Author: UnitedHR

Humour In The Office: The Do’s and The Don’ts 

Humour in the office edited image

 

Laughter is considered one of the best stress-busters out there.

It is a great way to lighten up the atmosphere and the mood.

Aren’t people with a good sense of humour, who have jokes for every occasion such saviours?

Cracking jokes and laughing out loud in an informal setting is one thing. Being amongst friends and family, peers and acquaintances gives a certain level of freedom in LOL-ing our way out of seriousness. Even the edgier kind of humour finds a certain acceptability.

Professional spaces have more stringent boundaries and codes of conduct, and this is applicable to all the funny business as well. But that doesn’t mean a complete embargo on cracking good jokes and displaying a healthy sense of humour.

So first, let us see some good things that can come out of using humour in a professional setting.

Information Retention:

Adding humour in presentations, meetings can engage everyone in a better way, and in turn, increasing the retention of what has been talked about. Remembering why and where we laughed a bit during a presentation helps us to look back and actually remembering the whole presentation. Humour can be thus used to make impactful presentations, and more engaging meetings.

 

Breaking the News:

Putting an otherwise worrying message across with help of humour is a good idea to lighten up gloom. The humour can also help one realise that whatever happens, they will be able to cope, and that things will fall into place.

Sandwiching difficult to convey news between doses of humour is a good idea if you don’t want to send people into panic modes. Note that we are talking about difficult news, not sad news.

 

Building Relations:

Cracking a simple, innocent but a joke apt to the situation can furthermore help in building and nurturing relationships. A good sense of humour is a delightful way to put to ease a nervous new employee. Humour is a great tool for rapport building. It can also add light and positive vibes in the office space.

 

But since we are talking about professional contexts, there are some things one should especially keep in mind.

 

Do Not Try Too Hard:

The main task is to do the job, not trying to be funny. Your office isn’t a platform for practicing stand-up comedy. If you feel you aren’t naturally funny, it’s best to think twice before saying anything which you think might trigger unwanted reactions. Laughter is used to make things easy, not awkward or worse. It is best if laughter comes through an unforced, organic process.

 

The Right Kind:

The kind of humour and jokes, and where and how you are using them is very important. There are jokes which are simply inappropriate to the situation or are just blatantly offensive. Avoid cracking jokes directed at communities or sections of people. And there are people who can take a joke, and those who can’t. Make sure to keep such distinctions in mind.

 

Sensible Humour:

Context is extremely important. And so is having a sense how a joke has gone with everyone. Always assess the situation before making any seemingly humorous remark. You don’t want anyone to feel too uncomfortable. Cracking a joke in front of someone who has just been fired ,for example, may not go well, even if your intention was to “cheer” them up. Sometimes, the context demands you let the storm pass. Don’t joke around just for the sake of it.

 

Humour in the office is thus a tight-rope balancing act of art. Ideally, it should not feel forced and artificial. But once the art has been mastered, it goes a long way in easing stress levels, tension and boredom. Humour, in a professional setting is all about understanding the rights and wrongs.

 

Say It Right: The 7Cs of Communication

communication

 

Communication is an integral part  of our professional interactions.

But unfortunately, communication is something that is very easy to mess up. And the worst part is it is very difficult to see what exactly went wrong with the way we communicated: what we say makes perfect sense to us.

The 7 Cs come in handy here. Putting our intended message through these tests is a great way to ensure the message is as well articulated as possible. Be it emails, phone calls, text messages or letters, putting a message through these criteria can make our professional interpersonal interactions much less prone to misunderstandings.

Let us first take a look at the 7 Cs themselves. A message should be: clear, concise, concrete, correct, coherent, complete, courteous. Additionally, it should also be considerate, and credible.

Sounds too obvious? Let us see how things can go wrong if these seemingly basic “filters” aren’t applied.

  1. Clear:

A clear message conveys a specific goal and purpose. Its meaning is well-understood. After reading/listening to it, we know why was it sent to us in the first place. It is not ambiguous.

A: I would like to talk to you about the meeting.

B: I would be glad to discuss with you about the client meeting that took place on the 23rd. Let me know when is a good time to call.

Doesn’t B sound much clearer about the sender’s intentions?

 

  1. Concise:

A concise message is brief and to the point. There are no unnecessary digressions. There are no unnecessary repetitions. If it can be conveyed in four sentences, it should not extend to ten sentences.

A: I received your email and I must say it was very pleasant to receive your email. As you mentioned in the email, I will send in the necessary details but there’s just one doubt as to what is the day I should keep in mind as the last day to send the mail.

B: Glad to receive your mail. I will send in the necessary details. Is there a deadline I should keep in mind?

A has a lot of repetition, with circular communication. B on the other hand packs in information in just a few sentences.

 

  1. Concrete:

A concrete message has details and facts necessary to substantiate the message. It does not include empty, generic or rhetorical statements.

A: There was a lot of productive discussion at the meeting. It went well.

B: The meeting saw a lot of discussion pertaining to the pending IT upgrades. A decision has been made to upgrade all the computers from Windows 7 to Windows 10.

B gives a reason why the meeting was productive. A just makes a passing remark.

 

  1. Correct:

Correctness doesn’t just mean the truth value of facts and details, but also the grammatical structure and syntax of the message. And not to forget proper, readable fonts if it’s a written one. It is a great idea to proofread any written message before sending it in. A correct message also uses appropriate language, and is not wrongly timed.

A: Hello guys, we are having an amazing Christmas party next week. Looking forward to you presences. Detailing will be sent soon.

B:

Greetings,

We cordially invite you to the annual Christmas party. We look forward to your presence. The details shall be sent soon.

A not only uses a very informal, and hence inappropriate language, it also has errors, “you presences” instead of “your presence”; “detailing” instead of “details”. B has a balance of formal and festive. Note how spellcheckers are blind to such errors as in A.

 

  1. Coherent:

A coherent message maintains direction of the topic and doesn’t turn into a rambling. Much like the clarity aspect, it successfully conveys the purpose of the message.

A: Mr. X from the Accounting department wanted to talk to you about some particulars you had submitted the other day. I don’t know if there is a problem, there is certainly a doubt. He hasn’t talked about that , I am not sure how urgent this is.

B: Kindly get in touch with Mr. X from the Accounting department as soon as possible. There seems to be a doubt pertaining to the particulars you have submitted.

 

  1. Complete:

It is important to include all the necessary details like date, time, location, names, etc. in accordance to the message. The receiver should feel informed, not confused.

A: Ready for the meeting tomorrow?

B: This mail is a reminder for the meeting scheduled tomorrow, i.e. 10th January 2019, in the conference room, at 11 am.

A just throws in a random statement. Just a general reminder isn’t enough, one must provide the specific details.

 

  1. Courteous:

A courteous message is honest and civil, treating the receiver as a sensible human being– not talking down in any way. One should be careful it doesn’t have a passive aggressive tone, even while expressing some sort of a disapproval or negative feedback.

A:  I have been mailing you repeatedly to send me the details of the company but I think you have other much more important things going on.

B: Apologies for the repeated mails. I wanted to remind you to send me the details of the company as soon as possible.

Isn’t A much more likely to make someone feel like they have done something terribly wrong?

 

Be it online or offline communication, it is important to remember that we can’t read each other’s minds, and it is important to be a an empathetic sender and a perceptive receiver.

One Week Into New Year

New Year article image

 

New Year. Resolutions. Hopes. Looking back at the year gone, and looking forward to the year ahead. Parties, festivities, gatherings give a certain high. The exuberance around the event rubs off on you in its own way even if you choose to stay indoors, and have a quiet time. But what about the week after the New Year?

A point comes when the high spirits begin their descent. The routine stares you dead in the eye. The new year begins to feel not so new anymore.

One week into the new year, and we often begin to lose all the motivation we had gathered.

So, what are the things you can do to keep the enthusiasm and the level of motivation sustained?

 

Relevant Resolutions:

A reason we often slip up and thus lose the motivation is when we make resolutions which are more or less thrust upon us. The media tells us we should resolve to go to the gym from now on, eat healthy, improve our lifestyles, and be happier. But do we actually assess our own needs? Really, our own, unique needs?

Imagine Mr. X is a classic Gen Z person who texts and emails very well. But he lacks the communication skills needed to talk on phone, and face to face. He has lost some clients in 2018 owing to his inability to maintain client relations and networks. The need of the hour is to polish up this skill-set, not go on making a popular resolution.

If you need to work on your communication skills, a resolution to go to the gym might not really give the sense of accomplishment you were hoping to achieve.

It doesn’t matter if you are a week into the New Year. It’s not too late to think of something new and much more relevant!

 

Realistic Resolutions:

One of the biggest reasons we can’t keep at our New Year resolutions beyond a week or so is because we don’t consider the reality. The end of the year festive spirit all around gets us carried away, and we make grand resolutions.

Making realistic resolutions can help us fulfil them with much ease, leading to an increased sense of accomplishment, and an increased sense of happiness and an increased sense of feeling meaningful. And thus increased motivation.

For example, Ms. Y has had a problem with punctuality. She makes a resolution to reach office on time from now on. One needs tremendous patience and will-power to hang on to it while the bad habit takes its own sweet time to correct. Chances of giving up are high.

Instead, she can make a resolution to reach office on time at least twice or thrice a week. And then she can increase the number of days as she succeeds. The chances of getting frustrated by failure and giving up are relatively low.

One step is better than beginning to run and slipping and falling on the way.

You can alter your resolution this way, rather than completely giving up.

 

Something to Look Forward:

Resolutions aren’t the only way to kick start a New Year.

You can make little changes in your working style, your desk, your surroundings to feel like the year is truly new.

We often feel the sense of routine slowly creeping in when we don’t see any ‘changes’, when we don’t see anything new around the office.

“New Year, new me” is a bit unrealistic and even a bit of a cringe. But “New Year, new stuff” can work really well.

Do not underestimate the power of little things to make you look forward to something.

One week into the New Year, but it’s never too late to purchase a dainty little pen-holder, or a sleek looking laptop cover. Retail-therapy need not be about pocket-harming splurges!

 

Continuity:

So, you have tried everything you could to keep your level of enthusiasm high but nothing has worked that well.

You feel frustrated, and feel like this year is going to be no different than 2018.

Now is the time to look back at the pending things. Sometimes, working itself is the solution.

It’s a new year but that doesn’t mean there won’t be anything unfinished from the previous one!

If you feel nothing has changed, use it positively! Convert that feeling of everything being the same into a feeling of continuity. Pick on the rhythm and continue with it. The New Year can sure give old things a new sense of purpose.

Sign those documents, get onto that next step, continue working like just another day, and hang on to that sense of rhythm! Who said New Year is just for setting new goals? You can always rework on some old ones.

New Year is a wonderful excuse to begin everything anew, to get into good habits and getting rid of the bad ones. Setting workable goals, or reworking old goals, and finding something meaningful to do would ensure the motivation levels stay high beyond the first week. It’s a new day, a new year and a wonderful opportunity to find new solutions to age old problems!

 

 

Part Two: Are you Going to Interview A Quiet Candidate?

are you interviewing a qc

In part one, we talked how a candidate might appear quiet and passive owing to reasons like:

  • Their general nature. An introvert appears quiet, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they have nothing to say. In fact, they can have a lot to say if one talks about the right thing, here when one talks about the job.
  • Life situations
  • Recent tragedy

We saw how it is important to get over the general assumption that a talkative, enthusiastic candidate is a good candidate, and that being generally quiet is a bad quality.

We talked about the false assumption that a lack of confidence or self-esteem doesn’t necessarily amount to incompetency.

Dismissing someone because they are “too quiet” during their interview without giving them a chance can lend unfairness to the process.

Under Pressure: 

But interviews are tough to take. The interviewer has the pressure to make the right decision, with a limited amount of information and background about the candidate at hand. Sometimes, the interview is more than enough but sometimes, there is this inkling feeling: what if I pass over a really good and deserving candidate?

We bring you the final part of the Quiet Candidate series, this time for someone who is interviewing a person seemingly of few words.

Here are some tips to keep in mind while interviewing someone who just doesn’t seem to utter a word.

 

Interview, Not an Interrogation:

Many candidates, especially those on the anxious side may feel intimidated by the thought of having to go for an interview. In such cases, you can remember as an interviewer to convey them that they are here because your organisation is genuinely interested in their skills, accomplishments, and what they can offer, etc. Conveying that one is not going to be interrogated but actually being talked and listened to might help ease the nervousness a bit.

 

Minds Off the Interview:

It is a good idea as an interviewer to lay out the details of the job. When the details are laid out, the interviewee might get a more precise idea about what the job would involve, and whether they would be able to do it or not. You will thus help the candidate in taking their minds off the interview, loosen up a bit and actually begin talking.

 

Assume Out Loud:

If the job needs the person to be talkative, vivacious or at least socially adept, let the candidate know.

And if you feel like the candidate lacks social skills to handle the position, convey that feeling politely. The need to prove your assumption wrong may actually make the candidate talk about their past accomplishments and strengths.

But make sure you aren’t using an accusatory or condescending tone.

 

Walk to the Conclusion:

It is important to remember that the application went a step ahead onto the interview for a reason. Remember this before jumping to conclusions. While this is not saying to not rely on your skills to assess someone, don’t take just the “talking” factor into consideration while making the final decision.

 

Find Other Sources:

If you have a feeling a candidate can do much better than their interview, it is a good idea to talk to the references listed to get a more clear idea and convert the feeling into something more concrete.

One might also get more information about the life of the person, which often helps to make sense of certain oddities in behaviour. Word of God may have a certain weight to it, but words of former employers, former colleagues, professors, teachers are pretty helpful if you want a wider picture of the candidate.

 

Instincts, experience, attention to numerous details, not hanging on to just one aspect, are some key words to remember while interviewing someone who appears quiet and reserved. You better think twice before making any decision!

Part One: Are you A Quiet Candidate?

Are you a quiet candidate image

 

Interviews can be tough for those who are generally quiet, soft-spoken, anxious or are not sure about what to say. Introverts are people of few words, especially on occasions that may feel like mere formality to them. But that doesn’t necessarily mean they have nothing to say.

Furthermore, life situations, a recent tragedy, constant rejections etc,. could also make an otherwise vivacious person into someone who appears tired and awkward. Such people might come across as mediocre, passive candidates.

It is important to get over the general assumption that a talkative, enthusiastic candidate is a good candidate, and that being generally quiet is a bad quality.

Moreover, it is worth taking note that lack of confidence is not the same as a lack of self-esteem, and that a lack of both does not necessarily mean someone is bad at their job.

Tricky Business: 

But interviews are tricky, especially for someone who is not comfortable with the spoken word. There is a pressure to convey the right things, in the right words, in a limited space of time. That too, without sounding pushy or inauthentic.

What can you do if you fear you will come across as a quiet candidate?

We bring you part one of the bi-article series of the Quiet Candidate. Here are some psychological tips to remember which may be used as starting points for thinking about more practical solutions.

 

Listeners First, Interviewers Later:

Remembering that the interviewer is interested in what skills you can offer, in what ways you can contribute to the organisation/institution etc.,  is a good strategy to bring out the flow of words and getting rid of the anxiety surrounding the concept of interview itself. Remember, you are not going for an interrogation. A panel of people genuinely wants to listen and talk to you!

 

Job > Interview:

As a candidate, you can try your best to make yourself see beyond the interview: the job. As basic as it sounds, thinking about what the job may entail, the roles involved may keep you from dwelling on the interview. Thinking beyond the immediate short-term may help you to find better things to think and talk about. Over-thinking can drive you crazy but long-term thinking can give you perspective and a sense of calm.

 

Check:

Go through the job role. See if it falls within your comfort-zone, and if it doesn’t ask yourself how much prepared and willing are you to move out of your zone. And make sure you talk about that preparedness and willingness during the interview.

If you would not prefer a job which has a lot of talking to do, or a lot of social-interaction, then do not apply for it. Use your knowledge of self and see what else can work. Or apply only after thoroughly weighing the pros and cons. Sometimes, climbing a tree is not a great option when the ability lies in swimming through the waves! But if it is a case where you have to apply for the job, the next point can be useful.

 

Say it:

Some jobs require one to be talkative or at least socially adept. It is very easy for the external observer to misunderstand being quiet as being mediocre.

As a quiet candidate, if you  feel like the interview is not conveying your skills, you can say that you aren’t usually this quiet. Such a remark might be used as a cue, to begin talking about your past accomplishments or strengths, and thus give a sense of direction to the interview.

 

Remember the Why:

An application progressed to an interview for a reason. It was deemed good enough. Remembering the why’s would ensure there is not too much anxiety.

You may use this as an affirmation. Furthermore, recalling by a simple “why” the reason you thought the position appealed to you and why you felt you should apply, can help you find points to talk about.

 

References Are Important:

As a candidate it is necessary to list out reliable, relevant references. While many people often consider this section of their CV a mere formality, it is not so. Rather, what someone else has to say about you may become important when/if your words aren’t enough, and here is when hiring managers often get in touch with your references. Former colleagues, former employers, professors, friends, teachers are great sources of creating a detailed picture of you, which might not have been apparent in the interview.

While it is not possible to control what others assume, it is certainly possible to communicate clearly. And it is certainly, certainly possible to have conviction in your skills, and transmute that confidence in your bearing. So, if you are the quiet candidate, you can heave a sigh of relief that interviewers are indeed deliberating over you!

Part two coming soon!