Wisdom Cafe Wednesday

Archives of past Wisdom Cafe Wednesday newsletters.

Google Drive Makeover: Organizing Files and Folders

Discover ways to use and organize your files and folders online inside Google Drive. Beginning with a basic overview of how Google drive works, productivity expert and professional organizer Suzanna Kaye moves on to an exploration of unique features and shares her simple search-based filing system that makes working with Google Drive fast and easy. Suzanna also covers common mistakes to avoid, troubleshooting, and how to share files with others.

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Employee Guide: How to Be a Productive Learner

What is the difference between just learning and productive learning? The key to productive learning exists in the practice of certain behaviors such as prioritization of relevant opportunities, seeking peer knowledge and expertise, and reflection on work experiences.

Use...

Team Building with Myers-Briggs—Building a Home Out of M&M’s

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is a useful instrument for illustrating and appreciating differences between each other (though not scientifically sound). One of my favorite activities is demonstrating this to naysayers who equate MBTI to astrology, so here’s a simple team building activity you can use when your unit is in need of something lighthearted. To avoid spoiler alerts, I’m not including photos, but am happy to share some examples from the many times I’ve done this on campus, if you email me.

Firstly, all participants will need to know their...

What's Your Shadowside On a Team?

Increasing employees’ self-awareness of their personal ‘shadow’ on the team helps create a tone on the team that is more open and conducive to team skill sharing. You should use...

Top Qualities of a Great Collaborator

Collaboration is one of the top 3 soft skills employers look for in candidates. So, you might be wondering how to find out if a candidate is a gifted collaborator. Or you might be wondering if you're a natural collaborator yourself. Chances are, if you're dealing with a natural collaborator, they have several of the qualities in this article.

Read the article...

Communities of Practice: The Missing Piece

Communities of practice are rising in popularity at organizations that seek to focus its members on a specific outcome while also having the added benefits of facilitating personal growth and fostering community. Encouraging communities of practice within the workplace directly addresses issues like organizational silos, duplication of work, and discouragement due to lack of support.

Ready to incorporate communities of practice in your workplace? Remember these key elements:

Create a safe environment where members are comfortable asking questions and exploring ideas Support...

10 Verbal Communication Skills Worth Mastering

Personal branding expert Dan Schawbel predicted that in a competitive work environment where everyone works at the same level with similar talents, interpersonal communication skills will become the key differentiator. Impressions matter greatly in key moments of communication, so it is important to ensure that you are spending time developing and mastering your interpersonal communication skills.

Read here to learn which 10 communications skills are worth...

The Impact of Interruptions

In order to achieve high performance it is important that we are able to work with focus. We have all had the experience of working on a task and starting to gain some momentum. Our brain is fully engaged, we begin to get immersed, and we sense an underlying feeling of excitement as we begin to make progress. And then…

Fred stops by to say “Hi, nice to see you at your desk.” or

Mary says… “Quick question…” or

John says… “I’m just going to sneak past you to leave a quick note for Nancy.”

In this one moment, this point of...

Set Yourself Up for Your Next Job

The “Skill Self-Estimate” is a tool for comparing your current skills with the skills required for a particular position or type of position. You often won’t have absolutely all of the information you would like about a job to compare to your skills. As you work with this exercise, notice the questions you have, and think about ways that you might get more information if you need it. Check it out here.

What Google Learned From Its Quest to Build the Perfect Team

Five years ago, Google — one of the most public proselytizers of how studying workers can transform productivity — became focused on building the perfect team. In the last decade, the tech giant has spent untold millions of dollars measuring nearly every aspect of its employees’ lives. Google’s People Operations department has scrutinized everything from how frequently particular people eat together (the most productive employees tend to build larger networks by rotating dining companions) to which traits the best managers share (unsurprisingly, good communication and avoiding...