Online Career Tips

By J. Thompson
Online Career Tips Staff

Have you ever started a meeting and all you heard were crickets in the background? Or conversely, everyone talked over one another and after it was over there was little traction. In fact, you left more confused.

No matter where you are in your career, effective project management and leadership in meetings are important career development traits and they’re universal in just about every organization. Before you send out the next invites, check out these simple tips for leading purposeful meetings.   

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By J. Thompson
Online Career Tips Staff

I recently thumbed my way through a popular book entitled, “A Complaint is a Gift.” It’s written by Janelle Barlow and Claus Moller with a foreword by employee culture and retail customer service rock star, Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos.com.

[American Public University has online degrees for retail management professionals.]

The book reinforces common business principles, but what struck me as most interesting, were how well these lessons could translate into improving interoffice relationships. No matter how good an environment, there’s always opportunity to improve communication, break down silos, and be more effective in the workplace.

One way to do this is to view your colleagues as internal clients. This only works if you’re committed to providing exceptional customer service much like Zappos.com employees are renowned for doing, and which is why their company is incredibly successful.

Good service isn’t solely predicated on your ability to entice new customers, but in your ability to support them consistently at each touch point and for the long term. It’s critical that you are always prepared to resolve issues promptly and effectively when a client expresses that he or she is not happy.

Here’s why.

According to the book, research concludes that when customers become dissatisfied, only about 1 to 5 percent will complain to management or headquarters. Fifty percent will simply walk away and will not return. The remaining 45 percent are the people who complain to customer-facing staff. Rather than react to a complaint as a negative, it should be viewed as a gift. Moreover, it’s an opportunity to repair the relationship. Often this can build more loyalty. If you lose them, customers are more apt to “speak out to the world” through word-of-mouth and social media.

Isn’t that a little similar to what happens in the workplace? By not resolving needs of dissatisfied colleagues, you run the risk of increasing the amount and the voracity of complaints to others, which can hurt your reputation. So if you ever get a complaint, don’t throw up barriers. Break them down and resolve the issue. We’re all human and there will be mistakes. The bigger mistake is not looking at a complaint as a gift.

By: J. Mason
Online Career Tips Staff

Oh the necessary evil of email. It’s still the #1 way we communicate both in the office and outside of it. Mostly everyone has a smartphone now, so it’s always available at your fingertips; even when you don’t want it to be.

I had an epiphany this week while my computer was being upgraded at work…close out your email. Mine actually crashed while writing an email to a co-worker, and instead of letting it boot up right away I let it stay off. For those 30 uninterrupted minutes I found myself getting work done quicker, because I didn’t have the distracting “BING” noise alerting me to an incoming message. While going through a a couple hours is not possibly, a healthy 30 minutes is a great amount to get minor tasks completed or just to clear your head for a concept you’ve been trying to form.

[related: Make a Priorities List]

If you find yourself getting stuck today go ahead and close out your email; at a time you aren’t expecting a heavy flow of message traffic, of course. Your colleagues know where to find you, so if it’s urgent they can call you or stop by your desk. Try this approach once or twice a week. It takes the stress out of virtual correspondence, and leaves you with a more accomplished feeling later.