Turn in your ‘supply police’ badge
If you’d rather spend your workday doing more than dispensing “sticky” pads and policing paper procurements, use these tactics to control the supply monster.
Prepare to take your tasks global
“What do I most need to be prepared for suddenly dealing with international cultures, people and ways of doing things? I’ve just landed a job with a big international marketing firm … I get a little nervous when they tell me about all the different clients and projects involving so many different countries.”
Acronyms and abbreviations
Acronyms and abbreviations are a great way to tighten up your writing and save yourself some keystrokes, but they’re only clear to insiders who use them on a regular basis. Good writers are careful to follow these rules for using acronyms and abbreviations.
Start the New Year off right with Excel templates
If you’ve ever accidentally saved over a document you needed by using it to create a new one, or accidentally deleted long and complex formulas, you’ll appreciate these tips on selecting, modifying and creating Excel templates.
MS Office is coming to Droid and iOS
Microsoft has announced Microsoft® Office for Android® and IOS devices. The release, targeted for the 1st quarter of 2013, will finally allow you to read and work with your Office files on your Droid device.
Let Outlook help prep meeting attendees
Let’s say you have a meeting scheduled to discuss resolving customer complaints. To prepare for the meeting, attendees search their inboxes and network drives to find related files they’ll need to begin visualizing a process. By inserting some of these objects into the meeting notice, you can help attendees better prepare for the meeting.
Be a human highlighter
Highlighting your achievements to those who can advance your career can be painfully awkward. But research shows that to get ahead, we have to make those with influence aware of our achievements. You want to be a human highlighter.
Write an effective letter of complaint
Air your disappointment with a product or service by writing a letter that lets you vent while making your points clearly and effectively.
Deflect prying questions with honesty and brevity
Question: “How do you respond to colleagues who ask a lot of personal questions? Recently, I had to take vacation on short notice to care for my sick daughter-in-law. Before I left, my co-workers kept asking where I was going and whether my husband was going with me. I managed to dodge the questions, but their nosiness caught me off guard. How should I handle this in the future?” Not a Busybody
Set goals you’ll actually accomplish
If you’re always setting goals you never seem to accomplish, the problem may be that you’re doing it wrong. Next time, try these tips from Ken Cheo, principal at Winfree Business Growth Advisors.