Done or Done Done?
A common culprit behind schedule slips is adding up estimates for building subunits and not accounting for verification and integration. […]
Done or Done Done? Read More »
communication
Non-technical?!? Who are you calling non-technical?
I tried not to sputter as the young, no-grey haired, highly-respected PhD sporting engineering manager told me my suggestion did
Non-technical?!? Who are you calling non-technical? Read More »
Effective risk management starts with experience.
We can study about risk management. We can take classes on steps for risk assessments. We can learn about using probability and impact to prioritize our hazard lists. But it’s experience that streamlines our risk assessment process. With experience we can quickly list only the relevant risks. Its experience that automatically eliminates the low probability and low impact items. The unnecessary items become invisible and therefore free time to focus on the more important items.
Effective risk management starts with experience. Read More »
Some sage advise for your first day at a new job.
On our first day, we typically want to “prove ourselves”. We want to show that they made a great decision in hiring us. We feel the need to jump in and be productive right away. Although our intentions are very good, in our zeal to impress, we can even go a little overboard.
Some sage advise for your first day at a new job. Read More »
How does one carefully maintain the balance between effective communication and time management?
The rule of thumb is that the answer to most questions starting with “should everything be” is “NO”.
It’s the same with this question.
Effective communication IS time management. It isn’t a trade-off, such as this question seems to imply. Consider how much time you waste through misinterpretation, vague directions, mistakes and hurt feelings when you are not communicating clearly?
There’s much more to this than meets the eye, but here are five of six tips to effective communication AND time management?
Perfecting versus perfection.
We’ve all heard the groan: “We have an aggressive schedule to meet.” The fact is, it’s not the “schedule” timeline that is aggressive; rather, it’s what we choose to fit into it. Adopting an attitude of progress refinement (perfecting over perfection) with the confidence percentage strategy helps reduce this tension between promised and actually delivered tasks.
Perfecting versus perfection. Read More »
When are ultimatums appropriate?
Whether we are in the office or in a relationship, there are times when we hit a roadblock or impasse. So, when are ultimatums appropriate?
When are ultimatums appropriate? Read More »
Saying “YES” in difficult family situations
I recently conducted a “Say YES to everything – on your own terms” seminar based on the material from “”Just
Saying “YES” in difficult family situations Read More »
Finding time to stay ahead
Today’s busy lifestyle and every-changing technology makes it difficult to stay on top (never mind ahead). If we’re too busy taking care of today’s’ business, how can we find time to prepare for tomorrow? Granted, this opens a can of worms. There are many avenues to this discussion. Today, we’ll try to focus on “how to stay knowledgeable and continue to be considered an expert in my field.”
Finding time to stay ahead Read More »
Most things are not what they seem
Raleigh certainly had a white Christmas this year (2010). The previous Raleigh Christmas (Dec 25th) snow was in 1947. When
Most things are not what they seem Read More »
What remote managers need to know about staying on top of remote and global employees.
Last article we discussed some of the down-side to working remotely (either from home or from an off-site office). We discussed some techniques an employee can stay in the spotlight, even when they are not located in the same site as their reporting manager, cohorts or those making the salary decisions. Today, we’ll cover the challenges and solutions from the managerial position.
A primary concern for a manager is : as your team starts to grow apart in location, how do I assure the team doesn’t also “grow apart as a team”. How does one keep a cohesive workforce across both distance and time zones?
What remote managers need to know about staying on top of remote and global employees. Read More »