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Speaker 1: Good morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the New Corner Office,

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Speaker 1: the podcast where we share strategies for thriving in the

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Speaker 1: new world of work, where location and hours are more

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Speaker 1: flexible than in the past. Today's tip is to come

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Speaker 1: up with smart ways to connect with colleagues and others.

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Speaker 1: This holiday season, festivities will look different, but we can

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Speaker 1: still figure out ways to network well and start the

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Speaker 1: new year feeling more in touch than ever. In the past,

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Speaker 1: many organizations hosted an annual holiday party. It's one of

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Speaker 1: those traditions we don't think so much about, except that

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Speaker 1: it's always there. Oh yes, I need a babysitter for

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Speaker 1: some night in December or two, one for my spouse's

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Speaker 1: party and one for mine. You eat a bacon wrapped

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Speaker 1: scallop and raise a glass of champagne with people you

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Speaker 1: haven't really seen all year. Sometimes it's tedious, but it

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Speaker 1: serves a purpose reconnecting people with looser professional ties. Parties

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Speaker 1: do that, and holidays are an occasion for parties, except

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Speaker 1: not this year. Very few organizations are going to risk

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Speaker 1: cramming people into a party venue where frequent eating and

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Speaker 1: drinking makes mask wearing complicated. I'm not sure how many

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Speaker 1: office parties are going to be mourned. Hey, it's a

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Speaker 1: night where now you can just stay in and watch TV.

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Speaker 1: You don't have to be on your best behavior while

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Speaker 1: pretending to have fun. But still something is lost. So

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Speaker 1: we need to come up with other ways to connect.

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Speaker 1: The simplest way is to send holiday cards. Even if

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Speaker 1: you don't normally do this, this year is a good

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Speaker 1: one to start. You've seen far fewer people in person

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Speaker 1: in recent months, so the mail is a way to

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Speaker 1: stay in touch. I'd recommend doing a card where you

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Speaker 1: can actually write something. I know that people like those

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Speaker 1: photo postcards, but it turns out that you can do

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Speaker 1: a photo on a folded card and then write something

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Speaker 1: on the inside. This is far more personal, and yes

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Speaker 1: you have time. It takes just a minute or two

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Speaker 1: per card extra to jot off something personal about the year.

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Speaker 1: You might also consider a small gift. This is actually

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Speaker 1: a really good way to stand out from the mess

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Speaker 1: of holiday cards. Try to find something meaningful but not junkie.

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Speaker 1: Some people do something like Starbucks gift cards, and that's

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Speaker 1: kind of a nice touch. This year, in particular, we

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Speaker 1: can't grab coffee in person in many cases, so this

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Speaker 1: is another way for me to buy you coffee. To

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Speaker 1: really make it away to network, actually say that you

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Speaker 1: will be reaching out to the person to schedule a

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Speaker 1: virtual coffee and then do it call or email to

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Speaker 1: set up a time. But of course that's not the

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Speaker 1: only option. You could do. Small ornaments, maybe ones is

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Speaker 1: asociated with a nonprofit or a small business that you'd

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Speaker 1: like to support. Little notebooks and pens are pretty universally acceptable.

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Speaker 1: Candy cane type confections are festive. A direct donation to

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Speaker 1: a nonprofit that could use the help is a nice touch.

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Speaker 1: A few dollars to a food bank per holiday card

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Speaker 1: could pay for a lot of meals, and telling someone

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Speaker 1: that you have paid for twenty meals for a family

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Speaker 1: in their honor with your donation will probably make them smile.

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Speaker 1: In any case, if you think about it, you can

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Speaker 1: come up with some small gift that seems like you

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Speaker 1: for less than ten dollars per card. If you are

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Speaker 1: sending fifty cards, that's five dollars. If you're sending a hundred,

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Speaker 1: that's a max of a thousand dollars. Not nothing, of course,

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Speaker 1: but given that you aren't paying a babysitter for two

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Speaker 1: weekend nights for holiday parties. You might wind up making

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Speaker 1: some of that up. And if people take you up

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Speaker 1: on your virtual coffee offer, well, who knows what profitable

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Speaker 1: places that might lead. You can also take the ocasion

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Speaker 1: to just reach out. When you get a holiday card

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Speaker 1: from someone call You can email first if you'd like,

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Speaker 1: or just to pick up the phone. Use something from

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Speaker 1: their photo as a tie in. I love that photo

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Speaker 1: of you guys in the Grand Canyon. We're thinking of

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Speaker 1: going there next year. Any recommendations. The point is that

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Speaker 1: even when we can't get together in person, the holidays

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Speaker 1: could be an occasion for reconnecting with our weak ties.

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Speaker 1: Who do you usually talk to at your office party

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Speaker 1: or your spouse's office party. Who do you see only

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Speaker 1: once a year at your professional association's annual holiday lunch.

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Speaker 1: If you don't do anything, you won't see that person

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Speaker 1: this year. So figure out a way to connect for

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Speaker 1: alternative holiday networking and the season we'll still feel festive

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Speaker 1: in the meantime. This is Laura, Thanks for listening, and

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Speaker 1: here's the succeeding in the New Corner Office. The New

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Speaker 1: Corner Office is a production of I Heart Radio. For

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