Management can seem to be a daunting task. What exactly does it take to become a good manager?
One person may say it’s “the ability to communicate”, while others may say it’s “being able to read a person’s skills and assign work accordingly”.
About.com has quite a selection of articles to help you achieve our management goals. Some tips are:
(1) Don’t Give Orders: “…When you give an order, you do not allow the other person any latitude to think about what to do or how to do it. All they can do to satisfy your order is exactly what you ordered… You do not let them learn.”
(2) Delegate, Don’t Dump: “When you delegate, as opposed to dumping, you give the other person the same authority to complete the task as if you had done it yourself. …It must help the receiver learn and grow.”
(3) Give Negative Feedback Properly: “You don’t want to critique someone else’s actions when you are angry or upset.” and “Focus on their actions not the person.”
(4) Give Positive Feedback Properly: ” Say something right away.” and “Make it public”
For the full articles, read more…
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In today’s world, we are bombarded daily with new software that’ll supposedly “make us more efficient and productive”. While some of this software in genuinely useful, a lot of it has a large learning curve or requires 2-weeks of training to use it to its full potential.
One application that I have recently integrated with my daily routine is Google Groups. It is a free web application provided by Google. To set one up, you must have a Google account, but anyone can access a group.
This application will allow you to invite group members, share files, websites, and discuss current projects in a forum with other members. This ease of communication and quick feedback will surely work towards improving team productivity.
There are many other group management applications out there, but few as widely available (all you need is an internet connection) and easy to use as Google Groups.
Read more for a tutorial on how to set one up and get the ball rolling.
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Everyone would like to be more productive. A popular assumption is that multitasking serves as a means to increased productivity. After all, thinking about more things at once allows one to get more things done quicker.
The knew-it-all-along department over at Slashdot.org has posted an interesting article proclaiming the opposite, that multitasking causes you to work slower and eventually cause an increase in the stress hormones of the body.
We concentrate on the act of concentration at the expense of whatever it is that we’re supposed to be concentrating on…
Sums it up pretty conveniently.
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The fellas at ReadersDigest.com have compiled a list of 75 tips to keep your car in great shape.
With the Winter season at hand, salty roads, sub-zero temperatures, and the human aversion to outdoors work, there is great potential for damage to your vehicle.
Many of these tips are quick and easy or even passive and will save you hours of time and headache in the long-run.
An example:
4. Don’t fill up if you see the tanker
If you happen to see a gasoline tanker filling the tanks at your local gas station, come back another day or go to a different station. As the station’s underground tanks are being filled, the turbulence can stir up sediment. Sediment in your gas can clog fuel filters and fuel injectors, causing poor performance and possibly necessitating repairs.
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