High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: Making Joy a Priority at Work

This is our weekly roundup of some of the best career-related articles, interviews, blogs, etc., we've read during the week. We share them so you have some great resources to prepare you for the coming week. Enjoy!

• Making Joy a Priority at Work: "By providing people with more of the experiences that engender joy in any team setting, leaders can tap more of the practical power of joy in their companies."

• 9 Tips for Avoiding Loneliness When You Work at Home: "Below, you’ll find a guide for avoiding loneliness when you work from home, including tips from writers like myself and other professionals who’ve learned the best ways to be social without an office."

• What Women Want at Work: "When working women have coworkers and an employer who has their backs plus the opportunity to grow and climb, both hierarchically and financially, their overall job satisfaction gets high marks."

• 10 Companies to Work For if You Want to Like Your Job: "Indeed says these companies got high marks from employees because they each provide an enjoyable work environment."
• How to Have a Difficult Workplace Conversation:"Your conversation is not only about the immediate message itself, but more importantly about the outcome and behavior you want to see afterward."

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: Things You Should Never Say in a Job Interview

This is our weekly roundup of some of the best career-related articles, interviews, blogs, etc., we've read during the week. We share them so you have some great resources to prepare you for the coming week. Enjoy!

• 14 Things You Should Never Say in a Job Interview: "That is a clear signal that you may be using the company name to set yourself up for your next job somewhere else."

• 5 Decisions You Will Always Regret: "Some decisions have repercussions that can last a lifetime. Most of these decisions are made daily, and they require focus and perspective to keep them from haunting you."

• How to Accomplish Your Biggest Career Goals This Year: "The first step to making your career goal happen is to clearly define it and know why you want it."

• The Ugly Truth About Working from Home: "be sure you understand the implications. There are trade-offs to all jobs. Knowing the limitations can help you minimize the downsides."
• Exploring Absurd Ideas is Essential to Your Success:"Simply having a sense of humorous curiosity will unlock a continuous burst of stimulating concepts. Let them be outrageous at first, knowing that each is the potential seed of a future-shaping business idea."

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: 2 Questions You Must Ask in Every Job Interview

This is our weekly roundup of some of the best career-related articles, interviews, blogs, etc., we've read during the week. We share them so you have some great resources to prepare you for the coming week. Enjoy!

• 2 Questions You Must Ask in Every Job Interview: "Think of someone in the organization who really represents the right attitude for this culture. Could you tell me about a time they did something that really exemplifies having the right attitude?"

• 6 Tips for Balancing a Successful Side Hustle: "This feels counterintuitive when you’re insanely booked and everyone needs something from you. But if you don’t step back, think, consider, plan, and evaluate, you won’t move forward."

• Why You Should Exercise Before Work Every Morning: "If you start your day with a physical activity that gets your blood pumping, your brain active, your mind cleared, your metabolism raised, and your endorphins flowing ... you feel far more awake throughout the rest of day."

• 10 Ways to Be More Productive Working at Home: "No matter what else you do, invest in a good computer, a good phone, and the most comfortable and ergonomically correct chair you can find. When you're uncomfortable, it's hard to stay focused and productive."
• The 10 Best Business Books of 2018:"For the entrepreneurs and executives on your gift list, here are 10 great titles to read by the fire."

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: How to Use Criticism to Your Advantage

This is our weekly roundup of some of the best career-related articles, interviews, blogs, etc., we've read during the week. We share them so you have some great resources to prepare you for the coming week. Enjoy!

• How to Use Criticism to Your Advantage: "In order to keep a relationship or work team performing well, five or six positive interactions were needed for every one criticism or negative interaction."

• 7 Ways to Stay Connected, Relevant, and Powerful When Working From Home: "What doesn’t get on your calendar doesn’t happen. Many business owners I spoke with were surprised by how much more intentional they had to be about scheduling in connections, breaks, and routines into their workday."

• How to Train Your Team to Have an Entrepreneurial Mindset: "If they don't make their own mistakes, and suffer the pain and embarrassment and anxiety that comes with them, they will never grow like you did. That's why you need to give them room to fail."

• Break Bad Habits With a Simple Checklist: "You can set goals to achieve your dreams or improve your behavior, but without actionable ways to move forward and a way to measure progress, you’ll fall back into your old bad habits once again."
• This 5-Minute Routine Will Save You Hours of Wasted Work: "Stand-ups are a great alternative to email because they're not just quick, they increase engagement between workers."

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: 10 Reasons Good Employees Quit

This is our weekly roundup of some of the best career-related articles, interviews, blogs, etc., we've read during the week. We share them so you have some great resources to prepare you for the coming week. Enjoy!

• Top 10 Reasons Good Employees Quit: "They realize that it's up to them to have the career they want, and that their hopes of having that career with their current organization will never come true."

• How to Stay Focused When You're Working from Home: "It may sound silly, but if you want to have a focused day of work, pretend you’re not working from home."

• 10 Simple Ways to Build a Collaborative, Successful Work Environment: "The more compelling and exciting the mission, the easier it is to inspire team members to want to be a part of what the company aspires to accomplish."

• Why You Need to Make Over Your To-do List: "Instead of doing a million things poorly, the goal becomes to do a few things incredibly well--or better yet, do one thing better than anyone else in the world."
• The Health Benefits of Gratitude: "Whether you’re penning a note on personalized stationery, scribbling in a journal or just meditating, a deep contemplation of gratitude will probably be a tune-up for your mind and body in many ways."

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: Stop Sabotaging Your Success!

This is our weekly roundup of some of the best career-related articles, interviews, blogs, etc., we've read during the week. We share them so you have some great resources to prepare you for the coming week. Enjoy!

© Bellemedia | Stock Free Images & Dreamstime Stock Photos

• 4 Ways to Stop Sabotaging Your Success: "No matter how skilled you think you are at dividing your attention, you really are more effective when you focus. Don’t jump ahead or try to do it all at once in an effort to save time. You’ll feel more accomplished, building momentum you need to go onto the next task, if you complete just one task at a time."


• Tips for Being Super-Productive When Working from Home: "Set limits and focus on time sensitive projects first. It is also important to schedule more important tasks at the time of day when you are most productive. Tune into your body and learn when you are most alert and concentrated."


• Empathy is Key to a Great Meeting: "Empathy is a competency that allows you to read people. Who is supporting whom? Who is pissed off and who is coasting? Where is the resistance? This isn’t as easy as it seems."


• Keys to Overcome Fear and Do Better at Work: "To dare risk jumping out of your comfort zone changes the way people respond to you ... That changes the way you see yourself."


• When a Co-worker Becomes Your New Boss: "Use this as an opportunity to clean up your behavior. Ditch the jealousy, and look to your new manager as a role model. How is she delivering on what the company values?"

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: Career Resolutions

This is our weekly roundup of some of the best career-related articles, interviews, blogs, etc., we've read during the week. We share them so you have some great resources to prepare you for the coming week. Enjoy!

© Bellemedia | Stock Free Images & Dreamstime Stock Photos

• 5 Job Seeker Resolutions to Make in 2014: "The New Year often brings the promise of change, possibility and resolving to make this year better than the last. Here are five steps to help you achieve your [job search] goal."


• How Working from Home Can Help Tackle Your New Year’s Resolutions: "In addition to no commute and dress code-–three other factors can have major benefits to your overall well-being. And maybe even your New Year’s resolutions."


• How to Invest in Your Career for 2014: "If you’re thinking about your professional new year’s resolutions, keep the following in mind when evaluating professional development opportunities."


• New Year’s Resolutions Every Job Seeker Should Make for 2014: "If your number one goal for the new year is to land a new job, hopes and wishes aren’t enough; you need to define and execute a plan to ensure your success."


• 10 Professional Resolutions for the New Year: "Whether a pay rise, promotion, or a new career are among your professional resolutions, the following tips may serve as useful in your quest to make 2014 the year for your career!"

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: Career Success and Working at Home

This is our weekly roundup of some of the best career-related articles, interviews, blogs, etc., we've read during the week. We share these every weekend so you have some great resources to prepare you for the coming week. Enjoy!

© Bellemedia | Stock Free Images & Dreamstime Stock Photos

• Staying the Course When You Truly Hate Your Job: "The key is getting back to what engages you and making it a part of your daily work life – a little creativity can go a long way."

• How I Went from Zero to Success in Four Weeks: "Defining a brand and nailing your message may seem relatively easy, but your business’s first, powerful impression is the most important thing for any company. Get it right the first time and you’ll be well on your way."                                                      
• Do You Have What it Takes to Work from Home?: "A home office is filled with distractions, from dishes in the sink to the ability to walk away from your desk on a sunny day with no boss to tell you to keep working. Can you resist the temptation to take your eye off the ball?"


• The 8 Rules of Success to Think about Every Morning: "When it comes to doing business, building a brand and a good reputation is vital. Once you have done this, you will find things a lot easier, as most of us prefer to deal with people or companies that are recognised and trusted."


• The 3 Questions People Always Forget to Ask in an Interview: "The people who are interviewing you will have heard it all before and they will be looking for someone who has that little bit extra quality or personality which sets them apart from the rest of the crowd." 

Yahoo! edicts and coping with big workplace change

Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer set the business world abuzz this week with her edict that Yahoo! employees will no longer be able to work from home. Many viewpoints from both sides of this decision have surfaced, with some considering her a hero while others reviling her for an apparent attack on work-life balance and other morale-killing signals it sends.

No matter how the issue is examined, Yahoo! employees affected by the decision are facing big change. Their lives will be disrupted and the way they work will be drastically different. Some might be considering whether or not they want to continue with the company. Before they make any drastic decisions there are some career coaching questions I would ask these employees to help them better come to terms with the change in front of them:

1. What does this change mean to you? I would have Yahoo! employees imagine themselves as a fly-on-the-wall in a room, observing how they cope with this decision. What behaviors are they noticing? What feelings are they experiencing? These observations will help them to understand what the change means for them and help them articulate their perspectives on the change.

2. What is hard to let go of? Yahoo! employees need to be direct about what they are ultimately struggling to let go of. Concerns about the commute, the alternate child-care arrangements, and the lack of work-life balance are really masks covering up underlying feelings of distrust, unfairness, and a lack of respect. This question elicits the surface "hurts," which lead to the feeling beneath. Articulating these feelings will enable them to spend some time with them, processing and contemplating.

3. How is your perspective serving you? All of our feelings serve us in some way, even feelings of anger, frustration, disappointment, and unfairness. Yahoo! employees need to get clear about how these  feelings are helping them, which may seem like a strange question at first but makes sense in the context of moving forward. When we understand our perspective and how it serves us we can decide whether to indulge this perspective or another one.

4. What's possible now? The decision to eliminate the work-from-home privilege has been made and there is no changing it. This question gives Yahoo! employees a chance to consider the future...a future they can create. Maybe what's possible is looking for a new job, or relishing the opportunity to create stronger collaborative relationships with co-workers. Some might view this opportunity to make their mark on the company or decide that a Silicon Valley job isn't for them. Possibilities abound through whatever the employee wants to create, so long as he/she is feeling empowered by the decision.

How would you approach a change like this in your workplace? Leave your comments below.

How to Work from Home Successfully

For many people, working from home offers flexibility and opportunity for both personal and professional growth—without the commute and office politics. But what are some important pointers for successfully working from home?

Have a dedicated office environment
Set up a dedicated space with a desk, comfortable chair, and an organized workspace. A door for privacy and a dedicated phone line may also help. Avoid mixing business and personal items, like bills, within your office area.

Create a daily plan
Most of the time, working from home allows you to schedule around personal commitments. If you drive the kids to school every morning,make sure to account for this in your daily schedule. Set a realistic expectation regarding the number of hours you plan to work, and stick to it.

Be available to those you work with
Be sure your clients or vendors can reach you during the work day. Clearly communicate what hours you are available and use an out-of-the-office automated email reply and similar type phone message on your office voice mail.

Don’t be afraid to call it a day
Working efficiently and effectively is the goal, so be mindful of how many hours you are working each day. Once in a while, you may need to get up early or stay up late to finish a project, but just because your office is at home doesn’t mean you have to live in it. Remember that door to the office? Close it at night. Your work will be there tomorrow, so go enjoy the rest of your day, today!

Is Working from Home Right for You? Ask Yourself These Questions.

As technology advances, more and more companies are allowing their employees to work from home, at least part-time. Also, many entrepreneurs run their businesses from home to save overhead and avoid the cost of a physical office. As someone who has worked from home for the last 7 years, I know very well that there are pros and cons to the situation.

Take it from someone who knows, working from home is a constant challenge and a daily blessing all wrapped into one. I work hard every day to make it work for me. How do you know if it will work for you? Take the quiz below to find out if you are suited for working from home.

Are you self-motivated?
When you work from home, there is no boss looking over your shoulder. There is no one to see if you are working in your pajamas or sweat pants. Productivity can be a challenge when you work from home if you don’t have the self-motivation to get the job done.

Do you have discipline?
When you are home, there are always chores calling your name. A task that should have taken you 15 minutes ends up taking an hour because you stopped to fold laundry in the middle. When you work from home, it is best to treat your job like an office job. That means no dishes, laundry, or television during work hours!

Are you easily distracted?
Kids, dogs, internet surfing, television, the book you are reading; the distractions are endless when you work from home. The people who are most successful at working from home schedule time in their day to “goof off” and enjoy the distractions of their home.

Do you mind working odd hours?
When your office is at home, you can work most any hours. I sit writing this blog at 5:30 am. I would never go into an office at this hour. I make the sacrifice to work early in the morning and late every night so that I can pick my kids up from school, go on their field trips, help them with their homework, and put them to bed every night.

Are you able to easily separate work and home life?
When you work from home you need to find a balance, otherwise you will end up resenting your work. Make the rules of how your home life will interact with your business and how your business will play a role in your family. Then make sure everyone in your home – including you – is aware of and committed to sticking to those rules.

Do you have a space that you can dedicate to an office?
It is best to have a room that you can walk away from and close the door when you are finished working for the day. However, if that is not an option, set aside a corner of a room where you can avoid distractions and concentrate to get your work done for the day.