Health is a complex concept. And you do want to understand how to best address it, correct?

I have previously written that health and wellness are two clearly different concepts. As a result, I see the work-site wellness programs of today as not really being wellness programs at all, but really being employee health status management programs. If you accept this premise, this means that as a work site wellness professional you should have a clear understanding about the nature of health. Do you think you do?

Health, like wellness, can have many different definitions. Again, like wellness, there appears to be agreement around the idea that health is a complex concept which has several different determinants. The determinants of health can be classified into several broad categories: policy making, social factors, health services, individual behavior and biology and genetics. Health is often referred to as being a complex bio psycho-social concept.

Breaking the term bio psycho-social down into its component parts suggests the term consists of three major components: biological, psychological and social. So how do these component parts each contribute to an individual’s health?

Biological – The biological and genetic or physical (physiological) determinants of health, as well as individual behaviors, are generally the focus of most work site wellness programs today. Programming often takes the form of health risk identification and measurement (commonly called risk reduction) and disease or condition management strategies. These speak to the biology and genetics of health.

Two common measurement tools used in work site wellness programs today are health risk assessments and bio-metric screenings which are designed to measure and categorize health risks and basic biological body measures respectively. The basic biological measures serve as markers for an individual’s health status. Ideally, these measures should be within what has been determined to be a normal clinical range.

Psychological – It is now generally accepted that our brain and our body in separable. There is an undeniable connection between the mind and the body. While the exact mechanism may not yet be clearly understood, there is agreement cognition, thoughts, attitude and feelings influence our health. Our thoughts and feelings do have a physical impact on our body. They influence our nervous system, our immune system, our hormone system and subsequently our health.

Disease states are strongly influenced both in onset and duration by the way we think and behave. Our emotional responses result in hormone releases which in turn affect our health. It is clear that how a person feels, or their psychological states including a sense of energy, vigor, durability, hardiness, resilience, optimism, high life satisfaction and positive emotions all reflect the psychological connection to physical health, thereby representing the psychological component in bio psycho-social.

Social – The person – environment fit is reflective of the social component in bio psycho-social. The social determinants of health typically refer to the social environment and the physical environment, which are not controllable by the individual, but affect the individual’s environment and health.

Social determinants are complex, integrated, and overlapping social structures and economic systems linked to a lack of opportunity and to a lack of resources to protect, improve, and maintain health. Environmental factors, such as housing conditions, living conditions, social networks, and social support are also key drivers.

Examples of social determinants include:

• Availability of resources to meet daily needs, such as educational and job opportunities, living wages, or healthy food

• Social norms and attitudes

• Exposure to crime, violence, and social disorder

• Socioeconomic conditions, such as poverty

• Social support and social interactions

Social support, social interactions and friendships have been determined by researchers to provide many benefits. They influence many major aspects of our life. They also provide many beneficial life enhancing roles. Social support is critical. In fact, a lack of friends can be deadly.

We lean on social support, social interactions and friendships for:

• Intellectual stimulation

• Emotional support

• Fun activities

• Support for making behavior changes

The skills necessary for making good social support, interactions and friendship are also the skills necessary for success in life. Social support, social interactions and friendships are also great wellness tools for the work-site wellness professional to tap into.

How is your work-site wellness program addressing each component of the bio psycho-social nature of health?

Many business people don’t fully understand the complexity of a software development process. It’s natural, since specialized books about development are read by developers and other IT people, and many others might still be referring to a software project as ”coding” or ”writing”. With better luck one might add ‘designing’ and ‘testing’. Quite inaccurate.

One can think of several metaphorical comparisons to describe software development, such as writing a book or building a house. Some of them are a good light in the dark, some are rather misleading. And while many people may argue whether creating software is an art, a science, or a precisely elaborated process, we’d leave that choice to someone else. It cannot be described sparsely. But we’ll try to give some descriptions and comparisons in a compact and clear way.

Do We ”Write” Software?

One of the common but rather vague things is comparing creating software with writing. Writing code, writing a book, and so on. You can start writing a book without a plan and go with the flow; with custom software development you cannot, unless developers do a rather small piece of software on their own – and for themselves. Moreover, an outsourced software project never starts with writing code.

Books and software may both have strict deadlines. But once a book is published, what’s written is written; rewriting is not an option. But software keeps being under constant improvement with new versions being released – it’s a natural thing. It’s almost impossible to get every need of your end user, catch up with business and technological changes once and for a lifetime. Books aren’t that dependent on changes; software is. But that’s good: your software, unlike a book, can’t become just another mediocre thing on the market, can’t become irrelevant and outdated. The processes are absolutely different: we prefer using the words ”create” or ”build” software rather than ”write”.

Do We ”Grow” Software?

”Growing” software on a good basis and a good set of documentation is possible to a certain extent. Like with writing, it’s not the best description one can suggest. It partially gets the incremental, agile nature of making and maintaining relevant software. But while ”growing”, the product is rarely tasty until it’s ripe, and the owner has to wait awhile.

The difference is, in software development there are different stages of being ”ripe”. Startups usually demand rolling a minimum viable software product on the market, getting feedback and making corrections and improvements. Each version is more ”ripe” than its predecessor, and it has to be ”watered” by support and maintenance, kept fresh amidst all the business and technological changes.

Do We ”Build” Software?

This one is considered by many specialists the closest way to describe software development, and we can agree with that. Construction works show the huge importance of careful planning, preparing, guiding the work, and performing it. The limits of software depend on how its architecture is constructed. The amount of works doesn’t grow gradually, since every building is different, and requires different approach. There can be a hospital, an office building, a school or a barn, and same physical size doesn’t mean equal amount of labour. Something is done with concrete, something can be done with wood and nails, and the latter doesn’t work well with complex and valuable software for mobile startups and other businesses.

– Everything depends on the kind of a building you need. You need to figure out the problem the software will solve, and conduct the necessary preparations, do market research, gather info, etc. The more complex your software is, the more resources must be spent on planning. Bad planning – and the whole app fails, falls like a house of cards by the first gust of a wind.

– Then you and your chief architect (project manager) can proceed to design that perfectly combines functional requirements and interface, resulting in proper user experience. Sure you want those who will work or live in the building to be fully satisfied with it. Same thing with software. One more good thing, once the design is approved, it’s way easier to give more precise estimations for the remainder of the construction (development) works.

– When furnishing a house, you needn’t building things you can buy: household appliances and furniture. It’s much cheaper and way faster. Same with software: if your software development team is experienced, it will use all the available resources to stay away from writing needless basic things: there are lots of software toolkits, frameworks, classes, and libraries for that, each for a particular case. And if the team means business, they will easily find tools and technologies that will get your tasks done as fast as possible. Custom pieces of furniture take more time and efforts, but in most cases there are already existing pre-built ways to save your time and money without compromising security and efficiency of your software.

– There will always be changes in functional requirements. Again, changes can painlessly happen within the planned architecture. Here we once more emphasize the importance of preparations – although this topic is worthy of a separate article. And we cannot go anywhere without mentioning quality assurance, which constantly checks different aspects of how the software works. What’s more – even a minor change involves testing, so that’s not the place to cut the costs (in fact, QA usually takes about 30% of the whole development time).

– Optimization of software (inner walls of a building) is limited to the approved architecture, and here main expenses are all about labor, not materials. But what you receive in the end is better software and satisfied users. Meanwhile users speak their minds on what they would like the apartments to look – and one should never neglect these opinions.

– One more thing worth noting – a good architect (or a good creative expert in software development) is always ready to consult you on things that should be solved immediately, and what can be left for later without breaking your plans or the quality of your software. You are most likely to not know the subtleties of the technical side – so leave making suggestions and explanations to your team. Unless you are an experienced IT person and you needn’t reading this article to get these insights.

As you can see, the last example is really the closest, and the list of similarities can be continued forever. But the ones we presented here should be enough to understand the process of software development, which is impossible without patience, expertise of the team, and mutual understanding.

As an employee, you will be spending maximum hours of a day at the workplace. In a professional world, as contacts expand, it is equally important to build a good relationships with co-workers. Since company environment will always be a mix of people from various backgrounds, getting along with all of them can seem a herculean task. Employers today want individuals who are good at building relationships, communicating efficiently and gel well with the team. Here are ways using which you can build healthy relationships with colleagues and develop better association with them.

Learn more about your colleagues

Get to know more about your colleagues by asking them about their dreams and values. You can have open conversations with them during coffee breaks and learn about their background, knowledge or skills they own. Observe what type of conversations they prefer and encourage sharing of new ideas in the group. Invite them for a team lunch or an outing to build the right camaraderie and foster relationships.

Have mutual respect

When you are working in a team, allow every member to share his/her thoughts on a particular topic. It shows that their opinions are given the same value as much as of others. This facilitates creativity among the members and helps to build strong relations right from the root as a courtesy is expected to be followed.

Communicate effectively

Be professionally honest and positive when you talk to others. Even if you are pressing a point during discussion, be ready to listen to what others want to say as they might bring out a different perspective on the topic. Never have a ‘know it all’ attitude or be arrogant in front of co-workers. Also, if you have initiated a discussion, encourage others to participate in it.

Be a helper

It might happen that a colleague is staying beyond the work hours or showing up early to complete a project. You can try to help him/her in ways that are possible without jeopardizing your own assigned task. If you are a giver, then there will be greater chances of receiving help when faced with a problem. This is one of the most appreciated qualities in an employee and goes a long way in building successful relations.

Avoid being part of a group

One should try to mingle with all employees at the workplace rather than sticking to only people who fall in your age group. Do not be consistently with people who are in your vicinity or have similar interests. Try to branch out to various employees and get on a comfort level with them. In this way, you can learn more from experiences and avoid being biased. As a result, you will not feel alienated in unexpected situations.

Become trustworthy

When you start working in an organization, you are expected to deliver projects on time and even meet critical deadlines. At such times, how you manage responsibilities and handle targets would be important. You can try collaborating with other colleagues who have expertise on that subject for help. However, if due to certain circumstances you are unable to meet the target, or will be missing the completion date, communicate the same to the concerned person along with a valid reason.

Show appreciation

If you have received help from other to accomplish a task, do not forget to thank that person and give him/her due credits. Praising your colleague and speaking positive things about him/her can go a long way in building healthy relationship with fellow workers.

Connecting with your co-workers and building healthy relationships with them bring out the best in you and also give job satisfaction. Maintain a polite and cheerful attitude at the workplace. If you are on friendly terms with your colleagues in the office, then it acts as a support system, which can help in boosting your performance.

The homecoming party is supposed to be really exciting and a time to have fun. Every girl attending the party must feel confident, unique and be ready to have happy moments. Choosing a cute dress can go a long way in helping you have the best homecoming party ever. It could actually make you the center of attraction in the entire party.

There are tips that could help you choose the best homecoming dresses in a very simple way. These include:

1. Always Search For Your Dress Early

Rushing through the internet can be frustrating if you really need the best homecoming dress for your party. It could actually ruin your party! Go through the magazines and various websites, and even watch celebrity red carpet at least three or two months before the party, and evaluate the options available for you. Further, always budget as early as possible; so that you do not end up missing out on your favorite dress just because you did not have money to pay for it.

2. Know Who You Are

Just because a dress is suitable for one person you had seen somewhere, it does not mean that it will be perfect for you. Always go for your own unique designs that bring out the best in you. You may need to consider your body shape and height, and hence choose the suitable dress. For instance, curvy people should go for the A shape dresses, while slim people may want to consider a sheath style dress. Short people who may finding it difficult to find a sizeable cocktail dress can go for a short dress which is long on them. Professional designers can help you to understand the right type of dress with careful consideration of your body shape and height.

3. Do Not Forget The Shoes And Accessories

It does not make sense to put all your effort in shopping for a perfect dress and then forget all other facts like accessories and shoes. Find jewelry, bag, and shoes to match to your cute homecoming dresses 2014 early in advance. This way, you will achieve that perfect look during the party.

4. Clarify On The Delivery Time

Your dress should be delivered to you a few weeks before the homecoming party. This way, you will have a chance to try it on, and make alterations if need be. If you are shopping for the dress online, it is important to confirm with the vendors about the delivery dates even before you make your orders.

It is not difficult to find perfect and cute homecoming dresses. With little research and following the tips above, you will have a chance to find the best dress that will help you make lasting impressions during the party.