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You should buy small business renters insurance if you rent an office space or another type to run your enterprise. This kind of small business insurance protects your operations and team and covers property damage. What is Business Renters Insurance? A business owner can get this insurance coverage through a Business Owner’s Policy (BOP). These combine three different types of insurance. General Liability Commercial Property Insurance Business Income Insurance Protect your business even if you’re renting a space because BOPs cover commercial property coverage. A small business gets financial protection from lawsuits, theft, and fire. Plus, lost income if the property is covered. Read More: Types of Business Insurance Why You Should Have a Business Renters Insurance Policy Business renters insurance protects small businesses from unexpected events and issues like property damage. There are several other reasons why this renters insurance is a must-have. For Coverage When Employees Damage a Rented Space – There are certain risks other types of business insurance coverage don’t provide. Standard policies don’t look after damages workers make to inventory or a warehouse. Your Contracts Might Require a Business Renters Policy – If you’re renting from your landlord, it’s possible that your rental agreement or loan documents stipulate the need for a renter’s insurance policy. To Cover Damages Made By A Third Party – A business owner should be aware of the difference between actual cash value versus replacement cost. For Coverage From Accidents Leading to Lawsuits – Small business renter’s insurance should cover this, make sure. It might not be covered by a standard business insurance policy. It’s The Law – Small business renters insurance is required in most states. Without it, your business can face losses due to legal actions, fires, and theft. What is Covered by Business Renters Insurance? A business owner’s policy like this provides coverage for natural disasters and lawsuits pertaining to bodily injury. Remember, when you’re looking for any type of insurance coverage, you should really get a customized quote. Lots of companies have convenient tabs where you can find an agent, too. This insurance covers the following as well: Professional Liability Insurance In the dynamic landscape of business, accusations of negligence or causing harm can arise unexpectedly. That’s where Professional Liability Insurance steps in, offering businesses a safety net against such legal claims. Commonly known as errors and omissions insurance, this policy bridges the gap that general liability insurance might leave. While a general liability policy offers a broad range of protections, it may not necessarily cover professional missteps or oversights. For contractors, it’s advisable to delve into completed operations coverage, which, although often part of general liability insurance, is paramount for their line of work. On another note, advertising injury coverage is generally bundled with commercial general liability policies. This vital addition ensures that businesses are safeguarded against potential pitfalls like unintentional copyright violations or instances of slander. Business Interruption Insurance When unexpected events such as natural disasters strike, they can halt business operations, leading to lost income. Business Interruption Insurance is intended to protect businesses from unexpected disruptions, compensating for lost revenue resulting from events such as theft, fire, or wind damage. With this policy, businesses can effectively manage difficult situations, ensuring their financial stability even during periods when operations are halted. Workers Compensation Insurance Almost every state mandates the implementation of Workers’ Compensation Insurance, highlighting its importance in the business ecosystem. This policy acts as a safety blanket for businesses, covering them against expenses stemming from work-related ailments or injuries. From compensating for lost wages to managing medical expenses, this insurance ensures that employees are well taken care of. It’s not just a matter of legal compliance; many landlords may require businesses to have this coverage in place. As an essential component of a company’s insurance portfolio, Worker’s Compensation Insurance underscores a business’s commitment to its employees. It covers the unavoidable aspects of the workplace, such as accidents, disabilities, and illnesses. To ensure complete protection, it is essential to include liability coverage. Commercial Auto Insurance For businesses that are anchored in distribution or transportation, Commercial Auto Insurance is non-negotiable. This policy encompasses the protection of business-owned vehicles, ensuring that they’re covered against potential damages or liabilities. Whether it’s a fleet of trucks or a single company car, this insurance guarantees that the wheels of business keep turning, regardless of unforeseen roadblocks or accidents. Investing in Commercial Auto Insurance highlights the significance of protecting assets that are crucial to a company’s operations. Comparison of Key Business Insurance Coverage For a quick glance at the various insurance coverages and what they entail, refer to the comparison table below. It will help you discern the differences and understand which policies might be the most pertinent to your business needs. Type of InsurancePurposeTypically CoveredNot Typically Covered Commercial Property InsuranceProtection against physical damage or loss.Theft, Fire, Certain Natural DisastersFloods, Earthquakes Business Income InsuranceReplaces lost income due to a covered event.Income loss due to fire, theft, etc.Income loss due to non-covered events. Professional Liability InsuranceProtection against negligence claims.Claims of professional negligence.Intentional malpractice. Business Interruption InsuranceCovers lost income due to events interrupting operations.Lost income due to wind theft, fire, etc.Lost income due to non-specified reasons. Workers Compensation InsuranceCovers work-related illnesses and injuries.Medical costs, Lost wagesInjuries outside of work. Commercial Auto InsuranceCovers business vehicles.Damages to business vehicles.Personal vehicle damages. Read More: Business Insurance Benefits What is Not Covered by Business Renters Insurance? This type of business policy doesn’t cover everything your small business might need. Here’s what your business won’t get with these policies. Coverage for Pests – Bugs are for the landlord’s insurance company to tackle. Most small business renter’s insurance coverage doesn’t cover damage caused by pests. Negligent Damage – Likewise building damage caused by criminal activity or negligence. You won’t get coverage under those circumstances to protect your business. Floods – Coverage for property damage caused by water is under a flood policy, not small business renters insurance. Ask your insurance company about this distinction. Earthquakes – Professional services and other business renters don’t get coverage automatically. But there could be an add-on to your business owner’s policy. Keep in mind that small business renters insurance should include bundled options. An insurance professional, along with the insurance company, should be able to tailor solutions to meet your needs. How Much Does Business Rental Insurance Cost? Small business owners are usually concerned with the bottom line. Like how much good business renters insurance costs. Remember, a good policy combines liability insurance and commercial property insurance. And general liability policies. There are additional endorsements you can add to renters insurance like a policy for errors and omissions coverage. And other insurance products you might need too. Here’s the bottom line. Business renters insurance should provide coverage mirroring BOP insurance. An insurance professional can estimate the average cost of one of these BOP policies. That’s usually around $1200 for good business renters insurance. What you pay might be different depending on several factors, such as the type of property your business is on. There are many different casualty insurance company choices. Read on to find out how to find the one that supplies good business renters insurance. How to Choose the Right Business Rental Insurance Company Finding the right company is a big part of getting business renters insurance coverage. A good insurance company offers income insurance, commercial property insurance and others. There are several things you can look for to start a search. Make sure that you can bundle policies with any of the companies you are considering. Chances are you’ll need to customize the coverage to get the best deal. While you are at it find out what’s not covered, this can be just as important as finding out what is. Every company supplies policies that have these exclusions. You need to find out what they are at the beginning. Review your needs before you start any search. Knowing what your business renter’s coverage requirements are is essential. So, you should be reviewing them on a yearly basis. Here’s how to choose a company that works with your risk management strategies. Contact the insurance company directly to explore insurance policies. Conduct some research to identify your needs, and then create a business policy that fits those requirements. Adjust the services to develop a tailored policy, such as one that includes property coverage. Finally, request a custom quote to ensure you only pay for what you will actually use. Get coverage online. Compare services from different providers this way. Contact an insurance broker to cover your business activities with the right insurance. It needs to cover everything from policies for professional liability to property coverage where applicable. Looking through these financial products on your own can be confusing. A broker isn’t cheap, but they can guide you through the process. Understanding the risks in your industry helps. That can guide you to the right insurance. For example, product liability insurance works best for restaurants. Learning what affects your insurance rates is critical. Don’t let a business owner’s policy lapse. That will increase the premiums on items like professional liability insurance. Assessing Your Business’s Risk Profile for Renters Insurance Understanding Risk Exposure: To determine the appropriate level and type of renters insurance, businesses must first understand their unique risk exposures. This involves assessing various aspects of their operations, such as location, nature of business activities, and customer interaction. Industry-Specific Risks: Various industries encounter unique risks. For instance, a tech company may place a higher emphasis on coverage for data breaches, whereas a retail store might concentrate more on protection against property damage or theft. It is essential to evaluate the risks that pertain to your specific industry. Location-Based Considerations: The location of your business can significantly impact your insurance needs. If you’re in an area prone to natural disasters, such as floods or earthquakes, you might need additional coverage. Urban locations might require higher coverage for theft or vandalism. Analyzing Business Operations: Evaluate your daily operations to identify potential risks. Do you handle sensitive customer data? Do you have expensive equipment? Do customer interactions pose potential liability issues? These factors will guide you in choosing the right coverage. Consulting with Professionals: An insurance agent or broker specializing in commercial policies can provide valuable insights. They can help identify risks you might have overlooked and suggest appropriate coverage options. Legal Implications and Compliance for Renting Commercial Spaces Understanding Lease Requirements: Many commercial leases include clauses regarding insurance requirements. It’s essential to understand these stipulations to ensure compliance and avoid potential legal issues. Local Regulations: Different jurisdictions have varying requirements for businesses operating in rented spaces. These might include specific types of insurance coverage or minimum coverage amounts. Familiarize yourself with local laws to ensure your insurance policy is compliant. Liability Concerns: Renters insurance can also protect against legal liabilities. For instance, if a customer is injured on your property, having adequate coverage can save your business from costly lawsuits and settlements. Documentation and Record-Keeping: Keep comprehensive records of your insurance policies and make sure they are readily accessible. This practice is essential not only for compliance but also for efficiently filing claims. Frequently Overlooked Coverages in Business Renters Insurance Business Interruption Extensions: While property damage is often a primary focus, the impact of business interruptions can be equally significant. This coverage can compensate for lost income during periods when your business is unable to operate normally due to covered damages. Electronic Data Protection: In the digital age, protecting electronic data is vital. Many standard policies may not cover data breaches or loss of digital assets. Electronic data protection can safeguard against these modern risks. Seasonal Inventory Coverage: For businesses with fluctuating inventory levels, such as retail stores, it’s essential to adjust coverage to reflect these changes. Seasonal coverage ensures that your insurance aligns with inventory levels at different times of the year. Employment Practices Liability Insurance (EPLI): This covers claims from employees alleging discrimination, wrongful termination, harassment, and other employment-related issues. Given the rise in employment-related lawsuits, EPLI can be a critical addition to your policy. Each of these overlooked coverages addresses specific risks that might not be immediately apparent but can have significant financial implications. Tailoring your renter’s insurance to include these coverages ensures comprehensive protection for your business. Best Small Business Rental Insurance Providers Effective business insurance coverage needs to come from industry-leading business partners. The top American companies for a good renter insurance policy are listed below. Remember to look for standards like liability insurance from any insurance company you’re considering. Take a look at the testimonials on their websites. These are good indicators of the company’s credibility. The Hartford This is a well-known casualty insurance company. Their business renters insurance works better than the competition because their owner’s policy is trusted. Get customized property insurance for different types of businesses. They also supply excellent worker’s comp policies. Chubb The insurance coverage available here is outstanding. You can include commercial property, liability, and business interruption coverage, as well as options for international coverage. State Farm There’s a handy tab to find a local agent. They support different types of businesses, like restaurants and retailers. Their insurance for general liability comes in $1 million increments. Property insurance is available, too. There’s no login required for this company. And you can get a certificate of your insurance right on their website. They look after a variety of small businesses like drugstores and bakery locations, as well as online sales businesses, contractors, and trades. Hiscox Pay for a short-term liability insurance policy and protect property and data with cybersecurity insurance. This insurance company offers general liability insurance, too. This is a company that has a 100-year history of making sure businesses have good coverage. There are 3,000 employees in 14 different countries and customers right across the globe. Nationwide They supply different types of insurance. Like liability insurance for different types of business, they offer commercial auto insurance with collision. The actual cost value when you need to replace property equipment breakdown is a covered loss. You’ve got insurance cover for errors and omissions, too, and, of course, general liability insurance. They also provide resources and tools for smaller businesses, and you can pay your bills online through their website. Nationwide has more than 90 years of business experience. Understanding business renters insurance and how it works can help you concentrate on making profits. Other business insurance products can also fold into a renter’s policy. Image: Depositphotos This article, "What is Business Renters Insurance, and Do You Need it?" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

When Rodriguez has an upcoming appointment with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, sometimes his daughter’s grades slip. The stress of not knowing whether ICE will let him stay in the United States has already sent two of his children to therapy, Rodriguez said. “They know that when I go to the ICE appointments, we don’t know if I’ll come back,” Rodriguez said in Spanish. The Guatemalan man, who asked not to be fully identified out of fear of retaliation, has already been deported once, and he has been held in ICE custody a few times. Though Rodriguez already has a deportation order and officials could send him back at any time, his attorney has managed to convince the U.S. government to let him stay in the country for now as long as he checks in periodically. That could change under President Donald Trump, who has already launched efforts to follow through on his campaign promise of mass deportations of immigrants. That promise has raised concerns among economists as well as human rights advocates based on the effects of large-scale deportations in the past. The Trump administration has floated ideas that include building temporary detention tent facilities where the government can hold people while it fast tracks their cases as well as using military and local law enforcement to assist immigration officials. The team has already indicated it’s considering invoking the same law that the government used to round up and detain Japanese Americans during World War II—a moment in U.S. history the government later apologized for and is now widely criticized as racist and xenophobic. Erin Tsurumoto Grassi, whose grandparents were children when they were forced out of their homes under a notorious executive order issued by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, said Trump’s plans will continue that legacy. “It’s part of a much larger existing problem in this country that ties back to white supremacy,” she said. “What happened to my family is not necessarily unique when you look at the history of this country, when you look at the things that have been done to people of color in this country.” Adam Isacson of the human rights advocacy organization the Washington Office on Latin America said he expects the Trump team to try new, legally creative strategies this time around to bring about the promised deportations. “Who had read the quarantine statutes of the 1940s of the U.S. code as a way to exclude almost 3 million people?” Isacson said, referring to a policy known as Title 42 introduced by Trump in 2020 as a way to block asylum seekers at the border. “I had never heard of it, but Stephen Miller had.” People like Rodriguez, who have already been ordered removed, are likely to be targeted for arrest in the coming days as ICE officers work to meet newly established quotas. In several cases during Trump’s first term in office, people with such orders sought protection from deportation by living in churches. “The only thing that makes us different from other people is that we don’t have status, but with everything else we’re the same,” Rodriguez said. “We want our children to do well.” Planning a Mass Deportation To deport the number of people that Trump has discussed, the administration will have to figure out how to streamline the deportation process, which often drags out in lengthy court proceedings and then in the logistical hurdles of getting a country to agree to take someone back. In his first term, Trump deported more than 900,000 people, according to ICE data. That’s fewer than former President Barack Obama deported in either of his terms. “The process of deporting someone—I think their only restraint is resources,” Isacson said. Trump has declared a national emergency and ordered the Department of Defense to deploy military troops to assist with immigration enforcement. Incoming administration official Tom Homan, Trump’s so-called border czar, has called the military a “force multiplier” for immigration enforcement efforts. The Posse Comitatus Act prohibits the military from participating directly in civilian law enforcement, but troops could provide logistical support from construction to monitoring. For example, every president since George W. Bush has deployed National Guard troops to do logistical work at the border, including to reinforce barriers or monitor Border Patrol camera feeds. Military planes are also now conducting deportation flights. Project 2025, the conservative policy plan by the Heritage Foundation that several of Trump’s early appointees helped write, calls for changing detention standards to allow ICE to hold people in tents. The state of Texas has already offered 1,400 acres of ranchland for the administration to build additional detention facilities. Under the first Trump administration, the military participated in building the border wall, and it could be called in to help with this construction as well. As Project 2025 suggested, ICE has already removed restrictions on officers’ ability to conduct immigration arrests in places like schools, religious buildings, hospitals and emergency shelters such as those used during the Los Angeles fires. And, in keeping with Project 2025’s plans, Trump’s Day One executive ordersincluded instructions for an expansion of a program called expedited removal, which allows immigration officials to issue a deportation order without going before a judge. Historically, the program applied only to people who just crossed the border, but in his first term, Trump attempted to expand it to include anyone who had been in the United States for less than two years. Initially stalled in court, the change was eventually allowed though later rescinded under former President Joe Biden. “I think their hope is that there is some legal device or set of legal devices that can kind of do for them in the interior what Title 42 did for them on the border and allow them to sidestep the immigration laws in whole or in part,” said Omar Jadwat, director of the American Civil Liberties Union Immigrants’ Rights Project. He noted that requiring hearings before a judge to secure a deportation order helps protect people’s due process rights. “It’s not complicated for the sake of being complicated,” Jadwat said. The ACLU has already filed a lawsuit to challenge the administration’s re-expansion of expedited removal. Beyond that, the Trump administration is expected to lean into a program known as 287(g) that allows ICE to deputize local law enforcement to do immigration work. Some cities and states, including California, already forbid local participation in that program. Kevin Johnson, a professor of law and Chicano studies at the University of California Davis, said he was especially worried about local law enforcement becoming involved in the mass deportation effort because of what happened in the 1930s, when local authorities rounded up people believed to be Mexican—including U.S. citizens—and sent them south on trains and boats. “We have rules and laws regulating removals from the country, but if we start down the path of mass arrests and quick-and-dirty deportations, then those rules are not likely to be followed,” Johnson said. Effects of a Deportation Most mass deportation efforts are rooted in a nativist belief that immigrants take jobs from U.S.-born workers, according to Tom Wong, a professor of political science and founding director of the U.S. Immigration Policy Center at University of California, San Diego. He said that belief is neither accurate nor rational, but the effects can cause lasting harm. “Immigrants are complements, not substitutes,” he said, giving the example of an immigrant worker offering child care services so that a U.S.-born single mother can also work. He said that economists have found labor market shortages following mass deportations. The coming removals, he said, could lead to an increase in food prices as well as gaps in construction. Advocates pointed to the daunting task of rebuilding in the wake of the Los Angeles fires as a project that could be impacted by mass deportations. The American Immigration Council recently estimated that Trump’s deportation plans could shrink the United States’ GDP by 4.2% to 6.8%. According to the immigration policy think tank’s October report, undocumented workers paid $46.8 billion in federal taxes in 2022, along with $29.3 billion in state and local taxes, while contributing $22.6 billion to Social Security and $5.7 billion to Medicare. But Wong said he does not think messaging about potential economic harm will convince the voters who elected Trump. “I think the American public is willing to pay the costs,” Wong said. “It’s going to take a lot of pain before people realize how damaging mass deportation efforts are,” he added. Wong said members of the public may begin to wake up to the problems caused by mass deportation once they see the effects on neighbors, coworkers, and loved ones. Rodriguez, the man who is among those facing potential imminent deportation under the second Trump administration, said he works two jobs, one in construction and the other at a restaurant. “I’ve never hurt anyone. I’ve never asked the government to maintain me,” he said. “The only thing we’ve done is work every day.” He first came to the United States in the 1990s, fleeing the civil war in Guatemala and the obligatory military service that came with it. Over the years, he tried to get attorneys to help him sort out his case, but for one reason or another, it never worked out. He remained undocumented. Meanwhile, he got married and started a family. Then in the mid-aughts, ICE deported him. “I had my family and kids here. I was paying for a house,” Rodriguez said. “I had to come back.” He crossed through the desert mountains and returned to California, but during the Obama administration, ICE found him again. This time, the agency allowed him to stay temporarily as long as he checked in periodically with its officers. Rodriguez said he is worried about what will happen to his family if ICE sends him back again. He doesn’t want his children to move to Guatemala, and he knows they will suffer emotionally and financially in his absence. He said that when he was in ICE custody, teachers noticed a change in his son’s behavior. The boy didn’t play with his friends, and they ended up sending him to a counselor. Rodriguez is the breadwinner, supporting his children as they pursue college degrees. “Under the law, I guess it’s right, but for many of us who have been here for years, the family is who suffers,” he said. Growing Gardens Though some polls have found public support for mass deportations, Johnson, the Davis School of Law professor, said he believes that many will protest if Trump’s threats become a reality. He noted that organized political movements in the Latino community didn’t exist during the historical removals of the 1930s and 1950s in the way that they do today. “There was no MALDEF that was going to sue to try to stop the repatriation,” he said, referring to the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, a prominent civil rights organization. He acknowledged that there appears to be a lot of support for mass removals, but he also predicted national outrage. Family separation, one of the Trump administration’s key immigration policies in its first term, ended because the public “couldn’t stomach it,” Johnson said. Tsurumoto Grassi, associate director of Alliance San Diego and a descendant of Japanese Americans whom the government forced from their homes during World War II, said the stories of resilience during previous immigration roundups can teach community members how to navigate the years ahead. Japanese Americans held under former President Franklin Roosevelt’s executive order made gardens and planted trees around the prison camps that were hastily constructed to separate them from the rest of society, she said. “They found ways to still come together as a community and find their dignity in the midst of all that,” Tsurumoto Grassi said. She said that community wisdom from those past experiences is among the tools that people can draw on today. “How do we make it through a time when people are treating individuals like they are less than human?” she said. “We need to look to those stories to give us hope for how do we get through what looks to be a difficult time ahead.” Rodriguez said he’s hoping that the public will consider people like him before deciding to support the mass deportation effort. “The most important thing is that society puts its hand on its heart and thinks about all the people who will be affected if this new administration does everything that it’s saying,” he said. — Kate Morrissey, Capital & Main This piece was originally published by Capital & Main, which reports from California on economic, political, and social issues. View the full article

The standing desk is old news. Behold, the standing table. Herman Miller just released a new design that takes the concept of a standing desk to a whole new level. The Spout Sit-to-Stand Table comes in a range of sizes, from 2-by-4 feet to a whopping 4-by-7 feet, supports up to 400 pounds, and can seat a whole team rather than just one worker. That’s because it breaks a key form factor that most other standing desks follow: the number of legs in use. The vast majority of standing desks have only two motorized legs, mostly because they’re easier to stabilize and engineer to move seamlessly. Meanwhile, the Spout table stands on four legs, allowing chairs to be placed comfortably on all sides of the table. [Image: Herman Miller]“The biggest challenge in designing a four-leg solution was creating a rigid and stable platform that could seamlessly support large surfaces,” a Herman Miller spokesperson shared with Fast Company. “The design team and engineers tackled this by developing an elegant 360-degree understructure that not only enhances stability but also scales across multiple sizes, from 24”–48” deep and 42–84” wide.” [Photo: Herman Miller]A four-legged standing desk isn’t unheard of (in fact, Herman Miller offers a leather-wrapped version), but you’d be hard-pressed to find one with 28 square feet of surface space. And, whereas most standing desks on the market tend to live within a minimalist color palette, the Spout can be customized with a wide range of surface materials, edge details, and leg colors, like dusty blue or fire engine red. To keep the table’s profile sleek and elegant, its engineers also had to ensure that all of its moving mechanics—like the motors and drive assembly—would be tucked out of view inside the legs themselves. [Photo: Herman Miller]“The team devoted countless hours to ensuring that every line and radius aligned perfectly,” the spokesperson said. “While the table may appear elegantly simple, the precision and complexity behind its design are anything but.” Buyers of the Spout table will certainly be paying for this attention to detail. The price of the table varies widely depending on the size you choose and how you personalize it (see a guide here), but the three standard sizes currently available for purchase on the website start in the mid-$2,000s. For a Herman Miller product, this isn’t exactly a surprise. Many of the company’s office goods have make up their pricey costs not only in their high-quality materials, but also in their status-signaling cachet (see the Eames lounge chair’s recent renaissance among tech bros). Personally, I’d want my $2,000 desk to come with just a bit more opulence. Still, for any work-from-home tech couples out there or office managers looking to literally level up their space, this might just be the perfect product. View the full article

It took decades, but Rachael Kelly broke the insidious cycle of abuse she’d been stuck in since childhood. At the time, she was leading human resources at a restaurant group in 2020. “I’m new in this job, and my toxic marriage start[ed] to peak,” she says. Meanwhile, she was trying to help the employees at her restaurant who were suffering through the trauma and joblessness of the COVID-19 pandemic. Ending her marriage to an abusive husband while helping those workers establish safety nets made her think: “How do we package [what I’m doing here] and model it forward?” Kelly ended up doing just that by first launching her nonprofit HiveStrong, which helps survivors of intimate partner violence and human trafficking. She then translated HiveStrong’s principles to the professional sphere with her for-profit consulting arm called HiveSmart. “I didn’t expect how much trauma there is in the workplace,” she says, “and how much work around trauma and holding a safe space [could increase] business productivity.” HiveSmart Consulting provides HR and coaching services to organizations with anywhere from five to 5,000 employees in industries ranging from hospitality to retail to HR technology in the U.S. It may look like any business consulting firm on the surface, but all its profits go toward Kelly’s survivor-aiding nonprofit and its methods stem from this work—in other words, they’re trauma-informed. For Kelly, that means teaching business clients on how to do things like “hold a safe space” for their employees and where to draw the line between being “compassionate, empathetic, and flexible” while maintaining accountability. It also involves helping mediate and improve relationships between bosses and employees, particularly when one or both have experienced traumas that make them wary of each other, or unable to communicate effectively. Kelly’s particularly equipped to do this given her background as both a trauma survivor and a business leader. Since its August launch, HiveSmart has grown to include 20 consultants and works with four to six active clients at a time, Kelly says. She’s not alone in running a consultancy that fosters trauma-informed work environments; a quick Google will reveal that trauma-informed consultants are active around the country. But it’s a trend that Kelly says more employers are starting to see the need for, judging by the growing interest in her expertise and greater awareness of just how many people experience trauma. One global 2016 study found 70% of respondents reported experiencing at least one traumatic event in their lives, while the US National Center for PTSD reports roughly 5% of U.S. adults have Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in any given year, a condition that might result in employees shutting down or lashing out when they’re triggered by a colleague or manager’s behavior. “Everyone experiences trauma,” Kelly says, citing the mass trauma incurred from the pandemic, “and there’s a way to make change that’s inclusive, not alienating.” The challenge, then, she says, is bringing that message to the C-suite. How trauma affects the workplace It’s difficult to trace the exact origins of trauma-informed practice, but many cite its roots in the healthcare field, specifically in how professionals came to work with Vietnam War veterans in the 1970s. With PTSD newly identified among veterans, healthcare providers shifted their approach to address its symptoms. This meant instead of asking patients, “What is wrong with you?” they’d start by asking, “What happened to you?” That latter question is still at the root of trauma-informed practices today, which have expanded beyond healthcare into arenas like education and, thanks to consultants like Kelly, the workplace. The U.S. Department of Health’s Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration names the “six key principles” of a trauma-informed approach as “safety, trustworthiness and transparency, peer support, collaboration and mutuality, empowerment aka “voice and choice” (giving workers’ agency that they lacked in their traumatic experiences) and cultural, historical, and gender issues.” When organizations don’t consider those principles in their operations, say trauma-informed practitioners, trauma can manifest at work in myriad ways. “It’s hard to [paint] a broad stroke, because trauma responses can look so different across folks,” says Shelby Cook, who founded the Ohio-based Cook Counseling and Consulting after getting burnt out as a therapist with the Department of Veterans’ Affairs. Two prominent examples she sees are “absenteeism” and “presenteeism.” (The former happens when employees, for example, repeatedly take sick days for their mental health. Presenteeism means employees physically show up to work but are mentally checked out and underperforming.) “That can be a result of trauma, where that shut-down mode [turns] on,” Cook says. As a therapist, Cook describes herself as “touchy feely” but notes this isn’t the most common trait across C-suite executives. Kelly points out how many older executives grew up in an era when the common wisdom deemed emotions “weak,” she says. That can result in bosses and managers, perhaps inadvertently, “shaming” employees for feeling. “When you do that, you make those emotions more acute,” she says, “training the brain that they’re worse than they are.” Eschewing trauma-informed practices also results in communication breakdowns. “I would see people talking past each other,” Kelly says, because they didn’t understand where the other was coming from. Context is everything when it comes to successful communication. This stuck out to Kelly when she worked with a CEO who’d been traumatized by people having stolen from him and was trying to improve his relationship with an employee who’d been abused by an older man when she was younger. Their relationship was “sparking [the employee’s] triggers of controlling, untrustworthy, middle-aged white men,” says Kelly, “But once she understood what was going on with him, and he understood what was going on with her, they could . . . meet in the middle.” That employee, who’d been on the verge of quitting, ended up getting promoted and increasing her company’s revenue. Implementing trauma-informed practices at work Dawn Emerick, a former CEO who now runs the trauma-informed Dawn Emerick Consulting in Florida, learned how her trauma affected her ability to work when she came up against what she calls a “bully boss” in her previous job. His “authoritative characteristics,” she says, elicited the “fight or flight” responses she didn’t realize she’d been suppressing since her traumatic childhood. They became so overwhelming that Emerick eventually resigned. Today, Emerick draws on her experience to coach other CEOs on trauma-informed methods. Coaching, she underscores, is not the same as giving advice, which she avoids in favor of executives coming to their own solutions. “We talk it through and give scenarios,” she says. “Sometimes CEOs just need a confidential place [to talk], because it’s lonely at the top.” She often uses the elevator metaphor to help clients land on productive responses to workplace problems. “If there’s ten floors to their emotional response, and they’re at an eight,” she says, “they need someone to help them get down to a four so they don’t send that damn email.” Strategizing around specific conversations is also a big part of Kelly’s work, as is ensuring leaders listen to and empower their employees. Having agency and choice is so important for trauma survivors, because it’s something they were denied as victims. Asking employees for their input, then, is crucial to fostering trauma-informed workplaces—and not just asking, but then acting on employees’ suggestions and requests. This holds for big and small asks. Cook brings up employees requesting she stock decaf coffee in the office kitchen. These small touches show employees that they matter and are being heard. When Kelly started working with LaMonte Jones, who’s on the board of directors of the nonprofit Children of Restaurant Employees, the organization struggled with board members operating in “silos” and “cliques,” Jones says, keeping their issues “hidden.” Kelly built connections with individual members to facilitate, Jones says, “an environment that allowed everyone to be heard and all their ideas to be considered.” The board members realized they had a common goal; they were just disagreeing on how to get there. Once they saw others listening to their ideas, they were able to incorporate more board members’ perspectives productively. Since Kelly’s intervention, says Jones, CORE’s funding is up, and they’ve identified staffers to promote to the executive level—the first time they’ve promoted in-house in a long time. At the last board meeting, Jones observed that “everyone likes each other,” he says. “They’ve got more strategic partners than they’ve ever had in the past. . . . They have people working in spaces that highlight their gifts and talents.” ‘Empathetic leadership’ doesn’t equal ‘trauma-informed’ While Cook calls this work “touchy feely,” Cook says the approach is essentially rooted in specific actions covered in those six SAMHSA principles, ranging from DEI efforts to other practices like responding sincerely to employee input. Defining it only as “empathetic leadership,” says Emerick, doesn’t do it justice. Being an empathetic leader means being able to put yourself in an employee’s shoes, she adds, while being a trauma-informed leader means acting on that empathy by making employees feel safe at work (like making sure they’re listened to and supported) in such a way that still holds them accountable to their job requirements and deadlines. For example, bosses can act compassionately toward their employees without bending to their every demand. “Holding a safe space doesn’t mean you’re saying it’s okay not to perform,” Kelly says. Bosses can practice flexibility by, say, letting an employee with a history of trauma leave a little early one day a week to go to therapy while still requiring they meet their deadlines. Kelly looks to the Americans with Disabilities Act for guidance on how to treat employees who’ve experienced trauma equitably without favoring them: “What’s reasonable,” she asks, “if somebody’s going through something, to accommodate in a way that still meets the needs of the business?” Employees notice shallow accommodation efforts. Offering snazzy workplace perks like ping pong tables or team-building days aren’t going to solve employees’ trauma-rooted problems. Cook brings up a misguided Employee Assistance Program she witnessed at a large Ohio university that offered counseling for its staff and students . . . provided by its own staff, meaning it lacked meaningful confidentiality. Ultimately, says Kelly, trauma-informed practices at work are means to an end. “There’s always a business outcome we’re trying to accomplish,” she says. For executives, achieving that outcome while holding safe spaces for employees isn’t unattainable—“you just need the right coaching.” View the full article

While it’s always a good time to watch TikToks — globally, users spend an average of 34 hours on TikTok per month — figuring out the best time to post a TikTok is a bit more complicated. And yet, knowing when to post on TikTok can be super helpful for content creators and small business owners alike. After all, creating TikToks is tough work (trust me, I know), so it makes sense to figure out your best time to post on TikTok. This is why we tapped into Buffer’s data — analyzing more than 1 million videos, carousels, photos, and text posts — to pinpoint the best times to post on TikTok. This guide will walk you through all the best practices for posting on TikTok for maximum engagement — and, with any luck, land your videos on For You Pages worldwide. Jump to a section: Is there a best time to post on TikTok? The best times to post on TikTok The best time to post on TikTok at a glance The best time to post on TikTok on Monday The best time to post on TikTok on Tuesday The best time to post on TikTok on Wednesday The best time to post on TikTok on Thursday The best time to post on TikTok on Friday The best time to post on TikTok on Saturday The best time to post on TikTok on Sunday The best day of the week to post on TikTok The best content type to post on TikTok How to find your best time to post on TikTok Is there a best time to post on TikTok?According to our data, yes — some posting times do seem to work better than others. The analysis, conducted by Buffer’s data scientist-in-residence, weighed up the median views of 1 million posts published through Buffer. These numbers helped us pinpoint some pretty clear patterns in the times of TikTok posts that tend to perform well compared to those that don’t, which are, arguably, the best time to post on TikTok in 2025. But before we dig into our data, though, two important caveats: First, there is no universal best time to post on TikTok that will work for every video on the app. If only it were that easy! The best time to post on TikTok for you depends on your target audience — your audience location, timezones, and their behaviors — which is why I'll walk you through analyzing your own TikTok data to figure out when to post on TikTok for your target audience later in this article. Second, we may well see a shift in reach and engagement on the platform if the proposed TikTok Ban in the U.S. comes into play. We’re keeping a close eye on all the legal developments and updating this article as new information emerges: TikTok in the U.S.: What We Know & What It Means For Your Buffer Account. Bookmark it, if you want to keep an eye on things!That said, the days and times in the charts below offer a handy guide to help you maximize your content potential while growing your following. Ready to get into the numbers? Let's take a look at the best time to post on TikTok in 2025. 👀 The best times to post on TikTokAccording to our data, the best time to post on TikTok is Sunday at 8 p.m., followed by Tuesday at 4 p.m., and Wednesday at 5 p.m. Videos, carousels, and text TikTok posts shared during those times tended to get the highest views of the week, though other slots weren’t far behind. 🌞 Generally speaking, views tend to pick up later in the day, with peak time slots at 1 p.m. or later. This graph above breaks down the week into hourly chunks. The darkest blocks are the time slots with the highest views (the best time to post) — and the light to white blocks are the time slots with the lowest views (times that are probably best avoided). TikTok is a particularly fascinating platform to look at in terms of posting times. In our other analyses of the best time to post on LinkedIn and even Instagram there are some really predictable patterns in video performance (and, we can assume, audience behavior). But with TikTok, things are less cut and dried. This is likely because TikTok has a younger demographic — 35% of TikTok users in the US are 18 - 24 years old, the largest age group on the platform — with a less rigid schedule. 🌍Wait, what time zone? To make this data easier to understand, our data scientist Bufferoo has done some mathematical magic to make the recommended time zones universally applicable. In other words, no need to convert. Whether you're in EST (Eastern Standard Time), PST (Pacific Standard Time), or IST (Indian Standard Time), the times apply to you.The best time to post on TikTok at a glanceMonday: 7 p.m.Tuesday: 4 p.m.Wednesday: 5 p.m.Thursday: 5 p.m.Friday: 4 p.m.Saturday: 5 p.mSunday: 8 p.m.The best time to post on TikTok on MondayThe best time to post on TikTok on Monday is 7 p.m., closely followed by 6 p.m., then 5 p.m., according to Buffer data. ⏰ When to post on TikTok on Monday: 7 p.m. The best time to post on TikTok on TuesdayThe best time to post on TikTok on Tuesday is 4 p.m. Videos posted at 8 p.m. received the second-highest median views, followed by 2 p.m. ⏰ When to post on TikTok on Tuesday: 4 p.m. The best time to post on TikTok on WednesdayOn Wednesdays, the best time to post on TikTok is 5 p.m., closely followed by 6 p.m., then 4 p.m. Wednesday is the best day to post on TikTok, so it's definitely worth adding to your posting schedule. ⏰ When to post on TikTok on Wednesday: 5 p.m. The best time to post on TikTok on ThursdayThe best time to post on TikTok on Thursday is 5 p.m. Videos posted at 1 p.m. received the second-highest median views, closely followed by 3 p.m. ⏰ When to post on TikTok on Thursday: 5 p.m. The best time to post on TikTok on FridayOn Friday, the best time to post on TikTok is at 4 p.m., followed by a smaller spike at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. ⏰ When to post on TikTok on Friday: 4 p.m. The best time to post on TikTok on SaturdaySaturday is a quieter time on TikTok, though there are some optimal times worth noting. The best time to post on TikTok is 5 p.m. followed by 4 p.m., then 7 p.m. ⏰ When to post on TikTok on Saturday: 5 p.m. The best time to post on TikTok on SundayThe best time to post on TikTok on Sunday is at 8 p.m., one of the best times to post throughout the entire week. Other good times to post on TikTok on Sunday are 5 p.m. and 4 p.m. ⏰ When to post on TikTok on Sunday: 8 p.m. This is where social media scheduling tools like Buffer shine. Experiment by systematically going through the times on the list above, scheduling a TikTok, and tracking its performance to see what works best for your specific audience. 💡Just as there’s no one-size-fits-all best time to post, there’s no single best time to post across all social media platforms. Here’s the best time to post on Instagram, the best time to post on Facebook, and the best time to post on LinkedIn.The best day of the week to post on TikTokThe best day of the week to post on TikTok is Wednesday. Overall, videos, carousels, and text TikTok posts shared on Wednesday tended to perform the best. Thursday and Friday are tied for second place in terms of the best day of the week to post on TikTok. The worst day of the week to post on TikTok is Saturday, when there’s a notable dip in views of TikTok posts shared on that day. The best content type to post on TikTokAs an added bonus in these analyses, we look at not only the best time to post, but also the best type of content to post on the platform. On TikTok, the answer probably won’t surprise you at all — it’s video. That said, pictures (or carousels) and text posts put in a pretty good showing on a platform that was once exclusively for video. Our data found that videos only see 18% more views than text posts and 7% more than photos or carousels. In turn, photos or carousels perform 11% better than text posts. How to find your best time to post on TikTokAs always, when it comes to the best time to post data, I advise you to take these times with a pinch of salt! Every social media audience is different — particularly when it comes to the diversity of TikTok — and will behave in different ways. These time slots are a great starting point to experiment with. I highly suggest you do if you’re unsure of your best posting time! But, TikTok is one of the more helpful social media platforms, thanks to some handy audience insights. In fact, you can see exactly when your followers have been online in the past week, to help you make more informed decisions about when to post your next videos. Here’s how: 1. See when your TikTok followers are activeTo find it, head over to TikTok account. Then: Tap on your profile picture to go to your TikTok profile, then TikTok Studio just underneath your bio (you can also download the TikTok Studio app for a more streamlined experience).Here, you’ll find an overview of TikTok’s tools for brands and creators. From there, tap the ‘View all’ link just to the right of the Analytics box.From within the Analytics section, tap the Followers tab at the top of the screen, then scroll down to ‘Most active times.’Here, you’ll find a retrospective overview of when your followers were most active on the app over the past week (you can’t see further back than 7 days). Why does this matter? When you post your TikTok, the algorithm will serve your video to a select group of your followers, and non-followers gauge how they react. Do they watch the whole video? Tap through the carousel? Like, it, comment on it, or share it with a friend? Actions like these are strong indicators that your content is valuable (while all TikTok engagement helps, watch time is particularly important). It signals to the algorithm that it should serve your video to more people like the ones who watched and engaged. A larger group will find your videos on their FYP, and so the pattern continues. While TikTok only shares follower activity, it stands to reason that your non-followers — people you’re hoping to reach and convert — will behave similarly to the people already following you. In turn, they might be scrolling through the app at similar times. Posting when your target audience is most active — or just before that period — gives your content the best possible chance of success. 2. Pinpoint some good times to post on TikTokSo, it’s worthwhile spending some time noting down their most active times over the past few days. Look for patterns. Is there a similar spike in activity on weekdays? Or on weekends? Is there one day of the week that stands out when it comes to the best time to post on TikTok? These slots will give you a good indication of the best time to post on TikTok for your target audience. I suggest posting slightly before your followers’ most active times, particularly if it lines up with one of our best times to post on TikTok, above. 3. Consider your own scheduleBurnout can be very real for content creators or social media managers. While it's a great idea to post regularly, you don’t want to do too much at once and exhaust yourself. When deciding the best time to post and in particular, how often you'll post on TikTok, consider whether the workload feels reasonable. To create engaging, informative, and thoughtful content, you need to feel inspired. Therefore, take care of your physical and mental health and take breaks whenever needed. Creating a posting schedule or social media calendar can reduce the stress of posting consistently. A calendar will provide an organized way to lay out all of your videos and help you be more consistent. Once you have a solid overview of your content and when to schedule your posts on TikTok, you can start planning and filming TikTok content in advance and even batch-create content. 3. Experiment with different timesNow you’ve studied your followers’ most active times and nailed down a few options for the best time to post on TikTok, it’s time to take those times for a spin. Experimentation is a pillar of successful social media marketing — play around with scheduling your TikTok posts at various periods during the day to see which video performs the best. If you’re not able to actively post during those hours (perhaps your target audience location is not in the same time zone as yours), no sweat: A social media management tool like Buffer can help schedule posts at the exact moments your audience is most likely to engage. While we’re on the subject: Want to add your TikTok trending audio natively in the TikTok app? You can still schedule your video to post at a specific time, with Buffer’s TikTok notification post feature! You’ll get a notification when the time comes to post your video, and Buffer will automatically open the video up in TikTok for you. From there, you can copy your caption over from Buffer, and add any elements you want in TikTok, saving you precious time. Plus, you’ll never forget a posting time again. 4. Analyze your content performanceStick to your planned posting schedule for a few weeks, to give them a fair trial. TikTok offers a wealth of helpful analytics that will vary depending on your goal. But when trying to pinpoint your best times to post on TikTok, keep an eye on these key metrics, looking to see if you can establish patterns in posting times when they’re high: ViewsAverage watch time (TikTok prioritizes videos that hold attention)Engagement (likes, comments, shares)New followers (if you’re growing your account, this one is particularly important. Sometimes, the videos with the most views won’t be the ones that bring in the most new followers).5. Rinse and repeatCan’t find any patterns that point to a best time to post on TikTok. That’s OK. You could stick to your current schedule a little longer if your posts are generally performing well, to gather more data. If not, I’d suggest adjusting your schedule (and checking out these tips for creating great TikTok content, too.). If you’ve found some times that seem to be working? Great! Be sure to share or schedule your posts during those times for the next few weeks. But don’t forget to add some new times to experiment with into the mix. TikTok trends (and algorithms) shift constantly, so testing new posting times every few weeks can help you stay ahead. Happy TikToking!Hopefully, this guide will help you nail down the best time to post on TikTok for you! Ensuring your videos, photos, and text posts, get seen by as many people as possible is the next step in attracting more customers to your brand and building a stronger online community. What are your favorite times to post on TikTok? Let us know in the comments below or on Twitter or Instagram! View the full article

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The Trump administration and Elon Musk have spent the past several weeks upending the federal government. After essentially shutting down most operations of the nation’s foreign aid efforts through USAID, the next target appears to be NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Musk’s team has reportedly infiltrated NOAA’s offices, and NOAA staff have been told to stop all contact with foreign nationals, which threatens the very nature of the agency’s work; international cooperation is crucial to both weather and fisheries activity because neither the atmosphere or the ocean are limited to U.S. borders. Employees are anticipating drastic staff and budgeting cuts. Project 2025 specifically noted NOAA as a target, as well. The Heritage Foundation’s 900-page right-wing playbook called the agency “one of the main drivers of the climate change alarm industry” and recommended it be “dismantled and many of its functions eliminated” and instead privatized. It’s not clear what that would look like, though experts have said it isn’t a good idea—and that private weather companies wouldn’t even want that change because they’d have to bear the cost of collecting weather data that’s currently given to them for free. NOAA’s services are far-reaching; most prominently, it houses the National Weather Service, which provides forecasts for the country, and the National Hurricane Center, which issues warnings and forecasts for tropical cyclones. It’s also responsible for marine fisheries and even space weather predictions—which can affect the GPS that all our phones rely on. Even if you don’t live in an area at risk of hurricanes or eat seafood from fisheries managed and inspected by the agency, NOAA plays a huge role in your life. “Everyone relies on NOAA, whether you realize it or not,” says Jeff Watters, vice president of external affairs with the Ocean Conservancy, an environmental advocacy nonprofit. “The services that NOAA provides touch basically everyone everyday, in some way or another.” Weather forecasts, marine rescues, plastic pollution, and oil spills Because there’s no NOAA logo under each local meteorologist’s forecast or on weather apps, most Americans may not realize that agency is actually providing the data that underpins Accuweather or the Weather Channel or their local news channel’s meteorological reports. But once NOAA’s functions “start to fall apart or degrade,” Watters says, “we’ll notice them pretty quickly.” If our weather forecasting industry were to be entirely privatized, as Project 2025 envisions, it could leave entire areas of the country without proper forecasting and essentially in the dark. “What about remote areas in Alaska?” Watters asks. “Is a [private] company going to invest in multimillion pieces of infrastructure to monitor and understand weather in those locations when they’re serving small-ish numbers of people?” Americans need—and have come to expect—blanket weather forecasting coverage. “If you break that system, I almost shudder to think of the ramifications,” he says. As another example, the entire tsunami warning system is within NOAA. It’s another function Americans may not notice “until you are facing down a potential tsunami, and don’t have the prediction that a tsunami is going to hit,” Watters says. Multiple scientists reacting to the threats against NOAA have summed up its impact by simply noting that accurate, publicly available weather forecasts save lives. Beyond weather forecasts, NOAA manages the network that responds to stranded marine mammals, like beached whales or dolphins that need rehabilitation. They’re essentially “first responders” for sick, injured, or distressed animals from whales and dolphins to seals and sea lions, Watters notes. It’s also responsible for the stewardship of nearly everything in the ocean, from managing marine sanctuaries and coral reefs (which are in severe decline) to monitoring “marine debris,” which includes plastic pollution. Ocean Conservancy does a lot of work on the plastic pollution front, and Watters notes that two recent pieces of legislations to bolster the marine debris program—the Save Our Seas Act and Save Our Seas 2.0—were actually signed by Trump during his first term. “President Trump should be proud of that part of what NOAA does,” he says, “and to turn our backs on those important bodies of work would be hugely damaging to the ocean environment.” Understanding oil spills also falls under NOAA’s purview. There’s a “small but mighty” team within the agency that works on models to predict the movement of oil, so whenever there’s a spill, it can explain how it will spread and calculate how much oil might be in the water. “If we don’t have that function and a big oil spill happens, we have no way of figuring out how to deal with it,” Watters says. NOAA also helps recover funds from those responsible for oil spills; over the last 30 years, that’s totaled more than $10 billion. Without NOAA, there may not be that retribution, which is crucial for restoring coastal communities. NOAA is bipartisan—and stopping it doesn’t stop climate change Project 2025 takes aim at NOAA for its role in driving what it calls the “climate change alarm industry.” The Trump administration has been purging mentions of climate change, and any data associated with it, from government websites. But dismantling NOAA doesn’t stop the effects of climate change; it would just limit how prepared we are for them. NOAA also, notably, doesn’t have a partisan alliance. It’s actually historically had bipartisan support. Watters calls it the “impartial eyes and ears and what’s going on in our atmosphere and in our ocean.” NOAA doesn’t relay this data with any political bias or agenda, it does so from a purely scientific view that information and transparency matters. “It is up to the administration to decide whether they want to actually do anything about climate or not,” he adds. “But to cut off our eyes and ears and say we’re going to face the world blindfolded seems like not a very good idea.” All of NOAA’s powers and responsibilities have been given to it by Congress over decades, and written into law. Watters didn’t share an opinion on Neil Jacobs, Trump’s nominee to head NOAA who was cited for misconduct in an incident known as “Sharpiegate” in 2019. But Watters emphasized the need, in Jacobs’ confirmation hearing, for senators to ask about the administration’s plans for the agency. (Congress also has jurisdiction over NOAA’s activities, so the threats to the agency are another example of how Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency is embarking on illegal actions across government departments. DOGE itself isn’t even a federal agency, as the creation of new cabinet-level departments needs approval from Congress.) “Congress has given so much direction and responsibility to this agency, and American people depend on it. If someone has plans for this agency and isn’t saying so, shouldn’t we have a conversation about that?” he says. “It shouldn’t just be up to someone behind the scene deciding that they want to tear an agency apart. The services that NOAA provides are too important for us to not have a national conversation about the future of the agency.” View the full article

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When it comes to running a successful business, communication is key. Effective business communication not only requires clarity but also the use of appropriate email format and etiquette. In this article, we’ll examine some different email format examples for businesses to help you get started creating professional emails that get results every time. Let’s get started with the basics of effective email communication! The Proper Business Email Format Business email writing follows a certain set of conventions that distinguish it from other types of writing. By following these conventions, you create a polished and professional impression that will be appreciated by your recipients. Let’s take a look at the proper business email format and some tips for ensuring your emails are well-written and effective. Professional Email Address Subject Line Email Opening Email Body Email Conclusion Email Sign Off Email Signature Professional Email Address In business today, first impressions often start with your email address. It serves as a digital identifier, so having a professional one is paramount. Abstain from using quirky nicknames, numbers that don’t have a particular significance or vague identifiers. Ideally, your email should be a combination of your first and last name or a variation that’s closely associated with your identity. For businesses, it’s always beneficial to have an email address linked to the company’s domain. This not only looks more professional but also enhances brand recognition and builds trust among recipients. Subject Line The subject line acts as the gateway to your email, offering the recipient a glimpse into the content within. Therefore, it should be precise, attention-grabbing, and relevant. Integrating compelling action verbs or phrases such as “Meeting Update” or “Feedback Required” can drive urgency and prompt the recipient to open the email. Equally important is to refrain from using vague or misleading subject lines. The recipient should know what to expect when they delve into the email. Also, always be cautious and avoid using words that could trigger spam filters, which could send your email straight to the junk folder, diminishing the chances of it being read. Email Opening Starting an email on the right foot sets the tone for the entire communication. Your greeting plays a crucial role in establishing rapport and conveying respect. By opening with “Dear” or even “Hello,” you immediately convey a level of professionalism. Ensuring you use the correct name and title of the recipient further reinforces your attention to detail. If unsure of the person’s gender or title, it’s safer to use their full name. Following the greeting, you can insert an introductory line that shows goodwill, such as “I trust this message finds you in good spirits,” to subtly establish a connection. Email Body This is where the crux of your message resides. The content here should be well-structured and focused. Dividing the content into logical and short paragraphs enhances readability and ensures that each segment or idea stands out. It’s wise to keep your sentences straightforward, employing active verbs and direct language. This fosters clarity and decisiveness in your content. Steer clear of ambiguous phrases and jargon unless it’s an industry standard. For a universally understood email, it’s also vital to dodge colloquialisms and abbreviations unless previously defined or widely recognized. Email Conclusion Concluding your email effectively is pivotal in reinforcing your message and guiding the recipient towards the desired action. This is the segment where you briefly encapsulate the primary focus of your email and express gratitude for the recipient’s time and attention. Use prompts such as “Should you require further information” or “I await your feedback” to foster open communication. Keep in mind that a well-crafted conclusion not only summarizes the content but also sets the stage for ongoing communication or outlines the next steps in the process. Email Sign Off The way you end your email can leave a lasting memory in the reader’s mind. This small gesture can reflect your respect, professionalism, and the relationship you share with the recipient. Using standard and universally accepted closings like “Regards” or “Yours sincerely” can never go wrong. Depending on the relationship and the context, you can also use friendlier terms like “Take care” or “Cheers.” It’s essential to ensure the tone of your sign-off aligns with the content of your email, setting the right expectations for any subsequent interactions. Email Signature Think of your email signature as an electronic business card – concise, informative, and professional. This space should clearly display your full name, job designation, and the company you represent. Including contact details like a direct phone number, a website link, or even a LinkedIn profile can prove to be advantageous. For those wanting to make a more distinct impression, adding a company logo or a professional photo can further personalize your emails. However, it’s crucial to maintain a balance – while adding elements can make your signature stand out, over-cluttering can be counterproductive. Aim for a neat, organized, and efficient design. READ MORE: How to Recall an Email in Outlook Why Is a Proper Email Format Important? In today’s digital age, professional emails play a pivotal role in our daily communication, especially in the business world. Using the proper email format not only ensures that you present yourself as competent and trustworthy but also establishes a positive first impression. Taking the time to format your emails correctly speaks volumes about your attention to detail and your respect for the recipient. When your emails are well-organized and clear, they enhance effective communication, ensuring your message is understood as intended. Additionally, by maintaining a consistent and proper format, you reduce the risk of misinterpretations, ensuring the essence of your conversation remains transparent and efficient. READ MORE: How to Recall an Email in Gmail How Does a Formal Email Format Differ From an Informal Email Format? The difference between formal and informal email formats is primarily reflected in the tone, language, and structure used. A formal email generally follows a strict standard of professionalism, whereas an informal email permits a more casual and personal style. In a formal email, it’s crucial to maintain a neutral tone, steer clear of casual lingo, contractions, or colloquialisms, and prioritize clarity and precision. It’s also recommended to avoid any playful elements such as emojis, GIFs, or overly colorful fonts. On the other hand, informal emails can have a more conversational tone, embrace colloquial terms, and even include light-hearted elements to make the interaction more engaging and personable. Formal vs. Informal Email Format Understanding the differences between formal and informal email formats is key to effective communication. Here’s a comparative table to highlight the distinctions: FeatureFormal EmailInformal Email ToneProfessionalCasual Use of ContractionsAvoidedCommon Use of SlangAvoidedAllowed EmoticonsGenerally avoidedMore frequent Professional Email Format Tips Business emails should follow a standard, professional email format to ensure that your messages come across as clear and organized. Here are some additional tips for creating effective business emails: Start with a catchy, relevant subject line When writing a professional email, your subject line should be clear and concise to ensure that your recipient knows the purpose of the email. It can also help to use action words in your subject line to draw attention. If applicable, include urgency or importance indicators. Personalize your email When writing a professional email, personalizing it with the recipient’s name, job title, or company name can help create a more meaningful connection with the recipient. This is especially true for emails sent to multiple people. Referencing a recent event or mutual connection can enhance personalization. Keep emails succinct and to the point Business emails should be concise and to the point. Avoid using long words or phrases, and avoid unnecessary details that may confuse your reader. You should also keep emails short if possible, aiming for no more than two or three paragraphs. Prioritize the most critical information at the beginning. Make your email easy to read When writing a business email, use active language and short sentences. You should also break the content into paragraphs to make it easier for your reader to skim. Avoid using jargon or technical terms, and use bullet points to make it easier for your reader to find key points quickly. Highlight or underline key points for emphasis. Refrain from using slang, contractions, or emoticons Formal language reinforces professionalism. Therefore, business emails should be professional, and as such, slang, contractions, and emoticons are generally not appropriate. Avoid using them unless you’re certain they won’t be misunderstood by your recipient. Avoid slang such as LOL, and use emoticons sparingly. Contractions to avoid include “can’t,” “won’t,” and “shouldn’t.” Be aware of the tone Your email’s tone should reflect the type of conversation you would have in person. Choose your words carefully and avoid coming across as angry, aggressive, or sarcastic. It’s important to be polite and professional, even if the email contains negative information. Maintain a positive, constructive approach throughout. Be kind, courteous, and thankful Your emails should always be polite and cordial. Use words like “please,” “thank you,” and “kindly” in your messages to show respect. You should also be appreciative of the person’s time and effort, especially if they are helping you with something. Expressing gratitude can often lead to good relationships. Be outgoing, energetic, and likable When writing a business email, it’s important to be outgoing and energetic. Use positive words that convey enthusiasm, and be sure to include your contact information so your recipient can easily follow up with you. A warm tone can make your email more engaging. Mention points from your previous conversation If your email is a response to something the recipient previously said or asked, be sure to include specific points from your previous conversation. This will help show your recipient that you have paid attention to their thoughts and concerns. Recalling details shows attentiveness and respect. It will also help refresh your recipient’s memory and help them understand what you’re saying. End with a call to action When finishing your professional email, be sure to include a call to action. This could be asking the recipient for their opinion, input, or feedback on something you mentioned in your email. It could also be inviting them to take a specific action. Clarify what you hope to achieve with your email. Whatever it is, make sure that your call to action is clear and easy for your recipient to understand. Use a professional email signature As mentioned earlier, your email signature should include your name, job title, and contact information as well as a headshot or logo if you like. This will help to create a more professional impression with your recipient, which is important when sending business emails. Including a LinkedIn profile can enhance your credibility. Additionally, you should consider including a professional disclaimer in your email signature for privacy and legal purposes. This step will help protect you and your recipient. Attach a cover letter or other relevant file If you have relevant documents to include with your emails, such as a cover letter or resume, make sure you attach them. This will help show that you are taking the initiative and being proactive. Just remember to make sure that your attachments are virus-free before sending them. Indicate in the email body what documents are attached to ensure the recipient knows to look for them. Proofread emails carefully before sending Before sending a business email, it’s a good idea to proofread it for grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors. Pay special attention to any instructions or requests you include in the email, as it’s important they are accurate and clear. Utilize tools such as spell checkers and grammar checkers to help identify mistakes. Reading the email out loud to yourself before sending it can also be beneficial, as it may help you spot any errors. Respond promptly to all emails While this doesn’t necessarily have to be done within minutes, you should do your best to respond promptly to all emails. This shows the recipient that you respect their time and value their input. Setting specific times to check and reply to emails can improve efficiency. Doing so will also help to develop strong working relationships with your colleagues and customers. Professional Email Format Key Points: Email Tone & Language: Maintain a professional tone. Avoid slang, contractions, and excessive emoticons. Convey enthusiasm and positivity. Content & Structure: Craft clear and concise subject lines. Personalize the email with recipient details. Recap previous conversations where relevant. Conclude with a clear call to action. Etiquette & Professionalism: Express gratitude and courtesy. Include a professional email signature. Respond to emails in a timely manner. Presentation: Ensure the email is easy to read. Break content into digestible paragraphs. Proofread for errors before sending. Attachments & Additional Information: Attach relevant files when needed. Ensure attachments are safe and virus-free. READ MORE: 50 Business Voicemail Greeting Examples How Do You Start a Professional Email? A professional email should have a clear purpose and be free of any grammatical or spelling errors. The initial step is to identify the purpose of the email. Are you looking to schedule a meeting, introduce yourself to a potential client, or express gratitude to someone for their business? Once you know the purpose of the email, you can start crafting your message. Keep your language concise and clear, and avoid any slang or informal language. It’s also important to proofread your email before sending it to catch any typos or errors. If you take the time to carefully craft your professional email, you’ll be sure to make a great impression. What Are the Four Parts of a Formal Email? The four parts of a formal email are the subject line, the salutation, the message body, and the signature. The subject line should be brief and to the point. It should give the reader an idea of what the email is about. The greeting or salutation should address the reader by their name or job title. The message body is where you’ll write your email. Be sure to proofread your message before you send it. The signature is your name, job title, and contact information. This lets the recipient know who they’re talking to and how they can get in touch with you. Image: Envato Elements This article, "Great Email Format Examples for Businesses" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

When it comes to running a successful business, communication is key. Effective business communication not only requires clarity but also the use of appropriate email format and etiquette. In this article, we’ll examine some different email format examples for businesses to help you get started creating professional emails that get results every time. Let’s get started with the basics of effective email communication! The Proper Business Email Format Business email writing follows a certain set of conventions that distinguish it from other types of writing. By following these conventions, you create a polished and professional impression that will be appreciated by your recipients. Let’s take a look at the proper business email format and some tips for ensuring your emails are well-written and effective. Professional Email Address Subject Line Email Opening Email Body Email Conclusion Email Sign Off Email Signature Professional Email Address In business today, first impressions often start with your email address. It serves as a digital identifier, so having a professional one is paramount. Abstain from using quirky nicknames, numbers that don’t have a particular significance or vague identifiers. Ideally, your email should be a combination of your first and last name or a variation that’s closely associated with your identity. For businesses, it’s always beneficial to have an email address linked to the company’s domain. This not only looks more professional but also enhances brand recognition and builds trust among recipients. Subject Line The subject line acts as the gateway to your email, offering the recipient a glimpse into the content within. Therefore, it should be precise, attention-grabbing, and relevant. Integrating compelling action verbs or phrases such as “Meeting Update” or “Feedback Required” can drive urgency and prompt the recipient to open the email. Equally important is to refrain from using vague or misleading subject lines. The recipient should know what to expect when they delve into the email. Also, always be cautious and avoid using words that could trigger spam filters, which could send your email straight to the junk folder, diminishing the chances of it being read. Email Opening Starting an email on the right foot sets the tone for the entire communication. Your greeting plays a crucial role in establishing rapport and conveying respect. By opening with “Dear” or even “Hello,” you immediately convey a level of professionalism. Ensuring you use the correct name and title of the recipient further reinforces your attention to detail. If unsure of the person’s gender or title, it’s safer to use their full name. Following the greeting, you can insert an introductory line that shows goodwill, such as “I trust this message finds you in good spirits,” to subtly establish a connection. Email Body This is where the crux of your message resides. The content here should be well-structured and focused. Dividing the content into logical and short paragraphs enhances readability and ensures that each segment or idea stands out. It’s wise to keep your sentences straightforward, employing active verbs and direct language. This fosters clarity and decisiveness in your content. Steer clear of ambiguous phrases and jargon unless it’s an industry standard. For a universally understood email, it’s also vital to dodge colloquialisms and abbreviations unless previously defined or widely recognized. Email Conclusion Concluding your email effectively is pivotal in reinforcing your message and guiding the recipient towards the desired action. This is the segment where you briefly encapsulate the primary focus of your email and express gratitude for the recipient’s time and attention. Use prompts such as “Should you require further information” or “I await your feedback” to foster open communication. Keep in mind that a well-crafted conclusion not only summarizes the content but also sets the stage for ongoing communication or outlines the next steps in the process. Email Sign Off The way you end your email can leave a lasting memory in the reader’s mind. This small gesture can reflect your respect, professionalism, and the relationship you share with the recipient. Using standard and universally accepted closings like “Regards” or “Yours sincerely” can never go wrong. Depending on the relationship and the context, you can also use friendlier terms like “Take care” or “Cheers.” It’s essential to ensure the tone of your sign-off aligns with the content of your email, setting the right expectations for any subsequent interactions. Email Signature Think of your email signature as an electronic business card – concise, informative, and professional. This space should clearly display your full name, job designation, and the company you represent. Including contact details like a direct phone number, a website link, or even a LinkedIn profile can prove to be advantageous. For those wanting to make a more distinct impression, adding a company logo or a professional photo can further personalize your emails. However, it’s crucial to maintain a balance – while adding elements can make your signature stand out, over-cluttering can be counterproductive. Aim for a neat, organized, and efficient design. READ MORE: How to Recall an Email in Outlook Why Is a Proper Email Format Important? In today’s digital age, professional emails play a pivotal role in our daily communication, especially in the business world. Using the proper email format not only ensures that you present yourself as competent and trustworthy but also establishes a positive first impression. Taking the time to format your emails correctly speaks volumes about your attention to detail and your respect for the recipient. When your emails are well-organized and clear, they enhance effective communication, ensuring your message is understood as intended. Additionally, by maintaining a consistent and proper format, you reduce the risk of misinterpretations, ensuring the essence of your conversation remains transparent and efficient. READ MORE: How to Recall an Email in Gmail How Does a Formal Email Format Differ From an Informal Email Format? The difference between formal and informal email formats is primarily reflected in the tone, language, and structure used. A formal email generally follows a strict standard of professionalism, whereas an informal email permits a more casual and personal style. In a formal email, it’s crucial to maintain a neutral tone, steer clear of casual lingo, contractions, or colloquialisms, and prioritize clarity and precision. It’s also recommended to avoid any playful elements such as emojis, GIFs, or overly colorful fonts. On the other hand, informal emails can have a more conversational tone, embrace colloquial terms, and even include light-hearted elements to make the interaction more engaging and personable. Formal vs. Informal Email Format Understanding the differences between formal and informal email formats is key to effective communication. Here’s a comparative table to highlight the distinctions: FeatureFormal EmailInformal Email ToneProfessionalCasual Use of ContractionsAvoidedCommon Use of SlangAvoidedAllowed EmoticonsGenerally avoidedMore frequent Professional Email Format Tips Business emails should follow a standard, professional email format to ensure that your messages come across as clear and organized. Here are some additional tips for creating effective business emails: Start with a catchy, relevant subject line When writing a professional email, your subject line should be clear and concise to ensure that your recipient knows the purpose of the email. It can also help to use action words in your subject line to draw attention. If applicable, include urgency or importance indicators. Personalize your email When writing a professional email, personalizing it with the recipient’s name, job title, or company name can help create a more meaningful connection with the recipient. This is especially true for emails sent to multiple people. Referencing a recent event or mutual connection can enhance personalization. Keep emails succinct and to the point Business emails should be concise and to the point. Avoid using long words or phrases, and avoid unnecessary details that may confuse your reader. You should also keep emails short if possible, aiming for no more than two or three paragraphs. Prioritize the most critical information at the beginning. Make your email easy to read When writing a business email, use active language and short sentences. You should also break the content into paragraphs to make it easier for your reader to skim. Avoid using jargon or technical terms, and use bullet points to make it easier for your reader to find key points quickly. Highlight or underline key points for emphasis. Refrain from using slang, contractions, or emoticons Formal language reinforces professionalism. Therefore, business emails should be professional, and as such, slang, contractions, and emoticons are generally not appropriate. Avoid using them unless you’re certain they won’t be misunderstood by your recipient. Avoid slang such as LOL, and use emoticons sparingly. Contractions to avoid include “can’t,” “won’t,” and “shouldn’t.” Be aware of the tone Your email’s tone should reflect the type of conversation you would have in person. Choose your words carefully and avoid coming across as angry, aggressive, or sarcastic. It’s important to be polite and professional, even if the email contains negative information. Maintain a positive, constructive approach throughout. Be kind, courteous, and thankful Your emails should always be polite and cordial. Use words like “please,” “thank you,” and “kindly” in your messages to show respect. You should also be appreciative of the person’s time and effort, especially if they are helping you with something. Expressing gratitude can often lead to good relationships. Be outgoing, energetic, and likable When writing a business email, it’s important to be outgoing and energetic. Use positive words that convey enthusiasm, and be sure to include your contact information so your recipient can easily follow up with you. A warm tone can make your email more engaging. Mention points from your previous conversation If your email is a response to something the recipient previously said or asked, be sure to include specific points from your previous conversation. This will help show your recipient that you have paid attention to their thoughts and concerns. Recalling details shows attentiveness and respect. It will also help refresh your recipient’s memory and help them understand what you’re saying. End with a call to action When finishing your professional email, be sure to include a call to action. This could be asking the recipient for their opinion, input, or feedback on something you mentioned in your email. It could also be inviting them to take a specific action. Clarify what you hope to achieve with your email. Whatever it is, make sure that your call to action is clear and easy for your recipient to understand. Use a professional email signature As mentioned earlier, your email signature should include your name, job title, and contact information as well as a headshot or logo if you like. This will help to create a more professional impression with your recipient, which is important when sending business emails. Including a LinkedIn profile can enhance your credibility. Additionally, you should consider including a professional disclaimer in your email signature for privacy and legal purposes. This step will help protect you and your recipient. Attach a cover letter or other relevant file If you have relevant documents to include with your emails, such as a cover letter or resume, make sure you attach them. This will help show that you are taking the initiative and being proactive. Just remember to make sure that your attachments are virus-free before sending them. Indicate in the email body what documents are attached to ensure the recipient knows to look for them. Proofread emails carefully before sending Before sending a business email, it’s a good idea to proofread it for grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors. Pay special attention to any instructions or requests you include in the email, as it’s important they are accurate and clear. Utilize tools such as spell checkers and grammar checkers to help identify mistakes. Reading the email out loud to yourself before sending it can also be beneficial, as it may help you spot any errors. Respond promptly to all emails While this doesn’t necessarily have to be done within minutes, you should do your best to respond promptly to all emails. This shows the recipient that you respect their time and value their input. Setting specific times to check and reply to emails can improve efficiency. Doing so will also help to develop strong working relationships with your colleagues and customers. Professional Email Format Key Points: Email Tone & Language: Maintain a professional tone. Avoid slang, contractions, and excessive emoticons. Convey enthusiasm and positivity. Content & Structure: Craft clear and concise subject lines. Personalize the email with recipient details. Recap previous conversations where relevant. Conclude with a clear call to action. Etiquette & Professionalism: Express gratitude and courtesy. Include a professional email signature. Respond to emails in a timely manner. Presentation: Ensure the email is easy to read. Break content into digestible paragraphs. Proofread for errors before sending. Attachments & Additional Information: Attach relevant files when needed. Ensure attachments are safe and virus-free. READ MORE: 50 Business Voicemail Greeting Examples How Do You Start a Professional Email? A professional email should have a clear purpose and be free of any grammatical or spelling errors. The initial step is to identify the purpose of the email. Are you looking to schedule a meeting, introduce yourself to a potential client, or express gratitude to someone for their business? Once you know the purpose of the email, you can start crafting your message. Keep your language concise and clear, and avoid any slang or informal language. It’s also important to proofread your email before sending it to catch any typos or errors. If you take the time to carefully craft your professional email, you’ll be sure to make a great impression. What Are the Four Parts of a Formal Email? The four parts of a formal email are the subject line, the salutation, the message body, and the signature. The subject line should be brief and to the point. It should give the reader an idea of what the email is about. The greeting or salutation should address the reader by their name or job title. The message body is where you’ll write your email. Be sure to proofread your message before you send it. The signature is your name, job title, and contact information. This lets the recipient know who they’re talking to and how they can get in touch with you. Image: Envato Elements This article, "Great Email Format Examples for Businesses" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

Appointing a chief of staff is a critical first step for any CEO looking to make impactful leadership decisions. But an executive who merely utilizes their chief of staff as an administrative extra set of hands risks missing out on meaningful transformation opportunities. The critical decision to position a chief of staff as a true executive partner, when executed well, can be a bold investment that impacts a CEO’s legacy. Based on my own experience as a chief of staff for a Series A unicorn-to-be and my current work coaching and placing these professionals, I’ve seen firsthand that today’s chiefs of staff act as leadership amplifiers. They occupy a unique position at the top of the organizational chart, where they can operate across teams without being burdened by the direct management of a department. This freedom allows them to shield their CEOs from distractions and ensure they focus on the work that truly matters—their unique strengths, vision, and decision-making. An open secret and unfair advantage Understanding and defining the role remains a challenge. As a former partner at Andreessen Horowitz put it, appointing a CEO-whispering talent as one of the firm’s inaugural chiefs of staff made sense “because nobody knew what that meant.” I’ve seen this asymmetry of understanding first-hand in hundreds of conversations with executives. For Jamie Hodari, CEO and cofounder of Industrious, a chief of staff is a clear necessity. “Who wouldn’t want to be in two places at once? The best chief of staff relationship enables exactly that.” Sitting alongside his sixth chief of staff since founding his company, Hodari told me, “I’ve never encountered a hard problem at work where two smart people trying to think through it wasn’t preferable to one.” But I’ve also spoken with CEOs who have been given the misguided view that this position is merely an administrative role with a fancy title. Bridging this executive knowledge gap promises so much upside that McKinsey and BCG have intensified their thought leadership around this role in recent white papers and podcasts. Christie Horvath, CEO of pet healthcare company Wagmo, says that she views her chief of staff as an extension of her own brain. The chief of staff on her team takes on “tasks that can be delegated to other departments—they’re often CEO-led initiatives where the chief of staff must operate as a true strategic partner, not just a project manager.” Unleashing emerging leaders I’ve seen chief of staffs being tasked with all sorts of significant initiatives by savvy CEOs. These might include projects like: Spearheading the hiring process for other C-Level roles Company-wide Rhythm of Business and Stakeholder Management Plans Standing in and speaking for the CEO in high-stakes meetings . . . all with little to no guidance. Their often-uncommon career trajectories—spanning disciplines like consulting, law, and product development—also equip chiefs of staff to bring fresh, outsider perspectives that might not otherwise appear in executive leadership meetings. And while 75% of chiefs of staff support CEOs, many others work with CFOs, CHROs, or department heads, tailoring their expertise to the leader’s scope. Hire for a partner, not a position A trusted right hand can create new value that even the CEO or board of directors might not see. While the position is usually leveled as a middle-management role, the chief of staff is one-of-one in the corporate hierarchy, reporting directly to a boss several levels more senior. These individuals command competitive salaries even in a challenging job market, reflecting the rigors of the position. We see this in the data from our most recent Ask a Chief of Staff compensation report—compared to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, average chief of staff salaries across industries are approximately 49% higher than the latest median salary figures for general and operations managers. Taking on the $150 billion pet care industry as a leadership duo with her chief of staff, Horvath shared with me that, “a huge part of what makes this partnership successful is the “chemistry”—how easily my chief of staff can anticipate what I envision. The key is to hire someone who complements your skill set and shores up areas where you’re less effective, rather than duplicating your strengths.” The most important takeaway for CEOs is that this role is not merely a position—it’s a partnership. Empowering a chief of staff as a true C-suite partner is a bold future-focused move, requiring the highest degree of self-awareness, trust, and adaptability from a chief executive. View the full article

Investor could push for board changes and sale of assets, say analystsView the full article

It is high time the tax system encouraged more economically productive behaviour than parking funds in a cash accountView the full article

Maybe I should begin this article by arguing that nothing spices up a mundane meeting like a creative, beautiful, or hilarious background for your Zoom calls. But the reality is that most of us just need to hide messy offices, guestroom beds, or dirty-dish-filled kitchens. These three websites offer up almost half a million free Zoom backgrounds for your perusal, so forget tidying up and get that scrolling finger ready. Pexels: Something for everyone The undisputed king of free Zoom backgrounds, Pexels houses more than 450,000 photos and more than 50,000 videos in its Zoom section. With that many options, you have . . . well, options. Whether you’re looking for something professional, fun, or quirky, Pexels has you covered: nature, home, office, space, people—you name it. If you can’t find it here, it might not exist. Photos can be filtered by orientation, size, and color to help you whittle down your selection. They can also be sorted by popularity or latest additions. Unsplash: Modern masterpieces With only (only?!) 10,000 or so Zoom background images, Unsplash can’t hold a candle to Pexels’s giant collection, but this site specializes in slick backgrounds that will make your Zoom calls look posh and polished. There are some great options here, mostly skewing to the modern end of the spectrum. They’re like what your office could look like if you had the time, money, awesome lighting, and daily cleaning service. Images can be filtered by landscape and portrait orientations, and sorted by relevance, date, and “curated,” which features hand-picked selections. Freepik: No nonsense, no distractions When you need a background to hide your background, Freepik has a wonderful selection of understated options. There are lots of plants here. Lots and lots of plants. However, there’s also a great selection of slightly-blurred backgrounds that give your setup a nice, real-life depth of field to make things seem as realistic as possible. With not-quite 4,000 images on hand, this is the smallest collection of the bunch, but it’s a great place to start if you’re looking for something neutral and nondescript. It’s also got the most robust searching features, with more than a dozen filtering options to help you hone in on a most excellent downloadable. View the full article

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Should you get fired for (even really bad) behavior at a football game? I’m a big football fan and a feminist and civil liberties advocate. So I am really struggling with the question of a fan at the Eagles-Green Bay Wild Card game. He is on someone’s cell phone video (which of course was posted on social media) yelling misogynistic insults at a woman from the opposing fan base. The team banned him from coming to future games, a sanction I support (this was beyond the usual jawboning at high-stakes games). But people online also tracked down where he worked and called for him to be dealt with at work. He lost his job (I read). I wonder if this is just … too much. On the one hand, I can see a company not wanting to be associated with someone who became so notorious for his behavior. But it was not at work, not between coworkers. Before social media, his workplace might never have known about this. On an emotional level, part of me thinks — good! This is what you get! But it also seems like a pretty big punishment for bad behavior not related to work or happening anywhere near the workplace. I always hated the term “canceled,” since I think it was used to describe situations where people were rightly called out for bad behavior or racist/misogynistic comments in public. But I also chafe at the idea that someone’s entire life falls apart because of behavior outside of work. What do you think? Did management do the right thing? Well, this wasn’t a guy just being high-spirited in a moment of competition! He yelled really offensive insults at a woman and repeatedly insulted her looks simply because she was cheering for the opposing team … and he worked for a consulting firm that promotes themselves as being “DEI champions.” If I imagine hiring that consulting firm and then seeing that guy walk in to run my project, I don’t think it’s unreasonable that his company chose to part ways with him. I do think there’s nuance here. If it hadn’t been recorded and gone viral and his firm only knew about because, for example, a colleague was at the game and told them about it, they’d probably have been less likely to fire him. But it did go viral, which makes the reputational hit to the firm a bigger risk (again, imagine hiring that company and he’s the guy they send, or imagine simply being his female coworker) … and there’s also something more viscerally upsetting about seeing a video of that behavior than just hearing about it secondhand. I don’t think his company was out of line. 2. Can I tell my employee about a charity raffle I know he’d be interested in? I’m grand-boss to a fantastic employee who travels extensively, including Disney multiple times a year. He mentioned that one of his bucket-list items is to spend a night in the suite in Cinderella’s castle. (That’s the one that can’t be bought, not for any amount of money). The only way I know to get a stay there is by winning it in a charity raffle for an organization I love; it’s a special resort near Disney just for terminally ill kids and their families, like mine, and we made many happy memories there. They just opened up this year’s raffle ($10 per ticket). I’d feel icky not giving him the chance to do something he’s dreamed of, but is it out of line for me to send him the info, since this is a charity I’ve personally benefited from? If it makes any difference, he’s financially comfortable. Send him the info! Just saying “I know you’ve mentioned you’d love to do this and as far as I know this is the only way, so I thought you might be interested” isn’t inappropriate pressure. He can enter or not and doesn’t even need to tell you what he decides. 3. I’m worried that my boss and HR are laying a paper trail to fire me Yesterday, I got a call from the HR manager asking if I could meet with her and my boss near the end of the day. They raised issues about my performance, pointing out a few mistakes I’ve made in the last year, and asked me what they could do to help me. But when I had a suggestion (tell me when a task is given to me if it’s high priority/to be done immediately), it was shot down. (They didn’t really give a reason. They just said that I had to be more proactive and ask for that info myself.) I was caught off-guard by the entire thing and couldn’t muster any thoughts in the moment. A follow-up meeting has been promised but not scheduled. I also sent an email around just to have a record of what I was asked to do specifically, and the response was very general “improve your performance” stuff. I am terrified. This does not feel like a good-faith effort to improve my performance, it feels like laying the groundwork to fire me. I have never gotten a performance review in the six years I’ve worked here and only the most minimal feedback, so I had no idea I was on thin ice. About eight months ago, I went to HR about how I was being bullied by a more favored / trusted / influential employee, when it finally got to the point where my mental health was badly suffering from it, and I felt taken seriously at the time but I never heard anything else about it, and now I feel like this may be retaliation. The sensible response would be to leave this toxic environment, but unfortunately it’s extremely hard to get a job in my industry: it took me two years of trying just to get this one. I’m worried that if I leave for something generic to tide me over, I’ll be kissing my career goodbye. Do you have any advice for me? Am I possibly making a mountain out of a molehill? You should take it seriously. It doesn’t mean they’re necessarily preparing to fire you, but they could be. Do you know anything about how your company normally handles terminations, like whether they commit to following a process of formal warnings first or whether it can be more out-of-the-blue? That info can inform your thinking. Meanwhile, though, go back to your boss, let her know that you’re taking the conversation seriously and plan to do XYZ to improve, and tell her you’d appreciate any other feedback or guidance she can offer. (And yes, they should tell you when a task is high-priority, but since they’re telling you to ask for that yourself, be vigilant about asking for it.) Beyond that, it would be smart to search job-searching — not because you’ll necessarily need it, and you don’t need to take a new job just because it’s offered to you, but if you’re concerned, you should start laying the groundwork to move on in case you end up having to. (I know it being hard to find a job in your field feels like a reason not to go that route, but that’s actually more of a reason to start now so you’re not starting from scratch later.) 4. Employer said I retired, but I quit because I’m frustrated I founded a nonprofit organization over 30 years ago, and for many years was the sole employee. The organization has always had a board of directors that participated in strategic planning and volunteering for the organization. Over the years, the organization grew, and now I am one of five employees. Last year I went through a period of ill health; I cut back my hours and suggested a reduction in my pay to the board, which they agreed to. While I was recuperating, the board made some major changes to how we operate, which have raised costs and diminished the organization’s income. As a result, the organization is struggling to meet payroll, and the board informed me that they are cutting my salary again, by quite a lot. I wasn’t happy with this and turned in my resignation. The board has just sent out a communication to all our members telling everyone that I have retired. I did not retire! I resigned because I am frustrated with the board’s direction and very unhappy with my salary situation. I am planning some new projects in the same line of work and don’t want potential new clients assuming I’ve stepped out of the working world entirely. Should I try to get the board to put out a correction? Am I making too big a deal about this? I’d be pretty annoyed by that, particularly since I’d assume they framed it as a retirement because that looks better for them. That said, it’s probably not going to have a major impact on your ability to attract clients afterwards, particularly if you’re planning on approaching clients to pitch your work (which will make it very clear you didn’t retire). Still, though, at a minimum you can ask the board why they misrepresented your departure and, depending on how you feel about their answer, you could in theory ask them to set the record straight in their next membership communication. (A special communication just for this would be overkill, but they could correct the info in whatever they happen to be sending out next.) 5. Can I advocate for myself during layoffs? I’m not a federal worker, but I work in a field that is adjacent to the feds and my org has experienced a devastating financial impact from the executive orders issued over the past couple of weeks. We’ve been told this week that our division needs to reduce its budget by one-third as soon as possible; this means laying off roughly one-third of our staff, since we have few other programmatic expenses. Right now my division is organized into teams of specialists, and my specialty is research. However, the extreme nature of our upcoming layoffs likely means that staff who are left will need to wear a few different hats, rather than be specialists. They will also understandably want to prioritize roles that are revenue-producing, and mine is not. Compounding this is that I’ve only been with this org for about two years and just came back from a three-month maternity leave. But, because I worked in education and academia before this role, I actually have experience (and I would argue, strong skills) in many of the other specialized areas of my division — I’ve had those roles before! Many other colleagues have a 5+ year history here, including through other reorganizations, so I think their varied skill set is better known than mine. Given that, I’m wondering how directly I could raise this point about my past experiences to my manager in the hopes of making the case for keeping me on in some modified role. They may not need a full-time researcher anymore, but I could easily split my time between that and other roles which do produce more revenue for the org. Is there any chance of this working? I am applying for new roles, of course, but given that this is a sector-wide crisis, I don’t expect to have any job offers in hand when the layoffs happen in the next few weeks, and I strongly suspect (because the EOs have practically eliminated our org’s cash flow for the moment) that we won’t get any severance either. As a new mom, I’m just trying to find some way to keep an income and health insurance for me and my kid, but I also want to keep a good relationship with my peers and managers (for references, job hunting, etc.) and don’t want to stray too far outside professional norms in how I advocate for myself. You absolutely should let your manager know what you’d be capable of doing, and up for doing! If it’s easy to meet with her in the next day or two, do it that way, but otherwise email since it’s time-sensitive. Frame it as, “I know we’re looking at a significant reorganization and a lot of roles will need to be combined, so I wanted to highlight my past experience with XYZ. (Be detailed here.) I’d be happy to take on responsibilities in any of those areas in addition to what I’m doing now.” Obviously your motivation is to find a way to stay on, but you’re also presenting her with a potential solution to a business problem and providing relevant info so it’s not overstepping at all. 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Since COVID 19, we have seen a drastic redefinition of how people define work and employment in small business– and a new desire on how they want to make a living differently. As my guest on The Small Business Radio Show says in the title of his book – Is employment dead? Josh Drean is co-founder of the Work3 Institute. He is also a Web3 and Workforce Advisor at the Harvard Innovation Labs and co-founder of DreanMedia. Josh is an HR transformation expert who connects emerging technologies with workplace strategies. His work has been featured in Harvard Business Review, Forbes, Fast Company, and MIT Technology Review, and his YouTube channel has garnered millions of views. His new book declares “Employment is Dead”. Traditional Employment Models Are Obsolete Josh Drean argues that the conventional models of employment, characterized by rigid structures and hierarchical decision-making, are becoming increasingly obsolete. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated this shift, revealing the limitations of traditional employment models and highlighting the need for more flexible and adaptive approaches. The Rise of Autonomy and Flexibility Today’s workforce, particularly younger generations like Gen Z, is seeking more autonomy and flexibility in their work environments. This shift is not merely a trend; it reflects a deeper desire for purpose and engagement in their professional lives. Employees want to feel connected to their work and to the communities they are part of. Actionable Advice: Implement Flexible Work Policies: Allow employees to choose their work hours and locations to better align with their personal lives. Encourage Autonomy: Empower employees to make decisions and take ownership of their work, fostering a sense of responsibility and investment. The Role of Autonomy and Decision-Making A key theme in the discussion is the importance of autonomy in the workplace. When employees are given more decision-making power, they are more likely to feel invested in their work and motivated to contribute to their organization’s success. This shift towards a more decentralized approach to management can lead to increased innovation and productivity. Traditional management structures often stifle creativity and limit employees’ ability to take initiative. By contrast, organizations that empower their employees to make decisions and take ownership of their work can create a more dynamic and responsive workplace. Actionable Advice: Decentralize Decision-Making: Create smaller, autonomous teams that can make decisions quickly and efficiently. Foster a Culture of Innovation: Encourage employees to experiment and take risks, providing them with the resources and support they need to succeed. Impact of AI and Web3 Technologies Emerging technologies, particularly artificial intelligence (AI), are reshaping the way we think about employment and collaboration. AI can automate routine tasks, freeing up employees to focus on more strategic and creative aspects of their work. This shift can lead to a more fulfilling work experience, as employees can engage in tasks that align with their skills and interests. Web3 technologies, which emphasize decentralization and community-driven approaches, are also changing the employment landscape. These technologies enable new forms of collaboration and engagement, allowing individuals to connect and work together in ways that were not previously possible. Actionable Advice: Leverage AI for Routine Tasks: Implement AI tools to handle repetitive tasks, allowing employees to focus on higher-value activities. Explore Web3 Technologies: Investigate how blockchain and decentralized platforms can enhance collaboration and transparency within your organization. The Gig Economy and Evolving Roles Many workers are increasingly opting for freelance and contract work, seeking flexibility and autonomy over the security of a traditional job. This trend is particularly prevalent among younger generations, who prioritize work-life balance and the ability to pursue multiple interests. The gig economy presents challenges, such as the lack of benefits and job security that come with traditional employment. Organizations need to rethink their approaches to employment and consider how they can support gig workers and freelancers. Actionable Advice: Offer Inclusive Benefits: Create benefits packages that cater to both full-time employees and gig workers, such as access to healthcare and retirement plans. Build a Supportive Community: Foster a sense of belonging and community among gig workers by including them in company events and communications. Conclusion: Adapting to the Future of Work The episode highlights the urgent need for organizations to adapt to the changing landscape of work. As traditional employment models become less relevant, businesses must embrace new approaches that prioritize autonomy, community, and purpose. By doing so, they can create work environments that not only attract and retain talent but also foster innovation and growth. Key Takeaways Embrace Flexibility: Implement flexible work policies that allow employees to balance their personal and professional lives. Empower Employees: Decentralize decision-making and foster a culture of innovation to enhance employee engagement and productivity. Leverage Technology: Utilize AI and web3 technologies to streamline operations and enhance collaboration. Support Gig Workers: Offer inclusive benefits and build a supportive community for gig workers and freelancers. Listen to the entire episode on The Small Business Radio Show. This article, "Is Employment Dead for Small Businesses?" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

Since COVID 19, we have seen a drastic redefinition of how people define work and employment in small business– and a new desire on how they want to make a living differently. As my guest on The Small Business Radio Show says in the title of his book – Is employment dead? Josh Drean is co-founder of the Work3 Institute. He is also a Web3 and Workforce Advisor at the Harvard Innovation Labs and co-founder of DreanMedia. Josh is an HR transformation expert who connects emerging technologies with workplace strategies. His work has been featured in Harvard Business Review, Forbes, Fast Company, and MIT Technology Review, and his YouTube channel has garnered millions of views. His new book declares “Employment is Dead”. Traditional Employment Models Are Obsolete Josh Drean argues that the conventional models of employment, characterized by rigid structures and hierarchical decision-making, are becoming increasingly obsolete. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated this shift, revealing the limitations of traditional employment models and highlighting the need for more flexible and adaptive approaches. The Rise of Autonomy and Flexibility Today’s workforce, particularly younger generations like Gen Z, is seeking more autonomy and flexibility in their work environments. This shift is not merely a trend; it reflects a deeper desire for purpose and engagement in their professional lives. Employees want to feel connected to their work and to the communities they are part of. Actionable Advice: Implement Flexible Work Policies: Allow employees to choose their work hours and locations to better align with their personal lives. Encourage Autonomy: Empower employees to make decisions and take ownership of their work, fostering a sense of responsibility and investment. The Role of Autonomy and Decision-Making A key theme in the discussion is the importance of autonomy in the workplace. When employees are given more decision-making power, they are more likely to feel invested in their work and motivated to contribute to their organization’s success. This shift towards a more decentralized approach to management can lead to increased innovation and productivity. Traditional management structures often stifle creativity and limit employees’ ability to take initiative. By contrast, organizations that empower their employees to make decisions and take ownership of their work can create a more dynamic and responsive workplace. Actionable Advice: Decentralize Decision-Making: Create smaller, autonomous teams that can make decisions quickly and efficiently. Foster a Culture of Innovation: Encourage employees to experiment and take risks, providing them with the resources and support they need to succeed. Impact of AI and Web3 Technologies Emerging technologies, particularly artificial intelligence (AI), are reshaping the way we think about employment and collaboration. AI can automate routine tasks, freeing up employees to focus on more strategic and creative aspects of their work. This shift can lead to a more fulfilling work experience, as employees can engage in tasks that align with their skills and interests. Web3 technologies, which emphasize decentralization and community-driven approaches, are also changing the employment landscape. These technologies enable new forms of collaboration and engagement, allowing individuals to connect and work together in ways that were not previously possible. Actionable Advice: Leverage AI for Routine Tasks: Implement AI tools to handle repetitive tasks, allowing employees to focus on higher-value activities. Explore Web3 Technologies: Investigate how blockchain and decentralized platforms can enhance collaboration and transparency within your organization. The Gig Economy and Evolving Roles Many workers are increasingly opting for freelance and contract work, seeking flexibility and autonomy over the security of a traditional job. This trend is particularly prevalent among younger generations, who prioritize work-life balance and the ability to pursue multiple interests. The gig economy presents challenges, such as the lack of benefits and job security that come with traditional employment. Organizations need to rethink their approaches to employment and consider how they can support gig workers and freelancers. Actionable Advice: Offer Inclusive Benefits: Create benefits packages that cater to both full-time employees and gig workers, such as access to healthcare and retirement plans. Build a Supportive Community: Foster a sense of belonging and community among gig workers by including them in company events and communications. Conclusion: Adapting to the Future of Work The episode highlights the urgent need for organizations to adapt to the changing landscape of work. As traditional employment models become less relevant, businesses must embrace new approaches that prioritize autonomy, community, and purpose. By doing so, they can create work environments that not only attract and retain talent but also foster innovation and growth. Key Takeaways Embrace Flexibility: Implement flexible work policies that allow employees to balance their personal and professional lives. Empower Employees: Decentralize decision-making and foster a culture of innovation to enhance employee engagement and productivity. Leverage Technology: Utilize AI and web3 technologies to streamline operations and enhance collaboration. Support Gig Workers: Offer inclusive benefits and build a supportive community for gig workers and freelancers. Listen to the entire episode on The Small Business Radio Show. This article, "Is Employment Dead for Small Businesses?" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article