Shutterstock My first full-time, grown-up, non-temp job was a customer service job. I loved my job. I never understood why people dislike working in customer service, but I got the message the first time I visited a “modern” call center. It looked like the bridge of the Starship Enterprise in hell. When I was doing customer service work and later when I managed my company’s customer service team, we didn’t time people when they were on the phone.

Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg. Courtesy of Jonathan Leibson/Getty Images for AOL Just over a year after her husband’s passing, Facebook’s Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg delivered a moving commencement speech to the University of California, Berkeley last month. It doubled as the first time she spoke publicly about her loss, through which she learned: “You are not born with a fixed amount of resilience,” she said.

I believe data should be at the heart of strategic decision making in businesses, whether they are huge multinationals or small family-run operations. Data can provide insights that help you answer your key business questions (such as ‘How can I improve customer satisfaction?’). Data leads to insights; business owners and managers can turn those insights into decisions and actions that improve the business. This is the power of data.

(Photo credit: iStock) Are you longing for a shorter commute, a more flexible schedule or even just a day to be heads-down and complete a passion project for work? Telecommuting could be the answer. According to a recent Gallup poll, 37% of workers say they have telecommuted, up from 9% in 1995. If you want to tap into this growing trend to work remotely a few days a week or month, answer these questions in preparation for a pitch to your boss.

Power To Fly’s new ebook aims to educate companies on how to hire and retain top female tech talent. Image: Power To Fly. There’s enough factual evidence out there that suggests remote work and other flexible work options create positive benefits for workers and companies. But the task of managing a remote team is still an uncertain art form.

Shutterstock Since I became a manager I have always suggested to my teammates that when they get to work, they should take care of their personal business first. Almost everybody has a phone call they have to make to take care of a non-work issue during the day. It’s better to get those quick to-do items over with first thing in the morning, so you can focus on your work once your personal checklist activities are done.

LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner. Microsoft announced on Monday it plans to acquire LinkedIn for $26.2 billion in cash. (Associated Press) Microsoft is getting much more than a job-search website with its $26.2 billion all-cash acquisition of LinkedIn. The purchase, should it go through, will be one of the largest technology-industry deals on record. And it’s a deal that makes sense for both companies.

Shutterstock If there are any industries that are all about face time, social media and networking, they are where HR and Technology collide. We connect and leverage connections; we exchange information, and we try our best to maximize the power of that intelligence. Yes, we’re profoundly transformed by tech, social and mobile. But we need human time in there, too. How? Conferences like #SHRM16.

Shutterstock Dear Liz, I’m in a quandary. There are so many aspects of my job I don’t like, it’s hard to get out of bed in the morning. At this point I keep doing my job just to have a salary. I don’t get paid enough, and the working conditions are beyond stressful. There aren’t enough of us on the team and our deadlines are ridiculous. I’m not the only one who feels that way. All of my co-workers are disgusted the same way I am.

(Photo credit: Jewel Samad//AFP/Getty Images) Microsoft is scooping up LinkedIn for $26.2 billion, the companies said on Monday, in the tech giant’s biggest acquisition yet. Microsoft will pay $196 per share in cash for the professional social network, representing a 50% premium over LinkedIn’s last closing price. Shares of LinkedIn surged 48% to $194.51 in pre-market trading on Monday, while shares of Microsoft fell 3%.