All Communications Articles
  • Fixing those inevitable mistakes

    Anne Rose Business Management, Services & Risk Management

    The issue isn’t whether we make mistakes. We all make mistakes, some more frequently than others, and some mistakes more critical than others. The issue is: when you do fix them? Or is it safe to ignore the "little" mistakes? As a service provider, I hate making mistakes that will impact my clients’ expectations; even if those mistakes aren’t catastrophic, they nevertheless diminish my reputation and professionalism in my clients’ eyes.

  • 3 ways knowing how to break the rules makes you a better leader

    Catherine Iste Business Management, Services & Risk Management

    The best part of any ethics class I teach — for me at least — is telling the students to try to get away with something. The assignment asks them to pick an ethical dilemma previously presented by one of their classmates and then, in as much detail as possible, explain how they would work around the rules to accomplish the desired, unethical outcome. While the activities vary, there is one thing that is consistent at every school and in any class within which this is assigned: my best students are also the best at breaking the rules. Here are three ways knowing how to break the rules also makes you a better leader.

  • Report: Millennial workers 5 times more likely to seriously consider suicide…

    Terri Williams Mental Healthcare

    Millennial workers are different from their older workplace counterparts in a variety of ways. However, one difference in particular is cause for alarm. According to a recent report by Catapult Health, millennials are more likely to be depressed and more likely to consider suicide than other generations in the workforce. The report, "Depression and the American Workplace," is based on an analysis of over 150,000 preventive health checkups that Catapult Health conducted in the past year in various workplace settings around the country.

  • You can have too much friction, but can you also have too little?

    Linda Popky Business Management, Services & Risk Management

    Friction-free. Smooth sailing. Highly collaborative organizations. Harmonious team dynamics. These are all sought-after states for most organizations. After all, who wants to introduce tension or friction when you could have a calm, stable organization, right? You do, of course. That’s because calm, smooth, friction-free organizations don’t push the envelope to try new and creative ideas, they don’t fully explore possibilities, and they don’t use internal dialogue to vet ideas and concepts before they hit the external market.

  • 3 steps to a better thank you

    Catherine Iste Business Management, Services & Risk Management

    The thank you — written or spoken — is a cornerstone of good manners. And while acts of appreciation have become more varied (shout-outs, likes and gratitude apps, to name a few) the practice of gratitude has also become easier. We can leverage this ease to send more frequent and meaningful thanks. Taking a few minutes to rethink the email thank you or get out of our private gratitude journals to send a genuine paper-and-pen thank you may be easier than it sounds and serve us in more ways than we remember.

  • Should companies talk to baby boomers about retirement?

    Terri Williams Business Management, Services & Risk Management

    Before baby boomers retire, companies need to plan for possible successors and skill transference, among other issues. However, a survey by Willis Towers Watson, a risk management and insurance brokerage company, found that companies have several concerns regarding potential retirees. The company surveyed 143 human resource managers, representing close to 3 million employees. The resulting report, "Employer Concerns and Responses to an Aging Workforce," reveals that companies struggle to plan for replacing retiring workers, in part because these employees don’t share their retirement plans.

  • How to transition from a print hub to a digital hub

    Mark MacDonald Religious Community

    The church has notoriously created a bulletin (or worship guide) that is the collection of anything important to the congregation. It may have the order of service, scripture that will be discussed in service, obituaries, offering totals, upcoming events, flyers, stories, sermon notes and many other things. All is well, except most people don’t read it. Every church needs to consider switching from a print hub to a digital hub where all communication revolves around the website. Here are the seven steps to make the switch.

  • Study: 5 tips to create top-performing videos for Facebook

    Emma Fitzpatrick Marketing

    Did you know that Facebook announced last year that its algorithm would no longer, by nature, prioritize video in its News Feed? While some thought that change would dethrone videos as the No. 1 type of content on Facebook, they were wrong. A BuzzSumo analysis found that videos continued to get 59% more engagement than any other content type. Because Facebook’s algorithm prioritizes content that gets engagement, video still gets shown more than other content. This article features five tips from a new Socialinsider study that analyzed over 9 million Facebook videos to find the keys to video success.

  • How to beat a losing streak

    Brenda Crist Civil & Government

    Proposal professionals are some of the hardest working people in any company. Despite their hard work, they may face a losing streak from time to time. These losses can erode their confidence, adversely affect working relationships, and even trigger job-hopping. Everyone faces losses at one time or another. For example, Steve Jobs is considered one of the greatest entrepreneurs of our generation, yet he prevailed despite numerous losses. If you find rebounding from a string of losses difficult, consider these five tips.

  • The needless struggles of struggling readers: Progress monitoring

    Howard Margolis Education

    In my many decades of critiquing special education evaluations, IEPs, and progress reports from various New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware schools, and in speaking to innumerable parents, teachers and other IEP team members, I’ve gained an overwhelming impression: Little, if any, valid progress monitoring occurs. Instead, many special education teachers and case managers rely primarily on their subjective memories to judge their students’ progress.