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24 BUSINESS DAY C002D5556 Tuesday <strong>27</strong> <strong>Mar</strong>ch <strong>2018</strong><br />

Harvard<br />

Business<br />

Review<br />

Tips<br />

&<br />

Talking Points<br />

TALKING POINTS<br />

The Future of Search<br />

50%: By 2020, more than 50% of all online<br />

searches will be conducted by voice<br />

rather than by typing, according to the<br />

marketing firm ComScore.<br />

+<br />

Lack of Learning Opportunities<br />

Leads to Boredom on the Job<br />

46%: According to findings from the<br />

2016 Workplace Boredom Study, 46% of<br />

respondents said that a lack of opportunities<br />

to learn new skills was among their<br />

top reasons for feeling bored at work.<br />

+<br />

Engaged Workers<br />

6 times: According to data from the polling<br />

firm Gallup, workers are six times<br />

more likely to be engaged at work when<br />

their job focuses on individual strengths.<br />

+<br />

Billions in Steel and Aluminum<br />

Imports<br />

$7.3 billion: The European Union is<br />

the second largest source of steel and<br />

aluminum exports to the U.S., and is<br />

now subject to tariffs. In 2017, the U.S.<br />

imported about $7.3 billion worth of steel<br />

and aluminum from the E.U.<br />

+<br />

Two-Earner Families in Canada<br />

Two-thirds: More than two-thirds of<br />

couples with children in Canada are<br />

dual earners.<br />

Stay calm during a tough<br />

conversation by grounding yourself<br />

Having a tense<br />

conversation<br />

brings up a lot<br />

of negative emotions,<br />

leaving<br />

you feeling like<br />

an active volcano.<br />

To prevent<br />

an outburst and<br />

stay in control<br />

of your emotions,<br />

physically<br />

ground yourself<br />

in your environment.<br />

One of the best ways to<br />

do this is to stand up and walk<br />

around, which activates the<br />

thinking part of your brain. If<br />

you and your counterpart are<br />

seated at a table, and suddenly<br />

standing up seems awkward,<br />

you might say, “I feel<br />

like I need to stretch. Mind<br />

if I walk around a bit?” If that<br />

doesn’t feel comfortable, you<br />

can do small physical things<br />

like crossing two fingers or<br />

Persuade a know-it-all to consider other points of view<br />

When someone is sure that they’re right,<br />

convincing them otherwise can be tricky. To<br />

help the person consider another point of<br />

view, use two conversation cues. The first is<br />

to ask questions: If the know-it-all is clinging<br />

to one side of an issue, you can say something<br />

like, “Have you ever seen a situation where<br />

the opposite was true?” Try to get them to<br />

rethink their assumptions and look at the<br />

situation differently. If questions don’t work,<br />

stall for time. For example, you might delay<br />

placing your feet firmly on<br />

the floor and noticing what it<br />

feels like. Mindfulness experts<br />

call these actions “anchoring.”<br />

Whatever you can do to focus<br />

on your physical presence and<br />

your senses will help you stay<br />

grounded and get through<br />

that tough conversation.<br />

(From “How to Control Your Emotions<br />

During a Difficult Conversation,”<br />

by Amy Gallo.)<br />

To be friends with your<br />

employees, set clear boundaries<br />

It’s possible to be<br />

friends with someone<br />

who works for you, but<br />

you need to set boundaries.<br />

For example,<br />

there may be times<br />

when you’re privy to<br />

information that will<br />

affect your friend, but it<br />

would be improper for<br />

you to share it. To make<br />

the friendship work, be<br />

transparent about what<br />

you can and can’t share,<br />

and emphasize that<br />

it’s a matter of ethics,<br />

not trust. When sensitive<br />

topics come up, be<br />

clear about what kind<br />

of conversation you’re<br />

having. Say something<br />

like, “Let’s talk about<br />

this in friend mode” or<br />

the conversation to gather data that supports your<br />

argument. You can say, “Before we make a decision,<br />

I’d like to collect some data on how our people view<br />

their service quality. We can meet again next week<br />

to discuss it.” Then use that time to consider other<br />

options or seek colleagues’ advice on how to change<br />

the know-it-all’s mind.<br />

(Adapted from “How to Deal with the Know-It-All<br />

in Your Office,” by Priscilla Claman.)<br />

“This is a work topic that I’d<br />

like to bring up.” And check<br />

that you and your friend<br />

want to have the same kind<br />

of conversation. You might<br />

say, “I want to find out<br />

how things are going with<br />

your project. Can we have<br />

that discussion now?” This<br />

way, you can maintain your<br />

friendship without crossing<br />

any lines.<br />

(From “How to Be Friends<br />

with Someone Who Works<br />

for You,” by Sabina Nawaz.)<br />

If You’re Procrastinating<br />

on a project, do the First<br />

Piece of It<br />

We all have tasks that we put off<br />

and put off, but actually accomplishing<br />

them is rarely as bad as<br />

we expect. Sometimes beating<br />

procrastination is about just<br />

getting over the initial hurdle.<br />

Instead of forcing yourself to<br />

tackle the entire task at once,<br />

focus on the first piece of it. Start<br />

by thinking about the task and<br />

your resistance to it, and then<br />

find a time period that you’d be<br />

willing to commit. Could you<br />

focus on the task for an hour?<br />

What about 30 minutes? Shorten<br />

the amount of time to something<br />

that doesn’t make you resist<br />

getting started. Then figure out<br />

the bare minimum you can<br />

do — writing a few paragraphs,<br />

reading a few pages, or whatever<br />

won’t make you return to your<br />

procrastinating ways. Once you<br />

begin, the task will seem much<br />

more manageable. Working on<br />

something, even in small pieces,<br />

means you’ll continue to process<br />

it, which makes you more likely<br />

to resume the work later on.<br />

(Adapted from “5 Research-<br />

Based Strategies for Overcoming<br />

Procrastination,” by Chris<br />

Bailey.)<br />

To get constructive feedback,<br />

encourage others to give it<br />

Constructive feedback is essential<br />

for getting better at your job,<br />

but a colleague may hesitate to<br />

give it if they’re worried about<br />

hurting your feelings. To ease<br />

their fear, try three strategies.<br />

First, introduce the conversation<br />

by giving yourself negative<br />

feedback. Say something like, “I<br />

know I tend to work quickly and<br />

sometimes overlook important<br />

details. Do you have thoughts<br />

on how I could improve?” By acknowledging<br />

the problem area,<br />

you take the pressure off your<br />

colleague to bring it up. You<br />

can also frame your request as<br />

a commitment you’d like their<br />

help with. Tell your colleague<br />

that you want to improve in a<br />

specific area — say, time management<br />

— and that you’d like<br />

their support in reaching the<br />

goal. A third strategy is to ask, “What is<br />

something you think I could learn from<br />

you?” This gives your colleague a chance<br />

to reflect on their talents and skills,<br />

which makes people feel good about<br />

themselves.<br />

(Adapted from “How to Solicit Negative<br />

Feedback When Your Manager Doesn’t<br />

Want to Give It,” by Deborah Grayson<br />

Riegel.)<br />

c<br />

2017 Harvard Business School Publishing Corp. Distributed by The New York Times Syndicate

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