3 Easy Workplace Remedies

Presenteeism is a common condition that plague today’s workforce.

The feeling of being irreplaceable at work, and the subsequent guilt that follows, are some of the factors that force employees to appear even when they are on MC. When sick employees insist on being physically present, they turn the office into an active workplace epidemic for everyone else. One sneeze can trigger the whole department into blowing their noses, and one mistaken cup can pass around a viral bug that could last for weeks.

Personal reasons aside, there are times where it is not as easy as simply requesting for medical leave. There might be a crucial presentation, a last minute proposal, or even a meeting with a big client. When it comes to responsibilities that rely solely on the affected individual, he/she must adapt to today’s working expectations. While the best solution will ultimately lie in having proper medication and rest, adjustments will always have to be made.

In order to counter last minute illnesses or defer said symptoms for a couple of hours (until the meeting is over), here are some easy and effective workplace remedies.

Mix Coca-Cola With Salt

The fastest bug going around today belongs to the flu family, and under it comes a myriad of symptoms: sudden itchy throat, stomach blockage, and phlegm production. These can seriously hinder work productivity, especially if talking plays a big part.

One quick and cheap hack is to get a can of Coca-Cola and mix it with salt. If there is a McDonalds nearby, purchase a cup of Coca-Cola and make use of their free salt packets. Attempt to finish as much of this sweet & salty concoction as possible.

Coca-Cola works particularly well for bacterial-causing issues because of the soft drink’s acidity. The mixture of both carbonic and phosphoric acid allows it to have medicinal properties. It started out as a patent medicine back in the late 19th century.

2 Pills A Day Keeps The Doctor Away

Move aside, Panadol. Other than the usual OTC pills that treat everyday maladies, consider purchasing active charcoal tablets and Vitamin C pills — the orange ones that dissolve in water. The first is proven to be highly effective when combating situations of food poisoning or stomach bugs. Charcoal is able to absorb the toxic components, and temporarily stop the pain and runs. The only downside is that it needs to be taken frequency in relatively high amounts for it to work, around 500mg (2 to 3 tablets) every hour for adults.

As for Vitamin C pills, they act as a prevention measure for the rest of the company when someone gets sick. The moment a sneeze cuts through the air, consider these pills to ensure that the daily vitamin intake is sufficient enough to boost a healthier immune system. As the adage goes, prevention is always better than cure.

Go Into The Darkness

Have a headache? A quick solution to migraine relief is to find a dark corner and stay still in the darkness for awhile. Try to shut out as many of the light sources contributing to the environment and let the darkness soothe the headache away. If this is physically impossible, eye masks are also a quick cheat for one to experience total darkness in the office.

While it may sound a little unorthodox, light plays a big part in triggering or contributing to migraines. Brightness can be especially painful when the body becomes sensitive, and there is nothing worse for a headache than a direct glare of sunlight. This is also a healthier alternative to migraine medicine!

How to be a responsible candidate?

If you are a recruiter, you will likely know what this article is going to be about. Experienced recruiters meet all sorts of candidates – from the sincere to the least responsible one. Sometimes, we even converse those who we think are sincere, but would remain uncontactable after. Trust us, this situation breaks our fragile hearts in the life as recruiters every single time.

If you are a candidate on the active lookout for jobs at the moment, read on to find out how you could be more responsible to your recruiters and stop breaking our fragile hearts.

Be Punctual

There is a reason why interviews have been scheduled at a certain time. Behind the scenes, is a lengthy process of coordination between the hiring manager and your availability for the interview. Being late not only reflects poorly on your interest in the role – but it also shows the attitude you take towards your work, and to others.

Time might not be important to you, as you are unemployed – but it matters to others.

Inform us if you have already found employment

During the process of job application, it is normal to have a surge in phone calls where recruiters are asking if you are interested in the roles you have applied for. It’s not because you are in high demand, but it is because recruiters (especially from agencies) are just making sure you are able to find your suitable employment in your shortest possible time.

If you have already found employment, it would only be polite for you to call your recruiters up and share with them that you have already found employment. This prevents any further interview arrangements to be coordinated, or for the hiring manager to even process and consider your application – which will only be a waste of time.

Let us know in advance if you are unable to attend an interview or any appointments

If we have already arranged an interview (and have already done all the back end coordination), you could share with us if you are unable to attend an interview or any appointment in advance. This helps us to reschedule our appointments, and free up our time slot in doing our day to day activities. In advance, not mean few minutes in advance but more than a day in advance. Please remember how many involved parties are going to be affected.

…& we would like you to take the initiative of informing us, instead of us calling you – only to know that you are unable to attend the appointment later.  This not only breaks our fragile hearts, but also gives us a shock as well.

Tell us if you are uninterested

You can have all the right in the world to share with us if you are not interested in the role – whether the interview has already been arranged or not interested in the temporary assignment an hour before

But don’t just “no-show” which makes all the affected parties wonder what happen to you. We have no time for mind-guessing games. If you are uninterested in the job, there are many others who would be more than willing to take this opportunity up.

Ultimately, one should choose to be gracious and not selfish. Because the opportunity that was given to you - but you had chosen to forgo today, could be the rice bowl for someone else 

5 Time Management Tips

Have you ever felt that no matter how much you are able to multi task, time is always not on your side? The fun fact of today is that humans are generally poor at multi-tasking, so  you are not alone! 

Here are 5 time management tips that you may use to better manage your time and increase your productivity:

Checklist is really important

You should always take a moment and consider the things to complete by the next day before heading home. If you know your objectives and tasks to complete the next day, you will sure be able to sleep better and wake up with a fresh mind to start the day!

Early birds catch the most worms: BE EARLY! 

I'm not asking you to be a bird. It is just a metaphor but imagine if you're always rushing about at the start of the morning. Nah, that’s not the way to go. Always get up slightly earlier so that you can take things slowly and calmly. Here’s how: 

Start the day right – Scheduling

Remember attending the list of things you need to complete by the end of the day first. 

1. Go through email that have accumulated over the night. These are the unpredictable ones you could not foresee, with more tasks to be completed. Based on the emails, you should schedule the tasks at the end of today, or another day. 
2. Filter out and attend to quick responses to allow other people to start working on tasks. Work delegation is a crucial factor to meet deadlines of projects.
3. Evaluate the urgency and the implications of not completing tasks on hand. Schedule the ones you need to give immediate priority to. 

Taking regular break is important

1. Take regular breaks during the day.
2. Block off time in your calendar and take breaks.
3. During your breaks, you can evaluate your tasks on hand. This helps keep your mind organized consistently throughout the day

Set realistic deadlines & Learn to say NO

1. Stick to the deadlines. If possible, you should set a deadline few days before the task so that you can complete all those tasks that may get in the way.
2. Challenge yourself and meet the deadline & reward yourself after that!
3. Politely refuse to accept additional tasks if you think that you’re already overloaded with work. Recheck your “to-do-lists” before taking up new job scopes.

3 Tips about Work Space

If you are a messy person, you can totally relate with what I am about to share with you.

Ever get so stressed when you are unable to find an important document, while you vividly remembered placing it on your desk. You know it is in there somewhere, among all the other pile of documents. Now, can you understand why I would be sharing with you that having a clean work space is beneficial to you and is definitely one of the important elements to increase your productivity at work. 

While typing this article, I could recall reading that geniuses have the most messy work spaces. If the article is referring to you,  that makes you the exception. Please go all out to be messy! (YAY!). If not, you will find the following tips rather useful. 

Keep yourself organised

Keeping a desk clean will make it easier to focus on your work. Things get done when you have lots more space, rather than pushing the mess towards the side and accumulating it to the pile. It is the same context in data files in your laptop. Cluttering old files or overflowing email inbox will decrease work productivity. Take some time off to organize them properly and you will feel the effect of getting things done faster and clearer!

Keep your work space neat and clean

Being neat in your work space helps in your personal image, as well as the company's corporate image. However, it is so much more then that. Keeping work space neat and clean will make yourself more productive. It reflects how serious and respectful you are in your profession as well. 

Being Health Conscious for you and people around you

One of the causes for low work productivity and falling behind in your assignments is falling sick in your work place due to lack of cleanliness. You may have cleaners outsourced from cleaning companies, but they are unable to touch the documents on your desk because of confidentiality. If you have ever sneezed, or consume lunch or drinks when you are at your desk - it means you are highly likely accumulating germs and viruses which would not only affect your health, but your colleagues as well. 

4 Ways to Make Meetings Effective

Let's be honest - As much as we know that meetings are important and key to communications for everyone, most of us hate attending them. Usually, what goes on at the back of your mind during the meetings are the the pile of documents waiting for you to be settled at your desk to be completed today. 

Below are some ways we have put together to ensure that meetings are valuable and productive. This will also make sure that uses every attendee’s time fruitfully.

Start Punctually

Waiting for the latecomers will only mean that you agree and able to accept their late coming. That's a big no no. If the content of the meeting is really important, latecomers will eventually be on time to avoid any inconvenience for others. Of course, the person who have arranged for the meeting has to ensure that the meeting content is worth everyone's time.  

Set out a clear agenda

Agenda of meeting should be set out clearly two to three days prior to the meeting and the time needed for each topic should also be indicated. Topics should be as specific as possible so that the presenter may also know the key pointers to share. This will help attendees identify the topics during the meeting. This also gives the presenters a better gauge of time to move forward if they are next in line.

Presentation (Visual & Aural)

While we may think that aural presentation is sufficient to catch the attention of all attendees, we want our content shared during the meeting to be clearly communicated. Presenters must always go into meetings well-prepared with presentation slides, write-ups and figures. More often than not, graphs and images help in shortening meetings when every one of us can comprehend so much faster in seconds.

Everyone to Contribute

Meetings are meant for attendees to contribute their ideas and input suggestions and polls, with regards to the topics presented. Not for people to attend boring presentations. Such session is critical and to ensure that participants are engaged and important decisions are made during the meetings. To be polite, you may want to get allow people voice out non-urgent thoughts after the meetings. 

10 tips to note for a job interview.

Research before anything.

Find out as much as possible about the company's services, products and competition. Doing so will allow you to understand and address the business's needs, to better sell yourself in the interview. Understanding the company's culture will also enable you to gauge if you will be happy at your job.

Look Your Best

First impressions matter but dressing for an interview is not a one-size-suits-all matter. Depending on the company's environment, choose the best clothes suitable for it, and check for wrinkles and stains. After all, even if the company's filled with people in beach wear, you don't want to look like you've just climbed out of bed. Most importantly, you should feel good about what you wear. Because if you feel good, others will respond accordingly.

Be Prepared

Bring a folder containing extra copies of your resume, references and any other documents you may need. You should also have questions to ask at the end of the interview, and finally, have a paper at hand to take notes.

Be punctual

Never arrive late for an interview. Factor in extra time to find your way around the vicinity. It would be best to enter the building 10 to 15 minutes before the interview. 

Listen

Listening is one of the most neglected interview skills. Additionally, don't just listen, but reading between the lines. Sometimes what is not said is just as important as what is said. 

Answer the Question Asked

Make sure you understand the question before answering. If you are unsure, get clarification before answering. Sometimes, candidates don't think about whether they are answering the questions their interviewers ask. 

Give Specific Examples

Prepare stories about your past experience before the interview. Give examples that highlight your successes. Your past behavioud can indicate your future performance.

Ask Questions

Many interviewees don't ask questions and miss the opportunity to find out valuable information. The questions you ask can indicate your interest in the company or job. 

Follow Up

The follow up email is one more chance to market yourself and remind your potential employer about your best traits. Take it as an avenue to reiterate what you bring to the job and the company as well.

Show Enthusiasm and Confidence

Most importantly, be confident, give a firm handshake and plenty of eye contact. One way to show confidence is to be prepared to the best of your ability. There is no way to predict what an interview holds, but by following these important rules you will feel less anxious and will be ready to positively present yourself.

Benefits of Punctuality

Ever thought of the impression that you are giving to others each time you are late for appointments? You may not have realised but being punctual does help in improving work performances.

Besides, i'm sure you only want positive impressions. Either be punctual, or be ready to get judged.  

Be 15 Minutes Early!

Be it if it’s for work or appointments, being punctual clearly show the importance and respect you have for the person you are meeting. Your time is as precious, as it is for others. Yes, we're talking to you although you may be the Managing Director of a established company.  Your employees would appreciate the respect they deserve. 

Meeting deadlines

Put in some effort to reach office early or even on time to give yourself ample to settle down before the day begins. This reduces any stress and pressure that you may be lagging behind your colleagues in work completion. I’m sure you want the other party to have confidence and faith in you when you meet them up for discussions and as much as they trust you to finish within deadlines when they hand the projects or assignments over to you.

Professional Punctuality

This is utmost important in workplace and it shows as a professional way to be trustworthy and reliable. Always keep in mind that while you delay any submission or miss any deadlines, you are also keeping others from finishing their work. In such a interdependent work environment, never give your colleagues any opportunity to have a bad impression of you or see you as someone undependable.

Always Ready

Being ready a couple of minutes before any meeting will give you ample time to easy your mind and time to relax. Ensure that you are ready to give your best before meetings while you collect your thoughts and get ready. 

Is being a good leader always superior to being a good manager

If you are given the opportunity to lead a team – how do you distinguish between being a leader and a manager? There might be sometimes that you wonder if you should place priorities on the development of your team, or in ensuring things get done right in the fastest time possible. Like what Peter Drucker said “Leadership is doing the right things; management is doing the things right”

The following are the main consideration factors between when you should use which leadership style

Your current team culture

If you have a team who does not like change, and who prefer to be instructed than empowered – the team requires a manager instead of a leader. Leaders constantly challenge status quo and often have the courage to take on risk and it would be disastrous if the team is constantly fighting against change.

A leader also has a tendency to have highly stretched goals and the audacity of the goals and would be disastrous if the team feels it is unattainable, with a lot of self-doubts.

Urgency of tasks and amount of resources

If the tasks at hand are urgent, a manager would be better than a leader because they are more results and tasks orientated. Managers would be taking the defined goals and executing by having a list of detailed plans – so the goals would be achieved by average employees in the shortest time.

Existing culture of the company

If the current culture of the company is also risk adverse and where the Key Performance Indicators (KPI) of employees and incumbents are strictly monitored – then a leader would not be able to excel in this environment as well. Imagine if a leader invents to define new paradigms, using his creativity to be constantly rejected his Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

Ultimately, one leadership style is not a superior form over the other. To sustain and to remain competitive with their competitors, companies should have a good mixture of transformational leaders as well as good managers. When companies are hiring management levels, they should also understand what is the current culture of the company as well as the needs of this team. This can help define the purpose on why this new incumbent is brought on board