10 ways to be more productive

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By Alan Norton from TechRepublic
September 8, 2010, 9:48 AM PDT

Takeaway: If you often reach the end of the day and wonder why you got so little done, it may be time evaluate your working style. Alan Norton offers 11 productivity boosters that can help get your days back on track.

We would all like to get more accomplished during the course of the workday. During my career, I needed to end each day feeling that I had been productive and had accomplished something of importance. Except for the occasional lost day, I fulfilled those needs. Here is how I did it.

1: Use the right tools

Tools separate us from all but a few animals. And for good or for bad, that’s why we humans are so good at changing our environment. Tools are essential for modifying and managing the information landscape. And the proper use of the right tools can arguably have the most significant positive impact on our productivity at work.

Whether it’s hardware, software, or the chair you sit in, using the best tool for the job can make a huge difference in the amount of work you get done. It’s not always easy to determine which tool is best. Know your options and research which tool best meets your needs. New tools are being developed all the time. Keep up to date to determine whether more effective tools are available.

2: Properly manage your time and your tasks

Simple time management can help you make more effective use of your time. Know what you intend to accomplish before starting each day. You may want to write these tasks down, but I learned to do simple daily planning without any special tools. I found it easier to break my day into morning and afternoon and reevaluate my working plan at lunchtime. Longer term tasks and goals should be written down for reference by you, your team, and your management. The project planis often used in IT but other tools exist that may better fit your needs.

Order and prioritize your tasks in a meaningful way. How you prioritize depends on how you work, who you work for, or who pays you:

  • Bosses’ wishes
  • Due date
  • Project plan
  • Highest paid
  • Queuing
  • Squeaky wheel

Pain avoidance (squeaky wheel) is probably not the best method of prioritization, but let’s be realistic: It happens. There are tools designed specifically to help you prioritize your tasks. Whatever method you use to manage and prioritize your tasks, it should be flexible enough to allow you to choose an alternate task. The project plan may call for you to build the database on week three but when week three rolls around, you might prefer to work on another task. The plan should allow for task substitution where possible.

3: Learn to say no

It’s a lot easier to juggle five balls than eight. You may not be able to say no to the boss, but when possible, pare back your to-do list. If the list gets too long, consider segregating it into current and future tasks. Having too many items on your plate can be discouraging, and a motivated person is more productive than a discouraged one.

Learn to say no to interruptions. You wouldn’t interrupt your child while in school. Except for emergencies and the occasional honey-do item, you should encourage others to avoid interrupting you when you’re hard at work.

4: Focus on one task at a time

It is a common misconception that the conscious mind can process more than one task at a time. It’s just not possible if the tasks require conscious selection and action. The best multi-taskers may quickly switch from one task to another, but they still can focus on only one task at a time. Experiments have shown that productivity drops when multi-tasking.

It may be in vogue to listen to an MP3 player, text your peers, and work all at the same time, but your work will suffer if attention is placed on that other activity, even if only for a moment. I believe it is possible to listen to music in the background and actually be more productive. However, listening to and comprehending any talk, including the news, commercials, and talk radio is counterproductive.

5: Know when you are not productive

We all seem to have those times during the day when we just aren’t totally with it. Recognize when you are unproductive. Is it mornings? Late afternoons? After lunch? Use these times to do repetitive, simple-to-accomplish tasks. I was unproductive in the mornings, so I would read and answer my email, return phone calls, and schedule conference calls. I would walk to other buildings to make face-to-face contact with my customers and keep current with what was happening. It got my blood moving and the exercise made me more productive later in the day.

We are not machines. Productivity begins to suffer when focusing on one task for too long. When you begin to feel tired or unable to focus, stop working. Take a break or take an early lunch.

Lower productivity can be long-term as well as short-term. Recognize the warning signs of burn-out. Take a vacation, sabbatical or schedule some downtime when you see the first signs of physical or mental exhaustion.

6: Take advantage of nonproductive time

Any work that can be accomplished when traveling or during other lost nonproductive hours means that you can focus on more important tasks when back in the office. I often organized receipts and filled out my expense report when flying back from a work trip. Waiting in line and walking to lunch are great times to accomplish tasks that require careful consideration and thought. You may be tempted to multi-task while driving, but that is a bad idea.

7: Sleep on it

It’s counterintuitive, but when you’re stuck trying to solve a particularly difficult problem, set it aside until tomorrow. The answer to a difficult problem has often come to me in that quiet time between lying down to sleep and dozing off. If it didn’t, starting the next day with a fresh perspective often helped solve the problem.

In addition, getting the right amount of sleep will help you be more productive. This is different for each person, but is typically between seven and nine hours each night.

8: Leverage past work

I call this the copy-and-paste method of increasing productivity. If you are a programmer, reuse proven code. If you have a presentation to give, there may be existing graphics, text, or slides that can be recycled from a previous PowerPoint. Use standards and templates when appropriate to save time. Consider developing a library of work that can be maintained and mined for reuse by your department or company. Sharing this library will make everyone more productive.

9: Look before you leap

Sometimes, I used to get up and go for a walk right in the middle of the workday. Thankfully, no one ever stopped me to question what I was doing, but I often wondered what others were thinking. And thinking is exactly what I was doing. Taking the time up front to develop a plan of attack away from interruptions can save hours of wasted effort.

10: Know the business and your business

IT often supports many types of businesses. From manufacturing to nonprofit, knowing how the business you support works will make you more productive. I was fortunate to work with managers at Hughes Aircraft Company, who invested a lot of their time to take me on tours of the plant and explain their business to me. I also spent a lot of time on my own, watching and learning how the cogs of the machine interfaced and turned. Book learnin’ and a degree laid the foundation, but I didn’t really understand how business worked until I was thrust into the big machine.

Your job might be a developer redesigning parts of “the machine” to make it work more efficiently. You might be responsible for greasing and repairing the giant cogs and gears. Whatever your job, you need to know it inside and out. If your skills aren’t up to snuff, ask yourself what you can do to improve them.

11: Telecommute

I was often able to accomplish twice the amount of work at home as compared to working in an office. It’s not that hard to see why, when you consider all the distractions and interruptions in the workplace. There is a big caveat though. The telecommuter has to be the right kind of person with the right tools in the right environment. A separate office is best so you can close the door at the end of your workday and separate your personal life from your work.

The payoff

Increased productivity helps the team and company, but what’s in it for you?

  • You can check off items from your never-ending to-do list more quickly.
  • You are more likely to have a greater sense of accomplishment.
  • You are more likely to complete that important task or critical project on time.
  • You are more likely to get the more important and more interesting tasks.
  • Your bottom line can be affected in a significant and positive way when performance appraisal time rolls around.
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10 ways to present yourself more professionally

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By Jack Wallen, March 6, 2013, 10:54 AM PST

Takeaway: Whether you’re delivering a speech, running a meeting, or interviewing for a job, these tried-and-true tricks can make you come across as confident and professional.

So you’re getting ready for that big presentation. Your PowerPoint is perfect, you know your facts, and you’re ready to go. Only thing is… you’re lacking that certain polish to tip the scales in your favor.

When it comes to interviews, presentations, important meetings, and any situation where you need to make a stellar impression, looking professional is just as important as being professional. But looking professional means more than just having a top-of-the-line briefcase, Italian shoes, the best laptop money can buy, and a bright smile that would shame a Hollywood celebrity. In this article, I’m going to share some tips you may never have thought of in the course of your career. Chances are, one (or more) of these tips will help you win over a crowd, land that job, or impress the higher ups.

1: Dress the part

Standard business fare most often will do for your average meeting. But when you raise the bar of importance, you must match it with your personal appearance. And this doesn’t stop at your neck. Not only should you be wearing your best suit, you should make sure you are properly groomed. Don’t think your hair can go “one more week” before you get it cut. And get it cut a couple of days before the big to-do. And your clothing shouldn’t just look good; it should also be comfortable. The last thing you want is to be in front of a crowd and notice your pants are too tight or too loose or your shoes are killing your feet. If you have to wear heels, don’t wear heels that are too high. And do NOT forget antiperspirant. Now you may be thinking these are all very obvious tips, but people can (and often do) overlook the obvious.

2: Warm up

You may not know this but your body, and your ability to present yourself, is directly affected by its state of being. If you get up to do a presentation or run a crucial meeting and your muscles are cold and tight, it will reflect in your posture and presentation. Make sure you give yourself plenty of time to stretch your muscles to get them warm and used to moving. Stretch your arms, legs, back, and neck. With relaxed muscles your presentation will come across smoother and more relaxed. You should also give your voice plenty of chance to warm itself up before you start.

3: Fuel yourself

Have you ever been in a meeting or interview and had your stomach growl so loudly that everyone in the room heard it? You may think this would be a fun moment where everyone will get a chuckle. It’s not. It’s unprofessional. Make sure you eat before you present your material. But don’t overdo it. What is worse than a gurgling stomach is a noisy backside or the need to break for Mother Nature. Sure, you can include time in your presentation for bathroom/stretch breaks. But if you are in an interview and that stomach makes itself known, it will look less-than-professional. And fuel is not just about quieting an other-wise noisy digestive system. You also need plenty of fuel to get you through the process. If you don’t take in enough calories, your body will let you know — which will not go unnoticed.

4: Choose your props carefully

I have seen presentations that looked horribly amateur simply because the speaker was carrying a McDonald’s coffee cup as he spoke or a whiteboard or easel that didn’t work. When putting together the pieces for your presentation, don’t leave out any details. If you need a drink (and you should have water with you), make sure your water glass (and pitcher, if you drink a lot) is clean, simple, and classy. Do not use a sippy cup or sports water bottle. If your presentation requires an easel or whiteboard, be sure that everything is solid, works as it should, and looks new or at least clean and sturdy.

If you depend upon handouts for your presentation, make sure they’re in collated, pre-stapled, and stacked neatly or distributed to each audience member’s chair. The less you have to interrupt your presentation or meeting to get everything in order, the better. And don’t skimp. If you shell out for a cheap easel or whiteboard, you might find yourself fighting with them more than you should. Pay for solid tools and you will get solid results.

5: Spell check

It amazes me when I am a participant in a lecture, interview, presentation, or meeting and I see spelling errors in handouts or resumes or on a whiteboard or overhead. The fastest way to lose attention or a job prospect is to have spelling errors littered throughout your work. An audience or interviewer may forgive minor or tricky sentence structure issues, but spelling? No way. If you don’t employ spell check in your word processor — do. If you know you’re plagued with spelling problems, have someone check your presentations, resume, or handouts.

6: Turn your phone on silent mode

Your audience doesn’t need to know how many people call or text you, and there is nothing more unprofessional than stopping your presentation or interrupting your interview to answer a phone or a text. There are few exceptions to this rule. If your wife is about to give birth, that’s one of the few. If that is the case (or if there is another, equally pressing need), explain the situation to your audience so they understand. Outside of extenuating circumstances, set the phone on silent or turn it off.

7: Watch your time

Remember that time is money. Not only are people paying you for your services, but your audience members have their own work to do. Stick to the allotted timeframe and you will always come out on top. And that doesn’t mean end early. When a company pays for your time, it wants to get its money’s worth. Don’t shortchange it. And if you’re in an interview, do NOT act as though you have something more important to do. You don’t. The single most important thing you have going on is that interview. This also includes being on time. As a good rule of thumb, you should be prepared to GO at the slotted time. This does not mean you should ARRIVE at your starting time. Show respect by arriving early so you can be prepared to go on time.

8: Be prepared

This really holds true if you’re using a laptop to run a presentation through a projector. Do not depend upon your host for anything (outside of the projector). Bring any possible connector you will need as well as a spare battery and your AC adapter for your laptop. You do not want to have your host scrambling around to find something to help you get your presentation off the ground.

Preparedness also includes making sure you have enough literature for your audience. Always bring more than you need. Find out ahead of time how many attendees are expected so you can make sure you bring more than enough supplies. And bring extra digital copies of your presentation. You never know whether, for some reason, the presentation will wind up corrupt on your PC. Bring your presentation on a CD and a flash drive just to be safe.

9: Know your audience

Do you remember some of the advice you were given in school about writing cover letters for your resume? Did you ever start a cover letter with “To whom it may concern…”? I didn’t think so. So why would you begin a presentation without knowing your audience? This can be crucial to delivering a professional presentation or meeting. If you’re giving a network presentation to a group of UNIX or Linux administrators, don’t speak in Windows terms. If you’re in front of a group of Windows administrators, don’t insult them by bragging about how strong your UNIX kung fu is.

10: Don’t be a comic

A little humor will go a long way to help connect to your audience. But don’t use the event as a vehicle for your standup routine. You will look less like a professional and more like a clown. Sure, break the ice with a funny anecdote or relax the situation when too much information is offered at once. But you don’t want to present yourself as a jokester or a comedian. You won’t be taken seriously when serious is called for. And you’re probably not as funny as you think you are. So leave the comedy to the professionals.

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10 things you might be doing that could hurt your career

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By Alan Norton, TechRepublic, November 10, 2010, 12:07 PM PST

1: Portraying the wrong image

Take a critical look in the mirror and ask yourself if what you see is the image you want to present to the world. If you dare, ask a true friend for his or her honest opinion. What you see may not be what others see:

  • If your desk is a mess — you are disorganized.
  • If your shoes are unpolished — you lack attention to detail.
  • If you interrupt — you don’t listen to others and lack patience.
  • If you have poor hygiene — you are lazy.

Even the wrong body language can be sending the wrong messages. Slouching in your chair might be telling others that you are tired and lacking ambition.

2: Asking when you should have been silent

In many situations, your wisest course of action is to keep quiet:

  • Asking for a transfer – If you have any value at all, your manager will not be happy to hear that you want a transfer. I have seen it too many times. A quality employee telegraphs that he or she is looking for greener pastures. If the transfer never comes, and it almost never does, your manager becomes wary. Not only is your career hurt, but your job may be at risk.
  • Asking for a raise — Aggressively asking for a raise when times are tough may be seen as inappropriate. Each manager is different, so knowing his or her preferences will give you a good idea whether you should ask for that raise you think you deserve. If you are unsure, it is better to concentrate on demonstrating your worth and just keep quiet.
  • Asking for permission — It can be annoying to a manager to have a subordinate who continually asks for approval. Your manager may view you as an employee unwilling to take responsibility and lacking leadership skills.
  • Asking for forgiveness — It’s better to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission — but it is even better to take responsibility.

3: Failing to be a team player

Becoming a member of a team, especially if the team is successful, can bring you exposure and new opportunities. But if you bring along a “do it all yourself” or “lone wolf” mentality, you may be labeled as a person who isn’t a team player. You may believe that hoarding information, code, or documentation will give you job security, but it will first give you a reputation as someone who is unwilling to work with others.

4: Acting unprofessionally

Failing to be professional in your behavior and demeanor can stall or hurt your career. I recently listed 10 things that define a true professional, which you should practice on a daily basis if you want your career to prosper.

5: Working with friends or relatives

A recommendation by my brother led to us working together at the same company. He then became manager of a new development project and as an experienced developer, I was assigned to that team as technical lead. I reported directly to an intermediate manager and indirectly to my brother. It was a difficult if not impossible situation. I believed that I wasn’t treated as well as I should have been to avoid the impression of nepotism. No doubt, my peers felt that I got the technical lead role and was treated better than they were because of the familial relationship. One contentious situation came to a head and my technical lead position was taken from me.

I have learned that any situation where you are working with family is almost always a no-win situation. Working with friends is more doable, but it’s still like negotiating a minefield. Working with family did hurt my career, but I am grateful for the opportunity and for the lesson I learned the hard way.

6: Being unprepared

You are asked to travel to the other side of the country to present your team’s work in an important conference meeting. When you set up a demonstration of the new and wonderful system you have developed, it fails miserably. I have personally witnessed this and I felt bad for the guy. But bottom-line, he was unprepared.

7: Being unavailable

I know of one employee who was the first to go during a layoff. He missed too much work due to sick days. He may have actually been sick, but he was absent too many times when he was needed. Turning down the boss for special assignments or opting out of weekend duty when asked are other good examples of being unavailable in your boss’s eyes. If you are missing in action too often, you’ll be considered unreliable and a liability instead of an asset.

8: Not using/improperly using networking opportunities

Failure to attend company-sponsored events, share a round of golf with colleagues, or show up at family picnics and other social venues with coworkers and bosses may be the reason that others are moving ahead and your career is stagnant.

There is also the all-important world of social networking on the Internet, which should be used but not abused. It amazes me, but some people are still using social networking sites like Twitter to speak ill of an associate or boss. Your credibility will be dinged if someone from your company runs across one of your online rants. And these social blunders seem to live and follow you forever.

9: Lacking ambition

Perhaps you are unwilling to take risks. Perhaps you are satisfied with the status quo. Perhaps you like the routine of daily life. Failing to aggressively tackle new challenges can be comfortable and safe, but it won’t score you any points and it won’t advance your career. But being too ambitious can be hazardous to your career as well, so you need to find a happy medium that best fits your manager’s expectations.

10: Using company assets for personal gain

I have more than once seen an employee copying their personal documents on the company copy machine or using the computer to do their personal work. I have even participated myself. I don’t remember how I justified behavior I knew was wrong — perhaps it was the fact that I was printing out my tax documents on my own time after hours. But sneaking the occasional copy sends the wrong message to your manager: What else might you be capable of?

The bottom line

One of my managers’ favorite sayings was “Perception is reality.” I didn’t like it, but he was right. IT professionals tend to overlook the more subtle messages they are sending with their behavior and body language. When these messages are perceived negatively, they can wreak havoc on your career — and then perceptions do become reality. And it is more complicated than that, because everyone’s view of the world is different. But if you keep that in mind — and try to avoid the 10 behaviors listed here — you’ll be better able to create the right perceptions and keep your career on track.

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10 best practices for successful project management

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By Tom Mochal , July 23, 2009, 2:10 PM PDT from TechRepublic
The right mix of planning, monitoring, and controlling can make the difference in completing a project on time, on budget, and with high quality results. These guidelines will help you plan the work and work the plan.

Given the high rate of project failures, you might think that companies would be happy to just have their project finish with some degree of success. That’s not the case. Despite the odds, organizations expect projects to be completed faster, cheaper, and better. The only way that these objectives can be met is through the use of effective project management processes and techniques. This list outlines the major phases of managing a project and discusses key steps for each one.PLANNING

1: Plan the work by utilizing a project definition document

There is a tendency for IT infrastructure projects to shortchange the planning process, with an emphasis on jumping right in and beginning the work. This is a mistake. The time spent properly planning the project will result in reduced cost and duration and increased quality over the life of the project. The project definition is the primary deliverable from the planning process and describes all aspects of the project at a high level. Once approved by the customer and relevant stakeholders, it becomes the basis for the work to be performed. For example, in planning an Exchange migration, the project definition should include the following:

  • Project overview: Why is the Exchange migration taking place? What are the business drivers? What are the business benefits?
  • Objectives: What will be accomplished by the migration? What do you hope to achieve?
  • Scope: What features of Exchange will be implemented? Which departments will be converted? What is specifically out of scope?
  • Assumptions and risks: What events are you taking for granted (assumptions), and what events are you concerned about? Will the right hardware and infrastructure be in place? Do you have enough storage and network capacity?
  • Approach: How will the migration project unfold and proceed?
  • Organization: Show the significant roles on the project. Identifying the project manager is easy, but who is the sponsor? It might be the CIO for a project like this. Who is on the project team? Are any of the stakeholders represented?
  • Signature page: Ask the sponsor and key stakeholders to approve this document, signifying that they agree on what is planned.
  • Initial effort, cost, and duration estimates: These should start as best-guess estimates and then be revised, if necessary, when the workplan is completed.

PROJECT WORKPLAN

2: Create a planning horizon

After the project definition has been prepared, the workplan can be created. The workplan provides the step-by-step instructions for constructing project deliverables and managing the project. You should use a prior workplan from a similar project as a model, if one exists. If not, build one the old-fashioned way by utilizing a work-breakdown structure and network diagram.

Create a detailed workplan, including assigning resources and estimating the work as far out as you feel comfortable. This is your planning horizon. Past the planning horizon, lay out the project at a higher level, reflecting the increased level of uncertainty. The planning horizon will move forward as the project progresses. High-level activities that were initially vague need to be defined in more detail as their timeframe gets closer.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT PROCEDURES

3: Define project management procedures up front

The project management procedures outline the resources that will be used to manage the project. This will include sections on how the team will manage issues, scope change, risk, quality, communication, and so on. It is important to be able to manage the project rigorously and proactively and to ensure that the project team and all stakeholders have a common understanding of how the project will be managed. If common procedures have already been established for your organization, utilize them on your project.

4: Manage the workplan and monitor the schedule and budget

Once the project has been planned sufficiently, execution of the work can begin. In theory, since you already have agreement on your project definition and since your workplan and project management procedures are in place, the only challenge is to execute your plans and processes correctly. Of course, no project ever proceeds entirely as it was estimated and planned. The challenge is having the rigor and discipline needed to apply your project management skills correctly and proactively.

  • Review the workplan on a regular basis to determine how you are progressing in terms of schedule and budget. If your project is small, this may need to be weekly. For larger projects, the frequency might be every two weeks.
  • Identify activities that have been completed during the previous time period and update the workplan to show they are finished. Determine whether there are any other activities that should be completed but have not been. After the workplan has been updated, determine whether the project will be completed within the original effort, cost, and duration. If not, determine the critical path and look for ways to accelerate these activities to get you back on track.
  • Monitor the budget. Look at the amount of money your project has actually consumed and determine whether your actual spending is more than originally estimated based on the work that has been completed. If so, be proactive. Either work with the team to determine how the remaining work will be completed to hit your original budget or else raise a risk that you may exceed your allocated budget.

5: Look for warning signs

Look for signs that the project may be in trouble. These could include the following:

  • A small variance in schedule or budget starts to get bigger, especially early in the project. There is a tendency to think you can make it up, but this is a warning. If the tendencies are not corrected quickly, the impact will be unrecoverable.
  • You discover that activities you think have already been completed are still being worked on. For example, users whom you think have been migrated to a new platform are still not.
  • You need to rely on unscheduled overtime to hit the deadlines, especially early in the project.
  • Team morale starts to decline.
  • Deliverable quality or service quality starts to deteriorate. For instance, users start to complain that their converted e-mail folders are not working correctly.
  • Quality-control steps, testing activities, and project management time starts to be cut back from the original schedule. A big project, such as an Exchange migration, can affect everyone in your organization. Don’t cut back on the activities that ensure the work is done correctly.

If these situations occur, raise visibility through risk management, and put together a plan to proactively ensure that the project stays on track. If you cannot successfully manage through the problems, raise an issue.

MANAGING SCOPE

6: Ensure that the sponsor approves scope-change requests

After the basics of managing the schedule, managing scope is the most important activity required to control a project. Many project failures are not caused by problems with estimating or team skill sets but by the project team working on major and minor deliverables that were not part of the original project definition or business requirements. Even if you have good scope-management procedures in place, there are still two major areas of scope-change management that must be understood to be successful: understanding who the customer is and scope creep.

In general, the project sponsor is the person funding the project. For infrastructure projects like an Exchange migration, the sponsor might be the CIO or CFO. Although there is usually just one sponsor, a big project can have many stakeholders, or people who are impacted by the project. Requests for scope changes will most often come from stakeholders — many of whom may be managers in their own right. One manager might want chat services for his or her area. Another might want an exception to the size limits you have placed on mailboxes. It doesn’t matter how important a change is to a stakeholder, they can’t make scope-change decisions, and they can’t give your team the approval to make the change. In proper scope-change management, the sponsor (or a designate) must give the approval, since they are the only ones who can add funding to cover the changes and know if the project impact is acceptable.

7: Guard against scope creep

Most project managers know to invoke scope-change management procedures if they are asked to add a major new function or a major new deliverable to their project. However, sometimes the project manager doesn’t recognize the small scope changes that get added over time. Scope creep is a term used to define a series of small scope changes that are made to the project without scope-change management procedures being used. With scope creep, a series of small changes — none of which appear to affect the project individually — can accumulate and have a significant overall impact on the project. Many projects fail because of scope creep, and the project manager needs to be diligent in guarding against it.

MANAGING RISK

8: Identify risks up front

When the planning work is occurring, the project team should identify all known risks. For each risk, they should also determine the probability that the risk event will occur and the potential impact on the project. Those events identified as high-risk should have specific plans put into place to mitigate them so they do not, in fact, occur. Medium risks should be evaluated to see whether they need to be proactively managed. (Low-level risks may be identified as assumptions. That is, there is potential risk involved, but you are “assuming” that the positive outcome is much more probable.) Some risks are inherent in a complex project that affects every person in the company. Other risks may include not having the right level of expertise, unfamiliarity with the technology, and problems integrating smoothly with existing products or equipment.

9: Continue to assess potential risks throughout the project

Once the project begins, periodically perform an updated risk assessment to determine whether other risks have surfaced that need to be managed.

10: Resolve issues as quickly as possible

Issues are big problems. For instance, in an Exchange migration, the Exchange servers you ordered aren’t ready and configured on time. Or perhaps the Windows forest isn’t set up correctly and needs to be redesigned. The project manager should manage open issues diligently to ensure that they are being resolved. If there is no urgency to resolve the issue or if the issue has been active for some time, it may not really be an issue. It may be a potential problem (risk), or it may be an action item that needs to be resolved at some later point. Real issues, by their nature, must be resolved with a sense of urgency.

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10 things that define a true professional

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By Alan Norton from TechRepublic
July 27, 2010, 2:06 PM PDT

Takeaway: You may be a brilliant developer, a highly skilled net admin, or a crackerjack DBA — but if you’re unprofessional, your career is likely to fall short. Alan Norton offers some attributes to strive for.

The term professional is thrown around quite a bit these days, perhaps too much. I do it myself. But what exactly does it mean to be a professional? As you read through the items below, consider how you compare with each trait.

1: Put customer satisfaction first

Understanding and satisfying your customer’s needs are the cornerstones of a successful business. Do what is necessary to meet those needs. After all, without the customer, there is no professional.

You may not view those you work with as your customers, but in many cases, they are. I remember when one of my managers perceived that I was overly stressed. He pulled me aside and sat me down in his office where he told me stories and jokes for the better part of half an hour. He recognized my needs and acted accordingly.

Professionals identify and satisfy their customer’s needs.

2: Make expertise your specialty

The very word professional implies that you are an expert. Technical competence is essential in IT.

  • Become an expert in the skills and tools necessary to do your job.
  • Always perform to the best of your abilities.
  • Keep your knowledge up to date.

Professionals know their trade.

3: Do more than expected

Professionals aren’t bound by a time clock. They are given wide latitude in their daily self-management. They are expected to manage their time and work habits. Don’t abuse the privilege. If you take an hour for personal needs, give back two hours.

The reality is that professionals are expected to exceed the standard 40-hour workweek. There are times when you may be asked to work weekends. You may have to forego a vacation or work 12-hour days to complete an important project. All are part of the job description of most professional positions.

Professionals are expected to produce results. Strive to complete deliverables before their due dates and under budget.

Professionals meet or exceed expectations whenever possible.

4: Do what you say and say what you can do

This is one of my favorite sayings especially in view of the fact that talking the talk is so prevalent and walking the walk so rare in this age of sound bites. You should “engage brain” before speaking — can you really do what you are about to say? If you can’t, the wizard behind the curtain will eventually be revealed and hard-earned trust can be lost.

Professionals deliver on promises made.

5: Communicate effectively

I go out of my way to patronize a dentist who has excellent communication skills. He takes the time to explain the available options, make recommendations, state the total costs, and promise a date when the work can be completed. I then feel empowered to make the right decisions.

I recently ordered Internet and phone service from the cable company. I told the salesman that the existing cable had been ripped out during a landscaping project. Perhaps I wasn’t clear or perhaps the salesman wasn’t listening — it doesn’t really matter. The message didn’t get through and the wrong person was sent to do the installation. As a result, Qwest, not the cable company, got my business. Not only did the commissioned salesman lose his sale, he and his company both looked unprofessional in my eyes.

Resist the urge to blame the customer when communication goes awry. Effective communication is ultimately your responsibility — not your customer’s.

Whether verbal or written, professionals communicate clearly, concisely, thoroughly, and accurately.

6: Follow exceptional guiding principles

Appreciate and support those you work with. Practice good manners and proper etiquette. Have high ethical and moral standards. Be honest and fair in all of your dealings with others. Obey the law. These may sound like the attributes of a Boy Scout, but they are basic values that all professionals should follow. Many companies have a document that outlines their operating principles. Have you read yours?

Professionals adhere to high values and principles.

7: Praise your peers not yourself

Respect and acknowledge the talents of your peers. There is nothing more unprofessional and self-serving than telling others how wonderful you are.

Professionals are humble and generous in their praise of others.

8: Share your knowledge

When I was hired at Hughes Aircraft, a second person with similar skills was hired with me. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that one of us wasn’t going to survive. The competitive nature of the situation was palpable. I am no stranger to the belief that it is not in your best interest to share your knowledge with your associates, AKA the competition.

It is easy to find yourself in that comfortable place with “unique” knowledge. If you are a hoarder of information and are of the opinion that all of the nuts you have squirreled away grant you immutable job security, think again. The harsh reality is that nobody is irreplaceable.

Information isn’t a limited resource. Contrary to what some might think, your mind won’t be emptied by giving away kernels of wisdom or experience. Think of knowledge as an ocean of facts and not a stream of data. It is possible to share what you know and still keep one step ahead of the competition — simply apply yourself and learn something new daily.

Professionals help their peers and are respected for doing so.

9: Say thank you

I always tried to find a way to thank others for their help. When their help was above and beyond the call of duty, I would buy them a Coke – a testament to the marketing power of Madison Avenue and Mean Joe Greene.

The items I value the most in my personnel file from Hughes Aircraft are two AVOs (Avoid Verbal Orders memos) to my manager from frontline employees. The AVOs thanked me for the support I provided that helped them do their job better.

Silly me — what was I thinking? I was sharing a Coke when I should have been sharing my thanks in a printed internal document to the employee’s manager.

Professionals thank others in a meaningful way that most benefits the recipient.

10: Keep a smile on your face and the right attitude in your heart

This has been the hardest item for me to do consistently over my working years. I believed I was lying to myself and the world by smiling when I was miserable or unhappy with an ongoing issue at work.

I now realize it’s not dishonest to be pleasant when you are having one of those lousy days. It is in fact thoughtful to care about how your attitude affects those you interact with. Share your unhappiness with your manager only. “Share the misery” is not the mark of a professional.

Professionals are pleasant even during trying times.

The final word

Working with professionals is a pleasure, and I have been fortunate to work with some truly exemplary ones. There have been a few who liked to be treated as professionals without having to work and act like one.

You don’t have to look any further than the medical profession to see examples of true professionals. Think back upon those doctors you’ve liked the most and model your professionalism after theirs.

So, how do you measure up? Don’t feel bad if you need some work in one or more areas. Demeanor that is less than professional can lead to an image problem for you and your company. Negative images are hard to shake. Recognize any shortcomings you might have and begin working on your professional image today.

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10 steps to stop procrastinating

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From: TechRepublic
Writer: Unknown
January 29, 2013, 8:22 AM PST

Takeaway: Everyone procrastinates. But when procrastinating starts to interfere with performance at work, it’s time to stop putting the task aside and get on with it.

Everyone procrastinates. We usually do it to avoid a task that’s unpleasant or daunting. But when procrastinating starts to interfere with performance at work–by causing us to feel worried, fearful, and stressed-out, or by causing others to feel anxious because we’re holding up progress–then it’s time to stop putting the task aside and get on with it.Here are ten ways to get out of the quicksand of procrastination and reap numerous benefits, which include improved productivity, enhanced mood, less stress, better coworker relationships, a sense of accomplishment, and restored reputation at work as a “doer.”

1. Identify the situation. First, write down the specific task you’ve been putting off. For example, “I have to convert all of my client contacts and notes into the new file-sharing software system and learn how to navigate its tools and folders.” Writing down the task helps you dial in the job at hand.

2. Pinpoint your emotions. What’s preventing you from diving in to this task? It’s typically one or more of three core emotions. Perhaps, to use the above example, you’re intimidated by all the new bells and whistles you’ll have to learn (fear). Or you’re resentful about having to do this when the old system worked perfectly well (anger). Or you’re bummed that you’re just not tech savvy (sadness). This step helps you see the act of dragging your heels for what it truly is: an emotional reaction.

3. Deal with those emotions. It’s helpful to know that emotions–sadness, anger, and fear–are just pure energy in your body. Look at the word “emotion.” It’s energy (e) in motion. Take some time in private to express those emotions constructively. By crying to express sadness, punching or yelling into a pillow or stomping around to release the anger, or doing exaggerated shivering for the fear, you give yourself permission to express the emotion. The energy dissipates and you won’t feel stuck. It’s like letting steam out of a pressure cooker.

4. Do some planning. Good planning is the foundation of success for most any project. It’s helpful to write it down so you have it for ready reference. Start by getting clear on your goal. Your goal is your beacon to keep you on track in treacherous waters. For example, “I want to be facile with this new software so it’s a useful tool, not an impediment to my progress.” Having a clear and precise idea of your goal will keep you oriented and stay motivated.

5. Find some “truths.” Identify sabotaging thoughts that are hanging in the wings, ready to pounce in a weak moment, then come up with a couple of truths to contradict them. For example, if you continually tell yourself “I’ll never be able to learn all this,” you might say to yourself, “I can do this“ or “If others can learn this, so can I.“ That’s a plain and simple truth. To neutralize your frustration at having to do this task, you might say, “I’m doing this because I want to be a team player” or “My boss thinks I’m the best person to do this.“

6. Break your goal into a series of small, doable steps. You’ve envisioned the task, dealt with what’s been holding you back, and fixed your destructive thinking. Completing the task requires deciding when you’ll get started and figuring out a doable step-by-step game plan. Write it down, schedule it, and commit to it. Then go on a mental journey, plotting out each part of the task, including details such as whom you will talk with and what about, where and when you’ll be working, and how long you expect each part to take.

7. Anticipate roadblocks. Once you’ve created a game plan, step back and imagine challenges and obstacles that are likely to pop up along the way. For example, other projects with shorter deadlines might land on your desk. How will you tackle such challenges in order to keep moving forward with the big task at hand? For every such scenario, have a tactic ready for sticking to your original plan. You may also want to find someone to support your efforts and with whom you can check in on a regular basis.

8. Take the leap. With all this preparation, it’s time to tackle the task you’ve put off. Before you do, acknowledge your emotions–whether it’s anger, fear, or sadness. Take just a minute or two and release the pent-up emotion in a physical and constructive way. Without the emotional energy dragging you down, you’ll feel prepared to take the leap and be amazed how easy it is as you just focus on one step at a time.

9. Battle resistance. As you move through the task, you’re likely to meet with resistance in the form of excuses, bad moods, and discouragement. Meet resistance with tenacity and stubbornness, and continue to deal with any emotions that surface. Say to yourself, “I can do this. I’ll feel better when I handle this.“ Say it over and over until it’s set in your mind. Any time you feel discouraged or are tempted to procrastinate, refocus on the goal.

10. Focus on the upside. Getting through a daunting task is incredibly satisfying. Praise each little step along the way. Remind yourself at every step that you’ll feel incredibly virtuous when you get the task off your plate once and for all. Accomplishing what you’re avoiding will simplify your work life. You’ll feel more energetic. You’ll sleep better at night.

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10 free tools for admins on a tight budget

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By Jack Wallen from TechRepublic post
September 7, 2012, 5:25 AM PDT

Takeaway: From diagnostic tools to antivirus to backup utilities, this list of freebies will help you do more with less.

If you’re trying to stretch a thin IT budget, you probably can’t afford a lot of pricey tools. Luckily, a number of highly useful tools are available for free. Some of them even work better and are more efficient than their costlier alternatives.Note: This list is based on an entry in our TR Dojo blog.

1: ComboFix

When the standard antivirus/malware software can’t seem to find the problem, ComboFix almost always does. It also looks for and removes most rootkits and Trojans. To use this tool, you must completely disable all antivirus solutions (and you should completely remove AVG). Caution: If ComboFix is not used properly, it can wreak havoc on the machine you’re trying to fix.

2: ProduKey

ProduKey will help you get product keys from installed applications so that when you need to migrate to a new machine, you can continue using those costly licenses. ProduKey will recover keys from more than 1,000 software titles, including Microsoft Office, Adobe, and Symantec. When you use this tool, you will have both the product ID and the product key; the ID is important because it will tell you which version of the software is installed.

3: Hiren’s BootCD

Hiren’s BootCD is a one-stop-shop Linux boot disk that can help you pull off a number of small miracles. Its tools include Antivir, ClamWin, ComboFix, Clonedisk, Image for Windows, BIOS Cracker, 7-Zip, Bulk Rename, Mini Windows XP, CCleaner, and Notepad++, among others. This single bootable disk could easily be the only tool you need.

4: Microsoft Security Essentials

Microsoft Security Essentials is one of the better free antivirus tools available. Its tagline, “The anti-annoying, anti-expensive, anti-virus program,” is true. When the firm I work with was looking for a new free solution, we tested Microsoft Security Essentials against AVG Free and Avast Free and found Microsoft Security Essentials to be superior, less intrusive, and less resource intensive.

Note: Microsoft Security Essentials can be used for free for up to 10 PCs. Beyond that, you can purchase the business version, System Center Endpoint Protection.

5: WinDirStat

WinDirStat is the program you need when you must know what is taking up the space on a hard drive. When C drives begin to fill up, performance degrades rapidly. It’s essential to have a tool to help you discern what is gobbling up the precious space on a machine, and WinDirStat is the foremost app for getting this information quickly.

6: CCleaner

CCleaner gets rid of temporary files and Windows Registry problems faster than any other tool. When a machine is having problems, this is almost always the tool I use first. CCleaner also helps ensure privacy by getting rid of traces left behind (such as cookies) by Web browsers.

Note: It is legal to use CCleaner Free for business use. However, CCleaner Business Edition comes with a few more features (including one-click cleaning) than the free version.

7: Defraggler

Defraggler blows away the defragmenting application in all Windows operating systems. It’s faster, more reliable, and more flexible than the built-in tools. With Defraggler, you can defrag a single file or an entire drive. Defraggler supports NTFS and FAT32 systems.

8: 7-Zip

7-Zip is the best file archiver/compression tool (outside of Linux command-line tools). It’s open source and works on multiple platforms. Once you install it, you will find 7-Zip has Explorer support and a simple GUI tool that any level of user can manage.

9: SyncBack

SyncBack is a reliable, easy-to-use backup utility. No, you won’t be recovering from bare metal, but you can save your precious data. SyncBack can synchronize data to the same drive, a different drive or medium (CDRW, CompactFlash, etc.), an FTP server, a network, or a zip archive.

10: FileZilla

FileZilla reminds you that the cloud has not made FTP useless. There are plenty of reasons you might need FTP, so why not use one of the best and most cost effective FTP clients? And if you need an easy-to-use FTP server to slap up on your Windows machines, FileZilla has one.

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Do you just hate everything?

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By Toni Bowers

Takeaway: Chronic negativity can be a career killer. Here are some ways to know if you’re a chronic complainer and what you can do about it.

Years ago, there was a commercial for Life cereal in which two little boys push a bowl of cereal over to their little brother to see if it tastes good. “Let’s get Mikey. He hates everything,” they say. The little brother is adorable and it’s a cute little ad spot.

But when an adult is known for “hating everything,” it’s not so cute, especially in the workplace.  Some people confuse negativity with superior intelligence, as in “I am cognitively able to find the hole in every plan.”

If you think having a problem with everything presents you in a smarter, more discriminating light, you would be wrong.  Unless, of course, with every problem you find, you have a solution. But it usually doesn’t work that way.

Negative people get in a groove (or a rut, if you will) and automatically “go negative” in any situation. The human brain can become addicted to negativity and when they criticize something it gives them a “fix.”

I would never advocate becoming a pinwheels-for-eyes Mirth Machine (or this guy), but it’s much better for your well-being (and your career) if you strike a happy medium. And if you are a pessimist at heart, that’s fine. I’m not here to change your world outlook. But I can offer you a few tips for curbing your negative behavior in the workplace:

Hold your tongue first. Rather than just blurting out what you feel (or rolling your eyes, or sighing as if you have the weight of all the world’s stupid people on your shoulder), take a moment to be aware of what you’re actually feeling.

Try to get out of the habit. The fact is, you see more of what you notice. Have you ever learned a new term and then it seems like people are using it everywhere you turn? They’re not-it’s just that it’s what you are noticing more. If you focus on people’s faults, you will find even more of them.

Become self-aware. It’s hard to be objective about yourself. Ask your spouse or a close friend for candid feedback.

Assess your needs. What are you trying to accomplish by complaining? Are you legitimately trying to make a process better or are you just trying to make a process look bad?

Decide to change. Complaining is a habit. If you’re aware of what you’re doing, it will be easier to stop the negativity before it makes itself known in a meeting or in a group project.

If you consciously work at it, you can become known as the person people can come to to get honest feedback, both good and bad. And that’s a great quality.

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Computers on a stick

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By Patrick Gray
September 19, 2012, 7:14 AM PDT

I came across a press release this morning from a memory manufacturer touting one of its first products designed to work with “Windows To Go,” a new feature of Windows 8 that claims to allow a fully functioning copy of Window 8 to be placed on a USB stick and booted on any computer capable of running Windows.

For enterprise IT, the benefits are obvious. Rather than purchasing and provisioning a machine for each employee, the employee can bring their own hardware, which they likely prefer to your standard-issue “grey box” machine, and boot your company-approved image from the flash drive. Since they’re not actually booting into the OS on their machine, concerns about viruses and drivers are mitigated, as are worries about updating and supporting every hardware platform that comes through the door. In addition, replacing a lost “machine” is as easy as providing a new USB stick. Broken hardware and loaner pools become less of a worry, and Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) programs come with the benefit of getting your IT department out of the hardware business, all while maintaining corporate computing standards.

All sounds wonderful in theory, yet this technology has a stronger presence in the realm of marketing literature than real-world experience at this point. Questions ranging from how these computers on a stick can be remotely wiped, to how an IT department manages, tracks, and licenses tiny, cheap USB keys loaded with high value corporate assets abound. However, this seems a worthwhile technology to watch and experiment in as part of a more general Windows 8 pilot.

Exiting the hardware business

End-user hardware has always been a painful part of most IT organizations, and is a business most CIOs would gladly exit. Sinking money into buying, provisioning, tracking, and issuing thousands of laptops is an expensive proposition-and an increasingly thankless one, as users wonder why they can’t use their shinier or faster hardware rather than the standard-issue clunker. Imagine the front-line employees dedicated to dealing with hardware, from purchasing to junior support executives, all caring for and feeding an activity that adds little value to IT or the overall organization.

Technologies like virtualization and computers on a stick promise a reasonably safe exit from this business and follow a trend that divorces the traditional relationship between hardware and software. Most organizations have some experience with data center-level virtualization technologies, where physical servers are virtualized and consolidated, ultimately making provisioning new servers a matter of a few mouse clicks rather than a complex procurement and logistical process. Even mobile devices have become beneficiaries of this type of technology, with companies offering a “phone within a phone” product that allows corporate-approved applications and connectivity that’s isolated from the rest of an end-user’s phone.

Driving this trend in the end-user space is an increasing personalization and commoditization of technology. While many of these devices were once simple tools, for many consumers the choice of a laptop or mobile phone is as complex and fashion sensitive as a suit or pair of shoes. While many in IT attempt to resist the influx of consumer devices, the proposition of exiting the hardware business is one that should not be overlooked. Where else can you find an opportunity to save money, abandon a non-productive activity, and create excitement and positive PR among the end-user community? As the technology matures, computers on a stick might be a great way to reach this nirvana.

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