Tag Archive for: productivity

Your Overseas Covid-19 Checklist for Healthy Travel

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It happened. I got Covid-19 and had to be quarantined in a foreign country. Yep.  Thankfully that country was France and since I’m vaccinated and boosted I had mild symptoms but it was a bummer nonetheless. If you’re thinking of traveling and scared about what might happen if you get sick – don’t be afraid, just be prepared.

If you know me, you know I love to travel and you know I love Paris in particular.  I’ve been fortunate to visit many times so when my husband Jay and I couldn’t go during the pandemic I had a serious case of travel withdrawal. I dreamed about the day I could be back with the fat pigeons drinking real Champagne and eating macarons from Pierre Hermes. It had been 3 years, 1 month and 14 days since my last time in the City of Lights.

After two years of being so careful it hurt, Jay and I ventured back into the world and caught Covid-19. Yep. And we got stuck in Paris. Ok fine there are worse places to be quarantined but still, it was not easy. Plus, I lost my sense of taste and smell so my dreams of enjoying all my favorite French delicacies flew out the window.

However, I have to say that my love of lists kept me sane and healthy during this ordeal. So I figured why not share what I learned in a Healthy Travel Checklist. Here goes…

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Revamp Your Legal Mindset

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Starting a business is hard! So once you get to the point where you need to protect what you’ve built, figuring out the legal steps you need to take can feel overwhelming.

And learning legalese can feel like learning another language. But it doesn’t have to be scary and confusing!

I spoke with Legal Coach & Attorney, Author of Easy Legal Steps, Podcast Host & Speaker, Lisa Fraley, to learn how to revamp our legal mindset to protect your business and be most productive.

Here are Lisa’s top tips from our conversation.

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Standing Out in a Hybrid World

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Remote work is great. No commute. Working in pajamas. Chat boxes instead of people popping by your desk. But it can also be challenging.

It’s easy for your boss to see your hard work when you’re in the same place, but how do you set yourself apart when working from home?

President of Social Intel, Bianca Calhoun Lager, joined me on my live-streaming show Inside Scoop to teach us how to stand out in a hybrid world.

Here are three of her top tips about standing out in a hybrid world.

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Become a Hybrid-Meeting Expert

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Hybrid work is here to stay. And guess what? That means some Of your co-workers will be in the office for meetings and others will be, well…anywhere!

So knowing how to make a hybrid-meeting engaging is vital.

I spoke with top-rated virtual keynote speaker, head of editorial at Prezi, and LinkedIn Learning instructor, Lorraine Lee to get her top tips for being a hybrid-meeting expert.

Here are five highlights from our conversation.

 

1) Do more than the bare minimum.

Video fatigue is real and by this point in the pandemic we’ve all experienced it. And it’s hard to combat it. I’ve spoken before about how to schedule so you don’t overload your schedule with video calls and meetings to avoid this phenomenon.

But fatigue might stem from hybrid-meetings feeling like the same old thing. “You hop on video and you talk and there’s not really a lot of focus, and that’s that, and that’s why people are getting video fatigue or Zoom fatigue,” she added.

She suggests trying to incorporate slides and other tools, like Slido, Figma, and Prezi, to keep hybrid meetings engaging for all participants. (For more tool suggestions, check out our entire conversation here.) “Prezi has a feature called Onscreen Responses, where you can add texts, gifs, and stickers onto the screen in real time during your meetings to add a little bit more fun to meetings,” Lorraine explained.

2) Send prep materials ahead of time.

Of course, fun interactive additions to the meeting keep participants awake, but necessarily on-task. To set yourself up for success during a meeting, you need to prepare for the meeting.

“Anytime a facilitator can send prep materials or just some questions, food for thought ahead of the meeting, it’s going to make your meeting more productive,” Lorraine said.

This allows participants to come into the meeting knowing the goals. “They’ll be able to join the conversation, ready with ideas and to participate,” Lorraine added.

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3) Define how to participate.

You’ve sent out your prep materials. Everyone’s joining the meeting in person and over Zoom. You’ve got your slides and gifs all ready to go. You’re on auto-pilot now, right? Wrong.

Clearly define how to participate at the beginning of every hybrid-meeting.

“Making clear how you want people to participate is going to ensure that everyone can get a fair chance and speak up and feel included at that table,” Lorraine said. Telling people if you want them to raise their hand or use the chat, etc will cut down on people speaking out of turn.

Another great way to lead a hybrid-meeting is to ask the remote participants for their input first. “There’s something called proximity bias,” Lorraine explained, “we’re going to favor the people who are near us.” So it’s your responsibility as a hybrid leader to make sure your remote team has equal opportunity to weigh in.

4) Set specific deadlines.

Procrastination is easy, which makes deadlines essential. My remote team uses tools like Asana to set deadlines for everything we need to get done. Asana makes it easy to set specific deadlines with times and dates, but you can also do this in your hybrid-meeting as action steps come up.

“Be as specific as you can,” Lorraine said. Thursday is good. Thursday 12:00PM Pacific time is better. She also likes to ask her team about deadlines.

“Is this reasonable within your schedule… makes sure things get done and builds trust within a team,” Lorraine added. This way your team knows when to get something done and you know you’re not setting them up for failure by giving them an unrealistic deadline. Creating a positive team atmosphere is key to a leading a high-performing hybrid team.

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5) Learn “Virtual and Hybrid-Meeting Essentials.”

Three of my LinkedIn Learning courses as well as Lorraine’s course “Virtual and Hybrid-Meeting Essentials” are a part of the new Pathfinder Series “Mastering Hybrid Work”.

“My LinkedIn Learning course includes the essentials you need in terms of planning and preparing, how to derive engagement during the actual meeting and then what to do after the meeting’s over,” Lorraine said.

If you’re looking to upgrade your hybrid-meeting for your teams, check out the entire episode of Inside Scoop and start the “Mastering Hybrid Work” pathfinder series which is FREE until April 29th 2022.

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BONUS FREEBIE: Want even more ways to stay organized, productive and less stressed? Click here to get access to my List-Making Starter Kit. It will boost your efficiency and get you back to doing more of the things you love.

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Setting Boundaries Virtually and In-Person

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BONUS FREEBIE: Want even more ways to stay organized, productive and less stressed? Click here to get access to my List-Making Starter Kit. It will boost your efficiency and get you back to doing more of the things you love.

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Saying “no” can be harder than it seems. Especially in-person. As we re-enter the office or start our more permanent hybrid work schedules, it’s important to learn how to set boundaries and protect your time.

It’s become such a hot topic that I was interviewed on PIX 11 and my LinkedIn Learning course “How to Set Boundaries and Protect Your Time” is one of three courses in LinkedIn’s new “Mastering Hybrid Work” Pathfinder series.

Here are three ways to get started setting boundaries.

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