Alexandra Levits Water Cooler Wisdom The Impact of the Internet of Things

Alexandra Levit's Water Cooler Wisdom The Impact of the Internet of Things The latesttech trendis theInternet of Things (IoT), and if you’re like me, you didn’t know what it meant until you were reading ablog postone day (possibly this one). The IoT is what will happen when any device with an off/on switch can be connected to the Internet and to other devices. Technology analyst firmGartnerhas predicted that in thevery near future, there will be nearly 30 billion connected devices, forging complex relationships between people and things. In his article forForbes, Jacob Morgan says that IoT is becoming more of a thing (forgive the pun) now due to a confluence of factors including widely available broadband, decreasing connection and technology costs, smart phone penetration, and the creation of devices with built-in wi-fi censors. Connected devices will be smarter devices because they will no longer operate in silos. Instead, a device will be able tocommunicateits activities to other devices and to the people who manage those devices. For instance, based on your daily routine, your smartphone will talk to your office printer, your home alarm system, and your favorite coffee shop about what you need and when you need it. For the impact of IoT on HR, have a look at the full post on the SilkRoad blog.

Titles Do Not Matter in Career - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Titles Do Not Matter in Career - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career People work to earn money and make a living. That is the reality. If you don’t earn money, you cannot fulfill your basic needs such as shelter, food and clothing. However, how much you make or how fancy your title is should not be measures for qualifying your success in your career. What really matters in the end is enjoying your daily life and having a fulfilling career. You should feel prosperous if your job provides you the below opportunities. Your Achievements Are Recognized: When you accomplish your goals or achieve something, your coworkers take the time to appreciate you. You receive an email or a personal thank you note for your accomplishments or a small gift like a gift card or tickets to a sports game. Also, your employer recognizes this success in your annual review and makes a pay raise accordingly or promote you to the next level. If your employer can do these, then what else do you want? You Have Flexibility: Work flexibility is very important for many professionals. Since the evolution of technology, most of us can work from anywhere with an internet connection. If you have a job which lets you work remotely or work in flexible hours, you can balance your life better and run errands easier. Control Your Own Career: Your employer gives you the responsibility to control your own career growth. That is golden. If you start paying more attention to what is going on around you in order to find and work on projects that is aligned with your career goals, you can grow faster. Moreover, asking questions to your seniors and learning as many skills as you can are very important. When you feel that you are learning something new every day, you will be happier. Your Employer Invests in You: Everybody wants to grow professionally and advance their skills. If you are working in a company which provides you training programs or incentives for continuing higher education, you should feel fortunate. Also, if you are facing with new challenges and your company trusts you to solve these challenges, then, this shows that you are really being valued. You Like Coming to the Office: Most importantly you like where you work, what you do, your coworkers around you and that is why you come to the office with a smile every day. Earning money through doing what you like keeps you alive and excites you in life.

What Marshamallows Can Teach You About Emotional Intelligence

What Marshamallows Can Teach You About Emotional Intelligence Have you heard about The Marshmallow Test? This is fascinating. Back in the 60’s a psychologist, Walter Mischel, conducted an experiment with 4 year old children. So, try to imagine that youre 4 years old, and participating in this little experiment. First a friendly adult welcomes you into a room and sits you in front of a marshmallow. This is for you, she says. Before we start, I have to do something down the hall. You can eat the marshmallow any time you like. But if you wait until I get back, Ill give you two marshmallows. Then, the researcher leaves the room. Its just you, and that marshmallow. Having trouble imagining yourself in this scenario. As you could see, the children react differently to this situation. Some grab and gobble the marshmallow by the time the door closes behind the researcher. Others seem fixated on it looking, smelling, touching but hold back from eating it. Others take steps to distract themselves singing, walking around, and listening by the door. What this is testing is impulse control and the ability to delay gratification. Its an example of frustration tolerance. Much of what we want in life requires resisting the immediate impulse, and also being able to delay gratification. For example, when in college, you might have preferred to be off surfing in Hawaii, but, since you valued what a college education would do for you, you stuck with it. And it meant giving up some things you might have preferred doing at the time. Some of the children just cant resist, and take the marshmallow immediately or eventually. Others last it out, and what do they do? Count their fingers and toes get up and look out the window find a book in the room and read it look up at the ceiling they are very clever. Somewhere they developed this skill could it have been their parents? My mom used to tell me When youre angry, stop and count to ten. She was teaching me to stop and think before I spoke or took action. This is a tried-and-true way to emotional intelligence stopping to think before you act or react. Its an EI skill! Okay, so here’s the kicker. Fourteen years later, Mischel tracks down the hundreds of kids who took part in this experiment and the results are incredible. The children who, at four, had waited to win the second marshmallow, tended to rate high on the skills that make for success in school, at work, in life. They had many of the habits of successful people confidence, persistence, capacity to cope with frustration. On the other hand, the one-third who had devoured the marshmallow had a different overall profile. They had trouble delaying gratification to achieve long-range goals. When it was time to study for the big test, they tended to get distracted by watching a favorite TV programs. For decades, psychologists have focused on raw intelligence as the most important variable when it comes to predicting success in life. Mischel argues that intelligence is largely at the mercy of self-control: even the smartest kids still need to do their homework. “What we’re really measuring with the marshmallows isn’t will power or self-control,” Mischel says. “It’s much more important than that. This task forces kids to find a way to make the situation work for them. They want the second marshmallow, but how can they get it? We can’t control the world, but we can control how we think about it.” Mischel has continued to track the original subjects over the last 40 years and it turns out that the character traits highlighted by The Marshmallow Test persist in adult life. They affect our performance in every area. Once you start looking for them, its easy to spot the marshmallows in our professional and personal lives. They are the activities which give us immediate gratification but undermine longer-range benefits. Be sure to register for our webinar this Thursday, March 17 9:00 am (PDT) on Emotional Intelligence: Secret Ingredient to Workplace Success. Click here to register.

Where Do Writers Write Take A Look...

Where Do Writers Write Take A Look... Last month I showed you where I write my books. There were many photos of my garden, which is where I do a lot of daydreaming and procrastinating while pretending to work. This month, were looking at where other writers write. Take a look Barbara Claypole White, Echoes of Family After years of working on the family computer in the main living space of our open plan house, I took over a small upstairs bedroom. I love that I have a door I can close; I love that my view is of the forest and part of my woodland garden; I love that during the holidays, I have a bird’s eye view of the  Christmas tree. Catherine Ryan Hyde, Allie and Bea   Behold my easy chair. I started writing in a recliner over a decade ago, because it was kinder on my back. I have no desktop computerâ€"I do everything on a Mac notebook. This is the most relaxed and hospitable spot in the house. On my right is a window looking out over my backyard. Hanging in front of the window is a hummingbird feeder, an oriole feeder, and a seed feeder frequented by song sparrows and finches. I can look up if I need some not-too-distracting inspiration Diane Chamberlain, The Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes Last year, my stepdaughter who is a DIY blogger and general contractor, PrettyHandyGirl.com turned my porch from a dark, drab, disgusting dive into this pretty work of art. Since then, I work out there whenever I can. Yes, I trash the place, but it’s temporary, and I’m inspired by the trees and birds and the sunshine. Kristy Woodson Harvery, Slighty South of Simple This little spot is just a corner of my bedroom, not an actual “office,” but it is my favorite place to write. I fell in love with this desk, and my husband surprised me with it when we moved in. I like my writing spot to be clean and organized, free of papers and clutter, so this is the perfect spot for me to clear my head and writeâ€"especially because the water view outside the window is quite spectacular. It’s the perfect space to inspire a beach book! Diane Haeger, The Secret Bride This is my ‘mom cave’, my office, the place I can escape to, the space in which I write at least something every day. My office is filled, not just with my beloved books, but with dozens of tokens and mementos from colleagues and readers, each of which inspires me when I glance around at them. And of course frequently there’s my little muse, Stevie! Julie Cantrell, The Feathered Bone A nature girl at heart, I am most inspired when I can write outdoors surrounded by birds, bees, and blooms. For years I helped operate our family’s sustainable farm in Oxford, Mississippi. I wrote from the porch swing, in the company of peonies and phlox while horses and lambs grazed in the pastures. Due to a few life transitions, I recently relocated. I have yet to recreate my extensive flowerbeds and gardens, but I’ve got a little corner of blooms and a kitten who purrs and a whole heap of color to keep me happy as I spin my stories. That’s what I call a good work day. Brandi Megan Granett, Triple Love Score My office is in a spare bedroom in my home on the western edge of New Jersey, about six miles from the Delaware River.   What I love best about it is looking out over the green of the backyard and my archery target.   We moved here to have more room for practicing my beloved sport.   It used to be my desk faced the other way until a dear friend pointed out how I was missing the view.   Thanks to her my co-workers now include numerous birds at the feeders, white tail deer, and wild turkeys.   My two dogs often accompany me, prodding me to get my writing and teaching done so that we can go into the kitchen and have a snack. Katie Rose Guest Pryal, Entanglement: A Hollywood Lights Novel My office is on the third floor of our tall, narrow house. My desk is a small, square table with a chair facing the window. When the blinds are open I feel like I can see for miles. I have two small children, but even when they are home (wrestling alligators or whatever they do with they’re dad when I’m not around), I’m far enough away that I can’t hear. And since my entire office fits inside my handbag, the small table is all the space I need. Kathryn Craft, The Art of Falling Unlike my secluded, quiet loft office at home, during the summer I camp at the heart of our northern NY State lakeside cottage. On warm days I thin the barrier between me and the outdoors by cranking open the large windows all around me; on cold days I stare into the mesmerizing flames of a fire. All reference materials I’ll need for the summer are hidden in milk crates beneath this table. It’s in the middle of everything and, as visiting family comes and goes, almost impossible to concentrate. I love it. Ann Garvin, I Like You Just Fine When Youre Not Around I write   in this room because there are two windows and a door. Three ways to escape and shut the world out. When I’m writing well, I love this room. When I’m not, I use one of the escape routes. Amy Impellizzeri, Secrets of Worry Dolls While I have a designated writing office in my home with a locked door and everything, with three busy kids and a needy dog, my office is much more likely to be right in the middle of them while still stealing some time to  myself.  The living room  couch is one of my favorite places to spread out my  notes while Im working.  My pup, Cocoa, makes a very good  writing companion Laura Drake, Cowboy Karma When we moved to our retirement home in Texas, I got first dibs on what room to use for my office. I picked the one with the wood floors, bookcases and a view of the front yard. Its where I spend most of my day, and with a cat bed on the printer for one cat, and the other stretched out on the couch, Im happy! Marin Thomas, The Promise of Forgiveness My desk is a Texas ranger desk-its huge and it was a gift from my husband to celebrate my first sale to Harlequin Books. I have a steer skull on the wall which goes along with the cowboy romances I write. I love vintage/old stuff and find knick knacks at flea markets which inspire me. Amy Sue Nathan, The Good Neighbor When I moved and downsized last Thanksgiving I had to find a new writing spot for my fourth novel in my much smaller home. I never write sitting at a desk, so now I sit on my sofa, feet up and covered by a blanket crocheted by grandmother 25 years ago when my son was born. Ella Olsen, Where The Sweet Bird Sings This is my new office which used to be my daughters room. My college bound son moved out of the basement and she moved down within hours. Empty room = new office. I used to write in the dining room so I love my new space. On the other hand, I hate that my son no longer lives at home. Kelly Simmons, The Fifth of July: A Novel I can work anywhere. Rain or shine. Public or private. Light or dark.

Top Tips For Resume Writing

Top Tips For Resume WritingIf you have ever worked as a writer, you may be familiar with the importance of using top tips in resume writing. What you need to know are the top tips for resume writing that will help you make the most effective resume possible.First, do not be afraid to say what your qualifications are as a candidate for the position. A resume should be reflective of who you are and how you will contribute to the business. Not only should it be specific to the job that you are applying for, but it should also be specific to the organization or company that you are applying for.When writing a resume, you should also be able to create an impressive cover letter, which is one of the top tips for resume writing. As with all top tips for resume writing, you should use as much personal detail as possible in the cover letter.Make sure that all information that you provide is truthful and up-to-date. If there is any false information, it could have a negative impact on your res ume. Also, make sure that you are very detailed when it comes to answering the questions.Always make sure that you list the contact information in the order in which they should be listed. For example, if you want to provide the company's telephone number, make sure that you also list the extension number. When you provide information about a specific contact person, make sure that you also give the name of the person.It is never a good idea to add more information to a resume that does not need to be on a long list. For example, if you are a call center representative, you should include the reason why you would be a good representative of the company. If you think that it would be an advantage to you to become a part of the company's executive team, this is the time to make this information available.You should always ensure that you use proper grammar and punctuation when creating a resume. Write in a format that makes it easy for the interviewer to read the resume. Do not start a sentence with a period.Finally, never forget to put your contact information at the top of the resume. This makes it easy for you to return to the page and make corrections at a later time.

More AMAZING work from our partners around the world - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog

More AMAZING work from our partners around the world - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog We are constantly blown away by the great work our international partners do to promote happiness at work around the world. Here are just a few recent examples. Israel PlusConsulting in Israel did a?Workplace Happiness seminar for 45 HR managers from leading organizations. They presented a case study of a big retail company that they have been working with for the last 2 years, to train all their managers with leading with happiness tools, and many other happiness tips. They have also been working with the National insurance services headquarters to involve positive psychology tools like mindfulness, appreciative inquiry and strengths in their daily routine. Switzerland Florian Amstutz of PeopleUp in Switzerland did a presentation on happiness and change management for 120 managers from a company.?He had lot of fun and the CEO was really happy with the speech. Hong Kong TGI Monday in Hong Kong have developed a workshop called Choosing Happiness at work which is dedicated to any employee willing to increase its happiness at work. It includes a lot of videos, good practices examples from caring organizations for Hong Kong FCCIHK as you can see above, people?love it :) Pakistan Mush Panjwani from Hong Kong?will be going to Pakistan to do the first ever training on happiness at work in that country. India Happy Office from Holland did two sold-out workshops at the Agile India conference. Serbia Vega IT Sourcing in Serbia did a charity relay race where?83 teams participated on a sunny Sunday morning to help children without parental care. Denmark Nicolai Knudsen had a breakthrough in his work to make the Danish military a happier workplace when he gave a keynote at a conference for the organisation for personal advisors and colleague support, a voluntary organisation within the Ministry of Defense that helps people cope with personal problems, stress, offensive behavior, sexism, trauma and PTSD.? The head of the MoD center for workplace environment health and safety was really inspired and had never seen that approach, despite having worked with health and safety in over two decades. Japan Mari Niwa from Ideal Leaders in Tokyo came up with a new way for coworkers to praise each other. In Japan people are a little shy, so rather than doing it in public, you can put up envelopes for each person and then people can praise you by writing a note and sticking it in your envelope. Australia Dr. Jenny Brockis recently delivered the closing keynote on? Thriving@Work at a huge retail conference in Melbourne?which was really well received and shes now getting many more inquiries about this topic as organisations wake up to the need to improve their employees experiences at work to boost productivity, performance and overall happiness. Slovenia Paleta Znanj in Slovenia?are wrapping up a 2-year project of rebuilding/upgrading organizational culture in one great and very successful small company (up to 20 employees, 25 years on the market) who needed help to cross the gap between financial and organic growth (high profits, low employee satisfaction), and to enter ?modern age? of leadership. They helped align the company culture with their current and future needs, to make a shift from being profit oriented culture to being people and client oriented one and so to bring more happiness into their working lives and did analysis, counseling, team buildings, coaching, workshops and introduce a tool/system called the Growth Book. Thanks for visiting my blog. If you're new here, you should check out this list of my 10 most popular articles. And if you want more great tips and ideas you should check out our newsletter about happiness at work. It's great and it's free :-)Share this:LinkedInFacebookTwitterRedditPinterest Related

How To Avoid Being Considered The Lazy Candidate

How To Avoid Being Considered The Lazy Candidate How To Avoid Being Considered The Lazy Candidate When I was recruiting, I always asked potential candidates if they were familiar with the company during my screening call. The smart ones said, yes and went on to tell me what they knew. The lazy ones said no. Not a good sign. When you’re competing for a job, one of the things many employers will ask is “why do you want to work here?” If you don’t know anything about the company what can you say? One of the keys to being successful during job interviews is to research companies in advance and prepare a few responses to questions like “what do you know about us?” and “how did you find this job?” and, the inevitable, “why do you want to work here?” Imagine you’re interviewing with Amazon. Since the company is a household name and you’ve probably shopped with them often, you might think you know a lot about the company. You might not bother to do your research. Here’s why that would be a mistake on your part. After spending 10 minutes online I found a several new initiatives and a relatively new offering for Prime members. Amazon Key is a new service that lets couriers unlock your front door â€" When a courier arrives with a package for in-home delivery, they scan the barcode, sending a request to Amazon’s cloud. If everything checks out, the cloud grants permission by sending a message back to the camera, which starts recording. The courier then gets a prompt on their app, swipes the screen, andvoilà, your door unlocks. They drop off the package, relock the door with another swipe, and are on their way. The customer will get a notification that their delivery has arrived, along with a short video showing the drop-off to confirm everything was done properly. With a little more research, I found that it is available to Prime members (that’s me) starting at $249.99 Why Amazon Bought Whole Foods The e-commerce giant has been expanding into groceries and physical locations,including bookstores, ironically working itself back into the brick-and-mortar business that it’s also disrupting. Whole Foods, meanwhile, offers the biggest name in yuppie groceries and a fleet of urban locations, which can double as Amazon warehouses Amazon Has Considered Buying some toys ‘R’ Us Stores â€" The online giant isn’t interested in maintaining the Toys “R” Us brand but has considered using the soon-to-be-vacant spaces for its own purposes, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the talks are private. Such a move would let Amazon quickly expand its brick-and-mortar presence, coming on the heels ofbuying Whole Foods Market Inc.and its more than 450 locations last year. The Seattle-based company also has opened its own line ofbookstoresand aconvenience-store concept. Beyond Google Of course, a Google search may not turn up as much about your target employers, but there are lots of other places to look as well. Hoovers.com Hoovers provided information on sales, sales growth, number of employees, etc. It also told me amazon’s top 3 competitors: Walmart, Google LLC, and Alibada Group Services Limited, which is a group of e-commerce websites in Asia. Business.com Business.com provided numerous articles including: Amazon Business: What It Can Do for Your Company. An interesting article on small business benefits. LinkedIn On Amazon’s company page I found a Functional Distribution chart showing growth in various functions, operations, engineering, sales, etc., over the last 6 months and 1 year. There also was a graph of new hires over the last 2 years. Competition is tough. Make time to research each company before your interview. You’ll get farther wowing them with your smarts than shocking them with your ignorance.