It’s hard not to notice when a toxic coworker comes barreling through the office door. However, that’s the least frequent part of a workplace dynamic. Bad boss behavior is much more common than you might realize. According to a survey conducted by the Harris Poll, 71% of American workers report that they have had at least one toxic boss during their career. Another 31% report that they have a toxic boss right now.
When bosses break the rules
Despite keeping a confident professional veneer, even high-level leaders are guilty of straying from the line of acceptable workplace behavior from time to time. Due to their positional power, bosses can be more comfortable breaking the rules—a practice undoubtedly frustrating for the employees who report to them.
The truth is, bosses should be setting an example, not displaying bad behavior themselves. If you’re a boss, you should be acting as a role model for your employees. But what if you’re not? And if you’re not, how can you be sure?
Gets too involved in the details of an employee’s job when it isn’t necessary – 49%
Gives unfair preferential treatment to certain team members – 49%
Gives an impression of being unapproachable – 49%
Does not give credit to team members when appropriate – 48%
Takes credit for the ideas of others – 45%
Engages in unprofessional behavior, e.g., inappropriate language – 45%
Assigns blame to others to protect themselves – 43%
Discriminates against employees for specific characteristics – 33%
What this means for leaders
To the chagrin of workers everywhere, it seems that the individuals in positions of authority are—more often than you might like to think—guilty of not always behaving well themselves. Unfortunately, if you engage in any of these behaviors as a leader, you’re being more than a minor annoyance to your people—you’re chipping away at the trust and respect they have for you.
If you’re a leader, this list should serve as a bit of a mirror. Employees notice everything. When you set the standard high for others, you need to practice what you preach. Remember: Just because you see your own boss doing something, it doesn’t mean it’s OK for you to do it too. Your integrity is what will keep people following you in the long run.
The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.
I was taught to use a so-called “feedback sandwich” to give constructive feedback: lead with a positive, share the negative, finish with a positive. The idea was… well, I don’t know what the idea was. I guess to soften the “room for improvement” blow?
All I know is that the feedback sandwich rarely worked.
Especially on me.
Take the time a boss told me, “I really appreciate how you always come prepared to the supervisor meetings. But you sometimes run over people with all your facts, and figures, and productivity results. Even so, you’re a valuable member of the team.”
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The meat of the sandwich, the “you sometimes run over people with your facts and figures,” was admittedly true.
But the bread, the two positives, didn’t soften the blow. In fact, the bread made me feel manipulated. And kind of pissed me off.
That’s because a sandwich in effect says, “I need to give you negative feedback… but first I’ll say something nice so you won’t think I hate you. And then I’ll say something nice so you won’t be mad at me when you leave.”
That’s the problem with the feedback sandwich. The recipients feel manipulated.
And even if at first they don’t, give it time: since our positive qualities tend to stay consistent, the same bread eventually starts to taste stale.
And as for the likelihood of positive change? According to research published in Learning and Motivation, the feedback sandwich almost always fails to correct negative or subpar behaviors if only because — as in my case — I focused more on how the feedback was delivered, than on the quality and accuracy of the feedback itself.
We propose that that a better approach is benevolent honesty, in which communicators focus on delivering negative information truthfully and directly, but also employ additional strategies to ensure that their words actually lead to long-term improvement.
For example, a professor might emphasize that a student is capable of achieving high standards when giving critical feedback. Though this strategy might seem intuitive, communicators often fail to make their benevolent intentions clear — they seem to forget (at least in the moment) that (others) do not have access to that same information.
Their findings dovetail nicely with a Journal of Experimental Psychology study that shows including one sentence can make feedback up to 40 percent more effective: “I’m giving you these comments because I have very high expectations and I know that you can reach them.”
This group is special; we have higher standards here.
I believe you can reach those standards.
Instead of a feedback sandwich, the result is more like a relationship sandwich.
No manipulation. No platitudes. Not irrelevant compliments. No false hope.
Just clear, direct feedback, delivered inside a message of connection, belonging, and trust.
That’s the real difference between a feedback sandwich and benevolent honesty.
The feedback sandwich theoretically helps the feedback giver reduce the likelihood of conflict during a tough conversation. (“If I throw in a few compliments, maybe he won’t get mad.”)
But how a difficult conversation might feel to the person giving feedback doesn’t matter. The only thing that matters is whether the feedback helps the recipient improve his or her performance.
And that’s something a feedback sandwich is terrible at producing.
The next time you need to have a difficult conversation with an employee, or with anyone, forget the feedback sandwich. Forget leading and closing with a compliment.
Instead, just be direct and truthful, while showing that you care about that person’s performance or well-being because you care about them: that you want things to be better for them as a result of the conversation.
Not just to be easier for you.
The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.
Imagine how stressful this situation would be: Natalie’s boss called her into the office recently and gave her some bad news. Thankfully, it was not a layoff, but it was something almost as stressful — and potentially financially devastating.
Her boss said the payroll department had made errors over the past several months, and in total, they’d overpaid by about $7,000 over the course of a year.
Natalie was shocked. Since she works two jobs, she hadn’t noticed the incremental overpayments, and she admitted she hadn’t been reviewing her bank statements every month.
Her boss then gave her even more disconcerting news: He said Natalie can either pay all the money back, or work for free until she makes up the hours. Natalie was shocked. She lives paycheck to paycheck, and she can’t afford a lump-sum payment of $7,000. Her boss didn’t seem to think a repayment plan would be possible.
Natalie didn’t know what to do. She wasn’t sure if her boss could legally compel her to work for free, or even to pay the money back at all.
Federal and state laws allow employers to garnish (automatically reduce) workers’ wages if there has been an overpayment. However, there are also rules about how much an employer can take.
Under the U.S. Consumer Credit Protection Act (CCPA), there are restrictions on the weekly amount that can be deducted from your pay. If the amount of weekly “disposable earnings” (the amount after legally required deductions like taxes and Social Security) are more than $290, a maximum of 25% can be deducted. If your disposable earnings are less than $217.50 (or 30 hours of work at the federal minimum wage of $7.25), nothing can be deducted. For disposable earnings more than $217.50 but less than $290 (40 hours at $7.25), your employer can garnish the amount above $217.50 (1).
State laws will also impact how and when an employer can garnish wages after overpayment. In most states, an overpayment is classified as a wage advance, and employers do not need permission from the employee to make deductions.
If state law differs from federal law on wage garnishment, the CCPA states that whichever law results in less money being garnished will be applied (2).
Luckily for Natalie, she lives in New York, where there are additional provisions that protect workers when employers make garnishments for overpayment.
The law in New York states that the employer must give the employee a notice of intent to make garnishments for overpayment. The notice must also:
Be given at least three weeks before the deductions start (unless the amount can be recouped in one wage payment, and other procedures are followed).
State the amount overpaid in total and per pay period
State the total amount to be deducted and the date of each deduction
Include information about when and how the employee can contest the overpayment
Read more: Robert Kiyosaki warns of a ‘Greater Depression’ coming to the US — with millions of Americans going poor. But he says these 2 ‘easy-money’ assets will bring in ‘great wealth’. How to get in now
Perhaps most importantly, in New York, deductions for overpayments can only be made for the eight weeks of overpayment prior to the delivery of the notice of intent to the employee.
In New York state, if the overpayment is less than or equal to your next paycheck, the entire amount can be deducted from that check. However, if it’s more than the next paycheck, the maximum amount that can be deducted is no more than 12.5% of your gross earnings, and the amount cannot make your effective hourly wage less than the state minimum wage (3).
Natalie’s boss’s suggestion that she work for free to pay off the wage overpayment is illegal. Because she lives in New York state, her employer can only deduct the overpayments in the eight weeks prior to her receiving notice. The meeting with her boss also doesn’t count as official notice; her employer needs to provide her with a document that meets the above parameters.
Natalie should let her employer know that asking her to work without pay is a violation of labor laws. It is her employer’s responsibility to serve her proper notice about the overpayment and upcoming garnishment.
Since her state offers more protection around this issue, Natalie most likely won’t face a wage deduction that would leave her unable to pay her bills. Still, her wages will be impacted, and she needs to budget accordingly. She may need to cut back on discretionary spending until her paychecks are back to the normal amount.
In the future, checking both her pay stubs and her bank statements will go a long way in preventing this kind of unexpected loss of income — which will also help you catch if your employer is underpaying you. An Ernst & Young report from 2022 found that the average company’s payroll accuracy is only 80.15%, which means you could be missing out on wages you’re owed if you’re not watching your bank balance (4).
If you believe your employer has made deductions from your pay illegally, you can file an administrative claim with your state’s department of labor, and depending on your state, you may be able to file a lawsuit (2).
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Everyone who leads people wants to be a better leader. (If that’s not the case, you shouldn’t be leader.)
Like most things worth doing, though, wanting to be a better boss and becoming a better boss are two different things. Training, education, experience… all take time.
Or not. Here are five things, backed by workplace and organizational science, you can start doing.
Today.
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Stop holding so (darned) many meetings.
Ninety percent of employees feel meetings are “costly” and “unproductive,” and they’re right: a Journal of Business Research study found that employee productivity increases by over 70 percent when meetings are reduced by 40 percent.
Why? Fewer meetings gives employees more time to get things done.
And makes them smarter; a Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London: Biological Sciences study found that when employees attend meetings, the average IQ of each individual drops by between 15 and 20 percent. For one thing, if you feel like a “junior” member of a group, your IQ drops. (As with most things, confidence matters.) If you feel your contributions won’t be valued, your IQ drops more. And if other people overtly or implicitly criticize your contributions, your IQ drops even more.
That’s why great bosses hold fewer meetings, especially when the goal is to brainstorm or problem-solve. Research shows idea generation dramatically improves when people first come up with ideas by themselves, or with at most one or two others. That typically leads to greater diversity in ideas, better analysis of the pros and cons of those ideas, and much greater odds of a larger group (if you eventually decide to convene a larger group; more on that in a moment) eventually identifying the best idea.
So be present, but in the real work world. Not the make-believe work world of meetings.
Embrace the ‘mere presence’ effect.
Speaking of presence: being “present,” giving people your full attention, is obviously important. But so is simple presence.
As the researchers write, “Mere exposure had weak effects on familiarity, but strong effects on attraction and similarity,” a fancy way of saying the more often we see you, the more we will like and respect you.
That’s especially hard, though, when you’re in a new leadership position. You’re naturally unsure and uncomfortable; you might be asked questions you can’t answer. You might be asked to handle situations you don’t know how to handle.
It’s tempting to spend less time with the people you lead, not more. (I’ve done that.)
But shying away actually makes your leadership life harder: not only do you get fewer chances to gain skill and experience, but you also lose out on the positive effect of just being present.
If you’re nervous about not having the answers, flip it around and ask questions. If you’re unsure you can handle certain situations, ask people for advice. Let people help you lead.
Not only will you become a better leader, you’ll also build a better and more engaged team.
Stop serving feedback sandwiches…
Conventional wisdom says to deliver constructive feedback by starting with a positive, sharing the negative, and then closing with another positive.
Don’t, because feedback sandwiches — a negative wrapped in two positives — are really tough to swallow. According to a study published in Management Review Quarterly, a feedback sandwich almost always fails to correct negative or subpar behaviors.
Three out of four recipients feel manipulated. Nine out of ten feel patronized. And only seven percent actually change the behavioral meat inside the feedback sandwich.
Just be clear. Direct. And encouraging.
While few employees want to hear how they can improve, good employees appreciate the feedback. And they’ll respect you for being open and candid, especially when you don’t patronize them in the process.
… and start focusing on positives.
No matter how feedback is delivered, a University of Bonn study shows that after a few days or even hours people typically forget the negative feedback they receive.
Yet they remember positive feedback for a long time.
Not just the positive (“You did a great job reworking our fulfillment process”) but also the facts accompanying the positive (“and as a result, our shipping costs are down five percent and our on-time delivery rate is up nine percent”).
Want employees to be more patient when dealing with customer complaints? Praise them when they take extra time to make things right. Want them to spend extra time training struggling employees? Praise them when they step in, unasked, to help a person in need.
In short, focus on positives. Tell people you appreciate their hard work, not just in general but in specific. Explain why that makes a difference, not just to your business but to you.
They’ll remember how good it feels to do something well, and will want to experience that feeling again.
Which also makes it a lot less likely you’ll need to share negative feedback.
And if nothing else, start saying ‘thank you.’
A Deloitte study shows nearly nine out of ten people wish they heard “thank you” in their daily interactions. A Psychology study shows a direct link between gratitude and job satisfaction: the more “thank you” becomes a part of a company’s culture, the more likely employees are to enjoy their jobs. A Wharton study shows that when people are thanked for their efforts, they’re more likely to engage in prosocial — cooperative, helpful, encouraging, etc. — behaviors.
But you should also thank the people you work with — as often as possible — for doing their jobs. For being responsive. For being proactive. For being cooperative, helpful, and supportive.
Because every employee is also a person, and every person wants to be thanked more often.
Even as bosses across the country report a jump in the number of people returning to the office, attendance in California remains less than half of what it used to be.
A recent survey shows that managers’ push to get workers back in the office is bearing fruit, but executives would still like to see people at their desks more often. A different dataset demonstrates that much of the lag is due to California.
Companies are stepping up enforcement of their attendance policies even as many workers try to avoid the daily routine of commuting and clocking in, real estate brokerage CBRE found in a national survey of office tenants.
Companies made “significant” progress in the last year in moving toward their office-attendance goals and enforcing their attendance policies, moving closer to cementing their long-term work guidelines than at any time since the COVID-19 pandemic, CBRE said.
The annual survey found that 72% of the companies surveyed have met their attendance goals, up from 61% the previous year.
“Companies have made significant progress on establishing a new baseline for work habits and office attendance after five years of adapting to hybrid work,” said Manish Kashyap, CBRE’s global president of leasing.
Still, a separate indicator released Tuesday shows how office visits are stuck below the national average in California.
The Los Angeles and San Francisco metropolitan areas still have some of the lowest office attendance in the country, according to the latest data from Kastle Systems, which provides key-card entry systems used by many companies and tracks patterns of workers’ card swipes.
Business in the regions is dominated by the entertainment and tech companies, which can often be more freewheeling because much of the work is done alone and on computers that could be located anywhere.
Bosses in Los Angeles tend to be more flexible when it comes to remote work in part because commutes can be so long there, said Mark Ein, Kastle’s executive chair. “It’s just harder to get to the office.”
In the week that ended Aug. 20, the average office population was 48.3% of full occupancy in Los Angeles, Kastle said Tuesday. Attendance was 41.8% in San Francisco and 49% in San Jose.
That’s well above the lows below 20% during the pandemic, but still behind places including New York and Chicago and far behind cities in Texas, which had more than 60% attendance.
People walk by the 777 Tower on Figueroa Street in downtown Los Angeles. In the week that ended Aug. 20, the average office population was 48.3% of full occupancy in Los Angeles, according to Kastle Systems.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
In the CBRE annual survey, the most notable change was in the level of enforcement of back-to-office policies. The share of companies monitoring attendance jumped to 69% this year from 45% last year. Those enforcing attendance policies rose to 37% from 17%.
Bosses said they want to see even more people in the office. Surveyed companies reported that they want employees in the office an average of 3.2 days per week. Actual attendance is close to that at 2.9 days a week.
The fact that people aren’t in the office every day creates vibe issues for some managers who are trying to recapture the buzz their workplaces had before the pandemic.
More than half of organizations reported that a lack of office vibrancy on non-peak attendance days is a central challenge. Uneven attendance patterns create peaks and valleys throughout the week, something managers say makes it difficult for them to provide a consistent experience for employees.
“We’ve seen Los Angeles lag behind other cities in getting people back to the office,” CBRE real estate broker Jeff Pion said. “I would hypothesize that we didn’t have as many people in the office five days a week, even pre-COVID, just because of the nature of the work that takes place in Los Angeles.”
The data suggest that better offices are more likely to have more people. Average occupancy in what Kastle considers the best quality offices is higher than at lower quality offices.
“If someone is paying a lot for their office space, they’re going to want people to use it,” Kastle’s Ein said. “People who spend a lot on office space are ones who value it.”
Century City, L.A.’s hottest and most expensive office rental market, known for its elegant office towers full of financial companies and lawyers, is performing better than most, Pion said.
The commercial real estate industry needs people to return to the office. The overall drop in attendance and related cutbacks in leased office space have been particularly hard on landlords, some of whom have lost their buildings to forced sales or foreclosure due to falling revenues.
Downtown L.A. has 54 office buildings that are at immediate risk of devaluation and could result in nearly $70 billion in lost value over the next 10 years, a recent report by BAE Urban Economics said. That could lead to a loss of $353 million in property tax revenues.
The report recommended converting some of them partially or completely into housing.
Companies’ growing sense of clarity about their attendance policies offers some good news for struggling landlords as 67% of the managers CBRE surveyed said they plan to keep their offices the same or expand them within the next three years, a slight increase from last year’s survey.
Decisions about where offices will be located and what they’ll look like are being made more often with employees’ interests in mind, CBRE said.
“Employers are much more focused now than they were pre-pandemic on quality-of-workplace experience, the efficiency of seat sharing and the vibrancy of the districts in which they’re located,” said Julie Wheland, CBRE’s global head of research on tenant preferences.
In some cases, making the workplace more attractive may include offering employees a low-cost concierge to perform such services as filling employees’ cars with gas, picking up their laundry or retrieving their dogs from day care, as L’Oréal does in El Segundo.
Other inducements from companies adopting a carrot-and-stick approach to getting people back in the office include free food and drinks, comfortable furniture and communal workspaces. Some newer offices have designated library-type spaces as quiet zones, where cellphones and conversations are prohibited.
Many companies seek to be near public transportation, he said, but would also like to be near outdoor recreational facilities, such as parks and bike paths, where employees can exercise at lunchtime.
“They’re looking for amenity-based locations where there’s just lots and lots for people to do,” Pion said. “That is a trend that will continue.”
Want to make your advice and feedback more digestible? Learn how to make a “Compliment Sandwich” to deliver constructive criticism in a more positive and motivating way.
Have you ever struggled to share your thoughts with a colleague or friend without sounding too harsh? Being able to offer advice, feedback, and constructive input is an essential skill in both personal and professional environments. However, striking the right balance between positive reinforcement and helpful critique can be tricky.
The “Compliment Sandwich” is one effective technique for delivering constructive criticism. It works by balancing both positive and negative comments, making it easier for the recipient to agree and act upon your suggestion. Here’s how it looks in action.
What Is the Compliment Sandwich?
The main goal of the “Compliment Sandwich” is to deliver criticism while maintaining a positive tone throughout the conversation.
It involves three key parts:
Positive Opening (First Slice of Bread): Start with a genuine compliment or acknowledgment of something the person is doing well. This sets a positive tone and makes the recipient feel valued right away.
Constructive Critique (The Filling): Present the main feedback or critique in a clear, supportive way. This is the heart of the feedback where you address what needs improvement or adjustment.
Positive Closing (Second Slice of Bread): End with another positive or encouraging statement to reinforce your support and motivate the recipient. This leaves them feeling confident and balanced.
Practical Applications and Examples
Here are some hypothetical examples to show how the Compliment Sandwich works in practice. Remember, these aren’t scripts to follow word-for-word, just guidelines to inspire your own approach.
1. Workplace Feedback
Scenario: Addressing an employee’s inconsistent communication with the team.
Positive Opening: “I really appreciate the effort you put into your work and the unique insights you bring to our projects.”
Constructive Critique: “Lately, I’ve noticed some delays in team updates, which can make it harder for everyone to stay aligned and avoid miscommunication. Improving this will help the team function more smoothly.”
Positive Closing: “I look forward to seeing what you contribute to the team’s future success.”
2. Teacher and Student
Scenario: A teacher providing feedback on an essay.
Positive Opening: “Your thesis is engaging, and it’s clear you put a lot of thought into your argument.”
Constructive Critique: “To strengthen your essay, consider adding recent studies or relevant examples to support your ideas.”
Positive Closing: “You’re on the right track, I’m excited to see how this will evolve with the added research—I have no doubt it will be excellent!”
3. Personal Relationships
Scenario: Talking to a friend who tends to dominate conversations.
Positive Opening: “I always enjoy talking with you because you have so many great stories.”
Constructive Critique: “Sometimes I don’t get a chance to share my thoughts as much. It would mean a lot to me if we could balance our conversations a bit more.”
Positive Closing: “I love our chats and look forward to many more. Your energy makes them lively!”
4. Coaching in Sports
Scenario: A coach providing feedback on a player’s performance.
Positive Opening: “I love the energy and determination you bring to every game.”
Constructive Critique: “Your defensive positioning needs some improvement, I can help you work on that during practice this weekend.”
Positive Closing: “Keep up the hard work, and I know with some adjustments, you’ll be a better player all around.”
Tips for Effectiveness
Be Genuine: Sincere compliments are essential to avoid feedback feeling manipulative. Always be truthful.
Learn to Find the Good: Practice recognizing positive traits in others. This makes it easier to offer genuine compliments and feedback.
Remember the Positivity Ratio: Aim for a 3:1 ratio of positive to critical feedback to maintain motivation and foster growth.
Share Good News: Inject positivity by sharing good news, which can have a “bless the messenger” effect, where people feel more positive towards a person delivering uplifting information.
Adjust for Context: Tailor your feedback based on the recipient and situation. Some prefer gentle handling, while others want direct feedback.
Limitations of the Compliment Sandwich
The Compliment Sandwich has been widely used as a feedback tool, originating from management and communication training programs, typically in a corporate or organizational setting. Despite its popularity, it has drawbacks. One major criticism is that it can feel formulaic if used too often. When feedback follows the same pattern every time, it risks sounding insincere, reducing its effectiveness. The best feedback is organic and authentic. Use the Compliment Sandwich as a flexible guideline, not a rigid formula. Adapt your specific feedback based on the situation and the individual. Keep your communication fresh and spontaneous.
Psychological Foundations: Priming and the Recency Effect
The effectiveness of the Compliment Sandwich can be better understood through psychological principles like priming and the recency effect.
Priming is about how an initial stimulus can influence how someone perceives a subsequent one. In this context, the initial positive statement can make someone more open to subsequent feedback. Starting with praise sets a receptive tone, reducing defensiveness when delivering constructive critique.
The recency effect means people remember the last part of an experience most clearly. Ending feedback with a positive comment leverages this effect, leaving the recipient with a favorable impression and motivating them to act on the critique.
The main takeaway? Start and end on a good note. It’s a simple yet powerful and scientifically-backed way to boost the effectiveness of your communication while maintaining truth and honesty.
Conclusion
The Compliment Sandwich can be an effective way to deliver balanced and constructive feedback when used thoughtfully. The key is to avoid being scripted and to ensure that your feedback is sincere and unrehearsed. Try using the Compliment Sandwich the next time you give feedback and see if it changes the way people respond to your feedback and suggestions.
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Shadow of the Erdtree added a fresh set of armor, Rellana’s Armor Set. This unique armor can only be obtained by defeating one of the DLC’s bosses, and then making a purchase from an NPC, so you’ll need to put in a bit of work if you’d like to sport it for yourself.
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Here’s what you need to know about Rellana’s Armor Set and how to get your hands on it.
Rellana’s Armor Set stats and features
Rellana’s Armor Set has a weight of 28.1 when all pieces are equipped.
This armor set provides a hefty chunk of damage negation without pushing your total weight limit as high as some other high-damage resistance gear from the DLC. This makes it a great choice for anyone looking to tank some hits while looking exceedingly rad doing so.
Where to find Rellana’s Armor Set
You can purchase Rellana’s Armor Set from Enia at Roundtable Hold. However, she will not sell this set of armor until you’ve defeated Rellana Twin Moon Knight, the boss of the Castle Ensis legacy dungeon—and you may want to grab a few extra Scadutree Fragments before you attempt that.
Screenshot: FromSoftware / Kotaku
Castle Ensis is found in the northeastern section of Gravesite Plain, and may be the first legacy dungeon you complete during the DLC. If you need help defeating the boss, check out our Rellana Twin Moon Knight boss guide for some tips and tricks.
Screenshot: FromSoftware / Kotaku
Once you’ve defeated Rellana Twin Moon Knight, head back to Roundtable Hold and speak to Enia. Select the “Receive equipment of champions” option, then scroll down and purchase the four pieces of Rellana’s armor, which includes Rellana’s Helm, Rellana’s Armor, Rellana’s Gloves, and Rellana’s Greaves. Equip it when you’re ready to look like one of the DLC’s coolest bosses.
Palworld is a hectic, entertaining monster-catching game with exploration, battling, and weapons – including guns. Jumping into the Palworld game is a lot of fun, as there is plenty to do. We’ve summed up the ten best tips and tricks for Palworld beginners, so be sure to keep these in mind for your adventure.
Always Make Sure You Have Pal Spheres On Hand
Image Source: Pocketpair
In Palworld, there are plenty of endearing and badass critters to catch and add to your team or convert into workers at your Base. While you’re out and about exploring the world, you’ll likely run into new creatures and want to catch them. However, to do so, you’ll need to have Pal Spheres in your inventory.
I have already made the mistake of forgetting to pick them up from my workbench more than once before heading out, so always double-check you have Pal Spheres when you’re planning to spend some time exploring, otherwise you may need to make a trip back to your Base to pick them up!
Level Up Your Base ASAP
Image Source: Pocketpair
In Palworld, leveling your Base is important for completing the tutorial. However, you will also benefit from leveling your Base by unlocking new crafting recipes that you can buy for Technology Points, enabling you to craft a whole bunch of handy facilities and objects that make your day-to-day life in the game ten times easier. From Feeders to workstations, decorations, or even special Pal accessories, there are plenty of items that are restricted to Technology Points only, and these items make Palworld both more fun and interesting, so leveling your Base should always be a priority.
Get Your Pals To Do Your Hard Work For You
Image Source: Pocket Pair
One of the most interesting (and in some cases, concerning) aspects of Palworld is that you can have your captured Pals complete day-to-day tasks on your behalf while you’re out exploring. By assigning Pals to your Base, they will take on jobs such as harvesting materials, completing pending crafts or building facilities, and growing food to harvest. This saves you valuable time for exploring and leveling your team, so you’ll want to collect enough Pals to assemble at your Base right away, which will let you benefit from this mechanic right from the beginning.
Make Sure You Have Plenty of Food to Cook
Image Source: Pocketpair
Hunger is one of the most important mechanics in Palworld. Not only will it hinder you significantly if it reaches zero, but your Pals will also grow lethargic, sick, or unable to work if they remain without food for too long.
For this reason, it’s important to always have food on hand both for yourself during your travels by keeping a stash in your inventory, and for your Pals to nibble away on while they work hard all day long, which can be achieved by crafting a Pal Feeder and dropping food inside. And remember, always keep an eye out for food to scavenge both from the environment or by defeating Pals in battle.
Dungeons Have Time Limits & Rotate at Random
Image Source: Pocketpair via Twinfinite
In Palworld, you can even explore Dungeons that you may find in the world in areas such as the tops of hills, or the side of a cliff. However, it is incredibly important to know that Palworld Dungeons have a timer, so if you stumble across one, it’s better to make it a priority and complete it ASAP. After the timer for entering a Dungeon runs out, the Dungeon will disappear, and spawn to another random point on the map. However, once you are inside, there is no timer, meaning you’re free to explore at your own pace.
Throw Pal Spheres After Causing Damage to a Wild Pal For Better Success
Image Source: Pocketpair
Some Pals are much more difficult to capture than others, who you may have been lucky enough to simply throw a Sphere at and call it a day. When it comes to obtaining Pals, the best way to do so without wasting your resources is to damage the wild Pal and destroy most of its health bar, either through the use of weapons such as your Bow or by sending out one of your Pals to fight it. Once the enemy’s health gets low, you’ll notice a much higher capture rate indicated on the screen when you aim your Pal Sphere at the wild enemy.
Craft a Bow ASAP For Ranged Attacks
Image Source: Pocketpair
In Palworld, some enemies or wild Pals can be deadly at close range due to dealing heavy damage to targets within proximity. For this reason, having a ranged weapon, such as a Bow, is extremely important. You should make obtaining a Bow one of your main priorities when starting the game, as this will give you more flexibility in the wild when it comes to both hunting and battles. Bows can be crafted at a workbench, with several variants becoming available as you upgrade your base.
Mounts Give Better Exploration & Control Over Pals
Image Source: Pocketpair
In Palworld, traversing certain areas can be frustrating or difficult, which is partially why Mounts are so valuable. Certain Pals, upon capture, will have accessories that can eventually be purchased with Technology Points, and then crafted. Saddles will turn certain Pals into Mounts, which let you explore at a better pace, or in some cases, even take to the skies – which makes things much more interesting and easier to reach some locations.
On top of this, Mounts enable you full control over a Pal, with the ability to press certain buttons to use their attacks or abilities. This makes battles feel much more controlled and lively and lets you strategize how you want to go about various situations.
Target Chillet For Your First Boss to Earn the Egg Incubator ASAP
Image Source: Pocketpair via Twinfinite
Palworld bosses are largely important for three very good reasons – they give very solid EXP when caught or defeated, have the potential to add some powerhouse Pals to your team and reward Ancient Technology points that you can use to purchase special equipment and facilities, such as the Egg Incubator. However, many bosses are significantly high levels – as you may have found out if you accidentally stumbled upon a Mammorest in the early minutes of your gameplay!
A great Boss to start with is Chillet, which can be encountered at location 175, -419 on the world map. This is because Chillet is only level 11, in comparison to the level 38 Mammorest, so it will be much more achievable when it comes to either capturing or defeating it. Doing either of these will mark the Boss as defeated and give you your first Technology Point so you can get that pesky Egg Incubator, so this is something to consider if you’re not quite ready to take on the Rayne Syndicate Tower fight.
Lucky Pals Are Rare, Sparkling Monsters With Extremely Powerful Stats & Abilities
Image Source: Pocketpair
While Palworld doesn’t have shiny Pals, in the same way that the Pokemon games have shiny variants, there is something similar, named Lucky Pals. Lucky Pals are significantly larger than other Pals of the same species, and while they don’t differ in color palettes, they tend to have a sparkle to them and send out a soft glowing noise as they walk around the map, indicating their presence.
If you stumble upon a rare Lucky Pal, it may just be the next main member of your team, as these Pals have significantly stronger abilities and stats than the average Pal of the same species. However, this also makes them much more lethal in battle, so be sure to approach with caution!
About the author
Grace Black
Grace is a writer and digital artist from New Zealand with a love for fiction and storytelling. Grace has been writing for Twinfinite for one year and in the games industry for two years. She’s an enthusiast of everything spooky, an occasional anime enjoyer, and a die-hard Ghost-Type Pokemon fangirl. Her favorite video games include Overwatch 2, Life is Strange, The Last of Us, Baldur’s Gate 3, and Pokemon – all of which she will never tire of.
True confession: while I admire and enjoy the heck out of Undertale, the hugely influential 2015 indie RPG that rewards a peaceful approach to conflict, I’ve never actually managed to complete a pacifist run of the game. That’s because I stink at its bullet-hell combat, which demands lightning reflexes and near-perfect memorization throughout its lengthy and brutal boss battles. So you can imagine my delight when I happened upon an adorable RPG that swaps twitchy, rage-quit-inducing challenges for gentle word puzzles.
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Leximan, from developer Knights of Borria, immediately caught my eye among the many booths at December 8’s Day of the Devs indie showcase. That was largely due to its monochromatic pixel art style, which is interspersed with trippy splashes of color. You play as a pointy-hatted wizard with a slinky, gliding stride, navigating your way through a variety of colorful dungeons and puzzles.
As is the case in any worthwhile dungeon, you’ll encounter baddies to dispatch, and Leximan puts a unique spin on the genre’s familiar turn-based combat. When you enter battle, you’ll see a swirling cloud of word fragments on the bottom half of the screen, which you can then use to create mystical incantations. There’s a variety of solutions to any given situation, and the most obvious word may not be the correct option—or the most interesting one. You might have a pretty clear idea of what will happen if you cast “Fireball,” but aren’t you the slightest bit curious about what might happen if you chose “Hairball” instead?
Leximan | Announcement Trailer
Once you’ve landed on your approach, the ensuing dialogue will dance and shimmer on the screen, often in vibrant contrast to the game’s mostly black-and-white aesthetic. On occasion, the game’s entire interface will transform or change color—as when I cast “yellow” in response to a foe wielding a green shield. These inventive riffs on the familiar combat system combine to allow each encounter to feel distinct and memorable in its own right. At least during my brief demo, there wasn’t any hint of the kind of spammy, repetitive encounters that often plague retro-styled role-playing games.
With its full-hearted embrace of punny turns of phrase, I wasn’t surprised to discover that the team behind Leximan is based in the UK (Cornwall, to be more precise). There’s a distinct dryness and Python-esque sensibility in the writing here that feels distinct from Undertale—and its many imitators—in a welcome way. If you’re a fan of an offbeat RPG with oodles of personality, this is one to watch.
The PwC Tower (left) has a zero vacancy factor. Photo / Michael Craig
Don’t call them ghost towers any longer because the chief of a billionaire landlord and a research boss have cited rising numbers of workers back in Auckland’s heart.
On Monday, Precinct Properties chief executive Scott Pritchard talked of office popularity soaring, “work from work” being the latest trend and a study of lift movement in buildings showing many of the approximately 10,000 people on two waterfront blocks returning Monday to Friday.
Gavin Read, JLL research head, backed that up, saying research his business released in May showed Auckland office block vacancies had dropped, as more people returned to work, commercial space made a comeback and more leasing deals were struck.
The ANZ Centre: 22 per cent is empty. Photo / Dean Purcell
Last year, the Herald reported on three big blocks with many empty floors. The ex-Chorus House at 66 Wyndham St was then 59 per cent empty, the former Lumley Centre at 88 Shortland St was 30 per cent empty and the ANZ Centre on Albert St was 22 per cent empty.
But JLL’s most recent survey found 66 Wyndham only 47 per cent vacant in this year’s first quarter, the ex-Lumley Centre now called Shortland and Fort only 5 per cent vacant and the ANZ Centre on Albert St just 7 per cent vacant.
Precinct sold half the ANZ skyscraper on the Albert/Swanson corner to giant American business Invesco in a deal struck in 2018, then the other half…
Back in March, legendary Elden Ring player Let Me Solo Her took on a challenge of unthinkable proportions: finishing a run in which every single enemy was Malenia. We’ve seen him slay this fearsome boss countless times, but surely this would be too much Malenia to overcome, even for him. Oh, who am I kidding? Of course he conquered the challenge. Roughly 24 hours ago, on April 25, Let Me Solo Her wrapped his 10-hour playthrough of the “Everything is Malenia” run, having documented the whole journey on stream for the world to watch.
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Let Me Solo Her, as his name implies, made waves by appearing in other players’ games to take on one of the game’s most grueling bosses, Malenia, Blade of Miquella, on his own. His remarkable feats of Elden Ring mastery even earned him a sword from the game’s publisher, Bandai Namco. Having defeated Malenia so many times, Let Me Solo Her set his sights on beating the game using a mod that replaced every single enemy, from the easily dispatched Godrick Soldiers to the games toughest bosses, with Malenia. And of course he had to do so wearing nothing but the jar helmet and imposing other restrictions on his run, like a refusal to level up Vigor, which affects how much damage your character can take. Let Me Solo Her is now taking another victory lap and by god, he deserves it.
10 hours, many deaths, many crashes, and no vigor
“Took about 10 hours,” Let Me Solo Her says in his victory tweet, “and probably more deaths than I’d like to admit but I finally finished the Everything is Malenia Run!”
While he admits that he died more than he would’ve cared to, and that the whole no leveling vigor thing may have been a bit much, you could tell he had fun doing it from the five-part stream documenting the journey.
The challenge proved tough even for someone as skilled and experienced as Let Me Solo Her, but it was even harder on his PC, which crashed a few times trying to keep up with such a wild and demanding mod. Things got particularly rough in part three of the stream, where Let Me Solo Her said he had to configure the game at “the lowest setting possible” to keep it running. And mind you, as he said when the game first crashed in part one, he’s running an RTX 4080 in his computer—that’s a $1,200 graphics card.
’I’m not sadistic, I just like this one particular boss’
Watching the Malenia-only streams, it’s hard not to think that Let Me Solo Her enjoys being cruel to himself. I mean, you can hear the pain in his voice at the conclusion of stream two as he takes on Draconic Malenia, the mod’s replacement for the Draconic Tree Sentinel.
But Let Me Solo Her assured the chat in the following stream that this wasn’t an act of sadism. That said, he did say that the Malenia-only run was “hard, way harder than I thought it would be.” However, moments later he nonetheless told the chat, “You guys should try this by the way. It’s very, very fun.”
FromSoftware / Let me solo her
In the finale, Let Me Solo Her admitted that he had lost count of how many times he died. In the first stream alone, he said, “I think [I died] at least 20-something [times].”
Persisting through all those deaths, though, Let Me Solo Her finally took down Elden Malenia, the replacement for the game’s final boss: Elden Beast. Thanking all his viewers, he expressed excitement at the upcoming DLC…and we can’t wait to see what feats of stunning heroism he pulls off when that drops.
Last week, the fashion world was taken by surprise as Law Roach noisily retired from styling. The famed stylist is known for saving the fashion careers of many celebrities, pulling them out of tone-deaf, trendless outfits and into the world of serving absolute looks. If you’ve loved what a celeb is wearing, Law Roach probably styled them.
He’s the wizard who turned Zendaya into Cinderella for the Met Gala ( who also styles her boyfriend, Tom Holland), he’s the maven who re-branded Celine Dion’s style. But the fashion industry is both cutthroat and rarely without drama. Law took to Instagram to announce he was retiring for good, and that the industry had seemingly “won.”
But retirement can mean so many things. Tom Brady has retired from football twice now. So it’s safe to say that people have questions when it comes to Law Roach’s sudden retirement post.
Is Law Roach Retiring?
People love giving credit where credit is due – and as such, stylists have their very own fan bases. The Guardian likens this phenomenon to Rachel Zoe’s Zoe Bots, which spawned her own spinoff show and fame in her own right, and not just for styling Lindsay Lohan.
This just means Law Roach will be fine if he’s not styling everyone anymore – he’ll be sitting on a million Instagram followers and a networking catalog that most would kill for. He has some of the biggest names in Hollywood behind him like Zendaya herself. In other words, Law Roach probably isn’t going anywhere.
The dramatic, shady Insta post wasn’t Law stepping away from fashion altogether, as he told Vogue. And it most definitely isn’t due to the fact that Zendaya didn’t save him a front-row seat at Fashion Week this year – or that he asked Emma Stone to give up hers. Law Roach is taking his career into his own hands, far away from “the politics, the lies, and false narratives” that Roach credits for his retirement from celebrity styling.
“I just wanna breathe. I wanna fly. I wanna be happy,” Roach said. “I wanna figure other things out.”
Who Has Law Roach Styled?
His looks have been seen on Anne Hathaway, Anya Taylor-Joy, Ariana Grande, and Bella Hadid. Law has created a multi-million dollar empire styling clients for photoshoots and red carpet appearances, while collaborating with some of the biggest fashion houses in the world.
This year’s Oscars showcased Megan Thee Stallion, Hunter Schafer, Kerry Washington, Eve Jobs, and Hailee Steinfeld, all dressed by Roach. Most of which ranked as the most talked about looks of the evening – so who’s going to style them now?
Law Roach and Zendaya at the Met Gala 2019
David Fisher/Shutterstock
And while each and every look was a slay and a serve in their own respect, no two looks were similar. In fact, each look was praised in their own ways, for different reasons. It’s something Law Roach talks about with The Cut.
“It’s always the narrative of, “Oh, he’s never gonna treat you the way he treats Zendaya. You’re gonna get what she doesn’t want.” And that’s not true, because none of my clients ever look the same. Like, I don’t use edits.
I don’t walk around with suitcases of edits that Zendaya didn’t want and offer ’em to other people. It’s always those narratives, and I’ve lost a bunch of clients that I really care for and really wanted to work with because of the gatekeepers.”
Law even styled Priyanka Chopra-Jonas, who told People that a stylist (seemingly Roach) informed her she wasn’t “sample sized.” While Law Roach told The Cut that this conversation didn’t happen in the way she framed it, it was an example of the false narratives he cited in his retirement.
What’s Next For Law Roach?
More recently, Roach was spotted making his modeling debut for Boss. Law Roach strutted the runway in good company amongst Pamela Anderson, Naomi Campbell, and Precious Lee. He told Vogue,
“I don’t think I have any challenges. I’m a fucking diva! Even if they were to put me on a 10-inch high heel I would be walking that runway. The little gay boy in me—I’m living out a dream! The hair, the makeup, the look they chose for me: it’s literally a dream!”
What’s better than a little sun and surf to break up the last weeks of winter? Boss joined the growing list of designers showing off-schedule this season and decamped to Miami to soak up the heat and present a collection inspired by the humid city. The likes of Maluma, Demi Lovato, and Emily in Paris star Lucien Laviscount went south for the week to take in the epic runway, staged at the waterfront Herald Plaza. The show sent Boss further into new territory, showing a see-now-buy-now range for spring/summer 2023 that is already available to shop online at boss.com. The assortment marks a new direction for Boss, highlighting its ability to adapt to the market and deliver high fashion while still sticking to its bread and butter: top-quality designs that are as stylish as they are comfortable.
Pamela Anderson opening the Boss runway.
Courtesy of Boss
Anok Yai.
Courtesy of Boss
The opening run of looks, modeled by none other than Pamela Anderson and supermodel Anok Yai, set the tone for the splashy show to come (literally). Models appeared to be walking on water, atop a slick black runway and surrounded by fountains misting water over the entire collection, so much so that by the end of each models’ walk, their outfits were damp, as if they had spent the last several minutes out to sea. Crinkled linen jackets in ecru and tans appeared light as air, complemented by sheer skirts and matching tops to counter the linen.
Courtesy of Boss
Boss definitely took cues from the style of Miami, which is by nature breezy to accommodate the stifling humidity and winds that come from the water. Officewear staples in black, white, and tan felt extra bouncy and free, and the classic pinstripe and grey marl suiting found new life as shift dresses, vests, and workwear skirts. The second half of the show saw models like Grace Elizabeth and Precious Lee in muted, slinky silk-and-mesh dresses that draped just so over the body, embracing a new sensuality that contrasts well with the typical tailoring we’re used to seeing from the brand.
Naomi Watanabe.
Courtesy of Boss
Amber Valletta.
Courtesy of Boss
Naomi Campbell.
Courtesy of Boss
The show leaned heavily into classicism with a twist, shown not only through the clothes, but via the diverse cast of characters. Everyone from aughts supermodel Omahyra Mota, Japanese superstar Naomi Watanabe, industry veteran Amber Valletta, and even DJ Khaled walked the runway (another one). Recently-retired stylist Law Roach even made an appearance in a three-piece suit. Naomi Campbell stomped out for the finale in a show-stopping black deconstructed halter-top suit gown—the ultimate Boss lady look. Even though the show pulled the brand into the future with a new focus on fashion-forward pieces, the timelessness and commitment to honoring its core customer shone through. All it took was jetting to the ultimate spring break location to unlock a new level.
Kevin LeBlanc is the Fashion Associate at ELLE Magazine. He covers fashion news, trends, and anything to do with Robyn Rihanna Fenty.
FantaSea One Yacht Pick For National Nurses Day Symposium Venue Creates Buzz at California’s 200+ Comprehensive and Primary Stroke Hospitals
Press Release –
updated: Jan 17, 2019
LOS ANGELES, January 17, 2019 (Newswire.com)
– The growing buzz throughout California’s 200+ Primary and Comprehensive Stroke Hospitals is “the maverick nurse who said ‘no …’” and decided she would change the “why, where and how” regarding future continuing nurse education.
For example, Operation:Scrubs is an all-nurse symposium created by a scrubs-wearing nurse, exclusively for scrubs-wearing nurses; the inaugural launch date is May 6 – National Nurses Day; and the symposium venue is FantaSea One – a 300-passenger luxury mega yacht in Marina Del Rey, California.
Surprise and excitement are understandable given the medical industry expectation for nurse education seminars and symposium venues are the hospital theater, hotel meeting room, or commercial conference center.
The “maverick nurse” buzz-causer is Pamela Jane Nye, an Assistant Professor at UCLA School of Nursing, also the Stroke Coordinator at UCLA Medical Center/Santa Monica.
Another surprise is Nye’s February retirement as UCLA Stroke Coordinator, as is her Neuroscience Nursing Ltd. business plan to continue providing accredited continuing education for nurses throughout California and nationwide.
“I want my business to inspire and create a new standard for continuing nurse education,” explained Nye, “which routinely recognizes, publicizes, and says ‘thank you’ to these unsung heroes of health care. I also want my seminars and symposiums to represent and promote my ‘See a Nurse -Thank a Nurse’ message as an everyday concept, not just National Nurses Day or during National Nurses Week!”
Nye’s yacht venue concept goes beyond an aboard-ship classroom, e.g. — A continental breakfast replaces the customary coffee and sweet rolls. A multi-choice soup-and-salad bar lunch + dessert replaces the customary sandwich, a piece of fruit and chips box lunch. Saving the best for last, the symposium’s end morphs 2-hour sunset harbor cruise with a hosted reception, gourmet buffet dinner, D.J. entertainment, and sponsor-provided “thank you” swag gifts for all nurse attendees.
Operation:Scrubs staff and information presenters, including Nye, are unpaid volunteers. Moreover, the event’s audited net proceeds go towards scholarships for nurses seeking advanced nursing education.
When asked about future aboard-yacht events, Nye said, “Absolutely!” To her “Maverick nurse” moniker, Nye just smiled.
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