⛔ OOO: Vacationing with boundaries
Photo by Chen Mizrach on Unsplash
Struggle to disconnect from work when you’re out of office?
Summer vacation season is upon us — let’s talk about how you can prepare to relax and unwind for better productivity year-round.
Today’s agenda:
✈️ Vacationing in peace
🧑💻 B2B’s biggest tech trends
🤖 ChatGPT’s new iPhone app
💼 Briefly — our quick news roundup
⏱️ Up & coming
Take that time off
Don’t underestimate the power of unplugging.
If you’re finding yourself more agitated at the end of a vacation than you were before you left, it’s time to rethink what’s going on.
Certified career coach and HR exec Marlo Lyons tells the story of Steve, a senior operations exec who couldn’t stop taking calls and checking his email while on vacation.
😰 The result? A burned out, distracted, frustrated person with zero patience.
Tips for detaching:
Create a plan: Once your vacation is planned, communicate to your team when you will be gone and who is covering for you — and send a reminder email a week prior
Put it on your calendar: And invite all necessary parties so they’ll know when you’ll be away
Don’t just hit “decline”: If you’re invited to a meeting that’s scheduled during your time off, shoot an email to the organizer explaining that you’ll be away
Set a clear OOO notification: You don’t have to explain in detail that you’ll be sunbathing on a beach in Aruba, but leaving a vague “I’m away from my desk” message will give the impression you’re only a few steps away
Lead by example: Communicate to your team the importance of time off and how it benefits productivity in the long run
Steve tried these tips, and came back to work energized and refreshed.
🏝️ Research shows that a positive work culture around time off boosts productivity, morale, and retention.
How does your company view time off?
Top B2B tech trends in 2023
The Forbes Communications Council deemed these trends some of the top tech players in 2023:
Sales enablement technology
Video interview technologies
AI for creating content
Enterprise and programmatic SEO
Self-service design tools (i.e. Canva)
🗣️ The overarching theme? Stronger connections and communication for better outcomes.
What’s new with Google
Google recently held its I/O conference, with announcements about an immersive view in routes for Google Maps and an AI-powered Magic Editor.
But according to Content Marketing Institute we may have overlooked one huge announcement: a new presentation for search results.
If you care about organic search (who doesn’t?) read on:
👉 Someone will “ask” the search engine a question
👉 Google Search will “answer” with a lengthy reply similar to a “classically formatted generative AI response”
👉 Google offers three additional options at the end of the reply to dive deeper
CMI’s chief strategy advisor Robert Rose analyzed the example question-and-answer given at the conference, and felt that Google’s answer provided “little value” compared to his own digging into the topic.
Rose’s tips:
Ask how your brand will respond to the changes now, as YouTube, Bing, and Amazon will likely incorporate this tech eventually
Focus on content creation that will establish you as a trusted source
Invest in owned media because that’s what AI search accesses most
We’re going to see a larger shift toward creating content that answers specific questions, both in the context of AI and voice search. Spread the word.
ChatGPT now has an iOS app
Now you can take ChatGPT on the go — if you’re an iPhone user, that is.
🚨 However, Digital Trends section editor Joe Maring pointed out one big issue with the app: It still can’t access real-time information like its desktop version.
If you try, it’ll remind you that its information cutoff is September 2021.
While that’s not really news to those of us who have been using the desktop app, Maring notes that ChatGPT’s biggest competitors do have internet access — and on their free versions.
The competition?
Bing Chat
Google Bard
Perplexity AI
Plus, if you’re paying for ChatGPT Plus, which does have internet access, it doesn’t appear that the current version of the app supports the paid version.
Overall, it leaves much to be desired — but healthy competition is a good thing.
Briefly
⌨️ Instagram is reportedly testing a text-based app that will compete with Twitter
🥇 More Americans think gold is the best long-term investment — which typically happens during periods of uncertainty
🏦 Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman announced Friday he is stepping down within the next year
🐦 Elon Musk hired an advertising pro to take over Twitter, which this Mashable writer says is Musk’s admittance that his subscriber-based model failed
📈 Mortgage News Daily says a different ceiling is commanding more of the bond market's attention than the debt ceiling
📥 How a “social inbox” that helps teams manage all public and private messages from social media in one place makes life much easier
💰 How understanding that money isn’t “real” can transform how we handle our finances
🧑💼 Remote work has transformed this Midwest city that largely catered to commuters
Up & Coming
Wish we had a resolution to last week’s notes on the debt ceiling, but it appears the debate continues.
Read here what could happen in the markets if the U.S. defaults.