Category : workplace culture

In a perfect world, we’d go to work each day standing out for the right reasons and without much effort.

We’ve all known the coworker who tries too hard to rise above the pack. Their methods often create friction and distance them from the rest of the team.

None of us wants to be that employee; standing out is just as much a matter of being genuine as it is about knowing the right people and knowing exactly what to say and do around them.

We reached out to experts across the nation to find out what you can do to be a standout employee without alienating yourself among your coworkers. This post is the first of two that provide seven different tips for standing out.

Grade Yourself and Make a Plan

Ross Wehner, a career coach and founder of WehnerEd, said a mentor of his challenged him to list all the traits of a professional he could think of then rate himself in those areas according to the following scale:

• 1 – Needs improvement
• 2 – Satisfactory
• 3 – You exemplify this quality

Taking stock of his “skill” level in each of the professional traits he listed helped Wehner see where he was weak, where he was strong and where he was mediocre. He recommends having a mentor or colleague rate you according to the same traits.

“Evaluate your ratings and those from others and identify the areas in which you have the most margin for improvement,” Wehner said.

Once you’ve got all the data, make a six-month plan that will help you` get all those areas to a “3”.

“Review your evaluation process every six months or so and constantly be improving what you’re worst at,” Wehner said. “Before too long your worst skill will be better than others’ best skills.”

Your efforts to improve yourself will start to emerge in the workplace; the change will be noticeable.

Take Advantage of Opportunities for Extra Work

Alexis Zanger, a senior marketing manager at Aegis Software Corp., says the age-old recommendation to volunteer for extra work is a time-tested way to stand out.

“Step up to take on extra tasks and more responsibility without having to be asked,” Zanger said. “Showing initiative is a trait that corporate executives look for in the next leader of a team.”

Be careful with this one, though. There’s a fine line between being eager for more work and being eager to please your bosses by taking on more work. One is genuine and the other is dangerously close to people pleasing.

Offer to Help

Our jobs are an arena where asking for help is like waving the proverbial white flag; there just isn’t much dignity in saying you can’t figure something out. As a result, most of us won’t ask for help when we should.

Knowing this, Jana Tulloch, a human-resources professional at tech learning firm Develop Intelligence, said one way you can build your name at work is to offer your help when you know someone is in over their head.

“One of the best ways to stand out is to always be asking, ‘How can I help,'” Tulloch said. “Often people wait for others to reach out to them when someone is needing an extra hand or some specific expertise; being proactive and working to engage with others regularly will help you raise your profile.”

Again, finesse is the key here. Don’t swoop in with plans to take over the project and the credit for a job well done. Enter the situation with a genuine desire to help.

 Build Your Own Brand

In the age of private contractors and side gigs, using your free time to build your brand is an invaluable talent.

Frances Reimers, principal at consultancy firm FireStarter, said making yourself stand-out as a brand requires grinding. Become an expert in what’s happening in your industry and start sharing your knowledge among fellow professionals on LinkedIn and other social media platforms.

This is the route Reimers took on her way to starting her own firm.

“I started by establishing my social media platforms and posting interesting content on a consistent basis. Then I graduated to drafting blogs, white papers, and infographics. Finally, I added television, radio, and public appearances,” Reimers said. “The success of this evolution led me to open my own personal brand consultancy so that I may assist individuals and small business who want to stand out from their peers.”

In our next, post  we’ll share six more tips that can help you stand out from the pack at your workplace.

Part 2 – Stand Out Employee

Did you start the new year with initiatives and goals that aren’t working out just one month later?

There’s a good chance that the concept of change was the stumbling block that led to your workplace’s sluggish start. And though you may have been excited about new initiatives, you weren’t quite sure how to alter your individual work priorities to meet these goals.

Both of these scenarios present examples in which expert change management could have made a tremendous difference in how everyone responded to your company’s new benchmarks. On paper, everything may have looked perfect. But paper often strays far from reality; goals usually require much more finesse and attention than we think they do.

And think about this – even workplace design changes can create some difficulty. Something as simple as a transition from an open office to cubicles may be the impetus behind a wave of disorientation or discouragement.

Properly managing that change requires a lot more than a good idea and an action plan. Multiple factors are involved: communication, employee panels, accounting and more. Orchestrating all these various moving parts is what separates good change management from bad.

To get some insight into how you can build an effective change strategy, we read through some material from industry experts Work Design and Robert Half.

“By design, change management programs focus on the aspects of a transition that typically encounter the most resistance:  a move across town, a shift from a mostly-closed to mostly-open work environment, a departure from assigned seating,” they wrote in a Nov. 2017 article. “Each project is different, but employees undergoing change often share similar apprehensions. “

Don’t Try and Please Everyone…

If there’s one thing that organizations across the country have learned at one time or another, it’s that there’s always a naysayer who loves to spend his time badmouthing the company’s new direction.

As Work Design points out, adding panel extenders to your office may cause that chronic complainer to say the panels make things too quiet and not quite enough. It’s true; here’s an excerpt from Work Design’s own experience with various companies:

“What stumps us is when the same folks who complain about noise lament both its presence and its absence. ‘When people talk, it’s too loud! When people work, it’s too quiet! The sound masking is too loud AND it doesn’t mask my colleague yelling about his gout,’” they wrote.

Trying to fashion a change plan that caters to every individual’s needs will most likely be a watered-down initiative with too many details and nuances.

By all means, take your team’s input and insight into account when you’re conducting panels on proposed changes. But, don’t make the error of turning a solid goal or change into an appeasement tool.

But Don’t Ignore Everyone

If you take the last suggestion to the extreme, you’ll leave out most employee input and lose sight of what’s needed in the workplace.

While it may seem like holding panels and asking for input could bog down the process, the information you glean will prove invaluable, staffing firm Robert Half says.

This process is even more crucial when the changes you’re making are negative ones like layoffs.

“Upper management can become insular and secretive about changes, especially those related to layoffs or restructuring. Springing major changes on employees at the last minute can lead to anger, resentment, strikes and even violence.”

While we know that involving employees isn’t a cure-all, it does give you a significant advantage as you seek to implement change.

“Involve employees as soon as goals are set. Ask their opinions and get their input on how the business runs today and what they believe should be changed,” Robert Half wrote.

One suggestion for providing employees a voice is to set up an anonymous online platform through which they can voice their concerns and support. Robert Half noted that consulting from McKinsey & Company used a confidential online portal to create needed in-house changes.

Whether your New Year’s Eve was an event to remember or a night to forget, you’re here in the New Year and your employees are heading into the workplace with resolutions in the back of their minds.

Some of those resolutions may be work-related and some may not. Either way, the new year is an excellent time to rethink how you’re motivating your workplace.

You might have found great success in what you’re already doing and 2018 is a chance to maintain the momentum. However, if there’s been a noticeable lack of chutzpah in the office, it might be time to evaluate if your techniques are actually working.

If you think it’s time for a change, then we have some excellent insight into effective motivation techniques.

Break the Big Goals Down into Small Ones

The new year is a time to cast a new vision for revenue goals. We often put those goals in terms of an entire year or quarter. But experts say breaking your goals down into smaller increments of time can boost your team’s belief in achieving the goal.

In an article on Inc.com, e-commerce expert Nicolas Gremion told the site that simple steps are the best way to reaching that complex goal you’ve been wanting to hit.

“You want lofty ambitions, but set up smaller goals along the way to keep people in it. Rather than make a billion this year, focus on getting 100 new customers this week-something that will get you to that billion,” Gremion said. “Then reward the team for achieving the goal with an afternoon off, a party, etc. They will see that your goals are realistic and everyone benefits from working hard.”

Focus on Knowing Your Employees

One way to sap an employee’s motivation is to place her in a position she doesn’t want that requires skills that she isn’t excited about.

What results is someone who gets burned out quickly, feels purposeless and produces results a lot slower than she would if her job put her in the sweet spot between skill and challenge.

Heather McGough, one of the team members at Lean Startup Company, told Inc. you should see noticeable results as you fine tune your understanding of each person in your workplace.

She suggests a holistic approach to knowing your employees: Respect their ideas and their boundaries.

“Ask what they do and don’t like working on, share the big picture company goals, and respond to their questions. Discern their goals and then invest in their professional growth,” McGough said.

She went on to note that you can spur motivation by doing quick check-ins with your team in which you “listen to their ideas”.

Her last bit of advice? Avoid a negative competition environment.

“Don’t ever pit their goals/timelines against each other,” she said.

Big Goals Start with Individual Goals

If an organization’s big goal is like the destination of a year-long road trip, then it stands to reason that reaching said goal can’t happen unless all the vital components of your car’s engine are working as they should be.

This is why it’s good to check all your fluid levels and your tires before departing. Even the smallest inefficiencies can have big impacts when spread out over one year.

How does this look in your workplace? Forbes contributor Lisa Quast says it’s a matter of creating individual development plans. Work with each member of your team to understand how they want to perform this year and what they want to do to get there.

“Provide them with coaching and mentoring and help them increase their skills and their sense of competence and accomplishment,” Quast wrote.

Your Cubicles Will Play a Role in Motivation and Morale

Our research of noise, distractions and privacy indicates that humans – whether old-school or Millennial – function best when their minds have a safe space to think and be creative. Our panel extenders provide your workplace with a cost-effective, easy-to-install way to upgrade your workplace with minimal – if any – work interruption.

Contact us today to learn more about how our panel extenders work and what a typical installation looks like in terms of complexity, time and cost.

We’ve talked at length about some of the myths behind open offices. Namely, the concept that employees are more productive and creative in an open workspace.

What we’ve learned through experience and research is that the human mind needs some level of privacy – with both sound and sight – to feel safe and focus on work.

We aren’t alone in this conclusion. Here’s a snippet from an article by The New Yorker that examined prevailing research on the brain and privacy:

“Psychologically, the repercussions of open offices are relatively straightforward. Physical barriers have been closely linked to psychological privacy, and a sense of privacy boosts job performance. Open offices also remove an element of control, which can lead to feelings of helplessness.”

“Feelings of helplessness” isn’t really what you imagined as the impact of an open office, right?

So, when we saw a recent article from Harvard Business Review (HBR) about coffee shops being more beneficial for employees than open offices, we weren’t surprised. We were, however, quite interested in what the article had to say.

 You Work Better with Coffee Shop Noise Than You Do with Office Noise

Citing a few different studies, HBR said that researchers have discovered that background noise isn’t always a detriment. In fact, the source of the background noise is the determining factor in whether you’re distracted by the steady hum of conversation.

“In fact, some level of office banter in the background might actually benefit our ability to do creative tasks, provided we don’t get drawn into the conversation,” contributor David Burkus wrote. “Instead of total silence, the ideal work environment for creative work has a little bit of background noise. That’s why you might focus really well in a noisy coffee shop, but barely be able to concentrate in a noisy office.”

Burkus also explored the idea that familiarity can be distracting; you know the people in your office, but the people in the coffee shop? Not so much.

Hearing familiar voices and the names of people you know in a nearby conversation grab your attention. Even face-to-face conversations can derail your creative process and keep you distracted.

“The problem may be that, in our offices, we can’t stop ourselves from getting drawn into others’ conversations or from being interrupted while we’re trying to focus,” Burkus wrote. “Face-to-face interactions, conversations and other disruptions negatively affect the creative process. By contrast, a co-working space or a coffee shop provides a certain level of ambient noise while also providing freedom from interruptions.”

Is it the Familiarity That Hampers you, or the Frustration?

HBR’s conclusions are pretty solid. We do better at coffee shops and co-work spaces because we can’t really get drawn into conversations as we probably don’t know who’s doing the talking.

In the office, it’s different. You know the voices, the stories and the people or incidents inspiring the banter.

However, says Inc.com Contributing Editor Geoffrey James, it may not be the familiarity you have with your co-workers, but the contempt you have for them that distracts you.

In an article in which he discusses the HBR article, James says you probably get distracted with the background banter because someone’s flaws are bubbling up amid the back-and-forth.

“In short, it’s not the noise that makes an open-plan office such a miserable place to work – it’s the inability to escape the proximity of the petty and annoying behaviors of your co-workers,” James wrote.

OBEX Panel Extenders Dampen Noise

Another aspect of the HBR article we found interesting was that we work best when there’s just enough background noise to let our minds wander to creative places, but not complete silence.

And that’s where our panel extenders come in to play. The products we offer install easily, look great and get the job done.

Our panels have NRC and STC ratings (industry ratings for noise reduction) that significantly reduce the noise in each cubicle without eliminating it.

If noise is a problem in your office and you don’t have the time or resources to do a complete overhaul of your current desk systems, stop by our website to learn about the solutions we have.

Our panel extenders can be used in a variety of ways, come in multiple colors and materials, have three heights and eight widths and carry a 10-year warranty.

Mastering your ability to deliver a presentation or speech is an essential part of your future success as an employee or entrepreneur.

It allows you to promote yourself, make new contacts and provides an excellent platform for sharing your ideas and vision with a broader audience, in conference rooms and event halls alike.

Contending with speech fear and anxiety isn’t easy, but it can be done. Tweaking your preparation habits and the way you convey your message, along with an awareness of your audience’s perceptions and expectations, can help you hone the skills of a successful, persuasive and world-class communicator.

The psychology behind public speaking manifests itself in subtle ways.  Mastering the minutia of what’s happening in the minds of the audience as well as the speaker is essential in effectively sharing your message.

These next few tips will help you captivate and keep the seemingly ever-elusive attention of an audience.

Adjust Your Gestures

In an article for Entrepreneur, contributor Neil Petch noted a famous study as evidence to the power of nonverbal communication.

“Dr. Albert Mehrabian, author of Silent Messages, famously conducted research in the early 1970s which found that just 93% of any message is conveyed through non-verbal communication,” Petch wrote.

Gestures and gesticulations provide a direct connection to the brain, allowing extra access to memories and ideas, without which it would be considerably difficult for humans to communicate and share with each other.

“A previous 2012 study … found that gestures make people pay attention to the acoustics of speech,” explains Christopher Bergland, author and contributing writer for Psychology Today. “When you see a hand gesture, your auditory system expects to also hear speech.”

Control your body movements and you have added a layer of control over the audience’s attention.

Give Them a Show

Geoffrey James, contributing editor of Inc.com, features ideas from a former Harvard psychology department chair on how a bit of “razzle dazzle” via visual aids can help your audience retain information.

“The latest neuroscience research has revealed that human beings process words and pictures in different physical areas of the brain. If your presentation includes pictures alongside text, people are twice as likely to remember your message,” James wrote.

It may take some extra preparation time, but creating an interactive dynamic with an audience will promote far more attentiveness and genuine engagement.

Attract Attention Through Tone, Connections and Practice

Another Entrepreneur guest writer, Jonathan Li, pointed out that you’ll have to fight hard for your audience’s attention.

“The scarcest commodity in the business world is attention. If you’re a boring speaker, the audience will check their emails or think about where to have dinner tonight,” Li wrote in 2015.

Don’t forget to break interrupt the monotony. Our brains aren’t naturally configured to tune into the drone and lulls of a lackluster speech.

However, with a few adjustments, you will improve your delivery and confidence.

By setting the right tone of voice, interrupting the audience’s day-dreaming by asking direct questions, and creating emotional connections through personal anecdotes, you are sure to captivate them both with your expertise and your personal, vested interest.

It is also important to mention the role of practice and repetition in confidence and connection with an audience.

Knowing your material is an extremely necessary component in giving your listeners a reason to feel included. You’ll also connect with them on a deeper, more meaningful level.

Having a solid grasp on a pithy, focused speech also frees up extra processing space in your brain so you can spend more energy building a genuine, off-the-cuff rapport and less on giving a tired, uncertain lecture.

Don’t Fear It: Embrace It

Embracing the fear of public speaking will go a long way in maintaining a lasting, successful career. World-class communications skills are attainable, not through nervous pacing or breathing into a paper bag, but with an appreciation for communicating your entrepreneurial view.

No matter how you dress it up, however, there is no excuse for failing to make use of the incredible spectrum of communication and persuasion tools at your disposal.

Break up the rhythm of your speech to aid in the retention of information and get the audience active with methods that nudge them to utilize several parts of the brain at once.

Applying these principles will help you overcome your fear of speaking and will create presentations and pitches that engage the audience and, ultimately, lead to your success.

Inspiring the hearts and minds of those around you with an on-point presentation or pitch is easily one of the most daunting tasks facing today’s otherwise intrepid entrepreneurs.

Be it a convincing filibuster at a meeting you weren’t prepared for, presenting for the promotion of a lifetime, or giving a TED talk in front of some of the most influential people, it all requires finely honed speaking and presenting skills.

Fear is the major opposition to giving eloquent speeches, and, for many of us, public speaking doesn’t come naturally.

The following musings from seasoned speakers will allow you to not only identify some of the common ailments afflicting business professionals from all walks and disciplines, but will help develop your personal style and stage presence to command even the most intimidating group of entrepreneurs and business leaders without all the stuttering and pacing.

Listen and Learn

“It’s true that the mind can’t focus on two things at once,” declares Beverly D. Flaxington in a 2015 Psychology Today article. “Statistically speaking, 3 out of every 4 people fear public speaking (and) dealing with the effects of speech anxiety is so prevalent that there is a formal term for it – glossophobia.”

What does this mean for you, the speaker? Glossophobia comes in many shapes and sizes, but you don’t have to resign yourself to a fate worse than death.

After their foray into the terrifying world of TED Talks, Wharton and Harvard psychologists Amy Cuddy and Adam Grant shared their insights with Business Insider’s Shane Lebowitz.

Both suggested paying attention to the audience and other presentations as an effective way to take the focus off your own anxieties. Grant recalled how being engrossed in a friend’s speech relieved made him forget about being nervous.

“We’d been practicing together for months beforehand, and he delivered the best version of his talk. And I was so engrossed in flow that I forgot that I was speaking next, and I heard my name and said, ‘Ahh, gotta get on stage!’”

His assertions are supported by Cuddy’s research on studies correlating self-focus and high anxiety.

It may sound counterintuitive, but tuning into other people and presentations distracts from your own anxieties, and can teach and inspire you.

Absorb others’ confidence and mannerisms when they’re speaking and you’ll be able to demystify the task. You might find yourself invigorated and eagerly awaiting the spotlight, rather than pacing and fidgeting in your office or backstage in a palpable cloud of self-doubt and worry.

No Need for Speed

Most of us have experienced it: the speeding pulse, the racing thoughts, the debilitating anxiety that compels flight rather than fight when it comes to public speaking.  You have only to describe the symptoms to recognize the clear and present danger to your effectiveness as a speaker.

Adrenaline is by far public speaking’s enemy number one. Nerves must be expelled one way or another, and the forum for most public speaking venues doesn’t always lend itself to venting those anxieties on an audience.

“That energy has to go somewhere,” posits Forbes contributor Nick Moran in “Why We Fear Public Speaking and How to Overcome It.” Some speakers get ‘happy feet’ – they wander endlessly all over the stage. Some people lose affect. They become rigid, with few facial gestures, and appear virtually devoid of emotion. Others speed up, filling every available nanosecond with rapid-fire talk.”

Being mindful of our nervous ticks is essential to taking center stage in the business world. The importance of developing good physical habits before a presentation mustn’t be underestimated.

Deep belly breathing, exercise and meditation center you and keep the residual backstage adrenaline rush at bay so you can focus on sharing the message you painstakingly prepared.

Be a Little Full of Yourself

You’ve heard that confidence is key, but it can be tough to find the door to successful public speaking in business when you’re too busy navigating the various twists and turns of public speaking anxiety.

The audience feeds on your confidence just as they sense uncertainty in a stage actor delivering lines without conviction or emotion. You can mitigate this effect by deciding beforehand who you want to be perceived as the moment you walk out to perform.

Faking it until you make it is a tried and true adage for a reason. Just as an actor prepares their new identity before the cameras record, so too can you apply the same principle in your public speaking. The results will astound you.

What’s Ahead: Common Pitfalls

Once you’ve mastered the mental muzzle keeping your entrepreneurial voice at bay, you’ll be ready to focus on the minds of your audience. The work doesn’t end in the mind of the speaker.

We must also be cognizant of the perceptions and expectations of the audience. In part two of the Psychology of Public Speaking series, we’ll explore the common pitfalls that you might find when you’re trying to rein in not only your anxiety, but the anxiety of an expectant crowd.

Give me more.

That’s the battle cry of information- and narrative-hungry entrepreneurs who are constantly looking for the newest material and insights to strengthen their business acumen.

Of course, you don’t have to be an entrepreneur to love a good business podcast. There are plenty of resources available in the podosphere to help you be more productive at work and more whole at home.

We’ve created a list of five podcasts to download this year and we’ve tried to avoid the old guard like Tim Ferriss and EoF.  Enjoy!

Business Podcast#1: StartUp

We like this show from Gimlet Media because it has that trademark Gimlet style. Business advice is wrapped in intimate narratives about how Gimlet CEO Alex Blumberg started his company.

“It tackles all the issues of starting a company, like naming it, valuing it and bringing on partners through a personal, narrative lens,” Entrepreneur contributor Matt Mayberry wrote.

StartUp made Bite Size PR’s list of “30 Business Podcasts to Listen to Now.” They describe the show as a mix between PBS standouts This American Life and Serial. “Startup paints a compelling portrait of what it’s really like to get a business off the ground.”

Business Podcast #2: Powderkeg: Igniting Startups

Another newcomer to the biz podcast world, Powderkeg is a startup show that focuses on a unique area of the tech world: entrepreneurs outside of Silicon Valley.

Here’s how Entrepreneur describes the show: “Energetic host Matt Hunckler taps into the minds of top-tier entrepreneurs, investors and innovators to provide insights that will help aspiring founders no matter where they’re located.

Here’s a quick sampling of the show’s most recent episodes, which are released every Tuesday:

• How to Clear Your Mind, Calm Your Nerves, and Pivot Like a Pro
• Leading Remote Teams and Podcasting for Business Growth
• How Startup Grind Bootstrapped from Zero to One Million
• Growing Startups and Investing Outside of Silicon Valley

Some of the personalities on the show are Jenny Blake, Derek Andreson, Paul Singh and Jay Baer.

Business Podcast #3: Odd Lots

Finance geeks, listen up. This weekly Bloomberg production hosted by Joe Weisenthal and Tracy Alloway is marketed as “a not-so random weekly walk through hot topics in markets, finance and economics.”

While the show claims to be not-so-random, the titles of their most recent podcast reveal the creativity and originality that make the show popular:

• Could Buddhism Save the Global Economy?
• How Poker Explains the Battle of Passive and Active Investing

The show gets an average of 4 stars from 14 reviews on Podbay.fm. Recent reviewers praised the show for its smart banter and offbeat topics.

“Great for people who love to learn new things about the world of finance,” one reviewer wrote. “Perfect length, great interviews, fantastic.”

Business Podcast #4: Unemployable Podcast

This show is the brainchild of Brian Clark, a serial entrepreneur with a colorful resume that includes tenures as a lawyer and a writer. His podcast is popular with entrepreneurs and freelancers.

Clark’s show focuses on seven different aspects of being self-employed and/or starting businesses:

• Mindset
• Marketing
• Development
• Operations
• Support
• Finance
• Legal

Each category plays an important role in your journey, and Clark covers them like the expert that he is.

Business Podcast #5: Breaking Into Startups

The final podcast on this list features stories of entrepreneurs who found success in the tech universe via non-traditional backgrounds.

“The goal is to encourage and inspire people who want to get into tech by teaching them how to leverage their unique experiences in other industries,” Entrepreneur’s Mayberry wrote.

The show received some press from Tech Crunch in February when it interviewed Idalin Bobe, an IT consultant who grew up in one of the nation’s poorest zip codes.

Keep Growing, Keep Learning

Treading water doesn’t get you anywhere.

These podcasts will help you expand your perception of success, encourage you to break boundaries and push forward, and, above all else, inspire you to fulfill the drive within you.

Don’t fall into the trap of being over-enthusiastic with your listening, though. Start slow – one or two podcasts a week. Take notes and allot time to reflect on what was said. Use a few minutes each morning to explore how you can apply what you learned to your daily routine.

With the new year upon us, it’s time to make some changes in the office.

It starts with that crazy rumor flying around that Mike in accounting starting dating Kendall in HR at the corporate retreat. Yes, 2017 is your chance to end your office’s continual cycle of passing around tasty little morsels of hijinks and hearsay.

There are obvious reasons you need to bring an end to the rumor mill: employee morale will suffer, co-workers will build insurmountable rifts and, in some cases, reputations will be ruined.

However, not every office gossip cycle will bring an end to the harmony you’ve built at the office. In some cases, you can stop the rumor-based ruination before it starts. In other situations, you’ll have to confront a rumor that has momentum, then mend the conflicts it created

Navigating those scenarios can be tough, though. That’s why we’ve researched to come up with a guide for handling office gossip that will help you curb strained or broken relationships and head into the rest of the year with some much-needed peace.

Don’t Ignore the Gossip Cycle

If you’re non-confrontational, gossip presents a series of awkward what-ifs:

• What if you overhear a conversation you didn’t want to hear?
• What if the rumor floating around involves you?
• What if people are looking to you to kill the rumor?

In each of these scenarios, circumstances demand that you take action, regardless of your disposition. You may want to crawl back in your office and crunch numbers or make calls, but you’ve got to act.

Ignoring the rumors does a few things to you and your employees’ psyche. When you choose not to confront the situation when you first hear of it, there’s a good chance you’ll be less likely to confront it in the future when it is once more brought to your attention.

When your employees observe this passivity happening, they’ll lose faith in your ability to resolve relational problems and be left wondering where the solution will come from.

In both cases, nobody feels comfortable.

Be Direct, But Don’t Attack

So, let’s say one of your supervisors comes to you and says there’s a vicious little rumor floating around that Mike and Kendall started dating at the company retreat. Everyone knows that dating isn’t prohibited, but they also know it’s not the best choice.

In this case, there are no rules being broken, which means this isn’t a scenario you pass off to HR. Find a time to get together with both employees and be straightforward: “There’s a rumor going around that you guys started dating. It’s not against company policy, so you don’t have to worry about any repercussions. I just want to know what’s going on so we can clear this up.”

The goal here isn’t to accuse, because there’s nothing that shuts down or prolongs a confrontation quicker than people getting defensive.

Give the benefit of the doubt, but don’t patronize. Your workplace is made up of adults, and though the office doesn’t always act on-point, they have the ability to deal with truth and move on.

Beat Your Staff to the Punch

Relationships aren’t the only classic rumor topics. Promotions, hirings and firings tend to be fertile ground for half-truths and jealousy.

So, rather than make moves in secret – they won’t be secret for long – institute a policy of transparency. If there are changes being made, let your staff know. Be the first to break the news about personnel changes and you’ll find that many of the rumors that would normally pop up aren’t there anymore.

Think about it from your employees’ perspective. They see you take someone into an office, and then a few minutes later that person comes out of the office with a dejected look on their face and doesn’t return to their desk.

That kind of scenario is like a neon marquee flashing all kinds of possibilities that your office will debate for days to come.

Did You Hear that the Boss Is Trying to End Office Gossip?

We’re not going to deceive ourselves into thinking all office gossip can be solved by the three tips we gave in this article. Office rumors often involve relationships and politics, and those two arenas are not black and white.

However, you can set a precedent of honesty and quick action if you decide not to ignore gossip, confront it directly and announce changes early.

If rumors involve actions or situations that directly conflict with company policy, consult your human resources department.

It’s one thing to pick an outfit for an interview, but it’s an entirely different task to keep your wardrobe updated and fresh.

But let’s be honest – we don’t all have the time or the money to head to our favorite department store every month to reload our stash of ties, jewelry, pants, blouses, shoes and shirts. In years past, a lack of online options meant that you had to spend a few hours every month finding clothes and accessories to keep things fresh.

Nowadays, you have a wide selection of online retailers from which to choose the clothes that best fit your style and your workplace dress code.

We’re going to review a few of those websites, included subscription services that send you monthly combinations of accessories.

For the Gentlemen: SprezzaBox

SprezzaBox offers two different subscription prices: $25 a month if you pay a year’s worth of deliveries up front ($300), or $28 a month.

Their service delivers one box a month that has 5-7 items like ties, pocket squares, tie tacks and grooming products. You’ll also occasionally get items like sunglasses and watches, as well as lifestyle products like wine stoppers and corkscrews.

You won’t know what’s in your box until it arrives, but Sprezza’s stylists assure you that their hand-selected items are as stylish as they are affordable.

In terms of value, several of the company’s most recent boxes were priced at more than $100 when each individual item was valued. In that sense, these boxes offer great value.

Here’s an example of the contents of a recent box called “The Chelsea”:

• Tie
• Pocket Square
• Socks
• Coasters
• Wine Pourer & Stopper
• Corkscrew

According to Sprezza, the box was worth $112.

As you can see, Sprezza’s boxes offer a wide variety of items, but not all of them are fashion related. However, the fashion items they do feature tend to be stylish and current, which are two things you want out of your wardrobe.

Here’s what subscription review site A Year of Boxes wrote about Sprezza:

“What can I tell you about SprezzaBox that I haven’t already told you? This subscription box is definitely on my ‘favorites’ list, and I don’t see that changing anytime soon. I’ve seen men’s subscription boxes come and go, but this one has consistently delivered great boxes since they opened their doors, and I don’t see them going anywhere anytime soon.”

For the Ladies: RocksBox

RocksBox is a jewelry-only subscription service whose unique feature is that recipients “borrow” the jewelry for $19 a month. If you like your jewelry and want to keep it, you can purchase the piece at the RocksBox price. If you’re ready for a new set of jewelry, you can send all your items back and receive fresh pieces.

One of the things that really stands out about this subscription service is the personalization that comes with every box. The type of pieces you receive are based on a style quiz you take when you sign up. From there, RocksBox stylists put your box together and add a personalized note.

Style website Nylon said RocksBox is their favorite subscription service, calling the competition a “no contest.”

“RocksBox won our hearts with no contest,” Nylon wrote. “Not only does the service let you try before you buy, everything down to the packaging and personalized insert card was smartly put together, fresh and trendy.”

Final Thoughts on Workplace Dress Codes, Instruments and More

We hope that our series on workplace dress codes and tips helped you get a better understanding of how to approach your work wardrobe and, for employers, how to create a dress code that communicates your company’s own brand of professionalism.

If there’s one thing we’ve learned through our research, it’s that from an employee’s perspective the way you dress shouldn’t be an afterthought. Your wardrobe can strengthen your standing as a reliable, organized employee, or it can reinforce others’ views about your lack of organization and attention to detail.

While we’ve spent a good bit of time talking clothes and accessories, don’t forget that your office serves the same purpose as your wardrobe. You want something comfortable, well made and representative of who you are as a company.

You also want individual spaces where employees can have a sense of privacy and identity. Stop by the OBEX Product page to browse our latest products, all of which can be easily installed onto your existing desk layout.

In the first part of our series on workplace dress codes, we covered the definition of a dress code and talked about the various aspects of business formal.

In this post, we’re discussing some of the intricacies of a business casual dress code.

Business Casual Represents a Shift

As human-resources website The Balance pointed out, workplace dress codes are becoming increasingly more casual. The days of Mad-Men style suits, watches and ties are moving into their zenith as jeans and TOMS take over.

This isn’t just a hunch, either. The shift in dress code has been well-documented over the years. An article from Forbes contributor Jacob Morgan explores this shift.

He was meeting with one of the world’s largest retailers for a consultation about making the company more transparent and less hierarchical.

His first impression? Hundreds of employees were silently working at their cubicles in full suit and tie. He said it was obvious they were uncomfortable and they weren’t dressed this way for customers because they didn’t interact with customers.

The CEO of the company said suit-and-tie was the dress code when he arrived and he didn’t plan on changing it.

Here’s what Morgan wrote:

“Does it really matter if you show up in a T-shirt versus a suit and tie? Should organizations enforce dress code? Does dress code really have an impact on corporate culture? You bet it does!”

With that in mind, you should consider how your dress code relates to the culture you want to foster in your workplace. Will suit-and-tie guidelines mesh with a desire to have a relaxed, open workplace?

Also, consider your customer interaction and your product or service: Is what you’re selling and who you’re pitching consistent with what your employees are wearing?

To give you a sense of what “business casual” encompasses, we’ll list some of the guidelines included in The Balance’s sample text for a workplace’s business casual dress code:

• Polo shirts with khaki pants
• Sweater and collared shirt with khakis
• Jacket, sweater and skirt

Of course, these are general guidelines for most professional workplaces. Shorts, t-shirts and sandals are acceptable in some cases. Just remember, you shouldn’t think of your dress code as mutually exclusive from other aspects of your corporate culture.

Consider it part of an interrelated matrix of philosophies and goals for your team. As you craft a new dress code or adjust your existing one, consider what you sell, to whom you are selling and what kind of culture you want in your workplace. This should make your dress code decisions much easier.

The other variable here is your workforce. What are your employees’ cultural backgrounds? What have they been told about your dress code?

Canadian human resources site HR Council says it’s important to be mindful of your employees as you craft your dress code. Their four reminders are:

• Keep your dress code language gender-neutral
• Consider the cultural background of your employees
• Allow your employees to participate in the formation of dress-code policy
• Review your dress code during onboarding.

If you want code examples for your organization, take a look at this sample dress code from the Society for Human Resources Management. Their sample code is for business formal, with a detailed section for business casual dress-down days.

One More Post to Go…And It’s a Good One

Our series on dress codes continues with tips and tricks for dressing stylish while not being pretentious, as well as websites and subscription services that can enhance your wardrobe without breaking the bank.

In the meantime, take a look at the first post in our series. We cover the basics of the definition of a dress code and offer suggestions and links concerning a business-formal dress code.