How To Conduct IT Training The Army Way

How To Conduct IT Training The Army Way

As a young man, I experienced military training. Twenty years later, I started my career as an IT trainer and came across “EDIP,” a methodology used by the British Army for weapons training.

“EDIP” is an acronym for “explain, demonstrate, imitate, and practice.”

I reasoned that a machine gun is a piece of technology, and so is a computer program. Why not use the same approach to train people to use software?

Here are the steps:

Explain

Manager explains something to his employees

The first stage is to explain what the software is for, what outputs it produces, and, at a high level, how it works.

The rule is “hands off keyboards and mice.” Everyone’s attention should be focused on the trainer.

They will know what they are going to learn, what it means for them, and how they can tell that the system is working correctly.

Demonstrate

Man demonstrates a new technology for his coworker

You will demonstrate the main workflow step by step on your presentation computer.

The rule is still “hands off keyboards and mice.”

Your audience should concentrate on the workflow and not be distracted by trying to follow it on their computers or take notes.

Depending on the complexity and the number of variations, you may need to go through the workflow multiple times.

Let your trainees ask as many questions as they would like. This helps them to feel more comfortable with the content.

If possible, give each trainee a quick reference guide with the list of the steps so they don’t have to take notes.

Imitate

Employees attend an IT training session

You will go through the workflow again, step by step.

As you complete each step, your trainees will complete the same step on their computers and imitate your every move.

Help them if they have problems. Do not move on to the next step until everyone has finished the previous step.

Make sure that the steps are clear and easy to understand. Make sure your steps are the same as those in the quick reference guide or documentation.

Give your trainees the chance to ask questions or ask for clarification.

Produce

Man attends a remote IT training class

Ask your trainees to go through the workflow three or four times at their own pace and produce the required outputs. Give them initial parameters (e.g., date ranges, user names, etc.) so they produce workflows you can check easily by looking at the parameters on the screen.

If possible, look at your trainees’ screens and check that what you see on the screen is what you expect to see on the screen.

If you’re training remotely, ask them to tell you what is in various fields so that you can see if they contain the expected values. If there are any issues, ask the person to share their screen. This will help you to solve problems that they may have and demonstrate that you are working closely with them, even if it is remote. That will give them confidence.

This part of the training session will seem rather chaotic. As long as your trainees are learning and completing the tasks, then your training session will be successful.

If you have “mixed ability classes,” where some people are better at using the system than others, then put your trainees into groups. Build each group around one of the “stars.”

They can help the slower trainees when they get stuck. This will reduce your workload as a trainer and help you deliver the assistance they need, even in a remote situation.

Summing Up

Technology training concept

​I have used this many times in both remote and face-to-face situations, including training 25 contact center supervisors with an interpreter. It always worked!

If you do try it out, contact me and let me know how you got on!

Further reading…

Here is my article about explaining how things work (this might be useful for planning your “input” session): Explaining How Things Work: How To Do It And Why It Matters

How To Sell Yourself In An Interview With Confidence

How To Sell Yourself In An Interview With Confidence

Do your spirit get the best regarding you during job interview? Do you feel ashamed if you talk regarding your accomplishments to other people? In that case, we’re here for you to show the ways to help sell yourself within an meeting with confidence!

Job search is usually challenging enough already, nevertheless when you don’t have got confidence in yourself like a job candidate, it can make it even harder towards sell yourself for possibilities.

Confidence is definitely critical when it arrives to getting a job. A person might not even Understand that you have low self confidence that’s sabotaging your achievement. In case you can’t BANISH this particular innocent, yet destructive way of thinking with regards to marketing yourself throughout the interview process, you’re going to fall in to a longer, more annoying situation than you’re inside right this moment. That’s why it’s critical to get the mindset in the proper place if you want that will find a job.

In this coaching, you’ll learn how so that you can:

  • Determine what’s impacting your employment interview confidence
  • Enhance your mindset before (and during) a job appointment
  • Sell your self in an interview along with confidence

Join our TOP DOG, J. T. O’Donnell, plus Director to train Advancement & Coaching, Christina Burgio, for this live occasion on Wednesday, September seventh at 12 pm AINSI QUE.

CAN’T ATTEND LIVE? That’s okay. You will have access to the documenting and the workbook right after the session!

Sign-up button

How To Choose The Right Skills To Include On Your Resume

How To Choose The Right Skills To Include On Your Resume

When you begin the job application process, you need to make sure your resume is optimized and ready to be sent out to employers. The struggle isn’t so much finding enough things to include on your resume. Rather, it’s choosing what skills, experiences, and accomplishments to include on your resume to boost your likelihood of landing an interview.

Choosing the right skills to include on your resume is easier said than done. What skills will really stand out to recruiters and hiring managers? What skills demonstrate why you’d be a great fit for the position? What skills best represent what you bring to the table?

Fortunately, there’s an easy process you can follow to ensure you’re answering these questions and setting yourself up for job opportunities.

Here are four steps for choosing the right skills to include on your resume:

1. Decode Job Descriptions

Before you hit “apply” on a job posting, it’s important to read through the job description and understand what the job actually entails.

You have to analyze the job description, then think about how you would fit into this “mold” of an employee that they have in mind for the position. Start to think about the core responsibilities you’ve had in your previous jobs.

Do your previous core responsibilities translate into skills that this job posting is asking for—skills that would make you a great fit for the position?

2. Ask Yourself “Can I Quantify That?”

Man thinks about which skills to include on his resume

Once you’ve decoded the job description and determined if you have the skills the employer is asking for, it’s time to think about which skills you should include on your resume (because you can’t include them all).

The key to getting your resume past the ATS is to include only hard skills on your resume.

Hard skills (skills that tie directly to core responsibilities) are what applicant tracking systems (ATS) and hiring managers want to see. They’re quantifiable. If you can’t quantify it, it’s probably a soft skill. Soft skills DO NOT belong on your resume.

So, when deciding what skills you should include on your resume, ask yourself, “Can I quantify that?” If you can, it’s a hard skill, and it belongs on your resume.

Both industry-specific and transferable hard skills can go on your resume. After decoding the job description, you will know which hard skills the employer is looking for.

3. Think About Your Brand

Woman on laptop thinks about her personal brand

The next step in deciding which skills should go on your resume deals with personal branding. You want to make sure you are “branding” yourself correctly for job opportunities.

By that, we mean knowing what type of service you provide for a company—and what skill sets support that service.

After all, here at Work It Daily, we know every job seeker is a business-of-one. Are you branding your business (yourself) correctly in order to attract customers (employers looking to invest in you)?

Know your brand, and own it!

4. Customize, Customize, Customize

Man on laptop customizes his resume

The last step in deciding which skills should go on your resume is customization.

Customizing your resume is very important. You’ll probably have to highlight different skills for the different jobs you apply for. That means customizing your resume for each job application.

  • What projects did you work on?
  • What expertise did you gain?
  • What skills should you be emphasizing?

If you ask yourself these questions for each job you apply for, your answers will most likely differ. That’s how you’ll know you’re customizing your resume correctly and giving yourself the best chance to land an interview.

As you’re thinking about your resume, remember you have more skills than you realize. Your job is to make it easy for employers to see the connection between your skill sets and the skill sets needed to do the job. When in doubt, ask yourself, “Can I quantify that?”

The goal at this stage in the job search process is to get an interview. You can only worry about getting the job after you know you’re in the running. What skills are going to get you in the door?

Need more help with your job search?

We’d love it if you signed up for Work It Daily’s Power Hour Event Subscription! Get your career questions answered in our next live event!

This article was originally published at an earlier date.

As you’re thinking about your resume, remember you have more skills than you realize. Your job is to make it easy for employers to see the connection between your skill sets and the skill sets needed to do the job. When in doubt, ask yourself, “Can I quantify that?”

The goal at this stage in the job search process is to get an interview. You can only worry about getting the job after you know you’re in the running. What’s going to get you in the door?

17 Good Questions To Ask A Recruiter In 2022

17 Good Questions To Ask A Recruiter In 2022

Knowing the best questions to ask recruiters can make your job search simpler and save time for everyone involved. But a lot of job-seekers aren’t sure how to approach recruiters when it comes to finding out information about a company or position. Fortunately, we’ve put together this list of questions to make the process easy. […]

The post 17 Good Questions To Ask A Recruiter In 2022 appeared first on Career Sherpa.

Top 5 Questions To Answer To Get Your Data Strategy Just Right

Top 5 Questions To Answer To Get Your Data Strategy Just Right

We live in an age where data is leveraged more than ever to make decisions. Yet many firms have an incomplete data strategy that prevents them from taking advantage of all available data to impact decisions. The solution lies in formulating a business-driven data strategy by answering some key questions.

Current data strategies focus on specific use cases, for example, regulatory compliance versus a holistic portfolio of requirements allowing firms to take full advantage of their data assets. This edition outlines five unanswered questions that help chief data analytics officers (CDAOs) get their data strategy over the line.

Defining The Problem…

Data analysts look at data

CEOs have been demanding more organizational efficiency and effectiveness from CDAOs, struggling to meet the firm’s business needs, especially in value creation. CDAOs often meet challenges and obstacles, perceiving that data is not contributing the value and ROI that is believed possible. Currently, many CDAOs struggle to align the existing data approach to focus on corporate priorities by laying out a fine-tuned data strategy. Firms often skip many essential steps to creating a data strategy, favoring quick wins, charters, and pilots to show data team progress rather than creating a holistic and integrated vision and strategy for data. According to Insider Magazine, 82% of organizations are inhibited by data silos and aren’t taking advantage of the correct data for their business problems.* Practices many believed were in place and fully mature, such as creating one version of the truth or a 360 view of the customer, remain incomplete.

  • Only a small percentage of organizations excel at delivering on their data strategy. In a recent MIT Technology Review, only 13% of organizations are considered “high achievers” at showing measurable business results from their data strategy. Issues such as data duplication, democratization, and processing data in real-time are just some of the gaps identified in the data strategy which need to be addressed.**
  • Test and learn can help the firm learn faster and complete the data vision and strategy. Many CDAOs prefer to take an incremental approach to data strategy development. Randy Bean, in his new book Fail Fast, Learn Faster: Lessons in Data-Driven Leadership in an Age of Disruption, Big Data, and AI, provides some of the best case studies and perspectives on how firms can improve their approach to their data strategy.***

Answer 5 Questions To Advance Your Data Strategy

Woman with question mark

CDAOs need a new approach to formulating a business-driven data strategy. The five questions below provide a more holistic integrated approach when formulating a data strategy that ensures stakeholder buy-in and corporate priorities are accounted for. A collaborative approach for seeking input from the right stakeholders is best made through a blueprinting process and a road map. CDAOs must not skip such a process in favor of tactical quick wins or pressure from other execs to draw up the data strategy in a vacuum, for example, by the data team alone.

Answer the five questions by conducting a collaborative blueprinting process which is key to ensuring that business priorities and their requisite fit-for-purpose data can be harnessed for impact and monetization in the data strategy. Establishing the proper engagement and governance model for the blueprint is key to ensuring business partner needs and priorities are fully baked into the firm’s data strategy. The questions to be addressed and action steps are:

1. Undefined Business Problems: What Business Pain Points Need A Solution?

Business people look at data in a work meeting

Without understanding business pain points, the data analytics team will be challenged to find the appropriate solutions to support business partners. Engage with partners to determine their strategic priorities via a blueprinting process. We have underestimated the value of stakeholder input (pain points and gap assessment) to help prioritize critical data initiatives based on business impact.

A collaborative process is established via the blueprint to seek stakeholder input. Define the stakeholders who should participate and actively engage in the blueprinting process. Define decision rights and roles in guiding the information into the strategy. Set the guiding principles and high-level work streams based on the vision and scope defined by the CDAO and sponsors.

Business problems are framed by looking at the current situation(s) and problems and gapping them to the future vision for data. This gap assessment helps the firm define and prioritize initiatives based on key success metrics. For example, one focus area for a data strategy is data latency (real-time versus batch) or the speed at which data gets updated, especially for digital customer experience. Marketing and digital are good starting points as they facilitate better customer experiences and broader enterprise applicability, such as for risk and CX. Customers searching for a product on the firm’s website provide digital signals and buying intent of the data and customer conversations. When captured in real time, signals are more likely to lead to sales. For example, the potential inclusion in the strategy of a real-time data application raises an issue for clarification: how much real-time data needs to be available via a modern data platform that may include streaming analytics among the tactical choices.

2. Data Coverage: What Data Is Needed To Solve The Business Needs, And Where Is That Data

Data map/network concept

The blueprinting process helps to create an inventory of the firm’s data sources and where that data is located. Depending on how data is used (and by whom), different platforms would be defined for housing the volume of identified data and the critical tools required. Other considerations include data quality, models, standardization, and consistency.

A data coverage map or inventory helps to identify not only what data is needed to solve the problems but also where that data is located and what it takes to access it. Depending on the use case, the firm can often decide if it wants to move all the data or be more laser-focused on what data it moves and stores. The firm needs to determine if the data needs to be moved to a data lake or accessed at the authoritative source. Some data might be included in the single source of truth (SST) and some in other applications.

Hiding behind our ability to take all the data into a big data platform and allegedly figure it all out later will not highlight when we can extract value from which data in what context. So, we may be engineering superstars; however, are we generating business value? In the initial phases of BI, we called this a dump and run where all the data was poured into a physical layer without being well organized or having a logical layer via a star schema or a data strategy. Sound familiar? The more you stay in a field the more you realize how some things change and some things stay the same and repeat or are rebranded in a more modern way with the same problem sets.

One of the questions which need to be answered is whether the firm needs a single source of truth (SST) versus multiple versions of the truth (MVT). This also begins to define what it means to adhere to the data strategy. For example, one strategic consideration: can any analyst take data directly from the source system, or do they go to the data lake?

3. Privacy And Information Security: Who Should Be Able To Access And Use Data

Data privacy concept

Define the number of unique identifiers within the data environment. Specify who has access to confidential and restricted information to comply with privacy regulations. Create highly secured data zones. Ensure algorithms are privacy protected. Define self-service tools for data access.

4. Data Analytics Organization And Partners: What Roles Are Needed?

Data roles/analysts

Define the organization model for the data and analytics team and the roles and responsibilities of all stakeholders. In some organizations, there is a lack of role clarity and confusion over responsibilities—data engineers report to business partners rather than the practice. Defining the organization and reporting structure adds transparency to the workflow and improves speed to impact. Define a talent architecture to increase the transparency of spans, layers, and job definitions.

5. Data Monetization: How Will The Business Leverage The Data

Data monetization concept

Data monetization is a process: you must design a use case and test plan with your business partners and execute and measure a pilot. Based on these inputs, you will build a business case including success metrics for the pilot, which should include a definition of done.

Blueprinting Your Way To A Successful Data Strategy

Data analysts creating a strategy blueprint

Arrive at a business-focused data strategy through a blueprint and a roadmap. The blueprint is needed to enable stakeholders to buy in and to correctly identify business problems to be solved, critical data, and the structure and deployment of data for maximum impact and lowest risk. It is not an academic exercise recommended by consultants and researchers if concrete execution steps via the roadmap and business case/ROI are part of the outcome. The CDAO must have the experience and gravitas to demand more investment upfront during the planning and resourcing phase.

Actualize your data strategy through a comprehensive blueprint that leads to a set of guiding principles for your data program and a business case for your CEO and board of directors.

  • Formulating the Plan: The data strategy blueprinting phase helps to answer the five unanswered questions. Taking three to six months to engage business partners in an inclusive formulation of the data strategy can lead to increased support for data programs across the organization. This support from business partners will lead to faster adoption of data initiatives and remove roadblocks to initiatives like data governance going forward. Stakeholders’ buy-in leads to speed-to-maturity and achieving ROI and impacts outlined in the business case.
  • Socializing the Strategy: Once the data strategy is endorsed and fit for the purpose, take it on a roadshow through the organization. Host summits, lunch and learns, and other innovative vehicles such as webinars, gamification, and new learning methods to socialize the data strategy. Time spent bringing the stakeholders along the journey by sharing what was agreed to in the data strategy can go a long way in engendering trust and cooperation along the implementation journey.
  • Future Proofing Your Strategy: To ensure that your data strategy stays relevant to deliver next-generation data analytics capabilities, it is imperative that the strategy be revisited on an ongoing basis but at a minimum once a year. Data strategy review sessions should occur in the data committee or data governance committee, where progress can be discussed with senior management and calibration to best practices appear. This check-in ensures you have a living, breathing dynamic strategy that delivers desired impacts and uplifts maturity.

In conclusion, by answering these five questions, your data strategy will support your organization’s growth efforts and value creation. Further, these answers help CDAOs set the priorities and scope of work during the implementation phase, including standing up for data governance and management. A collaborative blueprint ensures stakeholder buy-in and a fit-for-purpose, business-aligned, winning data strategy.

Reference List:

* Insider Magazine. Why Your Data Strategy Probably Needs an Overhaul. (2022, August 9)

** Denis McCauley. MIT Technology Review: Insights report. (August 2022)

*** Randy Bean. Fail Fast, Learn Faster: Lessons in Data-Driven Leadership in an Age of Disruption, Big Data, and AI (August 31; Wiley)

The Best LinkedIn Tip You’ve NEVER Heard Before

The Best LinkedIn Tip You’ve NEVER Heard Before

We guarantee you’ve never noticed this LinkedIn tip prior to. You might realize that interviewers get on LinkedIn to consider candidates, and they uncover the right candidates by simply searching specific keywords. Today, if you have individuals keywords in your head line, you may rank higher around their search results. That is where this tip is available in…

Up-to-date Your LinkedIn Headline Each 2 Weeks

@j. t. odonnell 1 Tip Might NEVER Heard About Making use of LinkedIn! #linkedintips #linkedinprofile #linkedin #careeradvice #careertips #jobsearchtips #jobsearch #careertok #edutok #careerchange #recruiter ♬ original sound — J. T. O’Donnell

If you have the correct keywords in your acte, you’re telling recruiters and even hiring managers you might have those skills together with that’s where your knowledge is. But did anyone know that every 2 weeks you need to go in to LinkedIn and upgrade the couple of keywords on your headline?

You should keep track of LinkedIn headline every single two weeks because the particular algorithm is always seeking at people who have got recently updated their report. The very first time you update the profile, you’ll notice a new lot of activity, much more profile views. Then you are going to notice it starts for you to drop off because if you’re not ranking as full of search results anymore. Yet if every two several weeks you go in and additionally swap something out during that headline and strike “Save, ” it activates the algorithm to position your profile higher.

And that’s exactly how you consistently get employers to look at your own personal profile.

This particular is one of the numerous tips of which I teach in Exactly how To Navigate LinkedIn Effectively . It’s an hour-long workshop that I’m training this week. You acquire a workbook, and also you find the recording. If people can, attend live. If you’re going to learn the biggest launch of the century to get more interviewers to contact you in LinkedIn.

Need more help together with your career?

I’d love that if you subscribed to Function It Daily’s Power Hr Event Subscription ! I actually look forward to responding to all of your career questions for our next live occasion!

Test-Teach-Test: A Quick And Effective Way To Plan Training

Test-Teach-Test: A Quick And Effective Way To Plan Training

Introducing new technology is part of a change management process. Change management coordinates technical implementation with awareness raising and training activities to prepare people to use the technology effectively.

Large companies can afford to run full-blown change management projects.

Smaller and medium-sized companies do not have these resources.

They buy the technology and let managers train their staff to use it.

Now you’re the manager. Someone has sat down and shown you the basic workflow. You have to get your team trained by lunchtime. How do you plan it? How do you make sure that your staff are engaged and that the training is successful?

Inputs And Outputs

Woman trains employees a new technology

A good training session requires “inputs” and “outputs.”

“Inputs” are where knowledge is passed from the trainer to the trainee.

“Outputs” are where trainees demonstrate that they have absorbed, understood, and can use this knowledge.

The “outputs” are often more important than the “inputs” because a good training plan is designed to prepare trainees to successfully complete the “outputs,” while the “outputs” demonstrate that trainees have achieved their learning objectives.

Some people might call these “outputs” “tests.”

A good trainer sees this as a test, but not of the trainee, but of him/herself. If trainees fail to complete the “output” activity successfully, then is it the trainees’ or the trainer’s fault?

Why “Test, Teach, Test”?

Manager teaches her employee a new technology

​The “teach” is the “input” while the “test” is the “output.”

The first “test” is where we run the “output” or test before we have trained the trainees.

It might seem like a strange idea, but there are two good reasons for doing this:

  1. To get trainees’ attention. Your trainees may think they know everything because it is a refresher course or because they are very confident teenagers. Give them the completion test first and let them fail. That will show them that they have something to learn.
  2. You may not know your trainees’ level of knowledge. This often happens in business. Training is often hastily organized. Some trainees may need to learn everything from the beginning, while others only need to brush up on their knowledge.

How Should We “Test” Our Trainees?

Man trains his employees a new technology

​This depends on the content, and how much time you have to plan and conduct your training.

If you are training staff to follow a workflow, then the obvious test is to have them follow this workflow on their own computers, or describe it in some way, or answer questions on it.

If you are training staff to follow new rules, then you can present them with cases and get them to explain how the rules apply, or have them answer questions on the rules.

Where we are talking about a “refresher” training session, then the work sample, description exercise or test questions will reflect the new version of knowledge. The test could include a request to describe the main differences between the old version of the workflow/rules and the new one, to ensure that they understand the difference.

How Would I Plan This In Real Life?

Woman leads a training at work

Let’s say that there has been a change to a workflow your team uses on an IT system. The cutover to the new system is next Wednesday.

Your training objective is to train them to follow the updated workflow. Follow the steps below:

  1. Master the workflow yourself and find out both the main route and the likely “diversions.” (e.g., What happens if a customer forgets his membership number?)
  2. Decide how you are going to test how they follow the new workflow. (e.g., They log into the training environment and follow the workflow by role-playing with a colleague.)
  3. Decide how you are going to train them to follow the workflow. (e.g., You will do a step-by-step demo backed up with a step-by-step written description. This “input” session should take no longer than 20 minutes.)
  4. Book the room, test the computers, and conduct the training. Deliver the “test” first, telling them you want to see how much they already know, then “teach” the content, then deliver the “test” again and see how the results have changed.

Over To You!

Professionals attend a business training at work

No doubt you will be providing a “knowledge transfer,” training a new team member, or giving your staff a “refresher” on some new rule or technology “upgrade.” Try using this method to plan your training! Let me know how you get on!

Further reading…

If you’re training your staff to use a computer system, then you might find this article interesting: Explaining How Things Work: How To Do It And Why It Matters

Summary Sunday: Issue #484

Summary Sunday: Issue #484

This week’ ersus summary calls out this mix of concerns companies face and how these people are responding. It likewise addresses things you may do to higher prepare with regard to a job search. I actually don’ t want an individual to panic about what’ s going on inside the workforce. I would like you to be ready and take the required actions. I […]

The particular post Summary Sunday: Problem #484 made an appearance first on Career Sherpa .

All Successful Leaders MUST Have These 10 Characteristics

All Successful Leaders MUST Have These 10 Characteristics

When we are asked to think of a leader, someone who inspires us to do our best every day, a wide variety of different people come to mind. Maybe someone in your personal life, someone from a television show or movie, or a historical figure whose personality you greatly admire.

While the type of person can vary immensely, more often than not, they will all have a certain set of skills and personality traits that make them a good leader. According to recent surveys, many groups find that a good business leader will often have several or all of these characteristics.

1. Honesty

A good leader will be able to establish an honest connection with their peers. A relationship based on trust and reliability makes the team know that their leader is always there for them, which in turn inspires them to be there for their leader.

2. Ability To Delegate

A great leader showcases her ability to delegate

Each person in a group will be able to bring something different to the table, and a good leader will work with each member’s strengths and weaknesses in order to make sure that the best is being done.

3. Ability To Communicate

A manager displays her ability to communicate effectively

By clearly describing their idea to their team, the leader will be able to create a sense of ease and understanding with their peers. When every member of the team is striving towards a common goal, then there is nothing that cannot be accomplished.

4. Sense Of Humor

Leaders laughing together during a meeting

Negative situations will always arise, but a good business leader will know how to diffuse them and help give their team peace of mind. A stress-free work environment often garners the most results, and sometimes all that is necessary to help push your team forward is a healthy dose of humor in the face of difficulty.

5. Confidence

A good leader speaks with confidence during a meeting

A good leader will show confidence in the face of challenges and will inspire confidence in their team by reminding them that obstacles are just there to be overcome. The confident leader will keep their eye on the goal and will not allow anything to deter him or her, or their team, from success.

6. Commitment

A manager is committed to doing his job right

Some leaders may drive their teams to work hard, while others will constantly be at their sides, giving every task one hundred percent. The latter is the type of leader that can expect to achieve more. Teams work better when they see that the one that they answer to is right by their side, sharing their struggles and triumphs.

7. Positive Attitude

A woman is promoted to manager for her leadership characteristics

Motivation is the key to success, and it can be hard to stay motivated in a negative environment. By keeping your team’s spirits up, you will be able to motivate them to achieve more, and not let them be bothered by minor setbacks.

8. Creativity

A respected leader showcases his creativity

Sometimes a difficult situation will arise that will require you to think outside of the box and help your team do the same. At such crucial movements, a good leader will be able to demonstrate a unique type of creativity that can help their team push through any situation.

9. Ability To Inspire

A manager displays his leadership characteristic of having the ability to inspire others

Inspiration can take many forms, but a capable leader will be able to demonstrate their ability to lead and inspire by motivating their team to share their vision.

10. Intuition

An intuitive manager explains something to his colleagues

Finally, a good leader will have intuition. Sometimes obstacles will arise that nobody will know how to handle, perhaps even you. In such situations, it is important to be confident and make a decision.

No matter what the decision is, if you show that you are giving the problem everything you have got, it will inspire your team to do the same, which can often be all that is needed to help get past the situation.

All successful leaders have these 10 characteristics. If you want to be a great leader, make sure to develop these traits and skills, and you’ll be sure to find your own success!

Need more help with your career?

We’d love it if you signed up for Work It Daily’s Power Hour Event Subscription! Get your career questions answered in our next live event!

This article was originally published at an earlier date.

Revision Control – The Foundation Of Any Engineering Effort

Revision Control – The Foundation Of Any Engineering Effort

What is revision control?

Simply put, revision control is the management of changes over time. If an object is released for use outside of development, a revision is initiated.

Whether you are writing software code, developing a CAD drawing, modifying a product or its tooling, and even editing a document, each time a copy is released from the governing task a revision is introduced. Controlling these various versions of a unit is critical to engineering success.

Why would something as simple as knowing a revision be so critical to engineering efforts?

  • Product Recall – consumers need to know if their product is good or bad. The revision will provide these details.
  • Consistency – by following a single revision, efforts are consistent across the board with the defined specifications.
  • Tracking Efforts – if everyone has a document with the same name and is working concurrently, how does the group know what is the most accurate and up-to-date version?
  • Maintaining Control – with a strong revision scheme, your processes will remain in control allowing improved efficiencies within the confines of the activity.

Lessons For A Young Intern

Engineer, architect

My first exposure to revision control was drafting for a major automotive OEM. At 19, I was creating and modifying drawings for major brands. I had power I did not fully understand—my lines and numbers on the page would influence thousands of products within a single platform. This new authority meant my mistakes would also perpetuate through the system.

I would handle dozens of drawings per week to either create a drawing or revise an existing product. I had the responsibility to capture engineering concepts and present them on this sheet of paper. My actions directly controlled how items were manufactured.

Each and every single change on this paper needed to be documented. If I moved one arrow, I needed to identify the change. If I added a line, deleted a circle, or even changed the color of an element, I was responsible to capture these changes within a revision to the document.

If I made a mistake, everyone knew it.

The 4 AM Call… From Chester

Man revises something while working

We had checkers on staff who would review every single drawing for detail. Comparing the old to new drawing or reviewing a brand new design, these checkers were responsible for accuracy. Chester was the toughest, and he abused his power.

I had recently made changes to an engine block drawing of approximately 20 pages. I had moved a bolt circle and some additional changes. Inadvertently, I made some modifications to the main area of the drawing when I made my final submission.

The phone rang on my desk (before cell phones and IM), and Chester was on the other line. He was not happy with me, and proceeded to scream, yell, curse, and berate me for 12 minutes… and it felt much longer. Each and every mistake I made was a “you dumb #$%*, how did you miss this?” question. I felt terrible.

Two hours later, the drawing appeared on my desk from a runner. I unrolled the paper, and it bled red ink. One marked up mistake after another. Some pages the redlines overtook the actual lines drawn in CAD.

One final message on page one… “You need to change the revision. You can’t collect these mistakes under the old rev. Fix it – NOW.”

I was scared I was going to be fired.

The Lesson

Revision concept

When I finished wiping up the blood (red lines), I submitted a new revision of my drawing. I worked tirelessly to ensure I got every markup Chester made. I printed and reprinted copies of the drawing to ensure each line was perfect. I sweated as I walked down the hall to his inbox. Dropping my drawing package in his office, I ran away fearing the worst.

Two days later, a bundle of drawings appeared on my desk with a note. The handwriting was unmistakable, it was Chester. “Much better kid. Two more quick things, and submit for approval. You learned your lesson.”

Whoa… I dodged a bullet.

Why Is This Important?

Engineer types on his laptop

While developing “work” within the team, revisions can become cumbersome, and they are often ignored during the creative process. As soon as you submit something to anyone outside of your group, you have released a version of your work product. You cannot control where it goes, who sees it, or who can change it. You lose the ability to protect the information.

By adding a revision each time something crosses that control line, you are taking a snapshot of the history of the product. You are recording the status of this object on this date and time. You make it a piece of history.

When someone returns with questions about this product or unit, you cannot control how they received the information or how it was manipulated. You can only control how it left your hands. Knowing what state an item is when you release it can eliminate many mistakes and arguments. It can also save you from litigation.

How To Manage Revision Control

Woman organizes papers and documents

Many people will think it is easy, and at its core, revision control is simple. The discipline and execution are hard… because of humans.

A simple rule to follow: if you change something after it leaves your control, revise it.

For example, I write you a letter confirming an agreement we made over a phone call. I send this letter to you for review before we sign it making the agreement official. This letter is in its original state when I release it.

During the review, you find I mistyped your company’s price by transposing two numbers. Nothing major, correct? I just fix it and send a new letter. We agree upon it, and we sign the letter. Two years pass, and my company wishes to invoice you per the agreement. You have two letters in your possession—the original and the revised. Which price is right? What did we agree upon? Neither of us can find the signature copy. Which value is correct?

Had a revision been included in the letter moving the original copy which we will call “A” to the revision copy “B,” the difference would be immediately resolved. “B” supersedes “A,” and I have a record of the change.

This example is overly simple to prove a point. Do you agree this revision control issue is exponentially worse in a multi-piece assembly similar to your car, an airplane, or even your cell phone? Add in layers of software and variations due to assembly, and the identification of your product becomes more challenging. Having robust revision control will save you significant effort in the end.

Executive Spotlight: How These Leaders Have Changed As A Result Of The Pandemic

Executive Spotlight: How These Leaders Have Changed As A Result Of The Pandemic

The disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic spurred change across every industry. Businesses had to change, and so did workers—especially leaders, who also had to facilitate change within their organization. We recently asked our leading executives how they have changed as professionals as a result of the pandemic.

Here are their responses…

Jim Black, Engineering & Technical Executive

Man leads a virtual team meeting

At the beginning of quarantine, I hated working from home. I put in extra hours, I disliked people instant messaging me all day long, and I loathed the isolation. Even me as an introvert. After about 12-16 weeks, my entire demeanor changed. I found my stride. I enjoyed virtual team meetings with my engineering staff. I found ways to keep myself engaged and involved despite my physical location. I worked to be productive despite being alone. I found an interesting fact: I was more productive in this environment.

Since returning to work, I spend the majority of my time in the office. We have a policy where employees can work from home up to two days a week. I cannot every week; however, the weeks where I can work from home now are so enjoyable. I get many tasks accomplished, I remain connected, and I avoid my commute. I actually miss the quarantine occasionally.

Jim Black is an engineering professional focused on the development of technical professionals. He is also a professional bass player.

Kathryn Marshburn, Music Program Manager

Executive looks out the window while working from home

From my recent work at a major music streaming corporation, I have observed changes within the Gen Z and millennial co-working spaces, where there is an openness to talk about mental health and work-life balance issues. These groups approach work differently than generations before them. These two groups work extremely hard and are overachievers; however, they are acutely aware of wellness after the pandemic.

For example, as a program manager, I had the pleasure of managing eight cross-functional teams, and part of my responsibilities included gathering teams to share results. As I looked at each team member’s availability on their calendars, I often saw time blocked off for “Therapy” or “Counseling” and even “Workout Time.” These did not exist pre-pandemic, and I love this shift. Almost a more vulnerable type of communicating is now encouraged by executives, complemented by shifting company priorities, and it has created a more open form of comms exchange. Successful teams are paying attention to their own wellness and taking control of their mental health as a community.

Kathryn Marshburn has spent 12+ years in the music and gaming industries guiding teams on identifying targeted goals with an agile approach resulting in driving revenue and reducing risk.

Lisa Perry, Global Marketing Executive

Woman works from home with her dog

The most significant change I’ve experienced as a marketing executive due to the pandemic is that I feel like I get to have it all. Prior to the pandemic, I spent on average three hours a day in LA traffic driving to and from work. I left for work at 6:30 am and got home at 8:30 pm barely getting any time with my girls and husband. The cost of gas, the wear and tear on my car, the frustration. It takes a toll. A typical day included greeting my team, back-to-back meetings, and lunch with co-workers.

Life post-pandemic is very different. I am home! I see my girls, husband, two labs, and my cat every day. If my girls have questions or need me, I’m there for them. If I need to take my girls or my pets to the doctor, I can do it now. I can manage my work and my family life, no problem. My days are full of Zoom meetings, blurred background with kids and dogs scurrying behind me as I work. I still go into the office two days a month and interact with my co-workers.

Lisa Perry helps companies build leadership brands, driving loyal customers & delivering profitability. She does this through a process that builds brands consumers love. Her goal is to help companies develop, monetize, and grow their brands.

Percy Leon, Digital Media Content Executive

Digital content creator records a video

I’ve always been a professional content creator/filmmaker, but the pandemic has really changed the way I work. I used to be very reliant on in-person interactions with friends and family to help me come up with ideas and film new videos. However, since the pandemic started, I’ve had to get creative with my content. I’ve started using my family and friends as resources for new ideas, and I’ve also started filming new videos by myself. I also started doing a lot of micro-learning on subjects that would help me in my career (video editing for YouTube, TikTok, professional development [Executive Online Presence]). I have also been learning as much about Web3.

This has been a big change for me, but it’s one that I’ve really enjoyed. I’m much happier with my work now, and I feel like I’m more fulfilled as a content creator. The pandemic has definitely changed the way I work, but it’s also made me a better professional.

Percy Leon is a digital media content producer specializing in educational technology and entertainment. He is interested in web3, metaverse, and the use of virtual reality for storytelling.

What’s the number one way you have changed as a professional as a result of the pandemic? Join the conversation inside Work It Daily’s Executive Program.

Why You Need A Disaster Recovery Plan Even If You Have A BCP

Why You Need A Disaster Recovery Plan Even If You Have A BCP

The organization has a documented business continuity plan (BCP) which identifies the departments’ needs and requirements to recover in the event of a disaster. Technology is at the center of the business and typically touches every department. But IT only has finite resources—people, equipment, and time. This means IT has to have a comprehensive disaster recovery (DR) plan that is agreed upon by the business. This includes defining a plan for incidents such as phishing and ransomware attacks.

Start off by determining what all of IT assets are (e.g., hardware, software, data). Unless you have large stacks of money, it’s typically not cost-effective for IT to recover and bring up everything at the same time. Instead, it needs to be prioritized. One way is to categorize applications as mission critical (minimal downtime of x minutes/hours), essential (downtime of x hours/days), and non-essential (downtime of x days/weeks/months). There is a cost associated with the defined recovery time objective (RTO).

Preventative Controls To Implement

Backup concept

Now that you know what you have, there are some preventative controls you can implement to protect those assets:

1. Have a surge protector for each laptop/desktop/external monitor in case there is a power spike.

2. Have an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) for desktops/servers so that they can be shut down gracefully in the event of a power outage or bridge the time until the generator kicks on.

3. Have a generator for when the power goes out and you have equipment/systems that must stay up. You can use colored electrical outlets to designate which are connected to the generator. Make sure you test the generator and have a plan to maintain sufficient fuel.

4. Create backups including for email, applications, data, etc. Some backup considerations include:

  • Incremental backups vs. full backups
  • Real-time, daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual backups
    • The time since your last backup will affect your recovery point objective (RPO)
    • Don’t forget that passwords will be as of the time of the backup
  • Periodic testing to ensure you can recover the backed-up data.

If there is an incident, the next question is where to recover. Whether the hardware is on premise or in the cloud could make the answer significantly more straightforward. Also, is the incident isolated such as one server going down and another server can be swapped in? Is there a fire in the main server room? If so, do you have a hot site or an alternate location? If you’re in the cloud, how easy is it for you to spin up other servers, or do you have disaster recovery as a service (DRaaS)? There could be significant costs depending on the strategy.

Managing Your Disaster Recovery Plan

Disaster recovery concept

Make sure you document your DR plan and keep it current. You may want to keep a hard copy of the DR plan at your alternate site (if applicable). The next three critical steps are to test, test, and test some more. Test at least once a year (preferably with the business). Tabletop tests are good, but actual tests are better and more realistic. Document your test results to see what went well, what could be improved, and what didn’t work or meet expectations. The lessons learned for each test will help you refine your DR plan (and BCP plans), especially with the business’ ever-changing needs and objectives.

There is a saying that applies: “Hope for the best, but plan for the worst.” Having a written and comprehensive DR plan will put you ahead of the game when you’re trying to recover the organization’s IT assets in a chaotic and stressful disaster situation.

For more information on having a thorough disaster recovery (DR) plan, follow me on LinkedIn!