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5 Tips for creative problem solving

Solving problems creatively is an essential skill in this day and age. With the television industry constantly changing and innovating, being able to think beyond the obvious can help you tackle challenges more effectively and stand out from the crowd. But creativity is something that needs to be cultivated intentionally with the right mindset and habits.

Here are several practical tips to help you unlock creative solutions and approach problems from a fresh perspective.

1. Reframe the Problem

How you define a problem shapes the solutions you consider. If you’re stuck, try reframing the issue in a new light. Instead of asking “How do I increase sales?” you might ask “How do I offer more value to my prospects?” A small shift in language can reveal new angles and opportunities you may have missed.

Practical Tip: Write down your problem. Then rewrite it from a different perspective. Think of your goals then think of your client/prospect’s goals.

Book Recommendation: What’s Your Problem?: To Solve Your Toughest Problems; Change the Problems You Solve by Thomas Wedell-Wedellsborg

2. Hone Essential Skills

Creative thinking doesn’t happen overnight. It relies on a foundation of strong, essential skills. By sharpening your skills, it helps you separate practical solutions from impractical and unnecessary from essential.

Practical Tip: Continue learning and training for the job you have as well as the job you want. Completing a certification program, like TVBU, can give you the knowledge to tackle problems head on.

Webinar Recommendation: Best of NEXT Women: Essential Skills

3. Embrace Your Creative Side

Creativity isn’t just for artists – it’s a frame of mind you can get into. The more you give yourself permission to explore, play and imagine, the more natural creative problem solving becomes. Whether it’s journaling ideas, doodling in a notebook, building something with your hands, leaning into creative activities outside your main work strengthens your ability to think flexibly and innovatively when the challenge arrives.

Practical Tip: Set aside ten minutes at the start of every day to write, draw or make something. You’re training your brain to think differently.

Book Recommendation: The Creative Act: A Way of Being by Rick Ruben

Webinar Recommendation: SkillUp: Work-Life Balance with Ashley Lepczyk

4. Consult with Others

Great ideas don’t happen in isolation. Surrounding yourself with people who have different perspectives is a powerful way to expand your creative thinking. Collaborators from different backgrounds or with different personality types can challenge assumptions and inspire unexpected ideas.

Practical Tip: Ask your clients and prospects questions. Learn how they tick beyond the obvious. Through that, you may find a new, creative solution that leads to more sales and success for you both!

Webinar Recommendation: Best of NEXT Women: Power of Diversity

5. Don’t Let Limitations Hold You Back

It’s tempting to believe that more freedom leads to more creativity, but often it’s the opposite. Constraints like tight deadlines, limited budgets, or particular clients, can stimulate innovative thinking. They force you to think in nontraditional ways and prioritize what truly matters.

Practical Tip: When problem solving, imagine additional constraints. That way if you’re blindsided by new development you can pivot creatively.

Book Recommendation: A Beautiful Constraint: How To Transform Your Limitations Into Advantages, and Why It’s Everyone’s Business by Adam Morgan and Mark Barden

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How to be an Agent of Change

We’re entering a new year with significant changes on the horizon for the local broadcast tv industry, now more than ever, it’s important to not only embrace change but lead change. Becoming an agent of change is one of the most empowering moves you can make, not only for yourself, but for the industry and world at large. Position yourself as a forward-thinker, share your ideas, and ask your colleagues for theirs, and most importantly welcome the opportunities that come through innovation.

How can you be the one driving innovation, inspiring others, and carving your path to success rather than reacting to changes after the fact?

Here are four strategies that will help you become an agent of change in your workplace.

1. See Change as Opportunity

While it’s natural to feel anxious about uncertainty, those who succeed are those who approach change with curiosity and excitement. Instead of fearing disruption, ask yourself how you can leverage it?

When you approach change with an open mind, you’ll uncover new ways to advance your career, develop new skills, and elevate your team.

2. Stay Informed and Involved

To be an agent of change, you need to stay adaptable and continuously upskill. Familiarize yourself with emerging trends and technologies. Attend webinars and conferences, read new research, gain industry certifications, and utilize AI. The more informed you are about the state of the industry, the more you’ll grow in your career and the better equipped you’ll be to anticipate changes and offer innovative solutions.

3. Embrace Diversity and Encourage Others

Advocating for inclusivity in decision-making, hiring practices, and leadership roles will ensure that your workplace is not only adapting to industry changes but driving them.

Diversity of perspective and thought drives innovation, and your experiences and viewpoints can offer creative solutions to longstanding challenges. Don’t be afraid to voice your ideas and ask your colleagues to share their unique perspectives. By sharing your views, and encouraging others to do so, you open up a world of opportunity.

Change can’t happen if you sit on the sidelines. If you see opportunities for improvement—whether it’s in the way work is processed, the use of technology, or the culture of the organization—don’t wait for someone else to act. Step up, share your insights, and champion the changes that will make a difference.

4. Plan for the Future

Change is a process, not an event. It’s easy to get discouraged when things don’t shift immediately, but true agents of change remain persistent. Stay committed to your vision, continue to advocate for the changes you believe in, and celebrate the small victories along the way.

In leadership roles or in your personal career journey, patience, resilience, and a willingness to adapt are key. When you keep pushing forward, others will take notice. Over time, you’ll become recognized as someone who can drive meaningful change and innovate in ways that benefit everyone.

Resources:

Change Enthusiasm: How to Harness the Power of Emotion for Leadership and Success

How to Change Your Workplace | Work Life with Adam Grant

TVBU Sales University

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Time Management Tips

8 Essential Time Management Tips to Jumpstart Your Career

With end of the year deadlines, holiday PTO, and New Year’s Resolutions on the horizon, now is a good time to focus on time management skills. By prioritizing tasks, creating to-do lists and managing your workflow you can crush your deadlines, reduce stress and have time to focus on your future goals!

Here are eight methods of time management to help you get results:

1. Track Short and Long-Term Deadlines

Sometimes we can lose sight of the bigger picture when focusing on smaller tasks. Start by creating a roadmap of clear, measurable long-term goals so you can align your daily tasks with your career vision.

Start by jotting down all your deadlines in a clear chart, on a calendar, or even on a sheet of paper and divide them into categories: Long term, short term, and immediate.

By periodically reviewing these short-term and long-term goals as you tackle your deadlines you can make sure you’re adapting and adjusting your strategies to get where you want to be!

2. Create To-Do Lists

Effective to-do lists are your best friends in time management. They help you prioritize tasks and budget your time wisely. Make sure to keep your lists updated to avoid procrastination and ensure you’re always on track.

3. Utilize Time Management Hacks

When it comes to your daily schedule, try utilizing a time management hack, like the Pomodoro Technique, where you focus on a task for 25 minutes followed by a five minute break. By breaking up tasks into smaller chunks, and giving yourself a small break, you won’t burn yourself out. Remember, it’s a marathon and not a sprint!

When it comes to deciding what task to work on, you can utilize something like the Eisenhower Matrix to determine what order to tackle your to do list. It can be overwhelming to decide what task you need to do first, and by having a consistent method to determine importance you can save time and dive into the right task at the right time.

4. Manage Interruptions and Say “No”

To stay focused, minimize interruptions by shutting off alerts and using breaks to catch up on emails or texts. Don’t hesitate to decline tasks that aren’t essential or can be delegated.

5. Avoid Multitasking

Switching between tasks can waste time and reduce overall productivity. Focus on one task at a time to maximize efficiency and output.

6. Create a Budget For Your Time

Many of us track our finances by listing out what we’ve spent for the month, broken down into category. Try doing the same thing with your time. You might be surprised that an unexpected task is taking up more time than it should.

Is there a client or prospect that you’ve been hesitating to reach out to? A webinar you’ve been meaning to watch? Or a certification you’ve been wanting to get? Once you realize how your time is being spent, or not spent, you can make room for these vital goals that can fall by the wayside.

When budgeting your time, be honest about how long tasks will actually take. Underestimating time can lead to stress and missed deadlines, while overestimating can waste valuable time.

7. Know Your Limits

Prevent burnout by avoiding overscheduling. Ensure you allocate time for rest, exercise, fun, and maintaining a healthy diet. You can send yourself a calendar invite for these necessities, so the time is carved out.

8: Work Smarter Not Harder

Technology has advanced leaps and bounds over the course of the past two years. Don’t be afraid to use time management software and AI resources so you can stay ahead of the curve and up-to-date on the latest technological innovations.

Resources:

Time Management Strategies for Busy Women Entrepreneurs

Productivity and the Hard Truth About Time Management

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4 Ways to Avoid Burnout

Recently we asked our NEXT Women community how they avoid burnout. You spoke and we listened. Below we share your top ways for taking care of yourself, along with key resources to help you be your best!

1. Maintain Work / Life Balance

Create Your Ideal Work Life Balance: Watch Skill Up: Strategies for Work/Life Balance with Sarah Syversen, LCPC, Career Counselor and Assistant Professor of Instruction and speakers Melissa Sheehan, Chief Revenue Officer, AdCellerant and Michelle Woods, Director of Sales, KIRO-TV, Cox Media Group.
Healthy Exercise & Eating Habits: Whether working from the office, or home, keeping a consistent exercise routine has been shown to help.
Model Boundaries: It starts from the top, when managing a team try to model healthy behavior for your employees. If it’s after hours, can that email wait until the morning?

2. Don’t Be Afraid to Delegate

Learn About Your Team: An important skill is knowing which task is best for which person. As a manager, you and your team will be more efficient if you share the work load!
No One Can Do it Alone: By fostering a healthy relationship with your boss or direct report, and learning how to delegate effectively, you can ensure that no one person is carrying the team.

3. Take Time Off

Use Your PTO: A majority of Americans don’t use all their available vacation days. Don’t wait until you’re burnt out to take time for yourself.
Be Present by Getting Away: By taking your PTO you ensure that when you’re in the office, you’re giving your full attention.

4. Set Boundaries

Know Your Limits: Knowing your limits can help you maintain a consistent quality of work without sacrificing the good things in life. As an employee, don’t be afraid to let your team know when the workload has become overwhelming. The best employees can solve a problem before it even starts!
Regulate Emotions: Watch SkillUp: Harnessing Our Emotions with Emma Miele, MA, PCC; Founder & Coach, The Breathing Room.

In a recent poll, 43% of NEXT Women said they avoid burnout by maintaining a healthy work/life balance.

Resources:

Atomic Habits: An Easy and Proven Way To Build Good Habits and Break Bad Ones
This breakthrough book from James Clear is the most comprehensive guide on how to change your habits and get 1% better every day.

Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle
This groundbreaking book explains why women experience burnout differently than men—and provides a simple, science-based plan to help women minimize stress, manage emotions, and live a more joyful life.

Burnout is Everyone’s Problem
Burnout seems to be everywhere. But it’s not inevitable. Come inside some high-pressure workplaces that have figured out how to fight exhaustion by redesigning jobs and changing cultures.

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Executive Presence

Developing a positive professional presence is essential for fostering relationship-building that could lead to opportunities, collaboration, and advancement.

Executive presence is the demonstration of respect, confidence, integrity, and empathy in accordance with professional standards, guidelines, and ethical codes.

You can cultivate executive presence by skill-building in 4 main areas:

1. Gravitas

Show grace under fire: The ability to handle adversity, navigate crises smoothly and rebound quickly after admitting mistakes.
Be decisive: Know and communicate what you want without being authoritarian or aggressive; enhance negotiation skills.
Speak your truth: Be aware of your views and values and communicate them in your work and to others; give honest and constructive feedback.
Be authentic: Your personal brand should align with your personality and values.

2. Emotional Intelligence

Build your EQ: Emotional intelligence is understanding and managing your emotions and recognizing the emotions of others.

71% of employers surveyed by CareerBuilder said they value EQ over IQ, reporting that employees with high emotional intelligence are more likely to stay calm under pressure, resolve conflict and business challenges effectively, and respond to co-workers with empathy.

Increase self-awareness: Understand your strengths, weaknesses, and emotions and how you react in stressful situations. Shift from being reactive to responsive (take time to prepare for an intentional response).
Be socially aware: Read the room and recognize the dynamics and emotions present. Strive to understand your colleagues’ feelings and practice empathy. This builds the foundation for good communication skills.
Manage relationships: Notice how you influence, coach, and mentor others as well as your conflict resolution skills.

3. Communication

Speak with conviction: We’re drawn to great orators. Speak clearly with passion and ease. How we speak is often seen as more persuasive than what we’re actually saying.
Command the room: Practice great storytelling with anecdotes, small talk, and humor.

4. Appearance

Body language: Make direct eye contact, face your audience, keep your body positioning open and relaxed. Being comfortable in your own skin will translate into your non-verbal cues.

Only 7% of a message is conveyed through words – 38% is dependent on your voice and the other 55% on facial cues.

Resources

How to Develop and Master Executive Presence
Have you ever wondered why one person with the same skills and qualifications gets promoted over another? Leadership presence isn’t an innate quality that you either have or not. Instead, it is a skill—a set of learned behaviors that enable you to command attention.

10 Tips for Building a Stronger Executive Presence
Nowadays, we prefer our leaders to be calm, confident, and steady. We still want them to be authoritative, but we also need them to be approachable, smooth and inspiring.

What Defines Good Professional Presence?
No matter what industry you’re in, good professional presence can open the door to new opportunities and pave the way for raises and promotions.

Why Emotional Intelligence is Important in Leadership
If you aspire to be in a leadership role, there’s an emotional element you need to consider. It’s what helps you successfully coach teams, manage stress, deliver feedback, and collaborate with others.

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Persuasive Presentation Skills

Effective presentation skills help you connect, communicate, engage and persuade others. They give you a significant advantage when presenting your thoughts and ideas to colleagues and clients. We’ve compiled content with actionable steps for creating and presenting innovative and engaging presentations to help you captivate your audience.

Videos

The Secret Structure of Great Talks | 17 min run time
From the “I have a dream” speech to Steve Jobs’ iPhone launch, many great talks have a common structure that helps their message resonate with listeners. In this talk, presentation expert Nancy Duarte shares practical lessons on how to make a powerful call-to-action.

How to Give a Great Presentation: 7 Skills and Tips to Leave an Impression | 7 min run time
Dana Blouin is an entrepreneur currently living in Bangkok, Thailand where he is the co-founder and CEO of Mango Labs, a tech startup that is building a new quantified-self platform. Over the past two years, Dana has given hundreds of presentations and talks all over the world. These are the top 7 tips he has put together based on his experiences.

10 Presentation Ideas That Will Radically Improve Your Presentation Skills | 9 min runtime
Did you know that 83% of human learning is done visually? The more you can visually stimulate your audience, the better! A good presentation needs to be engaging, memorable, and impactful. Vanessa Van Edwards, founder of Science of People, has given hundreds of presentations; here are 10 presentation tips to make your meeting, keynote, workshop, or demonstration *spark*.

Tips for Effective Presentations

Know your audience and focus on their needs
Demonstrate subject-matter expertise and build trust with the audience
Keep it simple; concentrate on your core message
Can you communicate your core message in a 30-second elevator pitch, using no more than 15 words, written on the back of a business card? If it doesn’t contribute to the core message, don’t say it.
Smile and make eye contact
Build rapport and audience connection
Grab people’s attention right from the start
Use a bold statement, joke or prop. Hold that attention by jumping right in with relevant content.
The 10-20-30 rule for slides (Guy Kawasaki, Apple)
No more than 10 slides, no more than 20 min (1 min per slide is a good guide), and font no smaller than 30pt.
PPT slides are for the presenter
Think of PPT slides as your speaking prompts. Don’t read them, use them as an outline for what you want to say. The less content the better; include pictures and simple graphics. If you need to provide more info, create a “leave behind.”
Tell a story
Humans are programmed to respond to stories. Relevant stories engage the audience and help them remember key points. Your entire presentation should be a narrative.
Use your voice effectively and use body language
Varying speed, tone and inflection makes you a more interesting presenter. Speak slowly, clearly, and loudly. Remember, three quarters of communication is non-verbal. Make gestures and move naturally around the stage and audience.
Relax, breathe and enjoy
Start by concentrating on your breathing. Slow it down and make sure you’re breathing fully. Pause for occasional breaths during the presentation.
Practice, practice, practice
When you are fully prepared, and well-practiced, you’ll be able to use a variety of techniques with ease.

Resources

How to Give a Good Presentation: 8 tips
Public speaking and presenting isn’t everyone’s forte, but it’s a valuable skill, regardless of your job. If you want your voice to be heard, you’ll need to master communicating your thoughts and opinions simply and politely.

Best Practices For Virtual Presentations: 15 Expert Tips That Work For Everyone
With in-person presentations, you more or less have a captive audience. But with virtual presentations, your audience has a greater opportunity to stray. You now have to compete for their eyes, ears, hearts, and minds against diminished attention spans, increased home and work life distractions, and conflicting priorities.

15 Actionable Storytelling Tips for PowerPoint Presentations
Great storytellers do two things very well. First (obviously), they tell stories. Second, through their stories, they get people to act. You might be thinking, “That’s great if you’re Steve Jobs and introducing the iPhone, but what do I do with all my everyday content? Here are 15 insanely actionable storytelling tips and tricks for all types of content.

19 Quotes That Will Inspire You To Create An Amazing Presentation
Stuck in PowerPoint purgatory? Start with this great advice.

8 Reasons Why You Should Learn Presentation Skills
Clear presentation is vital if you are in an interview for a new job, but it is an equally big deal if you aim for a new position at your current workplace. Wherever you go, whatever you do, you should always find new ways to improve your presentation skills.

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