As a child, arguing with our friends or siblings seemed like a necessary part of life. Confrontations about board games and sporting events were usually resolved in minutes and everyone quickly recovered. Now, as a career professional, the stakes are higher when we encounter conflict. Conflict in the workplace is impossible to avoid, and unless it’s handled effectively, the results can be damaging to good t ...

You may have read articles detailing the complex algorithms used to determine the benefits of an employee wellness program, but unless you have an advanced math degree from MIT, you probably will not replicate those efforts to equate the financial benefit for your own company.Experts say for every $1 you spend on wellness, you will save $3 to $4 in healthcare costs. That sounds great, but from a functional ...

Organizing your agenda, preparing meaningful topics, and practicing how you will deliver your notes are all important elements to leading office meetings. When it comes to presenting to a large or small group, we sometimes forget that what we don’t say is just as important as what we do say. Nonverbal communication is critical to being an effective presenter. Remember the old phrase “Silence is Golden?” Wel ...

Two of the six businesses named Small Business of the Year by the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce and Small Business Development Center also offer Optima Health insurance products to their employees. For 28 years the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce and the Small Business Development Center have recognized local small businesses with the annual Small Business of the Year awards. The winning businesses ar ...

(Second in a series: Last week’s post talked about the importance of using personal health assessments to begin a successful program.) As with most endeavors in business and in life, communication is key if employers are to deploy an effective wellness program. The real question is, what does effective communication look like in a wellness program? There are many ways to structure an effective communication ...

Where are you going? That’s the question I ask myself at the start of every New Year. It helps me to identify my course of action throughout the year. Just as you use a map to identify where you are physically going when you travel, I use my sales strategy as my GPS to help me identify my future course. For me, my goal every year is to grow the Optima Health membership. As a small business, I suspect you pl ...

“How’s business? And, by the way, have you gotten your flu shot this year?” That was just some of the “small talk” at the recent Salem-Roanoke County Chamber of Commerce’s 2012 Business and Technology Showcase where Optima Health was a featured participant. Optima Health was one of about 65 area businesses participating in the trade show, which was open to the public. Approximately 500 individuals attended ...