All You Ought To Know About Office Ergonomics

All You Ought To Know About Office Ergonomics Ergonomically designed offices are increasingly becoming the norm as organizations realize just how important it is in establishing a productive and energized workspace. The discipline of ergonomics looks at how to improve the interaction between people and the equipment, furniture and systems they come into contact with in the workplace. The primary aim of office ergonomics is to minimize the musculoskeletal damage that can be caused from repetitive work, prolonged sitting or incorrect posture. There are a diverse number of ways to implement ergonomic products and ideas ranging from a simple change to your posture to a complete rearrangement of your work table. This ergonomic infographic from GetVoIP will help you keep healthy and productive at work. Below are some tips to help you get started. Poor office ergonomics It can be surprisingly simple to make a mistake from an ergonomic perspective, even if you don’t realize it at first. Often the onset of injuries related to poor ergonomic practices tend to take weeks or months to fully take hold. Some of the problems that arise can significantly hinder a person’s capacity to work including: Carpal tunnel syndrome Repetitive strain injury (RSI) Chronic back pain Tendinitis Ganglion Cysts Below are some of the most important ergonomics tips and practices that you can easily implement to help protect you and your employees from any problems. Correct monitor placement If you’re working in an office then the odds are that you spend a lot of that time looking at a monitor. Correct monitor placement is crucial as many vital neck and back muscles and nerves are involved in the process of turning and holding your head. Straining your neck in an unnatural position to look at your monitor not only harms your neck, but the nerves and muscles in your neck are linked to your back and the pain can soon spread. Your eye level needs to be around 2-3 inches from the top of your monitor so that your neck is not straining upwards or downwards.  Keeping it about an arm’s length away from you is also important to avoid straining your eyes. TIP: if you don’t have a monitor stand, find a couple of large books to place under your monitor to raise it to eye level. Get your posture right Posture is one of the most important factors at play in office ergonomics as the positions your body holds over extended periods of time can determine whether musculoskeletal problems arise or not. Poor postures include: Slouching in your seat Hunching too far forward Raising your arms too high Leaning to one side Perhaps the most important thing to remember to avoid bad posture is to keep your back straight, as this eases the strain on your muscles and joints. Your keyboard and mouse should also be positioned so that your elbows are bent at a 90 degree angle, ensuring that your arms are not raised too high and your wrists aren’t bent. Your arms should be kept fairly close to the side of your body, while there should be few inches of room between the back of your knees and the front of your seat so that blood can flow down to your legs and feet properly. TIP: Alter your chair height if your keyboard and mouse are too high or low, but be sure to adjust the monitor too if required. Regular breaks The human body simply wasn’t designed to sit in an office chair all day, and all manner of health problems can occur from an excessively sedentary lifestyle including a drastic reduction in your metabolic rate. This is why it is vital to take regular breaks from your workstation, even if it is just for a couple of minutes every hour or so. Getting up and walking around helps to keep blood circulating throughout your body and can be a great way to refresh and rejuvenate your body. It also takes the stress off certain muscles and joints that may be overworked from too much sitting. TIP: Try a few yoga stretches at your desk to keep your blood flowing and loosen up your muscles. Eye strain Keeping your eyes healthy is another integral part of office ergonomics. Eye strain can affect those who work with monitors as looking at a screen places strain on the delicate muscles within the eye. The 20-20-20 rule was designed to help combat eye strain, advising people to look away from their screen every 20 minutes at a spot around 20 feet away for a period of 20 seconds, relieving the strain on the eye. The settings on your monitor should also be optimized to further prevent eye strain. Brightness levels should match the level of brightness in the room, whilst a refresh rate of at least 70 Hz can also further help protect you from eye strain. All of these tips should help you happy and healthy at the office. About the author:  Reuben Yonatan is the founder of GetVoIP, a leading VoIP provider comparison resource. As an entrepreneur and tech enthusiast, Reubens expertise is in helping small to mid-size business owners build, maintain, and scale their communication infrastructure. Please include attribution to www.getvoip.com with this graphic.

11 Ways To Stay Engaged in The Dog Days of Summer -

11 Ways To Stay Engaged in The Dog Days of Summer - 53% of workers report feeling an increase in distraction from June through December, in a phenomenon the business world has dubbed “the summer slump, or the dog days of summer. As vacation picks up and heat increases, employees can get weary and lose motivation. 25% of employees report less productivity during summer months. The summer slump also occurs at the mid-year point, where employees who haven’t taken enough time off or have been busy at work since the holiday’s are likely to start experiencing burnout. A majority of these employees also report that they don’t feel like their employer does enough to prevent burnout.   From Memorial Day to Labor Day, the summer slump can really impact your business’ bottom line. Sales can also slow this time of year but even in slow months, keeping your employees engaged will pay off in the long run.   Luckily, there are plenty of steps you can take to avoid the summer slump and increase motivation. Most of these tips involve switching up your strategy and taking a more relaxed approach to work in order to keep employees satisfied.   Some tips to overcome the dog days of summer include:   Increase flexibility during summer months. This doesn’t have to be a permanent fixture; stress that this is a seasonal change that will go back to normal during busy fall months. Encourage PTO and vacation days, and additional perks such as work from home days or summer hours.   Relax your in-office atmosphere to reflect the slow season. It’s hot outside, so let your employees dress more comfortably by relaxing your dress code. You can also allow pet visitation during summer months, which helps keep your employees furry friends out of the heat and in the office improving morale.   Ditch tradition during summertime. Considering setting aside time for team building activities you don’t normally have as much time to participate. Also consider taking meetings offsite to promote creativity and unconventional thinking.   Remember that it’s normal to see a slight decline in productivity from your employees during summertime. Don’t panic if you notice this attitude in the office, but also help prevent it by adopting some of these actionable strategies to keep your employees engaged. Keep reading for 11 tips to help your small business avoid the summer slump.  

3 Things to learn from the crashing careers of the super-rich

3 Things to learn from the crashing careers of the super-rich The market crash is going to mean a new era of banking, but it is also bringing along with it a few new ideas about how to manage ones career. This is not the first sector to experience catastrophe, but it might be the wealthiest one. And we can all learn a little about managing our careers from watching what happens with the super-rich. 1. Use the downturn to figure out where you stand. Wall Street ticks with rainmakers and math geniuses. Usually these guys (almost always guys) are tough to come by. Everyone wants them, everyone knows where they are and where they are going, and they are so powerful that they usually come and go in teams. So you can probably guess that recruiting this talent is extremely difficult. I have a friend who specializes in headhunting finance talent, and he reports that it is unprecedented that these guys would all be fired, flailing individually, and available to the next taker. So in this downswing, where investment banking layoffs are fast and furious, the management at the places that can still hire finance talent (true banks, and other corporations that have so much money that they could be a bank, like GE or Harvard University) are finally enjoying a buyers market. My friends phone is ringing all day with hiring managers scared that theyre missing out on a shopping binge, all of them simmering in a sick feeling that their competitors might be getting a good deal this week. Theres a saying on the trading floor that up or down doesnt matter, because as long as there is volatility, you can make money. And it turns out that this is true of recruiting, too. So, if your sector is tanking, test your star power. There will be a feeding frenzy for top-talent. Learn where you stand by calling a headhunter. If he or she will work with you, you have star power, or at least youre at the top of your game. 2. If youre stuck, become a stay-at-home parent. Lets be honest. The hedge fund guys who are out of work are not going to be a big drag on our welfare system. (Well, unless you count the whole hedge fund economy as a welfare system.) These guys have been bringing home million-dollar checks for years, so theres likely to be food on the table and money in the bank for back-to-school clothes. And guess whos taking the kids back to school? The dads. Because all those finance guys who just last month were expensing trips to strip clubs with their clients are now taking kids to preschool and then hanging out at Starbucks talking about how great it is to be a stay-at-home dad. While the markets adjust, of course. When I was a kid, a latchkey kid, consulting was the new unemployment. Today, in the era of good parenting, stay at home parenting is the new consulting. In the Midwest it happens when you get laid off from your job at American Girl and you realize that any job you could get will not cover childcare costs. In New York it happens when you get laid off from Lehman Brothers and you realize that any job you can get will not feed your ego more than telling people you have miraculously become a doting dad. Of course, there are people who were born to stay home with kids. Not everyone uses it as an escape route. But everyone can, if need be. 3. Free yourself from the delusion that safe paths are possible. Here is me linking to the ten billion times Ive written that there is no more corporate ladder and you should stop thinking that someone will take care of you and tell you where to go next and give you a gold watch when finally you retire at 65. Even still, when I tell people that no ladder means instead that you can be lost while you find your own path, the most fearful of self-discovery balk at being lost and instead go to law school. Everyone used to think law school was safe, but in fact, its not. And its not unsafe just because more than 50% of lawyers would not recommend that you become a lawyer because they dont like it. Its not safe because you will work really hard in your early career and then get de-equitized in your later career which is the law career equivalent of having the ladder pulled out from under you. So the last bastion of the fast track to safe money and job security used to be finance. And now, that ones gone, too. There are officially no more safe paths to money. You have to make your own path. This is a stark, big-bang broadcast that the end of the safe career is here. And thats great. Because the quest for a safe, beaten path that will work for your own life is an empty quest. We are in a new era of work, and you get to make your own path. Its exciting. Even in a down market.

Mentors for postgrads University of Manchester Careers Blog

Mentors for postgrads University of Manchester Careers Blog Did you know that we have 400 mentors ready this Spring, all waiting to help someone maybe you? And did you know that 50 of them have PhDs, and are particularly keen to to help our current PhDs? Our Manchester Gold mentoring programme is now recruiting for our Spring intake, and this time, were launching a brand new Doctoral programme. NB. The Doctoral programme is aimed at students who are already doing a PhD, not those who want to apply for a PhD. The closing date for our general programme is 1st February, but as weve only just compiled the list of mentors for our Doctoral programme, were extending the closing date for the Doctoral programme to 8th February. Update 24/1/13 Both closing dates are now 8th February (but get a move on anyway). What can you ask? Were always banging on about how important contacts are in your career, and some research weve been doing recently has reinforced that. However, by contacts, I dont necessarily mean knowing someone who can give you a job (though that can be handy). I mean being able to talk to people about: what they do in their job what they like and dont like about their job how they decided on a particular career, or whether it just developed without any plan (quite a common experience) their experience of looking for jobs understanding how the job market really works is very valuable where their career might go next what helped and what didnt help in getting where they are now and where they might want to go You need to be able to think how might that apply to me?, even if you dont have exactly the same background or want quite the same career. If you go in with an open mind and learn as much as you can about other peoples experience of careers, youve got more chance of spotting things which might help you, or of avoiding their mistakes. Of course, you might also get some good advice on how to improve your CV, brush up on your how to tell your story skills (ie the stuff youll need to be able to do in interviews) and you never know who they just might know (but no promises). Which programme can you apply for? If youre currently on a doctoral programme (ie youre doing a PhD already, not a Masters or undergrad wanting to apply for a PhD), you can either apply for a PhD-qualified mentor, on our special Doctoral programme, or just apply for any of the 400 mentors on offer. If youre a Masters postgrad or undergrad, you can apply for any of the 400 mentors on the list. However, where a mentor has a PhD, theyre likely to be matched with one of our current PhDs. There are also other specialist strands, where mentors have shown an interest in mentoring students who identify themselves in one of the following categories: Disabled students Black and minority ethnic students LGBT students International students planning to return home (to China, India, Malaysia or Nigeria) If you would like to be considered for one of these specialist strands, just indicate this on your application. Being realistic, you may need to consider which is most helpful to you at this stage finding a mentor interested in supporting you in one of the categories above, or finding a mentor in a particular type of job or from a particular degree background. Youre unlikely to find one person who can satisfy all three of those preferences! Our mentors What kinds of jobs do our mentors do? Well, there are the more obvious ones: PhDs chemists who are now RD Managers in the chemical industry, politics PhDs who are now lecturers, electrical engineers who work for Rolls Royce, PhDs in public administration now working for the World Bank Non-PhDs doctors working for the NHS, management graduates working as consultants, drama graduates working for the BBC, mathematicians working in audit There are also the less expected ones: PhDs astronomers working in RD for a steel company, theoretical physicists heading up Business Development for a charity (or working for an investment bank) Non-PhDs town and country planner working in offender management, historians and chemists working in finance, English and American studies graduate whos a physiotherapist, a geographer whos a broadcast journalist, a politics graduate whos a transport planner Look, just have a browse and see if theres anything which grabs your attention. A mentor doesnt have to be in your ideal job to be of real value to you, so think broadly. Our mentors, by Faculty/degree (pdf) Our mentors, by type of work (pdf) Our PhD mentors (pdf) What to do next Have a look at the details on our Manchester Gold website. Then, login to CareersLink, and under My Account, go into My Profile (click on the image below for a clearer picture). Edit your profile, and go to the bottom of the page, where you can enter details of which mentoring programme you want to apply for, and give us your reasons. Where there are more applicants than mentors, these reasons are how you will be selected, along with the other details we ask you to complete in the rest of your CareersLink profile. Theyre queuing up to help you I was a bit taken aback when I saw how many mentors we have   and thats on top of almost 400 mentors who were matched in our Autumn programme and over 600 people whove signed up to answer the odd email query with our Online QA service. If ever you needed proof that people like helping others in their careers, here it is. Question is, are you going to take up their offer of support? All Postgrad-highlighted Postgraduate mentoring networking

Writing a 9-5 Resume As an Artist

Writing a 9-5 Resume As an ArtistWriting a 9-5 resume as an artist is no easy task. Being an artist means you want to focus on your art, not on your job, and this applies to all aspects of your life.Some people are born with talent in the arts. Not every single one of us is born with it. It takes work and practice to hone your skills, be it drawing, painting, writing, or performing an art form, like acting or dancing.Some may be able to jump into the career and start off with their career goals clearly defined. The biggest mistake a professional artist can make is thinking that just because they do what you do, there will be job opportunities to do what they do. This is a common mistake for anyone considering a career in the arts.Professional artists must have their portfolio created for them. The portfolio, as the name implies, is a portfolio of your artistic skills and works. It should contain all your published works and any public performances you have performed. It is also a goo d idea to write out a brief description of how the work you want to apply for is related to your artistic career goals.Most professional artists prefer to be listed as an artist. It is probably more likely for someone to see what you do than if you wrote a simple 'artist'. It is important to take advantage of the power of the internet and your 'online presence' to promote yourself. If you are a successful and established artist, have your work published online or have an artist portfolio available, this will certainly help.Networking is the key. Networking with other successful and established artists can provide invaluable insight on where you can get some good employment. Networking with other artists and becoming good friends is a very positive way to network and build contacts. But you will also need to find people with the skill set you want to join you on your artistic journey. This can be quite difficult to do at first.You can always be professional about your networking and build up contacts, but you will need to start out doing it yourself before you can start putting together a good career path. Make the most of what your contacts and connections can give you and show others that you are serious about your career. Building up contacts is always helpful. It is important to keep in touch with them to make sure they know that you are actively interested in their skills.A career as an artist should not be written off right away, but must be thought out carefully. The balance between having a career and remaining an artist requires a great deal of planning and attention to detail. Being an artist requires a lot of hard work to keep it going, but it is definitely a career that is worth pursuing.

Taking on the Technical Side to Business as a Creative

Taking on the Technical Side to Business as a Creative In the world of business, we’re all very different. No two leaders will be the same. Because we all have our strengths and talents, and it’s often going to be those differences that make us great at business. However, you will also find that you won’t be great at everything. When you’re more of a creative person, trying to take on some of the more technical aspects of running a business can be quite tough. And when you find that you are struggling a little, it does seem quite silly to say that you’re going to just muddle on through and struggle. Instead, here’s what you need to do. Do Your Research As a creative, you’re more than familiar with finding inspiration. Sometimes it comes to you, and sometimes you have to go looking for it. Well, when it comes to handling the technical side of your business, you often have to take the more investigative approach towards making it happen. While your creativity may be the reason that you know your business will work, you still have to execute it in the right way. Doing your researching into the more technical areas that you don’t understand is a great way to make this happen. Hire A Service If you’re absolutely useless with anything too technical (or technological), then don’t force yourself to learn how to do it. You have to be able to play to your strengths. And it’s safe to say that technology might not be one of them. So hire a service such as Level 5 to take it on for you. When you bring in people to handle the key areas that cause you stress, you’re free to focus on your strengths. Photo by rawpixel.com on Unsplash Choose The Easy Option So this one is a bit obvious, but when you know that you aren’t too good at a certain thing, then find a simple solution for it. Whether that’s the most user-friendly piece of technology or software that you can find, or a product that comes with a service or some kind of assistance, sometimes choosing the easier option is going to be the best solution for you. Hire An Employee And when you know that you’re really useless at certain things, like web design, marketing, or finance, then there’s always an employee for that. If you want your business to grow, then hiring your first employee will always be on the horizon. So it could be the perfect time for you to think about bringing on your first member of staff. Create A Partnership Finally, when you really do know that you’re not that skilled at anything technical or business related, maybe you don’t want to deal with any of the business or strategic side of things yourself? As with many creatives, you may want to take the creative lead and leave everything else to somewhere who is more capable. By joining forces with an entrepreneur or strategic business person and letting them take the technical lead, you can still keep control in the company but only ever focus on the creative side of things.

Five Characteristics of Inspirational Workspaces

Five Characteristics of Inspirational Workspaces If you would like to build a strong brand and a good relationship with your employees, it is important that you are able to express your vision and values through your business premises. Design matters when it comes to workspaces, and you are more likely to be productive if you choose your location and design carefully. If you would like to create an inspirational workspace for your creative business, check out the below list of what to pay attention to. 1) Innovative The space you are creating should be innovative. You don’t want it to be uninspiring and boring, especially if you are in the creative industry. Open spaces work well for young companies that are encouraging collaboration and new ideas. Innovation can help you improve your communication and collaboration skills, too. When constructing your new office space, check out structural-innovations.com for finding the right style and construction method. 2) Personal While open plan offices work well, you will also have to allow your employees to personalize their own space. You might install a digital photo frame at every desk where your workers can customize their decor and their environment according to their taste. If you would like to attract and retain talent, it is a good idea to involve your workers in the design and planning process, so they can add their personal touch. 3) Adaptable Modern spaces are also multifunctional, so they accommodate different activities that take place in the office. You might want to create a separate breakout area for your workers so they can spend some quality time together while having a break. Don’t make your meeting rooms dark and boring, and allow your workers to choose the furniture for the canteen and kitchenette, so they feel relaxed and at ease. 4) Entertaining An office workspace should be entertaining, too. If the work you are doing allows background noise, you can let your employees choose the music or radio station. Alternatively, you can reward some of your best performing workers with choosing the music, entertainment, and event services offered at the office. Ask for a list of things they would like in the chillout areas, such as darts or air hockey, and reward them based on their performance. 5) Creative Using the same colors and decoration as any other company in your industry will not help you stand out from the crowd and encourage creative thinking. Make some spaces ever changing; set up a quote board that everyone can contribute towards, or create team projects to design a new canvas that represents the team spirit. Make the spaces interactive, easy to interact with, and fun to use. Company owners often choose standard designs when constructing or customizing their company premises. Making workspaces inspirational pays off long term You will be able to encourage collaboration, creativity, and having fun, which, in turn, will result in higher performance and job satisfaction. Don’t settle for the standard design, and create a workspace that your employees love and are proud of.