Office 365 subscribers will know that Microsoft regularly unfurls new features and updates for the software’s constituent apps. But given the frequency of these updates, there’s a chance you either haven’t caught up or are yet to take full advantage of the exciting new additions. Here’s a look at some attention-grabbing features to have shown up in recent months.
Sitting in the reception of Central & Cecil Housing Association, one of our clients, I flicked through the information leaflets. Alongside the pamphlet on how to make a complaint was a more unusual one – a Compliments Guide. Yes, Central & Cecil had taken the trouble to create a guide to how let their people know when they’d done well.
I have run Happy Ltd now for 22 years and employ around 30 people. Three years ago we employed 35 but, as staff have left, we have turned to using freelancers instead of recruiting a permanent replacement. However this has nothing to do with how easy it is to dismiss permanent staff. We are turning to freelancers because, in the current market, we cannot be sure of the level of demand. I have often been at events where fellow entrepreneurs and small business owners complain about red tape and employment law. Last time I asked the examples they gave were “the minimum wage”, “maternity pay” and even “holiday entitlement”. These are not unfair burdens. These are the basic requirements of running a decent business. I am delighted that we have regulations like this because it means decent businesses cannot be undercut by those prepared to do anything to make a buck.
We are monitoring the current Coronavirus outbreak very closely. Here is our current policy regarding our training centre, our online learning programme and what to do if you are not able to attend.
The latest update to Excel 2019 includes six new functions: CONCAT, TEXTJOIN, MINIFS And MAXIFS, IFS, SWITCH and XLOOKUP. In this blog, Edmund, one of our Office experts, explains what you need to know about them.
I recently did a podcast with Liz Wiseman, the author of Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter (and Impact Players). Her book, Multipliers, has had a transformational impact on Happy and on our programmes. All of our ‘people managers’ are Multipliers, who enable their people to do their best work, and we’ve began training others on how to be a Multiplier on our leadership programmes.
“It was an amazing programme and a privilege for me, as I had only just started being a leader. We have become better leaders, rather than managers. It built the energy in the right direction. We now know what our targets are, and they are all aligned,” says Olivia Adhikary, Avegen’s HR Manager.
How are decisions made in your organisation? Are they made by the frontline staff, or by the managers? Henry Stewart explains how you can get rid of outdated hierarchical decision-making processes in this Happy Workplace Round Table, recorded on Wednesday 6th November 2024.
Being seen as credible at work can be a key indicator of your professional success. Wherever you sit in your organisation’s hierarchy, this one-day workshop will give you time out to reflect on your current working behaviours and how they impact and influence those around you.
Due to positive feedback from clients we have now expanded this course to offer a two day version, which offers an in-depth examination of How to Have Conversations that Matter. The techniques gained from this training equips you with the skills to talk with almost anyone about almost anything. Particularly helpful when organisations are going through change and establishing new ways of working, staff gain confidence to tackle those challenging people and situations, and to work effectively with clients in a more solution-focused way. The programme is coaching based, thus equipping you with immediately usable coaching skills.
This course will examine the preparations needed before a meeting; clarify the purpose of minutes; explore the role during meetings; and planning after the meeting. It will look at ways to save time when note-taking and how to reduce the stress which people experience when taking minutes.
We have all been there. We have attended conferences with one ‘death-by-PowerPoint’ presentation after another and wondered if there was another way. The good news is that there is. There are techniques to use the strength of PowerPoint (visual reinforcement) without making it a bland reading of bullet points. This course does not teach PowerPoint features, but instead how to use your slides in a more engaging way so that your presentation is memorable and effective.
This two-hour time management workshop explores how to manage your goals and long-term plans alongside responding to day-to-day demands. It will help you to decide what activities will give you the biggest returns at work and in life, and when is the best times of the day for you to do these. You will also gain valuable tips for focusing when working from home, managing procrastination and managing your email inbox.
In this one-day course you will learn what identity, intersectionality and cross-cultural communication are, reflect on how they apply to you and ways to leverage this knowledge in your day-to-day life. This course is a first step to enable you to communicate, relate and collaborate with those different from you with clarity & connection.
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