Archive for September 7th, 2008

Nine Ways to Contribute to Project Team Success

The world of work has changed. It used to be that most of us worked as a part of a process, whether on an assembly line, managing interactions with Customers, or any one of a thousand other processes. Processes are ongoing, repeatable and never have an ending.

While there will always be some jobs and tasks which are process focused, most work now is a project or has a project component to it. Any task that has a distinct beginning and ending, or follows a specific life cycle is a project. Examples include: planning a company meeting, writing a new brochure, implementing the new software system, etc.

If the nature of our work has changed, it is important to think about some of the skills that will help us succeed in this different world. Here are nine ways you can contribute more effectively to make the projects you work on more successful, regardless of your specific role.

1. Understand the end goal. Since a project has a defined ending, it is important that each contributor to the effort knows the desired end result. Stephen Covey teaches to begin with the end in mind. This is clearly important to project team members. By understanding the desired result, you can make better individual decisions and reduce confusion and re-work.

2. Identify clear roles. Each person is an important piece in the overall project puzzle. Know your role and the roles of others. If you are a project leader, take the time to clarify these roles for everyone. If you arent a leader, ask until you really understand how you can best contribute.

3. Collaborate. Project work is often fluid and free flowing. Once you understand your role and the roles of others you are in a position to collaborate with them more successfully. This collaboration isnt just a nice thing for you to do. It is imperative to the ultimate success of the project. Look for ways and be willing to collaborate.

4. Recognize interdependencies. The bigger the project, the more linked and interdependent are the people and the tasks. Certain steps need to be done before others can be completed. If you see only your small piece of the project, you may not realize how you finishing two days sooner might have a huge impact on several other things staying on track. Conversely if you fall two days behind on one of your tasks, the effects on the end results could be much longer delays. You arent an island. Your work products, decisions and efforts affect many others. Recognize and work with the interdependencies between you and the others involved in the project.

5. Ask questions. Projects can be complex. Dont be afraid to ask questions to know more about any of the things mentioned above.

6. Communicate. Asking questions is communicating, but so is giving updates. Checking in with others. Coordinating schedules. If you are a project leader the importance of communication cant be overstated. If you are any team member other than the leader, communication is just as important. You cant leave it to the leader. Check in with others. Get their input. Find out when the pieces you will need will be completed. Update people on your progress. Communicate!

7. Break it down. Take the big project steps and break them down into definable tasks that you can get your hands around. By breaking the tasks down the work wont feel so daunting, you will find the interdependencies and you will be able to stay on track much more successfully. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. Break down the overall project, and your individual steps into bite sized pieces.

8. Look at the past. If a version of this project has been done in the past, look for the lessons learned to improve your results this time. Think too about other projects you have been involved in. Even if the project was smaller or larger and the goals were very different, there are likely lessons you learned that you can apply things you did well that you would want to repeat and things you could have done better that you can correct on this project.

9. Look to the future. Take a little time to document the best practices and ideas that work for you during the project. Whether this is a formal task for everyone on the project, or just your own notes to help you to continuously improve, investing a little time now will make your contributions to all future projects more valuable and efficient.

There are many more ways you can contribute to great project success. Take these nine ideas as a starting point as a checklist of things you can do, regardless of the role you play. Taking action on these ideas will help you feel more confident and successful in your role on the project team, and will help the projects goals be reached much more successfully.

Kevin Eikenberry 2005. Kevin is Chief Potential Officer of The Kevin Eikenberry Group (http://KevinEikenberry.com), a learning consulting company that helps Clients reach their potential through a variety of training, consulting and speaking services. To receive your free special report on Unleashing Your Potential go to http://www.kevineikenberry.com/uypw/index.asp or call us at (317) 387-1424 or 888.LEARNER.

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Free Website Traffic vs. Purchased Website Traffic - Which is Better?

The obvious answer to the question Free Website Traffic versus Purchased Website Traffic, without delving too deeply into the question would appear to be that its better to spend no money for something rather than spend money for it. However, matching objectives with method is a far better way to analyze the question, rather than simply counting up dollar cost.

These days there are many available ways to generate traffic for a website, including:

  • PPC (Pay Per Click advertising)
  • Banner advertising
  • Guaranteed traffic purchase
  • Classified ad sites
  • FFA (Free For All) sites
  • Traffic exchange programs
  • Search engine optimization
  • I have personally used most of these methods at one time or another and can give some insight with regard to matching method to objective.

    For instance, building up traffic for free, slowly through search engine placement or subscriber list build up may be the best strategy for a heavy, long-term information site that will continually have new information added. This would likely not be a good strategy for many affiliate-marketing sites, for example, where good search engine placement would not be likely. In this case, the more direct PPC or guaranteed traffic would likely be more effective. Selling a single item, or making announcements would be best done for free on a classified ad site such as Postaroo.com. On the other hand, if you are looking for search engine placement or a PPC ad campaign then you need to spend a lot of time researching and analyzing your keywords first. There are many good sites out there that provide the critical data for this (I personally use WordTracker.com). You will want to look specifically for keywords that have relatively high search occurrence, and relatively low competition.

    So regardless of your chosen method of promotion, the most important thing is that you have a clear idea of the nature of your website and determine the type and purpose of your desired traffic. Then pick your advertising program based on the appropriate match between the two. This will ultimately be a much more successful route than simply deciding on the basis of cost whether to try to get free or paid traffic for your website.

    2006 Kevin J. Mulholland

    ************************************************
    Kevin J. Mulholland has been a computer instructor and consultant for more than 16 years near Toronto, Canada, where he lives with his wife and son. He continues to share his professional expertise through many forums. His information sites include:
    Building Free Websites
    - Step-by-step instructions for creating your webpage.
    Free Web Counter
    - How to add buttons, counters and professional-looking
    items to your webpage.
    Free Web Space Site Builder
    - Step-by-step instructions for getting your files
    online (for free, of course).
    websitetargettrafficsubmission.com
    - How to get traffic to your website.

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    Nokia N95 & Nokia N96 - Two Peerless Mobile Phones

    Nokia is the world mobile phones manufacturing leader and the handsets produced by it have a lot to offer. Users have the general tendency of comparing various models of phones before selecting one. Nokia gives them a wide range of choices to choose from. The N series phones launched by this company have been widely accepted by the mobiles lovers worldwide.

    Two of the latest handsets launched by Nokia are in great demand these days. The mobile phone lovers can be seen talking about Nokia N95 vs. Nokia N96. These two gadgets are full of many advanced features and facilities. Nokia N95 is a great device that catches the attention of viewers with its looks and design. A 5 mega pixel camera has been given in the device that has support for all the advanced functions which are required for creating high quality images. With the functions like Carl Zeiss lens, digital zoom, video flash, etc., this device becomes an ultimate multimedia phone. Apart from these features, one can also find the GPS receiver equipped in this gadget. This receiver enables users to locate her or his place anytime and anywhere.

    The TFT screen of Nokia N95 is 2.6 inch long that can create the pictures of 240 x 320 pixels resolution. The device has a beautiful shape and size. It measures as 99 x 53 x 21 mm and weighs 120 grams. Up to 6 hours 30 minutes of talk time and up to 220 hours of standby time are provided by Nokia N95. The internet surfing speed is adequate as it is based on the latest technologies. Wi-Fi technology has been used in this gadget so that users could easily download even the heavier files.

    The comparison between Nokia N95 & Nokia N96 can not be considered complete unless the features of Nokia N96 are not discussed. The N96 is an advanced phone which is based on 3G network. It also has a 5 mega pixel camera which supports a variety of features. The music facilities in this device are better than those of the N95. It has a stereo FM radio, an astounding music player, TV out, etc. One can enjoy his or her favourite songs with the help of the features given in the phone. This Nokia N96 has the dimensions of 103 x 55 x 18 mm and weight of 125 grams. Despite being slimmer than the N95, the weight of both the handsets is similar. However, there is a huge difference in terms of storage capacity of the two phones. The N95 has just 160 MB memory space whereas this handset gives a mammoth storage capacity of 16 GB.

    Looking at the huge demand of the N95 phones in the markets, Nokia has introduced the advanced version of this device which is named as Nokia N95 8GB. It is quite clear that it is equipped with 8 GB memory space in which one could store a large number of songs, videos, games and other files. Similarly, Nokia N96i has been introduced in the markets as the upgraded version of the N96 phone. It has a 7.2 mega pixel camera, 10 GB internal memory and a 3 inch TFT screen.

    If you want to get the latest N Series Nokia mobile phones like Nokia N83 or Nokia N95, or Nokia n82 with best deals, visit our online mobile shop.

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    The Motorola i880 is a spectacular multimedia communication device that offers dazzling amenities. This top-notch mobile phone offers fun features and outstanding personalization tools. The i880 offers the necessary elements for information, connectivity and entertainment.

    Personalization features include memory expansion capability, push-to-start replies and push-to-meet. The unit comes equipped with a music player with podcast playback. The 2.0 mega-pixle camera and video clip capture and playback allow users to encapsulate images and action.

    The send via PTT is a feature used to exchange contacts, info and pictures quickly and conveniently. Messaging features include multimedia messaging services (MMS), mobile originated-short messaging services (MO-SMS) and two-way text messaging. The T9 predictive text tool allows for remarkably quick entries.

    The i880 mobile phone offers speech recognition and the voice, Net and text message alerts keep users up-to-date on their recent calls. The consolidated message storage and send and receive call log are great tools for organizing contact information and staying current on the latest contacts.

    Lifestyle features are impressive in the i880 and include an integrated assisted GPS navigation system and MOTOtalk off-network walkie-talkie. The unit offers multi-language support and AgION antimicrobial coating. The durable cell phone is equipped with a quick flip button, speakerphone, stereo speakers and voice record.

    Additional features include assignable ring tones that can be connected to individual contacts. The Bluetooth supported profiles include serial port, service discovery application, hands-free, headset, dial-up networking, and generic object exchange.

    Data features include Openwave 7.02 Internet browser, a wireless modem and mini-USB connectivity. The i880 offers 25 kHz channel spacing. The high performance battery promises up to approximately 190 minutes of talk time and up to approximately 95 hours of standby time.

    The Motorola i880 is far more than just a cell phone. This device is devilishly stylish and it offers everything necessary to inform, entertain and connect. The i880 is a prime example of outstanding multimedia communication devices.

    For more great cell phone information, visit the Sony Ericsson Forum at http://www.TheCellularForums.com/ today. We hope that you enjoyed this Motorola i880 review!

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    Why Choose A Dinner Party?

    Our lives just seem to be far too busy to permit organized parties. Dinner parties are fast becoming extinct. There are many reasons for the slow demise of dinner parties. Probably the most important reason can be attributed to our very busy lives and our preferred interest in watching TV with a drink at hand. So many of us today do dislike the lengthy preparations required for dinner parties.

    But, it is the advantages that should urge you to take a second look at this way of entertaining. You do not have to go overboard; a small intimate get-together can make for a very pleasurable evening. Dinner parties are an excellent way to mesh friendships and may accompany really interesting conversations. This is a time when new ideas and new thoughts are born.

    When planning a dinner party, first of all limit the number of guests, including you, to no more than eight. Choose you guests carefully. Make sure that the different couples are compatible. Avoid people that tend to “take over”. A diverse group with different interests could allow for really interesting discussions.

    When it comes to the menu, keep it simple. You do not have to be too elaborate. Choose an easy to prepare starter - a few shrimps on a bed of lettuce served in a champagne glass is an old faithful. Tuna and mayonnaise stuffed small tomatoes is my favourite. You can replace the tuna with flaked chicken mixed with mayonnaise. Place three stuffed tomatoes on a small plate or in a champagne glass. Mayonnaise can be replaced with a number of mayonnaise-like creams that is on the market. A tasty alternative is three asparagus sprouts covered with a tablespoon of mayonnaise.

    If you are not into cooking, have the main course prepared for you. A stew and vegetables are always a welcome choice. But there are many easy to prepare main courses to select. For instance, replace the stew with pie.

    One salad is sufficient. Buy fresh salad ingredients the day of the dinner party, dice and mix in a large salad bowl. Let your guests add the dressing. Serve one or two small jugs with salad dressing that you can purchase at your local supermarket.

    Dessert should be simple and not too heavy. For those of you that enjoy ice cream, serve it with hot chocolate sauce. Melt two mars bars or bar-ones in a small pot on the stove. Once the chocolates have melted, stir in a tub of cream on low heat. Mix till smooth and serve warm with the ice cream. You can prepare the hot chocolate sauce and keep it warm in a thermos flask.

    Select red wine to accompany a red meat main course or white wine to accompany white meats. Open the red wine bottle before the guests arrive to allow it to breathe and keep the white wine well chilled.

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    How Does Your Virtual Assistant Keep Focused?

    Keeping your focus while completing tasks can be one of the most challenging steps in your virtual assistance business. Since you are in the virtual world or thinking of becoming a virtual assistant, you might be thinking:

    - Whos going to know (or find out)?
    - Ill only be gone for ten minutes
    - I can do it laterno one will notice!

    Thats your biggest mistake right there.

    Being able to keep your focus on one task at a time will allow you to prioritize a lot better, and finish the task at hand.

    As I mentioned before, you should keep a notepad of all your goals or ideas you have for your business and produce these projects one at a time. Seeing your goals and/or ideas on paper will allow you keep that focus you first had when you thought of them and you will see your projects through.

    Here is my challenge to you:

    1. Write down 3 5 goals you want to succeed at in a time periodyou decide. It can be one month, three months, six months or a year.

    2. Focus on one of those goals for the time period you decided to choose.

    3. Look at your goal every single day and think about ways you can achieve this goal throughout the day.

    4. Tell someone! It can be your husband/wife, family member, friend, co-worker, mentor, coach, or even me! Id love to hear how you do at this challenge.

    5. Do not start another task until this is complete.

    6. Finally, you should see the end result of your goal.

    Its an easy challenge if you are willing to focus and be aware of all the steps involved. This will take a lot of focus and it will also help you in your business as well with staying on top of the task at hand. I cannot wait to hear from you and help you see your goals through!

    Looking forward to sharing many successes with you!

    Trina Lamarche
    Efficient VA

    Want To Use This Article In Your Ezine or Website? You have my permission, as long as you include this complete blurb with it:

    Trina Lamarche (Efficient VA) started her virtual career three years ago by helping launch and setup Business Services, ETC, a virtual assistance firm. After two years working for other people, she realized what she really wanted to do; become an owner of her very own virtual assistance business. In the past year, she has been working part-time as a Virtual Assistants Assistant (a term she coined while working on client work one evening.) Always the overachiever, she decided to open a second virtual assistance company, Efficient Virtual Assistant (EVA), working directly with clients. Contact her at info@efficientva.com

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    It takes money to make money. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Youve heard all the clichs.As a small business owner, you know that clich or not, these adages are often true. Your business life is a constant risk-benefit analysis. There are so many d...

    New Procedure for Settling Tax Debts with the IRS

    The Tax Increase Prevention and Reconciliation Act of 2005 has ushered in new rules for settling tax debts with the IRS. Here is the scoop on the compromise procedures.

    New Procedure for Settling Tax Debts with the IRS

    If you owe the federal government back taxes, there are two approaches you can take to resolve the issue. The first is to file an installment agreement wherein you agree to pay off the debt by making monthly payments. The second is to try to settle the bill with a one time payment, which is often relatively low given your position you will not reasonably have the money to pay back the total bill. This rules and procedures related to this second approach have changed dramatically.

    The settlement process, often called an offer in compromise, underwent a massive change with the passage of the Tax Increase Prevention and Reconciliation Act of 2005. Starting July 16, 2006, the new rules go into affect and they are a bear. The biggest issue is you now must pay 20 percent of your offer amount to even have the settlement offer considered!

    The procedure now works as follows. To file an offer in compromise, you must prepare and file Form 656. This form essentially lays out your assets, income, debt amount and the offer you are making given these figures. You must pay $150 when submitting the bill. You must also now pay 20 percent of your offer amount. Neither of these amounts is refundable.

    It may take the IRS up to two years to get around to making a decision. If the agency accepts your offer, it will send you acknowledgement and the terms thereof. If the agency does not accept the offer, it keeps your deposit and comes after you. Welcome to the wonderful world of taxes!

    There are two exceptions to the 20 percent deposit rule. If you are a low income taxpayer under IRS rules, you need not make the deposit. Further, if you are contesting the taxes due because you believe there has been an error and you are not reasonably responsible for them, you need not file the deposit. Keep in mind the reason must be reasonable, not one of the arguments that nobody has to ever pay taxes.

    The new procedures for filing for tax debt settlement are odd given the new 20 percent deposit amount. However, this still represents the best way for dealing with tax debts.

    Richard A. Chapo is with BusinessTaxRecovery.com - providing information on taxes.

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    Applying for a Consolidation Loan for Home Owners
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    Tax Return Online Is An Efficient And Modern System To Pay Tax
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    Children and Smoking

    Children nowadays are characterized for being thrill-seekers; they would always want to explore a wider horizon, to expand their capabilities and to prove that they no longer belong to the underestimated and neglected portion of the society. To cut a long story short, more often than not children engage to activities that exceed their typical activities so as to be able to prove that they are capable of pushing themselves off their limits. One of the most deplorable activities they engage into is smoking. Children smoking have been considered as one of the unresolved problems in the society. The increasing percentage of children smoking roused apprehension to their immediate families, to the government, and to the health institutions. According to a study, 11% of youngsters aged 12 to 17 have smoked in the previous month in 1991 while in a survey conducted in 1995 as part of Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System a high rate of 34.8% more of which are students have smoked cigarettes on one or more of the 30 days antecedent the survey.

    Why does a child smoke?

    In reality there are several explanations why children smoke, one of which is their need to fit in to the society most especially when they experience extreme peer pressure. As per usual, children becoming very susceptible to their friends persuasion the desire to become visible as a responsible, self-possessed and independent person have been vital for them. They venturing on new things lead them to making mistakes which is a common portion of their learning process. Yet the vulnerability with smoking is that its content has been proven to be very addictive.

    Another factor that participate why theres an increase in children smoking are the tobacco advertisements posed in print and in broadcast almost everywhere. According to a recent conducted study advertising boosts children to begin smoking. Even the advertisements intended for the clients over 18, children find the advertisements appealing at the same time persuasive particularly to the adult ambitious ones.

    A high probability of children smoking in a family largely depends on the childs role model no less than their parents and siblings. If they see that the smoking appears to be normal to the other family members, the tendency that they would also consider it usual is relatively high.

    What to do to change the bad habit
    If you think that the facts that your child is smoking is the worst thing in the world, then think again because there are still effective solutions to that. First on the list would be to become a good example. In the event that you are smoking it would be most beneficial to quit the habit. Next would be, dont overreact. Instead choose a perfect time to converse with your child by asking a lot of open inquiries, while making sure that you take time to listen to what your child was saying. Last would be offering your unconditional love and undying support, boost your childs morale while at the same time giving credit to any progress he commits.

    Visit us or share your opinions at the worlds best homepage or free content resource. Do you want to quit smoking? Visit Smokefree England for further information.

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    Effective Teams

    Cultural boundaries today have been minimised to a great degree as we notice the different global faces around us in our work environment. Diversity is of great interest to organisations today and for many organisations today cultural diversity quotas are set to raise a companys image and value.

    To many individuals cultural diversity could slow down a progress of any team. However, it is an individuals attitude towards his/her responsibilities, their maturity and motivation that forms a strong team. In addition, it is important to share the same goals which are challenging, yet realistic and achievable. Teams with diverse backgrounds form their foundations through comfort at the initial stages. It is in periods of high stress situations that a teams personalities start to evolve. Dominant, active and stubborn personalities start leading the groups and weaker members withdraw themselves from core responsibilities.

    Many teams are able to work in perfect harmony; however, these working conditions are always short lived until the more aggressive members self-appoint themselves as leaders in the playing field. In many cases, there is more than one aggressive member on a team which leads to conflicts when each holds its ground. It is important though to maintain stability within a team and keep the working climate pleasant in order to achieve team goals, which is where a mediators effectiveness is important in order for teams to be constructively assertive and work collaboratively.

    In addition, to aggressive, dominant members it is also common to find regular slackers in a team who tend to withdraw themselves from the team and their responsibilities. These types of members only become apparent once internal deadlines are not met within a team. It highly recommended addressing the issue earlier on rather than later when solutions are not so evident and motivation levels are difficult to rise. Furthermore, many teams also form sub groups, which are mostly emotional support groups and weaker members are never included or invited to be a part of. Hence, emotional damage is often a reaction to a withdrawing team member and a team must in accordance to avoid such situations from arising.

    Behaviour is a function of individuals and situations, therefore, for any group to function effectively and efficiently, it needs to have its members proceed through the following stages of: initiation, seeking and offering information, clarifying objectives, conclusion and group consensus.

    In conclusion, as much as it is an experience worthwhile to be part of an effective team it is more exciting building and strengthening one. It is through this experience we learn the numerous issues that may arise related to group processes namely, decision-making. However, research through observations has found that the differences in personalities and goals are the root cause of the development of conflict in any group at any given stage. It is also unlikely for extremely independent and stubborn personalities to co-exist without any conflict. Nonetheless, communication is vital in improving the functioning of a team. In addition, clear team goals need to be defined and agreed upon and most importantly, every member needs to feel as if they are an integral part of the team.

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    How to Craft the Perfect Tea Party Invitation

    When it comes to planning a tea party, you want a lot of your friends and family to come in order for it to be a major bonanza. The less people you have, the less successful your party will be, so in order to make sure that the maximum amount of people show up when its time for the party, you need to be sure to entice your guests with an impressively made tea party invitation. After all, the invitation they receive is the first notice that you will be having a party, and the better looking the invitation the more people may want to come (provided they do not have prior obligations that day).

    So, if you want to make a tea party invitation that will really stand out in peoples minds, you need to pull out all the stops and really make it something memorable. Do not stick with the same old boring designs, but instead focus on producing an invitation that will really create a picture of what people should expect at your tea party. In other words, pick a theme for your party and use that as the basis for the design on your invitations.

    To start off, you do not need to spend a lot of money on invitations to your tea party. Sure, you can have a private invitation making company create the cards for you but that is just a useless expense when you can do all of the work yourself with that personal touch. All you have to do is buy some paper at your local office supplies store that looks as though it would match your partys theme. From there, you can either use graphics and fonts from your computer to make the cards look as though they were professionally printed, or if you do not have too many guests coming, you can always draft each tea party invitation one by one with your own handwriting.

    Mayoor Patel is the writer for the website http://www.tea-party.tea-universe.com/. Please visit for information on all things concerned with Tea Party Invitation

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