TBC

Today is Body Language Day and body language is incredibly important in business; as is an understanding of international and cultural differences. It can be off-putting, for example, when working with a culture that shakes its head as a positive response unless you're aware that this is the norm.

October is here and there are many months being celebrated so be sure to check back regularly as we'll be doing dedicated posts throughout the month.

September is drawing to a close and we have just three months left before we close TBC. Because of this, and the projects we have ongoing, we are only accepting very short term projects and daily or hourly consulting jobs.

Thank you for your understanding.

Today is Coffee Day and, like many offices, TBC runs on coffee. But, that our beverage expert has worked on a number of high profile coffee brands? Projects included improving existing offerings, creating new products, and doing range extensions - often by being able to stand outside of the norms, challenging the "it's always been done this way" thinking, and occasionally thinking the unthinkable.

that today is Ask A Stupid Question Day?

Some of these 'National Days' are just plain silly but this one has a genuine purpose behind it. After all, there can be very few people, if any, that hasn't had that question they wanted to ask but were afraid to as it just sounded plain stupid.

Our maxim, together with many others, is that there is no such thing as a stupid question except the one that you choose not to ask. We never learn anything if we’re afraid to ask the question to begin with, whether that’s by researching it or asking someone who might know. In fact, by asking the 'stupid question' you may be challenging long-held preconceptions and getting others to think differently. Further more, asking that 'stupid question' could lead to others rethinking standard practice and coming up with the next big idea.

Ask a Stupid Question Day encourages you to overcome your fear of sounding uneducated, and opening yourself to learning by asking your stupidest questions so what are you waiting for...?

Today is Research Administrator's Day so be sure to do something nice for them today; whether that's buying their tea/coffee, adding a pastry, or treating them to lunch.

Earlier this month we mentioned it was Courtesy Month and shared an issue we had on a live streamed call when someone had their phone on during it.

Today we're sharing three simple things you can do to be courteous to others around you when in the office, doing business out of the office, or working from home.

1) Volume Control - if you're in a shared office environment or public space when making or taking phone/video calls it's worth bearing in mind your speaker volume (if your not using a head set or ear buds - and even then you need to be aware of the sound bleeding through). Do you really want everyone else hearing what's being said? Similarly with your own voice levels. If you're using earbuds in both ears it can be easy to misjudge your sound level when speaking.

2) Privacy - related to the above is whether you are discussing something sensitive - either corporate or personal. Do you really want others to hear or see your discussion about new products or budget constraints? Think about the conversation and potential audience and either move to somewhere more private, ensure you have a privacy filter on your device's screen, or postpone the conversation until you're alone.

3) Bells and Whistles - we all have our notification preferences in terms of sounds and volume but what is perfect for you may be perfectly horrid to others. When in a shared environment, turn the volume down or even off altogether; especially if you have a lot of notifications on your phone, tablet, &/or laptop.

Today is Education Technology Day and before the covid crisis technology in education tended to be limited. Now though, education faces a technology crisis of its own thanks to AI. Some tutors are embedding phrases designed to trigger a specific AI response in order to identify which students are using AI to produce their work rather than doing it themselves

We're in Happiness At Work Week and as we're retiring from consulting at the end of the year you may think that we're not happy and leaving for that reason. Quite the opposite. We still love what we do, the companies and people we work with, and it is only personal circumstances that has brought about the planned withdrawal from business.

So do something you enjoy, chose to be happy, and be the person people are happy to work with.

this week is Happiness at Work Week? How many of you are actually happy at work?

If you are, great. If not, pop in throughout the week as we'll be sharing some tips to help make work a less onerous task.

We'll start today with a fairly obvious one; if you think the day is going to be bad or go poorly, it probably will. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy in which you see everything in a negative light. As corny as it sounds, finding the positive in things, wherever you can, really does help you to feel more positive - and therefore happier - about things. How's that for a bit of ?