The Managers Guide to Understanding Strategy

The Managers Guide to Understanding StrategyThe Managers Guide to Understanding StrategyStrategy is one of the key disciplines of management, complete with its own vocabulary and tools and no shortage of expert opinions on what it means and how to best develop it. And like everything else in management in this era of accelerating change and increased volatility, our understanding and our approaches to developing and executing on our firms strategy must evolve as well. The purpose of this post is to help you understand the concept of strategy and some of the key terms. Bringing Strategy to Life with Your Favorite Restaurant Think about a special restaurant in your life. Perhaps its where you and your significant other go on your anniversary. Or, perhaps its the go-to location for great local cuisine when you have out-of-town guests staying with you. Regardless of location, your favorite restaurant has made some key choices, including Menu, including style of cuisine and featured o r rotating specialsTypes of customers they are most interested in attracting and retainingPricingLocationAmbiance or feel, including dcor, lighting, noise level, temperature and moreExperience, including the tone and tenor of the host or hostess and waitstaff. behauptung and other key decisions reflect the restaurants core strategic choices. And of course, since there are so many options for us to choose from for eating, ranging from staying home to all manner of casual, fast, fine-dining, independent or chain restaurants, the owner makes her decisions based on her targeted customers and taking into account how she wants to be unique or different from competitors. Its the choices of what to do and what not to do, focused on a specific audience that defines the restaurants strategy. The same goes for your firm. An independent, high-end, fine-dining restaurant targeting an affluent audience interested in a great dining experience will not offer a discount or budget menu option. The pr icing will reflect the core strategy and audience. What Strategy Is Not In the corporate world, strategy is often a term and concept that is widely misapplied. For example Growth is not a strategy, its an outcome. Our strategy is simple. Were going to grow by 20% for the next three years. This is definitely not a strategy.Lofty goals and numbers such as, Over the next five years, well move from 1,000 to 10,000 customers, or, Well move from 10-percent to 40-percent market share, are not strategies.Your companys mission statement isnt a strategy, although, it is often a factor in choosing strategies.Strategy doesnt have to be something all-new or never-been-done-before. Its a misnomer that strategy must equal innovation. What Strategy Is and What it Provides It is a description of how your firm is going to find and keep customers.It is a description of how your firm is going to establish a meaningful (in the minds of customers) difference versus your competitors.It is a serie s of coordinated actions in pursuit of building anadvantage over your competitors with specific customer targets.It is a description of how your firm will compete and win.It is a description of how your firm will make money.A clear strategy provides a filter for decisions. It helps decide what your firm will and wont do. A clear strategy provides a playbook for everyone in a firm on selection actions, investments and setting goals. What a Proper Strategy Includes Theres a great book on strategy we encourage all managers to read and keep, entitled Good Strategy/Bad Strategy The Difference and Why it Matters. Author, Richard Rumelt, does an outstanding job offering a clear, simple description of the components of a good strategy. These include 1. The Diagnosis A clear assessment and statement of the situation. Imagine that you are suffering from a number of ailments and you go to a doctor for help. Your doctor will spend time assessing many different factors before arriving at a diagnosis and certainly before selecting a treatment. The same goes for corporate strategy, where a team will work to assess and describe the current and expected future conditions in their markets. 2. The Guiding Philosophy Drawing upon the medical example, after completing a diagnosis, your doctor will suggest an overall approach for dealing with your ailments. In a corporate setting, we do the same with strategy. After assessing market and customer conditions and our own firms situation, we define a general approach that will help us compete and win in select markets with specific customer groups. 3. The Coherent Actions Your medical treatment regimen will include a series of specific steps or actions designed to cure or minimize your malady. In a corporate setting, we define the specific, coordinated actions necessary to implement the guiding philosophy. Thats it. The explanation is simple, but the development and execution of a strategy are by no means simplistic. T he Bottom-Line for Now While strategy is filled with terms and approaches and tools and discussed mostly by executives, consultants, and academics, you dont have to let the topic frighten you away. On the contrary, the most valuable and successful managers and leaders work hard to simplify this complex topic and help their teams and firms develop clear, relevant and widely understandable strategies.

The Importance of Reading Job Descriptions Thoroughly

The Importance of Reading Job Descriptions ThoroughlyThe Importance of Reading Job Descriptions ThoroughlyWhen job searching, we instinctively want to skip through most of the description and get straight to the application process. You want to skim through and fill out as many applications as possible. Well, I know first hand how important it is to read through the entire job description. After all, that is exactly what led me to the wonderful opportunity I have now.First, I would like to share my professional biography with you. It will give you a little bit of information about me and my story and I share with you how reading a job description thoroughly, made an impact. Perhaps it will help you land that interview at the company of your dreams.If you read my bio, you know that I am a mom of two toddlers. A couple of years ago, I decided to leave work to be a stay at home and care for my kids for awhile. I had a resume eu-agrarpolitik of about 2 years. When I decided to get back i nto the workforce, finding a job proved to be more difficult than I ever would have expected.While I was reading one of the job listings, I noticed it said, bonus if you can catch the typo in this listing. I was able to catch the typo and I mentioned it in my cover letter when I applied. Because of that one little sentence, my application stood out among over 300 other applicants. It landed me my interview, gave me the chance to show who I am and why I would be a great fit for the role and that landed me my job.So, why does it make a big difference to the hiring manager?Filtering Applications - Hiring managers can get hundreds of applications for each job posting. That little bonus points question can help act as a quick filter through the applications.Proves you know the job - It shows the hiring manager that you read through the job description. You know what the job will entail. It proves that you read the responsibilities and qualifications needed for the job. It also shows that you applied because you believe that you are a good fit for the position.Why is it important to you?Narrows Your Search - It helps you to narrow down jobs that you believe you are the perfect fit for based on the job requirements and your skills.Helps you stand out - Getting a rejection letter before you even get an interview can be very discouraging. When you mention something from the job post in your cover letter, it helps your application stand out amongst others.Saves you time - say you applied for a job but didnt read the description and there were some responsibilities or job duties in the role that you dont like. So you follow up with the hiring manager, even schedule an interview. After speaking, you realize that you dont like what the job entails and the job is not a good fit for you. You wasted an hour of your time when you could have been applying for a job that better suits your experience, wants and needs.By reading job descriptions thoroughly, you give yourself the c hance to catch something in the post that you can add to your cover letter. This helps your cover letter stand out. It could automatically put your application in the lead even before resume review.Reading a job description thoroughly can be the difference in whether the company considers you for the job. So the next time you are job searching, take the extra couple of seconds to read the entire job post. You may find a little bonus point that will make all the difference to how your application will be seen by a hiring manager. I know it did for me.

17 creative weekend routines for a happier, more successful week

17 creative weekend routines for a happier, more successful week17 creative weekend routines for a happier, more successful weekYour weekendroutinecan oftenset the tonefor your upcoming week, so its important to spend your time doing whatrecharges you.Oprah Winfrey, for instance, has said I always give myself Sundays as a spiritual base of renewal - a day when I do absolutely nothing. I sit in my jammies or take a walk, and I allow myself time to BE - capital B-E - with myself.We asked theThrive Global communitywhat they choose to do to prepare for a happier week ahead, and were seriously inspired to try a few of these fun, calming and downright creative weekend rituals. Pet-itation anyone?StargazeOn the weekends, I look forward to an evening walk to observe the stars. Late in the evening, we bring along one device and use a stargazing app to locate planets, constellations, satellites and the International Space Station. The world fades away as we look to the skies, and our hassle s seem less important when beholding the big picture. Its our own form of grounding for the week ahead.- Marti Ouellette, life and business coach, Phoenix, AZDeclutter your homeI love to get chores done Working from home can make it really hard to keep a routine, but knowing that Ive cleaned on Saturday mornings prepares me mentally for the week. Its amazing how much clearer my head is for the week when my home is clean. Working in a cluttered home makes my whole week feel scattered- Michaell Johnson, blogger, Los Angeles, CAKeep calm and watch rom-comsOn the weekends, I like to keep calm and watch rom-coms. My Saturday mornings start at about 8 a.m. I wake up to a glass of water and write for a couple hours. But once that session is over, the onslaught of binging romantic comedies begins. It makes me smile, keeps things lighthearted and puts everything in a strange kind of perspective. A world with rom-coms cant possibly be all bad.- fall Carter, writer and author, Toronto, CATry d evice-free SundaysWeekends are gas in the tank for my week. Every dinner at our house is device-free, but we try to add to the equanimity by having a device-free Sunday. That just creates more space for naps, games and long walks. We dont always stick to our ideals, but we give it our best every week.- Donna Carlson, life coach, Monument, COPrep your mealsWhen it comes to preparing for the week ahead, I love to meal prep. Shopping, cooking and packing for the week ahead is not only a time saver, its also a health saver. Having meals prepared in advance that can either be eaten on the go, heated up or frozen until later in the week saves precious time and money. It also reduces the urge to grab stress fillers or meals that wont fuel you properly. Take care of your body, its the only place you have to live in.- Joshua Miller, author and executive coach, New York, NYTake a solo nature walkMy weekend routine that makes my weekend happier is a solo walk by the lake - usually taking phot ographs. As we move into the autumn season, the colors are so very beautiful.- Karina Saakyan, journal development specialist, Lausanne, SwitzerlandPut away the to-dosDuring the week, there is always something lingering thatneedsto be done. I used to spend time relaxing and then the whole time felt anxious about everything else I should be doing. That killed any gelegenheit of feeling refreshed. Eventually I realized that recharge time, whether its extra time strolling in the park, in front of the TV or curled up with a good book, has to be prioritized equally as getting work tasks done, or youll never feel rested.- Allison Graham, keynote speaker, author, business coach, Ontario, CanadaEnjoy an at-home happy hourMy weekend routine is all about time with the people I love most. Fridays I enjoy HHH (home happy hour) with my husband. We throw on records, open a yummy bottle of wine and sit outside on the patio with our pups to discuss our week. Its a great opportunity to reconnect aft er a busy week of brief encounters.- Caitlin Root, strategic account executive, San Diego, CAExercise with your familyOne of my best weekend routines is a Saturday morning at the gym. Our gym does a great Kids Fit club, so my husband, my 6-year-old daughter and I all go off to the gym and do our own thing. Sometimes Ill spin, sometimes yoga, sometimes weights. Once weve finished our classes or workout, we come back together for a quick snack and then hit the pool for a swim and a play. By lunchtime, weve got a good work out in and shared some quality time together.- Angharad Boyson, coach, Lincoln, UKQuiet the work-talkI like to keep Sunday evening work-free, to make sure Im really ready for Monday. I always make sure there is time out on Sunday. As soon as weve had Sunday dinner as a family there is no work/school talk, a complete switch off. Allowing time for us all to unwind before the week starts again on Monday and keep the weeks apart.- Tina McDonald, youth career coach and le adership facilitator, UKKeep it unscheduledOn the weekends, it is important for me to have unscheduled recreation. I love live music, dancing and the great outdoors, so my weekend rituals include these at some point. My intention is to not be scheduled with these right brained activities, and the truth is these activities fuel my spirit. By allowing my unscheduled passions to happen on the weekend, I feel more creative and open as the week unfolds.- Cathy Reinhold, business coaching, Houston, TXTry ploggingI recently replaced jogging with plogging - picking up litter while I run. I thought the stopping and stooping would annoy me, but the burn in my leg muscles from lunging and squatting tells me Im working them, which is satisfying. However modest the effect on the environment, it takes no extra time, makes me more fit and helps clean our world.- Joshua Spodek, author, speaker, and prof of leadership, New York, NYPet-itateBeyond quality time spent with friends and family on weeken ds, I have a Sunday evening ritual that sets the tone for my week. I meditate with my dog. It sounds silly but it is a sort of bonding experience for us sitting in silence, no disturbances or distractions - just a moment in time to reconnect, relax from an active weekend and set intentions for the upcoming week.- Jennifer Giamo, health and fitness expert, New York, NYTake a restorative bathEvery Sunday evening I begin my bath ritual in a way most people wouldnt define as relaxing I grab a Clorox wipe and clean my bathroom sink and tub. Clearing the space of empty shampoo bottles, soap slivers and rusted razor blades is the first step in relaxing for any recovering perfectionist. Once the space is prepped, I fill the bath with epsom salts, light scented candles and fire up my classical piano for relaxation station. During the bath I make a point to be mindful of my body and connect to it.- Rebekah Storm, body confidence coach, MNCelebrate your successesEvery Sunday evening, I take s ome time to celebrate my successes from the week. Sometimes there is a lot to celebrate, sometimes less but there is always something. I recommend listening to a relaxing soundtrack, closing your eyes and reflecting on all the good things that have happened during the week. Ending the week on a positive note helps me to start the next week happier.- Yasmina Hedhli, life and executive coach, London, UKWrite in a bullet journalEvery Sunday evening, I take one hour to go though the following in my bullet journal for the upcoming week brde weeks accomplishments, my remaining to dos, upcoming priorities and important events. I also ask myself, What did I learn from last week? This routine keeps me on track with what actually matters in my life.- Marie Claire Bourque, MD, FRCPC psychiatrist, Calgary, CanadaConnect with the outdoors and your creativityMy routine is to go one day on the weekend technology-free, without my iPhone or laptop. I avoid tech as much as possible working on weeken ds, as this is my family time. Instead, I try to incorporate something that rejuvenates and opens my mind to allow my creative energy to flow, such as a visit to the beach to take in fresh air.- Anne Clark, business and life coach, Melbourne, AustraliaThis article was originally published on Thrive Global.

Engineering Painless Immunization

Engineering Painless Immunization Engineering Painless Immunization Engineering Painless ImmunizationLike most engineers, Mark Prausnitz chose his profession because he likes to solve problems. Ever since his student days, he has been motivated by one kind of problem, one where he can make a major difference in peoples lives.That motivation, spurred by his idea about a novel method for drug delivery, has driven him to find a way to make vaccines, drugs, and the like more affordable and accessible to many more people around the world, particularly in developing countries.Today, Prausnitz, the Regents professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology and director of the universitys Center for Drug Design, Development and Delivery, believes within five years he will see his decades-long dream come to fruition. He and his Georgia Tech team and other collaborators have developed a new technology for drug delivery, a seemingly simple adhesive, bandage-li ke korrektur fr programmfehler carrying a hundred or more dissolvable microscopic needles composed of a drug or vaccine that is absorbed through the skin.That delivery system carrying influenza vaccine recently completed a human clinical trial with approximately 100 participants conducted by collaborator Emory University. The dime-sized patch is applied by pressing it painlessly into the skin at the wrist. The study found that the patches were just as effective in immunizing against influenza as a traditional application. The patches are more affordable than todays syringe because they can be stored without refrigeration and self-administered and are easily disposed after use. The team is also working on microneedle patches for other vaccines, including for measles, rubella, and polio.Prausnitz began work on microneedle drug delivery some 22 years ago, not long after he had earned a PhD from MIT and joined Georgia Tech. There, he teamed with Mark Allen, a professor and electrical en gineer working on microfabrication for electronic devices, to begin adapting electronics industry technology to make microneedle structures.Along the way, the team overcame a variety of engineering challenges. The first challenge welches in making them at all, Prausnitz says. Then in terms of advancing the technology from a scientific standpoint, a lot of it was step by step.The microneedle vaccine patch contains tiny needles that dissolve into the skin, carrying vaccine. reputation Georgia TechThe first microneedles were made of silicon, which the team quickly realized was not right for a medical device. Its a good semiconductor, but its brittle, and its expensive so we moved to other materials, first metals like stainless steel, then polymers that are biodegradable and water soluble, Praunitz says.One major challenge involved the biomechanics of the interrelationship between the microneedle patch and the skin. The needles are less than a millimeter long. If they arent designed and applied right, pressing them onto the skin could deform the skin, making a little valley in it, and not actually puncture it, Prausnitz says. Thus, the microneedles need to be strong and sharp so that they puncture the skin with less force, deforming the skin less where the puncture occurs.In order to avoid the use of an applicator, not desirable since a disposable could increase the cost and a reusable would need sterilization, the team opted for thumb-based insertion by optimizing the geometry of the microneedles and incorporating a device that makes a clicking sound to indicate that enough force has been applied. At first, instructions for application were press hard, but that meant different things to different people, Prausnitz says.Applying the microneedle vaccine patch. Image Rob Felt, Georgia TechFabrication also presented challenges. Unlike a hollow needle in a syringe, the microneedles are solid and composed of sucrose, with the influenza vaccine encapsulated within. When applied, they get wet from body fluids, the needles dissolve, and the vaccine is absorbed through the skin.To ensure that the needles have that functionality, a sophisticated fabrication method is used to make a master structure in the shape of the device, and then an inverse mold is made. The solutions are cast onto the inverse mold and dried.Controlling the deposition onto the mold turns out to be quite important, Prausnitz says. In part because you want the solution to properly fill the mold and youre talking hundreds of microns in the longest dimension and something like one micron in the smaller one.Additionally, encapsulated bioactive molecules dont like to be dry so the team had to figure out how to formulate the solutions with just the right additives to make the microneedles strong enough not to bend or break as they puncture the skin. Sucrose is a simple one, Prausnitz says.The next step is to conduct a larger clinical study and address some manufacturing issues.Its a new manufacturing method and must be done at reasonable cost. We want patches made for mass influenza vaccination campaigns in developing countries, Prausnitz says. The question is, Can you make 100 1000000 at sufficiently low cost, reliably and robustly?The answer right now is not yet. But we think we have a way. It remains to be proven, he says.Nancy S. Giges is an independent writer. For Further Discussion The question is can you make 100 million at sufficiently low cost, reliably and robustly.Prof. Mark Prausnitz, Georgia Tech

The Pain of Game Designer Resume

The Pain of Game Designer Resume Choosing Good Game Designer Resume Whether its your very first job for a video game planer or the tenth, an interview is almost always a troubling moment. For mora details see the Skillset site.Theres no market standard of education or employment credentials that you must possess to be a game designer. The entire issue is a must-read resource for designers and developers by themselves, as it provides all of the aid of a consultant without the price Show the recruiter theres a lot more you have to give. Definitions of Game Designer Resume Every one of them boasts a clean appearance, yellow accents, and Roboto font, which will provide a modern appearance to your documents. Set the company name, place, and dates worked as well. In that situation, you may wish to use the appropriate dates. Provide each sub-group with a bit of flipchart paper and a number of markers. Game Designer Resume - Is it a Scam? This is your opportunity to make an excel lent first impression on potential employers. Reread the work offer to spot the skills the employer is searching for specifically. Some applicants make the incorrect option of design or old fashioned formats that may be harmful to the chance of finding the job. Simply stick to a few suggestions to represent yourself to prospective employers as effectively as possible. Who Else Wants to Learn About Game Designer Resume? So when the hiring company hasnt provided a salary for work, we look at salary data from related businesses and locations to produce a fair estimate for what it is possible to count on. We know salary is a critical part of your decision whether to put in an application for a job. Boost your opportunities to receive a desirable job with this expert CV freebie. Make sure you acknowledge the combined resources for the whole team and make them begin considering how they are able to best apply behauptung skills. Its possible to make use of these skills lists through out your job search approach. Consequently, communication skills are essential to the job. There might be opportunities to move into management and advertising roles. Online Free Resume Templates provide different styles and formats of resumes that it is possible to choose from and write accordingly. While there are numerous benefits of using Free Templates, there are related disadvantages too. Begin by locating a very good template, then fill in your info and background. Produced Community content online. All About Game Designer Resume Any customization required has to be attended on your own. If you would like to give a comprehensive summary of your merits in an easy-to-perceive fashion, utilize this well-structured template of A4 size. It is preferable to find a proper template than trying to change an existing one drastically. I am quite thorough when it has to do with specifications. What the In-Crowd Wont Tell You About Game Designer Resume Since you may see, ther es a broad range of freebies to select from. Whats also cool about our hand-picked selection is the simple fact that lots of packages include bonuses like cover letters or company cards. Its text-rich, well-organized layout will allow you to reveal all of your strong points to prospective employers. Second, online resume templates provide a number of style choices. The Tried and True Method for Game Designer Resume in Step by Step Detail Time Management Most graphic designers are continuously juggling several projects simultaneously. There are an assortment of jobs that require graphic design abilities. Certain abilities and talents must already be present to a person before they can begin a career for a designer. Typography It is a more conventional skill for designers, but its nonetheless essential. To be a designer takes a creative mind and the capacity to put into action all the things which are on your head so youre able to present an output and help it become necessar y for the lives of your client. If you work hard to compose a great resume, you will stick out from the crowd and be on the path to landing an incredible job in the game market. The duties of a game designer may vary greatly based on the essence of the project they are working on. This is a small-scale, playable variant of the game, designed to verify that the idea will get the job done. Previous work creating complete games as a piece of a group of developers is excellent. The games market will probably expand. Make certain you have a minumum of one example for a time you demonstrated every one of the top five skills listed here. Around 6,600 men and women in the united kingdom work in computer games development.

New Book from an Executive Coach

New Book from an Executive Coach For professionals who want to be able to get through the obstacles that come while in pursuit of success, Ruth Mott has released an insightful book to help. I Love YouNow Get Over Yourself 7 Secrets for Professional Success from The Jewish Motzu sich Executive Coach, is a book that offers valuable and applicable solutions to common problems that professionals have to contend with while working toward success. Mott, an executive coach and president of Mott Coaching, had this to say about her book The professional world is a difficult and complex place. In this book, its my goal to give readers the tools they need to get out of their own way so they can be successful with some humor, maybe a little guilt, and, of course, direct advice, just like a good Jewish motherMott has traveled the world as an executive coach and uses her experiences to contribute to gainful in sights revealed in the book. Her book includes examples and success stories from executives that have applied her strategies in their businesses and have seen growth and continued success. Mott adds, My multifaceted background has significantly contributed to my abilities and success as an executive coach. More than anything, my experience has taught me exactly what people need to hear to be successfulMott Coaching is an executive coaching and leadership development consulting company that assists career professionals in getting through challenges to achieve success. She offers 15 years experience as an executive in the healthcare industry, as well as additional years as a public television administrator, producer and director and eight years as a consultant.For more information about Ruths book, visit http//www.TheJewishMotherCoach.com.