Stan Portny, author of Project Management for Dummies, has been writing about improving the efficiency of company meetings for 20 years. Here’s his advice on organizing and delegating tasks when you’re the project manager.
Try designating exactly one of your desk drawers as your happy place, and fill it only with the snacks you like most, the photos you love, your best music CDs, etc.—no tools of productivity allowed! It’s nice to have a tiny perfect retreat, a magical spot always guaranteeing a little workday happiness.
One job sponsor isn’t enough to provide job security you need in a rapidly shifting business landscape. Center for Talent Innovation CEO Sylvia Ann Hewlett shares tips.
Q: “A few months ago, I became the first human resources director at a private club, the only woman on the management team. I have run into difficulties with several of my male colleagues. They are accustomed to doing whatever they please, so when I try to give them sound legal advice, they take it personally and challenge my reasoning. Even though I am legally correct, they obviously resent my authority and have begun making snide remarks about me and my department. We now have a new general manager. I would like to alert him to what’s going on, but I don’t want to seem like a tattletale.” Fed Up
Do more math to achieve greater career success … Do away with the idea that maintaining eye contact is always a good thing … Rid yourself of email déjà vu with Google’s Canned Responses.
Mobile applications can help keep your boss a sane, secure and happy traveler. TechRepublic writer Jack Wallen shares five great travel apps for the savvy business traveler.
The cost of the technology you use could add up to a serious chunk of change without you realizing it. Jordan Amin, former head of the National CPA Financial Literacy Commission, suggests keeping a close eye on these areas of technology spending.
Remember that when you’re not at work, people really care about only one thing: when they’re going to hear back from you about something they need. In addition to telling emailers you’re gone, reassure them in your out-of-office message with a general estimate of when you’ll respond to what they just sent.
Just because they’re often hailed as productivity tools doesn’t mean smartphones are always helpful. How do you draw the line between what’s helping and hurting? Some experts offer their take on the issue.