Heather Rome, Formerly of DAI – Characteristics of a Positive Work Environment

As a leader who has had considerable decision-making power while working with international conglomerates, Heather Rome DAI, with experience at DAI and beyond, consistently strives to create a positive impact on work environments. The influencing factors often include the culture of the organization, the physical characteristics of the building, and even the condition of the office equipment, but what ultimately contributes to a company’s positive work environment and resulting business success is quite simply the people and their daily interactions with one another.

It’s an Open Discussion
It’s very important that an employee feels that they can offer their opinion without being shut-down by others. An employee who feels respected and valued knows that their opinion is important, not only because it is beneficial for the company goals, but also because these human interactions are what create good morale.

Giving and Taking
Hierarchy is a part of the workplace environment, yet collaboration is a two-way street. If the employee works well, they earn respect and financial compensation, and in return, they offer their best on a daily basis. Likewise, when the boss is approachable, they earn the respect and diligence of their team. When there is a mutual respect, everything – including the organization – works better and achieves greater goals.

Throughout her career Heather Rome, formerly of DAI, has created work environments where employees and leaders earned mutual respect by creating open communication, and a strong professional bond between all members of the team. In this type of respectful environment, it is much easier to do well on a daily basis and to meet with more overall success.

Sources:
http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/positive-working-environment/

Heather Rome, Formerly of DAI – Running Effective Meetings

Heather Rome, formerly of DAI, has seen her fair share of meetings during her professional life, many of which she organizes herself. If you are ever in a position where you have the opportunity to organize a corporate assembly, below are some guidelines.

Have a Clear Objective

It is very important that everybody in a meeting understand the objective, and for that to happen, the meeting must have a clearly defined purpose. Before you invite attendees, ask yourself what you – and the company – wish to accomplish during the meeting. Once you know your desired goal, build an outline around it, and selectively invite the necessary people to make sure the objective is clearly communicated and understood.

Follow an Agenda

Create a detailed agenda and stick to it. It may help if you itemize the steps, and assign a predetermined number of minutes to the different items on your list. This will help to more accurately estimate their duration and respectfully utilize everyone’s time. Once the detailed agenda is ready, send it to the people who will be present in the meeting to allow them the opportunity to more efficiently prepare for the meeting.

Don’t Let Anybody Steal the Show, So to Speak

Nothing sidetracks a meeting faster than somebody talking too much about something that could be handled in significantly less time. When that happens, it inadvertently leads to one of two things: the meeting will either be longer than anticipated, or you won’t be able to cover everything. Either scenario is a bad one, so make sure you avoid the problem and start and finish on time.

Heather Rome DAI has considerable experience orchestrating meetings in many domestic and international locations.

Sources:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesleadershipforum/2014/02/05/seven-steps-to-running-the-most-effective-meeting-possible/#5c6190810546

Heather Rome, Formerly of DAI – Benefits of Traveling

Heather Rome, formerly of DAI, is an avid traveler who likes to explore other countries, regions, and cultures. During her career she has had the opportunity to travel to as many as four continents. If you also caught the travel bug, you might be pleased to know that traveling offers far more interesting benefits than you may think.

New Purpose

It might be a cliché, but traveling often gives you a new perspective, and sometimes even a new purpose. As you travel, you are exposed to new stimuli; you also often meet new people and experience different cultures in a way that would be impossible to fully experience through studying or reading. By being physically there, you open yourself to new possibilities, and that’s often only the beginning.

You Gain Appreciation for Yourself

When you are away from home, you often come to appreciate its attributes and surroundings more than you did before. When you visit a new place you may also gain a greater appreciation for your personal strengths, choices and decisions.

You Realize How Little You Knew

Lexical knowledge is a great thing, but while you are traveling, you use all five of your senses and often realize how little you actually know about a region. Through new experiences, the world can be a very different place compared to the picture that’s in your mind.

Heather Rome, formerly of DAI, enjoys traveling for a variety of reasons, including relaxation, but also for personal edification and a broadening of horizons.

Sources:

http://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifestyle/9-wonderful-benefits-traveling.html

Heather Rome, Formerly of DAI – Maintaining a Healthy Lifestyle in the Corporate World

Heather Rome, who has global experience with Development Alternatives Incorporated (DAI) and beyond, knows just how hard it can be to balance a healthy lifestyle while working in the corporate world. This busy lifestyle often comes with considerable challenges, including long working hours and inconsistent travel schedules, along with what is quite possibly the biggest challenge of them all; stress management. While it is not impossible to follow a dietary and exercising regimen while working in an intense environment, it does require careful planning.

Diet

Diet is one of the biggest factors in living and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. With an inconsistent schedule, it is very important to have healthy food alternatives available in the office. Maintaining a personal drawer or shelf filled with quick protein based nutrition is essential. If you are even more serious about living healthy while meeting with success in the corporate world, packing your lunch and avoiding coffee are some of the most important things that you can do on a daily basis. Instead of caffeine and sugar, aim for herbal teas and fruit.

Exercising

In order to maintain a healthy body, having a gym membership is beneficial. A membership with a daily class schedule and group workouts is more motivating than the idea of home exercising. When you have a membership at a gym, it means that you have already made a financial commitment, which adds another important incentive for you to exercise. Hiring a professional who can help train with you is also an additional motivating factor.

Heather Rome DAI, with international DAI experience, is an avid health enthusiast who encourages others to also follow a healthy diet and lifestyle.

Sources:

https://community.macmillan.com/groups/macmillan-news/blog/2016/07/08/corporate-world-healthy-lifestyle

Heather Rome, Formerly of DAI – Leadership Skills Required for Corporate Sustainability

Heather Rome, formerly of DAI, understands what it takes to develop and provide leadership qualities that help a company achieve its goals in a competitive environment. Those who obtain the opportunity to showcase their skills in a similar role must understand that the ability to lead corporate responsibility (CR) is key to achieving sustainable success. If you want to be successful in spearheading CR initiatives, you must demonstrate certain traits.

Be Flexible

CR involves literally every issue that a company may encounter, which means that you may often have to quickly engage in new topics that you do not necessarily know much about. This requires a speedy on-the-spot education, rapid analysis, and the ability to be flexible with your expectations and how you go about meeting those expectations.

Remember Your Core Values

While successful CR leadership requires you to demonstrate the kind of evolution that involves a very steep learning curve, it is of utmost importance to always remember your core values as well as those of the corporation you represent. Whether you were previously a marketing expert or held a scientific role, embrace your past experiences and let them be your guiding compass in handling potentially sensitive issues related to corporate responsibility.

Influence Others

A professional holding a corporate responsibility leadership role must learn to become an exceptional verbal and written communicator. He or she needs to be able to clearly communicate a new set of facts and encourage others to make the right decisions for the corporation, often without any actual authority or control. Clear communication makes a potentially challenging process significantly easier, and allows for more rewarding outcomes.

Heather Rome DAI, formerly of DAI, understands what it takes to implement change management and clearly communicate new information as needed for greater overall success while respecting both employee and corporate responsibilities.

Sources: https://www.greenbiz.com/blog/2012/07/16/9-skills-success-corporate-sustainability-leadership

Heather Rome, Formerly of DAI – Making Time for Leisure Reading with a Busy Career

Heather Rome DAI has worked with a number of large companies including Development Alternatives Inc. (DAI). Her career keeps her consistently busy. Though you might assume that this leaves no time for leisure reading, Rome frequently finds moments to indulge her love of books.

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If you work in any position that keeps you just as busy as Heather Rome during her positions at DAI, and would like to increase the amount of leisure reading, the tips below could help:

Read for Yourself – Attempting to read books based on a list of “Must Reads” can dampen your desire to make time for the activity. Read books that interest you based on your personal preferences to increase your motivation to make time for them.  A book series often spurs greater interest.

Read Across All Devices – If you keep the book(s) you are reading downloaded on all of your devices, you will be more likely to have time for them. For example, if you are waiting in line for your daily coffee, you can read a page or two of your current book on your mobile phone.

Read Before Bed – Creating the ritual of reading before bed can make it easier to both fall asleep and complete your book list. Even if you’re only able to enjoy two pages before dozing off, your nightly habit will make an impact in your average reading time.

While making time to read is an enjoyable pastime, it also offers a number of health benefits that keep professionals like Heather Rome enthusiastic regardless of busy positions for companies such as DAI.

Heather Rome, Formerly of DAI – How to Adjust to New Time Zones for Travel

Heather Rome is a seasoned global businesswoman who has worked with companies such as DAI (Development Alternatives Inc.) and other large organizations. She has traveled to and worked in dozens of countries and, during her years traversing the world, she has learned how to adjust to different time zones.

If you must travel for business, as Heather Rome did with DAI, or you simply want to travel for pleasure, you’ll need to help your body adjust to new time zones to avoid jet lag. Tips like those below are good practices to employ:

• Reset Your Watch – A few days before you begin your trip, reset your watch or the clock on your phone to match the time zone to which you are traveling. This will help you to gradually adjust your habits to better suit your destination, reducing jet lag when you arrive.
• Stay Hydrated – Dehydration will make adjusting to a new rhythm harder on your body. Drink plenty of fluids from the moment you begin your trip to help your body cope with the changing time zones.
• Limit Your Sleep – It’s tempting to take a long nap on the flight to your destination or as soon as you arrive, but it is healthier to limit your sleep to short naps until it is evening in your new zone. This will help your body to adjust faster and fight jet lag more effectively during the next few days.

Heather Rome traveled frequently with organizations such as DAI, and continues to implement the above-mentioned tips in her current travels. Adopting practices meant to combat jet lag has helped her to be more productive in her international visits, and they can do the same for you.

 

Heather Rome, Formerly of DAI – Packing Light for International Travel

Heather Rome has worked with large international companies such as DAI (Development Alternatives Inc.) and during her time as a global businesswoman, she has worked in, traveled to or lived in dozens of countries. International businesspeople like Rome often value the ability to pack light so that their trips are easier to manage with less room for lost baggage.

Whether you’re embarking on your first trip out of the country for a vacation or, like Heather Rome, you work with organizations as global as DAI and others that make world travel a must, learning to pack light can make your international travels more enjoyable. The tips below can help you have better experiences with less baggage:

Pick the Bag(s) First – After examining your airline’s baggage policies, you can decide how many bags you want to bring. By choosing your bags before you pack, you place a limit on yourself that cannot be exceeded.

Pack Densely – Arrange your clothes and items to be tightly packed so that they take up less room. Rolled clothes, for example, are smaller than folded clothes, and they can be rolled with items like toothbrushes in the center. If you think in terms of density, it’ll be easier to stop yourself from crumpling something into the corner of your bag at the last minute.

Follow the Rule of Threes – The rule of three refers to bringing three of each item you need; three dress shirts or three pairs of socks, for example. If you pack three of each item you need, you can wear one, have one ready to wear, and one in the wash/dry cleaner at all times. The more versatile the clothing pieces, the better the rule’s functionality.

Avoid the “What If” Game – If you play the “what if” game while you pack, you’re liable to bring half of your belongings to prepare for the off chances that you may need them. Doing this will thwart your efforts to pack light. Assume that anything other than ordinary needs can be handled at your destination.

Value Items by Their Functions – The more functions an item offers you, the higher priority you should place it on your packing list. For example, a neutral-colored t-shirt can go under a business suit and a business-casual outfit or a basic top to wear out for a night on the town. Likewise, a sarong can serve as a blanket for the beach, a swimsuit cover-up, a towel, a privacy barrier and even a quick bag, if needed.

The above guidelines aren’t the only secrets that pros like Heather Rome DAI use when they travel for companies such as DAI, but they’re a good place to start. If you travel frequently, you will likely develop personal strategies for keeping your baggage to a minimum.

Heather Rome, Formerly of DAI – Creating an Ergonomic Office

Heather Rome, formerly of DAI (Development Alternatives Inc.), is an international businesswoman with years of experience in various organizations around the globe. During her tenure as a professional, she has worked in a number of office settings, handling duties ranging from project management to leadership training.

No matter where you work, if you spend daily time in an office setting, like Heather Rome in DAI locations, the ergonomics of your work environment may have a big impact on your health. Setting up a healthy, ergonomic workspace space may keep your body injury-free and comfortable, regardless of your profession.

The following four categories are focal points in office ergonomic design:

• The Chair – An ergonomic office chair doesn’t need to cost hundreds of dollars, but it does need to have a comfortable cushion, an adjustable seat height, lumbar support, an adjustable back rest height, arm rests and the ability to swivel. When you consider the price of a new chair, or chair upgrades like cushions and lumbar supports, think about how many hours of your day you are likely to spend in your chair. The longer you are sitting in your office chair, the more of an impact it may have on your health.
• The Desk – Your desk setup is integral to a healthy office design. Start by placing your mouse and keyboard as close together as possible, at waist height. The monitor should be at eye level and glare-free, both of which can be achieved with an adjustable or do-it-yourself monitor stand.
• The Posture – Even the most ergonomically-designed workstation may become unhealthy if you do not use good posture. You must be mindful of your body so that you do not slouch and you keep your elbows close to your body, bent at a 90-degree angle. Also, your shoulders and back should be relaxed, never tense or strained.
• The Habits – By combining an ergonomic setup with proper posture and quality habits, you may prevent many of the issues associated with stationary jobs. Prevent eye strain and keep your body moving by taking regular breaks away from your computer screen; stretching or walking is a healthy practice during breaks. Also, consider programs designed to automatically adjust the brightness of your computer screen, which are beneficial if you tend to spend long hours at your computer desk or if you tend to work late in the changing light.

Whether you’re working as a Project Manager with a global organization like DAI, as Heather Rome DAI has, or you’re working for a small start-up, the above tips can help you to ergonomically organize your daily workspace for the better. Many workplaces will pay to ergonomically-upgrade employee offices, if asked, but if you can’t implement your plan all at once, make small, regular changes to slowly remake your daily work environment.

 

Former DAI Professional Heather Rome on Fighting Jet Lag

Jet lag is a condition that former Development Alternatives Inc. (DAI) professional Heather Rome DAI has experienced at many points throughout her varied career. Rome has traveled around the world, visited dozens of countries, and experienced her fair share of jet lag. Here are a few tips that will help other business professionals in coping with jet lag.

• Jet lag occurs when a person who is traveling crosses one or more time zones. This change in time and routine causes the body to have to adjust to the new setting. The more time zones a traveler crosses, the harder the jet lag is to overcome.
• Jet lag will affect all aspects of a person’s sleeping cycle. It can make travelers excessively tired during the day and unable to sleep at night. Dealing with jet lag is especially important for business travelers, as they need to be as rested and alert as possible while conducting their business dealings.
• Business travelers who have knowledge of their impending trip should try to adjust to the new time zone before leaving embarking on their travels. This may mean staying up later at night and sleeping in longer for a few days. Adjusting before travel is the easiest way to ensure a person is rested and refreshed while abroad.
• As the body adjusts to the new time zone, it is important to stay hydrated. Formerly of DAI, Heather Rome makes sure to drink plenty of water when she travels internationally for business or leisure.