Mistakes to Avoid on Zoom Calls

Now that we’ve all pretty much adjusted to the “new normal,” Zoom calls have become less of a temporary solution and more of a permanent fixture in many workplaces. And while Zoom may seem pretty straightforward, it’s important to start taking these video calls seriously, if you want to keep moving your career forward.

Oftentimes, when you try to implement some of the mentioned elements, you may run into challenges. To resolve this very issue, I wrote my book "The Breakthrough Accelerator - Resolve your Biggest Challenge in 4 weeks"- Receive a Free download of this book by Clicking this Link

Here are 5 common mistakes you might be making on Zoom to sabotage your success and how to fix them -

 

 

1. Thinking every conversation needs to be a Zoom call. Think back to your days working in the office — did you take time out of your workday to schedule a meeting for every single discussion or question that came up? If you did, you surely found that you didn’t have enough hours left in the day to get your regular work done.

 

Zoom is a great communication tool, especially if you’re working from home — but it should be used sparingly. Save it for important meetings or training sessions. A lot of quick meetings can be had over a simple phone call. Or, if it’s just a quick question that needs to be answered, you may even be able to resolve it over email or a messaging platform, such as Slack. 

 

2. Not muting yourself. This one is especially important if you are in a meeting with lots of people. It can be very distracting for the person who’s presenting when they hear every cough, rustling of papers, or child in the background of everyone’s homes. Therefore, the only person who should have their microphone turned on is the one who’s talking.

 

Given how many of us are working at home with others (dogs, cats, kids, loud significant others) it’s likely best if you aren’t talking, to just mute so you don’t accidentally have something you’d rather not share broadly go out live over the internet. Just keep your mic turned off until it’s your turn to speak or you have a question.

3. Not taking video meetings seriously. When you are attending a meeting in person, you give the person who is leading or presenting your full attention. It would be rude to be on your phone or work on something else when you are supposed to be focused. The same should apply to video calls. It can be tempting to multitask while on a Zoom call because you are in the comfort of your own home and think no one can see you — but make no mistake when your camera is on, your lack of attention is more obvious than you think. 

4. Not turning your camera on. It may be tempting to turn your camera off during a Zoom meeting, especially if there are a lot of people present and you want the freedom to work on other things. However, this could be a huge mistake. There are very few circumstances when it is appropriate for your camera to be turned off. The purpose of hosting a meeting via Zoom is to provide a sense of normalcy and community with your teammates, partners, clients or whoever.

 

5. Sharing more than just your screen. This innocent mistake could result in some very embarrassing situations. Sharing your screen is common practice in a Zoom meeting, especially if you are leading the meeting or presenting something with the group. However, it is crucial to prepare for this ahead of time, so that you only share what you intend to. 

Make sure you turn off all notifications. The last thing you want while sharing your screen is to get a message from a coworker or friend that might not be appropriate or something you want the whole team to see. You also don’t want to receive any notifications for emails, social media, or the like.

Ways to Improve your Productivity when Working from Home

As we bravely face this most unusual slowdown of our professional lives and work through the new no-contact digital world of Zoom meets and one-to-one’s, working remotely has become the norm. And while it may have taken some adjustments in the beginning, with a few weeks of practice, you’ve likely found a set-up that keeps you focused. 

Many professionals prefer commuting to an office where they can have face time with colleagues and management, but others may actually thrive in a working-from-home environment.

 

If you’re part of the latter group, you may consider asking for a more flexible arrangement after the pandemic has passed. To win their approval, you’ll need to improve and prove your productivity when you’re not in the office. Though, you’re already doing that, there are ways to illustrate your success and effectiveness. 

Oftentimes, when you try to implement some of the mentioned elements, you may run into challenges. To resolve this very issue, I wrote my book "The Breakthrough Accelerator - Resolve your Biggest Challenge in 4 weeks"- Receive a Free download of this book by Clicking this Link

 

Let’s take a look at a few ways to improve productivity - 

 

Be Honest about your time. Part of the struggle of plugging away remotely is accountability. In some cases, no one could be there to ensure you sign on at a particular time, complete your deliverables, and stay present. While some people go to the extreme and work around the clock, it’s better to be transparent and reliable.

 

And sometimes, this means sharing that you have a conflict—even if it’s wrangling your children to eat, take a bath and get to sleep. If you don’t have the answer or the bandwidth right away, that’s OK.

Be sure to respond and communicate your timeline clearly. If you are unavailable at certain points in the day, mark it in your calendar and change your status on Slack, Google calendar, and so on, so others know where you are and when to reach you. When you are candid about your life, you build trust with higher-ups, and they understand they can count on you, to be honest. 

2. Stop Multitasking. While multitasking is always a threat to your work, it’s even more so during a quarantine. After all, so many areas of your home beg for your attention: your couch, your kitchen, your backyard or patio, your children, your partner… and the list goes on.

The best way to master this is to time block your schedule, including breaks for food and segments where you dedicate your attention to personal tasks, too. Knowing that it takes fifteen minutes for your mind to refocus when you switch tasks, try your best to avoid multitasking as it limits your ability to be the most efficient with each task. 

3. Use to-do lists to your advantage. Rather than battling sleep for an hour, do you sometimes get up and write a list, so it’s out of your head? It helps, right? To remain present during working hours, make this old-fashioned technique part of your modern-day routine.

The to-do lists also help you to prioritize what’s urgent and what can wait a few days. It also creates a safety measure, so you don’t let anything slip through the cracks while your healthy professional life is disrupted. Lists give you a clear outline of what needs to be done. Without them, tasks will just keep piling on, and not necessarily handled most effectively and efficiently, and then your tasks will just become a source of anxiety, rather than a source of structure.

4. Make collaboration tools your ally. Remote working has its own frustrations and pitfalls – but, getting creative to produce workflows with productivity tools like Slack or Asana would encourage and foster productivity. Work management platforms help to illustrate productivity by assigning actionable, specific tasks with clear deadlines and deliverables. Utilizing such systems, everyone knows what to expect, what is expected of them, and when it is due.

Platforms like these also provide teams with robust capabilities, easy to build templates and communication with colleagues. Being able to check in on where a team member is on a project without having to bother or pressure them is hugely helpful in measuring productivity.

With these fresh ideas, you are more prepared and ready to face the challenges that working from home brings with it. Go forth & conquer!

Great Bosses do these 7 Things for their Employees

It’s tough being the boss. 

At the end of the day, everything falls on your shoulders. You are the one who has to make the final call, who has to make sure there is enough work coming through the door, to make sure there’s food on the table so everyone gets fed. 

If you have a really great boss who embodies any of the below, I encourage you to share this with them. They deserve to know that you see how much they give and give and give.

Oftentimes, when you try to implement some of the mentioned elements, you may run into challenges. To resolve this very issue, I wrote my book "The Breakthrough Accelerator - Resolve your Biggest Challenge in 4 weeks"- Receive a Free download of this book by Clicking this Link 

Great bosses do the following:

Ask you if Everything is OK

How many times have you sat there having a really bad day, and did your boss pop by and say, “Hey, is everything OK?” Think about how many things she/he is juggling in their head at any given time. Yes, you are an employee, but in that moment, your boss is taking the time to pause and see you as a person. Don’t take that for granted.

Encourage pursuits unrelated to your job

Great bosses know that what you do in the office isn’t your “end-all.” Hopefully, you enjoy it, but come on, everyone has hobbies and other things they want to do with their life too. Great bosses know this and encourage your activity outside the office as much as your responsibilities within it.

Make you feel heard

Even if you aren’t one of the “key players” in your organization, a great boss always wants his or her employees to feel heard. They put processes in place so that everyone, in some way, has a voice, and can speak up and share feedback when it is appropriate. Great bosses know that sometimes the best insight comes from the people in the trenches.

Celebrate small wins as well as big ones

Some bosses care only about the big wins, the home runs. But really great bosses know that what seems like a small win to them might be a big win to someone else — and they are there to acknowledge a job well done.

Take the time to teach

Great bosses know that if their employees aren’t giving them what they asked for, then they are simply not being given the instructions they need to be successful. Great bosses take the time to slow down and teach what is necessary so that all on the team can be successful together. 

Walk the walk and talk the talk

Some bosses do a lot of talking and not a whole lot of walking. Great bosses lead by example, doing what they preach just as much as they preach it. This makes them incredible leaders because what they are saying vocally is rooted in day-to-day habit.

Seek to make others great at what they do

And finally, really great bosses strive to make those around them better. They invest in their employees and co-workers, and give them the opportunities they need to learn, grow, and ultimately become successful.

Great bosses aim to lift others up and help them achieve their own goals as well.

3 Things You Must Sacrifice to have a Better Future

Good things come from sacrifice. If you want what you’ve never had, you must do what you’ve never done. It’s to start sacrificing the right things so you can have a better future. Don’t let anyone define success but you. Stop being “busy,” and start being focused.

Spend your time wisely because many things want your attention and energy. Make sure they’re the right things. 

Oftentimes, when you try to implement some of the mentioned elements, you may run into challenges. To resolve this very issue, I wrote my book "The Breakthrough Accelerator - Resolve your Biggest Challenge in 4 weeks"- Receive a Free download of this book by Clicking this Link

 

Take a look at the 3 topmost things that can define and secure a better future for you, professionally and personally:  

 

1. Other people’s definition of success. At some point, you have to realize that you have to give up other people’s definition of success. This is one of the most difficult things to give up because it is so deeply embedded in our cultural narratives that it becomes the standard by which we measure our lives. Even as entrepreneurs we have collectively agreed that fame and fortune are the markers of success.

But, giving up other people’s definition of success is incredibly liberating and ultimately leads to the fullest expression of who you are and what matters to you.

 

It’s not a one-time thing. It’s a daily habit of comparing less and creating more. “Success” doesn’t just mean what the larger mob of society says it means: lots of money, fame, and fortune. Many people with fame, fortune, and money have terribly empty, imbalanced lives. Your success isn’t defined by what other people say. No one can define your success but you. If you continue to let others tell you what success is, you’ll never reach it. Even if you did, it wouldn’t be a true success, because it’s not what you really valued.

 

2. Busyness. The saying goes, “The most successful people I know are not busy. They’re focused.” How you spend your days is how you spend your life. 

A lot of people love being “busy.” They wear it as a badge of honor. When you ask them how they’ve been, what’s the response? “I’m so busy,” they lament.

But it’s a subtle brag. They like the feeling. When you’re busy, you don’t really do anything — just because your calendar is full of meetings, appointments, and commutes doesn’t mean you’re actually making any progress towards your true goals. Are you focused, making tangible action steps towards what truly matters? Or are you just “busy?” When you’re busy, you are on autopilot. You can’t see the hours slipping away, time you’ll never get back. 

When you choose to be focused — to spend your time and energy on achieving your true goals — that’s where the magic happens. That’s where focus turns into flow states, hyper-focused mental efforts to make fast progress.

Most people prefer the emotional boost of bragging about how “busy” they are, instead of actually doing the real hard work. Choose focus, not busyness.

3. Distraction and Entertainment. Reinvesting your free time is one of the most important ingredients to your success. Successful people don’t see it as ‘free time.’ They see it as the only time they have to do the things they really want to do in life and they don’t take a minute for granted. 

True success requires sacrifice. A common misconception many of those sleep-when-you’re-dead hustle-entrepreneurs claim is that you need be working all the time.

 

The truth is you need to work your butt off — for a time. After you’ve spent the time creating your life, you can sit back and enjoy the work you’ve done. If you want to make great strides and achieve a truly extraordinary life, you need to reinvest your free time into learning new skills, putting in the work, and being productive. It won’t last forever. But you need to put in the time now, so later, you can have the life you want.

7 Effective words you should Always use in an Email

The email has easily become one of the most effective ways to communicate, both inside of a business and out. In fact, it’s become so effective that you’re probably tired of getting so many of them, yes?

We get emails from companies trying to sell us something. Or forwarded chain emails from fellow entrepreneurs, colleagues and friends with a joke that’s supposed to be funny but we probably don’t care about. Maybe, email is how you stay in contact with your family.

 

In whichever way you use email, it’s an effective tool to communicate. And just like there are certain terms that you should never say in an email, there are also words and phrases that can help communicate your message clearly and decisively. And you should use those! 

Oftentimes, when you try to implement some of the mentioned elements, you may run into challenges. To resolve this very issue, I wrote my book "The Breakthrough Accelerator - Resolve your Biggest Challenge in 4 weeks"- Receive a Free download of this book by Clicking this Link

 

Let’s take a look at the 7 most effective words to use in an email, below. 

 

1. Their name. First and foremost, personalizing your email will instantly create more of a connection between you and the recipient. Whenever possible, use their name, but don’t use it so much that the email comes across as computer-generated (as many spam emails clearly are). Use their name once at the top, then only use it again if absolutely necessary. 

2. Simple. Naturally, our brains don’t like complication, and using terms like “simple”, “easy”, “clean” or “smooth” instantly implies, well, simplicity. And, we humans like that. 

3. Also. The words “also”, “and”, and “along with” are great words and phrases to use to imply something of significance and value. This is especially true if you’re writing marketing emails. Using “also” or “and” means the recipient of the email is getting more than just one value-add. 

4. Right. This word is associated with positivity. When we see this word, we also think of closely-related words like “righteous”, “correct”, or “appropriate” depending on the context of the sentence. And, using the word “right” will help to set a more positive and confirming tone in your paragraph.

5. New. The word new has a fresh feel to it and most everyone likes it. New implies clean and top quality. We might think of that “new car smell” when we read the word “new”. If something is new, it is also fresh. Maybe even “never seen before”. And, people like new things.  

6. Freebie. If you are an email marketer, you are probably familiar with this hot-button term. Clearly, the terms “freebie”, “free” and “no-cost” tell the recipient that they are getting something for nothing, and as always, people like getting something for nothing.  

7. Backed. This word implies authority. If you’re arguing a point or taking a side in an email, using “backed”, as in “history-backed” or “research-backed”, can help boost your argument and lend credence and credibility to your position.

 

Email is a great tool, especially when we use it effectively. In your next email, see how many of these terms you can use. They will help you to create the best email possible using words designed to tweak the recipient’s mood and, hopefully, improve the tone of your note.