During any kind of stressful time, and now when people may feel lucky to have a job, employees might find it more difficult to request time away. But it’s important to take a break. Time away improves mental clarity, productivity, and focus. When your employees are recharged, it leads to better outcomes for them and better outcomes for the company.

Other videos in this series:

• Course introduction
• Interpreting nonverbal communication cues
• Reducing virtual meeting overload
• Promoting wellness and self-care 

Video Transcription: Managing Remote Teams’ Mental Health | Encouraging PTO to Recharge

[Narrator] Paid Time Off or PTO gives people time to relax and recharge, leading to a more enjoyable and productive work environment for everyone. In these unprecedented times, however, taking time off may not seem like a priority or it may even feel like a huge ask.
Since our offices are now in our homes and kids are being homeschooled, leaving work behind is more challenging than ever. In fact, one in five Americans feel their company shames employees who take allotted vacation time.

So, what can managers do to support their teams in taking PTO?

Lead by example! Leadership can encourage employees to be intentional about their self-care while working remotely and take time off to unplug and recharge. Whether it’s to work on a home project, read a book, or go for a long walk, even small breaks from work can make a significant difference in your energy and stress levels.

[CEO] Here at BusCorpCo, we’re firm believers in the importance of taking PTO, especially during these stressful times. It’s important to recognize the need to take a break from work, even if it’s just for a day. Our PTO policy is in place for this very reason.

Personally, I’m going to take 2 days off next week to unplug and recharge. Even though we are unable to take a regular vacation right now, I plan to sleep in, exercise, and read during my time off, if my kids let me. Work with your managers to get your PTO scheduled and don’t forget to plan for the remainder of the year. Your managers will be setting up 1:1s to review your PTO schedule soon.

[Manager] You’ve been working so hard lately, you deserve some time off!” I noticed you haven’t used any PTO this year. I want to make sure you feel comfortable taking time off and know how to request it.

[Narrator] Your organization has a PTO policy for a reason. Positive reinforcement is the key to letting people know they can use their PTO.

As a manager, take note of employees who don’t take time off and let them know it’s ok to do so.

Let’s make the most of things and allow vacation days to serve their purpose – to refresh employees and provide a space to get away from the stress of day-to-day work. Let your teams know it’s more important now than ever before to rest and recover.

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Video Transcription: Excelling at Work From Home

Working from home has its perks, but it also has its challenges. Let’s go over some tips to ensure you excel at working from home.

• Keeping a normal routine is key to staying productive while working at home. Try to wake up around the same time each morning, get ready for the day even if you don’t plan on leaving home.
• Take normal breaks and a lunch just like you would in the office.
• Make yourself available at the same time as your teammates. This is especially important when working on projects that require collaboration and open lines of communication.
• Having digital face-to-face communication with co-workers helps people feel connected with their team and the work they do together.
• It’s also good to keep weekly one-on-one meetings to check-in and connect on work and life.
• Create a space for normal conversation with your teammates whether it be in a Slack channel or a weekly meeting via video call. Having digital water cooler conversations can boost camaraderie and even generate great ideas.
• Perhaps one of the most important things to have is a way for everyone to submit work, receive feedback, and get approvals. Long email chains are not the place for this. Instead, use one of the many task management applications available to track and streamline the work your team is doing.
• Each person on your team was hired for a reason—because they’re good at what they do. Trusting that they will accomplish tasks on their own while working from home is crucial to a productive work-from-home environment.

While the tips in this video are not an end-all solution, they are a great start to forming productive habits and excelling at working from home.

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Mustering up the courage to have a tough conversation with your manager can be nerve-wracking. Whether you want to ask for a raise, discuss a poor performance evaluation or an important issue with a co-worker; your manager isn’t a mind reader. So, it’s probably going to be up to you to initiate that difficult conversation.

Here are five tips to help you get through that tough talk with your manager.

• Make sure to have a clear plan, purpose, and agenda before you meet. What issue do you need to address? What might a resolution look like for you? As you reflect, take time to adopt a bird’s eye perspective and consider the opposing point of view. If it’s helpful for you to jot down an outline, do so.
• You can also try rehearsing your conversation with a trusted confidante. Whether or not you used an outline, focus on key points during your conversation. This is not the time to go off on tangents. By all means, tell your story, but bring facts and present your case objectively.
• Don’t be critical or condescending. If you want to discuss a poor performance evaluation for example: “why did you mark my performance as below expectations this quarter. I did everything I was asked to do. I think you were just too focused on your own issues to notice the value I bring to this company. I was disappointed to read that my performance this quarter was below expectations. Could I share with you now some accomplishments that I couldn’t address in the evaluation and that you might not be aware of? I’m hoping that if I present you with some new information we might be able to adjust the evaluation. Regardless, any advice do you have for me would be much appreciated.”
• Which brings us to the next point. Remember that this is a conversation and to ask for your manager’s feedback. Really listen and be receptive to what she has to say. Remain calm and be professional. Odds are your manager wants the best for you and your company.
• During your conversation, if you notice you’re becoming anxious, defensive, or discouraged, recenter yourself and remember to breathe.

By being prepared, focused, objective, perceptive, and professional, you’ll be putting your best foot forward and your manager will be open-minded to hearing your point of view. No matter the outcome, you should be proud of yourself for initiating and successfully handling a tricky conversation.

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Video Transcription: Information Security Awareness

The purpose of security awareness training is to make all employees aware of information security policies, help us deal with problems when they arise, and to meet our compliance training requirements. We can have all the systems and technical controls in the world; but if we as human beings fail to follow our policies and security practices, then the whole system breaks down.

So first, what’s the risk? What’s the big deal? Well, there’s a monetary risk. Your company could be fined if you’re not found compliant with the laws in place. There’s also a legal risk if an employee violates the law– knowingly or unknowingly. And that risk extends to both the company and the individual.

Most importantly, though, there’s a risk of damaging the company’s reputation. You’ve seen it plenty of times where very big companies end up in the news due to data breaches. And you don’t want that to happen.

There are a number of technology-related reasons for data breaches, such as new viruses or malware. But the overwhelming number of data breaches are caused by human error and carelessness. A sensitive document is left out in the open. A computer is left unattended for a few minutes without password protection. Sensitive information is sent over unencrypted email without a password.

Another cause of breach is social engineering. Techniques can be as simple as calling a company office, claiming to be from another company location, and asking for protected information. It’s surprising how often this works.

Let’s discuss some specific actions you can take. One, Update your anti-virus and anti-malware software. Two, don’t install unapproved software. Three, keep your computer’s operating system current by installing updates when you are notified of them. Four, log off or lock your computer screen when not in use and make sure to use a password-protected screensaver.

Five, physically lock up documents that contain sensitive information when not in use. Six, adopt a clear screen, clear desk approach to your work. Seven, never write your passwords down. A password written on the sticky note on your monitor is the same as not having a password at all. And eight, never open email attachments that come from people you don’t know.

The key is to make security a habit and to report suspicious or potential security issues to your local information security officer. Work on making security a habit and help protect all of your company’s data, resources, and reputation.

That’s all for this video. Thanks for watching.

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