Working Conversations

Episode 84: Why Talking to Yourself Makes You Smarter

If you think talking to yourself is a shortcoming, think again. Research demonstrates that speaking your thoughts out loud to yourself increases the quality of your ideas and tempers your impulsiveness. From vetting ideas before sharing them with a colleague, to managing your frustration, to finding your keys, talking to yourself can have tremendous value. In this episode, Dr. Janel Anderson explores the value of talking to yourself and offers a step-by-step process to begin talking – and listening – to yourself to get the most value from your conversations.  

Find show notes at https://janelanderson.com/84

Listening is a gift. When we focus entirely on the person who is speaking and are free from distractions and give them our absolute undivided attention, we are giving the present of being in the present. In this episode, Dr. Janel Anderson digs into issues that can get in the way of effective listening and offers strategies to overcome them. She reviews five barriers to listening that come from external sources and seven barriers to listening that come from internal sources – that is, inside our own head. 

Find show notes at https://janelanderson.com/83

Episode 82: What to Do When You Don’t Like a Coworker

We don’t always like everyone we work with. If we liked everyone the same, there’d be no distinction between our very best friends – our inner circle, if you will – to casual acquaintances. It’s perfectly fine to like some people more than others. Even if they are coworkers. But when that dislike (or its opposite: a great deal of affinity for someone) gets in the way of working fairly and effectively together you could jeopardize the work and the relationship. In this episode, Dr. Janel Anderson reviews the concept of affinity bias and offers practical steps for working with someone you simply don’t care for. 

Find show notes at https://janelanderson.com/82

Episode 81: How to Get a Second Chance at Anything

Some say there is no such thing as second chances, but we mere mortals do not get everything right the first time. Especially when we are trying something new, taking a risk, or working outside of our comfort zone. All of us have made mistakes in our lives, and if there was never an opportunity to try again, we’d have no motivation to try new things ever again. And that’s why having a second chance at something is important. In this episode, Dr. Janel Anderson reminds us that we can give ourselves second chances, and perhaps even more critically, we need to extend grace to friends, family, and coworkers and give them a second chance. 

Find show notes at https://janelanderson.com/81

Episode 80: The Two Most Powerful Words in the English Language

In this episode, Dr. Janel Anderson explores the power of two little words: I am. When we use these words, we declare something to be true about ourselves. Whether it is the work we are going to get done in a given day (as in, “I am going to complete this project”) or who we consider ourselves to be on a more macro level (like, “I am a chef” or “I am a distance runner”), what we declare about ourselves and our work impacts our identity, our confidence, our reputation at work, and our work accomplishments -- both the big and small ones. In this episode Dr. Anderson shares the practical and strategic reasons to make powerful I AM declarations. 

Find show notes at https://janelanderson.com/80

Episode 79: A Crash Course on Negotiation with Linda Swindling

Negotiation skills are critical in today’s work world. Whether you are negotiating your schedule or your salary, you need to know how to ask for (and get!) what you want. In this episode, Dr. Janel Anderson interviews negotiation expert Linda Swindling. Linda reminds listeners to stop thinking about what’s in the negotiation for ourselves and instead start thinking about how the other person can benefit. Linda also shares strategic advice and provides step-by-step instructions for you to negotiate just about anything.  

Find show notes at https://janelanderson.com/79

Episode 78: How to Network in the Hybrid World - And Why You Need To!

Having a strong network is critical for a thriving career and a thriving life! And, networking – that is, getting to know others and developing relationships that can be mutually beneficial – is more challenging in the virtual and hybrid world than it was when we spent more time together in the same spaces. In this episode, join Dr. Janel Anderson as she makes a business case for networking (in a way that doesn’t feel gross). She also shares the reasons why the people you know the least may, in fact, be the most important people in your network. Finally, she shares some specific, actionable tips you can use right now to grow your network.

Find show notes at https://janelanderson.com/78

Episode 77: Let’s Talk about your Well-Being – at Work

It goes without saying that the past couple of years have had a lasting impact on the future of work. We’ve covered a lot of those changes over the past year and a half here on the podcast, but one of the critical areas we haven’t talked about is employee wellness and mental health. If your company is like most large organizations, the offerings of the company’s employee well-being program have expanded. Adding online mental health services, emotional wellness programs, and even financial management programs has become commonplace over the past few years. But these programs are only good for employees when they know about them and utilize them. In this episode, join Dr. Janel Anderson as she takes a deep dive into why employee well-being programs are important for both employees and employers.

Find show notes at https://janelanderson.com/77

Episode 76: Productivity Monitoring: Good or Bad for Business?

Productivity monitoring has seeped from blue-collar work into office work. Known as digital productivity monitoring, this is the moment-by-moment tracking of your keystrokes, mouse movements, phone calls, and Teams or Zoom meetings. For many large companies, this process of tracking how employees spend every minute of the day has become common practice. In this episode, Dr. Janel Anderson explores the rise of productivity tracking from over a century ago, rooted in Fredrick Winslow Taylor’s theory of scientific management, to today’s insidious tracking of every movement, often without employees’ knowledge or consent. From radiologists to therapists to lawyers to doctors and architects, no profession is immune.

Find show notes at https://janelanderson.com/76

Episode 75: Why Low Employee Engagement Might Be Good for Business

Employee engagement has presented itself as a perplexing issue to solve. Engagement survey after engagement survey inevitably come back with lower numbers than most companies want – especially in the last couple of years. In this tight labor market, it’s hard to find good employees at all, much less ones who are highly engaged. And with the new phenomenon of “quiet quitting” where employees are refusing to go above and beyond, it’s time to rethink whether high engagement is still a worthy goal. In this episode, Dr. Janel Anderson suggests that low employee engagement might instead be a laudable goal. Hiring solid employees who want to meet minimum expectations just might be an incredibly strategic move for your organization.  

Find show notes at https://janelanderson.com/75