Education

1371 posts

What we learn in our academics and daily life

Why Taking Good Notes Matters In Business



Why Does Taking Good Notes Matter?

I graduated college and graduate school many years ago. I took notes like crazy when I was in school, and they were my own cryptic code of the subject at hand. I thought I was “done” with this style of capturing information.

To this day, I keep a notebook within arms reach of me at work. Each meeting, phone conversation, and even some personal conversations get recorded in my notebook. Much of the time, I capture brief elements or tasks from a discussion. Other times, I have long volumes of knowledge written on the page. In my desk are many years of notebooks filled with these tidbits of past conversations.

School’s out, so why do I keep doing this?

My Memory Is Not What It Used To Be…


Man takes notes at work

Let’s face facts. As I age, my memory declines. With stress, I forget many things discussed during a work day. Do I remember what I ate last week? I do not always remember what I had for breakfast this morning. Life throws so much information in our direction, how can we remember everything?

Write it down. Transfer the information from the short term to the long term. Allow pen and paper to serve as your memory.

I will misquote this… during an interview, Albert Einstein was asked for his phone number. He rose from his seat, opened a phone book, and pointed to his number. When asked why the smartest man in the world did not know his own phone number, the physicist answered, "Why would I remember something trivial when it is written down?"

Use note-taking for your long-term memory support. If it is written down, the information can be referenced at any time with minimal need for recollection.

My Notes Have Saved My Behind More Times Than I Can Count!


Man takes notes during a virtual work meeting

​Ever disagree with a customer on something said in a meeting? Did your boss recall a conversation differently than you? Do colleagues neglect to follow through on a task agreed upon? Do you get into disputes over dates, times, and actions from a meeting?

Remember the old notebooks? Just last week, I found meeting minutes from a discussion nearly two years ago, and I was able to show attendance at the meeting and a skeleton of the discussion. My customer denied being present, changed the terms of our agreement, and challenged me on the validity of our claim. Looking in the notebook, I showed he was present and agreed to bullet points in the conversation. We still needed to find a consensus between our perspectives; however, I was able to begin at a basic agreement the discussion had taken place.

Because my memory was not clear, and my customer’s memory was not either, my notes clarified our position. Dates, facts, attendance, and action items were stored for my retrieval.

Does Media Matter? (Written vs. Electronic)


Woman takes notes on a tablet at work

For me, the answer is yes. I am a visual learner first and a tactile learner second. I need to have the physical motion of writing to help me reinforce a concept, capture knowledge, or learn a skill. Seeing it and making it real works well for me.

I have often wondered about the tablets which capture handwriting, and I have yet to make the jump. As a former PalmPilot user, I learned quickly that electronic capture did not work for me. Taking typed notes is a challenge as a self-taught typist. When I am creating the idea in my head, I can type very well. When I am transposing someone else’s thoughts, I am much slower than writing.

Use what works best for your learning style. The media only matters if it helps with comprehension. Auditory learners may record everything in their phone’s voice memos. Visual learners may benefit from a tablet to doodle their conclusions. Tactile people may prefer pen to paper like me. Use many techniques. Simply take the notes!

Tips And Tricks For Business Notes


Man takes notes during a work meeting

Here are a few things which work for me. I suggest you try them and manipulate the ideas to fit your needs. Use these as my guidelines to help shape your own unique system.

  • Date everything. Always put a date (and time) in the header. This date will help you index when searching for information.
  • For meetings, record attendees. Make sure you capture as many of the participants in the conversation as possible. For accountability, know who was present.
  • Title the subject. Identify specifically what was discussed in the conversation. Again, this habit defines the context and helps find the subject when searching.
  • Use a symbol to designate actions needed. I “star” everything which is an actionable item for me. I can review my notes and easily find these tasks in the margin. Use something memorable to you—circle the task, highlight it, make it stand out on the page!
  • Do not use full sentences. Use shorthand to help with speed.
  • Do not capture EVERY SINGLE WORD. Focus on key points and elaborate as needed.
  • Use a notebook or a single file for notes. Two dozen Post-it ® notes on your desk or 15 sheets of paper are ineffective. Limit the notes to a single source for archive. Multiple sources will increase the chaos!

Is This Note-Taking All Common Sense?


Man takes notes during a meeting with a colleague

​Professionals take a lot of training, spend years in school, or develop their expertise over many years of effort. I would like to believe this information is common sense everyone should know.

In my observations, many professionals do not have this skill nor prepare for it. Too many people walk into meetings with nothing in hand. Some bring phones and text or surf while meetings occur. Others grab the Post-it ® notes and decorate their desks with the colorful squares.

We all learn differently and have unique styles. My comments in this article reflect how I need to work, and I merely recommend ideas that have worked for me. Sometimes simply reading about another’s successful actions is enough to spark new behavior in yourself. My goal is to share my ideas to help someone struggling to make a modest improvement in their effectiveness.

If one person walks away with a general idea of how to improve their memory at work (or home), my message is well received. For others, they may not see value in my note-taking message. For those who took the time to read, I can only hope my recommendation will help you be more effective and efficient in recalling details. My note-taking has certainly helped me over time, and I hope it may be able to help you as well.

Thanks for reading, and make a note!


Acquiring Job Advance Your Career Career Changing Careers and Employment Education Internship

Why Taking Good Notes Matters In Business

How To Score And Win The Game With A Great Business Continuity Plan!



What is a business continuity plan (BCP)?

A business continuity plan (BCP) is a system of prevention and recovery from potential threats to a company. The plan ensures that personnel and assets are protected and can function quickly in a disaster.

Understanding Business Continuity Plans (BCPs)


Dominoes, business continuity concept

BCP involves defining any risks affecting the company’s operations, making it an essential part of the organization’s risk management plans. Risks may include natural disasters—fire, flood, or weather-related events—cyber-attacks, and Centers for Disease Control events (COVID-19). Once the risks are identified, the plan should also include the following:

  • Determining how the risk will affect operations
  • Implementing safeguards and procedures to mitigate the losses
  • Testing procedures to ensure they are optimized
  • Reviewing the process to make sure that it is up to date

BCPs are an essential part of any business. Threats and disruptions mean a loss of revenue and higher costs, which leads to a drop in profitability. And companies can’t rely on insurance alone because it doesn’t cover all the costs and the customers who move to the competition. It is generally conceived in advance and involves key stakeholders and personnel input.

At The National Football League, A Business Continuity Plan Was In Place In The Event Of A Tragic Event.


NFL flags

When I worked in Football Operations at the NFL, I was heavily involved on the Risk Management Team. Our team knew that the NFL had a plan if a tragic plane crash event eliminated an entire team. The plan was to have an emergency meeting involving all 32 team clubs. Team management would conduct a special draft of the existing 31 clubs, pulling enough players and staff to field a team to continue business operations for the rest of the season.

Business Continuity Plan vs. Disaster Recovery Plan


Business continuity and disaster recovery concept

BCPs and disaster recovery plans are similar; the latter focuses on technology and information technology (IT) infrastructure. BCPs concentrate more on the entire organization, such as customer service and supply chain.

BCPs focus on reducing overall costs or losses, while disaster recovery plans look at technology outages and related expenses. Disaster recovery plans tend to involve only IT personnel—which create and manage the policy. However, BCPs tend to have more personnel trained on the potential procedures.

6 Levels Of Business Continuity Maturity


Business continuity concept

How mature is your organization when it comes to business continuity? Does your business continuity management (BCM) program crawl, walk, or run? From self-governed to synergistic, we have identified six levels of BCM maturity that most companies fall into.

Immature

Levels 1-3 represent organizations that still need to complete the necessary program basics to launch a sustainable enterprise business continuity management program.

Level 1 – No real plan in place. A wait-and-see approach.

Individual business units and departments can organize or implement their business continuity or disaster recovery efforts. The state of readiness for disruptive events is low across the business enterprise. The business or individual department reacts to disruptive events when they occur. No actual planning is involved: business continuity recovery is reactive rather than proactive.

Level 2 – Departmental: The one and only—you’re in a class alone!

At least one business unit gets it. You have reached Level 2 of BCM maturity if at least one department or business unit has initiated efforts to establish management awareness of the importance of business continuity. A few functions or services have developed and maintain business continuity plans within one or more business continuity disciplines, such as:

  • Incident reporting
  • Technology protection
  • Security mandates
  • Business continuity

At Level 2, your organization has at least one internal or external resource assigned to support the business continuity efforts of the participating business units and departments. The state of preparedness may be moderate for participants but remain relatively low across most of the company. Management may see the value of a BCM program, but they are unwilling to make it a priority at this time with minimal executive buy-in.

Level 3 – Cooperative: Moderate preparedness, but on its way to full maturity.

Participating business units and departments have instituted a sophomoric program, mandating at least limited compliance to standardized BCM policy, practices, and procedures to which they have commonly agreed.

  • A BCM program office or department has been established, which centrally delivers BCM governance and support services to the participating departments and/or business units.
  • Still lacking executive buy-in; senior management has not committed the enterprise to a BCM program.

Maturing

Levels 4-6 represent a definite plan for a maturing enterprise BCM program. If your business achieves Level 4, you are compliant with most standards.

Level 4 – Standards in place: You have climbed to early BCM maturity adulthood.

Congratulations! Your management has arrived on the scene and is committed to the strategic importance of an effective BCM program throughout the organization. In addition, there is an enforceable, practical BCM policy that adopts structure, including procedures and tools for addressing all four business continuity disciplines:

  • Incident reporting
  • Technology protection
  • Security mandates
  • Business continuity ​

Level 5 – Integrated: Almost there!

At Level 5, the company meets all of the requirements of Level 4 that are now implemented throughout the company, adopting continuous quality improvements.

All business departments have completed tests on all elements of their business continuity plan, including their internal and external dependencies.

  • Planned methods have proven to be effective.
  • Management has bought into crisis management exercises.
  • A communications and tracking system exists to sustain a high level of business continuity.

Level 6 – Synergistic: You have reached BCM nirvana!

You not only conquered levels 4 and 5. You own it! As official business continuity gurus, you have:

  • Sophisticated business protections are in place and tested successfully.
  • Innovative procedures, practices, and technologies are working and functional in the BCM program.​

Acquiring Job Advance Your Career Career Changing Careers and Employment Education Internship

How To Score And Win The Game …

Summary Sunday: Issue #498

Whether looking for a good new job or considering of looking for your new job, it’ t important to be sure you possess a good grasp involving what to do together with what to expect. That’ s the purpose connected with Summary Sunday. Things modify pretty quickly these times so you want for you to make sure that the job search strategy […]

The post Summary Weekend: Issue #498 appeared first on Profession Sherpa .

Acquiring Job Advance Your Career Career Changing Careers and Employment Education Internship

Summary Sunday: Issue #498

6 Tips To Make Sure Your Ego At Work, Works (Even In Uncertainty!)



Work is important to a lot of us. And we all have egos. The trick is to balance our own view of work and success so that the ego remains a helpful source of support and not a tyrannical master. One is the road to relative contentment, the other to continued misery. Have you struck the balance?

We particularly need to know we have the balance as close to right (for us and others at work—everywhere!) especially given the likely turmoil and stress employees, colleagues, leadership, and ourselves may feel because of the ongoing uncertainty surrounding us right now.

Why do I even write about ego and why should any of us in business care about it?

To understand the influence of our own ego at work, let's first get a working definition of what ego is. Oxford Languages defines ego as, among other things, ‘the part of the mind that …is responsible for reality testing.’

So, what does reality testing look like on the ground? How do we implement reality testing at work for us?

Our Internal Rule Book


Man smiles while working

Through a rule book. Our own internal rule book. An individual set of rules we each carry around inside our heads for how we deal with the world including at work.

Everyone has their own internal rule book. Your job is to make sure that your internal rule book continues to support and serve for the benefit of all including your stakeholders, your colleagues, your team, your company, and yourself at work.

We all have this internal rule book for all parts of our lives. So, our internal rule book pervades our waking moments including at work.

Almost from birth we acquire, adopt, and develop our own set of rules which drive what we expect and therefore what we impose on others and ourselves as a way to decide what is going on—that is we are reality testing.

For instance, simple rules picked up through experience like if you pay a baker for a bread roll you expect them to hand over a bread roll. If they don’t hand over a bread roll then you start reality testing. In this example, where the baker didn’t hand over the bread roll as you expected (rule about exchange) you might immediately reality test the situation by asking ‘Did I hand over the money to the baker’ or ‘Did he hear my order correctly?’

You see how the rule book works—it's reality testing what you expected. You expected a bread roll after handing over the money (a rule about exchange), yet the baker didn’t hand over a bread roll. So, you try to understand what happened given your rule explains there ‘should’ have been an exchange. You could call this sort of rule a ‘standard rule’ as many people follow it. In this scenario, the rule of exchange is a standard rule because it is widely followed and understood.

So, applying the rule book to work, if you delegate to someone and then they don’t meet your expectations...here is where things can get interesting. Remember our internal rule book guides and drives our expectations.

Your rule book is active 24 hours, 7 days a week in your subconscious, whether you’re at work or not, and whether you are always aware or not. The application of our rules often happens on ‘autopilot.’ Remaining mindful of how you apply your rules will increase your likelihood of successful interactions and activities at work and in general.

Why?

Because being mindful means you are in that very moment, live, and you are adjusting to the actual, live situation and the interaction or person in that very moment. Rather than applying the rule when it may have first formed for you.

Remember, right now, people may be in a heightened state of stress for other reasons than the immediate interaction with you. So make sure your rule is the best possible fit, in the moment, to that situation and people.

This mindful assessment of the ‘best fit’ of your rule in the moment will lead to better, healthier, more successful interactions and outcomes the more you can do it.

Remember: a negative emotion you may feel during the day at work, with others or during an activity you are doing—e.g., reading a work email, for instance (anger, frustration, annoyance)—is a pretty good indicator that someone or something has tripped over one of your rules.

This is then a split-second opportunity for you to grab hold of how you are feeling, and then recognize that it’s actually because of a rule you have in play. You then have the immediate opportunity to do something potentially different to how you would ‘normally’ react.

This can lead to a different (and possibly) better outcome for you and the person or situation than might otherwise have been the case.

Let’s continue with the example mentioned of delegating work to someone. You have more choices in this latter example scenario of delegating work to someone which is of course more complex than a simple transaction of buying a bread roll—obvious right?

What may be less obvious is that you and the person you delegated to don’t just have standard rules (i.e., widely followed and understood what is expected). We all have non-standard or individual internal rules as well. In other words, everyone has a standard set of rules that are widely followed and understood by others and non-standard rules where expectations between people might vary.

It’s also worth thinking about how you apply your rule book in say, difficult work situations like distressed projects and teams (see "6-Point Checklist For Taking Over A ‘Distressed’ Project Or Team" for more on this).

Let’s say in our delegation example you explained to your colleague that she keeps you in the communication loop on the progress of work you delegated to her. Let’s say she doesn’t copy you in on an update email and you find out from a colleague instead how the work is progressing.

This is the second time you have found out indirectly rather than directly from the person you delegated to. Do you apply a rule that says this colleague cannot be trusted or is slack or absent-minded? Or could it be that your rule instead interprets your colleague’s behaviour as they are purposely leaving you out of the loop.

What if her behaviour of leaving you off the update email is actually because she is continuously overworked and doing her very best and slips up sometimes because of how busy she is?

Take your pick of how you respond in this scenario.

Your response is driven by your internal rule about what you expect—in this scenario, what you expected when you delegate work to someone. So, when your expectation wasn’t met, your internal rule book kicks in (to reality test) and then reacts by judging the situation (and the person).

Remember that our rule book is built over time and evolves through observation, our own experiences, as well as our beliefs—a topic for another (many!) blog series.

How much you check, question, and validate your own internal rules that you use and apply to a given situation, such as the example above, will potentially influence your attitude and behaviour towards this person as well as similar scenarios in the future.

Tips To Make Sure Your Rulebook Is A Healthy, Balanced One:


Woman on laptop looks for a new job

Ask yourself, ‘Do my rules...

  1. Serve me in regards to my work?’
  2. Serve my stakeholders including my team, direct reports, sponsor, and colleagues?’
  3. Place onerous hurdles that serve little purpose except to continually reassure me?’
  4. Need to be removed in some areas?’
  5. Hinder or support fast progress at work?’
  6. Need streamlining, changing, revision, updating, editing, or deleting?’

Final Word


Happy coworkers at work

I’ve barely mentioned ego throughout this blog yet that’s where we started. We could spend a lot more than my 1200-word limit allows. So instead, I focused on a practical example of what is driven by our ego—the internal rule book.

At its most basic, our internal rule book is there to protect us and reassure us that we are in control as we deal with and decide what is going on around us at work (and beyond).

It’s important you place as much effort as you can muster into making sure, especially in today’s uncertain work environment, that the application of your rule book (i.e., in situations with stakeholders like colleagues, employees, or leadership) remains as balanced and unemotional as possible, no matter what is going on for you and your stress levels. Not an easy ask I realize—but I know you can do it!

The tips I provided aim to help you recognise and understand your own internal rule book, the one you apply at work especially, and help you ensure it remains supportive rather than one that drives unhelpful behaviours that can make things worse for you and those around you.

Remember the ultimate aim of our internal rules is to help not hinder.

Would love to hear about your internal rule books and how they serve you or how you review your rules regularly to make sure they continue to support you.

Acquiring Job Advance Your Career Career Changing Careers and Employment Education Internship

6 Tips To Make Sure Your Ego …

Top 100 Most Powerful Resume Words



In today's job marketplace, your resume is the very central document you possess to get your job application in the fingers from the hiring manager. In case you can't get your individual resume past the OBTAIN THE, it doesn't matter just how much experience or how great your cover letter will be. That's why you have to be tactical and intentional concerning the words and phrases you include in ones resume.

The particular significance of Powerful Job application Words


Man on laptop makes powerful words on the man's resume

When a hiring office manager is viewing the same kind of resume time in addition to time again (which consists of the cliché words and even phrases like "highly devoted individual" or "great group player") you might be guaranteeing that will your resume is going to be thrown. Not only is this probably not optimized together with the right keywords, yet if you take up space using subjective statements, you're lacking out on the opportunity to evaluate your experience , abilities, and accomplishments on the resume.

Poorly selected words and clichéd terms can destroy the eye associated with the reader. Powerful thoughts, when chosen correctly, might have the opposite effect regarding motivating and inspiring a reader.

Right here are the most effective resume words you ought to use to stay ahead of the main competition and increase your company likelihood of getting hired...

Top 100 Effective Resume Words


Woman on laptop or pc uses powerful words attached to her resume
  1. Advanced
  2. Designated
  3. Assessed
  4. Absorbed
  5. Accelerated
  6. Achieved
  7. Attracted
  8. Announced
  9. Appraised
  10. Budgeted
  11. Bolstered
  12. Balanced
  13. Boosted
  14. Bargained
  15. Benefited
  16. Beneficial
  17. Comply
  18. Critiqued
  19. Closed
  20. Collaborated
  21. Designed
  22. Assigned
  23. Demonstrated
  24. Developed
  25. Detected
  26. Effective
  27. Enhanced
  28. Excelled
  29. Exceeded
  30. Rampacked
  31. Fulfilled
  32. Financed
  33. Forecasted
  34. Developed
  35. Generated
  36. Guided
  37. Granted
  38. Assisted
  39. Hosted
  40. Implemented
  41. Investigated
  42. Improved
  43. Initiated
  44. Influenced
  45. Integrated
  46. Electricity costs
  47. Instituted
  48. Justified
  49. Listed
  50. Logged
  51. Maintained
  52. Mentored
  53. Measured
  54. Increased
  55. Negotiated
  56. Observed
  57. Operated
  58. Acquired
  59. Promoted
  60. Presented
  61. Programmed
  62. Offered
  63. Projected
  64. Qualified
  65. Quantified
  66. Cited
  67. Recommended
  68. Refine
  69. Revamp
  70. Responded
  71. Retained
  72. Recovered
  73. Reinstated
  74. Declined
  75. Sustained
  76. Skilled
  77. Saved
  78. Planned
  79. Supported
  80. Secured
  81. Simplified
  82. Tested
  83. Segmented
  84. Streamlined
  85. Strengthened
  86. Triumphed
  87. Troubleshot
  88. Taught
  89. Tutored
  90. Converted
  91. Trained
  92. Uncovered
  93. United
  94. Single
  95. Updated
  96. Upgraded
  97. Validated
  98. Seen
  99. Worldwide
  100. Witnessed

Typically the next time you're composing your resume, be certain to include a number of the strong words above. Your job search depends on that!

Need more assist with your job lookup?

We would love it in the event you authorized up for Work This Daily's Event Subscription ! Get a career questions clarified inside our next live occasion!

This particular article was originally released at an earlier day.

Acquiring Job Advance Your Career Career Changing Careers and Employment Education Internship

Top 100 Most Powerful Resume Words

Answering Interview Questions About Organizational Skills

Answering questions about your organizational skills in a job interview is something that everyone needs to do. Staying organized is an essential part of being a productive employee, so hiring managers will always bring this up! This guide will teach you how to talk about your organizational skills in a way that makes a great […]

The post Answering Interview Questions About Organizational Skills appeared first on Career Sherpa.

Acquiring Job Advance Your Career Career Changing Careers and Employment Education Internship

Answering Interview Questions About Organizational Skills

How To Answer The Dreaded “Tell Me About Yourself” Question



The dreaded interview question, "Tell me about yourself," stumps a lot of folks. People of all ages and experience levels often fail to answer this one correctly, in a way that conveys meaningful information to the interviewer—information they will actually use to consider your candidacy.

First off, please know they are not asking you for a boring chronological recap of your professional history. That is the quickest way to lose their interest! What an employer is really asking is, “Why should I hire you?"

That being said, here's my three-step process for giving them an answer that gets their attention.

1. Explain What Business Problems You LOVE To Solve


Enthusiasm for solving a business problem they need help with is the quickest way to get a hiring manager's attention. Let's face it, they aren't hiring you for the heck of it. You need to explain how you can make things better for an employer.

You are a business-of-one. At the end of the day, you provide a service for your employer. By talking about the problems you love to solve and how you go about solving them, the hiring manager will clearly see the type of employee you are and could be for their company.

2. Show Them HOW You Know This Is A Good Problem To Solve


Man answers the interview question, "Tell me about yourself."

Companies hire people who can save and/or make them money. So when you provide examples from your personal and professional past that demonstrate the value your problem-solving skills bring, you are proving your worth.

It also shows that you are thinking like an employee who understands that their job is to make things better for the company.

The research you conducted on the employer before your interview will come in handy here. Connect your past accomplishments and problem-solving experience to the current problems you know the company is trying to solve (from your research). You'll impress the hiring manager with your knowledge of the company and you'll further answer the question, "Tell me about yourself."

3. Explain WHY You Want To Leverage Your Problem-Solving Expertise For The Employer


Woman answers the question, "Tell me about yourself," in a job interview.

Let them know how you hope to grow your skills and abilities by taking your problem-solving skills to the next level. Also, mention how passionate you are about what the company does and how you feel connected to its mission (echoing what you wrote in your disruptive cover letter). This lets the employer know you plan to focus on being successful and expanding your value to the organization if you get hired.

Employers love candidates who clearly plan to hold themselves to a higher standard. If you make it to the last round of interviews, you should consider coming prepared for your final interview with a 30-60-90 day plan.

But that's the long game. In your first interview with an employer, combining your problem-solving expertise and your passion for the company in your explanation is an excellent way to answer the interview question, "Tell me about yourself."

If you follow this three-step guideline when answering, "Tell me about yourself," in your next job interview, I guarantee you'll create a compelling story that will have the employer sitting up and taking notice. This is your chance to sell your value—don't pass it up!

Need more help with your job search?

We'd love it if you signed up for Work It Daily's Event Subscription! Get your career questions answered in our next live event!

This article was originally published at an earlier date.


Acquiring Job Advance Your Career Career Changing Careers and Employment Education Internship

How To Answer The Dreaded “Tell Me …

Here is How You Can Resource College Talent While Cautiously Avoiding Alumni Bias

Unconscious opinion can creep in in hiring processes no make a difference how self-aware and knowledgeable your hiring team is definitely. Unfortunately, one bias absolutely feels like a ‘ resource’ […]

The article Here’ s How Anyone Can Source College Skill While Carefully Avoiding Alumni Bias made an appearance first on Blog Work Hunting Career Management Options | CareerShift .

Careers and Employment Education Internship Networking and Public Relations

Here is How You Can Resource College …

18 Easy Conversation Starters For Networking Events



I think one of the hardest things about networking events is just getting a conversation going with someone—without being awkward about it. Approaching someone new can be stressful, but it doesn't have to be. So, what are some natural and easy ways to break the ice?

Here are some tips and tricks for starting a conversation at a networking event:

Go Fishing At The Food Table


Job seekers network at a conference

While waiting in line for food, start chatting up the person next to you. This is a great opportunity to get a conversation started because you already have something in common: the food. Everyone is thinking about the same thing. What am I going to try? What looks good? So instead of just standing there in silence, start a conversation.

Here are a few conversation starters for this situation:

  • "Oh man, everything looks so good. I'm not sure what to get! What are you thinking?"
  • "Yummy, they have ____! Have you ever tried it?"
  • "Hmm, I'm not quite sure what that dish is...do you know?"
Who knows, you might leave the buffet with a better plate of food AND a new contact! That's a win-win in my book.

Find A Loner


Man networks with a colleague at work

If you see someone standing alone in the corner, clutching his or her drink, and looking miserable, don't be afraid to walk up and introduce yourself. Typically, these people need a little help getting the conversation going.

Here are some icebreakers:

  • "Man, these networking events can be so crazy. Mind if I join you over here where it's a little quieter?"
  • "Wow, there are a ton of people here! The food must be good, huh?"
If someone is standing alone, he or she is probably feeling uncomfortable or unconfident. If you initiate the conversation, it could make them feel more relaxed and willing to connect.

Compliment Them


Woman looks to start a conversation at a networking event

Everyone loves compliments, especially when they are feeling insecure (and many people do feel that way when attending networking events). If you're struggling to start a conversation with someone, find something to compliment.

Here are some ideas:

  • "Yum, that drink looks good. What is it?"
  • "Cute shoes! Where did you get them?"

Talk About Sports


Group of professionals at a networking event

People love talking about sports. If you're a sports person, use it to your advantage!

See someone wearing a Red Sox cap? Say something like, "Red Sox fan, huh? Did you catch the game yesterday?" Overhear a group of people talking about last night's game? Express your interest in the conversation by saying something like, "Are you talking about ____?" and then chime in.

Just Say Hello


Man starts a conversation at a networking event

Sometimes, the easiest way to meet someone is to offer a handshake and say, "Hi, I'm Peter."

Simply introducing yourself with a smile and a dash of confidence can work wonders.

Keeping The Conversation Going


Group of professionals network at a conference

I know what you're thinking. Yes, yes, that's all well and good, but how can I keep the conversation going after the initial question? It's easy! Talk about something else you have in common—the event itself!

Here are some ideas:

  • "I'm Gina, by the way, nice to meet you..."
    • "So, is this your first time at one of these events?"
    • "So, how did you hear about this event?"
    • "What a great place for an event, huh? Have you ever been here before?"

After that, try learning more about them. Questions can include:

  • "Are you from the area"
  • "What line of work are you in or trying to get into?"

Next step: get them talking. Remember, people generally like to talk about themselves. So, once they tell you what they do, ask questions about it. Here are a few:

  • "That's very interesting..."

BONUS: Your Exit Strategy


Professionals smile at a networking event

It's that time: your drink is dry and you're ready to move on. When the conversation starts to wind down, don't try to force more. Remember, you're there to mix and mingle—don't chain yourself to one person all night.

If you'd like to exit a conversation, try one of these lines:

  • "Alright, I'm going to get some food now that the line has died down a bit. It was great meeting you!"
  • "Have you met Lisa She works in your industry as well. I'm sure you both will have plenty to talk about. I've got to say hello to someone, but I'll be back."
  • "Well, I think it's time for me to head out. I would love to talk with you again, though! May I have your card/contact information?"

Remember these conversation starters (and enders) during your next networking event to get the most out of your time there. Happy networking!

Need more help with your career?

We'd love it if you signed up for Work It Daily's Event Subscription! Get your career questions answered in our next live event!

This article was originally published at an earlier date and was inspired by the author's personal experiences and the advice of Susan RoAne, author of How to Work a Room.

Acquiring Job Advance Your Career Career Changing Careers and Employment Education Internship

18 Easy Conversation Starters For Networking Events

CSAT vs. Sentiment Analysis: Which Is Better?



During the pandemic, organizations had to interact with their customers digitally. Contact centers provided the company’s “human face.”

Without face-to-face interactions, it is a lot harder to understand how your customers feel, since you cannot experience customer behavior directly.

Running a contact center is like steering a submarine: you need a periscope to see what is going on.

What Does A Contact Center Manager Use For A Periscope?


Salesperson listens to a call to help a customer

Contact center managers have two tools—post-call customer satisfaction (CSAT) surveys and sentiment analysis.

CSAT surveys ask customers to react after their encounters with the company, prompting them to give a numerical score.

Sentiment analysis uses speech analytics to take customers’ “emotional temperature” during the conversation.

I believe that sentiment analysis is a better “periscope” than post-call surveys.

Post-Call CSAT Measurement


Call / contact center employees

How It Works

When the interaction ends, the automated survey asks the customer to give a numerical score. This measures how they feel about the interaction. Customers may also be asked to say why they gave this score.

Survey Wording Issues

One popular CSAT measurement is the net promoter score (NPS). Customers are asked how likely they are to recommend the company to their friends and relatives.

NPS’s strongest advocates believe asking how likely customers are to recommend the company is better than asking how happy they feel. It’s not clear how carefully respondents think about the question. They are asked to respond unexpectedly. They rarely have the time or the interest to consider the question carefully. Their response will most likely reflect their emotional state.

NPS’s scoring system may not match up with how customers think. NPS classifies anyone giving a score of 6 out of 10 or below as “detractors,” or people who will complain about the company. Customers giving 9 or 10 out of 10 are classified as promoters, or people who will tell everyone how good the company is. Those giving 7 or 8 are classified as “passive.” Respondents are unlikely to think in such depth. If their problem has been solved, they will give a high score, if it hasn’t, they will give a low score. Some respondents have even given a 7 or 8, because “they never give 10 on principle.”

Penetration Rate

About 3% of customers respond to post-call surveys. This is too small to be considered a representative sample. Where results show poor CSAT, this may reflect angry customers’ motivation to show their feelings or get “revenge” on the agent. It does not necessarily indicate how all customers feel.

Data Aggregation

Inconsistent customer reactions and low sample sizes make aggregating CSAT data a frustrating task. Inaccuracies potentially baked into each result are then compounded by the volume of results.

At a high level, ranking agents’ average CSAT or NPS scores can raise some red flags if an agent has a lower score than the team average. The same can apply to team or queue averages.

Sentiment Analysis


A customer service representative works remotely.

How It Works

This is a much newer technology than post-call surveys. Speech analytics software can be programmed to identify and indicate whether customers are expressing positive, neutral, or negative feelings.

It is trained to recognize such feelings based on samples where the speaker’s feelings are known. The system uses artificial intelligence (AI) to construct a picture of which combinations of phrases, pitch, pace, and volume match feelings that have been identified in a recording by the AI’s trainer. Where mismatches are discovered, the system can be further trained.

For sampling purposes, the sounds on a voice call can be split into each party on the call and analyzed separately. Sentiments can be identified even when both parties are speaking at once.

Sample Size

This is the major differentiator between sentiment analysis and post-call surveys. Sentiment analysis is usually applied to all calls. It can be applied to all parts of a call, showing users how customers’ feelings change throughout the call. The sample size is likely to equal the population being studied, so the statistical significance of the data cannot be denied.

Sentiment analysis reflects how the customer feels without having to process and respond to a question.

One limitation is that because there is no question, you cannot tell why the customer is angry. The root cause might be the agents’ behavior, the issue with the product, or be unrelated to the call at all.

Data Aggregation

Since the sample size is so much larger, there is more scope for aggregation and analysis. You need to build a set of benchmarks to establish what is “normal” for your population. If a water-utilities contact center handles issues relating to wastewater disposal, customer sentiment will be fairly negative as a matter of course.

League tables showing average sentiment by agent, team, or queue can quickly identify where improvements can be made. Comparing or correlating this with other data such as call length or first contact resolution, you can see how contact center operations affect customer perception. You can see what makes customers angry or happy, and then tune your offerings as a company accordingly.

Wrap-Up


Call center graphic

Sentiment analysis clearly produces more data than a post-call survey, but it's usually more expensive to collect. Cloud computing is making speech analytics and sentiment analysis more affordable for smaller contact centers.

What do you use as a “periscope” on your contact center? How useful are the results? Do they match your expectations or are they surprising? I’d love to hear more!

Further reading...

Here are links to some other articles on NPS, customer feedback, and customer sentiment:

How to Calculate… Net Promoter Score

The Ultimate Guide to Sentiment and Emotion Analysis

Sentiment’s Role in Contact Centre Management

Acquiring Job Advance Your Career Career Changing Careers and Employment Education Internship

CSAT vs. Sentiment Analysis: Which Is Better?

How Analytics Planning Drives The Data Mesh



In this article, we are going to review the elements of a good analytics planning framework and how analytics planning is part of data product ownership in the data mesh.

What Is Analytics Planning?


Woman works a data analytics job

As part of any CDO or CDAO role, there is both data and analytics governance and a process for ensuring that analytics and insights are generated from the right data to solve a variety of business problems.

To make sure that data products (i.e., dashboards, insights, commercialized analyses, etc.) in the data mesh are fit for purpose, the business and analytics problem framing must occur to have workable high-impact solutions.

Analytics planning and next-generation analytics are helpful to a variety of stakeholders—chief data analytics officers, chief data scientists, heads of marketing analytics, and heads of digital analytics.

Many times, data analytics is a center of excellence, and therefore is vital for the professionals in the COE to have a seat at the table whether that is with a data product owner, a tribe lead, or a business person. This linkage and relationship are vital, not only from a relationship management standpoint but to enable the right data mesh design by helping to identify the right analytics and data products. The goal is to get the data needed to improve business decision-making and monetization.

What Type Of Meeting Or Committee Does Analytics Planning Require?


Communications and business professionals look at data during a work meeting

Analytics liaisons and data stewards from the COE should meet with data product owners and business people in what I call data analytics governance meetings where the types of analytics and data products are discussed. This is a “seat at the table” meeting among business partners to discuss the appropriate types of proactive analytics that would drive problem solutions and business impact.

Data analytics topics to be discussed include:

  • Data requirements
  • Descriptive analytics
  • Predictive and prescriptive analytics
  • Data products and monetization tactics

These leadership meetings should occur at least quarterly. Monthly (or more frequent) reviews should occur at the project team level. Typically, data analytics functions can have hundreds or thousands of projects depending on the number of business partners.

What Is The Business Purpose Of These Planning Meetings?


Data analysts creating a strategy blueprint

For analytics or data products to be fit for purpose, you will want to review the partner's business strategy as well as any P&L drivers where analytics might have an impact:

  1. Frame the business problems and opportunities.
  2. Determine if the data mesh/data fabric can support these efforts.
  3. Then decide what the deliverables/solutions are and the path to deploy. Don’t lead with models, analyses, or research outputs. Ensure that if you build a solution there is a commitment from the client to deploy it with an understanding of the potential business benefit.

Data analytics governance creates a prioritization process.

The prioritization process could include business ROIs, GCOs (good customer outcomes), or other metrics to determine what gets worked on first. Are these projects high priority, medium, low, strategic, or even non-negotiable? (Non-negotiable might mean compliance projects which means the data analytics team must carve out bandwidth to create new data pilots/new analytics pilots. Pilots could include identification of new segments or new scoring systems based on transaction data and more.)

Data Analytics Planning — It All Goes Back To Business Problem Framing.


Employees go over their company's diversity data

What is the number one reason analytics fail? We hopefully all know this, but it is worth mentioning again: the number one reason analytics fail is due to a failure to frame the business problem correctly.

What type of problems may clients mention to the data analytics team during the quarterly check-ins?

  1. How are we improving against customer expectations?
  2. Are we connecting with prospective customers?
  3. How do we qualify sales leads for better cross-sell/upsell?

Analytics Problem Framing: Choosing The Type Of Analytics Method To Solve The Problem.


Data roles/analysts

Let’s review the categories of analytics that may be part of the discussion during the analytics planning meeting with the business and product owners.

  • Metrics and measurement. How does the business person or product owner run their business line? That which is measured is actioned.
  • Setting KPIs becomes a focal point for understanding key drivers of any problem and provides the jump-off point for additional analytics.
  • KPIs and metrics are considered more of a BAU type of analytics and answer questions such as:
    • How many customers do we have in which segments?
    • How many and what channels are they using?
  • Describing and profiling: often helps define customer behaviors.
  • Which customers are profitable? Helps understand the 80/20 rule.
  • What prospects are similar to our customers? Look-alike profiles, etc.
  • What is the financial situation of our customers—are they wealthy, what life stage are they in, etc.?
  • Knowledge discovery: surface unknown patterns which customers have. For example, if you're in a bank, are certain checking customers diminishing their balances which may mean they're taking their money out and potentially putting it elsewhere? Intervention strategies can be designed from this type of knowledge discovery.
  • Segmentation and clustering: grouping customers by homogenous groups, for example, based on their value, life stage, potential, etc.
  • Algorithms and prediction. Many data science and statistical methods can help to predict the customer's responsiveness, next best action, right channel to engage, risk level, and more.

So that's a little bit about how to match the business problem to the type of analytics. The next step would be for the analytics leader or analytics liaison to work with the data product owner or business lead to provide an endorsed quarterly data analytics plan which would also identify data needs in order to perform the agreed-upon analytics.

What are the elements of the analytics plan?

  1. A list of prioritized BAU initiatives that have been agreed upon from the meeting with the product owners along with business goals and projected returns generated from insights.
  2. Agreement on the type of analytics deliverables and the path to deploy. For example, will this model be scored on an ongoing basis to provide targeted leads to salespeople? If the business person or the product owner declines to leverage learnings, then these analytics should be prioritized as low or even canceled.
  3. Agreement to proactively serve up new analytics. Some level of innovative pilots should be part of any analytics planning framework. This approach takes the data analytics team out of defensive mode and puts them in an offensive, proactive, and prescriptive position.
  4. Analytics planning includes an agreement to do an ongoing blueprint and roadmap for analytics which includes an assessment of the maturity level of the firm’s data analytics. Unfortunately, many of the maturity models that exist only focus on data governance and don’t connect the dots between data maturity and data analytics maturity. A data analytics maturity assessment and blueprint must include looking at the level of next-generation analytics that the firm is developing and testing including RPA, generative AI, machine learning, and more. One view in the plan should assess the level of defensive data analytics the team is involved in versus offensive analytics. (Get in contact with me if you need more information about this maturity model.)

Given the data mesh puts a higher degree of quantitative skills on business partners, it is imperative for all stakeholders to have a better understanding of data, analytic methodologies, and execution. Training and knowledge maturity is critical.

I hope this post helps fill in some of the planning gaps in the data mesh concept and shows how analytics planning can inform what the data product owners can work on and how an ongoing engagement and governance model can be established to benefit both the analytics team as well as the business as a whole.

What has your experience been with data analytics planning in the data mesh? We look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Acquiring Job Advance Your Career Career Changing Careers and Employment Education Internship

How Analytics Planning Drives The Data Mesh

4 Myths About Job Hunting During A Recession



The COVID-19 crisis has sent the economy into a recession and impacted numerous careers. Although people are naturally on edge right now, it's important to know that while searching for a job during a recession isn't easy, it's not impossible.

As a result of the COVID-19 crisis, millions of people quit their jobs or were laid off by their employers, and many are still struggling to find a job. There are record levels of competition for open positions. If you want to stand out to employers, you need to be prepared for the job search process.

Here are four common myths about the job search process during a recession, and what you should do to land a job in hard times.

Myth #1: No One Hires During A Recession


Businesses are always hiring!

There are some businesses that are greatly impacted by recessions that will reduce staff and implement hiring freezes, and others that will slow their hiring, but in general there's always some need to hire people as a result of vacancies and retirements. In addition, there are some industries that continue to do well in a recession.

However, while businesses are still hiring during a recession, the job competition will be greater and you'll need to work harder to market yourself as an employee worth hiring. There are multiple ways you can make yourself a better candidate. This includes finding ways to upskill, networking, improving your resume, and writing a disruptive cover letter.

Myth #2: No One Will Hire You After Getting Laid Off


Business woman takes a minute to compose herself after being laid off during the recession.

Layoffs are a fact of life and businesses realize that.

But from a competition standpoint being laid off puts you at an initial disadvantage. Layoffs are common during a recession. This increases competition because of the number of people in the job market in need of work.

If you're laid off, you have to work even harder to market yourself to potential employees. But at the same time, you don't want to come across as too desperate. Like with any job search, do your research and leverage your professional network whenever you can.

You may also want to consider which industries are still hiring during the recession and taking a job in one of those industries to hold you over. There's no shame in working outside of your desired industry. There may even be benefits to it.

Given the circumstances of COVID-19 and the recession, future employers will understand the career detour.

Myth #3: If You're Over 50, You Won't Get Hired


Woman on laptop looks for a job during a recession

Age discrimination is a topic that comes up from time to time but in reality it's actually called experience discrimination.

People over the age of 50 are staying in the workforce a lot longer but have to compete with millennials and Gen Z that make up more than half of the workforce. These younger generations are highly skilled, tech savvy, and a lot cheaper to employ.

This means that anyone over 50 looking to get hired needs to work even harder to get noticed. You need to clearly understand and sell what it is that you do well (your specialty). You also need to invest in yourself and be willing to upskill whenever you can.

Myth #4: You'll Have To Take Less Money


Man writes something down while working

Finding a job during a recession doesn't mean an automatic pay cut!

Recession or not, you should prepare for a typical salary negotiation process. Do your research and have an idea of the competitive rate for the position you're pursuing.

If you've settled on a salary range, be ready to prove to the company why you would be worth the investment. You can do this by demonstrating why you'd be a valuable asset to the company and how your unique skills/experiences will make you the best fit for the role.

It always comes back to marketing yourself.

Recessions come and go and we will get through this one! Recession or not, one thing about the job search process remains true—you have to work hard and be your own best advocate.

Need more help with your job search?

We'd love it if you signed up for Work It Daily's Event Subscription! Get your career questions answered in our next live event!

This article was originally published at an earlier date.

Acquiring Job Advance Your Career Career Changing Careers and Employment Education Internship

4 Myths About Job Hunting During A …