Creating easy to read guides for users is essential for all products to succeed. With any new product, some users are reluctant to change, but if the Technical Writer can provide an easy to read, friendly, and understandable user or training guide, less resistance would be encountered. The user cannot be expected to instinctively know …

Are Hybrid Programs (Online/Classroom) the Solution? Most educators and trainers alike see the advantages of face-to-face education and training over online programs. The value of face-to-face education or training may be a given, but good things are coming, believe it or not, from hybrid or condensed programs. It seems logical for several reasons. I may …

Many people in the eastern half of the US are cleaning up debris in the aftermath of Hurricane Irene and the Gulf storm impact from Lee. Several thoughts crossed my mind about the symbolic nature of the rain and storms this past week. In various Earth-based faith traditions water symbolizes cleansing, emotions, purifying. Emotions– What …

Beyond Time Management to Increase Productivity Each of us has 24 hours every day. No matter how well we manage it, it still adds up to 24 hours. So, instead of managing time, we need to manage our activities – what we do in those 24 hours. In this post, I’ll focus on how to …

I recommend to you holy simplicity. – St. Francis de Sales Paula Huston – an author, professor, wife and mother – wrote the book The Holy Way: Practices for a Simple Life from her experience trying to simplify her life so that she could bring more meaning, peace and spirituality to her life. I enjoyed …

“We talk about innovation constantly, but step outside the chain of command and you get your hand slapped with the reminder that ‘You can’t understand the politics involved.’ The key to innovation is really believing that everyone has a worthwhile perspective — not saying it, but meaning it.” The quote above from a member of …

On my last day of working for the Federal government in a direct capacity I am going to focus on government for a change and look at innovation in a two-part article. There is simply too much good information to cover–even without getting terribly technical. This piece is mostly thanks to the folks at Gov …

Social media has changed how we do crisis management When I say as I have repeatedly in presentations recently, that the role of the JIC (ed. note: Journalist in Charge) has shifted to being the first and best source of information about the event to one of rumor management, this is what I mean. The …

Blogs require a consistent style guide so that anyone who writes and edits posts will be able to adhere to the same rules.

“One of the true tests of leadership is the ability to recognize a problem before it becomes an emergency.” – Arnold H. Glasow How do you do that? One way is to do employee surveys. There are several inexpensive internet tools that can assess employee morale, or how they feel about an upcoming change or …