The blog for all things Apochromatik.
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Performance Reviews: The Best Investment of Your Time
This week I look at the review process from the manager or supervisor side of the desk. If you have been invested in your career for several years you likely have at least one direct report. That means you are in a small way responsible for helping them progress in their career through effective feedback that allows them to advance in their career, find their focus, and improve their weaknesses. This week we look at the “management” side of the review process to ensure you are doing your job to improve the performance of those who work for you and improve the organizations overall performance and effectiveness.
Feedback...
One of our most popular trainings is on how to solicit and respond to feedback, both during and outside the formal review context. (We also train supervisors on how to give meaningful feedback.) As we speak to people who have made time to attend a training on making the most of feedback, we often hear that they are “too busy” to prepare for their review. As we always say, that’s like saying “I was so busy packing for vacation that I didn’t have time to book a plane ticket.” Your review may be the one time all year when you and your boss both carve out time to sit and talk about your career. Don’t let this opportunity pass you by.
One Common Mistake to Avoid in the Search for True Job/Career Satisfaction
Job satisfaction, and for that matter career satisfaction, can play a big role in our overall happiness. I don’t know many people who haven’t had the Sunday evening “workweek dread” come over them around 4:00 p.m. But if that happens to you more weeks and sometimes days than not, you might need to consider whether you have real job satisfaction.
Eight Ways to Irritate Email Recipients
Studies show that the average professional spends one-third of their work day on work email. That means that email can have a big impact on your career. Read on for eight common—and easily correctable—mistakes you may be making with your emails.
Career Lessons from a White House Internship: Alongside a Stalker
When someone sees my resume, the item I’m most likely to be asked about is my internship in the West Wing of the White House. That is usually followed up by asking whether I know there’s a character named Amy Gardner on the “West Wing” TV show. (Yes, I do, and I have a great – mostly true – story about how she really could be named after me. And if you know any different, don’t tell me. I like my version better.) Until now, though, I haven’t publicly shared how I got that West Wing internship. It wasn’t due to connections or networking and certainly not any special expertise. Instead, I got my internship in the White House press office largely because of the lessons I learned from a stalker.
Bar Exam Results are in...Now What?
If you are awaiting bar results and imagining what to do if you didn’t pass, or if you know you didn’t pass, have a seat, and humor a former law school dean of students. I saw many students who did not pass the first time, and I hope that a little advice might help you get through what is undoubtedly a difficult experience.
Preparing for your annual performance review?
Performance reviews are just around the corner for many firms and organizations. In addition to our recent four-part series on performance reviews, check out Amy M. Gardner’s conversation about performance reviews on Heather Hubbard’s Hustle & Flow podcast.
You’ve heard that you need mentors, but what does that even mean in real life?
Next Thursday, September 20, join Apochromatik’s Amy M. Gardner for a free webinar on How to Build and Utilize Meaningful Mentoring Relationships.