that leads all of the company’s security needs, such as Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) and Director of IT Security. Moving into these roles require digging much deeper into all the individual niches in the security field. The first one to consider is CompTIA’s Advanced Security Practitioner (or CASP). CASP is a relatively new certification from CompTIA and is meant to test the student on a broad range of security skills. In fact, it meets the ISO 17024 standard and is compliant with regulations in the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA).

Once you pass the CASP certification, you’ll likely be feeling pretty good about your skills, a Luke Skywalker of Security experts if you will. But what if you want to go for Yoda status? One of the top respected certifications is undoubtedly the (ISC)2 Certified Information Systems Security Practitioner (or CISSP), which is not your average certification and will require significant work to achieve. It is meant to demonstrate a clear and deep knowledge of all things security and is fast becoming a requirement for many of the very top positions in IT security. 

Although CASP and CISSP are great options for some of the top IT positions and cover a broad range of security topics, they are very different in what the exam covers. The CASP exam tests whether you know HOW to implement many of common security concepts, so their questions will be mostly unambiguous. For example, “what command line tool is used to create a 128-bit hash?” The CISSP exam, on the other hand, tests whether you know what the best practices are when dealing with complex security situations. Here, the options available to choose from may, in fact, all be technically correct. For example, take the following question, “Which of the following is the PRIMARY advantage of data classification for an organization?” Here, all the options could be valid examples of legitimate advantages, but the correct answer is the one that has the most advantages. 

Be sure to check out many of the training titles we have in security, and good luck my young Jedi.

Vice President of Technology | LearnNowOnline | Eden Prairie, MN

Martin Schaeferle is the Vice President of Technology for LearnNowOnline. Martin joined the company in 1994 and started teaching IT professionals nationwide to develop applications using Visual Studio and Microsoft SQL Server. He has been a featured speaker at various conferences including Microsoft Tech-Ed, DevConnections and the Microsoft NCD Channel Summit. Today, he is responsible for all product and software development as well as managing the company’s IT infrastructure. Martin enjoys staying on the cutting edge of technology and guiding the company to produce the best learning content with the best user experience in the industry. In his spare time, Martin enjoys golf, fishing, and being with his wife and three adult children. 

Navigating your IT security certifications, part 2

According to research, employees who have friends at work are seven times more engaged. People are social creatures and good relationships with colleagues make them feel more satisfied with their job. Good relationships make work more meaningful, which is very important because many people spend more time at their jobs than with friends and family.

Good relationships in the workplace can make a big difference, increasing commitment and creating more opportunity for career development. Good relationships among colleagues are also the key to creating strong teams because employees don’t waste their attention and energy on solving personal problems and can focus on what is really important.

Why Relationships Are Important and What to Focus On

Although the need for good relationships in the workplace is rather obvious, not all businesses manage to create a comfortable emotional environment for employees. The main reason is that we all see the concept of good relationships differently. There are many kinds of business relationships. Quite often, they are purely transactional, only consisting of the necessary interactions. In turn, transactional interactions can be either competitive or collaborative. Collaborative interactions imply that both parties are satisfied with the results of their collaborative efforts, while competitive relationships are often associated with unfair treatment and have a very negative impact on teams.

There are also relationships of another kind — relational interactions, where both parties care not only about the outcome but also about each other. Relational interactions take collaboration to a new level. To build relations of this kind, employees should realize the long-term benefits of such interactions, prioritizing the quality of the communication process.

The main distinctive features of good relationships in the workplace are trust, mutual respect, and mindfulness. Employees should be responsible for their actions and words, understanding that their negative emotions impact the whole team. Strong teams also welcome diverse people and opinions, understanding the benefits of diversity for decision-making. The last but not least feature of good relationships is open and honest communication.

How to Establish & Maintain Good Relationships in the Workplace

Conflicts are natural, and it’s impossible to avoid them forever, especially in a stressful business environment. According to statistics, American employees spend about 2.8 hours a week solving conflicts. At the same time, 37% of leaders feel uncomfortable when dealing with conflicts and communicating with their employees. Therefore, supervisors and managers should pay particular attention to de-escalating conflicts and recovering relationships, acting as mediators and showing an example of respectful behavior.

Honest communication is crucial for any relationship. It only becomes possible when people appreciate each other for who they are and don’t try to change others. The first step towards honest, open communication is acknowledging what you know and what you don’t. It’s better to honestly say that you don’t know an answer to a question than to make things up, undermining your own credibility.

Sometimes, your intonation, facial expression, and gestures can say much more than your words. People don’t use verbal communication only. If you’re being sarcastic, a person you’re talking to understands it. The same way, if you don’t feel respect for people, they also understand it. To ensure the right type of nonverbal communication, companies should build their corporate culture around respect.

Employees should clearly understand what to do, as well as when and how to do it. This way, a company can eliminate many conflicts between individuals. Therefore, it’s very important for leaders to set clear, measurable goals and to explain how every employee can get the necessary help.

According to statistics, two-thirds of millennial employees feel stressed out most of the time. The main causes of stress in the workplace are an inability to maintain a healthy work-life balance and communication problems. Stress leads to employee burnout and numerous negative consequences for both physical and mental health, making companies lose up to $190 billion a year. Therefore, companies should create opportunities for cognitive, emotional, and physical relief.

The best way to build strong relationships within a team is to recognize and reward every member’s contribution to the overall success of the company. Employees should feel valuable, regardless of their position. Leaders should make sure that every member of their team understands their importance and the importance of teamwork, creating a motivational environment. An individual growth of every employee benefits the whole company.

Quite often, an office environment prevents employees from demonstrating their highest productivity. Gossipy coworkers, social media, office noises, and other factors are the most common causes of distraction. The more your employees get distracted, the less productive they become, and the higher the stress level. In turn, stress leads to conflicts in the workplace and makes employees feel unsatisfied with their job. Therefore, companies should create a comfortable environment, motivating employees and setting clear goals, instead of encouraging multitasking and micro-management.

A positive work environment and good relationships in the workplace are crucial for any business. If your employees are unhappy, their productivity declines, they get sucked into conflicts and lose their motivation. To cultivate positive relationships, companies should create an atmosphere of mutual respect. Team leaders should ensure open communication and recognize each employee’s contribution. It’s especially important to create a strong corporate culture based on respect and honesty, setting clear goals and minimizing stress.

Ester Brierley, a competent virtual assistant and a content creator for College-Writer, knows the secret for balancing freelancing and her full-time job as a QA Engineer in a software outsourcing company. She enjoys researching cutting-edge digital trends and sharing them in her writing pieces. Follow her on Twitter.

You can do it: how to establish & maintain good relationships in the workplace

You don’t have to read too many news articles to know that Internet security is on everyone’s mind. Even Hollywood knows this and is trying to cash in with hit shows like Person of Interest, </Scorpion>, and the Emmy-winning Mr. Robot. Major corporations are also taking notice. Gartner is forecasting worldwide enterprise security spending to total $96.3 billion in 2018, an increase of 8 percent from 2017. 

It is no wonder with 50% of respondents reporting an increase in the number of cyberattacks from last year and four out of five indicating it was likely or more likely their enterprise will experience a cyberattack in 2018 (according to the 2018 ISACA State of Cybersecurity Study). Even this past election cycle isn’t immune to accusations of stolen emails and hacked servers.

But not all is doom and gloom; for the IT professional, this is a great climate for those looking to update their skills and join the relatively new and growing sector of IT security. Don’t believe me? In a March 2018 article posted by Forbes, five of the top 15 most valuable IT certifications are security based, and all had an average salary north of $100K. Security certification has become a serious and well-respected career.

Now you are probably wondering, where does one start in getting a piece of this lucrative cyber pie? As I quickly found out myself, this is not an easy answer. There are many different certifications around security to choose from and many different companies and organizations offering them. But don’t fret; let me help you carve the right path and get you on your way.

Being a security professional is not about finding the one perfect certification; it’s more about finding the right combination of certifications. What certifications you seek depends on what areas of security you’re most interested in and how high up the corporate ladder you wish to climb. The most popular certifications are those that are relevant to all areas of IT security.  But before we get into too much detail, I think it is important to establish some baselines. One does not simply jump immediately into security without a solid background in the general IT hardware and networking field.

If you’re going to attempt entering a security field and IT is not a current profession or hobby of yours, then I’d suggest tackling a couple of certifications to get you started. The first is CompTIA A+ where all IT begins by focusing on learning the standard computer hardware, basic operating system functionality, and general troubleshooting. From there, I’d recommend getting certified in CompTIA Network+, which will get you familiar with basic networking concepts like IP addresses, DNS, domains, routing—essentially everything that defines the framework that Internet security relies on.

Okay, you are now an IT expert. So, what next? It’s good to start with the basics of security, and the best certification for that also comes from CompTIA. Their Security+ covers all the core concepts in IT security from Wi-Fi passwords and firewalls to employee best practices. Although this doesn’t necessarily go deep into any one area, it provides an excellent starting point and a balanced overview of the major topics. 

So, what next? After you have Security+ under your belt, you can start considering some specialty certifications. One of the most popular next steps is EC-Council’s Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) certification and Certified Security Analyst (ECSA). One of the best ways for a company to ensure that their systems are hardened (or secure) is to hire someone to try and break in. And since recruiting hackers from the Dark Web is considered very unwise (really, don’t do it), they instead look for those trusted individuals who are trained to think like a hacker. Based on that premise, the ethical hacker certification was born. Once certified, you will understand the tools (like Kali Linux) and the techniques (like penetration testing) that you can use to assure companies that their systems are indeed secure.

Another very popular certification is EC-Council’s Computer Hacking Forensic Investigator (CHFI) certification. Like the television show CSI, it is an area of the security field that focuses on how to collect and analyze digital evidence to detect when something is about to or has happened. Most companies know that it’s not if you will be hacked, but when. And with any hack or attack, there are always telltale signs or fingerprints that are left behind, leading companies to hire professionals to look for these to identify areas that may need more hardening, to avert an pending attack, or to clean-up after the damage is done under document what happened. This certification is about learning the skills for detecting or mitigating the aftermath of a successful hack.

That’s all we’re covering in this post, stay tuned for part 2 where we will continue down the road to more advanced IT security certification…

Navigating your IT security certification, part 1

If you feel like you’re always rushing through the day, trying to get a million things done at once, it may be time to look at ways of improving your productivity.

Do you have a co-worker or friend who always seems incredibly productive and on top of everything? Take a deep breath and a leaf from their perfectly organized notebook – it’s time to get your work life in order.

We’re going to show you how to take control and take charge of your work day. Getting on top of your To Do lists and feeling confident in your productivity skills will:

Improve your work efficiency and performance

Reduce stress and build your self-confidence

Allow you to have more time to do what you like!

Read on for our top 5 tips to become a more super-productive version of yourself.

When we talk about productivity, it soon becomes clear that it’s a really personal thing – especially, it seems, in the way we manage our inboxes.

While some people stick fastidiously to checking their emails first thing every morning, others swear by leaving their inbox well alone until at least 10am, allowing them to focus their full attention on completing other tasks.

Regardless of what time of day you decide is right for you, one of the best things you can do to improve your productivity is to schedule proper time each day to go through your inbox. Constantly checking emails, or responding to every little notification from your inbox, results in a lot of wasted time and energy and disruption to your workflow.

Choose the time (or times) of day you’ll use to process your inbox and stick to it – for example, you may decide to read and respond to emails every morning, noon and night. Don’t be tempted to keep flicking over to your inbox to see if anything new has come in. With your new schedule you’ll have ample time to read and action new mail.


By committing to handling things once, and once only, you’ll be able to focus on dealing with things as they arise, particularly little things that only take a moment but can easily be forgotten. Or start adding up when you put them all together! Taking the time to do things in the moment will actually save you time in the long run, as well as a lot of potential stress.

You can start practicing this way of thinking by paying bills as they arrive, replying to emails when you read them or simply putting something back in its place straight away. Doing this means it’ll be done, dusted and out of your head – allowing you to focus on new tasks at hand. 


Richard Branson is known to be a big fan of the humble notebook, carrying a notebook with him wherever he goes and claiming he’d never have got where he is today without this habit.

Using a notebook to get things out of your head and onto the page is very effective for stress management, allowing you to keep on top of your daily To Do list and jot down your ideas throughout the day.

Whatever you write in your notebook, it’s sure to be a lot better for your brain and creativity than staring at a screen and hitting refresh on social media.


Did you know that the average office worker is only productive for two hours and 53 minutes a day? That’s only three hours of productive work, out of the general eight-hour work day. This tells us that a lot of time is spent being distracted by other things. Or sites.

Take a look at your own day and evaluate how you spend, or waste, your time. If checking social media has become a problem for your concentration or work deliverables, consider taking a break from it or at least putting some strong strategies in place to manage it.


It’s important to find productivity tools and strategies that make sense to you, while fitting in with your personality and lifestyle. Look for apps and websites that offer tools that can boost your productivity as soon as you start using them. There are also apps that can help you kick bad habits and change old behavioral patterns.

Check out the Top 10 Apps for Enhanced Productivity by organization expert Suzanna Kaye. This online course shows handy productivity apps in action, providing tips for leveraging their best features and offering cool alternative uses.

Online learning courses are a great way to learn more tips and tricks, helping you to boost productivity and achieve your goals. You may also like to enroll in 10 Steps to Ultimate Productivity, an online course offering simple, practical steps to help you create the perfect productivity system and build powerful habits to help you achieve your goals.

Good luck with your new systems and strategies – we hope they work as well for you as they do for us!

The advancements made in technology today and the changing needs of the marketplace and its consumers have opened an opportunity for a new workplace phenomenon – remote work. Although the concept has received controversial feedback, research suggests that there is a range of benefits both for the employer and employee from working outside the office. 

Employees share that their productivity increases, stress levels drop as there is no need to plan the time and money necessary for commuting, creativity is easier to be found, and overall their level of satisfaction is higher. Research reveals that 61% of employees share that loud colleagues are a significant distraction preventing them from working effectively in the office. Because of this and additional reasons, 86% of employees have a preference for working alone in order to reach maximum productivity. 

It is interesting to see from the same study that 46% of workers communicate over email, instant messaging tools, or phone with the aim of reducing the distractions related to face-to-face communication. As the quality of the written material is essential in business communications, often companies rely on professional writing services such as those provided by Handmadewritings.

With the rising trend of remote work, it is only natural that management turns a focus towards communicating properly and effectively with remote employees to maximize productivity and reach business objectives. Let’s look at a few tips that can improve communication with remote employees and result in better business relations and successfully achieved targets.

1.    Outline specific expectations and deadlines

One of the most important aspects of communicating with employees, local or remote, is setting clear expectations and deadlines. In order to be on the same page and work towards a common goal, it is essential that employees have an understanding of their specific tasks and are given a deadline that they will be working against. This will allow remote workers to organize their daily and weekly tasks in a way that will benefit the company in the long-term.

Remote employees often require regular meetings to keep track of ongoing tasks or completed work, share feedback, and exchange new ideas. There is a range of platforms that can be used for setting up online conversations such as Google Hangouts, Skype, or other instant messaging tools. Regular communication with remote workers will ensure that they have a sense of belonging and are included in the company’s team spirit and culture. 

3.    Provide access to necessary materials

In order to ensure that the workflow of remote employees is easy and undisturbed, make sure that you have organized an online platform or library of all the necessary information that will be needed. For instance, give remote workers access to contact lists, marketing materials, or other business resources that they will require as part of their responsibilities. Often, the work process is stopped if the information is unavailable and time can be wasted in reaching management for authorization or approval.

4.    Provide systematic online training

Depending on the personal characteristics of your employees, remote employees’ motivation can be lower than that of local employees after a certain time period. This is why it is necessary to stimulate workers by offering regular online training or video coaching in which employees are updated with innovations in the company or industry. This can recover the lost creativity and motivation for work. In addition, it will ensure that remote workers are equally as skilled and trained as local employees for their designated tasks.

Especially if the remote employee is part of a wider team of colleagues and their work will be dependent on others, it is mandatory to make the progress or workflow transparent for all involved members. For instance, it will be unfavorable to have a remote employee working on a task that has just been completed by someone else simply because there is no available information regarding the progress made. 

Being unavailable at a time of emergency can cost the business a fortune and can result in destroyed bonds between employees or even clients. Due to the inability of a remote employee to walk up to your office in times of need, ensure that you are available at all times or arrange backup that can respond to queries. For instance, this can be a colleague from the office or it can be a whole team of employees all working on the same project that could assist remote employees, if needed.

Remote employees play a significant role in the way business is done today but they do require an adapted form of communication and a pre-organized system that has considered all the potential weaknesses. The suggested tips above will help you tackle the world of remote employees with a smile on your face and will ensure flawless communication and exchange of information.

Donna Moores is a successful blogger and CMO at Writemyessaytoday.us. She has gained an outstanding marketing experience within the biggest industries and businesses, which she pleasantly shares with the readers. You may reach out to Donna on Twitter or LinkedIn.

Six amazing tips to effectively communicate with remote employees

How to Use Active Listening Skills to Coach Employees to Solve Their Own Problems

Think of a boss – that’s the person who tells everyone what to do, right? The thing is that no-one likes being told what to do. Successful managers don’t just rely on their authority to boss people around. Instead successful managers have a much stronger form of personal power and that’s the power to communicate persuasively. And one of the most persuasive, but little known, forms of communication is using active listening skills to coach employees to solve their own problems. 

When we think about communication skills people usually think about talking or writing. 

But communication is a two-way street. Without listening, you’re not communicating, you’re just broadcasting. Listening is the other half of successful communication.

What is your Active Listening communication score? Take the Quiz to find out.

What I’d like to share with you is some of the powerful ways that you can use active listening to be a better boss.

“Most of the successful people I’ve known are the ones who do more listening than talking” Bernard M. Baruch

 5 Ways to Use Active Listening to be a Better Boss

1. Coach Your Employees to Solve their Own Problems

When your employees bring you a problem the natural urge is to solve the problem for them ASAP. But the problem is that when you solve your employees’ problems for them, then you’re training them to bring you their problems to solve. What you end up with is more problems, not fewer. Instead of showing them that you know the answer, invest a little time to coach them through finding their own solution.  

2. Build Better Relationships with Employees 

Listening is essentially the whole premise behind Dale Carnegie’s book “How to Win Friends and Influence People” Humans have a basic need to be understood. Listening to people helps them to feel valued. Conversely working for a boss who doesn’t listen to you destroys motivation. This is why your One-on-One Meetings with Employees always start with their agenda.

“The most basic of all human needs is the need to understand and be understood. The best way to understand people is to listen to them” Ralph G. Nichols 

Ownership is that manager nirvana where your employees take responsibility for their work. When you tell your employee what to do, they don’t own your solution. But when you use active listening skills to coach them to come up with their own solution, they also have the ownership to prove that their solution works.

4. Stimulate Creativity, Innovation & Problem Solving

Successful bosses don’t try to do everything themselves. Successful bosses are the bosses who can leverage the unique skills and abilities of every employee on their team. Got a complex problem that you don’t have the time to solve? Delegate the responsibility to your employee and then coach them through their own problem solving. This isn’t just a problem solving technique because your employee’s love learning and growing.

Train your employees to solve their own problems and they won’t need to wait to find the time in your busy diary. Don’t let your long to do list become a massive bottleneck. 

Managing employees is difficult because people are complex and school doesn’t teach you how to be a better boss. If you want to be a better boss, giving effective performance communication is one of the essential manager skills that you need to develop. But don’t forget that half of communication is listening. And effective managers know how to use listening to build better relationships, create ownership, stimulate growth, encourage innovation and build problem solving.

So the next time your employees come to you with a problem, resist your natural urge to quickly solve the problem for them. Instead of telling them what to do, use active listening skills to coach your employees to solve their own problems.

This article is a guest post from Manager Foundation which specialises in showing people the soft skills they need to create a happier, more productive workplace. 

The forgotten half of communication skills for bosses

According to the Social Science Research Network (SSRN), 65 percent of people are visual learners. That means if you hold a meeting, training session, or some other work-related gathering, unless you use some type of visual aid, you’ll probably lose the majority of your audience’s attention within minutes. Although you have many different options, slideshow presentations still reign supreme.

Regardless of which type of presentation you decide on, an excellent way to help your staff absorb and retain the information shared is by using a PowerPoint slideshow or some other visual aid. Each of the options listed below boasts unique capabilities and advantages. Keep in mind that for training purposes, it’s especially important to select the appropriate type of presentation.

An informative speech is the most commonly used form of presenting research data. With this, your Learning and Development (L&D) Manager has the opportunity to present specific findings in a systematic way that people understand.

As the name implies, this presentation involves communicating with your employees through some kind of demonstration. Whether that’s how to work machinery, install a component, or make the perfect wedding cake, you want to use slides that contain images along with step-by-step instructions to drive the message home. 

The goal of this presentation is to encourage your employees to see things differently than they currently do. For instance, if you want to emphasize the importance of an open-door policy among your leadership team or help your employees understand the value of eating nutritional foods, this would be the correct presentation to use. In other words, this presentation works to change thinking patterns about a particular issue or topic. 

Do you want to “light a fire” under your sales and marketing team, show your employees how a new product solves problems, or perhaps you have young employees who need a gentle push to help them feel excited about achieving success within your organization? An inspirational speech works to motivate people and push them toward a goal. 

For a presentation to make the greatest impact, consider combining a little bit of each type of speech. You can still focus on a primary topic but at the same time, cover more bases. 

For a presentation to have the intended impact on your employees, it’s vital that you include the right leaders during the planning phase. If you want to organize a corporate-wide training program, you need input from your HR Director, L&D Manager, and even your Compliance Manager. However, for a presentation that’s more department-focused, you want your HR Director and the department head to brainstorm together.

Regardless of the presentation, and whether you’re organizing in-house training for a large group or sharing information obtained through an online course for a select number of employees, success starts by creating a compelling and memorable message.

See Things from the Employees’ Perspective 

When putting a presentation together, try to see things from your employees’ viewpoint. By drafting a speech with humor, emotion, storytelling, and interesting facts, you will have a captivated audience.

You don’t want to give presentations just for the sake of saying you did. Instead, there must be a point for the meeting or training session. Some reasons include a new product rollout, launching a new service, utilizing different equipment or machinery, and bringing your employees up-to-date on compliance issues. Select a topic that will ultimately benefit both your staff and the organization.

Instead of a catch-all, a presentation should have one focus and one goal. If you have multiple topics to address, you can either create additional presentations or have the applicable staff members complete training courses online. That way, you don’t hold up production for the sake of covering everything with one swipe. 

Before finalizing a presentation, including the supporting documentation that you pass out to employees, double and even triple check all facts. Along with that, make sure your spelling and grammar are on point. 

Just like “location, location, location” is vital in the real estate world, practice is critical when preparing for presentations. The more you practice the better the results.  

A common mistake made by presenters is having employees take notes. Since everyone has a unique perception, there’s no guarantee they’re all writing down the same message. Therefore, prepare supporting materials and pass them out before giving your presentation.

Remember, the material you hand out should support the topic of the speech. At no time do you want to give your employees a copy of the slides themselves as that makes you look lazy and disinterested. 

After creating a killer presentation comes the fun, and also nerve-wracking part: delivering the message. Use the following tips to ensure your employees engage.

From the minute that you take the stage, put your credentials on display. That doesn’t mean going over your entire career bio, but rather providing important details that let your employees know you’re a person of authority on the topic and in the industry. As a credible presenter, your audience is more likely to pay close attention.

Early on, let your staff know the goal of the presentation. Whether you’re there to get input about a new product, service, or process, setting and revealing the goal helps people relate and it’ll keep you on task.

Even when addressing a serious topic, a compliance issue pertaining to workplace safety for example, not only do you want to inform your employees, but it’s also important entertain them to some degree. Remember, giving a presentation in front of a live audience is entirely different than sending out an internal email. Therefore, you need to appeal to their emotions, which comes from both passion and humor.

As stated by Jeremy Choi, a highly respected entrepreneur, leader, and professional presenter, “Create a single sentence description for every service, product, or idea.” He explains that a presentation riddled with long descriptions appears confusing. For that reason, he stresses to keep descriptions as part of a PowerPoint presentation slide to no more than 140 characters.

If you opt for a slideshow presentation in conjunction with your speech or training, never use more than 10 slides, keep the duration to 20 minutes, and use at least a 30-point font. Anything more than that will cause your staff to lose interest. If you look at reputable Learning Management Systems, you’ll see that most courses take little time to complete.

While the person who gives the presentation may feel “weak in the knees,” he or she needs to stand tall and appear confident. You can help with this by offering the leaders in your company access to online courses that focus specifically on building confidence and creating poise.

For a lot of people, especially those giving a presentation in front of a large audience, making eye contact feels uncomfortable. However, eye contact helps hold the group’s attention, allowing for the message to stick.

Especially when using a PowerPoint slideshow when giving a presentation, never read each slide word-for-word. A speech becomes far more powerful by first understanding the message and then delivering it without referring to the slideshow. As a result, you’ll give off an air of confidence and authority that makes people listen. In other words, use PowerPoint slides to support statements as opposed to using them as a teleprompter.

Perhaps the best tip on delivering a presentation is to tell a story. Provide the group with real-life illustrations and scenarios that help them relate. As an example, the presenter could share about an injury sustained due to a non-compliance issue or landing the dream job through hard work, dedication, and determination. For this, the possibilities are endless.

There’s nothing more frustrating than attending a presentation only to hear nothing because you’re seated toward the back of the room. Therefore, make sure you have all the necessary technology in place to enhance both the visual and audio experience. 

What better way to drive a message home than with an open question and answer session following a presentation? When you are finished with the speech, encourage your employees to ask questions followed by you or a member of your leadership team providing the correct answer. Along with helping your employees learn, this is an excellent way to boost morale, in that it makes your staff feel valued.

Along with what your employees ask, throw out some thought-provoking questions of your own. Choose those that prompt forward-thinking and make your staff feel eager to learn the answer.

By showing up early to give a presentation, you have the opportunity to set everything up. That way, when your employees arrive, you can start the meeting or training session right on time.

The great thing about creating and delivering a presentation is there’s no written rule that says you have to stay within specific confines. In fact, some of the best presenters in the world, including the late Steve Jobs, have a knack for stepping outside of the box, regardless of the type of speech involved. While you and your leadership team can come up with some creative options, you might throw the following into the mix.

As mentioned, storytelling is a crucial part of any successful presentation. Even if you need to toss out a lot of facts and statistics, incorporate them in a story. By doing so, you create a story that demonstrates and supports the details provided.

Another powerful way to give a presentation involves using video. If the situation warrants, you could also incorporate background music. For instance, if you have a funeral planning business, a video showing a beautifully manicured cemetery with soothing music accompanying it would set the stage.

Although there’s talking and words that go along with a photo presentation, this entails adding images to your slideshow and letting them make a statement. The goal is to carefully choose photos that connect to the topic and resonate with your employees, but without them being too distracting.

An excellent way to present involves getting your workers involved. Rather than watch a slideshow or listen to you talk throughout the presentation, have them participate. Depending on what you want to achieve, you can select people randomly, ask for volunteers, or organize several groups of employees that work together.

When introducing a new product or going over the details of how something works, a prop presentation is ideal, In lieu of PowerPoint slides, you would use different types of visual aids. For example, if rolling out a revolutionary new smartphone, you might use a cell phone from the 1980s as a prop to stress how far technology has come.

Blog