Tag: here read this

This week in The New York Times, David Brooks writes about tips for creating a kinder workplace. There are some fantastic ideas in here, including:

The all-purpose question. “Tell me about the challenges you are facing?” Use it when there seems to be nothing else to say.

Never threaten autonomy. People like to feel that their options are open. If you give them an order — “Calm down” or “Be reasonable” — all that they will hear is that you’re threatening their freedom of maneuver, and they will shut down. Nobody ever grew up because an angry spouse screamed, “Grow up!”

Presume the good. Any disagreement will go better if you assume the other person has good intentions and if you demonstrate how much you over all admire him or her. Fake this, in all but extreme cases.

Read the rest of the story here.

Here’s a fantastic story from Emily Winter about a reach goal she set in 2018: To apply for more opportunities, even if it meant getting rejected 100 times. She writes:

In pursuit of 100 rejections, I put myself forward for opportunities I’d previously thought were for smarter, funnier, cooler people. And sometimes I wasn’t rejected. I wrote for new publications, got a joke-writing gig on my favorite comedian’s radio show and interviewed guests on my podcast who I’d thought wouldn’t waste their time on me. At a stand-up show this fall, a peer told me the thing every comedian wants to hear: “I see your name everywhere! You’re killing it!”

Read her entire piece here.

There’s a great story in The New Yorker this week about two Google engineers, Sanjay and Jeff, and their unusual work partnership. It’s a wonderful story — and a fantastic reminder of how working with the right people can lead to unexpected results. Do give it a read.

Here’s a fantastic read from Nikki Waller, a Wall Street Journal reporter, who spent a month avoiding exclamation points in her emails. (I’m know I’m guilty of using — and perhaps overusing — those !!!’s and :-)’s in my emails, but they do such a good job of communicating tone!)

In the piece, Waller writes:

“Not using exclamation points felt somewhat less than authentic for me. I’m enthusiastic by nature, and when some long-running projects hit rough patches during the month, I suspected warmer, more chirpy messages would have lightened up some requests. Then again, I liked not having to apologize for asking people to get things done. When a new manager joined a team that works closely with mine, I worried my pleasant though clipped emails gave the impression that I was clinically depressed or at best in need of coffee.”

Give the whole thing a read. It’s a great way to think about the way we communicate at work.

>> She’s Not Mad. She’s Just Not Using Exclamation Points. | Wall Street Journal
 

 

Julia Evans posted this fantastic little guide to getting feedback from your boss. Her advice is excellent: The more specific you can get with your questions, the more likely you are to get specific, actionable feedback.

ask for specific feedback pic.twitter.com/wu4uWS0Ftc

— 🔎Julia Evans🔍 (@b0rk) September 21, 2018

(That guide comes from her new zine, which is available here.)

One more thing to add to Julia’s suggestions: Set up a weekly check-in with your boss. When you have regular conversations with them, feedback becomes part of the week-to-week process of your work, instead of something that only happens during an annual review. Getting negative feedback isn’t always easy, but it does become easier to get (and give) feedback if there are regular opportunities to do so.

I’ve written before about ways to stay in touch with friends and colleagues — easy things, like writing birthday cards or sending congratulatory emails. Several former BuzzFeed colleagues have expanded on the idea with a post called, “A More Or Less Definitive Guide To Showing Up For Friends.” It’s a wonderful guide to the simple ways you can build and maintain a relationship — I highly recommend it!