A friend working for a large company recently lost her coworker to layoffs and was asked to take on the additional tasks that were left behind. Now managing the workload of two people, she felt so overwhelmed by all that needed to be completed in one day, that she spent half the day panicking about how to manage and left the office that night having completed nothing.

If you find yourself jumping from task to task without completing any, or if your to do list spans more than one page, it might be time to step back, take a deep breath and reassess.

First, stop beating yourself up about reading this blog! Cut yourself some slack. You can only do your best and sometimes that may mean some things don’t get finished until tomorrow. If you try to take on too much you could burn out fast; nothing is less productive than an unhappy employee so take a second to read this and you’ll be able to prepare for today and all the days to follow with a much lighter mindset.

We’re going to break down the list together by following these six simple steps:

1. Write down all of your tasks on a master list, regardless of how important they are or when they need to be done. If you’re mind is wandering to tasks you have to complete outside of work, make two lists, but don’t add your home tasks to your work list – you should always strive to keep the two separate. If any project will take more than a day or two, break it down into steps that are manageable in one day only.

2. Prioritize these tasks by writing A for top priorities, B for secondaries, etc. First, consider which have deadlines that need to be met. Second, are any of these tasks that you can delegate? If you can ask for help, then ask. Don’t be proud – a good manager will always know how to delegate. Third, do you need input from others to complete this task? Give them plenty of time by pushing this up higher on the priority list.

3. Plan your daily to do list.

a. Make sure you do this in peace. If this means coming in 10 minutes earlier, you’ll be happy you did – you’ll find yourself organized and productive all day as a result of a good task list. Choose six of the A tasks. No more, no less. Make sure you choose at least one that can be completed in one day, so that you leave feeling a sense of accomplishment every day. If you happen to complete all six and can take on another, then great, but do not, no matter what, start the day with more than six.

b. Consider any meetings you have today or tomorrow and any prep work that may need to be done for them.

c. Decide when you will read and answer your emails (3 or 4 times a day) and stick to that plan – don’t fall into the trap of reading emails as they arrive (turn off that pop up). Usually, checking email before planning your day, and fifteen minutes before you leave for the day will catch any urgent meetings or messages and once or twice throughout the day will give you time for a break between tasks.

4. Finish each task before moving on. This is probably the hardest part for most people. We get bored, we get frustrated, we start surfing the web, Joe from accounting drops by to talk about football. No matter what the distraction or annoyance you have to finish that task. By only accepting six tasks, you should have enough breathing room in your day to take a break, but you have to stay true to your list and get back to the task where you left off. If the task requires input from someone else, pass it on to that person and consider it done FOR NOW. I have a system of marking this task. I don’t cross it off the list because it will be coming back to me, and I may need to remind the other person, so I use an arrow with the recipient’s initials. Hopefully, you prioritized with plenty of time for others’ input, so you can now move this off today’s list.

5. If tasks come in throughout the day, add them to the Master list. You don’t need to assess the priority yet – you’ll do that tomorrow morning.

6. Finish your day by crossing off those tasks that are done from the master list– you should have at least one – and moving those that are not to tomorrow’s list. Now, tomorrow’s planning time should mean only picking the new tasks from the Master list and you can leave work with a sense of accomplishment.

Our last post taught you what should be in your resume; this time we focus on the layout of that resume.

In these changing times, your resume has to stand out and fit all manner of medium (meaning it has to look good printed, as well within email and on various websites). So, how do you ensure that yours stands out amongst all others? Take a look at any newspaper for direction. Not only do they have to fit all mediums, they now have to compete with blogs, opinions and keep both readers and advertisers happy on a daily basis.

First thing you should notice on the newspaper is the layout. I can take one quick look and know where to find what I need. Make sure your resume is clean and easy to navigate. It may be fun to create a funky resume, but don’t go too far – if you’re not a graphic designer, you could be asking your reader to work too hard to find your information.

The most important spot on any resume is the top left corner. We read pages, regardless of website or printed piece, from top to bottom and left to right. The top left spot on a newspaper usually includes the company logo and should showcase the most important piece of your resume: your contact information. When I am scanning resumes, I always look at contact info first to see if the person is located in the correct area (more often than not, I want somebody to start immediately, so I can’t consider someone looking to relocate). Don’t use fancy fonts for your name or address (Georgia is always a good choice, easy to read and available on all computers). Again, unless you are showcasing design skills, make reading the resume as simple as possible.
The second most important spot is the rest of the top bar. This should house your objective. Hopefully you know which specific job you are applying for, so you should tailor this one sentence to that job and answer the question, “Why are you the best fit for this job?” If you are posting to a site and not for one particular job, answer that question about your ideal job.

Next, the actual content. When journalists write they use the inverted pyramid, meaning the most important information is at the top with more minor, more detailed information at the bottom. This way, editors and readers can understand the entire story from the first few sentences. Below your objective and contact information, your qualifications are next on the list of importance. Start with your most recent job and work your way backwards. If you are fresh out of college, use any positions you may have had on student government, campus newspaper or within your fraternity. Try to show how this has enhanced your education. Did you win any awards, learn organizational skills, did you have to stick to strict deadlines or come up with fresh ideas? Put this info here.

The next thing I like to put actually steps away from the newspaper layout. Put your additional info next: any volunteer work, community groups, any articles printed. The reason I put it here is habit. It’s habit to expect a newspaper’s contact information in the footnotes and it’s habit to expect education to be at the bottom of a resume. There’s a good chance that a reader will read the top of your resume and then skim to the bottom to see your education.

So, last on the list is your education and any awards or accolades (restate them if you have them in the detail of your previous jobs). Start with the highest level.

Thinking of your resume like a journalist might think of an article or an editor might think of the newspaper puts you in that competitive mindset, which in these tough times you need. To get the job you want, your resume is your lead story – make it easy to read, interesting and intriguing.

Stay tuned, next we will discuss how to Search Engine Optimize your resume.

Image courtesy of institutechildrenslit.net

You ask most people if the cause of their stress is email and they’d say yes, but the cause is not so much the amount of email or the work it can lead to, but the culture that has been created around email.  According to Boston University Associate Professor Stine Grodal, email causes stress because of the following issues:

• Time over volume: It isn’t necessarily the amount of email we receive that overwhelms us, but the time it takes to read and respond to dense, cryptic or outright incoherent messages.
• Nebulous rules: Because emails don’t interrupt us like phone calls do, there are no rules around appropriate and inappropriate times to send emails. In this way, “email begins to blur the lines between work life and home life,” says Grodal. “It comes at all times of day — late at night and early in the morning.”
• Response time: Further complicating the rules, most senders have come to expect a reply within two hours, explains Grodal. “That puts a lot of pressure on people to respond to email outside of the work day,” she adds.

By this reasoning, this stress can only continue as our business world relies more and more on emails and social networking and our personal lives adds text messaging and further social networking to the mix.

So, how do you manage that stress?

• Start a new culture. Pick up the phone and you might be encouraging others to call you instead of emailing. Response time will be cut down and hearing the intonation in voices will also cut down on your time spent decoding those “cryptic” emails.
• Schedule your emails. Read your emails and respond at set times of the day. Turn off the message alarms on your phone or Outlook/Entourage.
• Don’t double messages. If you send an email, leave it at that. Don’t then instant message, text message and/ or call as a follow up. If you’re in a hurry, start with a phone call.
• Avoid the cc. As a boss, I hate being cc’d on messages just to make a point. It acts as a silly threat; everybody knows why you’re doing the cc and everyone resents it. The risk is also that, if you continue to cc unnecessarily, the boss will ignore your more important messages.
• Same as above for bcc, read receipts and flagged messages. Don’t cry wolf.

“If you had to identify, in one word, the reason why the human race has not achieved, and never will achieve, its full potential, that word would be ‘meetings’” – Pulitzer-Prize winning Humorist Dave Barry

Whether it’s a lunch meeting, a virtual or a face to face, it’s up to you to make the most of your encounter! Meetings are a part of our everyday lives, whether we want them or not. Sometimes it’s for a job interview, a team project, re-visiting an old contact or selling to a new client. There are several tips you can follow, regardless of the kind of meeting, to make sure you get the most out of each and every one!

Here are some quick and easy ways to make the most of your meetings:

-         Prepare before the meeting. Review the information you will or could discuss and if you can, ask the individual or individuals you are meeting with to let you know what’s to be expected.

-         Bring materials. Bring a pen and notepad, no matter what kind of meeting it is. Then, depending on what you’re doing, you may want to bring other materials with you. If it’s a job interview, bring your resume, cover letter, list of references and portfolio, if applicable. If you’re meeting with a potential business partner, bring questions you may have and anything you need to discuss futher. If it’s a potential client, bring marketing materials and other items to help with your pitch.

-         Be physically prepared. This may sound silly, but we mean it in all seriousness! Meetings can last hours and depending on the kind of meeting, they can be truly exhausting. Prepare yourself physically by getting a good night’s rest and eating a good meal beforehand (if it isn’t a breakfast, lunch or dinner meeting, that is).

-         Understand the purpose. What is the true purpose of the meeting? Are you trying to get a job, or are you trying to pitch a new client? Even if it seems that there is a clear purpose for meeting, sometimes it can get lost in all of the other information you’ve got on your plate. Have a clear purpose for your meeting and stick with it.

If your office is anything like mine, you may have noticed a new co-worker has arrived early this holiday season: the cold and flu virus. In the last couple of weeks, we’ve seen a major pickup in the cold and flu season as it has crept its way into our office cubicles, common areas and is sweeping across the air.

The cold and flu season poses a major threat to businesses, big and small. According to the Centers for Disease Control, the flu alone costs U.S. companies $10.4 billion in direct costs including hospitalizations and outpatient visits. The CDC also estimates up to one-fifth of the U.S. population will get the flu in a given flu season, and more than 200,000 Americans will be hospitalized with seasonal, flu-related complications. Annually, it costs the average business about $1,320 per employee for absenteeism.

Image courtesy of allcareservices.ca

Businesses are striving to encourage healthier workplace habits, which include proper hand-washing techniques and the sanitizing of immediate work areas. If successful, businesses can significantly reduce the frequency with which germs are spread throughout the office.

How does the flu spread? Many experts believe that flu viruses spread mainly by droplets made when people with the flu either cough, sneeze or talk. These droplets can land in the mouths or noses of people who are nearby. A person could also get the flu by touching a surface or object that has flu virus on it and then touching their own mouth, eyes or nose, but this is less frequently the case.

When it comes to work, what are YOU thankful for? With the sluggish economy and job outlook uncertain, those of us who are employed can all say we’re thankful to have jobs at all this holiday season. For those looking for work, gains in temporary employment over the holidays may spark a glimmer of hope and staff gains in the New Year may provide a perfect opportunity to re-enter the workforce.

We decided to ask our very own employees what they are thankful for this Thanksgiving and we found that an overwhelming number of our staff give thanks for those individuals who make up a “home away from home” – the TEAM of co-workers around them! Considering we spend more time with our co-workers during the week than we do with our families, working well with a team can play a huge role in the happiness and success of individuals in the workplace.

We understand the importance of having a good team, down to our very own SkillStorm and StormStaff Core Values which include “Team Members: We never let them down. We help them at every turn.” We hold our team members to the highest regard, and that’s probably one of the reasons we were voted one of the “Best Places to Work” by the South Florida Business Journal, one of the top 100 “Best Companies to Work For in Florida” by the Florida Trend and nominated for a “Best Places to Work” award by both the San Diego and Orlando Business Journals.

What did our employees have to say? Here are some of our Thanksgiving highlights:

Thanksgiving always makes me think of family and what I’m most thankful for this season is working for a company where the people really are like a family.  From our annual pre-Thanksgiving pot-luck feast to a simple pick-me-up cup of coffee, my co-workers go the extra mile for each other, in both big and small ways.  A lot of people out there this year are thankful for having a job at all, but I’m thankful that it’s THIS job with THESE co-workers, because I wouldn’t want it any other way. - Ariana T., Project Manager

This Thanksgiving, I am thankful for my office team. Being in my first job out of college, my team has showed me the work ethic desire and determination it takes to be successful in this business or any other venture in my life. I have several mentors in the office who come from different backgrounds in the industry and who are always willing to sit and talk with me regarding strategy, process and success stories. I know that with my team, I will never be let down, and they hold me accountable for my part as well. Plus, we do hold the stormy for a year! - Kris E., Technical Recruiter

This Thanksgiving, I am thankful to work with such an amazing team of individuals. Every one of my co-workers encourages success at all levels and our office feels like a family. I am grateful to work for SkillStorm! – Amber A., Executive Assistant

First off, I am thankful for being able to work in such a great office for a great boss who lets me work outside of the box. Also I am thankful for being able to find a company that has allowed me to grow from the person that started here two years ago and attain so much success in my career. – Luke B., Technical Recruiter

This Thanksgiving I’m thankful to work with such a stellar group of people. No matter how many questions I ask or how many problems I run into, they are there—ready and willing to help with whatever I need. I couldn’t ask for a better team and I’m continually thankful to be a part of it. – Sara F., Delivery Manager

This Thanksgiving I am thankful for my team members here in the San Diego office that help me at every turn and never let me down! – Maya B., Technical Recruiter

We want to know: what are you thankful for?

From our staff to you – StormStaff would like to wish everyone enjoy a safe and happy Thanksgiving holiday!

When I traveled this previous weekend, I found myself sitting on the plane, stumped on what to write for my next post. A sheet of paper lay bare on the drop-down tray in front of me and a fresh ballpoint pen in my hand and I started thinking, “I wonder what it would be like to work on a plane? What if I were the one giving emergency flight instructions while graciously suggesting specials on the beverage menu? How would customers treat me? What kinds of challenges would I have to deal with?” We’ve all thought about trading places before in one way or another: being the pilot who’s steering your flight, the police officer writing your ticket, the doctor listening to your heart beat or the cashier at the grocery store… the list goes on and on. And if you ever got the opportunity to actually live on the other side, how do you think you would feel?

In the case of the flight attendants on my plane, I thought about their responsibilities, challenges, worries and how I would treat them differently if I were in their shoes for just one day. If I knew what their lives were like, would I be a little more courteous when they asked for my drink order? And would I actually pay attention to their emergency instructions or continue flipping through my magazine? Needless to say, my thoughts of what I would do and how I would act changed for the rest of the plane ride once I took it all into consideration. I truly feel like I was much more understanding of their roles simply by stopping to think about it for a moment. And then I thought to myself, how would we all change our thoughts and actions if we simply put ourselves in others’ shoes?

One key to all successful relationships is to understand all sides. In the workplace, this also holds true. Everyone has different responsibilities and priorities and understanding where each person falls on the workplace spectrum will help you start to improve your relationships significantly!

Email is a primary method of communication for business and is becoming more important and widely-used than ever before. In 2009 alone, Royal Pingdom reported several staggering statistics on email use:

• 90 trillion – The number of emails sent on the Internet in 2009.
• 247 billion – Average number of email messages per day.
• 1.4 billion – The number of email users worldwide.
• 100 million – New email users since the year before.
• 81% – The percentage of emails that were spam.
• 92% – Peak spam levels late in the year.
• 24% – Increase in spam since last year.
• 200 billion – The number of spam emails per day (assuming 81% are spam).

In fact, email use is so immense that a recent study (conducted by OnePoll in conjunction with salesforce.com) showed that 38 percent of 1,000 British employees felt they suffered from an information overload with their work emails, among those were many that were not even relevant. So where do we draw the line on delivering efficient and effective emailing strategies instead of irrelevant fluff? And how can we find a solution to manage vast amounts of messages and help improve overall productivity?

Image courtesy of institutechildrenslit.net

The first thing you need to do is develop an approach to how you process your inbox. Taking a more organized approach will help you gain more control, improve your responses and keep up with priorities. After all, a small amount of work towards organization up front can make things easier for you in the long run.

According to an article on Microsoft.com, the first step you can take toward creating a more organized inbox is creating a simple and effective email reference system of reference information and action information. What does this mean?

• Reference information is information that is not required to complete an action; it is information that you keep in case you need it later. Reference information is stored in your reference system—an email reference folder, your My Documents folder, or a company intranet site, for example.
• Action information is information you must have to complete an action. Action information is stored with the action, either on your to-do list or on your Calendar.

Now that you’ve got these general guidelines to follow, you may want to consider creating useful labels and folders that can instantly help you stay organized. For example, not every email is necessarily URGENT, so you may or may not have to answer it right away. Developing a ranking system can help you set your priorities and timeline for varied importance in email replies. You may want to have several categories for action information such as: “to do by tonight,” “to do by tomorrow” and “to do by end of week.” Or maybe you’d rather categorize emails by color categories – red as urgent, yellow as soon and green as later. You can place all reference information under “reference” or “documents.”

When communicating, it is also best to keep your emails short and sweet. If you want a quick reply from someone that you know may be busy, act courteous and make your inquiry short in the first place. You can keep emails short in length by cutting out unnecessary information, breaking up the information into paragraphs (makes it easier on the eyes) and only addressing the things that must be addressed.

Remember, you only get one chance to send an email. Another tip for keeping your emails effective and efficient is re-reading messages before you send them. You can make sure you’ve said what you needed to say and that you’ve also used correct capitalization, appropriate sentence structure and spelling.

Figuring out when to speak up in the workplace can be tricky: maybe you were asked about something controversial and were afraid to speak about it or maybe someone wanted constructive criticism and you chose to keep to yourself instead. Do you know what you would do in situations like these? People usually don’t speak up because of fear of risk and specifically, fear of offending those above them. Employees who are afraid to speak up and communicate ideas at work may miss out on amazing opportunities, because what they don’t realize is that these very ideas could offer valuable knowledge and experience to employers. Whether you’re naturally introverted or outspoken, we can all relate to times we’ve wanted to voice our opinion but have bitten our tongues instead.

In a study by management researchers Kathleen Ryan and Daniel Oestreich, 70 percent of people said they hesitated to speak up about problems at work or suggest possible improvements to their firms because they feared repercussions.

Simply saying “my doors are always open” can no longer be enough to open up the lines of communication in the workplace. In fact, the best environments for speaking up are those where risk-taking is advocated and visibly rewarded.

According to Harvard Business School professor Amy Edmondson and Penn State professor James Detert, the “up” in the actual saying “speaking up” comes from the term upward voice: communications directed at someone higher in the hierarchy of an organization with the perceived power or authority to take action on the problem or suggestion.

It also turns out that there are two factors that lead people to feel either more or less safe about speaking up: individual differences and contextual factors. Personality differences can include varied levels of extroversion and communication skills. Contextual factors include organizational factors outside of the individual that provide them with cues about how voicing opinions will be received.

What makes a leader in the corporate world? It isn’t holding an executive level role or supervising other employees. It isn’t something you can learn overnight or even with 20 years of work experience. A leader, in the most basic sense, is someone who can guide or inspire others. Many leaders are born with innate leadership skills but some learn how to lead from great role models.

In fact, leaders can be all around us from the bottom to the top of the corporate ladder. We all have the opportunity to express a number of leadership qualities, even if we don’t necessarily see it. Wherever you are in the working world, you may exhibit leadership in your everyday work.

Here are some of the ways you can LEAD without being in a “LEADERSHIP” role:

The most basic way to lead is to do it by example. If you want to lead, you should know that part of being a leader involves how you carry yourself and that others will always be watching what you do. As they say, “actions speak louder than words,” so the things you do and the way you act can be a perfect way to demonstrate your leadership characteristics.

Help others and be a team player. Offer to help in every situation that you possibly can. A good leader is someone who wants to make those around them successful and help them get there. Lending a helping hand will help you establish important relationships and trust amongst your peers, too. After all, gaining trust and establishing dependability are few of the most important factors for leadership.