People used to come to work because they had to. Now they come in because the office offers them something they can't get at home. The question is what workers need. Organisations are coming up with very different answers. It could be the bustle and warmth of in-person human connection or an escape from the distractions of family life. Business leaders must carefully think through how they design their office environment to lure reluctant employees.

Designing a post-pandemic office environment

The post-pandemic office is presented as a site of connection and liveliness where workers escape the quiet and solitude of the work-from-home lifestyle. In addition, background music can increase productivity. But not everyone agrees that the post-pandemic office should be like a bustling cafe. Other companies have determined that most employees need long, uninterrupted blocks of time to do their best work, similar to a library. Here the office is not seen as a coffee shop but as a refuge.

Two views of the post-pandemic office

Considering the wildly different visions for the office in a world of hybrid work, the biggest lesson for entrepreneurs is that you need to be intentional not just about the physical design of your office but also about the acoustic design.   How we feel in a space and what activities it welcomes and discourages are greatly impacted by the noise around us.

Office design

Should offices offer monk-like quiet or a cheerful social buzz? Experts can't agree but leaders have to choose.

remotework

Remote Work

career

Career

corporateculture

Corporate Culture

Library Rules or All-day Music? Experts Debate the Ideal Office Environment for Hybrid Work

Being too hot <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(21)01208-3/fulltext">makes you unwell and can even kill you</a>. Some people are more <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/heatwave-plan-for-england/supporting-vulnerable-people-before-and-during-a-heatwave-for-health-and-social-care-professionals">vulnerable to heat</a>. People over 65, under five, pregnant women, those with medical conditions (such as heart disease and mental health conditions) and those who work outside need extra protection in hot weather. You can increase your <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/mining/userfiles/works/pdfs/2017-124.pdf">tolerance to heat</a> if you acclimatise slowly over time.

Hot Or Cold

Research shows that putting your feet in cold water is a good way to reduce core body temperature and keep your organs working. It will also help reduce swelling in your ankles and feet.However, having a lukewarm shower or bath will cool you down faster and is the most effective way to cool down. Don’t be tempted to soak in freezing cold water as cold shock can be dangerous. In drought conditions, conserve water and concentrate on cooling either your feet, hands or neck and face.

Lukewarm Shower To Cool Down

The refreshing breeze from an air fan against your skin might feel good but it <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/fans-may-be-okay-for-muggy-days-but-avoid-them-in-extreme-dry-heat/#:%7E:text=The%20EPA's%20Excessive%20Heat%20Events,not%20prevent%20heat%20related%20illness.%E2%80%9D">does not always cool you down</a>. Fans can actually make you feel worse, especially in dry heat conditions, speeding up dehydration and heat illnesses. The guidance from the World Health Organization is that <a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/climate-change-heat-and-health">using a fan above in temperatures above 35°C </a> will not reduce your chance of getting <a href="https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/heat-exhaustion-heatstroke/">heat exhaustion and heatstroke</a>.

Fans Don't Work About 35 Degrees

It is important to stay hydrated and replenish the minerals <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4939859/">we lose when we sweat</a>. On average in very hot conditions (high 30s) we sweat <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK236237/#:%7E:text=Sweat%20rate%20is%20proportional%20to,to%20300%20ml%20per%20hour.">3-4 litres per hour and up to 10 litres a day</a>, the same as 40 cups of tea. For a short amount of time, hot drinks <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/does-drinking-hot-drinks-on-a-scorching-summers-day-really-cool-you-down/a-16974502">raise your core body temperature</a>. But it induces sweating, which then lowers your temperature. <a href="https://www.gssiweb.org/sports-science-exchange/article/cold-water-and-ice-slurry-ingestion-for-reducing-body-temperature-during-exercise-in-the-heat">Cold and ice drinks do cool</a> you down too. It’s thought hot drinks might be slightly more effective than cold. Whatever the temperature, drink lots of fluid.

Drinking Warm Water

<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2210670719302550#:%7E:text=Nature%2DBased%20Solutions%20(NBS)%20are%20interventions%20that%20address%20social,approach%20to%20increasing%20urban%20sustainability.">Green walls and roofs</a> not only look pretty but can <a href="https://livingroofs.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/LONDON-LIVING-ROOFS-WALLS-REPORT-2019.pdf">cool the buildings</a> beneath them by as much as 12℃, while green walls can be up to 32℃ cooler than conventional walls and save 59% of energy costs as well as providing sound insulation.They cool flat-roofed buildings in summer and insulate them in winter, reduce the risk of flooding by soaking up rainwater, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301479721018120">filter air pollution </a> and provide refuges for <a href="https://www.rspb.org.uk/globalassets/downloads/policy-briefings/nature-based-solutions-adaption-report.pdf">rare and threatened wildlife</a> – which can <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/extreme-heat-triggers-mass-die-offs-and-stress-for-wildlife-in-the-west">struggle</a> with the heat too.

Those Amazing Green Walls

Another way to beat the heat is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2013/may/10/wild-swimming-uk-10-top-rivers-pools">wild swimming</a>. But be aware of cold shock. Slowly submerge your body in the water, understand the limits of your swimming ability and the rules about where it is safe to swim, because <a href="https://www.swimming.org/swimengland/drowning-deaths-rise-respect-water-campaign/#:%7E:text=A%20nationwide%20campaign%20urging%20people,277%20accidental%20drownings%20in%202021.">many people drown</a> in hot weather.

Wild Swimming

Leaving fresh water dishes in your garden or balcony can make all the difference for wild animals. Birds and hedgehogs will appreciate the food you put out for them any time of year but during the summer the ground can harden, making it harder to forage. Plants also suffer from the heat. You can help by learning when the best time to water them is.And watch out for pets. Do not leave them (or people) in cars. It is best to walk pets in the morning or evening when the pavement and ground surface is cooler.

Animals And Heat

Climate change is driving a rise in heatwaves. One study showed that someone born in 1960 is on average likely to experience around four heatwaves, whereas someone born in 2020 is likely to experience 30 heatwaves with 1.5°C warming. We have a 50% chance  of hitting this level in the next ten years.So protecting yourself from heat may seem like common sense, but it could be the difference between life and death.

The Bottom Line

Taking a lukewarm shower is better than a cold one to beat the heat!

Heatwaves can leave you in a sticky situation.

health

Health

What science says about the best ways to cool down

One of the most easily recognised features of <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/basics/ocd">OCD</a> is the seemingly illogical actions people initiate while suffering from the condition. However, even though these rituals may seem illogical to the casual observer, our work has demonstrated that these rituals have an intelligible underlying logic of their own. It is also important to point out that successful treatment of OCD is based on being able to identify the underlying logic and use interventions based on the exact same logic.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder(OCD)

We can distinguish obsessive compulsions based on <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/basics/fear">fear</a> (such as hand washing enacted to prevent contamination) from those based on pleasure (such as <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/basics/compulsive-behaviors">compulsive shopping</a>, vomiting syndrome or pathological gambling).  Many such rituals are done in a specific sequence and others can be done to feel a certain way or to achieve a specific sensation. The logic underlying these rituals is important, because if the clinician doesn’t recognise the logic supporting the compulsion, they won’t be in a position to know what kind of intervention will be necessary to treat the problems effectively.

Rituals Based On Fear Or Pleasure

Rational and preventive rituals: These rituals are specific actions that arise from the patient’s belief that doing so can prevent a certain feared situation from happening.  Reparative rituals: The performance of these ritualised actions or thoughts hold the illusion of protection for the person from something that could have happened already. Propitiatory rituals: The performance of these rituals or thoughts (seemingly magical) appear to make something positive happen, or have the illusion of helping the patient avoid something negative.

A Strategic Description of Rituals

<ul><li>Avoidance of any anxiety provoking places, people or objects. This is essentially an attempted solution which feeds the problem.</li><li>A continual search for reassurance or help from family members, friends or partners, who can eventually become entangled in the pathological mechanisms.</li></ul>

Failed Attempts at a Solution

Family members are very often involved in these dysfunctional rituals or control. Patients who suffer from OCD can become more anxious and aggressive over time towards friends and family if they refuse to cooperate and this must be managed effectively so as to avoid worsening the situation. It is very important that others participate in the treatment to increase its effectiveness. It is important that family members step aside from this pathological and vicious circle and allow for the restoration of the patient’s responsibility for their problem.

Family and Friends

Rituals in OCD may seem irrational, but they have a unique logic of their own.

Understand yourself and those around you.

psychology

Psychology

mentalhealth

Mental Health

scienceandnature

Science & Nature

The Logic of Compulsions and Ritualized Behaviors

Workplaces are <a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/90673558/this-is-how-each-generation-is-feeling-about-returning-to-the-office?partner=rss&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=rss+fastcompany&utm_content=rss?cid=search">finally opening</a> to employees who have been home for years, often telling or expecting them to arrive in distinctly more casual clothing. But while dressing down is often described as an enormous and welcome relief, it can be equally stressful, given that many people now have to decide on and acquire a new office look.

Post-Lockdown Change Of Work Wardrobe

Many people will only work in an office a few days a week, meaning they don’t need as many work clothes as they once did. But the pandemic had already led people to reconsider how much clothing is really necessary. Companies are in a bind whether or not they choose to issue guidance about what to wear. Prescribing a wardrobe is a loaded proposition that many workers see as infantilizing (can’t adults just decide when to wear jeans?) But a memo at least takes some guesswork out of it.

A Clothing Reset

Employees are returning to the physical workplace, but “career pants”? Not so much.


fashion

Fashion & Beauty

The great work wardrobe reckoning

Sales face unprecedented challenges for organisations and salespeople.  <ul><li>One reason is the massive increase in competition. The average company today has twice as many competitors as five years ago. </li><li>The other reason is that relying on innovation to beat competition has a diminishing window of opportunity. In previous years, innovation could give you a year or two advantage. Now, you’re lucky if you have a few months at most.</li></ul> That is why many leading companies focus on organic growth by using sales and marketing. However, the trick is how to pull it off successfully.

Sales is in a strategic spotlight

<ol><li>“Hire the same successful salesperson every time.” (The Sales Hiring Formula)</li><li>“Train every salesperson in the same way.” (The Sales Training Formula)</li><li>“Hold our salespeople accountable to the same sales process.” (The Sales Management Formula)</li><li>“Provide our salespeople with the same quality and quantity of leads every month.” (The Demand Generation Formula)</li></ol>

The four components of making sales scalable

<ul><li>Create a theory of the ideal sales characteristics, then score every candidate for each characteristic on a scale of 1 to 10.</li><li>Define an evaluation strategy for each characteristic. Consider what behavioural questions to ask.</li><li>Score candidates against the ideal sales characteristics. For example, fill out the interview scorecards after each interview.</li><li>Learn and iterate on the model while engineering the sales hiring formula. Which characteristics do top performers have in common and will it predict success at your company?</li></ul>

The sales hiring formula

<ol><li>Coachability: The ability to absorb and apply coaching.</li><li>Curiosity: Understanding a potential customer’s context through effective questioning and listening.</li><li>Prior Success: Does the candidate have a history of top performance or remarkable achievement?</li><li>Intelligence: The ability to learn complex concepts quickly and to easily communicate those concepts.</li><li>Work ethic: Pursuing the company mission with a high degree of energy and activity.</li></ol>

The five traits great salespeople have

<ul><li>Find quality passive sales candidates on LinkedIn. Use filters to improve search results, such as Zip code, job title, school, company. Screen the search results using the candidate’s LinkedIn Profile. Look at longevity at their employers, alignment between the prospect’s current buyer context and our buyer context, school and major, quality of the LinkedIn profile.</li><li>Engage with the prescreened candidates.</li><li>Understand the sales talent pool in your area. Find all the companies with inside sales teams in your area. Interview at least one person from each team.</li></ul>

How to find top-performing salespeople

Three elements of the sales methodology:<ul><li>The buyer journey: It increases the likelihood that the buyer’s need will remain centre during all aspects of the selling process. </li><li>Sales process: The sales team can step back and reflect on how to accelerate the buying journey.</li><li>Qualifying matrix: It defines the information you need from a potential buyer to understand if you can help the prospective buyer. Use the BANT matrix (Budget, Authority, Need, and Timing)</li></ul>

Sales training formula

Sales coaching is vital to drive sales productivity.<ul><li>Start with the buying journey. Look into examples of the questions buyers ask at each stage of the buying journey.</li><li>Add exams that focus on factual information, such as product knowledge and certifications to the training process.</li><li>When a hire is on the job for six months, ask him to complete a review of the sales training program. </li><li>Give salespeople an in-depth understanding of your buyer’s day-to-day existence.</li><li>Salespeople should take some time to engage in social media.</li></ul>

Create a training curriculum

Metrics-driven sales coaching. Pick one skill at a time to focus on. Use metrics to find which skill will have the biggest impact on a salesperson’s performance.Motivate through sales compensation plans and contests. There are many ways you can develop your commission plan. However, it is best to let it evolve as your business grows. To keep salespeople motivated, run monthly contests.

The sales management formula

Convert from cold calling to inbound. To make this transition, salespeople should position themselves as thought leaders using blogs and social media. Once the leads come, do not send every lead to sales. Instead, create a buyer matrix to understand who is interested in your product and how they journey before purchasing. When you understand your buyer's journey, you can create a customised experience.

The demand generation formula

Marketing and sales can measure their performance and hold each other accountable. <ul><li>Marketing teams should define how many leads in each buyer persona they are passing on to sales and should be able to calculate the implied value.</li><li>The sales team must decide how to follow up with each lead and work toward the conversion goal.</li></ul>

Marketing and Sales Service Level Agreement (SLA)

A useful book to figure out a framework for the sales process.

Use data, technology, and inbound selling to build a remarkable team and accelerate sales The Sales Acceleration Formula provides a scalable, predictable approach to growing revenue and building a winning sales team. Everyone wants to build the next $100 million business and author Mark Roberge has actually done it using a unique methodology that he shares with his readers. As an MIT alum with an engineering background, Roberge challenged the conventional methods of scaling sales utilizing the metrics-driven, process-oriented lens through which he was trained to see the world. In this book, he reveals his formulas for success. Readers will learn how to apply data, technology, and inbound selling to every aspect of accelerating sales, including hiring, training, managing, and generating demand. As SVP of Worldwide Sales and Services for software company HubSpot, Mark led hundreds of his employees to the acquisition and retention of the company's first 10,000 customers across more than 60 countries. This book outlines his approach and provides an action plan for others to replicate his success, including the following key elements: Hire the same successful salesperson every time — The Sales Hiring Formula Train every salesperson in the same manner — The Sales Training Formula Hold salespeople accountable to the same sales process — The Sales Management Formula Provide salespeople with the same quality and quantity of leads every month — The Demand Generation Formula Leverage technology to enable better buying for customers and faster selling for salespeople Business owners, sales executives, and investors are all looking to turn their brilliant ideas into the next $100 million revenue business. Often, the biggest challenge they face is the task of scaling sales. They crave a blueprint for success, but fail to find it because sales has traditionally been referred to as an art form, rather than a science. You can't major in sales in college. Many people question whether sales can even be taught. Executives and entrepreneurs are often left feeling helpless and hopeless. The Sales Acceleration Formula completely alters this paradigm. In today's digital world, in which every action is logged and masses of data sit at our fingertips, building a sales team no longer needs to be an art form. There is a process. Sales can be predictable. A formula does exist.

marketingandsales

Marketing & Sales

business

Business

books

Books

Use data, technology, and inbound selling to build a remarkable team and accelerate sales The Sales Acceleration Formula provides a scalable, predictable approach to growing revenue and building a winning sales team. Everyone wants to build the next $100 million business and author Mark Roberge has actually done it using a unique methodology that he shares with his readers. As an MIT alum with an engineering background, Roberge challenged the conventional methods of scaling sales utilizing the metrics-driven, process-oriented lens through which he was trained to see the world. In this book, he reveals his formulas for success. Readers will learn how to apply data, technology, and inbound selling to every aspect of accelerating sales, including hiring, training, managing, and generating demand. As SVP of Worldwide Sales and Services for software company HubSpot, Mark led hundreds of his employees to the acquisition and retention of the company's first 10,000 customers across more than 60 countries. This book outlines his approach and provides an action plan for others to replicate his success, including the following key elements: <ul> <li>Hire the same successful salesperson every time — The Sales Hiring Formula</li> <li>Train every salesperson in the same manner — The Sales Training Formula</li> <li>Hold salespeople accountable to the same sales process — The Sales Management Formula</li> <li>Provide salespeople with the same quality and quantity of leads every month — The Demand Generation Formula</li> <li>Leverage technology to enable better buying for customers and faster selling for salespeople</li> </ul> Business owners, sales executives, and investors are all looking to turn their brilliant ideas into the next $100 million revenue business. Often, the biggest challenge they face is the task of scaling sales. They crave a blueprint for success, but fail to find it because sales has traditionally been referred to as an art form, rather than a science. You can't major in sales in college. Many people question whether sales can even be taught. Executives and entrepreneurs are often left feeling helpless and hopeless. The Sales Acceleration Formula completely alters this paradigm. In today's digital world, in which every action is logged and masses of data sit at our fingertips, building a sales team no longer needs to be an art form. There is a process. Sales can be predictable. A formula does exist.

Mark Roberge

The Sales Acceleration Formula

Technology is not at the root of distraction at work. Instead, distraction at work is a symptom of cultural disfunction.

The technology scapegoat

When companies have a healthy workplace culture, they display three attributes:<ul><li>They give employees psychological safety. Workers can raise concerns without fear.</li><li>They give employees a forum to discuss their concerns, and management will acknowledge that they have seen the problems.</li><li>Management is fully present with their employees. They are not on their device during meetings.</li></ul>

A healthy workplace culture

In a dysfunctional workplace, employees can’t talk about the problem of distraction just as they can’t talk about other issues. If we want people to do their best work, we need to give people time to focus and do reflective work, not just reacting to work such as reacting to emails and meetings.

Create a time for deep focus

Are you distracted at work? Don’t blame technology. Watch the newest video from Big Think: https://bigth.ink/NewVideo Join Big Think Edge for exclusive videos: https://bigth.ink/Edge ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------  After hearing so many people blame email and Slack as causes of distraction in the workplace, Nir Eyal went to the Slack offices and discovered it to be a focus-driven office with excellent work-life boundaries. Tech isn't the problem, he concluded. The root cause of workplace distraction is cultural dysfunction. Companies that have a healthy workplace culture create psychological safety for their employees to voice concerns and complaints. When issues can be resolved—without fear of punishment—employees are able to return to work rather than sit and seethe. Importantly, leaders must also model indistractibility by giving undivided attention to people in meetings and not working 24/7, which Eyal describes as a ""terrible"" cycle of reaction. Reacting to emails and meetings all day long doesn't give people the time to be reflective—to focus and do their best work. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NIR EYAL: A graduate and instructor in Stanford’s Graduate School of Business, Nir Eyal has studied and taught behavioral design to industry-leading experts and scientists. He writes about the intersection of psychology, technology, and business at NirAndFar.com and his writing has been featured in Harvard Business Review, Time, Inc., and Psychology Today. Check Nir Eyal's latest book Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life at https://amzn.to/2IrgKwY ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TRANSCRIPT: "NIR EYAL: So when I was researching my book, Indistractable, I constantly heard of folks telling me how the workplace is this source of constant distraction—whether it's the fact that people work in open-floor-plan offices or the constant ping and ding of emails or group chat channels. One of the tools I heard mentioned most often as people complained about the technology that keeps them tethered to the work was a product called Slack. Slack is the world's largest group chat app and so I decided to pay Slack a visit. And what I discovered when I went to visit Slack headquarters is that Slack somehow doesn't suffer from this problem of distraction. I mean, you would think if technology was the source of the problem, if Slack was causing people to get distracted, the people at Slack who use the product more than anyone on Earth should be more distracted than anyone. But that's not what I found. At six o'clock the office was empty and on nights and weekends it turns out people who work at Slack are chastised if they use the product outside of working hours. Well why is that? It's because technology is not the root cause of distraction at work. That's what I discovered in my five years of research is that distraction at work is a symptom of cultural dysfunction. Companies that have a healthy workplace culture portray three attributes. First, they give employees psychological safety. The ability to raise their hand, to raise concerns and say, hey, something is not working out here. Can we talk about this problem without fear of retribution, without fear that they might get fired for voicing a concern? The second attribute of these companies with a healthy workplace culture is that they give employees a forum to talk about their concerns. So, at Slack, they actually use their own technology to give employees this forum. They have these Slack channels—one of them is called Beef Tweets where any employee can post a complaint, a concern or a comment about the company and company management will acknowledge they have seen those concerns with—get this—an emoji; an eye emoji or a checkmark emoji lets employees know that their concerns are acknowledged and being handled. And then finally, and perhaps the most important attribute of these companies with a healthy workplace culture when it comes to distraction is that management displays what it means to become indistractable. They're fully present with their employees as opposed to being on their device during meetings. They show employees what it means to do focused work by tuning out distraction, turning off all those external triggers and not working 24/7 and perpetuating this terrible cycle of responsiveness. So if we are to do our best work what we need to acknowledge in corporate America today is that we have to give people the time to do reflective as opposed to simply reactive work. That reacting to emails and meetings all day long... Read the full transcript at https://bigthink.com/videos/distraction-at-work

productivity

Productivity

videos

Videos

Are you distracted at work? Don’t blame technology. 
Watch the newest  video from Big Think: https://bigth.ink/NewVideo
Join Big Think Edge for exclusive videos: https://bigth.ink/Edge
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
After hearing so many people blame email and Slack as causes of distraction in the workplace, Nir Eyal went to the Slack offices and discovered it to be a focus-driven office with excellent work-life boundaries. Tech isn't the problem, he concluded. The root cause of workplace distraction is cultural dysfunction.

Companies that have a healthy workplace culture create psychological safety for their employees to voice concerns and complaints. When issues can be resolved—without fear of punishment—employees are able to return to work rather than sit and seethe. 

Importantly, leaders must also model indistractibility by giving undivided attention to people in meetings and not working 24/7, which Eyal describes as a ""terrible"" cycle of reaction. Reacting to emails and meetings all day long doesn't give people the time to be reflective—to focus and do their best work.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
NIR EYAL:

A graduate and instructor in Stanford’s Graduate School of Business, Nir Eyal has studied and taught behavioral design to industry-leading experts and scientists. He writes about the intersection of psychology, technology, and business at NirAndFar.com and his writing has been featured in Harvard Business Review, Time, Inc., and Psychology Today.

Check Nir Eyal's latest book Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life at https://amzn.to/2IrgKwY
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
TRANSCRIPT:

"NIR EYAL: So when I was researching my book, Indistractable, I constantly heard of folks telling me how the workplace is this source of constant distraction—whether it's the fact that people work in open-floor-plan offices or the constant ping and ding of emails or group chat channels. 

One of the tools I heard mentioned most often as people complained about the technology that keeps them tethered to the work was a product called Slack. Slack is the world's largest group chat app and so I decided to pay Slack a visit. And what I discovered when I went to visit Slack headquarters is that Slack somehow doesn't suffer from this problem of distraction. I mean, you would think if technology was the source of the problem, if Slack was causing people to get distracted, the people at Slack who use the product more than anyone on Earth should be more distracted than anyone. But that's not what I found. At six o'clock the office was empty and on nights and weekends it turns out people who work at Slack are chastised if they use the product outside of working hours. Well why is that? It's because technology is not the root cause of distraction at work. That's what I discovered in my five years of research is that distraction at work is a symptom of cultural dysfunction. 

Companies that have a healthy workplace culture portray three attributes. First, they give employees psychological safety. The ability to raise their hand, to raise concerns and say, hey, something is not working out here. Can we talk about this problem without fear of retribution, without fear that they might get fired for voicing a concern? 

The second attribute of these companies with a healthy workplace culture is that they give employees a forum to talk about their concerns. So, at Slack, they actually use their own technology to give employees this forum. They have these Slack channels—one of them is called Beef Tweets where any employee can post a complaint, a concern or a comment about the company and company management will acknowledge they have seen those concerns with—get this—an emoji; an eye emoji or a checkmark emoji lets employees know that their concerns are acknowledged and being handled. 

And then finally, and perhaps the most important attribute of these companies with a healthy workplace culture when it comes to distraction is that management displays what it means to become indistractable. They're fully present with their employees as opposed to being on their device during meetings. They show employees what it means to do focused work by tuning out distraction, turning off all those external triggers and not working 24/7 and perpetuating this terrible cycle of responsiveness. 

So if we are to do our best work what we need to acknowledge in corporate America today is that we have to give people the time to do reflective as opposed to simply reactive work. That reacting to emails and meetings all day long...

Read the full transcript at https://bigthink.com/videos/distraction-at-work

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Are you distracted at work? Don’t blame technology. | Nir Eyal | Big Think

LED stands for “light-emitting diode”These tiny gadgets emit light when a current passes through them. LEDs are tiny diodes, and a combination of LEDs makes a display. There are different types of LED displays available including, OLEDs, mini-LEDs, micro-LEDs, etc.

Understanding LEDs

Mini-LEDs are smaller diodes with sizes ranging from less than 0.2nm. Apple used LCD panels in its display. These displays have LEDs in them for backlighting purposes. MacBooks currently uses a strip of LEDs at the bottom of the display. The sole difference between a traditional LED setup and a mini-LED setup is that a mini-LED display can have more than a thousand LEDs.

What is a mini-LED?

Micro-LEDs are tinier and offer a much more vibrant display. Current micro-LEDs are as small as 50μm. This is 1/100th the size of a conventional LED. Micro-LEDs don’t have any restrictions on their size. If you wish to increase their size, add more micro-LED panels to your screen. Micro-LED also enables you to adjust the brightness and contrast levels independently.

What is a micro-LED?

Mini-LED vs. micro-LED displays? What's the difference and Why is Apple adopting mini-LED for MacBooks and iPad in 2021? Check out this guide.

computerscience

Computer Science

Mini-LED vs. Micro-LED

If you want to get more job interviews and offers, you must step up and be the product manager of your job search.You need to treat your UX job search with the intentionality, insight, and information based decisions that a product manager uses when creating a product.A great product manager doesn’t just focus on solving problems, they also constantly seek to spot small problems before they become big problems. When time and money are on the line, there’s no sense in solving a problem if you’re not confident it’s the right problem to solve.

Becoming A Product Manager Of Your Own Job Search

<ul>
<li>Diagnose problems. Product managers constantly look for clues to help them spot problems and opportunities as soon as possible.</li>
<li>Define a path forward. Product managers develop a customized plan to navigate and fix problems, build new features, and reach the end goal faster.</li>
<li>Deliver solutions & measure their success. Product managers always seek to gather and assess data and feedback to gauge the performance of their team and product.</li>
</ul>

What Product Managers Do

In product development, we follow processes and apply principles and strategies because they provide us with the necessary knowledge to build the right things faster, or as close to the right thing as possible!

Product Design Principles

The candidates have to meet the needs and goals of _their users — _the UX recruiters, hiring managers, and everyone else involved in the interview process. 
When this shift happens, everything comes together and candidates are able to articulate their skills and experience in a way that stands out and helps them get hired faster.

The Mindset Shift

Instead of diagnosing the root problems in their job search, many UX professionals go into panic mode and keep applying because they don’t know what else to do. In fact, some UX bootcamps, education programs, and UX career coaches teach students to simply play the numbers game. It is crucial you diagnose problems early and often so you can invest your precious and limited time on activities that will actually make a difference and help you stand out so you can get more job interviews and offers.

Step 1: How to diagnose problems in your UX job search

Equipped with the insight and information from diagnosing problems in your job search, a product manager would then help prioritize the changes a candidate like you may need to make. Many tasks related to your job search depend and build upon each other. That’s why it’s crucial to strategically prioritize what you do in your job search.By having a clear plan for your job search and understanding the consequences of not following the plan, you will be more motivated to make progress and stop procrastinating.

Step 2: How to define a new path forward in your UX job search

In the actual job search, many UX professionals only track metrics such as the number of jobs applied to, interviews received and offers received. There are so many small steps candidates can take to help themselves stand out in the sea of applicants. Simple things such as sending a follow up after an interview or writing a cover letter can sometimes help interviewers, HR people, and hiring managers remember you. For every job you apply to, it can be helpful to track whether you did these activities as a way to hold yourself accountable.

Step 3: How to measure the impact of your career materials and UX job search

To get hired faster, you need to pivot your UX job search and start thinking and acting and thinking like a product manager.Too many UX and product people are stuck in roles that have left them in a skills plateau, at companies that don’t align with their values, and not earning the salaries they deserve.Your future is created by what you do today.Decide right here, right now, to have an honest conversation with yourself about your career.

Get Hired Fast: The Key Takeaway

Have you applied to 25, 50, 100 or more UX jobs and not landed any interviews or job offers? The solution is to not keep applying and hoping the numbers game will eventually lead to more interviews and job offers.

product

Product & Design

How to Get More UX Job Interviews: 3 Product Management Principles to Apply to Your Job Search

<ul><li>One of the first issues with working in a remote team, is that it is hard to bond with stakeholders, especially as you don’t get to meet them in the hallways or at lunch. Building a human connection and trust, which is a huge part of Product Management, is very hard to do in these situations.</li><li>Another challenge is working with language barriers and cultural differences, which will always happen when working across continents to a certain extent. </li><li>Timezones also make agile development harder. How can you move quickly if you’re waiting twelve hours for a response?</li></ul>

Aspects of Working with Remote Teams: The Challenges

<ul><li>When working with remote teams, you’re getting access to a more diverse set of opinions and ideas. People from diverse backgrounds with experience enrich the team’s ideas. This is especially useful for products built to serve a diverse set of customers.</li><li>In a remote setting you also get the luxury of a more flexible schedule. This can lead to a lot of uninterrupted focus time. </li></ul>

Aspects of Working with Remote Teams: The Benefits

<ul><li>Invest in relationships. One of the best ways to do this is to have 1:1 meetings, which will help you get feedback and build personal rapport. </li><li>Strive for inclusion. The first, and most obvious step, is to remember everyone’s name.</li><li>Make meetings more engaging. Send the agenda ahead of time to attendees, and ask them if they have any additions. </li><li>Rely on async communication tools. Encourage the use of commenting in decks/documents. It helps to create the sense of working together.</li><li>Organize your inbox by conversations.</li><li>Decide how much time you want to dedicate to a certain task and stick to it.</li></ul>

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New Product Thinking is a tangible tool for working back from your customers, allowing you to develop and innovate the products that meet customer needs faster and with fewer iterations.It works by breaking the stages of developing a new idea into an iterative process that is customer-focused.

What is New Product (Design) Thinking?

<ul><li>Solution without problem: Working backward starting with technology and solutions first vs focusing on the user and problem you are facing first.</li><li>Tech-first wrongly informs UX: Many algorithms assume which data levers to pull therefore limiting the customer interaction before defining the user goals.</li><li>Algorithms need to learn: Machine learning is learning user-based algorithms. In this, your first foot doesn’t guarantee to be your best one.</li></ul>

Challenges with Technology-First Solutions (vs User-First)

New Product Thinking essentially divides product development into the 5 stages of the design thinking framework. These stages are:<ol><li>Empathize — Research your user’s needs</li><li>Define — Define the problem you want to solve</li><li>Ideate — Create your ideas</li><li>Prototype — Build something to test your ideas</li><li>Test — Give your prototype to users and start collecting feedback</li></ol>

How Does a Design Thinking Framework Work?

<ul><li>Divergent: Exploring new ideas through brainstorming</li><li>Emergent: Leverage ideas from divergent state to explore new ideas</li><li>Convergent: Sifting through ideas and deciding upon winners and losers</li></ul>

Thinking Styles

<ol><li>Tap onto a broad body of knowledge and creativity to product ideas in a group</li><li>Promote openness and generate a lot of ideas</li><li>Don’t be solution-oriented or worry about immediate feasibility</li><li>Look out for problems solved before perhaps in other industries or technologies.</li></ol>

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