Attention to Detail

What You Need To Know To Create Effective PowerPoint Slides

By Brandon W. Jones on January 4, 2015 0

Mary Fernando is a specialist in academic consultancy and is providing experienced educational insights to students struggling with their academic work or projects.

In the age of modern technology and science, it is a proven fact that visual appeal is far more impactful and reaching than something which is written in words or paragraphs. The strength of visual based material also is so strong that it registers with your mind much quicker than a normal piece of information comprising of several hundred words.

This is why we have seen a sharp rise in the use of graphs, charts, tables and pictures to present something important, for example, facts and research. This is just the basic change we are talking about here. Modern day presenting of information consists of high magnitude of visual appeal, which just baffles any audience sitting around and increases the rate of learning or interactivity to three folds.

PowerPoint slides and presentations have changed the way everything is presented, both in the educational institutions and professional world. Using presentations to highlight different avenues of learning in both aspects of the world is highly recommended and encouraged as well as appreciated.

The justifications of presentations will and can continue on for several pages, the topic for discussion today is how to incorporate that level of creativity within the PowerPoint slides, something which can entice the audience and make them remember your presentation. The later sections of this debate will continue to define several ways through which one can attain high creativity within slides. [Read more…] about What You Need To Know To Create Effective PowerPoint Slides

Focus on Details with 4 Techniques

By Brandon W. Jones on November 15, 2014 0

There are many important important details at every position whether you are the leader or the person on the production line. When you are the leader, however, the details make all the difference in the world. Learning to focus on the details is very important. When you look closely at the details, you can prevent future failures or problems from occurring.

What are the Details?

So, what do you do every day? If you are anything like me, you probably wake up, go to work, go home, and go to bed.

Okay, so you probably do a lot more than that. A typical day for me starts something like this. I wake up every morning at 5:45 AM when my alarm goes off. Sometimes I hit the snooze button a couple of times before I actually get up, but I am usually out of bed by 6:00 AM. From there, I roll out of bed and jump in the shower. Once I am done showering, I get dressed, fix my hair, and put my contacts in.

I then eat my breakfast which consists of one serving (approx. 3/4 C.) of my favorite breakfast cereal, Honey Bunches of Oats with Almonds, and about one cup of milk. As I eat breakfast I go through the emails on my phone and watch the news. I usually finish my breakfast at about 6:30 AM. From there I brush my teeth. Once I am done brushing my teeth, I go outside, get the newspaper, and get in my truck to head to work. The day continues from there…

Pay Attention to the Details

I don’t think you really care much about what I do each day, but what I want to illustrate the difference in the level of detail. The first explanation was very brief and gave you very little information about what I do each day. The second explanation, on the other hand, let you know exactly what I do each morning down to how much cereal I eat and what type. [Read more…] about Focus on Details with 4 Techniques

Micromanagement vs Attention to Detail

By Brandon W. Jones on October 16, 2014 1

You can pay attention to detail or you can be a micromanager. Micromanagement is the sign of a poor leader while attention to detail is the sign of a strong leader. The list below shows some of the differences between a micromanager and a leader that has a strong attention to detail.

Micromanagement:

Failing to supervise those you lead
Doing tasks yourself that you should delegate to others
Losing sight of the big picture
Not trusting others to do what they are fully capable of doing
Constantly meddling in tasks that you have, correctly and justifiably, already delegated

When you are a micromanager, you find difficulty giving others control because you have a strong mindset that whatever you give to others will be done substandard. You feel that your work is superior to the work of anyone else. That mindset permeates your work and bleeds into other aspects of your life. As a result, you alienate yourself from others because you always have to be right and you always have the best idea. [Read more…] about Micromanagement vs Attention to Detail

Get Buy-in From Your Employees

By Brandon W. Jones on May 17, 2013 4

Your employees are your biggest asset and they always will be because without them nothing happens. They greet your customers, ship your products, complete projects, and do all the other work that gets done. Because they are so valuable, you need their buy-in when making organizational change happen.

Three Questions To Ask For Buy-in

If your employees aren’t on board, they will eventually leave. So how do you get their buy-in? I have three suggestions to get them involved.

1. Ask for the employees’ point of view.

Find out what your employees think about the current situation. Ask whether or not they are satisfied with status quo. Let them explain how they work within the current framework and get their feedback. As you learn their thoughts, you will gain valuable insight into how they think.

The more you get their feedback, the more they will realize that you value their thoughts and opinions. They will gain trust in your actions and words once they realize you value them. Getting their feedback will also help you be better prepared to introduce changes in a way that won’t rub them wrong. Getting their feedback will also help gain their buy-in when the decisions are made in the future. [Read more…] about Get Buy-in From Your Employees

Have A Plan For Success

By Brandon W. Jones on May 3, 2013 2

How are you going to be successful? What steps are you going to take to reach success? Every leader’s goal is to be successful at what they do. In reaching goals, leaders may face obstacles along the way, but they will make the best out of every situation so they are constantly progressing. The leader knows that as they go through each experience they will either move forward or backward depending on how they approach the situation.

In order to constantly move forward, it is very important to put together a plan. The Wall Street Journal article, A Written Plan Can Help Your Portfolio, by Thomas Coyle explained the importance of having a plan when investing your money. The article focused having an investment-policy statement. The investment policy statement defines your investment goals before you begin investing. It also defines the time frame of your goals and the level of risk you are willing to endure. The investment-policy statement is used by both the agent and the investor so they know how to move forward planning the investments. This plan is very important because as things come up, the investor and the agent can use the statement as a guide. It helps remove the emotions that come with investing (Emotions dictate – portfolio loses value = immediate sell, portfolio gains value = immediate buy). One very important aspect of the policy statement is that it helps people look at things long term.

In the past, investment-policy statements were not used as much as they are now. Since the market became volatile, investors and agents have been using the statements much more than in the past. They are using them because the statements give focus for both parties. The article stated, “‘Twenty years ago, if you asked a roomful of advisers how many of them worked with investment-policy statements, only a few hands would go up. Ask the same question now, and all but a few hands go up,’ says Linda Lubitz.” [Read more…] about Have A Plan For Success

Set Clear Expectations As A Leader

By Brandon W. Jones on March 26, 2013 6

A little while back, I spoke to my friend Jason. Jason was a mid-level manager at the company where he worked, but he was still responsible for creating the vision and setting clear expectations. In his position, he was a leader in every sense of the word and faced all the regular leadership challenges.

One particular challenge that Jason faced came from the inability of others to set clear expectations. As a mid-level manager, Jason reported to leaders within his organization. They regularly gave him big projects to work on that helped move the company towards some of the overall corporate goals. At the time I spoke to him, he had received a number of projects from his superiors. His frustration at the time was that they had not given him clear clear expectations.

The importance of clear expectations

As Jason began working on the projects, he asked for additional clarification on what he should do. They clarified to the point where Jason felt he had clear expectations, so he began working towards the completion of the projects. In many cases, Jason’s vision for the projects was greater than the vision of his superiors. He worked very hard on each project to get the projects done. Once he was done, he presented his work to his superiors for approval. They would inevitably say he had done a great job, but he needed to add some things here or change some things there. Many of the changes were extensive and required a lot of work. [Read more…] about Set Clear Expectations As A Leader