recession

What I Learned on the Internet, Unemployment Edition

By on August 19, 2009 in What I Learned From
frustrated-stress

photo by nighthawk7

With the current unemployment rate sitting at over 9%, nearly 1 in 10 people are in need of a job.  Here are some great tips and tricks for getting back into the workforce (or at least taking advantage of the extra time you have).

Note: This is part of the What I Learned on the Internet Series.

  1. Stay Positive - Even though being laid off can suck, it’s important to stay positive through a layoff and focus on what you can do once the dust has settled.
  2. Get Inspired - Economic downturns don’t mean that nothing can survive.  Look to some successful brands that launched during downturns form inspiration.
  3. Find Out How Much You Need – When looking for a new job, it’s important to understand exactly what you need to survive.  The Living Wage Calculator can help you figure out averages in your region to know what you need to shoot for.
  4. Improve Yourself – Don’t just sit around hoping to find something–make yourself more marketable so you can become more competitive in the field of applicants.
  5. Find Your Niche – Getting laid off can be an opportunity to make a change in your career–learn your color to find the career for you.
  6. Work For Yourself – While searching for a job, you might find it an ideal time to start that business you’ve always dreamt about.  If you’re stable enough to go that route, make sure you know the essential tools for starting up your side business.

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How To Use Humor During a Recession

By on May 26, 2009 in How-To Humor
photo by mmagallan

photo by mmagallan

During these tough economic times, it might not seem like the appropriate time to use humor or have fun in the workplace. People are losing jobs, salaries are being cut, and the overall economy seems to keep sinking. But this is exactly the time that humor is needed.

Dire times require increased teamwork, creativity and productivity. To counteract the negative effects of stress such as headaches, lack of concentration or depression, an increase in laughter is needed.

But how do you have fun at work while at the same time respecting and acknowledging the conditions around you?

1. Understand the Benefits

The first thing to understand and communicate when using humor during a recession is why you are doing so. Without understanding the benefits of humor, the unenlightened might not appreciate or support your efforts.  However, humor and laughter in the workplace has been shown to increase productivity, enhance creativity, reduce stress, and is good for your health.

By communicating these benefits, you can explain that humor at work isn’t (just) about having fun, but about improving the bottom-line–something that is always important to keep in mind during tough economic times.

2. Be Respectful

The other key rule when using humor during a recession is to always keep in mind the circumstances of all employees. Having an extravagant party after lay-offs doesn’t exactly send the right message.

You can still do activities like start your next meeting with some improv exercises, but be sensitive to the subject matter and timing of the meeting.  A “word-at-a-time” story is a great way to kick-start creativity before a product brainstorming session.  It isn’t as great of an idea before announcing salary reductions.  The key to humor is timing, and that is particularly important in these more somber times.

3. Consider the Cost

While more prosperous times might have lead to week-long retreats or exotic meeting locations, the current economic crunch doesn’t make it feasible or justifiable. People will rightfully be upset if your humor efforts cost as much or more as it would have for you to keep more people on staff.

The uproar over the AIG bonuses was not because the public thought recognition was out of the question, it was that the size of the bonuses didn’t match actual performance–if a company needs a $170 billion bailout, it’s hard to justify that your employees performed so well they needed $165 million in bonuses.

But the use of humor doesn’t require huge budgets; it’s quite possible to do with little to no money.  How much does sending anonymous appreciation letters cost?  The dollars spent for a number of activities might be low, but as MasterCard would say, the morale boost and affect on employee performance are priceless.

4. Focus Your Efforts

The applications of humor in the workplace is infinite, but some applications are better than others during a recession.  Fun for the sake of fun is certainly a great way to improve workplace satisfaction during periods of high profits, but it can rub people the wrong way when the unemployment rate continues to rise.  However humor with high ROI, such as improv exercises that stimulate new ideas, or lunch celebrations that recognize truly outstanding achievers, are imperative to keep productivity and morale high.

The following activities are some examples of humor activities that can benefit almost any organization during these tough economic times:

  1. Send anonymous notes of appreciation.
  2. Use improv exercises or games to stimulate creativity.
  3. Have a pot-luck lunch to build relationships.
  4. Encourage periods of strategic distractions to prevent burn-out.
  5. Create a board for humorous cartoons or inspirational quotes and images.
  6. Smile.

In addition to specific events, simply encouraging others to seek humor in the workplace on an individual or small-scale is a great way to support levity at work without spending money or involving a number of resources.

Why Don’t You Laugh

The number of activities that can help during a recession is truly endless.  If you explain the value of humor and share compassion when selecting a humor event, you can still take advantage of all of the benefits of humor in a time when we need it most.

“Gentlemen, why don’t you laugh? With the fearful strain that is upon me day and night, if I did not laugh I should die, and you need this medicine as much as I do.” – Abraham Lincoln

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