lack of constructive criticism

Constructive (Destructive?) Criticism in the workplace

lack of constructive criticism

Constructive [kuhn-struhk-tiv]

adjective. helping to improve; promoting further development or advancement (opposed to destructive): constructive criticism. of, relating to, or of the nature of construction; structural. deduced by inference or interpretation; inferential: constructive permission

We’ve all been on the receiving end of constructive criticism, and have probably also had to give it. It’s not easy for either party, but it is sometimes necessary.

Most of us work in a team environment and there can be misunderstandings or misinterpretations in terms of roles, functions and goals. Even just the challenge of working in a cooperative environment, with disparate personalities alone, can at times require intervention.

But, you should ask yourself; How well do I give constructive criticism? How well do I take it?

I’m sure many of us have had one of “those bosses” or colleagues that just don’t know how to criticize in an effective manner. It may be that they are uncomfortable with confrontation or just don’t know how to effectively share their thoughts.

When done incorrectly, criticism can come across as abrasive, insulting or downright hurtful as shown in this article by “TLNT”.

However, you can’t always blame the person giving criticism. Before storming off or saying something you may regret, you have to consider how you’re interpreting their comments. Are they truly being insensitive or is there a chance that you’re being defensive? Are you really listening to what they have to say or are you closing yourself off because you’re feelings are hurt? Perhaps you need to pause a beat before responding.

Here’s an article from Forbes that shares how to better take constructive criticism.

If you’re the one that has to provide criticism, you also need to take a moment to get your thoughts in order. You owe it to your employee to be fair and unemotional and to ensure you have a plan of action or advice on how to move forward. You should also take the opportunity to listen. And I don’t mean listen to excuses. Just be open and aware that your employee may themselves be able to offer some constructive criticism of their own!

So, before you call your employee into your office for “a talk”, perhaps you may want to review an article by Forbes Coaches Council and their advice on offering constructive feedback.

Leaders come in all shapes and sizes, and growing your career with a leadership position can be easy. Just take a look at the positions we have available and start you new job today!

Holiday Breakfast 65

Annual Holiday Breakfast 2018

We had a great time at our Annual Holiday Breakfast 2018! Chef Jordan Diniz cooked up some amazing omelettes and delicious crunchy waffles with fresh fruit.

See for yourself below by looking at our photo and video gallery!

 

 

Holiday Trivia @ The Rostie Group

Thank you to everyone who joined on Friday, December 14th for our Holiday Trivia event! A great time and a lot of laughs were had.

Take a look at the gallery of photos below for the event.

Our next Holiday event is our Annual Holiday Breakfast on Tuesday, December 18th starting at 8 am. Don’t miss it!

Still Working out of a Fishbowl?

Fishbowl

Here at The Rostie Group, we prefer to look at our fishbowls, not work out of them.

It’s just a basic question of space. Small offices with tiny chairs and glass walls. Everyone looks at you, everyone watches… and judges…

Well, maybe not judge. But while other office providers’ glass walls look good in brochures and website images, the reality of it is much different. It’s not comfortable to sit in open view. Especially if you have confidential material open.

With The Rostie Group, you don’t have to be watched like a fish.

And if you’d like to see our fish tank – with fish that don’t mind being on display – head on over to our instagram to see more pictures and videos!

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The August/September Scoop is Out!

Enjoy This Month’s Scoop And Learn About Exciting Events Happening Around Toronto’s Waterfront.

If you would like to advertise in our growing newsletter we are always happy to showcase local companies and community partners. For more information on advertising, email marketing@rostiegroup.com to request a copy of our Media Kit!

You can also read all the editions of The Scoop, on your phone or tablet, through the Google News App. You can even take them with you and read them offline! Just click here to go directly to our Google News feed.

New Faces on the Floor

Angela Cannon (right) is joining as Catering & Facilities Coordinator. If you’re looking to get excellent food for your meeting, she’s your go-to person.

The Rostie Group would like to welcome to our staff three new wonderful people:

Jenny Mcfaul (left) is joining our Client Services Team You may have seen her at Reception already. Don’t hesitate to ask Jenny for anything you need.

Katie Duff (center) is also joining our Client Services Team. Katie has been in Canada only 2 months, and we’re definitely glad she’s here!

We look forward to what the future holds for all three with The Rostie Group!

The Anatomy of a Virtual Office

A Virtual Office is generally considered to be a package that allows the purchaser to use a business centre’s mailing address as if it were their own. These packages frequently also include services like live reception, a local number, and meeting room hours.

What a virtual office really is, though, is globalization writ small.

How we conduct business has been fundamentally changed since our parents’ time, and the Virtual Office is a very poignant indicator of that. Companies, depending on the industry, can no longer afford to operate solely in one geographic area. In 2018, this expansion is also fundamentally internationalization, in a way that did not occur in, say, the 1950s- this presents numerous opportunities for firms; however, it also presents challenges. The Virtual Office is a symptom of this internationalization, and it arose in response to perhaps the largest of those challenges. For while, a business can be international and exist in many places at once, especially if it does not sell a physical product,

its staff and its offices cannot be.

Enter the Virtual Office. They were first conceived as a way for companies to expand to other regions without having to hire local staff or leasing office space- perfect for branching out quickly into new markets.
They’re still used for this today- people like seeing that the company they’re doing business with has a local address and phone number- even if that company is actually based half a world away.

So, Virtual Offices get used by companies who want to have a presence in other markets. But if you’ve heard of a Virtual Office before, it probably wasn’t being used that way. By far, the most frequent users of Virtual Offices are home business owners. With the advent of the internet, you no longer necessarily need a brick-and-mortar location for your business. People work from home much more frequently now than ever before, and Virtual Offices were enthusiastically adopted amongst that demographic.

Home business owners

choose to work from home- but they may not want their clients to know that.

Virtual Offices are the perfect fit

for that sector; the convenience of no commute married to the outward professionalism of having live receptionists and an address that isn’t in a residential area.
Virtual Offices are the perfect fit for that sector; the convenience of no commute married to the outward professionalism of having live receptionists and an address that isn’t in a residential area.

Virtual Offices are the natural response to a variety of factors present in today’s business climate- they help new businesses look legitimate (previously very expensive), help others expand to new markets, and demonstrate that the business world’s borders have less and less to do with imaginary lines on a map than ever before.

by: Spencer Anderson, The Rostie Group

John Lopes Vieira (The Rostie Group)

Where is the most interesting place you’ve been? That time I was in London for 4 hours was pretty cool.

What is something that you think everyone should do at least once in their lives? Bungie Jumping. I mean, I’ve never done it, but everyone else should probably do it.

If you had one superpower, what would it be? The ability to make people believe anything I say.

What would you do if you knew you only had 24 hours left to live? Curl up into a ball, try not to cry, cry a lot.

If you could have dinner with anyone, past or present, who would it be? Rob Paulsen.

The Office Industry is Changing

Okay, so when is the industry not changing? This may be a general statement in the world of ever-growing technology and real estate pricing. But, the business centre in a conventional sense is becoming very hard to define.

What is your work environment like? Are you a start up or do you have 40 employees? Do you primarily work at the same desk or find yourself always on the go?

In the past, there have been clear cut destinations that business owners have found themselves drawn to, based on a multitude of criteria. For example, finance companies worked in structured environments with rows of cubicles surrounded by water coolers; graphic designers worked at large

communal tables in brick and beam buildings that formerly hosted industrial assembly lines. They didn’t mix.

But what if these companies could find themselves rubbing shoulders with each other? Could a world filled with both left and right brain thinkers possibly get along together? The shared office space industry certainly thinks so, and companies are beginning to prove them right.

With industry giants such as Regus & WeWork competing at either ends of shared office space spectrum,

we find numerous office providers who are starting to position themselves somewhere in between – with no clear cut definition of their target market.

A once relatively unknown industry is now being considered by multibillion dollar per-year companies, as it presents a cost-cutting method to operate their businesses with a strict fiscal bottom line in mind.

Once considered feared competitors to be reckoned with, the global recognition and media attention that these industry giants are garnering actually benefits the smaller shared office space providers.

How, you ask, can small businesses benefit from the ever growing giants within an industry?

I pose this question to you: Have you ever had a pizza from Domino’s? You know the price, the quality, the speed of delivery, the shape, size, and consistency, but you’re never wowed by the end result. It is a quick alternative that hides itself behind flashy marketing and a cell phone app. They don’t know you, the customer. They don’t know the specifics of your order (unless you tell them, time after time). They are a generic food factory servicing the masses, without the ability to cater to each of their clients’ immediate needs specifically.

Now, have you ever eaten at at your local pizzeria,owned and operated by a family in your very

own neighbourhood? These are the same people that know you by name, face and voice. They know that you live on the same street and know that you don’t like too many black olives. They may even be charitable enough to sponsor your child’s soccer team, or better yet, allow you to pay them back next time when you find you’re short on cash. At the end of the day, they’re friends.

The point, very simply, is that people like to pay for a service that is specific to their likes, wants and needs. Sometimes choosing the largest company in the industry is not the best way to proceed.

This is where privately owned business centres secure their slice within the industry (pun absolutely intended). It is very common to have business owners move to these smaller outfits after stints with large corporations. They do this because they are unhappy with the giant’s inability to cater their services to the specific requirements of each company’s business practice.

So, I challenge you to consider all elements of this
ever-changing industry when selecting your next office space provider. Whether you’re a financial giant or a start up app developer, why go with Domino’s when you can choose an experience that is fundamentally yours?

Like they say, you never know who you’re going to meet.

by: Tyler Blackwell, The Rostie Group

Coffee Tasting

Here at the Rostie Group, we take pride in our coffee. A good meeting needs good coffee to function properly – if it’s an early morning start, for a lot of people, that first cup is exactly what gets them going. We take so much pride, in fact, that we held an impromptu coffee tasting.

We stacked our coffee up against brews from around the neighbourhood. We were a little shocked, and very ecstatic that a blind taste test reaffirmed our faith in our coffee – we won! And not by a small margin, either.

When you’re next at The Rostie Group, come for the meeting, stay for the coffee.

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