Sabina Pons

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Seeking out and actively encouraging employees to share their opinions is critical to making the right business calls. Businesses of all sizes are constantly making decisions that have a considerable impact on the entire organization. The gravity of these decisions as well as the chances of conversations sparking disagreement and sowing team division may cause some leaders to limit discussions to a select few. Fortunately, safeguards can be put in place to add employees at all levels into the conversation, effectively limiting conflict, keeping discussions respectful and allowing individuals to offer insight without fear of negative consequences. To help businesses create space for various perspectives and set boundaries, 15 Newsweek Expert Forum members share approaches leaders can leverage to encourage vigorous, yet respectful debate in their organizations.

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One of the greatest challenges in business is to stay calm and in action when you’re in the messy middle of considerable economic uncertainty.

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An economic downturn is an excellent opportunity to review how your teams can come together to drive toward personal and company success. That’s a win-win!

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E-commerce businesses are a dime a dozen, but those that provide standout customer service are the ones that will ultimately thrive. In the competitive world of e-commerce, providing exceptional customer service is crucial for building a loyal customer base and staying ahead of the competition. However, with so many brands vying for attention, it can be challenging to stand out and provide a consistently positive customer experience. Below, a panel of 14 Newsweek Expert Forum members shared essential tips for e-commerce brands to better serve their customers. By implementing these tips, e-commerce brands can enhance customer satisfaction and loyalty, ultimately leading to increased sales and business growth.

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Success in any industry, including technology, often depends on how well a company can keep up with the latest news and trends in its field. In today's rapidly evolving tech landscape, it's essential for organizations to stay up-to-date with the latest industry changes to remain competitive and relevant. Failure to keep pace with the latest trends and innovations can result in missed opportunities, loss of market share and ultimately, business failure. To stay ahead of the curve, organizations need to continuously educate themselves on the latest technological developments, anticipate emerging trends and be ready to adapt their business models accordingly. To help you do this, 15 Newsweek Expert Forum members shared some of the best ways for organizations to stay informed about industry changes in tech and explained why doing so is crucial for their long-term success.

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As we watch the world stage unfold with great economic uncertainty, we are given the opportunity to dig deeper into what drives us and where we want to go in business. 

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Reaching out to peers for support is a great way to work through negative feelings. The last few years have brought many changes across personal and professional lives across the globe. While some of the changes have been positive, such as the prioritization of work-life balance, other changes like persistent uncertainty are causing many professionals to feel overwhelmed.  As experts, the members of Newsweek Expert Forum are familiar with the toll professional life can have on a person. Below 14 of them offer coping tactics that can help reduce overwhelm and get professionals back on track.

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No matter what industry an entrepreneur operates in, developing ways of keeping up with emerging trends will help ensure they remain in business for the long term. Staying knowledgeable about what’s happening in the business world isn’t as simple as it used to be. Whether an entrepreneur is operating in a local, national or international market, they have to be committed to learning, evolving and adopting new ways of doing business or else they risk being left behind. With digital platforms and technologies being created and improved upon daily, it’s essential to devise ways of keeping up with what’s going on in and outside of your industry. To help entrepreneurs keep up in a changing market, 12 Newsweek Expert Forum members share strategies they use to stay informed about industry trends.

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Before taking on any additional work, it's best to ensure you and your team have the capacity to complete the work. An increase in workload is one indication that a business is doing well in a market. However, if the capacity of the current team is not considered alongside growing responsibilities, a business may end up with too much work and no ability to ensure it’ll be done in a timely manner.  To help dial back and shift focus before efficiency decreases, 14 Newsweek Expert Forum members each share one critical sign that a leader or business has too many projects going on at once. 

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You’ve got them on the hook and they are off to a great start, so now what? What happens when the challenging moments hit? 

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Offering resources and opportunities for employees to further develop skills helps ensure the creation of a supportive workplace.  Every employee starts out with certain skills that help them do their job, as well as the expectation that they’ll pick up other needed skills along the way. These skills can be learned in one’s own time or gleaned from a mentor; however, for an employee to truly progress and move to the next level, there needs to be support from leadership. To provide some guidance on how to do that, 11 Newsweek Expert Forum members share essential steps for creating a workplace that actively supports the personal and professional development of its employees.

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Creating change that your team will want to embrace is a big undertaking yet also very doable with support, planning and constant communication.

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For a business to succeed, entrepreneurs have to know how to effectively pitch and get stakeholder onboard with every new initiative. No matter how good a business idea may seem, every new initiative will not have complete buy-in from stakeholders at the start. No matter whether it’s investors, employees, partners or consumers, the onus is on the entrepreneur to present a worthy pitch, gain support and address concerns that may arise from the audience.  While this process may seem straightforward, the challenge lies in devising a plan to put any and all doubts from stakeholders at ease. As leaders, the members of Newsweek Expert Forum know that full support for business ideas is critical to success. To help, they offer strategies entrepreneurs can use to approach changing someone's mind and gaining buy-in from stakeholders.

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Creating an engaging workplace culture is all about putting structures in place to meet company goals and address employee needs. For a business to succeed today, an engaged workforce can make all the difference. With the workplace being more distributed across geographical areas than ever, establishing and maintaining a company culture that effectively engages all employees is a growing challenge. That’s why it is essential for leaders to adopt practices that balance the needs of the business with the desires of employees. Before making any internal changes to how the company operates, determining the best way to create an environment that supports employees is a great first step for ensuring employees feel valued. Below, 15 members of Newsweek Expert Forum provide tips for business leaders interested in keeping their employees engaged with the culture of the company.

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In order to keep up with the amount of fresh online content needed today, businesses need a defined content creation process. From blog posts and photos to TikToks and Reels, businesses today have a lot of options available when it comes to engaging with clients and consumers online. However, with so many platforms to create content for on an ongoing basis, content creation can eventually start to feel like a never-ending process that no longer sparks joy like it used to. For leaders not directly involved in this aspect of the business, this problem may not be taken as seriously because they don’t see the value content provides, but current and prospective customers will be able to tell when a business is only interested in getting something out. That’s why it’s essential to implement a creative process that keeps content fresh and valuable for consumers. To help, the members of Newsweek Expert Forum offer recommendations to help business leaders navigate the seemingly endless grind of creating content.

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If you're having trouble staying on task, these actionable tips can help you refocus your attention. Everyone has struggled to focus at work at one point or another. Whether you're feeling tired, burned out or you're just too excited about an event later that week, sitting down at a computer or sitting through a meeting can sometimes be challenging. While feeling a little unfocused every now and then can be easily overcome, it's more problematic if you're constantly struggling to focus or losing interest in the work that you're doing. Luckily, there are ways to help you dial back in and find the focus you need to get the job done. Below, 15 members of Newsweek Expert Forum shared their best tips for someone struggling to focus.

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For companies that are part of the subscription economy, protecting recurring revenue is mission-critical. 

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Investing in tech solutions to optimize business operations isn't an endeavor that has to break the bank. Building a business is an endeavor that takes time, effort and money. While hiring and maintaining a team of employees helps ensure that the organization is able to meet the needs of customers, leaders have to also ensure that the business is operating as effectively as possible—and technology is the perfect tool for the task. However, determining what technology will work best for the business’s needs is difficult when it can be an ongoing and costly investment. Below, 16 members of Newsweek Expert Forum offer advice on how entrepreneurs can leverage technological solutions in their businesses without breaking the bank.

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While business challenges can be overwhelming, making changes to current proccesses helps build leadership resiliency.  Every business deals with both highs and lows. The ability to overcome trying and difficult times boils down to the processes leaders have developed to address challenges.  Whether leaders are navigating an uncertain industry or internal changes, these processes build resilient leaders and long-lasting organizations over time. To share further insights, 13 Newsweek Expert Forum members recommend actions a leader can take to become more resilient, thus strengthening their leadership and their organization as a whole.