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Cube Learning & Development
Who we work with
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Who we are
Why we're different
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Blog

Blog

We share our latest insights and advice on learning and development.
May 3, 2023

How to stop procrastinating at work and get more done

We’re all guilty of putting things off or overthinking situations, but how do you stop procrastinating and get more done at work? First, we need to understand what procrastination is and why we do it.  What is procrastination?  Procrastination is a common problem, causing stress, anxiety, and often a sense of guilt. Dr Piers Steel, one of the world’s pre-eminent researchers on procrastination, defines it as ‘the voluntary postponement of an unpleasant task, often against one’s better judgement.’  If you spend your time dragging your feet and delaying the inevitable, […]
April 4, 2023

Four ways to enter a flow state of mind

If you’ve ever been completely immersed in a task or felt ‘in the zone’, its likely you’ve experienced a flow state of mind. You might have found this happens when you’re learning something new, being creative such as writing of painting, or taking part in a sport.   Being able to harness a flow state of mind is an important productivity hack. Here’s what you need to know about it, so you can use it to your advantage.   What is flow state of mind?  Flow is a feeling of effortless focus […]
March 2, 2023

Prioritising your workload for personal effectiveness

With our fast-paced lives, prioritising your workload can help you be more efficient and achieve your goals faster. We often find ourselves juggling multiple tasks and wasting precious time on meetings that could have been an email. So how do you make more time for creativity and ultimately become more productive?   Understanding the urgency and importance of tasks coming your way is the first step. Stephen Covey’s ‘Four Quadrants’ is a useful time management tool to help prioritise work tasks and identify those pesky timewasters.  A matrix to prioritise tasks  […]
February 9, 2023

The difference between pressure and stress for peak performance

We’ve all experienced pressure and stress within our lives, but what’s the difference, and how does this impact performance at work?  It’s reported that one in 40 workers were affected by work-related stress, anxiety or depression in 2020 to 2021. That’s around 18 million working days thought to be lost each year because of these problems.   A little bit of stress is good for people to perform and protect themselves, say the World Health Organisation (WHO), but too much stress can overwhelm them leading to a fight, flight or freeze […]
January 5, 2023

Managing people through change

How to support your team through organisational change  No matter how well you’ve planned organisational change, the tricky bit is engaging your teams to contribute and embrace new ways of working.   New technologies. Changing customer preferences. Competitors eating up market share. The spiralling cost of doing business. Standing still isn’t an option for any of us.   In a recent interview with the CBI, dealing with change is cited as the number one priority for leaders right now.  So, how can you support and coach people through organisational change to influence […]
December 8, 2022

Understanding change

Understanding how we react to change   Cutting costs. Efficiency gains. New technologies. Restructuring. New leadership. Whatever form it might take, change is a given in most organisations as we navigate challenges and grasp opportunities in front of us.  But no matter how well we’ve planned organisational change, understanding and effectively dealing with how people respond is key to effective implementation.  In fact, research from McKinsey & Company found 70% of change programmes fail, pointing out common pitfalls are largely due to “employee resistance and lack of management support”.  Here, we […]
November 10, 2022

Three steps to build rapport in a customer service environment

Customer experience is an important aspect of any business and can give you that competitive edge in a crowded market, but how important is building rapport with your customers?   Research by HubSpot has shown that 93% of customers are more likely to make repeat purchases with companies who offer excellent customer service.  We know people like to deal with people, so humanising your contact with customers, whether they are doing a simple transaction or making a complaint, can have a real impact on their impression of your organisation.   When contemplating […]
October 13, 2022

Building rapport through questioning and active listening

So, you’ve made a great first impression and now you need to build a lasting connection by establishing good rapport. Using questions and active listening are techniques you can use to help with this.   Useful questions to build rapport  You might think all kinds of questions are useful when building rapport, but that’s not the case. Here are the ones you need to focus on.  Open questions. These are questions you can’t answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to and help initiate conversations. Try asking how, why, what, where, what, when, who, […]
September 14, 2022

Making a good first impression – tips for building rapport

It’s your time to shine, so how do you make a good impression? Whether you’ve secured an interview for your dream job, or scheduled diary time with a new client, it’s important to make a good first (and lasting) impression to guarantee success.  According to researchers, it takes just seven seconds to make a first impression on someone. A further statistic claims it takes only a tenth of a second to form an impression of someone from their face. That’s both interesting and terrifying, considering body language and non-verbal communication […]
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