Shib issue: (Y Meeting 2014's official colour: Radiant Orchid (Y Recipe: a delighfully spicy tomato treat And more! Like a boss » How to balance the managerial with the personal Jacey Gibb Editor-in-chief M editor @theotherpress.ca rowing up, I never saw myself as boss material. This is the same dude who would practice juggling red peppers in the kitchen walk- in and once showed up to an opening shift in the previous night’s clothes—for bonus marks, I’d spent the night partying at my boss’ house. Despite all my shenanigans and shortcomings, I somehow positions. I was a supervisor at Cobs Bread when I was 16 and I once closed the bakery down several hours early so I could go see Transformers. Damn 16-year-olds, amiryte? I always assumed these promotions were rooted in chance or luck, but I’ve learned something during my time as Editor-in-chief of two publications: I have a decent approach to managerial duties. I know when to get things : done and when to have a bit : o' fun. I try to make myself as : accessible as possible, while : respecting a bit of distance. Not : that my next step is to write an : ebook on what I think are good : suggestions, but I thought I'd : share some of my strategies with : you. I'd also like to note that my : style won't necessarily line up : with yours; they may not be the : greatest habits in every scenario, : but they've worked for me thus : far. As the head cheese, there’s : probably a lot relying on your : approval. While I love taking ‘ . : on projects and guiding them always found my way into senior : to the finish line, it’s all too : common for me to get bogged : down with too many side quests. : It’s better to focus on a fistful : of things and nail them than : doa lot haphazardly. Chances : are the people you work with : want to see things succeed too; : don’t be afraid to ask other : people for help so you can get : back to rocking your own stuff. : Nobody likes a micromanager. : Learning to let go of minor tasks : isa completely valid method (Y Dating success means taking chances : of doing things; by delegating : extraneous projects you'll find : yourself being stressed less : often, which can have a trickle- : down effect on your staff. Depending on what you do, : emailing may be a significant part of your routine. I can : understand why some scenarios : might require you to maintain : a professional tone, but I tend : to disagree. Until the day comes : when we're able to type with ta particular tone, writing a : “professional” email will always : come across as robotic or stern. : Beas critical as you want but I’m : : always open to using smiling : emoticons or exclamation marks : : to disarm what could otherwise : give the wrong impression. Let me use a fairly universal : : example: you can get an email : from your boss saying “I need : to talk to you.” Of course you're : going to freak out, assume : youre getting fired, and begin : Googling possible ways to fake : your own death. But would the : email illicit the same fear if it : was “I need to talk to you. :)”? I probably get more flack on this Have an idea for a story? Let us know! Contact: Sophie Isbister, Life & Style Editor Mlifeandstyle@theotherpress.ca www. theotherpress.ca : than anything else I do asa boss, : : but ] think it’s effective—though : : right away. Ideally you should : if you're actually firing someone. : : : regardless of whether you : get drunk with them on the : weekend or not, but you should : a lot: if you're looking to develop : : managerial tone. Even if it’s ina : situation where it’s just you and : your friend (like when sending : an email), sometimes you need : to wear the professional pants : and act like the boss you grew : up hating. Avoid mentioning : things like “I know you're my : friend...” as they should go : without saying. Any reasonable : person will register that you : have to keep the work and : personal spheres separate at : times—and they will respect : you for doing so. : The main thing someone : ina managerial position : can do is recognize there is : no universal style that can : magically be applied to every : workplace. Once you accept this : intimidating truth, you can start : maybe leave the emoticons out : This next strategy should : go without saying but I can : guarantee you it gets overlooked : a friendlier relationship and : break down that manager/ : employee barrier don't take : the power of small gestures : for granted. Are you meeting a : co-worker at a café? Buy them : their coffee. Have a marathon : of meetings planned for the afternoon? Buy some cookies/ : donuts/sugar-laced treat to help sweeten the deal. I’m not : saying people should come to : expect some form of delicious treatment from you on a daily : basis, but it’s a friendly action : that can goa long way. As : long as they’re normal human : beings, it’s also likely they’ll : start to reciprocate the kindness : down the road. : And now for the tricky : part: how to manage in a senior : position when you’e technically : : for you. : your friend’s boss. It’s actually not as tricky as it sounds—as long as you acknowledge it be friendly with everyone, also recognize when to take a developing the style that works Facebook Files: Wait, where are all my friends? » And other News Feed algorithm queries Sophie Isbister Life & Style Editor Mlifeandstyle @theotherpress.ca Wwe you use Facebook as much as a procrastinator during exam period, it can start to seem like you only see the most vocal (read: obnoxious) people on your friends list. Over and over again. It led me to wonder, how does Facebook decide what you see? Is it all random? Is it wizards? As it turns out, those brilliant geeks down in Silicon Valley use algorithms. Facebook has a lot of activity data to contend with. Every click, like, share, and post action represents a piece of data that needs to know how and when to display itself on the News Feeds of your friends. Facebook says that “every time someone visits News Feed : there are on average 1,500 : potential stories from friends, : people they follow, and Pages.” : Everything from Advice Animal : memes to Denny’s check-ins; : your friends and frenemies : are doing a ton of stuff, and : Facebook needs a complicated : algorithm to determine how : best to display this content to : you. They used to use an : algorithm called EdgeRank, : which determined visibility : through three factors: Affinity, : Weight, and Time Decay. : EdgeRank received a lot of : criticism. It was rolled out : along with Pages, and seemed : geared towards corporations. Its : algorithm encouraged corporate : Pages to resort to obnoxious : spamming to improve their : rank. EdgeRank applied to : personal accounts as well, so : if nobody interacted with your : post in a timely fashion, it could : get lost in the Facebook ether. : Overall engagement with posts : fell. : Their new algorithm system : : isa lot more complicated, : robust, and attuned to the : way people actually use social : media. Facebook now ranks : News Feed posts based on : how often you interact with : the user or Page, and what : kinds of updates you usually : interact with. It responds to : user feedback, like hiding posts : : or classifying friends as “close : friends” or “acquaintances.” : When you hide a post, you can : select from several reasons why, : such as “Posts from this person : don’t interest me’—how’s that : for honesty! New features to : News Feed also push older : posts up to the top if they are : still attracting new comments. : Facebook says that the changes : they made in summer 2013 have : : caused people to now read 70 per cent of their News Feed on : average, up from 57 per cent, : thanks to this resurfacing of old : stories, Sounds good, right? But : now I have this weird, paranoid : fear that the algorithm is : working the wrong way; I fear : that when I stop to read a status : that annoys me, Facebook’s all- : knowing Illuminati forces can : sense that extra second I spend : glaring at it, and then mistake : that mini hate-stroke for wild interest. Thanks to all my rage- : browsing, it seems I only ever : see people who annoy me on : Facebook. Either I’m too easily : annoyed (likely), or I should : start doing something to fix my : News Feed user experience. : So what’s a misanthropic : curmudgeon to do? There are : a couple options, barring a : total egress from social media : (asif!). You can install a free browser extension called Social : Fixer. I’ve been using this : totally legit app for a while to : test it out; honestly, I find it : kind of clunky, but it has a lot : of benefits. For one, it keeps : your News Feed set to Most : Recent, instead of the default : Top Stories. It also retools : your chat window to show you : everyone who's online, not just : the people Facebook thinks you : should talk to. And it allows : you to filter your News Feed : by keyword, author, or app— : perfect for anyone who hates : hockey or Olympics coverage. The second option, and : my favourite, is to take more : control over what I see on : Facebook. Instead of simply : glaring ata post I don’t like, : I will take the extra minute : to make sure it is out of my : News Feed for good. I will hide : everything, and provide snarky : reasons why, until there is : nothing left to see but my own : posts. And then everything will : be perfect. Or maybe I should just go : outside!