Professional Buzz

Professional Buzz is a blog warehousing relevant information, tips and tools for students and professionals looking for career development and advice. Topics range from leadership and management skills to interpersonal communication and innovation in the workplace. The blog is written and curated by Associate Dean of the Graduate College, Anne Converse Willkomm – drawing on her academic and professional experience to provide insight into the latest professional trends, challenges and skills needed to thrive in today’s everchanging workplace.

Fiction or Nonfiction?

In July, McKinsey & Company published an article about summer reading. They listed 17 CEOs and what they were reading this summer. Of the 57 titles listed, 84% were nonfiction. Only 9 works of fiction were listed, including a Mandarin Chinese version of Mulan (that was interesting).

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Management Through Appreciation and Recognition

When leaders manage those under them only through expectations and demands, discussing performance on an annual basis, workers at all levels are left feeling undervalued. This leads to dissatisfaction and resentment, which ultimately prevents the person from effectively doing his/her job. And it doesn’t stop there – resentment and negativity can breed like rabbits.

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Image of a pile of $1 bills witht he word $37 billion catty corner across it in red.

Poor Communication Has a Huge Financial Impact

Confusing emails, poor directions, incomplete responses - have you ever thought about the actual cost of poor communication?

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Image of a an old chalk board with the words: Writing Tips for Business, the word for has been corrected

5 Writing Tips For Business

Business writing, like all forms of writing, can’t be sloppy, unfocused, or lack structure. As a writer, I get numerous questions about writing techniques. It doesn’t matter whether you are writing creative nonfiction, a business proposal, or content for a website, there are numerous tips.

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Updating LinkedIn When You're In-Between Jobs

LinkedIn is a professional networking site, therefore if your place of employment it not up-to-date, you might lose out on a potential job or confuse people who are looking to learn more about your company or your profession.

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Master Resume

For years I have advised students to use what I call a master resume. What do you include on the master resume? Everything! It does not need to be formatted in a certain way or look pretty, but every job and every responsibility should be included.

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Red and Black image of the words From Me 2 We

Moving From Me to We

I was having a conversation with a colleague the other day about organizational collaboration and how people often get caught up in their own positions, their own collective group of employees, their own departments, etc.

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Dreucker's Five Most Important Questions - Book Review

Drucker’s Five Most Important Questions – Book Review

Not too long ago, I picked up Five Most Important Questions: Enduring Wisdom for Today ’s Leaders by Peter F. Drucker, Frances Hesselbein, and Joan Snyder Kuhl, published by John Wiley & Sons in 2015.

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Game Theory & Interpersonal Communication

Applying Game Theory in Communication & Business

According to Investopedia.com, “Game theory is the process of modeling the strategic interaction between two or more players in a situation containing set rules and outcomes.” Interpersonal communication, like a game, is – or at least should be strategic.

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