Alexandra Levits Water Cooler Wisdom Better Office Seating Arrangements Increase Productivity

Alexandra Levit's Water Cooler Wisdom Better Office Seating Arrangements Increase Productivity In a recent article in Harvard Business Review, Jason Corsello and Dylan Minor described the results of a new study, which suggested that who an employee sits next to affects how they perform â€" and that grouping the right types of coworkers together can improve productivity and work quality. The study was built upon the concept of “spatial management,” or the pursuit of how to best physically locate workers within an organization. Cornerstone analyzed the data of more than 2,000 employees over a two-year period provided by a large technology company with locations in the U.S. and Europe. This data included worker performance on three key metrics: productivity, or the average length of time it tooka worker to complete a task; effectiveness, or the average daily rate at which a worker needed to refer a task to a different worker to solve; and quality, or the client’s satisfaction with the task. For each employee on each of these three metrics, the researchers calculated what they called “spillover,” or a measure of the performance of the employee’s surrounding peers. The HBR article used this example: assume a worker has three coworkers: one sits next to her, one sits 25 feet away, and another sits 50 feet away. The researchers looked at the performance of the three coworkers along with their distance from the worker, and through data modeling measured the average spillover of co-worker performance on the worker. They also divided employees into three types of workers: productive, generalist, and quality. Productive workers are very productive but lack in quality, while quality workers produce superior quality but lack in productivity. Generalists are average on both dimensions. Birds of a Feather Shouldn’t Flock Together The results indicated that neighbors have a significant impact on an employee’s performance, and itcan be either positive or negative. So naturally, the study asked the question: what types of workers should be seated together? The results confirmed that matching productive and quality workers together and matching generalists separately generates up to 15 percent of increased organizational performance. However, seating two productive workers together did not significantly increase their productivity â€" nor did placing quality workers together increase their work quality. And since generalists were average in both categories, they were less affected by spillover effects from either side. So, in a nutshell, symbiotic relationships are created from pairing those with opposite strengths. It turns out that those strong on one dimension are not very affected by spillover on that dimension. But, they are very sensitive to spillover on their weak dimension. For the rest of the piece, head over to the QuickBase Fast Track blog.

Hire a Professional Resume Writer and Get the Job You Want

Hire a Professional Resume Writer and Get the Job You WantIf you are in need of a professional resume writer, then consider enlisting the services of a beat resume writing service at Atlanta. You might be surprised at how much an Atlanta resume writer can help you. They will use their years of experience and knowledge to help you create a great professional resume.A professional resume is something that every employer requires. If you have never been in the business of professionally producing resumes, you should know that most of your competitors are doing it so that they can sell themselves to you. A beat resume writing service is going to make you the best recruiter that you can be.Well, of course, you already know that the first thing that you need to do when applying for any job is to get a resume written. Unfortunately, there are a lot of other things that you need to remember when you write a resume. The format is crucial.This is very important because if it doesn't fit the em ployer, then you may be wasting a lot of time and effort. It is also important to have it look good because an employer is going to ask a lot of questions about your work history. It doesn't matter if you have been employed for years or if you are just starting out, you need to make sure that your resume looks good.Resumes should be eye-catching but not too much so. It should be professional but it also has a touch of personality, as well. By hiring a professional who knows how to write a resume, you will be able to get a first impression off of you.No matter what job you are applying for, a resume is a must have. While the world around you is going to be changing all the time, you still need to write a great resume. It is a great tool to show that you are someone who can be trusted and someone who knows what they are doing.Now, if you happen to be someone who wants to make a change, you will want to consider using a professional resume writing service that specializes in the field of professional resume writing. Not only will they be able to create a great resume, but they will also know how to go about recruiting a great candidate. Hiring a company that specializes in professional resume writing will help you get the job of your dreams.Make sure that you get in touch with one of these Atlanta companies that specializes in creating professional resumes. You will be able to get the resume that you need in order to land that dream job that you want.

How I decide where to focus my energy

How I decide where to focus my energy Melissas in China, which means I have to wake up at four in the morning to talk, which means we have no phone calls, and her emails are unsatisfyingly delayed. I miss her. She is with Steven, who I think is buying her a ring. Going to China with Steven was a good idea because men love being in a foreign country with a woman who can speak the language. It’s similar to how men enjoy when a girl wears a wig or even a new necklace to have sexthey can pretend they are with someone new.    (I read this in Cosmo, which is great for women with Asperger’s because it’s a rule book for dealing with men.) So Melissa is going to get a ring soon, which is good because its a lot of work to find a guy to marry. When shes not in China, I talk to Melissa on the phone five times a day, which is good for helping her find the right guy, because if you have a really good friend then you put less pressure on the other parts of your life to be completely fulfilling like a mate or a job. In fact, I think this is the problem with most peoples’ jobs. Do you know what post I link to more than any other post? The post about how your job cannot make a fulfilling life. This one. I know I am the last person in America to see  Season One of Weeds, but that’s what I’m watching right now. And actually maybe this post will be really useful to everyone because I tried to Google reviews of Season One that do not spoil the rest of the seasons, and it was pretty hard. Wait. Sidetrack for a moment. I am going to say this because so often someone writes in the comments section that the post is not organized. But I want you to know that this post is like a messy deskit looks messy to you, but I know exactly where everything is when I need it. And I’m telling you I’m not disorganized but you are not believing me, probably, which is the true problem with a messy desk. You have to believe it when research tells you how other people perceive you. This goes for women wearing makeup to work, too. Just do it. Men take you more seriously if you wear makeup.  The research doesn’t lie. So back to the Google searching. Melissa is always telling me that I don’t need to have another startup idea. She is always telling me that I’m sitting on a startup and I’m not focusing on it. My blog. My blog is a publishing startup. I could be publishing books. I could be publishing other peoples’ books. In fact it’s insane that this paragraph is not full of a million links to stuff Im selling you. I should write a book about Weeds, since I am now going to rank high in search results for season one reviews of Weeds. When it turned out that my goat cheese business idea had terrible profit margins and a questionable ability to reach hockey-stick growth, I got upset. I have been researching and scheming about goat cheese, and then online food, and then online shopping models, for three years. But the idea isn’t going to work. Not for me. It might work for you, maybe. (Email me if you want help doing that business. You can have the idea.) So I was moping and I was sending Melissa insane emails, like when I told her that I am infatuated with relational art  and I need someone to talk to about it. I told her that I feel like Kurt Perschkes red ball. And I told her that I want to put myself in the weird places and disrupt peoples’ thinking the way art can. I told her maybe I need to buy a new, great camera. Did you know her camera is as big as her head? I mean, she’s small. But still. Maybe my blog would be better if I had a camera as big as my head. But Melissa said no to the camera. She said I have to think of my blog as a startup and I already have great photos with my iPhone and I should not distract myself with thinking I need better photos. That’s what people do when they have a startup idea. Ben Casnochas book  My Startup Life  has a chapter about how if youre not working on stuff that really makes a difference, then you are not doing anything. Most people with a new startup do stuff like decide they need a new camera for the business, then distract themselves saving for the camera and researching it, then learning how to use it, and they avoid getting the startup done. Ben, by the way, doesn’t want me to write about his old book. He wants me to write about his new book. The Start-up of You, which I like as well, (and not just because his publishing career documents the AP Style Guides treatment of the word startup). The book shows that entrepreneurship is really about taking control of your life, and you don’t need a big startup to be an entrepreneur you need personal responsibility and intellectual exploration. It’s a great book to take the pressure off everyone who thinks they should do a startup but never will. It’s hard for me to admit that I’m taking advice from a twenty-five-year-old who talks to me mostly about sex. (Bens latest question to me was “What do you think of monogamy?” which I mention only because it relates back to the part of this post about putting on a new necklace, and now you will think I’m juggling lots of topics in this post with amazing control instead of being buried in lots of topics.) But Ben’s advice about starting a company is good: Stay focused on what you have that is going well and execute on that, every single day. Which is why I’m not buying the new camera. You cannot have a solid career if you can’t take advice that you don’t want to hear.  The advice you hate is probably the most valuable. So I launched a new design for the blog. There’s a new homepage that matches the new sections: the blog, homeschooling, coaching, and mailbag. I hope you find new stuff to read that you haven’t read before. I hope you enjoy it so much that it’s like I got into bed wearing a new necklace. And I’m taking pictures with just my iPhone. I think I’ll put one right here. To reaffirm that the photos are fine and you will like them. But still, take a look at the photos at the top, from Melissas billion-dollar camera. There is definitely a difference. Now back to Weeds. See, I didn’t forget. Just moving the piles around in the desk that is my brain. The main character in Weeds is a mom whose husband died unexpectedly and left no money to support their upper-middle-class lifestyle, so she starts selling pot. And then she gets really good. She is actually, by the end of season one, building a really good business. And, of course, it’s so much easier for her to focus on that than on the problems of raising two teenage boys who just lost their dad. I love this woman. When she opens a bakery to launder her drug money, I get excited for her that she has another business, and I find myself thinking that I should open a bakery. It would be great in the little town near our farm because people here still think its fine to gorge on carbs. My point is that it’s so much easier for me to think of business ideas and distract myself with what could be next than to deal with what I have right here. If I would just focus, I could be writing on this blog three times a week. I’ve done it before, if you can believe it. So I miss Melissa. Because I want to talk to her about how I am going to focus. I think she’s right that my business should be my blog. I think she’s right that I shouldn’t buy a new camera. When you have a friend who is right that often, you want her around to hear everything you think. You dont need a huge grand startup to make your life fun and interesting. You just need to have a challenging goal that you are trying to reach, each day. You need to be able to make money doing it: that is what a good job is. A good life is something else. Its the stuff that isnt your job. Like, me helping Melissa to make sure she gets a ring before she goes on any more trips that look too much like a honeymoon. Or the woman in Weeds turning off her cell phone and dealing with her kids before her life crashes, no matter how good her business is. Your job doesnt love you. Your friends do.

Advice for Starting a Business at Home

Advice for Starting a Business at Home A great way to get extra income, or to make it your full-time income, is to start a business at home. There are quite a lot of companies that you can start up with, and they will support you through it. This usually means a cost up front and still reporting to someone. If you are new to business, then this might be a good idea for you to start of with. You can learn the ropes and then grow that business, or similar business, from there. If the idea of still having a ‘boss’ to report to doesn’t appeal to you, then there are options. You would still have a company that would take a cut of your earnings. So if you feel that you are ready and able then, you should start your own business from home. Why do you want to be working to pay someone else’s wages when you can take all of the cash? Like has been said, it could just be a sideline career to tide you over with extra cash. You never know, though. It could grow and grow, and become your main career. There are various buying and selling companies that you could set up. If you know there is something that you are passionate about and feel able to sell, then look into it. If you have a  passion for the product, you will be much more successful. Buying and selling is a pretty basic business model so is a good place for beginners to start. The aim of the game is to buy at low prices and then sell at high prices. You will need to be savvy about where you shop, though. Make sure you go straight to wholesalers, rather than to a retailer. Wholesale prices are much lower. Then you can mark each product up accordingly. A site like elf925.com is a good example to look at. That sells wholesale jewellery, so it can give you the idea of costings. Before you start a business from home, you need to ask yourself a few questions. Can you easily motive yourself? Do you find it easy to get started with things and find that you are quite self-disciplined? These attributes are key to be successful in your at-home business. You will be the one setting yourself targets, and you will be the ones that doesn’t get paid if the work isn’t done. Once you have established if you have the right attributes for working for yourself, you need to think how it will make you feel. Would you be happy working for long periods by yourself? Do you have a close circle of friends to connect with, so it won’t matter that you will be your only colleague? You don’t want to start your business and then resent it because you feel quite lonely. Who knows, though, your business could grow and grow. Then you would be in a position to employ people and create a team of employees. Starting your own business at home can be hard work but so rewarding. Image Source; Image Source; Image Source

Expose Your Hidden Talent With a Resume Writing Service

Expose Your Hidden Talent With a Resume Writing ServiceIn the last few years, former small retail business owners are becoming very visible in many of today's major employers. The cost of starting a business is now very affordable and with the current state of the economy it is much easier to get your business off the ground than ever before.While there are still many jobs out there that are only open to college grads and graduates who have lots of money, the majority of the most sought after positions are the ones that are available to people with less experience. The resumes you send out are going to be your first contact with prospective employers and it is vital that you are well qualified for any position that you are applying for. However, while it may be tempting to use a resume writing service to help you with this part of the process, the reality is that this approach can backfire on you. Why?What do you think will happen when you send your resume to employers with none empl oyable employees? It is highly likely that you will be called in for an interview, regardless of the position you have filled. There is no point in wasting your time and those of your potential employers doing the interviewing.This is where employing a professional resume writing service to help you is critical for anyone who wants to become a successful small business owner. Not only will they know exactly what types of jobs will appeal to employers, but they will also know what types of job descriptions are required by different businesses. This will not only help you land the best job out there for you, but it will also help you to be more employable in the future as well.There are many services that offer comprehensive assistance to those who want to become a small business owner. They can use their expertise and insight to help you through the many steps involved in applying for employment, what to include on your resume, what to avoid, how to prepare for an interview, how to f ollow up, and so much more. This can help you to get a head start on building your career and to become employable faster than you ever thought possible.When you utilize a resume writing service, they are not going to try to make you a superstar in this industry. Instead, they are going to make sure that you get the position that you deserve to get. You will be doing them a favor and they will be doing you a favor as well by helping you land the best positions out there.A resume writing service should have access to top notch professionals in their field. They should know who to hire, whom to avoid, and what to include on your resume. They should be able to quickly help you find the appropriate direction in order to get to the top of the pile.If you are looking to become a small business owner, don't settle for the first position that you are offered. Know that there are people out there who know exactly what you are looking for and are willing to take the time to help you get it. Y ou will be well on your way to succeeding when you work with the services of a reputable small business resume writing service.

5 Ways to Boost Your LinkedIn Profile

5 Ways to Boost Your LinkedIn Profile 123 Flares 123 Flares Most of us, by now, have got to grips with LinkedIn’s layout: we’ve set up our profile, put up a nice picture and made a few connections with colleagues, former colleagues, and maybe even future colleagues â€" but with a site that’s as fast-moving as LinkedIn, and with a professional community that’s so big and clued up, there’s no time to rest on your laurels. That’s because LinkedIn is so much more than just an on-line resume. It’s about networking, recruiting and sharing expertise on a global scale. It’s about discussions, debates â€" and it’s about time you start getting noticed on this fantastic professional platform. Rob Brown is a Resourcing Consultant for RBS Insurance, one of the largest providers of insurance jobs UK-side. He’s helped compile this list of hot tips to help you make sure your profile is a top pick for recruiters. 1. Timing is everything: Rob’s advice is to keep your profile as up-to-date as possible: “If you leave your profile un-changed for months or years, then youll definitely miss the boat when it comes to new opportunities.” This doesn’t just mean updating it when you get promoted or swap jobs, it means keeping your skills and areas of expertise fresh, checking what your connections are up to, and making sure your profile makes use of all the new add-ons that crop up. You can even connect your Twitter account to your status, so people can look at what’s going on with you in real time. Maybe you’re looking for something to motivate you to edit your profile regularly? Amazon’s ‘Reading List’ or Trip it’s ‘My Travel’ add-ons will give you the impetus by making every update a chance to show off how well-read and well-travelled you are. 2. Who do you want to connect with?: One simple way to attract the right kind of interest is by being cannily aware of LinkedIn’s search function. “When a recruiter does a search on LinkedIn they will use key words and phrases as part of their search, and if those words and phrases arent on your profile then youll miss out,” Rob says. So, if you’re interested in resourcing? “You could use words and phrases such as procurement, buyer, or sourcing specialist. 3. Get recommendations from former colleagues: It’s really important to get a few comments about your work and your attitude on your profile, and it’s not just about showing recruiters what an awesome person you are to work with: it really, really opens up your page to other voices. Anyone glancing at your page will know you’re part of a professional community, and will probably be more willing to start a conversation with you â€" which is great, because no (wo)man is a professional island. The more bridges you build the more opportunities will come your way. 4. Engage in relevant forums with relevant people: “Join groups on LinkedIn where your interests and expertise lie. This will increase your visibility on LinkedIn, plus you can interact with other professionals in your field,” says Rob. Engaging in a debate is a chance to expand your views, your circle, and your reputation as an expert. Even if you begin by just following the discussions, it’s great to keep up on the hot topics in your industry â€" and you’ll have in-depth opinions ready-made in response to that tricky interview question. 5. Use contacts: Not just as connections, but as research. What are they doing right? How can they help you? If you’re applying for a position, can a current employee’s LinkedIn page help to give you a better idea of the culture at the office or what skills are valued at their corporation? Keep checking up to know that you’re ahead of the game â€" your profile needs to be cutting edge, intuitive to navigate and easily found for LinkedIn to be really useful to you. Because if it’s not doing its job, then how will recruiters know how well you do yours?

Why Finding A Job is Like Finding a College

Why Finding A Job is Like Finding a College You may remember first hand what it was like to try and find a college. Or perhaps more recently youve been a part of the college search process with your children. I remember how terrified I was at having to make such a large decision. I was comfortable with my previous life. I had a pool of great friends and my family surrounding me. Yet, there was something kind of exciting about it all too. With those emotions running in the background, I met with my high school counselor who gave me a long list of colleges to look into. I began researching them using the top college guides for insight on what it would be like to attend and what educational programs they offered. Never once, well, maybe once, did I ever consider, what happens when I am finished with this degree? What will I do next, what will it mean, what will it really prepare me to be? I was focused on the how to make the most of my next 4 years. After researching the long list, Ipared it down to a short list of schools to visit. I interviewed with admissions representatives and toured campuses. I even spent the night once to try and envision what life would really be like at that school. I spoke to family friends who had attended those schools to find out their experiences too. I fell in love with one college. I really wanted to go there. It was PERFECT for me (at least thats what I thought). I appliedthrough the early decision process, hoping that that would surely show how eager I was to attend this school. My wise counselor recommended that Iapply toseveral othersand so I did. I developed a second choice and a safety. When all was said and done, I graduated happily from my second choice. It was one of the greatest experiences of my life. I couldnt image having gone to a school more perfectly suited for me. Hopefully the similarities are obvious to the job seeking process. A wise man said last night good decisions flow out of good exploration. Dont forget the importance of exploring!