Good PMs Ignore the Golden Rule

Many of us grew up being taught the Golden Rule – a moral principle that essentially states that one should treat others as one would like to be treated. It is a simple and straightforward rule, but while well intentioned, in my opinion it doesn’t work. This is because people are different, and what one person wants may not be what another person wants.

I’m a high energy person and like project meetings that are fast paced and where decisions are made quickly and decisively.  I like lots of discussion and debate, and really struggle with silent pauses in meetings.  However, I work with people who prefer processing time and who like to think things through before acting.  Both personality types have their pros and cons.  And to better manage projects, I’m trying to follow the Platinum Rule.

The Platinum Rule is a variation of the Golden Rule that takes personality differences  into account. It states that one should treat others as they would like to be treated. This means taking the time to understand the other person's needs and preferences, and then adjusting and acting accordingly.

There are several reasons why the Platinum Rule is better than the Golden Rules. 

• It’s more respectful. The Golden Rule assumes that everyone wants to be treated the same way, but this is not always the case. For example, some people may prefer to be given space when they are feeling upset, while others may prefer to be comforted. The Platinum Rule takes into account these individual differences, and it allows us to treat others in a way that is truly respectful and considerate.
  
  
• It’s more kind.  It encourages us to treat others as individuals.  People are not all the same, and there’s no “wrong” way to be a project team member.  All personality styles are valid and deserve to be valued and understood.
  
  
• It’s more effective. When we treat others as they would like to be treated, we are more likely to build positive relationships with them. We are also more likely to get better project communication because each team member will feel heard and given time to process the way they can best process information. 

As a team building exercise, you might consider having everyone take a personality-type test to better understand each other.  (A good free test similar to the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator is at https://www.16personalities.com/)  And the next time you’re working with a project team, ignore the Golden Rule and practice the Platinum Rule. 

Beware of Bias in AI!

I recently updated my website to include three courses I teach.  To make the page interesting, I wanted fun images to represent the courses.  I used old-school creativity to design those images.  However, a friend challenged me to try AI to see what images would be generated.  So I did and this post is about the results.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is in the news every day, every where.  Google rolled out Bard, Microsoft enhanced Bing to include AI-powered searches, and there's Chat GPT by OpenAI, just to name a few.  As a society, we seem enamored with the idea of a machine being able to "think" and replace the mundane tasks we humans do, or perhaps provide inspiration when we've hit a creative wall.  However, along with the excitement of new technology, there's the concern about the negative impacts of AI.  

First there are the ethics of passing off work generated by AI as our own.  This is especially risky in fields such an engineering where precise and correct design calculations, drawings, and specifications must be produced to ensure the safety and reliability of our designs.  There's also the ethical issue facing students who use AI to "help" write a term paper.  Is the student losing learning opportunities when they use AI?  Is the term paper violating plagiarism guidelines when using AI?  And there's also the issue of AI replacing tasks that are often done by entry-level individuals to hone their craft.  Don't our coders lose important learning when simple coding is left to computers rather than entry-level humans?  Don't engineers forego an opportunity to learn design and CAD skills if a computer does those tasks?

Another real concern, and the reason I'm writing this post, is unconscious bias.  AI works by combing through a universe of data to provide text or graphic answers to our queries.  The problem is that the universe of data has built-in biases which reflect the human unconscious biases we all share.  Which brings me to the quest for images for my project management classes.  I used Bing AI and entered "project management fundamentals course" and below are the four images I got back.

It appears that Bing thinks project management fundamentals are only for young white men.  There is a profile image of one woman who looks rather confused by this whole idea of project management, hopefully the guy will explain it to her.  Being dismayed with these results, I tried again with a different search: "project management leaders"

This time the images showed a few women and a surprisingly large proportion of Asians, but no Black or Brown people.  And no one who looks a day over 30 years old.

We already live in a world full of sexism, racism, and ageism.  AI use runs the risk of perpetuating those "isms".  That's the insidious nature of unconscious bias -- it's unconscious!  And to overcome these biases, we need sentient, thinking beings to consciously be more inclusive in the imagery we use.  If you can see it, you can be it!  So for now, I will stick to my own creative juices when generating images for my website.

How to Prevent your Employees from “Quiet Quitting”

With almost 500,000 likes and 42,000 shares, this TikTok video on “Quiet quitting” has blown up on social media.  From NPR to the New York Times, everyone is talking about it.  Miz Management will take a big leap of faith and assume that most of her readers are not surfing through TikTok to learn of the latest workplace trends.  And when she did an informal poll of her mostly Boomer and Gen X colleagues, there was a lot of misconceptions of what quiet quitting is. 

First let’s start with what it isn’t.  It’s not quitting your job.  It’s not doing the bare minimum needed to not get fired.  It’s not punching in and punching out of your job and not caring about it when not on the clock.

So what, exactly, it is?  It’s a reaction brought on by burnt out employees that had blurry work/life boundaries during the pandemic.  It’s a response to the frustration that companies are achieving record breaking profits that are being shared by executives and shareholders, without any benefit to employees.  It’s a backlash to being expected to check email and respond to work demands at all hours of day/night/weekend.  It’s a cry for balance and an appeal for a direct correlation between excelling in your performance and your compensation. 

To be fair, it’s a tight labor market and employees have the upper hand.  However, in any market, it’s important that employers provide the right environment for their people to be engaged and thrive in their roles.  If you want to make sure your employees don’t quiet quit on you, here are four suggestions:

1. Respect Work/Life Balance – Don’t expect your employees to respond to your 8 pm email unless it’s truly an emergency issue that needs immediate resolution.  Don’t schedule your team “bonding Zoom” meeting during family dinner time.
   
   
2. Measure the Right Things – Unfortunately, our culture often values looking busy over actual productivity.  Measure actual performance quality and output, not whether you see your employee’s status light as “online” on Saturday afternoon.
   
   
3. Compensate Fairly – It’s hard to feel engaged working for a company with large profits and tiny raises.  If you’re measuring the right things and see good performance, then bust open the wallet for raises and bonuses.  Money can’t (entirely) buy happiness, but not paying fairly is a sure path to quiet quitting (or “working your wage”). 
   
   
4. Nurture Their Career – Are you providing performance feedback?  Offering learning opportunities?  Providing a varied and interesting workload?  While not all jobs have the ability to do these things, to the extent that you can, try to help your people achieve new career milestones.

Quiet quitting is ultimately just setting appropriate boundaries and, if necessary, scaling back when your boss has unrealistic expectations, isn’t appreciating your work, or investing in your career.  If employers do the right things, your staff won’t be quiet quitting, they’ll be loudly staying!

The Future of Project Management

Predicting the future is an activity usually best left to crystal balls and fortune cookies. Yet there is no shortage of pundits predicting the future of project management. A recent Google search of "future of project management" yielded over 60,000 results! I will now take my place among these soothsayers and predict for you what the future will be for project managers in the A/E/C industry.

The "Professionalization" of Project Management

The skills needed to provide technical services are not the same as those needed for effective project management. Effective PMs need "soft" leadership skills as well as strong communication and planning skills. Our industry is recognizing that project management is a profession of its own and that we must recognize and reward project managers for the unique skills they bring to the table. Specialized training courses, project management degrees, and certifications such as the Project Management Professional (PMP) lend credibility to project management as a separate skill set from technical project delivery.

Virtual work teams

As the A/E/C industry consolidates with high merger and acquisition activity, we are seeing more project teams spread among various geographic locations. We are also seeing more Gen Y’ers and Millennials demanding a level of work/ life balance that involves less travel and more time at home with family. Both of these trends mean that increasingly, our project teams may be spread among various locations and even time zones. The successful project manager will need to know how to use project collaboration tools and effectively manage virtual teams.

Sustainability in the projects we deliver and how we deliver them

Whether it is a decrease in carbon footprint, water footprint, or cradle-to-grave waste minimization, our clients will ask us to evaluate ways to deliver sustainable projects. As PMs, we will be asked to measure the risk to natural resources against the costs to protect those resources. Even our project delivery methods will be scrutinized to ensure sustainable practices in our project delivery methodology.

The Only Constant will be Change

Successful project managers will need to adapt to new technologies and methods of communication. Social media, cloud computing, new hardware form factors, and new project management software will change the way we manage people, projects, clients, and data. The rate of change will only increase and those who embrace the changes, adapt to new approaches, and are willing to take risks will reap the benefits of success.

Of course, one important thing about project management won’t change – our best PMs will be those scientists, architects, and engineers who combine their passion for project delivery and client service with a thorough understanding of solid project management fundamentals. It is all of our jobs to identify, nurture, and mentor the next generation of PMs.

10 Tips for Better Project Planning

In David Letterman fashion, these tips will be counted down from 10 to 1.


#10 – Listen to what the client really wants. You like Escalades, the client wants a Prius. The best thing we can do as consultants is to listen carefully to what our clients are saying. By talking less and listening more, we can truly discern what the client is asking us to do.

#9 – Build in the quality. Quality management isn’t just a peer review at the end. It’s making sure the work is done right all throughout delivery. Make sure quality is built into the staffing and pricing of the project.

#8 – Discuss change management before there’s a change. Yes, that means you talk to the client during project kick-off on how she wants you to handle changes to scopes and fees if/when they become necessary. When this is decided up front, it’s easier to have that discussion later.

#7 – Think about what’s the worst thing that could happen. It’s not just for safety. An LPSA can also help you plan your project better. If there’s a large risk involved, make sure we have Plan B and maybe even Plan C in the works.

#6 – Build the right team. The best person for the job may not be in the next cubicle. It may be someone in another time zone. Make sure you’re using the resource sharing team to get the right skill set at the right salary level for the assignment.

#5 – Decide who can talk to who. Communication within a project context is very important. The PM may not want to be central to all communications, but you also don’t want 15 people calling your client. Same for regulators and other stakeholders. Discuss this at your kickoff meeting.

#4 – Tell your team their budget. If there are only 40 hours to do a report, tell your team member before they start. Waiting until 39 hours is already spent is too late!

#3 – Keep a change log. Things change during project execution. At some point you may need to write or call the client asking for a budget adjustment (euphemism for “more money”). You might forget all the changes she asked for or other conditions that require the adjustment. Keeping a change log with date, description of change, and what or who caused the change, will help making that request much easier.

#2 – Make your schedule detailed. A milestone table is a good start for developing a schedule. But you also need to work backwards from each deliverable date to account for quality management and peer reviews, addressing comments, printing and production time for the deliverable, and mailing or delivery of the final product. You might find that your schedule requires “pencils down” on a deliverable as much as two weeks before it’s due to the client.

And the #1 Tip for Better Planning…


#1 – Follow your plan! You worked hard to come up with a good plan. Don’t just file it away -- check it often to make sure you’re following it!



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Decision Making 101

Every day we make decisions. Some are simple – paper or plastic, cash or credit, baked potato or fries. In our work lives, our decisions can impact lives, careers and the bottom line. Good decision makers are critical for corporate success. However, making sound decisions is far from easy. We are not machines; we are humans with egos, feelings and emotions that get in the way of objective decision making. While we’ll never make decisions with Spock-like discipline, here are some guidelines for making sound decisions in an organizational setting.

1. Don’t be afraid of change. Nothing irks me more than hearing “This is how we’ve always done it.” If that’s the best reason you can come up with for doing something a certain way, it’s time to rethink your approach and try something new. Technology changes, attitudes change, nothing about our culture stays the same, and if you don’t adapt to change, you will fall far behind your competitors.
   
   
2. Don’t look backwards. I want to scream when I hear “But we already invested so much in this…” As they say on TV, “Past performance is not an indicator of future results.” Each and every decision should be made with your eyes looking forward, never backwards. If you have multiple options to pursue, evaluate each option based on its probability of success, resources needed, and financial cost/benefit starting from today. What you did in the past is a “sunk cost”. It shouldn’t affect your thought process (I know…easier said than done). If you include past decisions in your current analysis, you risk “throwing good money after bad”. Better to cut your losses than to continue investing in an option that won’t yield the results you need.
   
   
3. Analyze impacts to multiple stakeholders and… Many decisions result in unintended consequences. These can be minor issues or major deal breakers. Before picking Path A over Path B, be sure you’ve thought about how your decision will affect anyone involved. Some of the impacts may be negative, but if you’ve analyzed it and defined the ramification, you can plan ahead and turn a Win-Win-Lose, into a Win-Win- Not So Bad.
   
   
4.  …Include diversity. It takes a wide range of perspectives to understand the benefits and ramifications of a critical business decision. Make sure you confer with a group of people, preferably with different backgrounds than you, to get the full picture before going down a path. You don’t want a group of Mini-Me’s who will always agree with you. You want people to challenge you and complement your skills. You don’t know all the answers (really…you don’t!) Trusted advisors can make the difference.

Alright…you’ve done it all. You’re ready to change things up. You’re not looking backwards. You gathered your diverse group of trusted advisors and analyzed your options. You’re ready to pull the trigger. Are you done? No way. The final step is…

Communicate, communicate, communicate. Implementing a new program or instituting change of any sort can only be successful if you communicate often and effectively. Make sure people affected by your decision know What, When, Where, Why and How. Don’t assume that people know why or understand the changes. Better to over communicate than to leave people at best confused or at worst angry, cynical, and disengaged.

As leaders, we have the responsibility to make sound decisions that can advance our organizations toward reaching their strategic goals. Following these steps will keep you on the path to successful decision making.

What do you think? Is this how decision making is done where you work?

Cleavage, Hickeys, and Thongs – Oh My!

This post is the true story of three happenings in my workplace. But before I begin, I must include a disclaimer. This post is Miz Management’s opinion of what is and isn’t appropriate in the workplace. My readers (do I even have any?) may completely disagree, but that’s the whole point of a blog, right? To state an opinion and foster some conversation and thought.

So let’s begin with a story that has become almost urban legend. Several years ago, we needed some boring locations marked along a stretch of road several miles long. We sent a young female engineer out with a can of spray paint and a site plan showing the boring locations. It was a sunny day and she took it upon herself to multi-task. That is, work on her tan while marking the boring locations. She proceeded to put on a bikini and a pair of rollerblades and skated along the roadway, stopping as needed to mark the location with the spray paint. We found out about Ms. Bikini Skater when the City Engineer called to inform us that the residents in town were calling Town Hall asking, Why is a woman in a bikini spray painting the street?

The next story is about another woman engineer who liked to wear tight pants. Under her tight pants she wore thong underwear. Why do I know this? Believe me, I don’t want to know what she (or anyone) has under their clothes. I know this because one day while meeting with clients, she was bent over a table while looking at a set of plans and her tight, low riding pants and her short blouse parted ways to reveal her latest acquisition at Victoria’s Secret.

Story Number 3 involves a young male engineer who, while not exposing excess skin or his Fruit of the Looms, did manage to frequently come to work with hickeys on his neck. Oh, come on…this isn’t high school. This is a work place.

Okay, people…listen up! I would think this is obvious, but apparently not. The workplace is a place to get work done. Not a place to sport décolletage, skivvies, or trophies of your sexual conquests. Maybe Miz Management is a prude (I’ve been accused of worse), but I don’t think cleavage in the workplace is appropriate. I work in an engineering office, not Hooters. My simple rule of thumb is this – if men don’t do it, then women shouldn’t do it. Men don’t wear a shirt unbuttoned three or four buttons down and show their pecs and chest hair (or lack thereof). Ergo, women shouldn’t show cleavage. (BTW, I also use this rule as my excuse for why I don’t wear skirts or nylons to work. Fortunately most of my male coworkers don’t wear ties, or else my rule would require me to learn to tie a Double Windsor. But I digress…)

I’m a (straight) woman and yet I find it a challenge to maintain eye contact when sitting across from Busty Betty with the low cut sweater. I can only imagine the challenge for a guy to not let their eyes drift 12 inches lower. If women want to be taken seriously, like it or not, we want people to focus on the quality of our work, not our boobs. I’m not saying we have to dress frumpy. You can be fashionable while being professional.

Same goes for the thong business. Here’s a tip, ladies…if you bend over and you feel a breeze up your back, you’re probably showing something you shouldn’t be. As for the guy with the hickeys…Yuck! Just cut it out!

Question Authority? Yes!!

Every meeting has one of these. The person who always agrees with the boss. The one who echoes what the boss said with full affirmation that those are the wisest words ever spoken. He or she never questions what is said. This is the Yes-er. (Notice that I didn’t say Yes-man. These people come in both male and female versions). 

The boss loves the Yes-er. The Yes-er makes the boss feel great -- that the boss is the smartest, wisest person ever to run the company. But I would argue that Yes-ers (and those who love them) are harmful to well functioning organizations. It takes many great minds to manage a successful organization. No one person has all the answers or the perspectives needed to make sound decisions. 

A good decision maker hears the perspectives of many individuals, is open to learning and understanding alternate approaches, makes a thoughtful analysis of alternate ideas, and then makes the call. Is this “paralysis by analysis”? It need not be. Just because you get many ideas doesn’t mean you have to please everyone. But chances are that among those varying ideas is something you haven’t yet come up with, an idea that really gets you to where you want to be. 

Add diversity to your management team and see what great ideas you can come up with. Include men and women, experienced staff and recent grads, people of different backgrounds and races. You’ll get perspectives you never thought of. And if you’re the Yes-er, keep in mind that you are not adding value to the organization. Making your boss’ ego feel good might enhance your brownie-point score, but that’s about it. Your boss needs you to think on your own, to come up with something new and brilliant, to present an idea she hadn’t thought of. 

So – is it okay to question authority? Not only is it alright, it’s critical to organizational growth. Here’s how you do it – 

1. Think first, then speak. If you disagree with the point being made, makes sure you have an alternate idea based in facts or personal observations that you can defend. You can’t disagree with an issue unless you can propose a solution that’s better. If you don’t have something better to propose, then stay out of the conversation. 

2. Choose your venue carefully. Presenting a controversial or differing idea should not be done in front of a large group. Catch your boss in her office or send her an email with your idea. If you present your idea in front of a large group, your boss may need to dismiss it outright just to exert her position of authority. In a one-on-one discussion, the differing idea is less of a threat and that opens up the thinking process to a more open, collaborative approach. 

3. Choose your words carefully. Start with agreement on whatever your boss said that you do agree with. Then present your idea as an option or alternative that could also work. If you come off too strong, you’ll be an immediate turn off. 

4. Agree to disagree. There will be times when a decision will be made that you completely disagree with. You don’t have to agree with the approach to comply. The boss is still the boss. You can agree to disagree and do your best to respect the decision. After all, she still signs your paycheck. 

5. Repeat Steps 1 through 4. Not all your ideas will be winners, but the fact that you’re thinking about ways to do things better is something that all good bosses will appreciate. 

Don’t be afraid to question authority! Done right, it will help your career grow and make your organization a better place to work.

How to be "Most Wanted"

As the group manager of a staff of 15 people, one of my jobs is to staff people onto projects. Some of my staff are always busy because they are "most wanted". Others have a harder time getting staffed on project. With the recent difficult economic times, I've had to evaluate my staff and make sure that everyone I kept on was a strong contributor. I've starting thinking about the attributes of my "most wanted" staff which led me to develop a list of what attributes are needed to succeed in engineering consulting (or any career for that matter...)

1. Check your work. Maybe it's a Gen Y/Millenial thing (topic for another post, I'm sure) but young engineers these days hand in work to their Project Managers (PMs) that is incomplete or has errors. Perhaps the engineer is looking for preliminary feedback. Perhaps they were taught in school that if you hand in a crapy paper, the teacher will give you a critique and then let you re-write it. Well, I'm not your teacher and I'm not your mother. Before handing over your work, check it and double check it to make sure it's the best, most accurate work you can do. Don't expect others to find and correct your errors. What you give me should be your BEST work.
   
   
2. Be flexible. We all have to take on assignments that are not exciting or challenging. Gen Y/Millenials don't want to hear that you have to pay your dues, but guess what... you do. We all have to take on projects that are boring. At a minimum, do excellent work on it to prove that you're ready for more challenging assignments. Even better...find a way to improve the assignment or learn something new. Your ability to take anything on and do it well will help you succeed.
   
   
3. Be organized. You can't impress your team mates if you can't even find your stuff. Your office doesn't have to look any particular way, but whatever system you use, you should be able to find what you need when you need it.
   
   
4. Pay attention. When your PM gives you a task, listen carefully and TAKE NOTES. You don't want to go back to your PM and ask him/her to remind you of something they already told you. Ask questions if you don't understand something. It's much more preferable to ask lots of questions than to pretend you understand something and then do it wrong.
   
   
5. Have a good attitude. In addition to being flexible, be positive, enthusiastic, and have a good attitude about your assignments. Managers don't want to deal with someone who is always unhappy or complaining.
   
   
6. On time and on budget. Many project managers do a poor job of explaining how much time a task should take and/or when the task should be completed. Unfortunately, their lack of planning will reflect poorly on you when you deliver your work later than when the PM expected it. For every assignment, ask the PM when the work is due and how long you should spend doing it. Then do it on time and on budget. If you need more time, set clear expectations and communicate with your PM.
   
   
7. Take it to the next level. Your PM gave you an assignment and you're done with it. Is there any way you can add value to your deliverable? Can you summarize your results in a way that helps the PM make sound decisions? Can you research the options for the next step in the project? Don't just do what you were asked to do. Use that expensive college education to think about how you can make your deliverable even better.

The staff who can do these things are always in high demand and most likely to have long and successful careers at my firm.

A Good Meeting...Is it Possible?

I recently attended a project kickoff meeting with a federal agency client. The meeting was scheduled to last 8 (!) hours. There were 50 people participating -- my immediate reaction was to assume that the meeting would be long, boring, and chaotic. I showed up armed with my BlackBerry and some snacks to get me through the anticipated brain-drain of such a long meeting with so many people. As it turns out, it was one of the best run and effective meetings I ever attended. I will tell you why.

1. Detailed Agenda. The agenda was distributed in advance by the project manager so all the participants were clear of what would (and would not) be accomplished at this meeting. The agenda is the Playbill of the meeting. Without this, meetings can get sidetracked and become less effective.
   
   
2. Great Facilitator. The project manager did a great job of pacing the meeting. While she allowed discussion on the issues, she didn't let the group go off topic. She wasn't afraid to (nicely) cut off a discussion and to assign a group to follow up on the topic at a later date.
   
   
3. Clear Lines of Authority. The project manager began the meeting by introducing the decision makers and establishing the lines of communication. She clearly stated who could make decisions, who could not, and what channels to follow regarding communicating project issues.
   
   
4. Decisions were Made. Nothing is more frustrating that a meeting that doesn't resolve an issue and leads to ...oh no...another meeting. The project manager invited all the right decision makes who could on the spot make the call on any given issue. What satisfaction it is to leave a meeting with clear direction!
   
   
5. Repectful Audience. About a third of the meeting participants were affiliated with the armed forces, several were in combat fatigues. There was an air of discipline and respect that I rarely see in audiences. Only one person spoke at a time. People waited until a speaker finished before chiming in. There were no "side-bar" conversations. Even with 50 people in the room, and no mics or amplifying equipment, everyone could hear the speaker.
   
   
6. Climate Control. A room that's too hot, too cold or stuffy can be the kiss of death for an effective meeting. Make your audience comfortable and their focus and attention will last much longer.
   
   
7. Meeting Minutes. The project manager started the meeting by stating that the meeting minutes would be very important as they would memorialize all decisions made and would be refered to in future discussions. The participants tasked with keeping the meeting minutes asked questions throughout the meeting to ensure clarity in the documented minutes. Needless to say, I frantically took notes for those 8 hours to make sure I didn't miss anything.

I hope I don't have to sit through too many all-day meetings, but if and when I do, may they all be as organized and well planned as this one was.

PowerPoint that's Powerful...Not Pointless

It's happened to all of us a thousand times. We go to a seminar, presentation, or meeting. The room lights dim, the projector goes on and with the anticipation of opening night, we await a presentation to be delivered with PowerPoint. While many of the presentations I've sat through are excellent, many more have been terrible. The attendees are sleeping or bored, checking their emails on their BlackBerrys, realizing that these are precious minutes that they will never get back. 

Those lost hours which I'll never get back prompts me to post this list of ideas on how to successfully do a presentation with PowerPoint. 

1. YOU are the presenter, not the screen. The visuals on the PowerPoint are not the main event, you are. Your delivery must be polished and your tone upbeat and not monotone. Regardless of how good your PowerPoint is, it won't make up for a poor delivery.
   
   
2. Don't Use the slides as your script. The slides are meant to be a visual aid for the audience to better understand or remember what you are telling them. The slides should not be your script where you write down every word you plan on saying. And for God's sake, DON'T READ THE SLIDES! As a presenter, you should face your audience and speak. Don't face the screen and read the slides word for word!
   
   
3. Use few words. The less words, the better. If you have a text slide, make sure that you use just a few key words to reinforce your point. Also, make sure that the font is large enough to be read. If you fill a slide with text, people can't read it and they will just doze off.
   
   
4. Slide titles are important. Give throught to your slide title. This sets the stage for what you are telling your audience. Make sure that the title concisely captures the idea you are trying to convey in your slide.
   
   
5. Use pictures and graphics. Keep text slides to a minimum. Pictures, photographs, diagrams and graphs are all much more helpful for conveying a message and reinforceing a concept. Even if you have a text slide, consider adding some clip art or other visual help reinforce the idea.
   
   
6. Use animation, but use it wisely. PowerPoint has some terrific animation features that can be used to focus your audience on your message. For example, when discussing a list of items, you can have the list animated so that each bullet point comes in individually with each subsequent click. This keeps the audience focused on the one item you are discussing rather than reading ahead to the entire content of the slide. But don't go overboard. Too much animation can be distracting.
   
   
7. Plan your timing. Be respectful of your audience's time. A good rule of thumb is one minute per slide. If you have a 30-minute speaking window and you have 60 slides, you will probably run over.
   
   
8. Share your stories. Any presentation is more interesting if you include real stories or anecdotes. People perk up when you talk about a real situation that happened to you and how you solved it or worked through it.
   
   
9. Use some humor. Not everyone is a comedian, nor should they try to be. However, a well-time joke or anecdote helps your audience keep focused on your message.

With a little time and attention, you can have presentations that are awake-worthy. Be respectful of your audience's time and they will return the respect by not sleeping (or throwing tomatoes).

You Can't Have it All

Women today have a tremendous amount of choices. We can get the best education and then choose to stay home or we can pursue our careers while having a family. Of course, there are many women who don't really have choices, who due to their economic situation simply have to work. For them the idea of "choice" is moot because they need to pay the bills and "choice" is a luxury they can not afford. But for a moment, let me focus on those lucky ones who do have choices. Who can work, scale back their careers, or even stay home full time to be with their children. 

While it may seem that these women can craft their ideal lifestyle, the reality is YOU CAN'T HAVE IT ALL. Magazines such as Working Mother will show some beautiful woman who has a high power career, is of course gorgeous, has 2 or 3 wonderful kids, bakes cookies for her kid's class parties and still finds time to sew homemade Halloween costumes. These few freaks of nature make the rest of us feel like we should be able to "have it all". Anything less means we're inadequate. 

Well, my experience is that most of us human mortals simply can't have it all. Even when you have choices, something has to give. In fact, my idea of "work/life balance" is when your work life and home life are both equally miserable. But seriously, while you can't have it all, you can have a fulfilling work and home life. Think of it as an "all you can eat buffet". You can eat a little bit of a variety of foods, or you can tank up on the "peel and eat" shrimp and forego the other tasty options. 

As for Miz Management, I have been very lucky to have a flexible career for a wonderful engineering firm. Due to their flexible work environment, I have had the opportunity to work part time for 15 years. I was able to progress in my career, and even advance up the ladder, while working three days per week. This gave me a couple of days a week to hang out with my kids, participate in baby play groups, chaperone the occasional apple picking field trip, and do the laundry. But wait, was it that easy?? Was my work situation completely ideal? Not exactly. My "balance" meant that some things made it into my life and others didn't. So here is the tally of what made it into my "balance" portfolio and what I had to throw away.

1. Days per week. Although my official schedule was three days per week, I found myself working at least a bit on my "off" days. Even an hour of checking emails and returning a few phone calls made a big difference. People knew that I was reachable in the event of an emergency. I made myself available (within reason) to make sure that my work obligations were being met even on my "off days".
   
   
2. Day Care Choices. I chose day care options that ensured that I could be at work when I needed to be there. While some moms chose nannies, who can call in sick or go away on vacations, I used day care centers that are open every day except for a few standard holidays. While day care centers were more work for me (bringing the kids there and back) and more costly than a nanny, I felt I needed the reliability of a good day care center.
   
   
3. Home Cooked Family Dinners...not. I don't have yummy home cooked meals every night (I wish I bought stock in Lean Cuisine). We also don't have a Norman Rockwell family dinner every night. We eat in shifts and we eat a lot of prepared foods and take out. And yet, my kids are all healthy and the right weight for their height, so I'm probably not goofing up too much here.

And lest I forget, I also have a very supportive husband who supports my career and makes lunches for the kids every day. I don't have it all, but I found a mix that (usually) works. You'll have to make tough choices to find your balance and choose what's important and what you can let go. Ultimately, that's what we all need to do. As Mick Jagger would say "you can't always get what you want...but if you try sometimes, you might find...you get what you need".