Last week’s most read post Alert! Highly pathogenic avian influenza now identified in 13 states and counting. Link. Last week’s AHD Bulletin Animal Health Digest Bulletin, Thursday, February 24, 2022. Link. =================================== Fake meat is bleeding money Source: PORK, February 23, 2022. Link. “Beyond Meat has been lauded as a disruptor … [Read more...]
How to interrupt someone’s workday without annoying them
As organizations shift to long-term hybrid models, it’s more important than ever to think proactively about how we communicate with one another at work. This increasingly complex landscape dictates we pay close attention to what it means to be a good interrupter. Research suggests that interruptions don’t have to be unpleasant. Elana Feldman offers six strategies to become … [Read more...]
No-cost coaching
Coaching is a valuable way to create clarity and deal with the uncertainty of an increasingly nuanced world of work. Source: Harvard Business Review, January 13, 2022. Link. Asking yourself insightful coaching questions will unlock your thinking and support you to identify actions that will help you make positive progress.” INSIGHT: The greatest coaching questions are … [Read more...]
HRB 2021 year in review infographic
Complimentary Commercial Content Harvard Business Review shares some intriguing metrics and factors affecting business and people today and looking forward. Here’s a sample: Over 200 million articles read Almost 17 million total hours on hrb.org 5 million podcast downloads Source: Harvard Business Review, January 18, 2022. Link. … [Read more...]
Worth a Glance – January 13, 2022
Last week’s most read posts Workplace bullying, a growing concern for HR departments. Link. To hug or not. Tools to solve the conundrum. Link. Last week’s AHD Bulletin Animal Health Digest Bulletin, January 6, 2022. Link. =========================== So you cried at work Source: Harvard Business Review, January 4, 2022. Link. To minimize the impact of … [Read more...]
HBR Editors’ favorite management tips of 2021
Breaking the self-criticism cycle and the art of gracious follow-up are good reminders as 2022 gets going. Source: Harvard Business Review, December 30, 2021. Link. … [Read more...]
Tactics to keep meetings on track
This article covers 10 communication tactics that can help make sure critical points are raised and discussed as effectively and efficiently, so meetings accomplish their mission. The tips start with a premeeting plan and finish with identifying action steps. Source: Harvard Business Review, January 5, 2022. Link. … [Read more...]
Getting stuff done when you’re feeling down
If you’re depressed, your number-1 job is to look after yourself. Productivity is secondary to your mental health, says Alice Boyes. However, learning how to be productive when you’re feeling down can help with depression recovery. Source: Harvard Business Review, October 20, 2021. Link. Summary. When people are depressed their energy, activity, and mood levels decrease … [Read more...]
Set boundaries with chatty colleagues
You might think you’re being generous or patient by listening to a chatty coworker talk endlessly, but you’re simply letting resentment fester that’s toxic to your emotional well-being and productivity. Melody Wilding offers advice for setting boundaries with a talkative colleague in a compassionate, diplomatic way that still allows you to get your work done: Preempt their … [Read more...]
Women at work. Leaders to learn from.
HBR’s Emily Caulfield interviews four women who model leadership excellence. Plus, Muriel Wilkins shares advice on how to take care of yourself while taking care of the people you manage. Source: Women at Work, Harvard Business Review, Season 7, Episode 2. Link. 45-minute podcast found in the WILMAH newsletter, October 27, 2021. … [Read more...]
How to say NO after saying YES
We started a post last week with, “Sometimes, the best answer is ‘no,’ and doesn’t have to come at the cost of your workplace relationships or reputation.” However, we often find ourselves caught because something has changed and we’ve already said yes. Melody Wilding offers six tips to help you say no after you’ve already said yes with tact and professionalism: Consider … [Read more...]
Worth a Glance – August 4, 2021
Last week’s most read posts – we have another tie Modeling fierce self-compassion. Link. Lincoln Memorial University pilots new advanced degree option for veterinary professionals. Link. Baby boomers can’t stop looking at their phones Source: Vice, August 3, 2021. Link. While stereotypes paint millennials and Gen Z-ers as phone and social media-obsessed … [Read more...]
Start your day with silence
We live in a world full of noise and chatter. It can be hard to find a break from it all.” Feeling overwhelmed? This author suggests giving this mindfulness exercise a shot. It's called the Sphere of Silence, a 60-minute routine to help you collect your thoughts, stay grounded and decide how you want to enter your day. Source: Harvard Business Review, Management Tip of the … [Read more...]
Mentorships help professional and personal advancement with mutual benefits
Mentorship is a two-way street and both parties find growth and value in the relationships that form. Wendy Hauser, DVM, and Heather Kvito-White, DVM, DACVIM, share highlights from their mentorship journey. The mentee gains invaluable insight, and the mentor gets joy from helping another person succeed.” Source: Today’s Veterinary Business, June 2021. Link. INSIGHTS: Note … [Read more...]
Managing your energy
The science of stamina has advanced to the point where individuals, teams and whole organizations can, with some straightforward interventions, significantly increase their capacity to get things done. Source: Harvard Business Review, October 2007. Link. Improve your physical energy. Manage your emotions. Focus. Create meaning and purpose.” INSIGHTS: Stop multitasking. You … [Read more...]
Words and phrases to avoid in a difficult conversation
Sometimes it is hard to get out of our own way. When you’re in the middle of a difficult conversation, it’s common to focus solely on yourself: your ideas, your viewpoint, your feelings, writes James Detert. A “me-centric” approach can backfire. To achieve your goal, you need to think beyond yourself. Detert has found that people often forget when navigating a difficult … [Read more...]
Why should I care?
In an ongoing crisis, clear communication is more important and more difficult than when things are normal. Employees and customers are hungry for information, so we are tempted to pull together presentations and communicate with urgency instead of with careful planning. Source: Harvard Business Review, May 6, 2021. Link. If they do not know why a new action is necessary, … [Read more...]
What workers’ attire communicates to customers
Research found that shoppers were almost twice as likely to interact with a formally dressed employee as one who was informally dressed, believing that the more formally dressed employees had more expertise than their casually dressed peers. This raised their expectations of getting better service. Dust off the lab coats and sport jackets.” Source: Harvard Business Review, … [Read more...]
Listening without getting defensive
Hearing is physiological. Listening is psychological. We listen to acquire knowledge and receive information. But it is easy to get distracted. One of the main distractions is how we respond to something we hear. Are we triggered? Are we half-listening while preparing to talk about our agenda? Or are we listening on autopilot? Jennifer Wolkin says we need to practice … [Read more...]
Deal with jargon problems
Jargon is a staple of the modern workplace. Sometimes jargon has a legitimate purpose, but overreliance on it and acronyms can make people feel excluded or lead them to disengage. If you’re concerned about possible negative effects of jargon on your teams, clients or organization, consider the following: Know your audience. There are times when using jargon can help you … [Read more...]
Beyond burned out and beyond self-care
Today’s level of burnout is the result of an existing problem made exponentially worse, says Jennifer Moss. The pandemic was an accelerant. Combating burnout may feel like an impossible task, especially after months of emotional fatigue, but if you’re armed with the right tools, it can be easier than you might think. Despite how massive the burnout problem is, it’s never too … [Read more...]
How to respond when an employee discloses a mental health condition
It takes a lot of courage for an employee to disclose they have a mental health condition. Navigate the conversation carefully. Start by thanking them for telling you, but don’t make a big deal about the disclosure. It’s important to treat it like you would any other medical issue. It’s important to keep in mind that the employee likely had to overcome a lot of fear to talk … [Read more...]
Slow down, write better emails
We’re sharing from this article verbatim. It is concise, actionable and central to our personal lives. Erica Dhawan says reading carefully is the new listening and writing clearly is the new empathy. So many of our exchanges today happen in written (or typed) form such as email, text and IM. This means that listening in its traditional sense has been replaced by reading text … [Read more...]
Worth a Glance – February 4, 2021
Nationwide® partners with Walmart on first-of-its kind pet prescription program Source: Nationwide, January 29, 2021. Link. From the article: Preferred pricing and the opportunity to have claims for covered drugs processed at the counter of a major retail pharmacy is a first for the pet health insurance industry. How does reducing swine herds’ stillborn rate pencil … [Read more...]
Finding direction when you are feeling lost
At a certain point in life, people transition from “time to live” to “time left to live.” This shift creates a new sense of urgency about identifying the purpose of our existence, writes Manfred F. R. Kets de Vries. Ever more people today have the means to live, but no meaning to live for.” - Viktor Frankl, Holocaust survivor and psychiatrist Source: Harvard Business Review, … [Read more...]
To overcome vaccine hesitancy, we need a better patient experience
HBR’s summary led me to review this article first in the human context and again thinking about animal health vaccination experiences. By thinking of the vaccine as a consumer product, vaccination as a service, and a high NPS (net promoter score) as a goal, we can better design the end-to-end vaccination process and bring this pandemic to a close as quickly as … [Read more...]
Disagreement doesn’t have to be divisive
Rather than engaging in potentially difficult or uncomfortable conversations, many of us try to avoid them altogether. But there may be a more effective approach. . . “ Source: Harvard Business Review, November 16, 2020. Link. When someone has a sharply different point of view than your own, the natural tendency is to either avoid a conversation with that person or to try to … [Read more...]
It’s okay to write down the unwritten rules
Many of us have struggled with the unwritten rules, the things you don’t ask or say. . . or the topics you dare not breathe a word about. Authors Liz Fosslien and Mollie West Duffy say, “It’s good practice to write down the unstated cultural and emotional norms that exist within your team or company. They might have changed since you all started working from home, or perhaps … [Read more...]
Who’s watching the kids?
Commentary Two articles and Thanksgiving experiences prompt this post. Whether rural, urban or suburban, parents are taxed. The effects of changing school schedules, daycare limitations, restrictions on gatherings and physical distancing play out in family lives and at work. Virtual care helps, but only goes so far. Even with optimum resources, parents are stressed to know … [Read more...]
Managing performance issues in a remote environment
Our culture of annual reviews, employee performance metrics and staffing decisions is palpable this time of year in animal health companies. This year has challenged every performance monitoring system. Employees may have developed performance issues amid the stress of the current work environment. Delivering proper feedback remotely is challenging for managers accustomed to … [Read more...]