OG Tuesday Issue #218

📝 When your boss treats you like their assistant…but you’re not.

💰 Is everyone else getting paid more than you are?

😳 Even the worst interview ever can teach you something.

🎭 Do or don’t? The ‘work sister’ debate.

Making all the plans and doing all the brainstorms for your team’s 2025 goals?

Tap into the full range of your team’s brilliance by using a meeting structure that compromises between the different work styles and personality types in your group.

The diverge-and-converge collaboration method offers a brilliant way to keep both the introverts and the extraverts on your team happy and doing their best thinking and collaborating.

“Many of the issues that emerge in collaborative workshops happen precisely because team members are not given the time to first sit with their ideas and insights before subjecting them to the opinions of others,” say the experts at the Nielsen Norman Group. “When converging first, the input is still very ‘malleable’ rather than being substantial enough to have a nuanced discussion.”

The diverge-and-converge method has the potential to…

• Help insights better reflect your group’s true diversity
• Improve the quality of work and design output
• Efficiently distill multiple ideas into unified group actions and goals
• Identify or clarify the most pressing problems
• Nurture empathy and trust within the group

The diverge-and-converge method steps in a nutshell:

1. Review a shared problem or goal
2. Diverge to generate ideas and think about solutions quietly and independently
3. Converge to share and discuss the ideas and determine next steps

Interested in trying it out? See the Nielsen Norman Group’s full article for more detailed step-by-step instructions.

How many times have you been in a brainstorming session so wild that it leaves you with a tangle of ideas but zero clarity on what to do next? The excitement fades, the notes gather dust, and the big ideas stay just that—ideas.

Don’t let your best thoughts stay stuck in post-brainstorm limbo. It’s time to turn them into actionable plans that deliver real results.

Step 1: Organize the Chaos

Before you lose track of what those hastily scribbled arrows and bubbles meant, it’s time to get organized. Tools like Coggle and OneNote make it easy to turn that creative storm into something you can work with. Whether you prefer a digital mind map or detailed notes, clarity starts here.

Step 2: Build a Plan

Great ideas need great execution. Platforms like monday.com, Smartsheet, and Zoho make it simple to transform raw ideas into a structured plan. Assign tasks, set deadlines, and track progress—so nothing slips through the cracks.

Step 3: Resource Check

Plans are only as good as your team’s ability to execute them. Tools like Resource Guru and Wrike ensure you’re not asking one person to do the work of three. Balance workloads, avoid burnout, and keep everything running smoothly.

Step 4: Stay Flexible

Even the best plans need a little wiggle room. With Quickbase, you can adapt to changing priorities. Pair it with ChatGPT to brainstorm solutions, draft updates, or even troubleshoot obstacles in real time.

Brainstorms are just the beginning. The magic happens when you follow through, and with these tools, you’ll go from chaos to crushing it.

One TA Subscriber just wants to say “no” more often: The biggest challenge I’m facing right now is being assertive without being aggressive. I’ve always been a people pleaser, saying yes to everyone. Now that I’ve realized I need to say “no” it’s very hard to do it in a constructive way.

Saying “no” in a constructive way is very hard, indeed! But honing your skills in this under-appreciated art is well worth the investment. Once you get comfortable saying “no,” it’s the gift that keeps on giving. (Just imagine all the things you could do more of—and all the things you could do less of, or not at all.)

Burnout strategist and author of Burned: How Business Owners Can Overcome Burnout and Fuel Success, Julie Bee, revealed to YFS magazine her go-to advice for saying ‘no’ more often: “Never forget that your time is an asset.”

She urges recovering people pleasers to turn statements such as, ‘My time is valuable,’ into mantras.

Time is far from free and you have a limited amount to distribute across different things. Thinking of your time as an asset with real value will help you remember to think twice before giving it away—the same way you’d think twice about whether or not to just give someone $2,000.

Find the courage to “no” by remembering 3 big things:

• Your time is valuable
• Saying “no” is an important part of meeting goals
• There’s no wrong way to say “no”

Here are a few comfortable and constructive ways to get started:

The approach: Stop saying “yes” automatically.

What to say instead? Darius Foroux recommends, “Let me get back to you.” That way, you don’t reject the request point blank, but you also buy yourself more time to consider if you can or should take the task on.

The approach: Just say “no.” (And nothing else.)

“No” is a complete sentence,” writes author Sharon E. Rainey in *The Best Part of My Day Healing Journal. “It does not require an explanation to follow. You can truly answer someone’s request with a simple “no.”

The approach: Try the softened “no, but…”

Firmly reject the original ask but then offer to do something less time- and labor-intensive to support your colleague in their aims.

One last thing! Keep this quote in your back pocket for any time you need to remember saying “no” is a right you owe yourself:

“There will always be someone who could benefit from your attention. There will always be people who will gladly accept your help if you offer it. But keep in mind, you’re not responsible for solving other people’s problems. You’re responsible for yourself and those who depend on you.” – Damon Zahariades, The Art Of Saying NO

Corporate gifting usually delivers one thing: disappointment.

Pens? Again? Branded mugs? Groundbreaking.

Most gifts get re-gifted, collect dust, or vanish into the junk drawer abyss.

Enter Swag.com—the ultimate fix for gifts that don’t suck.

Why Swag.com Wins at Gifting

• High-Quality Vibes: Say goodbye to throwaways and hello to gifts people actually want.
• Effortless Execution: Whether you need 1 or 1,000, they handle storage, shipping, and logistics.
• Sustainably Cool: Stylish and eco-friendly options abound.

Gift Highlights

• Champion Women’s Crop Hoodie: Relaxed, cozy, and perfect for casual Fridays.
• Brevitē’s Daily Backpack: Sleek, compact, and ready for work or travel.
• Ocean Bottle: Recycled, leak-proof, and vacuum-insulated for hot or cold drinks.
• JBL Clip 4 Speaker: Waterproof, portable, and packed with great sound.
• Plantable Notes: Sticky notes that grow into flowers—need we say more?
• Steger Charging Pad: Sleek wireless charging for a clutter-free desk.

Upgrade your game with Swag.com—your team, clients, and even Mother Earth will thank you.

🎁 Start gifting like a pro.

“It’s okay to take that day off, it’s OK to work out of a cafe/co-working space than from your workspace, and it’s absolutely OK to ask a question even if you think it’s silly. Normalize ‘it’s OK’ when it comes to you and your space. When you have your space, you can help others get theirs.”

— Dinesh Durai (Manager, People & Culture)

🤖 Fellow supercharges meetings with AI-powered summaries, auto note-taking, and seamless action item tracking.

☕ This gooseneck kettle is the pour-over pro’s dream tool for a perfect brew.

🎧 Snag Beats Solo 4 at a Black Friday price—your playlists deserve it!

💳 Square simplifies payment processing with tools that let you accept payments from anywhere—whether you’re in-store, online, or on the go.