The Strange Matter of How We Perceive TimeEven though we can’t do much about the passage of time—and it seems like we’ll never have enough of it—it’s intriguing to consider how we experience it. Our perception of time is subjective and influenced by all sorts of things. Keep these facts in mind when managing your time and your workweek.
How to Get People to Read Your EmailBusy people—and even those who are not so busy—lack the patience to wade through endless emails, so you have to be clear, concise, and considerate if you want yours to be read. There are many ways you can communicate more easily and effectively, and Naomi Karten compiles some good ideas here.
How to End Disputes GracefullyGiven the many points of view in any work effort, disputes may be inevitable. The challenge is to gracefully terminate these disputes with none of the parties suffering black eyes or bruised egos. When you find yourself embroiled in a divisive difference of opinion, here are some things to try.
Understanding the Pace of Change: How to Stay Relevant in Your RoleThe rate at which we need to change and the speed of change are much greater than they used to be. We don't have as much time to get as deep in our skills, and we need to be more comfortable being generalists and picking up new skills, technologies, and processes quickly. Read on to stay relevant.
The Ambiguous Sounds of Silence: Why You Should Ask for InputSilence may not be golden when members of a team are trying to reach agreement, resolve an issue, or make a decision. In this setting, silence is often taken to mean that those who haven’t voiced an opinion approve of the matter under discussion—yet they may very well not. You should make sure.
I Don’t Sprint, I Stroll: A Non-Techie’s Journey to Product OwnershipWhat happens when the director of marketing becomes a product owner for some of her company's web properties? She gets a crash course on the real meaning of agile development and her role in it all—and a newfound respect for the people who work in software engineering every day.
Agile Teams Can Learn a Lot from the World CupIt might not seem apparent at first, but there are more than a handful of similarities between agile teams and those football/soccer teams representing their respective countries in the World Cup. How teams are built, their objectives, and on-the-fly changes are all facets that tie both together.
College Degree or Experience: Which Is Better?Sparked by a LinkedIn conversation, Joe Townsend contemplates the question: Does a degree or experience hold more weight in the software development and IT hiring process? With a look toward tech giant Google, Townsend tries to uncover if a degree means more than industry experience.
