The Best of the Best from Our August Newsletters

Summer may be in the rear-view mirror, but we’re not ready to settle in for a long winter just yet. We’re still out there, scouring the dustiest corners of the Internet for nuggets of info that will help you run your business. And while we send out helpful tips on the regular in our weekly newsletters, we’ve also collected them right here. Let’s dive in while the water is still warm!

Design

What happens when a designer infiltrates the UX community on Instagram, investigating how content creators share their work and interact with each other? And what if the designer takes things a step further by offering a little constructive criticism instead of just going with the flow? Check out one designer’s experience on UX Collective.

More interesting design links:

• 2021 Design Systems Survey by Sparkbox

• 2021 Developer Survey

Leadership and Teams

Do you ever find yourself leading people who act less like professional adults and more like squabbling children? We hope not, but if you end up with a little more drama than you’d like on your team, one boss on Ask A Manager shares advice for getting your people back on track to keep up productivity.

Here are some more resources on leadership:

• Five Levels of Pricing Success

• Professional Service Leverage Models

Vaccination Work Policy

And now we turn to the question that is top of mind, but also something many would prefer not to deal with. Given the seemingly endless pandemic, where do you draw the line between personal freedom and protecting each other? We can’t tell you the answer, but we can help you learn what other companies are doing about a vaccine mandate, courtesy of the New York Times. 

And once you make your decision, AlertMedia is here to give you the lowdown on developing and communicating your plan to employees.

More on vaccination:

• Can Employers Have Separate Policies Based on Vaccination Status?

• Strategizing and Communicating Workplace Vaccine Policies 

• Why Workplace Covid-19 Vaccine Mandates Aren’t Widespread — Yet

Remote Work

Here’s the other reality business leaders are facing with varying degrees of trepidation: remote work. Some hate it, some love it, but it’s simply the new reality for many companies. 

Just what are employees willing to give up if they can permanently trade in the cubicle for a bathrobe? The folks over at breeze crunched the numbers, and you might be surprised at just how much remote work is worth to some people. 

Additional insights on remote work:

• Has the Collective Experience of the Pandemic Reset our Relationship with the Future?

• RIP ping-pong. The Era of Wacky Office Perks is Dead

Health and Wellness

While we’re on illness-related topics, it’s time to consider the often neglected subject of mental health. For many, it’s no secret COVID exacerbated existing psychological challenges and unhealthy coping mechanisms. But it’s a good thing for us to see that even the most successful are still working every day to manage their mental health needs. David C. Baker walks us through his personal struggles on this topic, and it might help you put your own challenges and needs in perspective.

More on mental health:

• What You Should Know About COVID-19 and the ADA, the Rehabilitation Act, and Other EEO Laws

Tools

However much we may enjoy working in our sweats, there is still something we miss about going to work and spontaneous chats with fellow cube-dwellers. Hallway is here to help facilitate these low-stakes, casual interactions with our coworkers even when we’re not in the office. 

More helpful tools:

• Tandem

• Volley

• Wise

• 1Password

• GatherContent

• ZoomShift

Speaking of spontaneous chats, we’re glad you stopped by to see what our community has been talking about. If you’d prefer the convenience of getting these handy tips in your inbox every week, we invite you to sign up for our newsletter. We’ll see you next time!