Are We SMEs?: Recent Episodes
Are We SMEs?
A business-ish podcast hosted by two friends and former co-workers, who discuss different career experiences and provide their own non-expert opinions on a new topic each episode.
This week Riley and Bobby tackle life long learning from a career perspective. Many jobs offer the opportunity to grow and learn and in our experience this is one of the most underutilized perks that companies offer. So how can we encourage ourselves to take advantage of this perk, become a life long learner and maybe most importantly, make ourselves a more attractive candidate in the future?
Article: https://hbr.org/2021/10/what-motivates-lifelong-learners
The hosts are a little unhinged as we get to the end of the year. This week they find out about a new law in Portugal that limits when employers can contact employees and it makes them reflect on their own work place experiences. If you are curious about whether you work in a healthy work environment this could be the episode for you. If you want to hear your hosts go a little off the rails then this is definitely the episode for you.
It is the most wonderful time of the year! Your end of year review. You have spent the whole year working away and now it is time to discuss all of the amazing things you accomplished. Everyone knows that this is an important part of your job so why do so many of us put in so little effort in preparing for it. If you are looking for a better way to prepare for your year end review then this is the episode for you.
Article: https://www.themuse.com/advice/7-things-to-do-the-night-before-a-review-if-you-want-it-to-go-well
Bobby and Riley both are not fans of networking. Unfortunately networking is part of the game. So this week, while complaining about it, they try to give you listeners some helpful advice about how to network even when you do hate it.
Article: https://hbr.org/2021/09/the-awkward-persons-guide-to-networking
The boys are back and this time they are covering boreout. A lot of us are familiar with burnout but what about being so bored at work that you want to leave. What are the signs of boreout and how do you get around it. If you are feeling understimulated at your job this might be the episode for you.
Article: https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20210701-the-damaging-effects-of-boreout-at-work
Welcome back experts! We’re excited this week to chat about lateral moves - opportunities to shift your career trajectory by taking on some thing that was not previously in your wheelhouse. We’ll be talking about some of our career paths and how they’ve shifted and twisted over the years, and all the goodness and weirdness that has come along with those moves.
Welcome back experts! This week, Riley and Bobby get to talking about burn out. We’ve all felt it, we’ve all been there, the point where you don’t think you can go any further at work. Now more than ever, workers are being asked to do more with fewer resources and teammates - and we are feeling that workload. We talk about strategies for coping as well as opportunities to chat with your managers and peers for reducing your overall workload, and what the future of work might be like from here on out.
Welcome back experts! For this episode, Bobby and Riley and talk about what happens when you make a mistake on the job. Whether it’s a big mistake or a small mistake, stuff happens and we get down into the details of what do you do when you recognize the mistake, how do you try to fix it, and how you might go about moving on from that mistake. We’ve got some funny anecdotes and some real life experiences to share about all the mistakes we made in the last few years.
Welcome back experts! This week Riley and Bobby talk about dealing with difficult circumstances, i.e. what do you do when you know that bad news is coming. We were recording when there was news that the government would be shutting down, and those government employees and contractors would be furloughed - a scenario that both of us have experienced in our previous jobs. We talk about how do you prepare, what you might be able to do with this time off, and how to make the best of a bad situation.
Welcome back experts! This week, Bobby and Riley discuss when it’s appropriate, or when it’s beneficial to do things that are outside of your regular job duties. What should you look for, how do you plan to take on additional responsibilities, and how do you communicate when you want to do more, and when you might be struggling.
Inspiration for this weeks topic: https://hbr.org/2021/07/when-to-take-on-tasks-that-are-outside-of-your-job-description
Welcome back Experts! We are currently living through a time where workers are leaving their jobs in droves - why is that? And is it time for you to consider that as well? We’ll talk workforce trends, anecdotes from our colleagues, and our own experiences in finding new jobs and the things we think are important.
Inspiration for the episode:
https://www.npr.org/2021/06/24/1007914455/as-the-pandemic-recedes-millions-of-workers-are-saying-i-quit
Welcome back Experts! This episode, we talk about perks - the little (and sometimes big) things companies offer their employees to make life a little better. What are some of the best perks we’ve seen, what have we gotten ourselves, and what do we think everyone should look for as they’re exploring their job options.
Inspiration for the episode:
https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/5134-cool-job-benefits.html
Welcome back experts! Do you think this meeting could just be an email? Today we’re talking about meetings - long meetings, difficult meetings, and strategies to make them easier. There are definitely folks who are Grade A at setting up and organizing meetings, and there are others who just like to talk for the sake of talking. We’ll go over what we’ve seen and learned, and some research into how to make meetings a little more bearable.
Inspiration for the episode:
https://hbr.org/2015/03/what-everyone-needs-to-know-about-running-productive-meetings
Welcome back Experts! The topic of the day is working on distressed projects. These are projects that have some sort of difficulty - whether its in delivering your product, issues with your project team, or even issues with the client. The gang talk shop about what they’ve experienced, what has worked well in these projects, and how to look for some of these red flags going forward.
Inspiration for the episode:
https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/operations/how-we-help-clients/capital-excellence/mckinsey-major-project-delivery/distressed-project-turnaround#
Welcome back Experts! This week, we get to bring some personal (and personnel) problems up at work - what happens when you get ghosted? Many of us have been on at least one side of this issue - when you send notes and communications to reach out to a colleague, and just don’t hear back. What recourse do you have, what do you do when it’s important, and how might you escalate this?
Inspiration for this episode:
https://hbr.org/2021/05/so-you-got-ghosted-at-work
Welcome Experts! For our kick-off episode, we’re going over one of the most relevant topics still around the virtual water-cooler today - working from home. Many of us have been dealing with remote life for the last 18 months, and it doesn’t look like it’s going away anytime soon. We’ll share our tips, tricks, and advice for working from home, creating a good separation between our work and personal lives, and how we’re preparing to deal with our return to the office.
Inspiration for the episode:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/05/06/ceo-i-want-my-employees-understand-risks-not-returning-work-office/
https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/19/business/return-to-office-company-policies/index.html
https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/16/investing/morgan-stanley-ceo-return-to-office/index.html
Welcome back experts! This week, the duo talk about presenting yourself at the office, and when allyship is performative vs authentic. It’s the pride episode a few months late! We’ll talk about the benefits that you get not hiding yourself, when and what is appropriate to share, and spotting your allies at the office.
Inspiration for the episode:
https://www.vox.com/2018/6/25/17476850/pride-month-lgbtq-corporate-explained
Are We SME’s is a podcast started by two friends/young professionals who are a few years into their careers, and want to talk about the best advice, weirdest things, and coolest moments. It’s our after work happy hour where we get to discuss all things professional and unprofessional about the workplace, and how we and others have dealt with those scenarios.