Harvard Business Publishing

A reader asks: I work at a small start-up developing enterprise software products for global markets ( My question to you is: how should I approach this rather crucial communication with my manager, where I myself have to set goals for promotion? A promotion plan for an employee is usually the responsibility of the promoter, not the promotee. That's because a promotion means a role with greater responsibility — managing a new project, replacing someone who has left, or expanding a current job with more staff or tasks. The need for that new or bigger role is decided by the higher-ups as part of solving a business problem in line with the company's goals. Since it's not typical for the goals of the organization to be set by an employee, we know your boss is playing some kind of game by making you guess what it will take to get... Keep Reading »

In my last post I talked about how to make your résumé more likely to catch the attention of a hiring manager. As a follow up, I'd like to discuss cover letters. Here's my basic philosophy on them: don't bother. That's because the cover letters I see usually fall into one of three categories: The recap: The résumé in prose form. It's redundant, harder to read than the résumé, and provides no additional insight. The form letter: This says, essentially, "Dear Sir or Madam: I saw your ad in the paper and thought you might like me." And it's clearly a form letter where maybe they got my name and company right. If they're lucky, I will still take the time to read their résumé after being insulted with a form letter. The "I'm crazy": This one's rare, and it expands on the résumé of experience with some personal insights.... Keep Reading »

A Google search for "résumé" results in over 178,000,000 hits, whereas "possum" nets only 5,340,000. Thus the documentation of work experience is 33 and 1/3 more popular than arboreal marsupials. But what does this really tell us? Not much, but neither does the average résumé that comes across my desk. Some excerpts: "Administered resolution of issues and implementation of ideas surfaced by individuals." "Partaking in meetings designed to enhance collaboration, identify and develop strategies to ensure success regarding the accomplishment of goals." "Experienced leader with superior interpersonal skills and business acumen talented at building productive relationships across a global organization." Huh? We all know that there are more jobs being lost than created, and that an opening will get dozens, if not hundreds, of applicants. But in our fear to avoid saying anything that might get our résumé tossed out of the pile, we end up saying nothing at all.... Keep Reading »

In the face of global implosion of markets, we've been rethinking everything from executive compensation to the business schools to trust to the future of capitalism itself. Here's one small step in a better direction: pay me for my time. In most companies, anyone can send anyone else a request to do something for the firm. Marketing asks you to tell all your friends about the latest offering from the Nairobi office; the Help Desk reminds you that the server you've never known existed is now no longer in service and wants you to let them know if you've got any files stored there; HR wants you to take the two-hour "re-skilling" webinar on how not to be the kind of employee who gets the company sued. In every case, there's a good reason to make the request. What if the company missed a sale because you didn't know about... Keep Reading »

A reader writes with the following query: "I manage 15 staff who are scattered about. I email them since it's the easiest way for me to communicate with all of them at the same time. Often my emails are very short and to the point. It's business. Two staff see that as my being harsh and have no problem letting me know that. Example: "Would you please update these primary care providers in the database, including addresses and phone numbers?" Six days later, I sent the following email as follow up to my initial request: "I would like this taken care of by Thursday this week. If you are having trouble getting this done, please let me know." In return, my employee sent me a lengthy 4 paragraph response on how insulted she was by my follow up email. I would like your opinion." One the one hand, the employee's... Keep Reading »

A reader recently asked me, "How do you deal with an incredibly full inbox that makes you feel like a jerk?" I'm happy the question asks, "how do you deal." An inbox is as personal a space as an underwear drawer — we all have one and are all embarrassed by both its organization and contents. Thus to tell someone how to manage their inbox could be perceived as an intrusion into their undergarments. And that would be inappropriate. What is appropriate to share is my own principles of inbox management: 1. No scrolling. The inbox is my task list. I can fit about 20 emails in the message viewer in Apple Mail, which means 20 tasks. Any more than that and I feel like I'm losing control. Nothing spurs me to action like the need to get rid of the scroll bars. 2. Read, take action, and delete or... Keep Reading »

Moments after submitting my last entry on revision, I had some changes. My wonderful editor at Harvard, Sarah, told me she was glad to hear that we share next-day dang-I-should-have-changed-that syndrome. As one of my writing teachers said, "A book is never done, it's just pulled from the author's fidgety hands at some date and time and delivered to the printing press as he runs after it yelling, 'Just one more little change!'" And it appears true for almost any kind of communication. So here, pulled from my fidgety hands are a few more things to consider when revising your emails from me and from the nice folks who commented. (Especially Suresh, Terri Karp, and Marc DMNE) 11. Toss useless words. "In fact," "personally," "I think," "actually," "literally" and their ilk are almost always empty of meaning. They are the written equivalent of Sarah Palin's "ya know"s. Find your personal... Keep Reading »

"People think that the first draft is the big event and that revision is cleaning up afterward. But the first draft is really setting up the chairs, tables, and cups, and revision isn't cleaning up after the party, it is the party." "All first drafts are terrible. I don't care if you're Hemingway." "What comes out unfiltered from anyone's mind is mud." The first two quotations come from writing professors whose names I've since forgotten (and they were quoting other people whom they'd forgotten). The last one is one I just made up myself. But regardless of the source, the advice is sound: no email should be clicked-to-send without revision. I've found that for your average email, the number of revisions largely depends on the number of recipients. Here's my experience: 1 to 5 recipients = 2 to 4 revisions 5 to 10 recipients = 8 to 12 revisions Company-wide... Keep Reading »

On Sunday, when my wife accidentally knocked the lid from my favorite 8-quart red enameled Le Creuset iron pot onto our kitchen floor, it smashed with a church bell clang — and I learned several lessons from the resulting five-inch crack: Do not carefully balance cast-iron cookware on the kitchen counter. My wife's ability to put up with my child-like heartbreak at broken crockery is one among many reasons for me to be in awe of her. As business after business fails, it's always a pleasure to be reminded why some companies weather bad times, competition, and cheap labor from far-off markets. To elaborate on #3, I first spent a few hours searching the web for a replacement lid. But apparently, purchasing a lid without a pot is not an available option. And a new pot would be $300 or more, quite a painful amount for an item that was... Keep Reading »

CNN did a "poll of pundits" at Davos to see when they thought the economy would recover. The consensus was 2009 or 2010. Nobody worried that it would take until 2011 or later. They're delusional. These pundits*, including the leaders of Accenture, KPMG, E&Y and HBSC, have lost touch with the people — and by people I mean both the ones they've fired and those they still employ. *There should be a word for a group of pundits — like a pod of whales or pride of lions. Perhaps a hubris of pundits, a blind of pundits, or a navel-gaze of pundits? We're all so scared we're going to be next that no one, not the unemployed or the still-employed, are purchasing anything. And that means economic contraction, not recovery. As an example, I've been told by my daytime employer (affectionately known on this blog as Word Wide Wicket) that... Keep Reading »