From Thinx’s PR Crisis To Taking Better Notes: This Week’s Top Leadership Stories

By Fast Company Staff 

This week we learned how Thinx’s PR ordeal reflects the need for strong HR policies, why your current note-taking practices might not be that effective, and how to go a step beyond the classic 80/20 rule when it comes to managing your workweek.

These are the stories you loved in Leadership for the week of March 17:

1. Thinx’s PR Nightmare Is A Harsh Reminder Of Why HR Still Matters

After troubling allegations surfaced from the underwear maker’s former and current employees—ranging from inadequate parental leave to founder Miki Agrawal’s management style—Fast Company‘s Pavithra Mohan asked how these issues might have been prevented. Thinx is hardly the only startup that may not have taken HR into full account from the beginning, she writes, but the company appears to now be paying the price.

2. How To Finally Stop Taking Useless Notes At Work

Most of us first learned how to take notes while at school, but those practices aren’t always useful when we move on to the workplace. Here are some note-taking tips and habits that recent studies have shown to be more effective.

3. Beyond The 80/20 Rule: This Formula Might Make You Rethink Time Management

The well-known Pareto principle, which states that 80% of your efforts produce 20% of your results, is often touted as an effective means of managing your time. But if you’re trying to use it to redesign your workweek, it’s important to strategize a little more deeply. This week, one expert shares how a little bit of arithmetic can help you turn the 80/20 rule into a more precise guide to time management.

4. This College Alternative Only Makes Money If You Make A Salary

The rising cost of college in recent years have left many graduates questioning whether their investments will pay off as promised. One organization, called MissionU, aims to assuage those fears through a program charging students 15% of their pre-tax income for three years as long as they earn over $50,000–rather than presenting them with six-figure tuition bills.

5. Here’s How I Decide Whether To Accept Your LinkedIn Connection Request

LinkedIn is a powerful networking tool, but only if it’s used in a way that best meets your career needs at any given time. And since those change continuously, networking expert J. Kelly Hoey explains how she retools LinkedIn in order to get the best returns. These days, she writes, “I’m a lot more selective now about how I connect with people on LinkedIn than I used to be.”

 

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