Woman, Are You Too Emotional at Work?

When I was working as a front desk, I had a boss I really didn’t get along with very well. She admitted that she really has a short temper and that it is highly likely that she would pour all her frustrations and angst on me because, I was, after all, her executive assistant. Yes, kinda like that alalay with a blazer. And a bachelor's degree.

There were days when she’d start the day scolding me; noticing the littlest things in the office no one goes to except me anyway. It was very difficult because during most days, we would clash, but then I was forced to smile and act cheerful despite how I felt. I was manning the front desk, after all. I quit after a month and a half, and my career has been so much better since.

Now that I’m more than happy with where I am and what I do, I still find myself getting a tad too emotional about work. It made me realize, was I really too emotional about work? Are women too emotional at work?

I read somewhere that there’s something called a Workplace Emotion Evaluation Profile. (Funny, it’s acronym is even WEEP.) The WEEP is a tool to help people take care of their levels of “emotional resiliency”. It asks questions that try to measure your capacity to be emotional at any given time of the day and cross references it to how you deal with work issues and home issues. It also teaches one how to deal with very strong emotions like sympathy, fear, anger or anxiety. For the one who finds herself getting too emotional, she can start by asking herself about the common things that usually gets her very emotional, and how these affect work.

A topnotch career coach and psychologist, Anne Kreamer, advises to keep in mind the acronym DING when dealing with workplace-related emotions. First, “take Deep breaths, Imagine what the other person is feeling, Name those emotions and, Go on”. She says it is important to take that moment to reflect and put yourself in another person’s shoes. Afterwards, learn to move on and move forward since there is so much room for more productivity anyway.

I say that DING is, by far, the best advice that I have read. It has helped me get over the stuff that stress me out. Most of the things that I deal with when it comes to work (events management) are people who are very hard to get along with and things (out of my control) that screw all my  plans up.

If you ask me, maybe the top reasons why women oftentimes get too emotional at work (or be judged as such) is because women are generally more sensitive and we pick up the stimuli that most men don’t. We are more keen to detail and, sadly, we are even the harsher critics of workplace emotion. I admit, when I used to see a female co-worker crying, I see her as weak and I am irritated by the situation because I think she perpetuates the stereotype of women in the workplace tagged as weak. Moreover, women are more pressured for perfection and women are burdened with so many expectations in order to be labeled “successful”. (But don’t let me do all the ranting here. This is not a feminist column after all, hehe.)

Love,

Your New PR Girl

Build the Best Virtual Team

It has been 3 or 4 years since my first internet-based job. I wrote, edited, marketed and made plans for companies, and published and executed them online. I also “met” many amazing co-workers whom I have become very good friends with as time went by; most of them are amazing artists and people from the Marketing and PR world. With the breadth of experience I have working online, it’s still astonishing how many people (especially executives) don’t see that it is really possible to build very strong virtual teams, and how much work can get done online. After all, the top candidates for a company job opening may not live in the same place, right?

With virtual teams, one is really driven to look at the skills of the person and in what s/he brings to the table rather than how “visible” they are. There’s no coffee break, less overhead and you can demand more of the brainwork rather than physical work. Because of this, your team can become more result oriented.

Now, no matter how good virtual teams may sound right now, this arrangement also has drawbacks. For example, many things that I didn’t like about working in virtual teams is having multiple time zones, trust issues and usually, there’s the need to overcommunicate most of the time. I think what every employer should do is to land with the right people and set realistic expectations for them as early as possible.

When hiring for a virtual team, employers must be on the lookout for people who are used to working independently and those who are internet-savvy as well. Schedule webcam interviews and ask about their experience and their internet connection. Try to measure, also, how trustworthy they are as early as you can. (Don’t worry, there’s Skype and there are free conference calls available. For team-based office work, there’s Huddle and Google Documents to track those.)

By the time that you have the right people on board, set specific goals and put it in a file where everyone can see it. If you want, you may even spend one meeting where you explain it to them and when they are free to ask questions. With that, celebrate your little successes (milestones) and always be sensitive of your communication. Maybe you are communicating too often, maybe it’s also very loose that people start developing trust issues about you/ your team. It’s not enough that people deliver, people also need to be “seen” online when needed. If you’re the boss, you must also be the most flexible part of your team.

Those are the little things that matter most to building and maintaining virtual teams. Got more questions about working virtually? You can email me via yournewprgirl@gmail.com. ♥

Lotsalove,

Your New Pr Girl

Is Your Business Ready for Social Media Marketing?

Nowadays, the Internet can easily make or break many business efforts. There are a lot of small companies which have created resounding names through online rave reviews and there are also many big time companies whose sales have dwindled because of some bad reviews that proved to be influential, and was made even more influential because of the influx of bad experiences from other clients. Due to this impact, more and more businesses have increased their comfort using social media, and have treated it with more seriousness and tact that ever.

Now, no matter how easy signing up on Twitter and Facebook may be, many businesses still lack maturity towards social media. Most of the think like this: “Hey, Twitter and Facebook really worked for others, and they’re free, so let’s do it!” However, it’s not that simple. Even though signing up may be mechanically easy, keeping your account alive and positive takes a lot of work. And if you pass out, that would be very bad for business.

So that, passing out, and other social media mistakes, must be avoided. To determine if your business is really ready for social media, here are some pointers:

Don’t get too excited; you’ll drown yourself. Those who are new to social media follow a lot of businesses and public figures around, trying to get a hold of their market and establishing “presence”. They follow many users, use all the tools offered, and register many accounts all at the same time. What usually happens here is that every account might not be maintained properly and if the other accounts didn’t work well, one might just lose hope in social media in general. Remember that social media needs consistent, focused effort. Stick to social media platforms which worked for others—Twitter and Facebook—and build your online presence upon them. And don’t forget your website!

Train your social media account handlers well. Okay, almost everyone is on Facebook right now. Twitter is not rocket science as well. Social media may look like a piece of cake, but really, it’s not. And the most important part of the game is your handlers. Don’t let the new employee handle and manage your accounts. No; not even if he has 50,000 friends on Facebook. Remember, whatever he does, it will reflect on your business’ reputation. Social media is too valuable to entrust in the hands of a newbie. Instead, educate someone who knows the company’s ins and outs, goals, products and services how to use social media.

It’s STILL business. Treat social media as an inherent part of your PR (Public Relations); not just an extra thing-to-do for when the people are bored. Recognize that it WILL need a budget, a carefully mapped-out strategy, and yes, the results may be fairly calculated at the bottom line. Of course, remember that all of these things won’t happen overnight. Have realistic expectations all the time.

For easier appreciation, I'll leave you with a nice illustration of how social media marketing works:

Those are some of the most important things about social media which I want to get out in the open. Most multinational companies, those who usually spend for major R & D are making big waves in social media already. I’ve written PR for multinational companies and Davao-based ones, and here’s what they had in common: treating social media seriously. So, for businesses out there, do exactly that. I swear, it will all work out fantastic in the end. (And contact me if you need some PR done! Hahaha!)

Love,

Your New PR Girl

yournewprgirl@gmail.com