Continuing a career in whichever field you choose is one of the largest parts of everyone’s life. This entails that most individuals spend almost, if not more, time at work than at home. Though seemingly difficult, what can make it even more strenuous is having a workplace that doesn’t make your life easier but rather harder, a toxic workplace, if you will.
A good workplace will make you feel seen, accomplished, and overall satisfied with working there, whereas, working in a toxic workplace will have many side effects on your mental and physical health, as well as your work output, and so on. Below you will find all the signs to look for when working in a work environment that may be toxic without you even knowing it.
Employee Sickness
The first sign you will notice of a toxic work environment is physical symptoms within yourself. These symptoms arise in multiple ways including burnout, fatigue, or even illness such as chronic migraines, weight loss due to multiple ailments, and even depression. If you find yourself calling in sick and having an overall negative mood, it may be time to reflect on a workplace change.
Chronic Cronyism
If you notice, your work colleagues and superiors all know each other a little too well. When a manager hires from the same homogenous circle of individuals, be that from family or friend circles, it becomes a case of cronyism. This means not only is the workplace extracting potential exterior high-performers but also creating a homogenous work culture that is unsustainable.
Gossiping
Small talk regarding guests or business partners is expected, but when small talk becomes gossip and gossip becomes overly personal within a workplace, it turns into an unhealthy partnership with colleagues. This can lead to strenuous collaboration on work projects, internal conflicts, external altercations, and so forth.
If you find yourself or your colleagues complaining to each other too often, the underlying issue is usually dissatisfaction with something within the work environment or maybe in their personal lives.
Antisocial Tendencies
Silence is often an indication of struggle and discomfort within a workplace. If your colleagues aren’t engaging with each other, nor is anyone’s body language positive, it can be a result of a prolonged decline in workplace morale and interpersonal relationships at work.
Another symptom of antisocial behavior is combativeness towards peers. If you feel you are being challenged too often, it is a telltale sign of toxicity within your work environment which can also affect your confidence and morale.
Lack of Confidence
Morale and confidence have already been mentioned, but there is another layer to workplace confidence which is being able to challenge ideas in a healthy manner. Being terrified of your superiors isn’t a healthy way to work since everyone is supposedly on the same team and is trying to find new and creative ways to move forward, which is something that cannot be done under scrutiny.
Lack of Growth
Growth equates to mobility. When looking for jobs, employees search for opportunities for growth within their workplace and personal careers, and if a company is unable to provide that, it may be a sign of a work environment that isn’t personally beneficial for you, which may even fit under the “toxic” terminology. It is important to create environments that promote growth.
Leadership Problems
Bosses come in all shapes, sizes, and attitudes. Sometimes a disagreeable boss is the byproduct of a previous negative superior, or sometimes people just aren’t meant to manage workers in the first place. There are two extremes to this spectrum: either your superior is very passive and doesn’t communicate enough, or they micromanage everyone’s every move.
Try looking for signs of a narcissistic boss, such as a lack of empathy for struggling colleagues, exclusively talking about themself, taking advantage of situations and people, and so on.
Blurry Boundaries
A workplace is meant to run with organization, not chaos. If you find your team doesn’t have set goals, roles, or boundaries put in place, it might be time to start questioning whether the environment is one that you wish to be a part of. Clear roles must be given to each member.
About the Author
Russell Ridgeway is an American writer based in Budapest, Hungary. He writes in business, tech, and fashion as well as creative fiction. You can reach him by email ([email protected]), or on LinkedIn and other social media platforms.
https://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/pexels-andrea-piacquadio-3760790.jpeg8531280StrategyDrivenhttps://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/SDELogo5-300x70-300x70.pngStrategyDriven2022-07-27 14:36:302022-07-27 14:36:308 Ways to Identify a Toxic Workplace
Developing a career is something that a lot of people want. That’s understandable when developing your career often means having more responsibility and earning more money. The problem is that many people assume they are on the way up their career ladder without realizing they’re making common mistakes that hold them back.
If you want to make sure you develop in your career without any hiccups, be sure to avoid these five common mistakes.
1: Being Disorganized
No matter how talented you are at your job or how much you know, if you are consistently disorganized, you won’t make a good impression. Showing up late and having a messy desk may stop you from acquiring that promotion you’ve been waiting for. If you want to find a job in a different company, being disorganized won’t help you there, either. Without writing a high-quality resume/cover letter and researching companies, you won’t get anywhere.
2: Ignoring Other Companies
Are you staying in a job that is not right for you? You might enjoy your work, but the job itself might be the reason you are not developing in your career. If you are ambitious, you might need to spread your wings and leave for a company that allows more growth. In this situation, you’ll need great recommendations and a good resume. Try using a cover letter builder to make an even good impression, too.
3: Not Knowing Your Skills and Worth
Most people know what they want to do, but many don’t know what they are good at. If you don’t know what skills you bring to the career table, you won’t be able to highlight them and use them to your advantage. You might also end up in a role that doesn’t let you shine.
To avoid that, pay special attention to what you are good at and never underestimate your worth. Once you know what you do well, you can choose a career progression path that suits it.
4: Not Networking
Networking is essential in most careers. You might miss out on the senior-level job of your dreams just because you didn’t introduce yourself to that one person at that one business event. So, make it your mission to network more. The more people you know, the higher the chance you’ll be offered a job that suits your skills.
5: Not Listening to Mentors
You should not assume that you know everything from the get-go. You might be very talented in your career, but there is always more to learn, and your mentors know that. Take on board their lessons and use their advice to have a better chance at climbing the career ladder. You should also put yourself out there and ask your managers/supervisors for advice on career development.
People often make these five mistakes when trying to develop their career, which prevents their growth. That doesn’t have to include you, though. By avoiding them, you have a much better chance of succeeding and having a great career.
https://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/pexels-andrea-piacquadio-3756679-1.jpg8001200StrategyDrivenhttps://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/SDELogo5-300x70-300x70.pngStrategyDriven2022-07-27 09:00:342022-07-26 16:27:315 Common Mistakes People Make with Career Development
Video marketing is one of the indispensable elements of a digital marketing plan. You cannot overlook video channels because visuals are more impactful than text on any day. They have the power to capture attention and hold it for the long haul, so you can imagine how they can fuel your brand. Although videos make the most potent content form, the competition on these marketing channels is daunting. Even the best content pieces may get only a handful of views. You may need to go the extra mile to make a mark. Let us share some proven strategies to boost your video marketing plan.
Pick a relevant focus area
Making videos is easier than ever as you can pick online tools and editors to create professional-looking pieces in just a few minutes. But you must not create randomly just because you have a tool to help. Pick a focus area to match the intent of your target audience to attract and maintain them. Ideally, your content should provide them with the information they want or need.
Create quality content
The internet has endless pieces of video content, and you need to offer compelling ones to compete. The last thing you should do is to create videos only to keep your YouTube channel busy. Invest time and effort in generating creative ideas and producing videos. You may even seek professional production services to create aesthetically-superior ones. But remember to serve value in some way, whether by answering questions, solving a problem, or introducing your brand.
Win with video SEO
Just creating great videos does not ensure marketing success. A lot depends on making them visible and enticing the audience to click them over the others. Video SEO covers these fronts, so you must master the strategy. The good thing is that it is quite similar to conventional SEO as you need to include relevant keywords in video titles and descriptions. Customizing the thumbnail, adding strong CTAs, and using interactive features like end screens can do the rest. You can leverage your SEO skills to make your videos rank better in search engines.
Prioritize education over selling
Another strategy that can help you ace the YouTube game is to prioritize education over selling. For example, a video that explains how to use a product or how it can help you solve a problem is more likely to hook a customer than a simple ad that only compels them to buy. Steer clear from over-promoting your brand and offerings, and share valuable content that sells subtly through education.
Maintain a consistent schedule
A consistent posting schedule is another proven way to win the video marketing game. But do not overwhelm the audience by posting too often. The best way to retain attention on these channels is to publish less frequently but ensure you have something that keeps the viewers waiting for more. Pros recommend posting within two to three days as it gives viewers enough time to absorb the content and get excited about the next piece.
There is no shortcut to ace video marketing, and a one-size-fits-all approach also does not work. But you can rely on these tactics to achieve the best outcomes.
https://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/pexels-cowomen-2041396.jpg8001200StrategyDrivenhttps://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/SDELogo5-300x70-300x70.pngStrategyDriven2022-07-27 08:00:152022-07-26 16:16:03Proven Strategies To Boost Your Video Marketing Plan
Health and safety is one of the best focal points that a business owner needs to keep in mind, and this is something that you are going to need to get right as much as possible. There are so many ideas that will help you improve this process as much as you can, and this is something that you need to try to make the most of moving forward right now.
There are so many ideas that you have to make sure you get right as much as you can, and this is something you need to make the most of as much as possible. It is vital to try to make health and safety a key part of your business, and this is something that you need to consider as much as possible. There are a lot of elements that you need to keep in mind when you want to make the most of this, and these are some of the best ideas to consider.
Staff Training
Staff training is one of the best things that you need to focus on when it comes to making the key choices as a modern business looking to improve health and safety. There are plenty of ideas you can use that will help you when it comes to making the most of this, and you need to ensure your staff members are all well trained and have learned the important health and safety essentials that will help them in their day to day roles.
Safety Equipment
Hiring or purchasing the best possible safety equipment is something you need to try to make sure you improve upon as much as possible. There are a lot of ideas that you need to consider when looking to make the most of this, and it is essential you make sure you come up with some of the best ideas that are going to help you with this. Make sure you focus on some of the key elements that will help you when it comes to making the best of this right now. Stocking up on safety equipment is a great way of being able to make health and safety a core part of your business this year.
Learn First Aid
Learning first aid is one of the best things you can do when it comes to improving your life and making sure you look after your business. There are so many ideas that play a role in helping you achieve this process, and taking an emergency first aid CPR course is one of the best things you can do to make sure this works for you, and that you are more informed and skilled in first aid.
There are plenty of options that you need to make sure you work on when it comes to improving your business, and this is one of the key ones. Making sure you focus on the best ways of being able to make health and safety a core mandate for your business is so important. Trying to come up with some of the best ways of boosting business health and safety makes a huge difference.
https://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/learning-gccf9b52b3_1280.jpg5911280StrategyDrivenhttps://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/SDELogo5-300x70-300x70.pngStrategyDriven2022-07-27 07:00:292022-07-26 16:05:17Make Health & Safety a Core Mandate for Your Business
For entrepreneurs who are looking to build hardware as a business, getting a prototype off the ground is a significant first step. In this article, we’ll look at the steps you’ll need to take in order to build out your designs, invest in materials and begin putting together a successful prototype that you’ll eventually be able to bring to the market as a viable product. Read on to learn what you should focus on in your first experiments as you’re working hard on building a prototype product.
Design
If you’ve been working up your ideas about your envisaged hardware product for some time, you’ll likely have all kinds of sketches and scraps of design images to hand. What you’ll want to do, though, is condense these into a final workable design that you can use to show builders and materials engineers. Often, the best way to do this is by using design software rather than a piece of paper.
This software will help you design the different layers of your hardware – from the electrical circuits through to the casing. That’ll enable you to properly consider the final design tweaks you ought to make for your product to work as a prototype. Remember that prototypes don’t necessarily need to be the final product, but they should certainly work as you’ve intended them to work.
Materials
Next up, you’re going to want to get your hands on the materials that’ll make up your hardware product. These might include metals, plastics, and circuitry that you’ll use to connect different elements of the technology together. While plastics and metals can be worked in a lab or in a workshop, even using 3D printing technology, the circuitry of your product will require greater care and skill to get right.
As such, it’s well worth investing in PCB assembly professionals who’ll be able to put together your circuit boards in order to make everything run smoothly in your tech product prototype. You’ll be able to upload your circuit board designs and watch the being built by the experts and send them directly to your workshop.
Assembly
The final stage of any prototype new build is to put the product together. This is an exciting moment, but it’s certainly not one to rush. After all, you’ve spent time getting the designs just right and carefully putting everything in place for this final, important stage. Be aware of the challenges you’re facing as you’re assembling your prototype, as these insights can provide feedback to your polished design.
Once you’ve assembled your prototype, you’ll be able to flick the on the switch and cross your fingers that everything’s working perfectly. Don’t expect that, of course, as there are always teething problems with new products that you’ll have to work out through different trials and iterations. But getting a successful prototype built is a key phase in the successful development of a business that sells new hardware to consumers.
These three key stages will get your tech hardware prototype built, ensuring you have the materials and the designs at hand to assemble the first iteration of your product.
https://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/ux-g2b8906a27_1280.jpg8501280StrategyDrivenhttps://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/SDELogo5-300x70-300x70.pngStrategyDriven2022-07-26 19:00:162022-07-26 15:58:16How to Build a Tech Product Prototype
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8 Ways to Identify a Toxic Workplace
/in Diversity & Inclusion/by Russell RidgewayA good workplace will make you feel seen, accomplished, and overall satisfied with working there, whereas, working in a toxic workplace will have many side effects on your mental and physical health, as well as your work output, and so on. Below you will find all the signs to look for when working in a work environment that may be toxic without you even knowing it.
Employee Sickness
The first sign you will notice of a toxic work environment is physical symptoms within yourself. These symptoms arise in multiple ways including burnout, fatigue, or even illness such as chronic migraines, weight loss due to multiple ailments, and even depression. If you find yourself calling in sick and having an overall negative mood, it may be time to reflect on a workplace change.
Chronic Cronyism
If you notice, your work colleagues and superiors all know each other a little too well. When a manager hires from the same homogenous circle of individuals, be that from family or friend circles, it becomes a case of cronyism. This means not only is the workplace extracting potential exterior high-performers but also creating a homogenous work culture that is unsustainable.
Gossiping
Small talk regarding guests or business partners is expected, but when small talk becomes gossip and gossip becomes overly personal within a workplace, it turns into an unhealthy partnership with colleagues. This can lead to strenuous collaboration on work projects, internal conflicts, external altercations, and so forth.
If you find yourself or your colleagues complaining to each other too often, the underlying issue is usually dissatisfaction with something within the work environment or maybe in their personal lives.
Antisocial Tendencies
Silence is often an indication of struggle and discomfort within a workplace. If your colleagues aren’t engaging with each other, nor is anyone’s body language positive, it can be a result of a prolonged decline in workplace morale and interpersonal relationships at work.
Another symptom of antisocial behavior is combativeness towards peers. If you feel you are being challenged too often, it is a telltale sign of toxicity within your work environment which can also affect your confidence and morale.
Lack of Confidence
Morale and confidence have already been mentioned, but there is another layer to workplace confidence which is being able to challenge ideas in a healthy manner. Being terrified of your superiors isn’t a healthy way to work since everyone is supposedly on the same team and is trying to find new and creative ways to move forward, which is something that cannot be done under scrutiny.
Lack of Growth
Growth equates to mobility. When looking for jobs, employees search for opportunities for growth within their workplace and personal careers, and if a company is unable to provide that, it may be a sign of a work environment that isn’t personally beneficial for you, which may even fit under the “toxic” terminology. It is important to create environments that promote growth.
Bosses come in all shapes, sizes, and attitudes. Sometimes a disagreeable boss is the byproduct of a previous negative superior, or sometimes people just aren’t meant to manage workers in the first place. There are two extremes to this spectrum: either your superior is very passive and doesn’t communicate enough, or they micromanage everyone’s every move.
Try looking for signs of a narcissistic boss, such as a lack of empathy for struggling colleagues, exclusively talking about themself, taking advantage of situations and people, and so on.
Blurry Boundaries
A workplace is meant to run with organization, not chaos. If you find your team doesn’t have set goals, roles, or boundaries put in place, it might be time to start questioning whether the environment is one that you wish to be a part of. Clear roles must be given to each member.
About the Author
Russell Ridgeway is an American writer based in Budapest, Hungary. He writes in business, tech, and fashion as well as creative fiction. You can reach him by email ([email protected]), or on LinkedIn and other social media platforms.
5 Common Mistakes People Make with Career Development
/in Professional Development/by StrategyDrivenIf you want to make sure you develop in your career without any hiccups, be sure to avoid these five common mistakes.
1: Being Disorganized
No matter how talented you are at your job or how much you know, if you are consistently disorganized, you won’t make a good impression. Showing up late and having a messy desk may stop you from acquiring that promotion you’ve been waiting for. If you want to find a job in a different company, being disorganized won’t help you there, either. Without writing a high-quality resume/cover letter and researching companies, you won’t get anywhere.
2: Ignoring Other Companies
Are you staying in a job that is not right for you? You might enjoy your work, but the job itself might be the reason you are not developing in your career. If you are ambitious, you might need to spread your wings and leave for a company that allows more growth. In this situation, you’ll need great recommendations and a good resume. Try using a cover letter builder to make an even good impression, too.
3: Not Knowing Your Skills and Worth
Most people know what they want to do, but many don’t know what they are good at. If you don’t know what skills you bring to the career table, you won’t be able to highlight them and use them to your advantage. You might also end up in a role that doesn’t let you shine.
To avoid that, pay special attention to what you are good at and never underestimate your worth. Once you know what you do well, you can choose a career progression path that suits it.
4: Not Networking
Networking is essential in most careers. You might miss out on the senior-level job of your dreams just because you didn’t introduce yourself to that one person at that one business event. So, make it your mission to network more. The more people you know, the higher the chance you’ll be offered a job that suits your skills.
5: Not Listening to Mentors
You should not assume that you know everything from the get-go. You might be very talented in your career, but there is always more to learn, and your mentors know that. Take on board their lessons and use their advice to have a better chance at climbing the career ladder. You should also put yourself out there and ask your managers/supervisors for advice on career development.
People often make these five mistakes when trying to develop their career, which prevents their growth. That doesn’t have to include you, though. By avoiding them, you have a much better chance of succeeding and having a great career.
Proven Strategies To Boost Your Video Marketing Plan
/in Online Marketing and Website Development/by StrategyDrivenPick a relevant focus area
Making videos is easier than ever as you can pick online tools and editors to create professional-looking pieces in just a few minutes. But you must not create randomly just because you have a tool to help. Pick a focus area to match the intent of your target audience to attract and maintain them. Ideally, your content should provide them with the information they want or need.
Create quality content
The internet has endless pieces of video content, and you need to offer compelling ones to compete. The last thing you should do is to create videos only to keep your YouTube channel busy. Invest time and effort in generating creative ideas and producing videos. You may even seek professional production services to create aesthetically-superior ones. But remember to serve value in some way, whether by answering questions, solving a problem, or introducing your brand.
Win with video SEO
Just creating great videos does not ensure marketing success. A lot depends on making them visible and enticing the audience to click them over the others. Video SEO covers these fronts, so you must master the strategy. The good thing is that it is quite similar to conventional SEO as you need to include relevant keywords in video titles and descriptions. Customizing the thumbnail, adding strong CTAs, and using interactive features like end screens can do the rest. You can leverage your SEO skills to make your videos rank better in search engines.
Prioritize education over selling
Another strategy that can help you ace the YouTube game is to prioritize education over selling. For example, a video that explains how to use a product or how it can help you solve a problem is more likely to hook a customer than a simple ad that only compels them to buy. Steer clear from over-promoting your brand and offerings, and share valuable content that sells subtly through education.
Maintain a consistent schedule
A consistent posting schedule is another proven way to win the video marketing game. But do not overwhelm the audience by posting too often. The best way to retain attention on these channels is to publish less frequently but ensure you have something that keeps the viewers waiting for more. Pros recommend posting within two to three days as it gives viewers enough time to absorb the content and get excited about the next piece.
There is no shortcut to ace video marketing, and a one-size-fits-all approach also does not work. But you can rely on these tactics to achieve the best outcomes.
Make Health & Safety a Core Mandate for Your Business
/in Corporate Cultures/by StrategyDrivenThere are so many ideas that you have to make sure you get right as much as you can, and this is something you need to make the most of as much as possible. It is vital to try to make health and safety a key part of your business, and this is something that you need to consider as much as possible. There are a lot of elements that you need to keep in mind when you want to make the most of this, and these are some of the best ideas to consider.
Staff Training
Staff training is one of the best things that you need to focus on when it comes to making the key choices as a modern business looking to improve health and safety. There are plenty of ideas you can use that will help you when it comes to making the most of this, and you need to ensure your staff members are all well trained and have learned the important health and safety essentials that will help them in their day to day roles.
Safety Equipment
Hiring or purchasing the best possible safety equipment is something you need to try to make sure you improve upon as much as possible. There are a lot of ideas that you need to consider when looking to make the most of this, and it is essential you make sure you come up with some of the best ideas that are going to help you with this. Make sure you focus on some of the key elements that will help you when it comes to making the best of this right now. Stocking up on safety equipment is a great way of being able to make health and safety a core part of your business this year.
Learn First Aid
Learning first aid is one of the best things you can do when it comes to improving your life and making sure you look after your business. There are so many ideas that play a role in helping you achieve this process, and taking an emergency first aid CPR course is one of the best things you can do to make sure this works for you, and that you are more informed and skilled in first aid.
There are plenty of options that you need to make sure you work on when it comes to improving your business, and this is one of the key ones. Making sure you focus on the best ways of being able to make health and safety a core mandate for your business is so important. Trying to come up with some of the best ways of boosting business health and safety makes a huge difference.
How to Build a Tech Product Prototype
/in Managing Your Business/by StrategyDrivenDesign
If you’ve been working up your ideas about your envisaged hardware product for some time, you’ll likely have all kinds of sketches and scraps of design images to hand. What you’ll want to do, though, is condense these into a final workable design that you can use to show builders and materials engineers. Often, the best way to do this is by using design software rather than a piece of paper.
This software will help you design the different layers of your hardware – from the electrical circuits through to the casing. That’ll enable you to properly consider the final design tweaks you ought to make for your product to work as a prototype. Remember that prototypes don’t necessarily need to be the final product, but they should certainly work as you’ve intended them to work.
Materials
Next up, you’re going to want to get your hands on the materials that’ll make up your hardware product. These might include metals, plastics, and circuitry that you’ll use to connect different elements of the technology together. While plastics and metals can be worked in a lab or in a workshop, even using 3D printing technology, the circuitry of your product will require greater care and skill to get right.
As such, it’s well worth investing in PCB assembly professionals who’ll be able to put together your circuit boards in order to make everything run smoothly in your tech product prototype. You’ll be able to upload your circuit board designs and watch the being built by the experts and send them directly to your workshop.
Assembly
The final stage of any prototype new build is to put the product together. This is an exciting moment, but it’s certainly not one to rush. After all, you’ve spent time getting the designs just right and carefully putting everything in place for this final, important stage. Be aware of the challenges you’re facing as you’re assembling your prototype, as these insights can provide feedback to your polished design.
Once you’ve assembled your prototype, you’ll be able to flick the on the switch and cross your fingers that everything’s working perfectly. Don’t expect that, of course, as there are always teething problems with new products that you’ll have to work out through different trials and iterations. But getting a successful prototype built is a key phase in the successful development of a business that sells new hardware to consumers.
These three key stages will get your tech hardware prototype built, ensuring you have the materials and the designs at hand to assemble the first iteration of your product.