Concept for the Day

Excel – Separating positive and negative numbers:

2010-12-29T22:27:00.001-08:00

Problem:

One column contains mixed values of positive and negative numbers, needs to be
Separated into two columns, in the first column positive values in second column negative values.
Finally, add a formula to return running balance along the cells in a third column.

Solution:

Steps 1 - Into cell B2 enter the formula:

=IF($A2>=0,$A2,"") and then copy the formula down to all cells in the range of data of column A.

Steps 2 - Into cell C2 enter the formula: =IF($B2="",$A2,"") and again copy the formula down.

Steps 3 - Into cell D2 enter the formula: =SUM(A2:B2).

Step 4 - Into cell D3 enter the formula:=D2+SUM(A3:A3) and copy the formula down the remainder of the range.

Drag and Drop files:

2010-12-28T21:52:00.000-08:00

Instead of using the "File-Attach..." menu or the "Attach" toolbar icon and then navigating to a file in the "Create Attachment" dialog box, it is much easier to just drag and drop the file right from the desktop directly into the body of the document.

Adjust the size of the Lotus Notes window so that we can see both the desktop and the Notes document. Simply click on the file, keep the mouse button pressed, drag over to the document, and release the mouse button. Tada.... the file is copied into Notes.

But that's only the start of this tip. In the example above we had to adjust the size of the windows so we could easily see where we were dragging and dropping. We don't have to do that. Try this... First start a new document in Lotus Notes. Next, select the file from your desktop, keep the mouse button pressed, and drag the file to the Window's taskbar button for Lotus Notes. Don't release the mouse button yet, pause over the taskbar button for a second, and Lotus Notes will pop up into the foreground.

Now (still holding down the mouse button) drag the selected file to the Notes document you want to drop it into, then release the mouse button. If the document you want is already showing on the screen you are all set. If not, you can even switch back and forth between Notes tabs while dragging.

You can use this technique when working with Document Libraries, TeamRooms, mail, calendar, or anywhere else you want to attach files to a rich text field. Remember though, one of the key attributes of Lotus Notes is that you don't have to send around attachments via email. Instead store them in a central repository/library and then send users links to the document instead.

Using Feedback as a Tool:

2010-12-26T22:12:00.001-08:00

As a project manager it is important to be able to give and receive feedback effectively. Feedback is best given on a one to one basis soon after the event that triggers its need. Here are some tips that can help:
Giving Feedback
• Feedback is always more powerful when asked for.
• Think about when and where you give feedback.
• Think carefully about what you want to say and how to say it.
• Feedback is as much about stating the positives as it is about stating the negatives.
• Be specific about the behaviors you are commenting on.
• Take responsibility for your feedback; say "I feel," "I noticed."
• Make your comments clearly and don't get emotional.
• Use analogies and examples to illustrate your points.
• Be aware of the other person's body language.
• Allow an opportunity for discussion and actively listen.
• Make sure you understand whether the feedback has been accepted or rejected.
• Look together for a solution or for a way of making things better.
Receiving Feedback
• Don't be afraid to ask for feedback.
• Listen carefully to the feedback.
• Don't leap to your own defense.
• Check your understanding and ask questions to clarify any grey areas.
• Ask for specific examples of good and bad behaviors.
• Allow yourself time to take in the feedback.
• Say which points you agree with and those you don't and why.
• Look together for a solution or for a way of making things better.
• Thank the other person for their time and effort in giving you the feedback.
Feedback is a powerful tool often underutilized. It can be used to motivate people, help with a person’s development, uncover risks and issues and solve problems. Frequent, honest and relevant feedback helps to foster an environment of open communications. Start now, there's no time like the present.

Retrieving the value of first non-blank cell in the list:

2010-12-21T22:04:00.001-08:00

Problem:

Retrieving the value of the first non-blank cell in Range1(A2:A7).

Solution:
Use the INDEX and MATCH functions as shown in the following Array formula:
{=INDEX(A2:A7,MATCH(TRUE,A2:A7<>"""",0))}

Visual Merchandising:

2010-12-20T21:55:00.001-08:00

Visual merchandising is the art of implementing effective design ideas to increase store traffic and sales volume.

Copy Data from Lotus Notes to Spreadsheet:

2010-12-19T22:21:00.000-08:00

Since spreadsheets are designed for number crunching and chart creation, let's look at how using "Copy Selected as Table" can help you easily transfer data from Notes documents into a spreadsheet.

Select the documents we want to transfer, right click, and choose "Copy Selected as Table"

Next open the spreadsheet (Lotus 1-2-3, OpenOffice Calc, Excel, etc.), place the cursor in the cell where we want the data to start, and "paste".

The data from Notes view is now in a spreadsheet. We may have to format the rows and columns a bit to look exactly as we want.

WikiLeaks:

2010-12-16T22:21:00.001-08:00

WikiLeaks is an international new media non-profit organization that publishes submissions of otherwise unavailable documents from anonymous news sources and news leaks. Its website, launched in 2006, is run by The Sunshine Press. Within a year of its launch, the site claimed its database had grown to more than 1.2 million documents. The organization has described itself as having been founded by Chinese dissidents, as well as journalists, mathematicians, and start-up company technologists from the United States, Taiwan, Europe, Australia, and South Africa.

WikiLeaks was originally launched as a user-editable wiki site, but has progressively moved towards a more traditional publication model, and no longer accepts either user comments or edits. The site is available on multiple servers and different domain names following a number of denial-of-service attacks and its severance from different Domain Name System (DNS) providers.

WikiLeaks has no official headquarters. The expenses per year are about €200,000, mainly for servers and bureaucracy, but would reach €600,000 if work currently done by volunteers were paid for. WikiLeaks does not pay for lawyers, as hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal support have been donated by media organizations such as the Associated Press, Los Angeles Times, and the National Newspaper Publishers Association. Its only revenue stream is donations, but WikiLeaks is planning to add an auction model to sell early access to documents.

Interesting facts:

2010-12-15T22:36:00.000-08:00

1. On eBay, there is an average of $680 worth of transactions each second.
2. "Stewardesses" is the longest word that is typed with only the left hand.
3. The world's first computer, called the Z1, was invented by Konrad Zuse in 1936. His next invention, the Z2 was finished in 1939 and was the first fully functioning electro-mechanical computer.
4. The first computer mouse was invented by Doug Engelbart in around 1964 and was made of wood.
5. Domain names are being registered at a rate of more than one million names every month.
6. There are approximately 1.06 billion instant messaging accounts worldwide.
7. The first banner advertising was used in 1994.
8. E-mail has been around longer than the World Wide Web.
9. The average computer user blinks 7 times a minute, less than half the normal rate of 20.
10. One of every 8 married couples in the US last year met online.
11. The average 21 year old has spent 5,000 hours playing video games, has exchanged 250,000 e-mails, instant and text messages and has spent 10,000 hours on the mobile phone.
12. By the year 2012 there will be approximately 17 billion devices connected to the Internet.
13. MySpace reports over 110 million registered users. Were it a country, it would be the tenth largest, just behind Mexico.
14. While it took the radio 38 years, and the television a short 13 years, it took the World Wide Web only 4 years to reach 50 million users.
15. There are approximately 1,319,872,109 people on the Internet.
16. Bill Gates' house was designed using a Macintosh computer.
17. The first domain name ever registered was Symbolics.com.
18. Another name for a Microsoft Windows tutorial is 'Crash Course'!

Running effective Project Meetings:

2010-12-14T22:58:00.001-08:00

As a manager or leader, chances are that you will be given responsibility for a project at some time in your career. It could be a new computer system implementation, building a new facility, introducing a new piece of equipment or a new product or service.
As part of your role, you will want to make sure that the project is progressing as expected and that any issues are being addressed. Project meetings are one of the most common ways of doing this, so how can you ensure that your project meetings are effective?
1. Set Objectives
Have you ever gone along to a meeting that took two hours out of your day and achieved nothing? If yes, chances are that there were no clear objectives for the meeting. Before calling any meeting, make sure that you have clear objectives that you can measure.
2. Set an Agenda
Meetings without an agenda drift, take longer than they need to and don't get results. Produce and circulate the agenda in advance, at least 1 or 2 days before the meeting, not 30 minutes before the scheduled start time. Give indicative timings for each item and allow for slippage.
3. Get the Right People to Attend
While there is usually a core project team, there might be decisions that require someone more senior from time to time. If you know this in advance, make sure that you get the person who can make the decision along otherwise you will have a frustrated team on your hands.
4. Make Sure the Physical Environment is Comfortable
Have you ever gone to a meeting in the heat of summer where there is no air conditioning and the person chairing has not even thought about having ice cold water available? Effective meetings can only take place if the people attending are comfortable, so take care of this the best you can.
5. Start and Finish on Time
There is nothing more frustrating than people turning up 15 minutes after the scheduled start time and the meeting running over by 30 minutes. Make sure that it is clear to everyone that you will be starting and finishing on time. Encourage them to leave 30 minutes either side of the meeting free to ensure they can get there on time and that if something major arises it can be dealt with.
At the end of the day, running effective meetings is about planning. Make sure you take care of this vitally important area.

Word-of-mouth:

2010-12-13T22:21:00.000-08:00

Definition: Possibly the most effective form of marketing is the verbal recommendation and positive approval from a satisfied customer.
Also Known As: Word-of-Mouth Marketing, Buzz Marketing, Viral Advertising
Alternate Spellings: WOM Marketing
Examples:
Due to budget constraints, the news of their grand opening was spread by word of mouth.

Increasing or Decreasing the Screen Magnification percentage:

2010-12-12T23:52:00.001-08:00

To quickly increase or decrease the screen magnification percentage:

1. Select a cell.

2. Press Ctrl, and roll the mouse wheel forward (to increase the magnification) or backward (to decrease it).

Wrap Text around Images:

2010-12-09T22:19:00.001-08:00

When you insert and image into a document, by default the text you start typing next is aligned with the bottom of the image. However, Lotus Notes allows you to choose from many different behaviors.

You can select the style you want using the "Text Wrap" options available in the Picture's Properties Box.

For example, you can set the text to wrap around an image that is locked in position on the left side of the screen.

Writing for Business:

2010-12-08T22:25:00.001-08:00

The purpose of business writing is to convey information to someone else or to request information from them. To be effective writing for business, you must be complete, concise, and accurate. Your text should be written in such a way that the reader will be able to easily understand what you are telling or asking them.
A lot of writing for business is sloppy, poorly written, disorganized, littered with jargon, and incomplete. Often it is either too long or too short. All these attributes contribute to ineffective business writing.
Whether you are writing a sales proposal, an email to your department, or an instruction manual for a software package, there are certain steps you need to follow to create effective business writing. You need to:
1. organize your material
2. consider your audience
3. write
4. proofread
5. and edit your text.
The emphasis on each step may vary, depending on what you are writing, but the steps will be the same.

MDM:

2010-12-08T04:49:00.000-08:00

Master data management (MDM) is a comprehensive method of enabling an enterprise to link all of its critical data to one file, called a master file, that provides a common point of reference. For MDM to function at its best, all personnel and departments must be taught how data is to be formatted, stored and accessed.
In computing, master data management (MDM) comprises a set of processes and tools that consistently defines and manages the non-transactional data entities of an organization (which may include reference data). MDM has the objective of providing processes for collecting, aggregating, matching, consolidating, quality-assuring, persisting and distributing such data throughout an organization to ensure consistency and control in the ongoing maintenance and application use of this information.

Category Killer:

2010-12-06T23:42:00.001-08:00

Definition: A large retail chain store that is dominant in its product category. This type of store generally offers an extensive selection of merchandise at prices so low that smaller stores cannot compete.
Also Known As: Big Box Store
Examples:
Best Buy is an example of an electronics category killer.

Paper Battery:

2010-12-05T23:27:00.001-08:00

A paper battery is a battery engineered to use a spacer formed largely of cellulose (the major constituent of paper).
This technology can also be used in supercapacitors. It incorporates nanoscale structures to act as high surface-area electrodes to improve the conduction of electricity.
Development
The creation of this unique nanocomposite paper drew from a diverse pool of disciplines, requiring expertise in materials science, energy storage, and chemistry. In August 2007, a research team at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (led by Drs. Robert Linhardt, the Ann and John H. Broadbent Senior Constellation Professor of Biocatalysis and Metabolic Engineering at Rensselaer; Pulickel M. Ajayan, professor of materials science and engineering; and Omkaram Nalamasu, professor of chemistry with a joint appointment in materials science and engineering) developed the paper battery. Senior research specialist Victor Pushparaj, along with postdoctoral research associates Shaijumon M. Manikoth, Ashavani Kumar, and Saravanababu Murugesan, were co-authors and lead researchers of the project. Other co-authors include research associate Lijie Ci and Rensselaer Nanotechnology Center Laboratory Manager Robert Vajtai.
This cellulose based spacer is compatible with many possible electrolytes. Researchers used ionic liquid, essentially a liquid salt, as the battery’s electrolyte, as well as naturally occurring electrolytes such as human sweat, blood, and urine.
Ionic liquid, which contains no water, would mean that there’s nothing in the batteries to freeze or evaporate, potentially allowing operation in extreme temperatures.
Naturally occurring electrolytes might allow more biocompatible batteries. According to Pushparaj “It’s a way to power a small device such as a pacemaker without introducing any harsh chemicals – such as the kind that are typically found in batteries — into the body.”
Durability
The spacer is an integrated combination of spacer, and electrodes. “It’s essentially a regular piece of paper, but it’s made in a very intelligent way,” said Linhardt, “We’re not putting pieces together — it’s a single, integrated device,” he said. “The components are molecularly attached to each other: the carbon nanotube print is embedded in the paper, and the electrolyte is soaked into the paper. The end result is a device that looks, feels, and weighs the same as paper.”
Uses
The paper-like quality of the battery combined with the structure of the nanotubes embedded within gives them their light weight and low cost, making them attractive for portable electronics, aircraft, automobiles, and toys (such as model aircraft), while their ability to use electrolytes in blood make them potentially useful for medical devices such as pacemakers. The medical uses are particularly attractive because they do not contain any toxic materials and can be biodegradable; a major drawback of chemical cells. However, Professor Sperling cautions that commercial applications may be a long way away, because nanotubes are still relatively expensive to fabricate. Currently they are making devices a few inches in size. In order to be commercially viable, they would like to be able to make them newspaper size; a size which, taken all together, would be powerful enough to power a car.

Run of Paper:

2010-12-01T22:29:00.001-08:00

Definition: An advertising term used by newspapers referring to an advertisement that may be placed anywhere within the paper.
Also Known As: Full Run or ROP
Examples:
Our retail display ad contract gave us run of paper, so our advertisement may appear in any location within the newspaper, except in the classified section.

Window 7 Shortcuts:

2010-11-30T22:10:00.001-08:00

Taskbar Modifiers
Shift+ClickOpen a new instance of the program
Ctrl+ClickCycle between windows in a group
Middle ClickOpen a new instance of the program
Ctrl+Shift+ClickOpen a new instance of the program as Administrator
Shift+Right-ClickShow window menu
Managing Windows
Alt+F4Close the active window
Alt+TabSwitch to previous active window
Alt+EscCycle through all open windows
Win+TabFlip 3D [more info]
Ctrl+Win+TabPersistent Flip 3D
Win+TCycle through applications on taskbar (showing its live preview)
Win+MMinimize all open windows
Win+Shift+MUndo all window minimization
Win+DToggle showing the desktop
Win+↑Maximize the current window
Win+↓If the current window is maximized, restore it; if the current window is restored, minimize it
Win+←Dock the current window to the left half of the screen
*If it is already docked left, it is moved to the right half of the screen
*If it is already docked right, it is restored to its original size
Win+→Dock the current window to the right half of the screen
*If it is already docked right, it is moved to the left half of the screen
*If it is already docked left, it is restored to its original size
Win+Shift+←Move current window to the left monitor (with dual monitors)
Win+Shift+→Move current window to the right monitor (with dual monitors)
Win+HomeMinimize all but the current window
Win+SpacePeek at the desktop
Win+[Plus sign]Zoom in
Win+[Minus sign]Zoom out
Starting Programs
Win+1Open the first program on your Quick Launch bar
Win+2Open the second program on your Quick Launch bar
Win+nOpen the nth program on your Quick Launch bar
Win+UOpen the ease of access center
Win+FOpen the search window
Win+XOpen the Mobility Center
Win+EOpen Explorer
Win+ROpen the Run window [more info]
Win+BMove focus to notification tray (the right-most portion of the taskbar)
Win+POpen the projection menu (generally used for laptops connected to projectors)
Win+PauseOpen the System Properties portion from the Control Panel
Ctrl+Shift+EscOpen Windows Task Manager
Logging In And Out
While the below shortcuts seem unwieldy because of their length, they're quite easy to remember once you try them out a few times.
Win, →, EnterShutdown
Win, →, →, RRestart
Win, →, →, SSleep
Win, →, →, WSwitch Users
Win+LLocks computer
Viewing Folders With Explorer
Alt+←Go back
Alt+→Go forward
Alt+↑Go up a directory
Alt+DMove focus to address bar
Alt+D, TabMove focus to search bar
Alt+EnterOpen the Properties window of the current selection
Ctrl+MousewheelChange the view type (extra large, small, list view, detail, etc.)
Alt+PShow/hide the preview pane

Ubiquitous Computing:

2010-11-29T22:49:00.001-08:00

Also known as pervasive computing, it describes a new mode of interaction in which computers leave the confines of our desks and laps to become partly embedded in our surroundings, allowing people to interact with many types of computer-generated media without using a formal computer.
Nokia's Ubice is one such notion; another recent exponent of ubiquitous technology was Microsoft, with its LightSpace system. This turns surfaces in a meeting room or lecture hall into a display for projected documents, photos or video. Presenters can even "pick up" a virtual item from one display and move it to another.

Convert Time Zones:

2010-11-28T22:19:00.000-08:00

Sometimes we want to convert the time from one time zone to another. The easiest way is to get the GMT time and then calculate the appropriate time in the specified time zone.
Example:

EST____________GMT
12:00AM_______5:00AM
9:30PM________2:30AM
3:00AM________8:00AM
11:00 PM_______4:00AM

= A2+5/25

Drag and Drop Recipient Names:

2010-11-25T22:55:00.001-08:00

Have you ever wanted to change the order of the recipient names in an email, or move a name from one address field (to, cc, bcc) to another?

When you are composing an email, you unfortunately can't drag and drop names right inside the email itself, but you can click on "To" ...

to bring up the "Select Addresses" dialog box...

and here you can drag and drop names from one field to another, or reorder the names within the same field.

What is a 3G service:

2010-11-25T00:45:00.000-08:00

Definition of 3G:
3G is the third generation of wireless technologies. It comes with enhancements over previous wireless technologies, like high-speed transmission, advanced multimedia access and global roaming. 3G is mostly used with mobile phones and handsets as a means to connect the phone to the Internet or other IP networks in order to make voice and video calls, to download and upload data and to surf the net.
How is 3G Better?:
3G has the following enhancements over 2.5G and previous networks:
• Several times higher data speed;
• Enhanced audio and video streaming;
• Video-conferencing support;
• Web and WAP browsing at higher speeds;
• IPTV (TV through the Internet) support.
3G Technical Specifications:
The transfer rate for 3G networks is between 128 and 144 kbps (kilobits per second) for devices that are moving fast and 384 kbps for slow ones(like for pedestrians). For fixed wireless LANs, the speed goes beyond 2 Mbps.
3G is a set of technologies and standards that include W-CDMA, WLAN and cellular radio, among others.
3G follows a pattern of G's that started in the early 1990's by the ITU. The pattern is actually a wireless initiative called the IMT-2000 (International Mobile Communications 2000). 3G therefore comes just after 2G and 2.5G, the second generation technologies. 2G technologies include, among others, the Global System for Mobile (GSM) - the famous mobile phone technology we use today. 2.5G brings standards that are midway between 2G and 3G, including the General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) etc.
What is Required for Using 3G?:
The first thing you require is a device (e.g. a mobile phone) that is 3G compatible. This is where the name 3G phone comes from - a phone that has 3G functionality; nothing to do with the number of cameras or the memory it has. An example is the iPhone 3G.
3G phones commonly have two cameras since the technology allows the user to have video calls, for which a user-facing camera is required for capturing him/her.
Unlike with Wi-Fi which you can get for free in hotspots, you need to be subscribed to a service provider to get 3G network connectivity. We often call this kind of service a data plan or network plan.
Your device is connected to the 3G network through its SIM card (in the case of a mobile phone) or its 3G data card (which can be of different types: USB, PCMCIA etc.), which are both generally provided/sold by the service provider. Through that, you get connected to the Internet whenever you are within a 3G network. Even if you are not in one, you can still use 2G or 2.5G services provided by the service provider.

3G and Voice:
Wireless technologies are a way for mobile users to make free or cheap calls worldwide and save a lot of money due to the latest telephony applications and services. 3G networks have the advantage of being available on the move, unlike Wi-Fi, which is limited to a few meters around the emitting router. So, a user with a 3G phone and a 3G data plan is well-equipped for making free mobile calls. She will only have to download one of the free applications and install on her mobile phone and start making calls.

Acid Test Ratio:

2010-11-23T22:05:00.000-08:00

Definition: A measurement of how well a business can meet its short-term financial obligations without selling any inventory.
The purpose of this calculation is to show how easily a company could be liquidated, and therefore help financial institutions decide upon how credit worthy the company is.
A ratio greater than 1:1 is good and indicates the business can pay their current liabilities without being dependent on the sale of inventory.
Current Assets - Inventories ÷ Total Current Liabilities
Also Known As: Quick Ratio, Liquid Ratio
Examples:
After examining our low acid-test ratio, our store is considering how we can liquidate some inventory to generate cash.

Five Goals of every Project:

2010-11-23T00:43:00.000-08:00

Project goals keep the focus on what is most important. However, on some teams these primary goals are lost in their meeting's activities. Make sure each meeting is structured so as to move the project forward. Even if the progress is only inches rather than by huge leaps, the team must be pushing the project forward as quickly, safely, and reasonably as possible.
Finish the project within the scheduled timetable.
Your goal should be to finish the project within the timeframe agreed upon. This means you must do everything possible to drive the project to the end and stay on time. Remember to avoid guessing and incompetence in the planning of the scope so as to have a reasonable time schedule with which to work.
Finish the project within the scheduled budget.
Budgets are set by some project teams while others inherit them. Whether you set the budget or inherit it, you need to make sure you are doing your best to track your expenditures and know where the money is going. When you finish the project within the scheduled budget, you demonstrate your ability in running the project responsibly.
Finish the project with the same level of quality.
Unfortunately, when projects lag behind, quality is often sacrificed in order to catch up. Project leaders sometimes feel that in order to pick up speed, pieces of the project will need to be downsized or cut completely. True, the project plan will have to be revised when problems arise, but the revision should never compromise quality. While it is important to keep deadlines, it is equally important to keep the project's quality high throughout the project.
Finish the project within the specified guidelines.
Make sure you are meeting the customer's needs. You must "wow" the customer! This can be done simply by finishing the project with the specifics the customer really wanted. The best way to solidify this is to verify your accomplishment by customer handoff and close down.
Do the best you can with what you have been given.
There is no such thing as a perfect project. Some projects run up against major odds and hurdles. For example, many recent projects in our country have endured major setbacks because of terror attacks, severe weather causing power outages, or a nation at war. Even against these catastrophes, projects were remarkably turned around and back on track because of great project team leaders and teams. Project goals were met because they did their best with what came their way.

Think about your carbon footprint:

2010-11-21T22:40:00.001-08:00

Did you know that when you buy flights with certain airlines you have to pay a bit more to offset your carbon footprint? Or perhaps you've read about big pop groups who plant forests of trees every time they do a tour, again, to offset their carbon footprint? But what exactly is a carbon footprint, how is it measured and where did it come from?

Originally a footprint was exactly what you might imagine - the print made by a foot. In the sixties, space travel transformed the word, using it to mean the landing area for a spacecraft and it has continued to be common in technical circles, with people talking about the footprint of computers (that's the space they take up on a desk), printers and many other such gadgets. Small footprints are considered to be a positive thing, large ones are generally bad.

Everybody has a carbon footprint - it's the amount of carbon dioxide we produce with any action or activity. As carbon dioxide contributes to 'greenhouse gases', our carbon footprints have a direct impact on the environment. You can estimate your carbon footprint on any number of popular websites: if it's small, then you're probably leading a relatively green lifestyle. But what happens if it's big?

Well, the answer is that you can 'offset' it. This modern answer to the problem is for people to contribute to balancing the negative effects of their actions by using green fuels, recycling, reforestation and a number of other activities which are said to contribute to a lowering of the carbon dioxide.

So, before you print out the project plan or transcript of this entry, think about your carbon footprint. Do you really need to use that paper, the ink, the electricity...?
Below is the snapshot of www.carbonfootprint.com
A carbon footprint is a measure of the impact our activities have on the environment, and in particular climate change. It relates to the amount of greenhouse gases produced in our day-to-day lives through burning fossil fuels for electricity, heating and transportation etc.

The carbon footprint is a measurement of all greenhouse gases we individually produce and has units of tones (or kg) of carbon dioxide equivalent.
A carbon footprint is made up of the sum of two parts, the primary footprint and the secondary footprint.
1. The primary footprint is a measure of our direct emissions of CO2 from the burning of fossil fuels including domestic energy consumption and transportation (e.g. car and plane). We have direct control of these.
2. The secondary footprint is a measure of the indirect CO2 emissions from the whole lifecycle of products we use - those associated with their manufacture and eventual breakdown. To put it very simply – the more we buy the more emissions will be caused on our behalf.
To calculate your carbon footprint - click here
For tips to reduce your footprint - click here

Software Peer Review:

2010-11-18T21:59:00.001-08:00

In software development, peer review is a type of software review in which a work product (document, code, or other) is examined by its author and one or more colleagues, in order to evaluate its technical content and quality.
The purpose of a peer review is to provide "a disciplined engineering practice for detecting and correcting defects in software artifacts, and preventing their leakage into field operations" according to the Capability Maturity Model.
When performed as part of each Software development process activity, peer reviews identify problems that can be fixed early in the lifecycle. That is to say, a peer review that identifies a requirements problem during the Requirements analysis activity is cheaper and easier to fix than during the Software architecture or Software testing activities.
In the most traditional approach to peer review, known as single-blind review, reviewers know the author's identity, but not vice versa. Blinding the identity of reviewers enables them to comment freely and not worry about disgruntled authors seeking retribution for negative reviews. Another approach is double-blind review, in which the identities of the author and referees are both hidden, making it easier for reviewers to focus on the paper itself without being swayed by any preconceived ideas about the author or his institution. Finally, many have adopted open peer review. In this model, the author's and reviewers' identities are known to each other, a situation that forces reviewers, who can't hide behind a veil of anonymity, to provide more thoughtful critiques.

Calculating the no. of day/weeks/months/year between dates:

2010-11-17T22:01:00.001-08:00

Calculating the difference between each pair of dates listed in columns
A & B.

Solution:

To calculate the difference in days, use the DATEDIF function as shown in the following formula:
=DATEDIF(A2,B2,"d")

To calculate the difference in weeks, use the INT function as shown in the following formula:
=INT((B2-A2)/7)

To calculate the difference in months, use the DATEDIF function as shown in the following formula:
=DATEDIF(A2,B2,"m")

To calculate the difference in years, use one of the following two solutions:
Use the DATEDIF function as shown in the following formula:
=DATEDIF(A2,B2,"y")

Where was that document again:

2010-11-17T01:04:00.001-08:00

If you are looking at a document in one view, and want to switch to another view while still keeping track of the selected document, you simply need to hold down the CTRL key while clicking on the second view.

For example, in the picture below I have a document selected in the order by ‘Who’ view.

But I want to know what other mails are being received on the same day, so I hold down the CTRL key and click on "Date" in the Order selector to switch to that view. You can see the document I had selected in the first view is still selected in the second view.

Try it out in your own databases!

Pantry Audit:

2010-11-15T21:57:00.001-08:00

A survey of consumers about grocery brands, products, and quantities in their homes at any given time. Packaged goods manufacturers employ this research technique to gather data for new product development and packaging strategies. In conducting a pantry audit, a random sample of the advertiser's target market is first selected. Questionnaires are then mailed or telephone solicitations are completed to determine what items are stocked in a consumer's kitchen. For example, if the pantry audit revealed that the majority of pantries sampled had half a box of spice that was a year old, it might result in a decision to package the spice in smaller quantities.

Indianisms: The way we use English:

2010-11-14T21:53:00.001-08:00

Let us look into some of the Indianisms and see how to correct them.

The Use of ‘Only’
We are like this only
I am like your brother only
Pune is like this only

Correct Usage:
This is how we are
I am just like your brother
This is how Pune is
----------------------------------------------
The Use of ‘ing’
I am loving it
I am having a headache
I am not understanding this
I am having a BMW
Are you having a pen?

Correct Usage:
I love it
I have a headache
I don’t understand this
I have a BMW
Do you have a pen?
-------------------------------------------------
The Use of ‘too’ instead of ‘very’
The food is too good
The film was too interesting
Hritik Roshan’s dancing is too good

Correct Usage:
The food is very good
The film was very interesting
Hritik Roshan’s dancing is very good
-------------------------------------------------

The Use of redundant word ‘up’
Let’s meet up
There is always so much to cope up with

Correct Usage:
Let’s meet
There is always so much to cope with
-------------------------------------------------

Use of ‘there’
Rani is there
Birayani is there
A meeting is there today

Correct usage:
Rani is here
There is Birayani
There is a meeting today
-------------------------------------------------

Repetition of words to indicate increase in intensity
The car was going fast fast
It is very very hot
Morning morning the phone started ringing

Correct usage:
The car was going very fast
It is extremely hot
The phone started ringing early in the morning
-------------------------------------------------

The use of ‘Just’, ‘actually’ and ‘basically’ as fillers
Actually, I am from Mumbai
Basically, I am an Engineer
Just, I am telling you

Correct usage:
Originally, I am from Mumbai
I am an Engineer
I am telling you
-------------------------------------------------

Counting unique values in a List:

2010-11-11T21:56:00.001-08:00

Problem:

Counting the number of unique numeric values or unique data in List1, disregarding blank cells.

Solution1:

To count the number of unique values use the SUM, IF, and FREQUENCY functions as shown in the following formula:
= SUM(IF(FREQUENCY(A2:A13,A2:A13)>0,1))

Solution 2:

To count the number of unique data use the SUMPRODUCT and COUNTIF functions as shown the following formula:
=SUMPRODUCT((A2:A13<>"")/COUNTIF(A2:A13,A2:A13&""))

Management Skills Pyramid:

2010-11-10T21:49:00.001-08:00

To be successful, there are many skills a manager needs to master. A pyramid structure shows the increasingly difficult management skills you must master at each level and to also display how these management skills build on each other to help you achieve success in your management career.

The Management Skills Pyramid, Level 1
Level 1 of the Management Skills Pyramid shows the basic skills a manager must master just to get the job done. These are the fundamentals of the management job:
• Plan
• Organize
• Direct
• Control
The Management Skills Pyramid, Level 2
After you have mastered the basic skills in level 1, you need to move on and develop your skills on Level 2 of the Management Skills Pyramid. These are the management skills that you use to develop your staff. There are many specific skills required, but they are grouped into these categories:
• Motivation
• Training and Coaching
• Employee Involvement
The Management Skills Pyramid, Level 3
When you have become skilled in developing your staff, it's time to focus on Level 3 of the Management Skills Pyramid, improving your own development. These management skills are grouped as:
• Self Management and
• Time Management
Time management gets its own category because it is so important to your success in all the other skills.
The Management Skills Pyramid, Top Level
The peak of the Management Skills Pyramid, the single skill that will help you the most in developing success in your management career, is leadership. As you develop your skill as a leader, as you make the transition from manager to leader, you will achieve the success you truly want in your management career.

Go Back…Go Forward:

2010-11-09T21:54:00.001-08:00

Have you ever thought... "I was just looking at that document" and wanted to get back to it quickly, but to do so you had to go to your workspace or bookmarks, open the database again, choose a view, and then reopen a document?

Lotus Notes makes it easy to "Go Back" and to "Go Forward" to views and documents.

On the Navigation Toolbar, you will see an arrow pointing left (for back) and one pointing right (for forward). Each time you click on arrow itself, Notes will reopen the last document you opened. If you click on the "little triangle pointing down", Notes will display a list of the last documents and views that you visited, and you can choose which one to "jump back to".

If you prefer your keyboard to the mouse, you can use ALT+LEFT ARROW to go back, and ALT+RIGHT ARROW to go forward.

Leased Inventory:

2010-11-08T22:00:00.001-08:00

An accounting method used to finance the opening inventory of a new retail store. Product is leased to the operator and secured by the wholesaler's lien on daily cash receipts.

Types of Speeches:

2010-11-07T22:52:00.000-08:00

Before you can write and deliver an effective speech, you need to know what type of speech you're giving. Then you can make sure that the content and organization meet the needs and goals of the speech.
There are 4 types of speeches:
• Persuasive: Tries to convince the audience to accept your view or take a recommended action. Sales presentations are a typical example, but there are many others
• Informative: Provides the audience with new information or insights on the topic. A lecture by a professor to a class is informative.
• Inspirational: tries to uplift the audience. May have a spiritual theme.
• Special occasion: Offers appropriate content for a toast, award presentation, acceptance, introduction, eulogy, etc.

Baka-Yoke:

2010-10-29T00:18:00.001-07:00

A Japanese term for a manufacturing technique for preventing mistakes by designing the manufacturing process, equipment and tools so an operation literally cannot be performed incorrectly. In addition to preventing incorrect operation, the technique usually provides a warning signal of some sort for incorrect performance.

10 Tips to be a better Manager:

2010-10-27T23:49:00.000-07:00

Listed below are ten things you can do to become a better manager.

1. Select the best people
As a manager, you are only as good as the people on your team. Give yourself a better chance to succeed by picking the best people from the start.

2. Be a motivator
Human beings do things because we want to. Sometimes we want to because the consequences of not wanting to do something are unpleasant. However, most of the time we want to do things because of what we get out of it.
It's no different at work, people do good work for the pay, or the prestige, or the recognition. They do bad work because they want to take it easy and still get paid. They work really hard because they want to impress someone. To motivate your people better, figure out what they want and how you can give that to them for doing what you want them to do.
3. Build Your Team
It is not enough that people are motivated to succeed at work. They have to work together as a team to accomplish the group's objective.

4. Be a Leader, Not Only a Manager
You have built the best team from the best employee available. You motivated them to peak performance. What is missing? Motivating a team is worthless unless you provide direction; unless you turn that motivation toward a goal and lead the team to it. It is the ability to lead others that truly sets a manager apart from their peers. Remember that leaders are found at all levels of the organization, so be one.

5. Improve as a Communicator
Communication may be the single most important skill of a manager. After all, all the others depend on it. You can't be a leader if you can't communicate your vision. You can't motivate people if they can't understand what you want. Communication skills can be improved through practice.

6. Get Better At Managing Money
To stay in business, a company has to make money. That means bringing money in the door and it means spending less than you bring in. Depending on your function in the organization, you may have more influence on one area or the other, but you need to understand both. You can help your company, your employees, and yourself be getting better at managing the company's money.

7. Get Better at Managing Time
The one thing you will probably have less of at work than money is time. The better you get at managing time, yours and others, the more effective you will be as a manager.

8. Improve Yourself
Don't focus so hard on your people that you forget about yourself. Identify the areas in which you are weak and improve them.

9. Practice Ethical Management
Enron-like scandals have really driven home the point about how important ethics is in business.

10. Take a Break
You are less effective as a manager if you are over-stressed. You are less tolerant. You snap at people more. No one wants to be anywhere near you. Take a break. Give yourself a chance to relax and recharge your batteries. Your increased productivity when you return will more than make up for the time you take off. Have a good laugh or go lie on a beach somewhere.

Bottom Line
Management is a skill that can be learned. You can improve as a manager by working every day to get better.

Summarize Calendar:

2010-10-26T23:04:00.000-07:00

One of the things that is good about the Notes calendar is the number of ways that it can display information. You can view entries in several different day formats, week formats, or months formats. You can also choose to display any of these views not as a "grid" but instead as a "list". To do this click the "Formatting" drop down on the top right of your calendar (or right click on any blank area of your calendar, that in itself is a tip many people don't know about!) and choose "Summarize".

Neutralizing Charge:

2010-10-25T22:55:00.001-07:00

Neutralizing Charge is a fixed weekly fee, charged to retailers who are stockholders in a wholesale operation that covers an increased cost of service that was not billed on an original invoice for merchandise.

Create Pivot Table Report:

2010-10-24T23:22:00.000-07:00

1. Select any cell in the source data, and press Ctrl+Shift+* (in Excel 2003, press this or Ctrl+A).

2. Press Ctrl+F3, and then type the defined Name for the source data.

3. From the Data menu, select PivotTable and PivotChart Report.

4. In Step 1 of 3, select Microsoft Excel list or database, and then click Next.

In Step 2 of 3, in the Range box, press F3 to open the Paste Name dialog box, and paste the Name of the source data as defined in step 2.

5. Click Next.

6. In Step 3 of 3, click Layout (in Excel 97, go to step 8).

7. In Excel 2002 and Excel 2003, you can skip this step. Instead, click Finish in Step 2 of 3 and then create the PivotTable report by dragging the fields from the Pivot Table Field List dialog box to the PivotTable report.

8. In the Layout dialog box, drag the Data Fields to the white Data area, and drag all other fields to the white Page area (except fields that are not going to be used in the PivotTable report), and then click OK.

9. In Step 3 of 3, click Finish. The PivotTable report is created.

10. Drag Data (in cell A5 in the screenshot) to the right of the PivotTable report to change the layout from horizontal to vertical.

11. The PivotTable report is now ready to be used. For more details on how to use the PivotTable report properly, see the other tips in this category.

PC Lock (using mouse):

2010-10-21T23:30:00.000-07:00

Generally we have problems in pressing Alt+Ctrl+Del or Windows+L to Lock our PCs, hence it would be better if we could do that by the click of a mouse. Here's how to do it:

1. Right click an empty spot on the desktop, point to New and click Shortcut.

2. In the Create Shortcut dialog box, copy the following into the 'Type the location' of the item text box:

"rundll32 user32.dll,LockWorkStation" remove quotes while typing.

3. Click Next.

4. In "Type a name for this shortcut", type LOCK and Click Finish

5. Now just double click on the icon, your desktop will be locked.

Stop Procrastination:

2010-10-21T01:02:00.001-07:00

Why We Procrastinate
Why do we fall into the procrastination trap time after time? Because procrastination becomes a way, no matter how maladaptive of coping with the emotions and physical symptoms that accompany depression. It may bring some temporary relief, but we eventually wake up the following day and find that no brownies have dropped in overnight and done our work for us.
Which style of procrastination fits you?
• Organizing thoughts and actions and keeping on track with plans is difficult.
• Tasks seem overwhelming so it's futile to even try.
• Hostile feelings towards someone cause you to want to punish them by putting things off.
• Routine and schedule causes you to feel rebellious.
• You fear disapproval.
These procrastination styles can overlap in one of four themes:
Self-Doubt - These people feel there are rigid standards about how thing ought to be done and they fear they will fail. They second-guess themselves and delay taking action.
Discomfort Dodging - This person avoids activities that will cause them distress, discomfort or anxiety. Rather ironically, the act of dodging the activity doesn't make it go away so tensions mount because of this avoidance.
Guilt-Driven - The person feels guilt over tasks undone, but rather than correct the original lack of action continues to procrastinate in order to not face up to the guilt feelings.
Habitual - The person has procrastinated so many times, it becomes an ingrained response. The person no longer thinks about why they do it, they feel it's just a part of themselves. It becomes an automatic response to say, "This is too hard", "I'm too tired", or to laugh it off as a character flaw.
Once you recognize your style of procrastination, you can take steps to stop it.
Time Management Tips to Beat Procrastination
One of the most important things you can do for yourself is to get organized. Make lists, take a class in organization, or purchase an organizer. Do whatever works for you. One word of advice: follow the KISS principle (Keep it Simple, Stupid). If your organization system is too complicated, it will become just another task to avoid. Make a list of what needs to get done. This can be listed in no particular order and will give you a handle on just what you need to accomplish. Prioritize these. Get yourself a calendar with room to write notes in. Take what's at the top of your priority list and determine how long it will take to accomplish it. If it's a quick task, put that down to be done the current day. If it will take a longer time, divide it into smaller tasks to be spread out over several days. Write this in your calendar with specific dates for accomplishing each. Include your deadline for completion of this task on your calendar as well. Keep filling your calendar until you have a time set aside to do each item while still meeting your deadlines. Be careful to not overbook yourself and allow plenty of time for delays. This will allow you to feel confident that you can accomplish all you need to in the time you have. Now you can relax and work on one item at a time without feeling you have to do it all at once.
Bite Off Only What You Can Chew
Ever notice how broken up large shopping malls are? Lots of twists and turns, levels, and side corridors? There's a very good reason for this. If malls were laid out straight we could see just how far we are really walking. If we actually knew how far apart stores are, we would probably leave the mall, get in our cars and drive from store to store. By having our view broken up into small chunks, we feel as if it's a smaller distance. This same psychological trick can be used to help us overcome procrastination. Break large projects up into smaller tasks.
Just Do It!
Next time you catch yourself saying, "I can do this later", think like. Just do it! Push on through the feelings and do it now. The feeling you get when you finish will be so much better than any relief you get from putting it off.
Schedule Reward Time
As you go work through your tasks, you may find your mind drifting off to all the activities you'd rather be doing. You will find it much easier to concentrate on your work if you know that you have scheduled time for these activities. Tell yourself, I will work hard today accomplishing my goals because tomorrow is Saturday and I have scheduled time to go for a movie. Knowing that you have finished your tasks will also make it easier to relax and enjoy your leisure time.
Anxiety Busters
Does the thought of performing a certain task fill you will anxiety? First, try this:
• Inhale deeply while counting five heartbeats (you may check this easily by feeling your pulse).
• Exhale as you count five heartbeats.
You should notice after each breath that your heart rate is actually slowing and you are feeling less tense. Now, do something, not matter how small. Just make a start. The very act of accomplishing something will ease your anxiety.
Mental Tricks to Give You Momentum
If you have several small items to do which are directly related to the project at hand, do these first. Even though you have some larger tasks left, psychologically it feels as if you have less to do when the list isn't so long. It gives you a feeling that you have accomplished something. Just remember, it must be a task that is relevant to accomplishing your goal. When you have accomplished a task, mark it out on your list with a pen. It gives you visual confirmation that you are getting somewhere. Again, this gives you a psychological boost.
The Best Laid Plans...
Remember, if something can go wrong, it will. Allow yourself more than adequate time to finish each task. If you do not need all the time you've allowed, you will be able to progress ahead of schedule. This will be a psychological boost to you. At the very least, you won't be left rushed to finish.

Affinity Diagram:

2010-10-19T22:21:00.000-07:00

Affinity Diagram is a tool used to organize and present large amounts of data (ideas, issues, solutions, problems) into logical categories based on user perceived relationships and conceptual frame working.

Often used in form of "sticky notes" send up to front of room in brainstorming exercises, then grouped by facilitator and workers. Final diagram shows relationship between the issue and the category. Then categories are ranked, and duplicate issues are combined to make a simpler overview.

Polling/Voting in Notes:

2010-10-18T23:02:00.000-07:00

This tip explains how to create a button in an email message which when pressed, prompts the reader to enter their vote, and automatically sends the response back to the address you define.

1. Create a new email message, and enter the text/graphics you want, explaining to the reader what the poll is about.

2. From the Lotus Notes menus at the top of the screen choose "Create - Hotspot - Button".

This will insert a small grey button into the email (#1 in the image below), open the Properties Box (#2 in the image below), and at the bottom of your screen you will see a new section open up where you will enter the information about the vote (#3 in the button below).

3. On the first tab of the Properties Box enter the text you want displayed on the button (called Label) and customize the button's size, background colour, edge style, etc. As you can see in the image below, I've choosen to have the button's width exactly fit the text I enter for the Label, have a light blue background, and have rounded corners. If you wish, on the second tab of the Properties Box you can change the font size, colour, typeface, etc used for the Label.

So what started as a little grey button now looks like this:

4. Next you will enter the formula that the button executes when it is pushed.

First, copy the text below to your clipboard:

choicelist:="Yes":"No";
email:="your full lotus notes email address";
title:="Voting";
message:="Please select your choice:";

choice := @Prompt([OkCancelList]:[NoSort];title; message ; "" ; choicelist);
@MailSend(email;"";"";@Name([Abbreviate] ; @UserName + " has chosen " + choice ));
@Prompt([Ok] ;"Finished" ; "Thank you for voting, your choice has been emailed.")

Second, paste it into the button's formula box as shown below:

Note that most users don't have the 'Formula' box (as you need the designer for this). But they can use 'Simple Action', 'Add Action' and then '@Function Formula'. This will allow them to paste in your code too.

Third, customize the first four lines to meet the specific needs for your poll.

For example, you could do something like this:

choicelist:="Red":"Yellow":"Blue":"Green";
email:="email_id@abc.com";
title:="What is your favourite colour?";
message:="Please select your favourite colour from the list below:";

When the email recepient presses the button, they will see the following. When they make their choice and press OK, an email will be sent to the address you defined.

If you want users to be able to select more than one value, replace the line
choice := @Prompt([OkCancelList]:[NoSort];title; message ; "" ; choicelist);
with
choice := @Prompt([OkCancelListMult]:[NoSort];title; message ; "" ; choicelist);
That is all there is to it! What are you waiting for, go show off your new Lotus Notes polling skills!

mCommerce:

2010-10-15T00:30:00.000-07:00

Mobile Commerce, also known as M-Commerce or mCommerce, is the ability to conduct commerce using a mobile device, such as a mobile phone, a Personal digital assistantPDA, a smartphone, or other emerging mobile equipment such as dashtop mobile devices. Mobile Commerce has been defined as follows:
"Mobile Commerce is any transaction, involving the transfer of ownership or rights to use goods and services, which is initiated and/or completed by using mobile access to computer-mediated networks with the help of an electronic device.”
Products and Services Available:
Mobile ticketing
Tickets can be sent to mobile phones using a variety of technologies. Users are then able to use their tickets immediately, by presenting their phones at the venue.
Tickets can be booked and cancelled on the mobile device with the help of simple application downloads, or by accessing the WAP portals of various travel agents or direct service providers.
Mobile vouchers, coupons and loyalty cards
Mobile ticketing technology can also be used for the distribution of vouchers, coupons, and loyalty cards. These items are represented by a virtual token that is sent to the mobile phone. A customer presenting a mobile phone with one of these tokens at the point of sale receives the same benefits as if they had the traditional token. Stores may send coupons to customers using location based services to determine when the customer is nearby.
Content purchase and delivery
Currently, mobile content purchase and delivery mainly consists of the sale of ring-tones, wallpapers, and games for mobile phones. The convergence of mobile phones, portable audio players, and video players into a single device is increasing the purchase and delivery of full-length music tracks and video. The download speeds available with 4G networks make it possible to buy a movie on a mobile device in a couple of seconds.
Location-based services
The location of the mobile phone user is an important piece of information used during mobile commerce transactions. Knowing the location of the user allows for location based services such
• Local discount offers
• Local weather
• Tracking and monitoring of people
Information services
A wide variety of information services can be delivered to mobile phone users in much the same way as it is delivered to PCs. These services include:
• News
• Stock quotes
• Sports scores
• Financial records
• Traffic reporting
Customized traffic information, based on a user's actual travel patterns, can be sent to a mobile device. This customized data is more useful than a generic traffic-report broadcast, but was impractical before the invention of modern mobile devices due to the bandwidth requirements.
Mobile banking
Banks and other financial institutions use mobile commerce to allow their customers to access account information and make transactions, such as purchasing stocks, remitting money. This service is often referred to as Mobile Banking, or M-Banking.
Mobile brokerage
Stock market services offered via mobile devices have also become more popular and are known as Mobile Brokerage. They allow the subscriber to react to market developments in a timely fashion and irrespective of their physical location.
Auctions
Over the past three years mobile reverse auction solutions have grown in popularity. Unlike traditional auctions, the reverse auction (or low-bid auction) bills the consumer's phone each time they place a bid. Many mobile SMS commerce solutions rely on a one-time purchase or one-time subscription; however, reverse auctions offer a high return for the mobile vendor as they require the consumer to make multiple transactions over a long period of time.
Mobile Browsing
Using a mobile browser—a World Wide Web browser on a mobile device—customers can shop online without having to be at their personal computer.
Mobile Purchase
Catalog merchants can accept orders from customers electronically, via the customer's mobile device. In some cases, the merchant may even deliver the catalog electronically, rather than mailing a paper catalog to the customer. Some merchants provide mobile websites that are customized for the smaller screen and limited user interface of a mobile device.
Mobile marketing and advertising
In the context of mobile commerce, mobile marketing refers to marketing sent to mobile devices. Companies have reported that they see better response from mobile marketing campaigns than from traditional campaigns

Acceptable Quality Level (AQL):

2010-10-13T23:51:00.001-07:00

Acceptable Quality Level. Also referred to as Assured Quality Level. The largest quantity of defectives in a certain sample size that can make the lot definitely acceptable; Customer will definitely prefer the zero defect products or services and will ultimately establish the acceptable level of quality. Competition however, will 'educate' the customer and establish the customer's values. There is only one ideal acceptable quality level - zero defects - all others are compromises based upon acceptable business, financial and safety levels.

Off-Invoice:

2010-10-12T23:28:00.001-07:00

Off-Invoice is a method of payment for a manufacturer's trade deal or promotion where the amount of the allowance for merchandise is deducted from the manufacturer's invoice.

Talent Management:

2010-10-11T21:26:00.000-07:00

The phrase "talent management" is fairly new and usually refers to the activities to attract, develop and retain employees. Some people and organizations use the phrase to refer especially to talented and/or high-potential employees. The phrase often is used interchangeably with the field of Human Resource Management.

Determine the key leverage skill sets required by the organization in order to move into the future. The organization’s strategic plan should give an indication of these, as well as what constitutes the core competence that will ensure a future for the organization. This will all, in turn, direct you to what talent you should be sourcing.
Source the required people from the appropriate avenues.
Be sure to have very detailed job descriptions that include specific competencies required.
Apply behavior-based interviewing to select the best candidates.
The ability to retain talent starts from the quality of the first point of contact.
Carefully consider how you orientate a new employee into the culture of the organization, the work area, and the specific job.
Assist a new employee to transition into the organization and to be able to produce a quality deliverable within the first three months of tenure. This will go a long way to ensuring that the placement will be successful.

Retaining your talent will not solely depend on what you pay them. We have found from exit interviews that many high performing individuals will leave an organization for the same or, in some cases, even less remuneration if other needs of theirs are not being met.
The culture, the way things are done around here, plays a huge role in creating a work environment that will draw individuals in or repel them. The culture is created through the systems, processes, technology, structure, leadership, and behaviors of people and teams in the organization.
Congruity in values between the organization and the employee will also exert influence on an individual’s decision to commit to an organization.
The most important relationship for any individual in an organization is the relationship with one’s immediate manager. Ensure that your managers have the skills to constructively lead their direct reports and their teams.
Involve individuals in decision-making in their areas of responsibility. Involve high performers in cross-functional projects. Allow people to feel that they are making a difference.
Make sure that each new employee is the right fit for the organization’s culture, and then ensure fit with the work area, and then the actual job. Revisit this person-environment fit, as people and circumstances change and some adjusting or repositioning may be required for best results.

Development is about growing people to meet both their own and the organization’s needs. Development plays a large part in talent management. No organization can afford to promise a person a particular job through development. At best, you can offer the promise of making a person more eligible to be part of a pool of talent who would be looked at when positions open up, and then only if the existing skills match the position requirements.
Competencies need to be broken down into their four components:
Knowledge (what you know)
Skills (what you know how to do)
Behaviour (what you do)
Attitude (what you are willing to do)

Assess every employee’s competency profile. This would include establishing if there are any competency deficiencies that are responsible for the gaps that exist between the actual and desired current performance, as well as gaps between current competencies and possible future performance needs.
Avoid getting trapped into only developing weaknesses; focus on keeping strengths at the cutting edge.
Create opportunities for development through different methods; such as, training, job shadowing, job rotation, involvement in projects, cross-functional exposure, and teamwork.
Make sure that the training provided is linked to the strategic needs of the organization.
Mentoring can play an important role in developing others, as well as strengthening relationships. This goes a long way to influencing feelings of belonging to an organization.
Build in stretch deliverables for high potential individuals to produce, as being challenged by what they do often meets individual’s personal needs.
Link talent development into the performance management system.

Identifying potential is one component of talent management, but actual performance reflects on usable talent. Sound performance management practices are crucial.
Clarify roles throughout the organization, ensuring alignment with the strategy, as well as across functions.
Involve individuals in setting their own performance agreements. These agreements need to be firm on objectives to be met, deliverables to be produced and at what quality standards, actions to be taken, and the deadlines.
People need to be held accountable for what they deliver, but against performance agreements that function as working documents so that adjustments are made to them as circumstances dictate.
Feedback is essential - ongoing, objective and constructive.
Positive reinforcement, when done with genuineness, goes a long way to making people feel recognized.
Tap into what would make talented individuals within your organization feel rewarded; it is not necessarily always about money or upward mobility.

Identify high performance individuals who display characteristics favored by the organization. Use this pool of talent to help transition new employees into the organization. This will speed up acculturization, and ensure the entrenching of desired ways of operating. It has also been found that the better the first experiences of a new employee, the more likely the individual is to be retained by the organization and the quicker performance results can be achieved.
Talented individuals can also serve as mentors throughout the organization and it can be seen as recognition or as a reward to do so. Innovations by talented individuals can be introduced into systems, processes, and approaches in the organization in the pursuit of continuous improvement. They should also be recognized for this.
Ultimately, talent management that is based on respect and transparency will go a long way to ensure that you access, select, empower, and retain top talent for your organization.

Show Formulas in Excel:

2010-10-10T23:17:00.001-07:00

To quickly show all formulas in your Excel spreadsheet hold down the CONTROL key on the keyboard and press the grave accent key ( ` ).
This key is located next to the #1 key on the top left corner of the keyboard and looks like a backwards apostrophe.
Show formulas does not change the spreadsheet, only the way it is displayed.
Show formulas has several uses:
• Makes it easy to find cells containing formulas
• It allows you to quickly read through all formulas to check for errors
• When you click on a formula, Excel outlines in color the cells referenced in the formula. This helps you to trace the data being used in a formula.
• Print spreadsheets with show formulas turned on. Doing so, will allow you to search a spreadsheet for hard to find errors.

6 soft skills that you need for success:

2010-10-07T23:06:00.001-07:00

A reputed software company in India is all geared up for a client visit.
The clients have indicated that, after inspecting the progress of the project they have outsourced, they would like to meet the team members working on it.
Why? To select one team member for a stint onsite -- something almost every software engineer aspires for.
Ravi has been one of the most active members in the project and has done a wonderful job. He is technically brilliant, but has some concerns:
• Will he able to communicate his performance to the client in an impressive manner so that he is chosen?
• Why do his team mates not prefer to come to him for solutions and go to less capable people instead?
• His project manager doesn't seem to be very warm towards him either, although he does drop in those occasional mails appreciating his work.
Here is a typical scenario in an IT company; or for that matter, any organization where interpersonal communication is involved. Or, like in Ravi's case, where an employee suffers from a lack of interpersonal skills.
Are technical/ job-related skills enough?
Technical and job-related skills are a must, but they are NOT sufficient when it comes to progressing up the ladder.
With the traditional paternalistic style of leadership becoming passé, professional managers expect their teams to be proactive and communicate openly.
Soft skills are very important in business. It is essential to be technically sound, but one should also have the ability to convey the idea to the masses in the simplest possible manner. With the boom in outsourcing taking root across industries, many professionals and subject matter experts directly deal with their clients on a regular basis.
Their approachability and people skills are what ultimately sustain the contract their employers have bagged.
6 soft skills for every hard-nosed professional
Behavioural training experts say there are several soft skills are required in these circumstances. Some of them include:
i. Interpersonal skills
ii. Team spirit
iii. Social grace
iv. Business etiquette
v. Negotiation skills
vi. Behavioral traits such as attitude, motivation and time management
Do you have these? If your answer is yes, good for you.
But if your answer is no, then you know it is time to approach either a training organization or a training consultant.
Will formal training enhance your soft skills?
There is a lot of argument in the industry as to whether it is possible to enhance soft skills in a few hours of training, especially when one considers the fact that a person has lived with those traits all his life. To this, the answer is harsh but real -- a professional who wants to do well in his/ her career does not really have a choice.
In the initial years of your career, your technical abilities are important to get good assignments. However, when it comes to growing in an organization, it is your personality that matters, more so in large organizations where several people with similar technical expertise will compete for a promotion.
Training on soft skills becomes all the more relevant in a country like India where the education system does not delve into personality development.
"Soft skills training are essential because we do not have it in our academic curricula. Therefore, corporate houses have to take up the task of grooming employees who are the link between the company and the external world, so that they are able to present themselves better.
Be your own trainer!
While organizations are definitely investing in augmenting their staff's people skills, here are some inputs for professionals and students who would like to initiate the process themselves:
i. Be a part of team activities
It could be either as a part of your church choir, or an NGO, or your local youth circle.
Observe your own behavior in the group and how you relate to others.
ii. Ask family members or close friends to write down your best and worst traits.
Ideally, have at least four to five people do this for you.
Evaluate the common traits all of them have mentioned. Thus, you can be aware of your strengths and work improving your weaknesses.
iii. How well do you manage your time?
Think.
Can you do more in life? Or is your day too crammed with activities? Effective time management is very essential in the corporate world.
iv. Introspect on how you react to feedback.
In organizations, people skills mostly come into the picture when there is feedback given -- be it for an idea, an executed project or a presentation.
You are judged by the way you respond to feedback.
Do you get defensive?
Do you insist you were right?
Do you meekly accept criticism?
Remember, people tend to be judged and stereotyped according to their responses. You will, too.
v. How good are you at critiquing?
While responding to feedback is one side of the coin, giving feedback is the other side.
Are you aggressive? Pessimistic? Do you believe in constructive criticism? Or prefer to be the yes-man?
vi. Live consciously
Any organization is manned by people; therefore soft skills are all about how you deal with people and present yourself.
Though it may be easier said than done, soft skills can be enhanced simply by being aware of oneself and living consciously.

Set Margins:

2010-10-06T22:37:00.000-07:00

All the basic options are in the toolbar: font, text size, bold, italic, underline, text color, indent, bullets, numbering, alignment, links, and more. If you don't know what a toolbar button does, hover over it for more information.

Use the ruler to set margins To change the margins in an e-mail (or other document), click View > Ruler, and then use the ruler at the top to set margins and indenting.

Loose-loaded:

2010-10-05T22:53:00.001-07:00

Loose Loaded is a shipping practice of loading and unloading products by hand on a trailer. Also known as a dead-pile loaded; floor-loaded; loose-case-loaded.

Counting a particular word:

2010-10-05T01:24:00.000-07:00

There are times that we need to know how often we've used a particular word in a document, or even in a part of a document. The Word Count tool doesn't allow you to limit a count to a specific word, but there is a neat little workaround you can do.
1. If you want to count only in a particular area of your document, select the text you want included in the count. (You can select multiple, non-contiguous areas of text by holding down the Ctrl key as you make your selections with the mouse.)
2. Press Ctrl+H, or choose Replace from the Edit menu. Word displays the Replace tab of the Find and Replace dialog box.
3. In the Find What box, enter the word you want to count.
4. In the Replace With box, enter the same word.
5. Click Replace All.
Word replaces all occurrences of the word with itself, so there really are no changes done to your document. However, a dialog box appears that indicates how many changes were performed; this is your word count.

Risk Threats to our IT Projects:

2010-10-03T23:09:00.000-07:00

A risk is the loss potential that exists as the result of threat and vulnerability pairs. Below is a list of a number of potential threat areas that need to be fully assessed at the beginning of any IT undertaking. A threat is “any force or phenomenon that could degrade the availability, integrity or confidentiality of an Information Systems resource, system or network. One definition is “any circumstance or event with the potential to cause harm to a system in the form of destruction, disclosure, modification of data, and/or denial of use.”
Assets At Risk
Facilities
Environmental risks cover things such as floods, lightening, earthquakes, tornadoes, There should be a local meteorological office that could provide information on this, but quite likely a large insurance company should be able to supply more information than you need as part of their policy pricing information. Additionally, consider flooding from such things fire main leaks, fire extinguisher sprays, fires, contamination, traffic coming through the front of the building or hitting power poles and even bombs – real or even threatened.
Equipment
Power surges can come over the power lines and damage the equipment, fire extinguishers and plumbing leaks which are very bad for electronics, some equipment may be dependent upon air conditioning and some may even “develop legs and walk away”! Additionally, care should be taken that equipment is not used for unauthorized purposes.
Software
Programming can be accidentally (or intentionally) modified or destroyed by programmers or even users. Interrupting the power to an operating system is one method by which the programs which are running may be corrupted. The backup process often has the ability to destroy programs as well as data if improperly used, such as if the “restore” capability is triggered improperly. There is also the risk when installing or upgrading programs that the new code is itself corrupted.
Records and files
How safe is the storage of the media? Could they become lost or damaged? Are they stored in a location where they may be considered “surplus” or “for general use”? If the media is lost or stolen, consider the impact of not only the missing media but the information on it.
Data and Information
This is where the risk of “crackers and hackers” may manifest themselves.
Information is something that can be copied or examined without the owner being any the wiser Information on disk may be copied, read or even erased from remote locations through network connections. The media – external copies, pages of printout, even the computer itself – may be subject to the possibility of damage, loss or theft.
Negotiable and other material
This area includes problems derived from unauthorized transactions being performed on the computer such as:
a. A retail location may find it has “sold” a thousand items and mailed them and have an invalid credit card number
b. Something that was sold in confidence becoming public knowledge
c. Something for which the customer is depending on gets “lost” in a fraudulent manner.
Another risk is if there are online control systems which may be corrupted. Power, lights, air conditioning and more are likely to be under computer control. Many sites have their internal control records maintained online. The transfer of items from one location inside the organization to another is recorded – or even ordered – through computer. This includes things like service orders. There is a possibility of these orders being corrupted, deleted or even falsified.
Mission
The threats to your organization are limited only by the risks the organization exposes itself to. The more an information system is used, the more vulnerable it becomes. There may be forged email, the legal record may become published in the local newspaper, competitors may find out proprietary information – the list goes on and on and can only be determined by the ones in the know: YOU.
Personnel
A brief talk with a local insurance company will reveal a multitude of risks: vital individuals may get hit by cars, an epidemic may run rampant across the secretarial pool or even the competitor may decide to pay more.

Human Resource Management:

2010-09-28T23:11:00.000-07:00

Human resource management (HRM) is the strategic and coherent approach to the management of an organization's most valued assets - the people working there who individually and collectively contribute to the achievement of the objectives of the business. In simple words, HRM means employing people, developing their capacities, utilizing, maintaining and compensating their services in tune with the job and organizational requirement.
Human resources management involves several processes. Together they are supposed to achieve the above mentioned goal. These processes can be performed in an HR department, but some tasks can also be outsourced or performed by line-managers or other departments. When effectively integrated they provide significant economic benefit to the company.
• Workforce planning
• Recruitment (sometimes separated into attraction and selection)
• Induction, Orientation and Onboarding
• Skills management
• Training and development
• Personnel administration
• Compensation in wage or salary
• Time management
• Travel management (sometimes assigned to accounting rather than HRM)
• Payroll (sometimes assigned to accounting rather than HRM)
• Employee benefits administration
• Personnel cost planning
• Performance appraisal
• Labor relations

Sum a range of cells:

2010-09-27T22:23:00.000-07:00

If you insert a row directly above the Excel SUM function, the new row may not be included in the SUM. It may continue to sum cells A1:A4, and ignore A5. To ensure that new rows are included in the total, you can use the OFFSET function with the Excel SUM function.
1. Select cell A5.
2. Enter the following formula:
=SUM(A1:OFFSET(A5,-1,0))
3. Press the Enter key to complete the entry.
4. Insert a row above row 5
5. Type a number in cell A5, and it will be included in the total in cell A6

How to reduce the size of the mail box:

2010-09-23T23:46:00.000-07:00

To reduce the size of your mail file, you have a few options.
What do you want to do? Procedure
Automatically archive unused messages 1. Open your mail, select Actions > Archive > Settings > Criteria, and either edit existing criteria or create new criteria. This criteria will tell Notes which documents to archive and what to do with them.
2. After editing or creating, select the desired criteria from the list and click Enable.
3. If you have access, set an archiving schedule on the Schedule tab. Click the check box next to Schedule archiving, and then choose a time to run archiving. You must leave your computer on at the time you schedule.
Manually archive unused messages Follow the first two steps for automatically archiving unused messages.
During step one, for Selection Criteria, select Selected by user. Make sure to enable this criteria.
At any time after this, select the messages you would like to archive, and then select Actions > Archive > Archive selected documents.
Automatically delete unused messages Follow the steps for automatically archiving unused messages.
When you create or edit the archiving criteria, select Just clean up this application without archiving.
Manually delete unused messages Follow the steps for manually archiving unused messages.
When you create or edit the archiving criteria, select Just clean up this application without archiving.
Automatically reduce unused messages Follow the steps for automatically archiving unused messages.
When you create or edit the archiving criteria, select Reduce the size of documents in this application, and make a selection from the corresponding drop-down list.
Manually reduce unused messages Follow the steps for manually archiving unused messages.
When you create or edit the archiving criteria, select Reduce the size of documents in this application, and make a selection from the corresponding drop-down list.

Traceability Matrix:

2010-09-22T23:23:00.001-07:00

In a large testing project, it is easy to lose track of what has been tested and what should be tested. The question often arises, "Is the testing comprehensive enough?"
A simple way of determining what to test is to go through the source documents (Business Requirements, Functional Specifications, System Design Document, etc.) paragraph by paragraph and extract each requirement. A simple matrix is built, with the following format:
Source
Document Section Requirement Test Case
Func Spec 3.1 An account number must be entered, of 8 digits and a 1 digit checksum. Invalid account numbers must be diagnosed with an appropriate error message. 147
Func Spec 3.1 The account number must exist in the Customer Database; if not, an appropriate error message must be displayed. 148
Func Spec 3.2 Given a valid account number, the customer details must be retrieved from the Customer Database and displayed on the CD-102 screen form. 149
Basically, the Traceability Matrix relates each functional requirement to a specific test case. Thus if someone says, "Did we test that the account numbers must be valid?", the matrix indicates which test case does that test.
The Traceability Matrix is created before any test cases are written, because it is a complete list of what has to be tested.
Sometimes there is one test case for each requirement; other times, several requirements can be validated by one longer test case.

Telephone Etiquette:

2010-09-20T23:30:00.000-07:00

Presenting a professional image, both in person and on the telephone, is very important in the Office Skills profession. Taking care of your customers over the telephone and making them feel well informed and appreciated is essential.
Answering Calls

1. Speak clearly. A picture paints a thousand words but the caller on the other end of the phone can only hear you. They cannot see your face or body language. Therefore, taking the time to speak clearly, slowly and in a cheerful, professional voice is very important.
2. Use your normal tone of voice when answering a call . If you have a tendency to speak loud or shout, avoid doing so on the telephone.
3. Do not eat or drink while you are on telephone duty. Only eat or drink during your coffee break or lunch break.
4. Do not use slang words or Poor Language. Respond clearly with “yes” or “no” when speaking. Never use swear words.
5. Address the Caller Properly by his or her title. (i.e. Good morning Mr. Brown, Good afternoon Ms. Sanders). Never address an unfamiliar caller by his or her first name.
6. Listen to the Caller and what they have to say. The ability to listen is a problem in general but it is very important to listen to what the caller has to say. It is always a good habit to repeat the information back to the client when you are taking a message. Verify that you have heard and transcribed the message accurately.
7. Be patient and helpful. If a caller is irate or upset, listen to what they have to say and then refer them to the appropriate resource. Never snap back or act rude to the caller.
8. Always ask if you can put the caller on hold. If you are responsible for answering multiple calls at once, always ask the caller politely if you may put them on hold. Remember that the caller could have already waited several minutes before getting connected to you and may not take lightly to being put on hold. Never leave the person on hold for more than a few seconds or they may become upset and hang up.
9. Always focus on the call. Try not to get distracted by people around you. If someone tries to interrupt you while you are on a call, politely remind them that you are on a customer call and that you will be with them as soon as you are finished.
Making Calls
1. Always identify yourself properly. When calling a client or customer, whether in person or when leaving a message, always identify yourself properly by providing your name, company name and contact telephone number. For example, "Good afternoon Mr. Brown, this is Ms. Brown from Officeskills.org. My telephone number is 408-555-1212." Always be aware of confidential information when leaving messages. Also, be aware of people around you while talking on the phone. Be discreet! Someone next to you might overhear confidential information that could negatively affect your business.
2. Avoid leaving long winded messages. Remember, someone has to listen to your message, write it down and then act upon it. Your message may be just one of many messages that need to be handled. It is often a good habit to write down or type out your message in advance. Keep it brief and to the point.

Customer-Supplier Partnership:

2010-09-19T23:54:00.001-07:00

Customer-Supplier partnership is a long-term relationship between a buyer and supplier characterized by teamwork and mutual confidence. The supplier is considered an extension of the buyer’s organization. The partnership is based on several commitments. The buyer provides long-term contracts and uses fewer suppliers. The supplier implements quality assurance processes so incoming inspection can be minimized. The supplier also helps the buyer reduce costs and improve product and process designs.

Labor Scheduling Software:

2010-09-16T23:24:00.000-07:00

A computer software program that creates weekly work schedules for employees and departments. The software program inputs company parameters such as vacation, holidays, work availability, hours of operation, peak sales periods, etc.

Enter Data in Multiple Cells:

2010-09-16T00:57:00.001-07:00

1. Select all the cells in which you want to enter the same value or formula
2. Type the value or formula in the active cell
3. Hold the Ctrl key and press Enter

Think Win! – Win! Act Win! – Win!:

2010-09-14T22:48:00.001-07:00

There once lived a great mathematician in a village outside Ujjain. He was often called by the local king to advice on matters related to the economy. His reputation had spread as far as Taxila in the North and Kanchi in the South. So it hurt him very much when the village headman told him, "You may be a great mathematician who advises the king on economic matters but your son does not know the value of gold or silver."

The mathematician called his son and asked, "What is more valuable - gold or silver?" "Gold," said the son. "That is correct. Why is it then that the village headman makes fun of you, claims you do not know the value of gold or silver? He teases me every day. He mocks me before other village elders as a father who neglects his son. This hurts me. I feel everyone in the village is laughing behind my back because you do not know what is more valuable, gold or silver. Explain this to me, son."

So the son of the mathematician told his father the reason why the village headman carried this impression. "Every day on my way to school, the village headman calls me to his house. There, in front of all village elders, he holds out a silver coin in one hand and a gold coin in other. He asks me to pick up the more valuable coin. I pick the silver coin. He laughs, the elders cheer, and everyone makes fun of me. And then I go to school. This happens every day. That is why they tell you I do not know the value of gold or silver."

The father was confused. His son knew the value of gold and silver, and yet when asked to choose between a gold coin and silver coin always picked the silver coin. "Why don't you pick up the gold coin?" he asked. In response, the son took the father to his room and showed him a box. In the box were at least a hundred silver coins. Turning to his father, the mathematician’s son said, "The day I pick up the gold coin the game will stop. They will stop having fun and I will stop making money."

The bottom line is...
Sometimes in life, we have to play the fool because our seniors and our peers, and sometimes even our juniors like it. That does not mean we lose in the game of life. It just means allowing others to win in one arena of the game, while we win in the other arena of the game. We have to choose which arena matters to us and which arenas do not.

Getting your message across:

2010-09-13T23:23:00.000-07:00

Project sponsors are busy people. Project sponsors are senior managers in a business and that means they could well be managing several projects at once. It’s not easy to juggle sponsoring multiple projects. Added to this is the likelihood that they won’t ask questions when they don’t understand something. Some senior managers are happy to admit that they don’t know or need clarification, but many would rather not confess that they don’t have a clue what you are talking about.
It’s up to project managers to make project sponsor’s lives as easy as possible. There are lots of communications tips to use when dealing with senior people. Here are some to try with your sponsor:
• Don’t use vague email subjects. What do you think is more likely to be read: ‘Project ABC news’ or ‘Project ABC within 2% budget’? If you label your emails in a way that makes it clear what the content is they are more likely to be read in a timely manner.
• Write short emails. Anything that requires scrolling down is too long. Use bullet points. Write your email and then give yourself the challenge of reducing the word count by 50%. It can be done!
• Use color. Use RAG (Red, Amber, and Green) statuses. You can put text in color and use cell fills in spreadsheets and tables. It does make a difference – sponsors will be able to see the red bits (the bits you want decisions on) quickly and will be reassured that everything else is going to plan if it is green.
• Don’t send files that the sponsors can’t open. Not everyone has Microsoft Project. There are alternative Gantt chart viewers available that can make your project plan more accessible to people without the software, like Seavus Project Viewer. And not everyone can understand a Gantt chart, so be careful what view you make available to sponsors. The day-to-day project team management view of 1200 lines is not the one to send to senior management! Roll the milestones up and change the calendar so they don’t have to scroll too much.
However, this works both ways, If your sponsor is too vague you need to find a way to get the information you require.
If you need to get information from your project sponsor, try some of these tips:
• Make an appointment. Some sponsors will be more than happy for you to knock on their door and interrupt. However, they might take this as an informal chat and not a formal project meeting. Other sponsors will require you to make an appointment. Get to know their preferences, and their PA. Don’t book an hour when you only need half an hour, and make sure that they know why you are coming. Email a brief agenda or the questions you have in advance, so they can prepare. This helps you get more out of the time and they won’t feel ambushed.
• Parrot it back. “Let me just paraphrase to see if I have understood.” Use this technique for your own benefit to ensure that you really have got the message.
• Clarify in writing. It’s not everyone’s favorite project management style, but sometimes you do need to clarify the outcome of a discussion in writing. It doesn’t have to be formal minutes. It will suffice to put a few sentences in an email to the sponsor summarizing the salient points. This is particularly useful if the sponsor has made a decision. You don’t need to send them a copy of your project decision log, but you could mention that you have recorded their decision in your project files.
• Ask if it’s convenient. If you ring the sponsor, check it is a suitable time to talk. You’ll get a better quality response if they aren’t just about to go in to a Board meeting. Actually, it is polite to ask anyone you have just rung up or dropped in on. Just because you have the time to speak doesn’t mean they do.
Project communications are challenging, but they are 80% of project management, so getting them right is essential. You can improve your communication skills with practice – whether you are a sponsor or a project manager – so keep working on them!

Content-Recognition:

2010-09-12T23:20:00.001-07:00

You're in line for a movie when a great song plays over the sound system. Although you like the song, you have no idea what it's called or who sings it. You pull out your cell phone, dial a number and hold the phone toward the speakers. In a few seconds, you receive a text message with the name of the song, the artist's name and even a link you can follow to buy a copy.
The service you called uses content-recognition software to identify the song. These programs are helpful if you want to learn about a song playing nearby. They can also help to curb copyright infringement, which is a huge issue for independent artists and corporations alike.
In order to ensure that content-recognition software identifies songs no matter what format they're in, programmers concentrate on only analyzing sounds that are within the human range of hearing, just like MP3 files. One of the reasons MP3 files are relatively small is that only the sounds within human hearing are encoded -- everything else is ignored. Content-recognition software doesn't rely on the full range of sounds that might be present in the original recording because it might then overlook MP3 versions of the audio track.

Peer-to-peer networks, file-sharing services and heavy hitters like YouTube provide people with lots of opportunity to access content without paying for it. Until recently, companies had to rely on a human being to detect copyright violations and then take action. Sites like YouTube normally count on users to report inappropriate material, but some don't consider clips that violate copyright law to be inappropriate. At the moment, most companies have to rely on employees to uncover proprietary video footage and log a report. It's a tedious, inefficient process that may soon become unnecessary thanks to content-recognition software.

Why does a function display #NAME:

2010-09-09T23:23:00.000-07:00

The function may point to an add-in function that is not available to this Excel. Most frequently it's an Analysis ToolPak function; choose Tools > Add-Ins and check that there are checks against Analysis ToolPak.
Unlike Excel's built-in functions, Add-in functions do not translate themselves to regional language, so American add-in functions are by default unavailable on a Norwegian computer and vice versa.

Human Capital Management:

2010-09-09T01:30:00.001-07:00

In recent years there has been a dramatic shift in the way labor is pooled across the globe. The influences of technology and growth have effectively caused industry leaders to have to change their focus from the brute force of labor to the actual quality of the workers available throughout the world. This has produced a shift in tactics for those who manage Human Resources. Instead of gathering up workers in a huge net and sending them off to the fields and the factories, it is now necessary to nurture the working population by educating them and developing their technological skills so that they will be able to contribute to the needs of the enterprises they work for.
It is important today that companies understand the value of increasing a laborer’s output capability by investing in, and adding worth to, his or her abilities, rather than finding a mass of laborers who are willing to work yet who are unqualified to excel in today’s highly technological business environment. Simply put, the idea is that, contrary to the old HR theory that emphasized people as the most fundamental asset to a company, Human Capital Management, or HCM is focused on the right kind of people to get the job done.
Indeed, the theory behind Human Capital Management is first and foremost the transformation of a worker into a resource that is competitive.

Working Capital:

2010-09-07T23:11:00.001-07:00

Definition: Liquid assets available to build and grow a retail business. It is measured by current assets minus current liabilities. A positive working capital is needed until the shop can produce a profit.
Also Known As: Operating Funds, Liquid Capital
Examples:
Our after-Christmas sale was intended to optimize inventory levels to free up working capital.

Strategy for approaching a new Problem:

2010-09-07T00:12:00.000-07:00

There are three main strategies for approaching a new problem in software development
1. Integrate into the system existing software product, component or service – commercial or open source (for example, Payment Gateway as PayPal, Blog Engine as WordPress, CMS as Drupal, UI Components as Telerik and so on)
2. Imitate good enough solutions and adapt to your problem (Architecture Patterns as MVC, available code examples and guidelines as MSDN, borrow ideas from blogs, open source projects, Starter Kits, SDK and so on)
3. Innovate and create new solutions or make significant improvements to existing approaches
Strategy comparison
Integrate Imitate Innovate
Time to market Fast, if effort to integrate with other system components is low Slow, but predictable, if not many hidden pitfalls or adaptation problems are encountered Unpredictable as any innovative work
Cost Low, if components are reasonably priced and not much integration work needed More expensive and depends on complexity and adaptation effort Unpredictable
System integrity (with system architecture and environment) Acceptable if new components don’t screw and over-complicate core architecture Good, if developers adapt ideas to existing architecture Solution is built to match core architecture and customer needs
Required Expertise Not much specialized expertise is required, usually external support is available for integration Good developers can effectively adopt good ideas that are explained well High level expertise, creativity and specialized knowledge are required for good innovative solution
Control over code and future development Little control and you are on mercy of external developers Good control if ideas are applied well and not over-engineered Full control
Competitive advantage and uniqueness Not much for the standard solution that many can use Depends on quality and creativity in adaptation Innovation is an excellent opportunity to gain advantage
Maintenance, support and improving capabilities Work is outsourced to dedicated external developers who fix, support and improve the product Your effort is supported in original source of ideas if you are lucky Completely your own effort
Learning curve, tacit knowledge, help Usually supported by help, tutorials, training and community involvement Partially supported by original source, however can drift far as the result of internal implementation Should be covered by you to enable effective support and future development by existing and new developers

A short answer to dilemma: maximum integration and minimal innovation.

Adjust the space between bullet points and text:

2010-09-05T23:55:00.001-07:00

To finely adjust the space between the bullet point and the text, sometimes you just cannot get the spacing just right between the bullet point and the text. And when you adjust it, it's either just too much or too little.
To adjust it finely:
1. Turn the ruler on, by selecting the "View" menu
2. Make sure there is a tick next to "Ruler" to display the ruler
3. Select the text object that you want to adjust
4. On the ruler move the lower part of the paragraph indentation. It's called the "Left Indent". It looks like a small house. But to adjust it finely. . . . Press and hold the CTRL key while moving the paragraph spacer on the ruler

Automatically remove cancelled meetings from your calendar:

2010-09-02T23:57:00.000-07:00

When a meeting gets cancelled, it will either be automatically removed from your calendar or automatically marked as cancelled (you decide which). The cancellation notice will not come to your Inbox. One really great perk of this is that it keeps your free time up-to-date, but you don't have to keep an eye on your Inbox for cancellations. People looking for your availability will see the newly freed-up time.

To set this preference, follow these steps:
1. Click File > Preferences, and then click Calendar and To Do.
2. Click the Display tab (if it is not already open), and then click the Views tab.
3. Select "Process cancelled meetings automatically," and then select whether to remove cancelled meetings from your calendar, or to show them as cancelled in the calendar

Activity Based Costing (ABC):

2010-09-01T22:34:00.000-07:00

A form of cost accounting that focuses on the costs of performing specific functions (processes, activities, tasks, etc.) rather than on the costs of organizational units. ABC generates more accurate cost and performance information related to specific products and services than is available to managers through traditional cost accounting approaches.

Useful expression for Emails:

2010-08-31T22:57:00.001-07:00

Note: Styles which have been mentioned as ‘Semi-formal’ and ‘Business friendly’ are preferred in interaction with customers.

Function Style and Use
Address
Dear James Used with Semi-formal relationships and contexts; can we used with someone you haven’t met
Dear Mr. Mason Formal relationship and contexts; Often with people you haven’t met
Dear Mr. James Mason Very formal relationship and contexts; Used in legal notifications and letters
Dear Ms. Melissa Formal
Dear Associates Formal with Business Partners
Hi Melissa Semi-formal and Business friendly
Hi James Semi-formal and Business friendly
Hello James Semi-formal and Business friendly
Melissa For conversational threads, frequent interactions, and within teams
Mel Very familiar and casual, only with people you are very familiar with and in informal context
Jim Very familiar and casual, only with people you are very familiar with and in informal context
Hi Semi-formal but impersonal and matter-of-fact; use with more than 3 addressees
Hi Everyone/Everybody/All Semi-formal; with groups
Hi guys and gals! Very casual; only with close friends and for personal messages
Hi Ladies! Only for casual messages and between women preferably!
Signoff
Speak to you soon Informal
Looking forward to hearing from you Informal and Personal
I look forward to hear from you Informal and Personal
Kind Regards/Best Regards/Warm Regards/Wishes Semi-formal
All the best Informal
Sincerely Yours Very formal and old-fashioned (Don’t use)
Thanks Informal
Regards Semi-formal
Thanks and Regards Semi-formal
Cheers With British Colleagues and Clients
Have a nice day/Wonderful weekend Informal

Why do my Scroll bar go to row 500 when my data ends at row 50:

2010-08-30T22:54:00.001-07:00

Excel may be remembering some data that was in row 500, but has been deleted. To go to the cell which is currently the "Last Cell" in the worksheet, hold the Ctrl key, and press the End key. If the Last Cell (cell J500 in this example) is outside the range of cells that is actually being used, you can reset the used range, so the scroll bar works correctly.
Note: If any cells contain references to the deleted cells, those references will be replaced with a #REF! error. If you have cells that are formatted, but outside the range that contains data, the formatting will be lost.
To manually reset the used range:
1. Select the last cell that contains data in the worksheet
2. To delete any unused rows:
 Move down one row from the last cell with data.
 Hold the Ctrl and Shift keys, and press the Down Arrow key
 Right-click in the selected cells, and, from the shortcut menu, choose Delete
 Select Entire Row, click OK.
3. To delete any unused columns:
 Move right one column from the last cell with data.
 Hold the Ctrl and Shift keys, and press the Right Arrow key
 Right-click in the selected cells, and, from the shortcut menu, choose Delete
 Select Entire Column, click OK.
4. Save the file. Note: In older versions of Excel, you may have to Save, then close and re-open the file before the used range is reset.

Delegate and Escalate – Important Skills:

2010-08-29T23:45:00.001-07:00

When you kick off a project, you should know how you are going to get things done. You’ll have processes in place for many things already, thanks to your PMO, or as a result of having done them before. However, do you have a clear approach for delegation and escalation?
Delegation and escalation are two sides of the same coin. Delegation is giving work to someone in your team or maybe on the same hierarchical level as you. Escalation is giving work to someone above you, such as the project sponsor. The same principles apply for both task allocation exercises. The person receiving the tasks needs:
• Clear instructions on what to do with it
• A deadline by when you need it done
• An appreciation of what will happen if it doesn’t get done i.e. setting the task in the wider context of the project.
How do you choose which tasks to delegate, which to keep, and at what point things are escalated? You’ll have to do all of these things in a ‘normal’ project, so it is worth spending some time to work out how to get them done. This could involve:
• Setting tolerances for tasks and decisions: what are the trigger points for escalation? What can you fix yourself and what or when do you need input from someone higher up the project hierarchy?
• Establishing what the staff development needs are on the project: who on your team would like some exposure to quality reviews, for example? Could you plan for them to be involved in quality reviews as part of their on-the-job training, with a view to delegating them the task of quality reviews in the future?
• Establishing how competent your project team members are: what can you delegate safely? An enthusiastic member of staff might be really keen to take on the job of updating the project plan, but how well do they know Project Planner, or your project scheduling tool? Enthusiasm isn’t a suitable reason for you, as project manager, to delegate tasks. Prepare to support your team member through the learning curve so that he/she is competent as well as enthusiastic about taking on new responsibilities.
As we’ve seen, the project tolerances provide a framework to establishing which tasks need to be escalated. Set project tolerances for time, cost, quality and anything else you can think of that is important to the stakeholder group.
Some people find it easy to escalate but not so easy to delegate. If that sounds like you, remember a time when someone gave you a piece of work to complete. How did they do it and what instructions did they provide? If delegating makes you feel uncomfortable, just practice how you do it. You can’t avoid delegating, so you might as well think through how you will go about handing off pieces of work to your team, and if you need to, run through what you are going to say in the privacy of a meeting room or on your way to work before you talk to them.
Finally, consider how you will go about delegating and escalating. When is a good time to hand off tasks to a colleague? Do you need to schedule a meeting with them? If it is your project sponsor and the escalation is urgent, are they easy to get hold of? If not, what’s the contingency plan – or do you have to put everything on hold until they are in a position to provide some feedback as a result of your escalation?
Delegating and escalating are things that will come naturally, once you have been a project manager for some time. However, with a new team it is always worth consciously thinking about how you will make these things happen so that you get good results from delegating and escalating for your project and your team.

8D process:

2010-08-24T23:29:00.001-07:00

8 D is short for Eight Disciplines which Originated from the Ford TOPS (Team Oriented Problem Solving) program. (First published approximately 1987)

D#1 - Establish the Team

D#2 - Describe the problem.

D#3 - Develop an Interim Containment Action

D#4 - Define / Verify Root Cause

D#5 - Choose / Verify Permanent Corrective Action

D#6 - Implement / Validate Permanent Corrective Action

D#7 - Prevent Recurrence

D#8 - Recognize the Team

Add the Same Amount to Selected Numbers:

2010-08-22T23:36:00.000-07:00

You may want to increase all the numbers in a range by a set amount. For example, in this price list, all the prices should be increased by $1.50. The following technique makes it easy to increase the prices, all at once.
1. In a blank cell, enter the amount of the increase. In this example, 1.50 was entered in cell D2
2. Copy the cell which contains the increase amount.
3. Select the cells which contain the amounts that you want to increase. Here, cells B2:B5 are selected.
4. On the menu bar, click Edit | Paste Special
5. Click Values, and click Add, then click OK.
6. Each of the selected numbers is automatically increased by $1.50

Low Tire Pressure Warning:

2010-08-19T23:55:00.000-07:00

Do you recognize the symbol here? It lights up in your instrument panel and looks like a U-shaped pictograph with treads and an exclamation point in the middle.
Do you understand what it means now?
If you guessed a low tire-pressure warning, you are right. If you didn’t recognize the symbol, that’s also understandable because one out of three drivers do not, according to Schrader, a company that makes tire pressure monitoring systems.
The warning for the TPMS lights up when one or more of your vehicle’s tires is 25% below the manufacturer’s recommended pressure. The system is now required on all vehicles starting with the 2008 model year.
The issue here seems to be that the public hasn’t been properly educated on the warning symbol, which is supposed to be “idiot proof” and understandable across a wide variety of cultures and languages. Yet 46% of drivers couldn’t figure out that the icon represents a tire and 14% thought the symbol represented another problem with the vehicle entirely, according to Schrader.
Properly inflated tires are vitally important to your safety. Low pressure will affect your braking, acceleration, stability, cornering and fuel economy. The government instituted the TPMS mandate after the Bridgestone/Firestone tire failures on the Ford Explorer in 2000, a controversy that was partly attributed to inadequately inflated tires.

Drag and Drop Calendar entries to reschedule:

2010-08-19T00:04:00.000-07:00

In Notes 8.5.1, it's super-easy to reschedule a meeting or other calendar entry -- just drag the entry to a new time slot on your calendar.

After you drag it to a new time slot, a window will pop up to make sure you want to reschedule for that time. Once you click ok, you're all set!

You can also schedule a meeting by double-clicking on a time in your calendar.

7 QC Tools:

2010-08-17T23:21:00.001-07:00

Histograms
Cause and Effect Diagram
Check Sheets
Pareto Diagrams
Graphs
Control Charts
Scatter Diagrams

These are 7 QC tools also known as ISHIKAWAS 7QC tools which revolutionized the Japan & the World in Sixties & Seventies

Automatic Scrolling:

2010-08-17T00:54:00.001-07:00

Microsoft and various other vendors, for some time now, have been offering mice with a special little wheel or lever between the two buttons. The purpose of the wheel or lever is to scroll quickly through a long document. If you do not have such a mouse you can still get the benefits of automatic scrolling through an undocumented Word command. Simply follow these steps:
1. Choose the Customize option from the Tools menu. Word displays the Customize dialog box.
2. Click on the Commands tab. A list of Word commands appears.
3. In the left side of the dialog box, select the All Commands option.
4. In the right side of the dialog box, select the AutoScroll option.
5. Drag the AutoScroll option to some place on one of your toolbars. When you release the mouse button, a button named Auto Scroll should appear on the toolbar.
6. Click on Close to close the Customize dialog box.
To use your new command, simply click on the new toolbar button. When you do, the vertical scroll bar at the right side of your screen changes. A new double arrow appears in it. As you move the arrow up and down along the scroll bar, you control how fast the document scrolls either up or down. To exit the scrolling mode, you can either press the Esc key or click the mouse button.

Tips and Reminders:

2010-08-15T23:03:00.000-07:00

Here are some essential tips and reminders for those new to project management or in case you need to refresh your memory.
• Project management has a definite beginning and end. It is not a continuous process.
• A plan is not a project, it is a tool.
• Thirty five per cent of projects are consumed in overheads and administration.
• Project failures will happen.
• Gain knowledge and understanding before starting a project.
• Projects must meet customer requirements, be under budget and on time.
• Always remember revision numbers and to check that all those involved in the project are using the same version of the plan.
• Know who's in the project environment and manage them.
• Projects need good communication. Ensure that a suitable communications infrastructure exists.
• Projects do not run without politics, so manage it.
• Analyze the impact each of the players in a project might have.
• Ask for the information you need to run a project effectively, e.g. a weekly breakdown of costs and hours.
• Keep the project momentum going.
• Monitor and control any risks.
• Ask how much money do I have, how much time and what deliverable is required.
• Know what you own. Personal success factors are, e.g. product fit for purpose and customer sign-off.
• Agree with the customer what the critical success factors are. These maybe just a few items from a long wish list. Deliver what the customer agrees to.
• Project Managers are rarely hands on, running projects is enough.
• Manage, minimize and control.
• If there is anything to do, do it.

Problem Solving:

2010-08-12T23:43:00.001-07:00

Japanese grocery stores had a problem. They are much smaller than shops in the USA and therefore don't have room to waste. Watermelons, big and round, wasted a lot of space. Most people would simply tell the grocery stores that watermelons grow round and there is nothing that can be done about it.

That is how majority of people would respond. But some Japanese farmers took a different approach. If the supermarkets wanted a square watermelon, they asked themselves, 'How can we provide one?' It wasn't long before they invented the square watermelon.

The solution to the problem of round watermelons was not to solve as the farmers did not assume it was impossible - and simply asked how it could be done.

They found out that if you put the watermelon in a square box when they are growing, the watermelon will take on the shape of the box - and grow into a square fruit.

This made the grocery stores happy and had the added benefit that it was much easier and cost effective to ship the watermelons. Consumers also loved them because they took less space in their refrigerators which are much smaller than those in the US meaning that the growers could charge a premium price for them.

Extract unique records:

2010-08-12T00:03:00.001-07:00

You can use an Excel Advanced Filter to extract a list of unique items in the database. For example, get a list of customers from an order list, or compile a list of products sold:
Note: The list must contain a heading, or the first item may be duplicated in the results.
1. Select a cell in the database.
2. From the Data menu, choose Filter, Advanced Filter.(In Excel 2007, click the Data tab on the Ribbon, then click Advanced Filter.)
3. Choose 'Copy to another location'.
4. For the List range, select the column(s) from which you want to extract the unique values.
5. Leave the Criteria Range blank.
6. Select a starting cell for the Copy to location.
7. Add a check mark to the Unique records only box.
8. Click OK.

Marketing Calendar:

2010-08-10T23:09:00.000-07:00

Definition: A tool showing what marketing events, media campaigns and merchandising efforts are happening when and where, as well as the results.
Also Known As: Promotion or Merchandising Calendar
Examples:
We developed a marketing calendar as part of our marketing strategy for our retail store to help us keep track of what is going on and where we should turn your attention next.

Send mails received while Out of Office to Separate Folders:

2010-08-08T23:02:00.001-07:00

While you're out of office, a lot of emails can come in. Make your life a little easier by automatically sending these emails to a separate folder. Follow these steps:
1. Create a folder called "Out of office," "Vacation," or whatever you'd like to call it.
2. From your Inbox, click the plus sign (+) next to Tools, and then click Rules.

3. Click New Rule.
4. Under Specify Conditions, select "all documents."

5. Click Add.
6. Under Specify Actions, select "move to folder," click Select, and then select the folder you created in step 1.

7. Click Add Action, and then click OK.

Remember: Turn these settings off when you come back!!

1. To turn off out-of-office notifications, click More > Out of Office, and then click Disable and close.. Depending on the settings your administrator has put in place, out-of-office may turn off automatically on the day you return.
2. To turn off your mail forwarding and sending mail to the folder, click the plus sign (+) next to Tools, click Rules. Select the rules you made, and click the Disable button.
When you go out of the office in the future, you can easily turn these rules back on by selecting them and clicking Enable.

Lean Software Development:

2010-08-05T23:54:00.000-07:00

Lean software development is a translation of Lean manufacturing and Lean IT principles and practices to the software development domain.

Lean development could be summarized by seven principles, very close in concept to lean manufacturing principles.
Eliminate waste
Everything not adding value to the customer is considered to be waste (muda). This includes:
• unnecessary code and functionality
• delay in the software development process
• unclear requirements
• bureaucracy
• slow internal communication
In order to be able to eliminate waste, one should be able to recognize and see it. If some activity could be bypassed or the result could be achieved without it, it is waste. Partially done coding eventually abandoned during the development process is waste. Extra processes and features not often used by customers are waste. Waiting for other activities, teams, processes is waste. Defects and lower quality are waste. Managerial overhead not producing real value is waste. A value stream mapping technique is used to distinguish and recognize waste. The second step is to point out sources of waste and eliminate them. The same should be done iteratively until even essential-seeming processes and procedures are liquidated.
Amplify learning
Software development is a continuous learning process with the additional challenge of development teams and end product sizes. The best approach for improving a software development environment is to amplify learning. The accumulation of defects should be prevented by running tests as soon as the code is written. Instead of adding more documentation or detailed planning, different ideas could be tried by writing code and building. The process of user requirements gathering could be simplified by presenting screens to the end-users and getting their input.
Decide as late as possible
As software development is always associated with some uncertainty, better results should be achieved with an options-based approach, delaying decisions as much as possible until they can be made based on facts and not on uncertain assumptions and predictions. The more complex a system is, the more capacity for change should be built into it, thus enabling the delay of important and crucial commitments. The iterative approach promotes this principle – the ability to adapt to changes and correct mistakes, which might be very costly if discovered after the release of the system.
Deliver as fast as possible
In the era of rapid technology evolution, it is not the biggest that survives, but the fastest. The sooner the end product is delivered without considerable defect, the sooner feedback can be received, and incorporated into the next iteration. The shorter the iterations, the better the learning and communication within the team. Without speed, decisions cannot be delayed. Speed assures the fulfilling of the customer's present needs and not what they required yesterday. This gives them the opportunity to delay making up their minds about what they really require until they gain better knowledge. Customers value rapid delivery of a quality product.
Empower the team
There has been a traditional belief in most businesses about the decision-making in the organisation – the managers tell the workers how to do their own job. In a Work-Out technique, the roles are turned – the managers are taught how to listen to the developers, so they can explain better what actions might be taken, as well as provide suggestions for improvements. Most experienced project managers have simply stated the key for a successful project – "Find good people and let them do their own job."
Build integrity in
The customer needs to have an overall experience of the System – this is the so called perceived integrity: how it is being advertised, delivered, deployed, accessed, how intuitive its use is, price and how well it solves problems.
Conceptual integrity means that the system’s separate components work well together as a whole with balance between flexibility, maintainability, efficiency, and responsiveness. This could be achieved by understanding the problem domain and solving it at the same time, not sequentially. The needed information is received in small batch pieces – not in one vast chunk with preferable face-to-face communication and not any written documentation. The information flow should be constant in both directions – from customer to developers and back, thus avoiding the large stressful amount of information after long development in isolation.
See the whole
Software systems nowadays are not simply the sum of their parts, but also the product of their interactions. Defects in software tend to accumulate during the development process – by decomposing the big tasks into smaller tasks, and by standardizing different stages of development, the root causes of defects should be found and eliminated. The larger the system, the more organizations that are involved in its development and the more parts are developed by different teams, the greater the importance of having well defined relationships between different vendors, in order to produce a system with smoothly interacting components. During a longer period of development, a stronger sub- contractor network is far more beneficial than short-term profit optimizing, which does not enable win-win relationships.

Copying Paragraph Formatting with Mouse:

2010-08-04T23:06:00.001-07:00

Often it is beneficial to copy paragraph formatting from one place in your document to another. Word provides a quick way you can do this by using the mouse:
1. Select the paragraph whose formatting you want to copy.
2. Click on the Format Painter tool on the toolbar.
3. Using the mouse, select the paragraph you want formatted.
You can also copy the same format repeatedly by double clicking the Format Painter tool in step 2. You will then be able to apply the same formatting until you turn off format painting by clicking on the tool one more time, or by pressing Esc.

Top 7 Qualities of an Expert:

2010-08-03T22:53:00.001-07:00

Experts do not need rules to make decisions. They have qualities that allow them to consistently make good decisions and show high level of performance under different circumstances without any rules. This post discusses these core qualities that turn a novice into an expert.

1. Motivation. Believe in self. Energy. Unsatisfaction
You have to believe in self to become a successful expert. An expert needs strength, energy and motivation to go beyond ordinary performance levels.
Top performers in different disciplines do this – envision own success and prepare their minds to achieve higher levels.
2. Hard Work. Discipline. Focus.
Hard work is not as difficult after you start and dive into it. Often the problem is that you cannot start or concentrate. Procrastination ruins your progress.
Also, keep yourself interested. Switch if you start losing focus and interest. Reboot. Have prepared practices in different areas to enable fresh start for your mind.
3. Think critically. Think as a beginner
As an expert you cannot go with the flow, believe everything and hide behind authoritative opinions. You cannot stick with your own views forever without changing them. You have to think critically: challenge beliefs, existing theories and dominant ideas. Some of them are completely wrong. Many of them have flaws and can be improved. Most of them are not the best in your specific context.
Better unforeseen solutions exist if you look for them. If you don’t think critically, you will be a follower without many chances to grow your ideas and find better solutions. Keep your mind open and question ideas including your own.
4. Full brain power. Use right brain (in addition to left).
Your right brain (more accurately – right brain mode) is inherited from our animal ancestors and shaped by millions years of evolution. Right brain mode is much more powerful, reliable and faster than left brain mode. Right brain works in parallel with images, subconscious mind and deep vast memory (even when you sleep). On the contrary, left brain works with symbols and words; it is logical, analytical and linear. It can only work with few ideas in the same time (4-7) and needs focus and conscious effort. We need left brain to formulate, express ideas and communicate them to others.
Experts are using both brains – left for rational thinking, analysis and communication, right for intuition, imagination and creative insights.
Learn how to expand your brain power with the right brain mode. If you use only left brain mode, you’ll stay dull, rational and predictable specialist.
5. Continuous learning. Sharing
Experts never stop to learn. The day you believe you know everything is your last day as an expert. Experts learn from new research and existing knowledge, they learn from other people and they learn from own experience. Also they learn from disciplines outside of their professional realm that can provide new ideas.
Make learning essential part of your everyday life. If you don’t learn, you stop your journey to become an expert.
You gain deeper knowledge if you share your knowledge with other people – discuss, explain, teach, blog, speak, present. Other people – with different views and perspective – will quickly show weaknesses and quality of your knowledge. Sharing with others will push your learning further and deeper than keeping knowledge to yourself.
6. Self-improvement. Know yourself.
We protect ourselves from inconvenient truth and often are blind to own mistakes. Our psychological defense systems help to avoid depression and anxiety by protecting our ego, but also distort our view and perception of true reality.
Good experts are capable to see truth, be objective and correct themselves. They try to avoid the trap of groupthink, crowd psychology and self white washing. They know own strengths, weaknesses and biases.
Seek the truth about self, know your internal beliefs and motivation and improve yourself. Otherwise, your rosy distorted pictures will hinder your growth and you will become the part of a problem, not the part of a solution.
7. Big picture. Systems Thinking. Creative solutions.
Experts’ main advantages are tacit knowledge and experience. They understand big picture, reality, context and how systems work. However, it is not enough. Experts should solve problems. And therefore, they should train themselves for problem solving, innovation and changing reality in the novel ways. The outcome, a creative solution, is quintessence of hard work, deep knowledge and intuition.

Point of Purchase Display:

2010-08-02T22:58:00.000-07:00

Point-of-purchase displays, or POP displays, are marketing materials or advertising placed next to the merchandise it is promoting. These items are generally located at the checkout area or other location where the purchase decision is made. For example, The checkout counters of many convenience stores are cluttered with cigarette and candy POP displays.

Create Colored Shapes:

2010-08-01T23:25:00.001-07:00

You can use Excel conditional formatting and the Wingding font to create coloured shapes in a cell. In this example, coloured shapes will appear in cells C3:C7, depending on the value in the adjacent cell in column B. If the value is less than 10, a red circle will appear, if the value is greater than 30, a green square will appear. Otherwise, a yellow diamond will appear.
1. In cell C3 enter the formula:
=IF(B3="","",IF(B3<10,"l",IF(B3>30,"n","t")))
2. Copy the formula down to cell C7
3. Format cells C3:C7 with Wingding font, and yellow font color
4. Select cells C3:C7
5. Choose Format|Conditional Formatting
6. From the first dropdown, choose Formula Is
7. For the formula, enter: =$B3<10
8. Click the Format button, and select Red as the font colour, then click OK.
9. Click the Add button, and for Condition 2, choose Format|Conditional Formatting
10. From the first dropdown, choose Formula Is
11. For the formula,enter: =$B3>30
12. Click the Format button, and select Green as the font colour, then click OK.
13. Click OK

Lotus Notes – Shortcut Key to access Lotus Notes Databases:

2010-07-29T22:19:00.001-07:00

http://www.keyxl.com/aaa221f/167/IBM-Lotus-Notes-email-software-keyboard-shortcuts.htm

Why we need Documentation:

2010-07-28T23:06:00.001-07:00

Documentation always seems to be the most difficult part of the project to complete. There is little glamour and no major kudos in doing documentation. That does not diminish its importance, however. There are at least five reasons why the project manager and team need to do documentation on the project:
Reference for future changes in deliverables. Even though the project work is complete, there may be further changes that warrant follow-up projects. By using the deliverables, the customer may identify improvement opportunities, features to be added, and functions to be modified. The documentation of the project just completed is the foundation for the follow-up projects.
Historical record for estimating duration and cost on future projects, activities, and tasks. Completed projects are a great source of information for future projects, but only if data and other documentation from them is archived so that it can be retrieved and used. Estimated and actual duration and cost for each activity on completed projects are particularly valuable for estimating these variables on future projects.
Training resource for new project managers. History is a great teacher, and nowhere is that more significant than on completed projects. Such items as how the WBS architecture was determined, how change requests were analyzed and decisions reached, problem identification, analysis and resolution situations, and a variety of other experiences are invaluable lessons for the newly appointed project manager.
Input for further training and development of the project team. As a reference, project documentation can help the project team deal with situations that arise in the current project. How a similar problem or change request was handled in the past is an excellent example.
Input for performance evaluation by the functional managers of the project team members. In many organizations, project documentation can be used as input to the performance evaluations of the project manager and team members.

Resize Power point photos in Same Location:

2010-07-28T00:15:00.001-07:00

How many times have you resized a photo on a PowerPoint slide and then must take the extra step of moving it back to the correct location? This shortcut will allow you to resize your photo and keep it still in the same place on the slide.
Resize One Photo on the Slide
1. Click on the photo to select it.
2. Hold the Ctrl key while you drag the corner selection handle to resize it to the desired size. Notice the outline of the new size while you drag the mouse.
• Note - Dragging a corner selection handle of the photo retains the proportions of the photo.
Release the mouse and the Ctrl key and the new resized photo will be centered in the same location.
Resize Two or More Photos on the Slide
1. Click the first photo to select it.
2. Hold the Shift key while you click on the remaining photos to resize. (Holding the Shift key allows you to select more than one photo on the slide.)
3. When all photos are selected, release the mouse and the Shift key.
4. Now hold the Ctrl key while you drag a corner selection handle of any one of the photos (it does not matter which photo you choose). All photos will be resized and remain centered in their original locations.

Test Harness:

2010-07-26T22:50:00.001-07:00

A test harness is a small program specially written to test a particular subroutine or module. It feeds known data to the module being tested, and displays the results. It often has a Graphic User Interface, so that you can make up test data and pump it into the module being tested, but it can also have test data hard coded or stored in external files.
Frequently, a test harness will create a log file (a simple text file), so that there is a permanent record of what has been tested and what the results were. More complex test harnesses will save that data in a database for later analysis.

Apache Subversion:

2010-07-25T22:32:00.000-07:00

In software development, Apache Subversion (formerly called Subversion, command name svn) is a revision control system founded and sponsored in 2000 by CollabNet Inc. Developers use Subversion to maintain current and historical versions of files such as source code, web pages, and documentation. Its goal is to be a mostly-compatible successor to the widely used Concurrent Versions System (CVS).
Features:
• Commits as true atomic operations (interrupted commit operations would otherwise cause repository inconsistency or corruption).
• Renamed/copied/moved/removed files retain full revision history.
• The system maintains versioning for directories, renames, and file metadata (but not for timestamps). Users can move and/or copy entire directory-trees very quickly, while retaining full revision history.
• Versioning of symbolic links.
• Native support for binary files, with space-efficient binary-diff storage.
• Apache HTTP Server as network server, WebDAV/Delta-V for protocol. There is also an independent server process called svnserve that uses a custom protocol over TCP/IP.
• Branching and tagging as cheap operations, independent of file size (though Subversion itself does not distinguish between a tag, a branch, and a directory)
• Natively client–server, layered library design.
• Client/server protocol sends diffs in both directions.
• Costs proportional to change size, not to data size.
• Parsable output, including XML log output.
• Open source licensed — Apache License in the projected 1.7 release; prior versions use a derivative of the Apache Software License, v1.1
• Internationalized program messages.
• File locking for unmergeable files ("reserved checkouts").
• Path-based authorization.
• Language bindings for C#, PHP, Python, Perl, and Java.
• Full MIME support - users can view or change the MIME type of each file, with the software knowing which MIME types can have their differences from previous versions shown.

Paste as CSV:

2010-07-22T23:08:00.000-07:00

To prevent copied numbers from being pasted as text, you may be able to paste the data as CSV.
1. Copy the data in the other program
2. Switch to Excel
3. Select the cell where the paste will start
4. Choose Edit>Paste Special
5. Select CSV, click OK

How to find perfect programmers for the Specific problem:

2010-07-21T23:05:00.001-07:00

Certainly, it is better to find the programmers with the best qualities. But these geeks are expensive, often unavailable or will be bored with your problem.

Therefore,
• Understand the problem before hiring. Assess the required level for each quality. Prepare questions and even tests.
• Build a perfect team with not necessary perfect programmers. Just ensure that a sum of qualities of team members matches required levels. Probably only cooperation is very important quality for every team member.
• Create environment that enables most effective use and growth of these top qualities. Use right leadership style. Make programmers happy.

People with good core qualities will pick up the best approaches including writing unit tests and refactoring; learn design patterns and what is most important – deliver great and useful software.

Perfect programmers are not born, they just work on the right for the problems.

Using Sender Colors to manage emails:

2010-07-20T22:32:00.001-07:00

Here's a simple tip that everyone should know about. You can change the background and text colors of the messages in your Inbox to add visibility to messages that need immediate attention. We all get a lot of email, and it's easy to miss things here and there. Lots of times, we know where some of our more time-sensitive messages come from.

To do this, go to the Mail section of your Notes preferences and navigate to the Send Colors tab. You can also add more than one name to each color.

Ad hoc Testing:

2010-07-19T22:31:00.001-07:00

This means impromptu testing; that is, someone sits down and makes up test cases on the spur of the moment, as quickly as possible, as ideas occur to them. This kind of testing generally finds most bugs in new software in the shortest possible time.
It is usually not comprehensive, because it is difficult to think of everything in a short session, but it is often inventive, and frequently uncovers a myriad of problems. It is often exciting and rewarding because testers get satisfaction from making things fail!