Why "Any Questions?" Shouldn't Be Your Last Slide
The last slide you want as your last slide is "Any Questions?"
No, I’m not asking if there are any questions; that’s the point. The final slide of your presentation should not be "Any Questions?" And yet, we all do it. It’s ingrained in our presentation DNA to conclude a motivating and compelling presentation with that very phrase.
But why should "Any Questions?" not be your final slide?
3 Reasons to Stop Remote Work FROM THE OFFICE
Companies are becoming increasingly insistent on employees returning to the office. To me, a three-to-four-day office schedule with one to two days of remote work is the ideal ratio. However, I've noticed that even when I'm physically present in the office, I'm still working remotely.
How is that possible?
If You Aren’t Embarrassed by Your First Version, You’re Not Moving Fast Enough
I listen to a lot of podcasts. There’s always a point in time where the host(s) reflect back on their first episodes and say, “We don’t encourage anyone to listen to our early episodes, but if you must, you can find them here.” They quickly explain with some variation of, “We didn’t know what we were doing, the audio was terrible, and our interviewing style was horrendous.”
If You Have This Problem, You Will LOVE this Solution!
Here’s the problem:
You need to invite a LOT of people to an online meeting.
You want those people to forward the meeting to others.
You don’t want participants to see who else is invited and their contact information, and
You don’t want someone to Reply All, starting an endless cycle where everyone hits Reply All to tell everyone to stop replying to everyone!
If you have this problem, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about. A simple solution is to use the web version of Microsoft Outlook.
Don’t Do Quick and Dirty Work
Years ago, before the emergence of Squarespace, Wix, and the host of other DIY website builders, I worked in a web development shop, where we built websites from scratch. Our sites could take weeks to up to months to build and publish depending upon complexity.
It always surprised me how often business owners would come in and say they needed an ‘emergency’ site by the end of the week. They assured us they needed nothing fancy, weren’t concerned with how the design looked, and the site didn’t need to do anything special.
3 Ways to Not Run Out of Gas on Your Next Project
After many years of listening to friends extol the virtues of a ZTR (zero turn radius) mower, I finally got one. Two words: Game Changer! It cuts lines so straight, the grass is so even, and time is so saved. The only downside? It burns more gas than my previous, smaller mower. One can with my old mower would last about three mows; now, I’m fortunate to get 1 ½ mows out of my new lawn beast.
Be A Problem Solver
Michael worked in the warehouse. Other employees wore shorts and T-Shirts; Michael wore slacks and a tie. Yet others would show up late and leave early; Michael would show up early and stay late. Many complained about their job; Michael looked for ways to make things better.
Someone asked him why he dressed and worked the way he did. He replied that he was acting as if he had already moved on to his next position in the company. And certainly owing to that attitude, his next position came soon enough.
Is Your Work Day Filled with Empty-Calorie Activities?
Sugary snacks, chips, sodas... all satisfying, all filling, and all not good for you. Food companies spend a ton of money to find out what will appeal to consumers when it comes to junk food. For example, did you know the ideal breaking point for potato chips is four pounds per square inch (4 PSI)? Frito-Lay does.
The problem with empty-calorie junk food is that it crowds out the space needed for healthy and nutritious food. Our workday can also fall victim to empty-calorie work crowding out productive work that yields results. Consider the following 3 examples of junk-food activities that can quickly fill up our day versus the healthy alternative.
One Way to Gain Control of an Out-of- Control Project
The experience was harrowing. We were towing a dually truck on a trailer from Louisiana to Georgia and had just gotten on the interstate. My father was behind the wheel with my brother-in-law next to him, and my son and I were in the back.
We had just about hit 60 MPH when an 18-wheeler flew by. We all felt the trailer being pulled left in the semi-truck’s wake. The trailer then swayed right. The swaying continued, increasing exponentially in magnitude each time until our truck also became caught up in the morbid physics of being jerked from side to side.
Two Ways to Keep a Boat Out of a Ditch
My friend Ron was looking forward to a beautiful summer’s day on the lake with his boat. He and his family were in the truck towing the boat when something odd happened. The boat that was supposed to stay behind him for the duration of the trip was passing him! That’s right. He looked in his rearview mirror and noticed a very familiar boat in a very unfamiliar position, not behind him, but right beside him. He reduced his speed and watched in terror as the boat veered left and crossed the median into a ditch.
3 Reasons Ya’ Gotta’ Have a Framework
We all know what a framework looks like. It’s the steel grid of a skyscraper emerging from the ground of a construction site. Or, it’s the metal skeleton of a vehicle creeping along an assembly line towards completion. A framework is the essential supporting structure of a building, vehicle, or object. It’s what everything else is attached to, filled in, and made ready for use.
A Guide to Rating Employees on Annual Performance Reviews
I walked into my manager’s office with a bit of a swagger and a smug look. “Everything for this week is done,” I said. “All project plans have been updated, the communication plan has been revised, the issue with the integration team has been resolved, and I even called the customer and gave them an update on next week’s plans.”
Expecting kudos and accolades, my hopes were quickly dashed.
Start Doing Employee MicroReviews (and How)
Think about the microcosm in which we live. We have microwaves, microphones, microbreweries, and even Micronesia; but, no Micro-Reviews. Why is that? Because we as managers have a tendency to put our employee reviews off until the end of the year, creating a pressure-cooker couple of weeks to cram them in at the beginning of the year.
This year, try doing microreviews.
Lesson Learned During a Chicken Dinner
“Who doesn’t know that…?” I thought to myself as the speaker presented his first point at a PMI project management event.
I took a bite of my chicken.
About midway through his presentation, I again couldn't help but think, “That’s obvious, isn’t it?” while shoveling in some green beans.
My attitude did not improve the more he kept talking.
Where It's At. I Got Two Computers and I Work From Home.
My home office has one monitor, wireless keyboard and mouse. The problem is that I have two laptops: a personal laptop and my work laptop. It wasn't that big of a deal when my work laptop stayed at the office most of the time.
Not so much anymore.
3 Tips for Successfully Working Remote
“I have only one rule,” my manager said. “Don’t go dark on me.” Our office was scheduled to close at the end of the year, and everyone would soon be disbanded to the suburbs of Atlanta to begin working remotely. His guidance meant that when he needed to get ahold of team members during normal business hours, we would be available.
Fair enough.
Some made it work, others didn’t. Those who did enjoyed the benefits of working from home; those who didn’t were eventually asked to leave the company.
Which brings us to the question…how can I make others feel like I’m in the office right next to them, when working remotely? Consider the following suggestions.
Find Important Messages in Seconds by Color Coding Your Email
Receiving hundreds of emails a day is no longer the exception but rather the norm. They range from critically important to a litany of one-word replies such as “thanks” and “ok.” Sometimes you can block out 30 minutes to plow through your inbox, but sometimes you can’t.
For those days that you can’t, there is a way to zero in on emails that need your immediate attention, such as those from your manager, customers, or anyone else that needs a quick response.
But We've Always Done It That Way!
A young girl once asked her mother why she cut off the ends of the roast before putting it in the pan. “That’s a great question,” her mother said. “I’m not really sure, it’s something my mother always did. Why don’t you ask her?”
So, the girl asked her grandmother the same question and was told, “Y’know, I’m not really sure, it’s something my mother always did. Why don’t you ask her?”
When she called and asked her great grandmother, the mystery was solved. “Oh, that’s easy,” she was told. “It’s because the pan we had was too small to hold the whole roast. We had to cut off the ends to make it fit!”
A Technology Lesson Learned from a Salesperson
“Nope, we can’t do that,” I said curtly to the potential client. I knew my team would not be able to fulfill their request, and as my colleague and I sat in that meeting, I prided myself in not committing to something our company couldn’t deliver. After all, I was the person responsible for delivering the technology that would be sold.
“Wait, wait, wait…” my colleague, ever the sales pro, said. “We may not be able to do that, but we will be able to do this instead…will that work?”
“Sure, that’ll be just fine,” said the potential, soon-to-be-paying client.
Are You Able to Sleep Through A Storm?
What qualities are necessary for a Project Manager to be successful? Leadership, organization, and being detail-oriented all come to mind. However, for a Project Manager to be truly successful, they need to be able to sleep through a storm.
I heard a story a number of years ago about a Farmer who was looking to hire someone to assist on the farm. He went through interview after interview, but just wasn’t able to find the right person. Eventually he interviewed Pete. The only skill Pete listed on his resume’ was the ability to sleep through a storm.