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Year: 2011

Crave a new role?

Pitch the idea to your boss, explaining how the change will benefit both him and the company. Then ask him to pilot the idea for 90 days. “Piloting is a great way to test out the new role and show results,” says career coach Maggie Mistal.

Think twice about quitting in a huff

In the world of baseball recently, the manager of the Washington Nationals suddenly resigned. The Nationals had just beaten the Seat­tle Mariners when Jim Riggleman quit. If you’re considering quitting your job, Riggleman’s case of­­fers at least three things to consider:

Co-dependent co-workers constantly interrupt my focus

Question:  “My co-workers constantly ask me to assist them with simple problems.  Whenever they encounter any minor difficulty, they dump it on me. This makes it hard to finish my own work. My boss has been no help. When he talked to these people about handling their own problems, they told him that coming to me was faster. He immediately gave in and said we should just work it out amongst ourselves. I’ll never be able to focus on my job unless I end these interruptions.  How can I do that?”  —Totally Worn Out

Should I complain about my boss?

Question: “My manager, ‘Sandra,’ recently yelled at me in front of all my co-workers because I took too long to find some information. Sandra is often rude to employees and even threw one person out of her office. She’s very moody, so we never know what to expect from day to day. I have considered reporting her to human resources, but I’m not sure if that would be a good idea. Sandra has been here for 25 years and gets along well with management. Also, I was previously given a verbal warning about my job performance, so I’m trying hard to be a model employee. However, if I ignore this incident, I’m afraid that Sandra will do it again. Any suggestions?  —Uncertain

Take 5 minutes a day to work smarter

Peter Bregman consults and writes about achieving your priorities by finding your focus. “I believe that most of us get smarter as we get older,” Bregman says. “But somehow, despite that, we often make the same mistakes.” Here’s a five-minute strat­­egy for getting smarter every day:

Productivity booster

Boost productivity by “plotting” the items on your to-do list. Before starting a task, spend the first five minutes creating a  road map. Assign times for each piece of your strategy. Watch the clock while you are working to gauge whether you are staying within your assigned time range.

Less is more with PowerPoint presentations

Heed these four tips when preparing a PowerPoint presentation: 1.  Keep slides clutter-free. 2.  Use one image to sell each idea. 3.  Follow the same color schemes, fonts and logos as your company’s website or brochures. 4.  Give the audience a break to prolong attention spans.