Collaboration Technology

Technology is a huge part of education. It seems now every university professor uses powerpoint presentations for their lectures instead of a chalkboard or whiteboard. Students communicate with their professors and each other through e-mail. Assignments and tests can now be done and submitted online. It's a very different world from what my parents' world was. One of the newest technologies that is starting to show up in university classrooms in called "ClassSpot." "ClassSpot transforms teacher-centric presentation classrooms into interactive spaces where students can participate more fully." It enables students and teachers to share screens and work together on in class examples. This facilitates participation in a more open and effective manner. Students are more involved in lectures as they are able to work on examples.

An article posted on campustechnology.com talks in great detail about how universities are using ClassSpot to make the classroom more interactive. A great example shared in the article talks about how a classroom equipped with three display screens could post a poem on the central display, while web pages or an interactive "white board" could be displayed on the other two. This would allow students and instructors to work together to edit, critique, and find other information about the displayed poem. Students and instructors are both able to control the screens and edit information. This is just one small example of how technology is changing the classroom that we know. There are undoubtedly even more inventions on the way.

Sources:

www.campustechnology.com

http://www.tidebreak.com/products/classspot

Presentation Tips

Nearly everyone has had to give some sort of presentation at some time or another. Whether it be speaking before a large group, presenting a project for a class, or promoting some new idea at work, putting yourself in front of people is always nerve racking. However, there are great ways to make your presentation great, and help you feel confident in doing it. Of course the greatest way to make your presentation great is in your preparation. If you are well prepared then you know your material well enough that you won't worry about messing up. Lack of preparation leaves you feeling that if things to go just right, the whole presentation will be ruined. Since things usually don't go just right, you're most likely going to falter in some part of the presentation, and the audience will be able to tell you weren't prepared.

Another great tip is to create a good relationship right off the bat with your audience. The blog "Presentation Zen" talks about how Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple, does a great job of doing this. One of the main keys is to begin your presentation smiling. Even before you get to the front or to the mic, smile. This helps your audience begin to feel good about listening to you. Also, as you actively acknowledge your audience you will be able to gain their trust more easily. You have to let them know that your presentation isn't about you, it's about them. Help them see why they should trust you (think bananas) and show them how your presentation will help them.

If you do these two things you'll be on your way to a great presentation!

Maybe It's Good I'm Not Graduating Yet

This past week MSNBC published an article from Business Week on their website. The article, "For MBA Grads, It's the Worst Hiring Season Ever," talks about the rough job market right now. There were some interesting figures brought up. For example:

-"16.5 percent of job-seeking students from the top 30 MBA programs did not get even one offer by

the time schools collected their final fall employment data three months after graduation."

-Starting pay for students graduating from one of the top 30 business schools was down about

$1,500. This is the first time starting pay has dropped in several years.

This is just a small sample of the challenges facing students as they graduate and enter the business world. Keep in mind that these statistics are for students graduating from the top 30 business schools in America. There are still more MBA graduates who are facing these challenges. The financial meltdown has really been a driving factor in the tough job market. Historically, financial institutions and firms were the main companies employing MBA grads. With the financial problems of this recession that job avenue has closed for many grads. Basically the job market right now is even more competitive than normal.

On the bright side, the economy is showing signs of improvement. Sunday Morning on NBC's Meet the Press, Timothy Geithner, U.S. Treasury Secretary, talked about the current state of the U.S. economy. "He acknowledged that the economic recovery, while showing positive movement, has been shaky and uneven" (Geithner: Economy Rebounding, But Job Growth Lags). Hopefully the economy will continue to recover and show greater growth. Job creation usually lags behind the recovery of the general economy as businesses continue to recover. However, continued economic growth can only mean greater job opportunities for students graduating later on.

Source: For MBA Grads, It's the Worst Hiring Season Ever

Is the Indirect Approach a Waste of Time?

Sometimes you are placed in situations which may be best described as "awkward," "iffy," or just plain "precarious." When writing is involved these situations become that much more complex. The reason this is is because when you are writing the aspects of body language and vocal tone are lost. Thus, you must rely solely on your writing presentation to get across your message.

Much of the time being direct and to the point in your writing is the best course of action. In these awkward situations the indirect approach may be better. What are these iffy situations? Perhaps you are writing to inform a customer they will not be approved for a credit card, or that their refund request is being rejected. These situations may not always deal with delivering bad news. Sometimes you just don't want to come off arrogant. Through explaining your reasoning for the main purpose of the letter, it helps soften the blow; and in many cases the indirect approach can help educate the reader.

I would argue that both methods, direct and indirect, are still very relevant today. In fact, many businesspeople combine the methods to get just the right tone for their letter. "They [businesspeople] reveal their conclusions and recommendations as they go along, rather than putting them first or last." Whether you use the indirect or direct approach depends entirely on the situation at hand. Each is useful in its own right.

Source: Direct Approach vs. Indirect Approach

Should Writing Skills Still Be Taught? Yay or Nay?

"Poorly written job applications are a figurative kiss of death, and corporations spend several billion dollars annually improving writing among employees." This statement began a report by the National Commission on Writing that addressed the continued, if not growing, importance of writing education today. A lot of people think that in today's technological age-where the speed, frequency, and mediums of communication have exploded-the skill of writing to communicate is outdated. This is far from the truth.

The National Commission on Writing, which is a part of the College Board organization, cited a report by the National Commission on Writing for America's Families, Schools, and Colleges. The report, Writing: A Ticket to Work . . . Or a Ticket Out, A Survey of Business Leaders, surveyed many professionals in the business world to find out what importance writing had in the workplace. Writing is important from even before people get a job. Many business professionals stated that poorly written resumes and cover letters were tossed, with no thought of offering an interview. Companies also spend a significant amount of time and money to educate employees and improve their writing skills.

Obviously writing skills are extremely important. The main reason these skills are so important is that a majority of business depends on clear communication. The inability to effectively communicate is a serious detriment to business.

Source:

The National Commission on Writing - Press Release

What is proper attire for a business interview?

You can tell a lot about a person by the way they dress. Take 30 minutes to sit on a college campus and you will see a wide array of styles and outfits. Some are conservative, some are just outlandish. The clothes you wear and the way you present yourself are often the first messages you send out. No wonder the way you dress is so important in a job interview.

An article on monster.com addresses the importance of dress in an interview. Amy Glass, a trainer and coach at Brody Communications Ltd. of Jenkintown, Pennsylvania, is interviewed in the article. She relates a job interview to selling a product. "In an interview situation, you're marketing yourself as a product," explained Ms. Glass, "so you want and need to have the best image possible." So what is appropriate to wear for an interview? In the article Ms. Glass states that for traditional positions (such as an accountant, or financial analyst) conservative dress is best. A conservative suit with shirt and tie works best for men, while a conservative pant suit is good for women. The main key is to not underdress. It is always better to err on the side of overdressing because it shows you have respect for the position and company.

For the entire article please follow this link: Monster.com - What to Wear to an Interview

Integrity in Business

I attended the Dean's Convocation today with Bill Child and Jeff Benedict. The session was great! Each speaker had good remarks that built off of the other's. They talked about a variety of topics. The topic I felt they seemed to emphasize the most was integrity.

Why is integrity so important in business? Business if often built on, and thrives on good relations with employees, employers, suppliers, customers, corporate partners, etc. There is a quite in the book How to Build a Business Warren Buffet Would Buy that epitomizes the importance of integrity. "Integrity is the foundation of any good relationship. This is especially true in business, where trust is the key to opening doors, extending credit, and cultivating loyal customers."

Another important aspect of integrity that Jeff Benedict hit on was staying true to your core principles and values. In business you will often be face with situations that challenge these. It may seem easy to slide just a little on your values at first, but in the long run it usually comes back to haunt you. It's always easier in the long run to stick to your values, even when it's not popular.

Job Hunting Revisited

After reading through quite a few of the class blogs I'm realizing just how important networking is. Of course getting good grades and other experience is very important. Getting to know people, however, is just as important. I had one thought about why it's so important. I remembered back to my internship at Geneva Rock Products during the summer of 2008. One thing that impressed me about my mentor was his ability to form good relationships with customers and other contractors. This was valuable because if he needed something, he knew because of the relationships he formed with people they would understand he wasn't trying to swindle them. I realized that forming relationships of trust is also a fundamental part of networking. Networking shows employers that you are willing to go out of your way to form relationships and build their trust in you. Sometimes relationships of trust are more important than any skill you can bring to the job place.

Job Hunting

This subject is near and dear to my heart. I spent a majority of the summer in Logan searching for a job. I finally found one though. I was lucky to have a good friend working at the copy center where I landed the job. She was a real help when it came to them making their decision about me. Knowing people and networking, to me, is very important in the job search.

I think the reason that knowing someone that has ties to the company is so important is that it makes you more of a real person to the company. Otherwise you are just another name on another resume, crammed in between a hundred other resumes. If you know someone who works in the company they can vouch for you and help those in charge of hiring see you as a person with real worth and with real skills to contribute. However, as important as networking is, it can never really replace having a good work ethic, a strong education, and the ability to think critically. You still have to have those core competencies to be successful in the world.

Partners in Business

Before last week, I had never attended a Partners in Business seminar. After going to one this past week I think I'm hooked! I was only able to attend one session but it was very good. I attended the session that Gwendolyn Galsworth spoke at. She spoke on "The Visual Workplace." She taught how visual cues in the workplace can decrease lost time and help employees use their time better. A lot of times there is a great disconnect between what is supposed to happen in the workplace, and what actually does happen. Visual cues can help resolve this performance gap. They help employees see what needs to happen and accomplish it in the most efficient manner.

Overall it was a very interesting topic she spoke on. The whole time I was thinking of past and present jobs I've had and how the topic could apply to those. I also thought about how this could apply in future jobs I have. I'm looking forward to learning even more from future seminars.

Using What I've Learned...

Have you ever had an experience where you just out of the blue used something you had just learned in school that day? I had something like that happen last week. I was writing a note at work for the morning shift. While I was writing the note I realized I put a comma in where I normally would have missed it. I looked back and realized that we had just talked about that type of sentence and comma usage in class the day before. I just stepped back and thought it was great that I was already starting to incorporate what I was learning.

I know this is a very small, insignificant thing to have happen. But it was nice to see the money I'm spending on school is paying off somehow. It will be interesting to see what happens when I enter the real business world after graduation. Hopefully a lot of what I'm learning will be popping up in situations I face all the time.

What can professional blogs do for businesses???

One of the age old questions in business is: "How do I get customers coming to my business?" Marketing has played a key role in bringing customers to businesses for a long time. Since the invention of the personal computer, and more importantly the Internet, businesses have had numerous doors open to create new marketing strategies. Blogging is one that has become very popular in recent years.

Why is blogging so popular for businesses? What is the advantage of having customers read a web log of a business? For some companies, it is yet another means of advertising and letting the public know about their products. A great example of a professional blog is the Official Google Blog (http://googleblog.blogspot.com/). At this site people visiting the site can read about how other people in the world are using google. They can also read about various efforts by google to make surfing the web easier, safer, and more efficient.

Business can use blogs to show a more human side to the business. They can blog about their efforts in improving the community or doing humanitarian work. This give a customers a more positive view about the company, and can lead to them deciding to spend their money on that company because of its humanitarian efforts. They feel that by supporting that company, they are in a way supporting those efforts.

The list of possibilities for blogging is large. These are just a couple of ideas for using blogging in the professional sense. Sometimes, the best blogs for companies are the ones that are just fun! It just depends on how the company wants to connect with those who view the blog.