Zayden

The professional benefits of networking are well-documented. But if the very thought makes you squirm with discomfort, you aren’t alone.

Networking makes people feel morally impure, especially workers lower on the professional food chain who see engaging in networking as selfish. Still, failure to network has real consequences for workplace performance.

New research suggests that, for those who loathe happy-hour meetups and employee get-togethers, a change in attitude could be the ticket to a bigger network and more productive career.

When people feel psychologically unsafe or undervalued at work, they often protest quietly and unconsciously. They may stop trying to work hard or may subtly undermine leadership. They may become disengaged at a great cost to the global economy.

If you're a leader and want to avoid walkouts or checkouts before they happen, you can do three things.

When you're starting out it feels difficult to start something with a budget but chances are there are more than enough tools out there that are within your budget range.

Most likely than not these are enough to nudge you to follow through on your big ideas.

Asynchronous communication is when the exchanges of information among colleagues, clients or businesses do not happen in real-time, but whenever the other person is able to communicate. Our workdays are already filled with async communication (like email) but the pandemic has forced a lot more people to leave their shared workspaces and sit at their homes.

Zoom and even instant messaging is synchronous communication, and async communication is actually slow and less collaborative among team members, something which leads to confusion and even isolation.

Many workplaces encourage their employees to be vulnerable and authentic as it can bring people closer and make teams stronger.

But doing so can also backfire. Many people fear to be vulnerable at the wrong time or with the wrong person. It may make them seem incompetent if they’re in a more performance-oriented culture at work.