Working Conversations

Episode 118: How to Stop Office Gossip Office gossip is one of the most corrosive and damaging things for an organization’s culture. But so many people find it irresistible! Why? What is it about gossip that some people find so tempting? In this episode, Dr. Janel Anderson explores what office gossip is, why people do it, and how to do less of it. Whether you are the subject of the office gossip,...

Episode 117: Full-Time Job AND Full-Time Caregiving? These days, hundreds of thousands of parents are juggling working full-time while also doing childcare full-time. Prior to the pandemic, this was not something that parents – or their employers – had to contend with. Now, it’s a very grey area. In this episode, Dr. Janel Anderson unravels the complexity and the multifaceted nature of trying to d...

Episode 116: My Best Advice for Hybrid Meetings Hybrid meetings – those meetings where some participants are together in a conference room and others are calling in from remote offices – are rife with issues. From audio issues, to connectivity issues, to lack of engagement, to poor facilitation . . . they tend to not be good experiences for anyone.  In this episode, Dr. Janel Anderson gives you he...

Episode 115: How to Say No Most people don’t like to be told “no” when they ask for something. They don’t like to feel the disappointment, the letdown, and the frustration of not getting their needs or wants met. And many people don’t like telling someone “no,” even when it is merited. We humans need social connections and belonging. Being told “no” or giving a “no” can feel like a threat to relat...

Episode 114: One Big Mistake Leaders Make One big mistake that leaders make is trying to be the smartest person in the room. This phenomenon happens with new leaders – and that makes sense: They recently were the smartest ones in the room because of their subject matter expertise. But as leaders, they need to draw on leadership skills rather than subject matter expertise to establish and maintain...

Episode 113: Americans Are Working Less. Are You? Recent data shows that US workers have cut their workweek by 30 minutes on average. In this episode, Dr. Janel Anderson explores the research and highlights those segments of the population who have cut their workweeks the most. At the top of the list are workaholics – those who used to work 55 hours a week or more have now dropped down three hours...

Episode 112: How to Waste Less Time and Have More Freedom Do you ever have discretionary time and then later realize you wasted it on unimportant tasks? In this episode, Dr. Janel Anderson shares how to waste less time and in the process, gain more freedom. She shares a step-by-step process to get important projects completed while creating more freedom in your work and your life. The secret is so...

Episode 111: Navigating High Tech Layoffs: A Bounce-Back Interview High-tech layoffs continue to be announced. In the 18 months alone, over 229,000 employees have been let go in the high-tech sector.  In this episode, Dr. Janel Anderson’s guest is  Paul Anheier, a senior-level user experience expert who was recently laid off from his high-tech job. The interview provides an up-close look at what i...

Episode 110: Giving Constructive Feedback to the High Performer If you’ve ever tried to give feedback to someone who’s already doing really well at something but you’d like them to do even better, you might have experienced them overreact to your feedback. It’s not uncommon for people who are already highly self-aware to overreact in the face of constructive feedback. In this episode, Dr. Janel An...

Episode 109: Productivity Paranoia – Obsessing that Your Colleagues Aren’t Working If you find yourself constantly and obsessively assuming that your colleagues or your direct reports aren’t actually working when they are in a different physical location, you may have productivity paranoia. In this episode, Dr. Janel Anderson defines productivity paranoia and explains why it’s important to address...

Episode 108: Why Coaching an Employee Out is Better than Quiet Firing In this episode, Dr. Janel Anderson takes on the topic of quiet firing. If you’re not familiar with the term, it is essentially making the workplace or the job unappealing and edging an employee out of the company in hopes that they quit so that you don’t have to outright fire them or lay them off. It doesn’t typically go quite...

Episode 107: Warning: Flexible Work Arrangements are Not Optional Flexibility is paramount in attracting and retaining top talent. One of the key factors job seekers are looking for in a new (or existing) workplace is flexibility. Whether that means working from home or a hybrid schedule, or being able to pick your own start time, or work part time, there are many different ways to implement flexi...

Episode 106: Is The One Minute Manager Still Relevant? Was it Ever? The One Minute Manager was released a little over a year ago. The runaway bestseller, written by Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson sat on the New York Times Bestseller list for 66 weeks. In this episode, Dr. Janel Anderson explores whether the three main techniques outlined in the book – One-minute goals, One-minute praise, and On...

Episode 105: How to Do Management By Walking Around in Hybrid Workplaces Management by Walking Around is a management style that emphasizes the importance of active engagement and communication with employees. The manager regularly walks around the workplace, observing employees' work, and having informal conversations with them.  How can you do that in the virtual or hybrid workplace? In this...

Episode 104: What To Do When Employees Abuse Unlimited PTO In order to remain competitive in recruiting and retaining the best talent, companies have turned to increasingly attractive employee benefits. One of those is unlimited paid time off or PTO. It provides several of the things that so many job candidates are looking for these days: flexibility and work-life balance. How does unlimited PTO w...

Episode 103: Why Some People are Slow to Change Why is it that some people are eager to change or try new things and others are much slower to try something new, like a piece of software or a gadget? In this episode, Dr. Janel Anderson explains the Diffusion of Innovation, a model first proposed by Everett Rogers many decades ago. The model explains that there are five different categories of adop...

Episode 102: How Gen Z is Shaping the Future Workplace Generation Z, or those born between 1997 and 2012, are having a dramatic impact on the workplace. Currently, they comprise only 13% of the workforce, but by the end of the decade they will account for 30% of the workforce. Gen Z were the first true digital natives, growing up in a world where smartphones and iPads and laptops were never “new.”...

Episode 101: Do Careers Matter as the Future of Work Unfolds? As the pace of change in how work life is constructed and conceived of, is the concept of having a “career” still relevant or meaningful? In this episode, Dr. Janel Anderson explores the notion of traditional careers and how that notion has changed over the past couple of decades and will continue to evolve into the future. And instead...

Episode 100: What the Most Persistent People Do Where does persistence come from? Why are some people able to persevere in the face of setbacks and obstacles and others are more likely to throw in the towel and give up? In this 100 th episode, Dr. Janel Anderson explores the art and science of persistence and uncovers that it is not simply mind over matter. Some of us have a genetic pre-dispositio...

Episode 99: Where Smart Appliances are Headed in the Next 5 Years In this episode, Dr. Janel Anderson explores the Internet of Things and specifically smart appliances. She takes a critical look at what smart appliances can offer the consumer and what the downsides are, both in terms of privacy and practicality. She also shares the latest research on consumers taking advantage (or not) of the feat...

Episode 98: How to Get Laid Off You can’t avoid the headlines about the massive number of people who are getting laid off in the tech industry. In this episode, Dr. Janel Anderson analyzes the substantial layoffs in this sector and offers some fresh insights. If you are laid off (or want to be), she’s got some advice for you, including what to do, what not to do, and when to ignore other people&#3...

Episode 97: Why Interpersonal Skills are THE Most Important Skills for 2023 In this episode, Dr. Janel Anderson continues to explore the future of work in 2023 by offering a deeper look at her fifth prediction for the year: Interpersonal communication skills are the most important skills to develop and maintain this year. Analysis of 12 million job postings show that communication skills are the m...

Episode 96: The Tug-of-War Between WFH and RTO In this episode, Dr. Janel Anderson explores her fourth prediction for the year as she continues to delve into her predictions for the future of work in 2023. She offers a deeper look at the current tug-of-war going on between those who want to work from home and those who are starting to require employees to return to the office. She reviews the main...

Episode 95: AI Won’t Steal Your Job But Here’s What It Will Do In this episode, Dr. Janel Anderson continues to explore the future of work in 2023. She offers a deeper look at her third prediction for the year, that Artificial Intelligence will become more useful in everyday work. She explores the new AI platforms like ChatGPT that have made their way into the headlines and popular use in the past...

Episode 94: Live to Work or Work to Live: Conflicting Values in the Workplace In this episode, Dr. Janel Anderson continues to explore the future of work in 2023. She offers a deeper look at her second prediction for the year: That there will be a values clash in the workplace between those who live to work and those who work to live. Dr. Anderson explores some of the generational dynamics that ar...