Action item: Appoint an Issue Manager and notify the issue manager of their role and responsibilities.

This issue management methodology represents best practice for managing issues. However, the goal is to have a successful project, product development or service, the goal is not to follow a methodology fanatically.

Action item: Adapt the methodology so yo

Hot Career Prospects In SEO And SEM
With all the cutbacks, right-sizing and outplacement occurring in today’s corporate world, career change is very difficult. Many blindlessly list their resumes on Monster or Career Builder hoping for a quick interview and job offer. However, my best advice, provided during career training sessions in my role as a career coach, is to seek out budding career fields with a dearth of highly qualified candidates. One such field is SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and SEM (Search Engine Marketing). Though distinct, they cross over into one exploding industry that provides vast opportunities for those transitioning from other downtrodden professions. I recently interviewed several champions within this growing field to discover: a) what skills are needed for success? b) what fields one could easily transition from without any prior experience? And c) what are the future career prospects?First, I wanted to discover what skills are necessary to be a success in the field. Matt Van Wagner President of www.findmefaster.com, Jill Whalen, President of www.highrankings.com, Christine Churchill, President of www.keyrelevance.com and Shari Thurow, Marketing Director at www.grantasticdesigns.com all suggested a unique combination of right and left brain talents. “For search engine friendly design you need both (technical and artistic skills),” stated Ms. Thurow.On the qualitative and right brain side, “pay special attention to writing because there is so little good writing on the web”, says Detlev Johnson VP Search Services of www.positiontech.com. Tony Wright VP, Client Services of www.kineticresults.com agreed, “There is a l

1. What is an Issue?

An issue is an incident, circumstance, problem or inquiry that affects or potentially affects the timely delivery of the project, product or service, it may also impact the quality of deliverables and the cost of production.

Some projects are ongoing and the definition of an issue is a little different. A help desk defines an issue as a request for help that requires a response. A service department keeps track of service requests as issues. A software maintenance group tracks reports of software bugs and enhancement requests as issues.

Because of the impact issues have on a project, product development or ongoing service, issue management is an important aspect in any management methodology. This issue management methodology promises to make the handling of issues a seamless part of your larger scoped methodologies rather than a process separate from them.

It is usually not hard for team members to identify issues, but it is still worth having a working definition of an issue. Remember that the more ambitious your project the more issues will arise.

Action item: The project team must be made aware of what issues are, provide some examples, and ask other team members to provide some examples.

2. Requirements

A central repository of issue information easily accessible to all team members, because it is good for team morale and productivity to know that their issues are being addressed. An automated central repository like Issue Tracker is desirable because it make the issue management and reporting much easier.

Action item: Choose a central repository for your issues.

An issue manager is the person chosen to oversee all issues. It can be the project manager, team leader or another person in a responsible leadership position. The issue manager is responsible for making sure that there is consistent, disciplined and continuous progress made on all issues. The issue manager is accountable to upper management for the progress made on all issues. The issue manager communicates issue progress to the team, upper management and all stakeholders.

Action item: Appoint an Issue Manager and notify the issue manager of their role and responsibilities.

This issue management methodology represents best practice for managing issues. However, the goal is to have a successful project, product development or service, the goal is not to follow a methodology fanatically.

Action item: Adapt the methodology so yo

Interviewing Over Lunch: Are You at Risk?
Sometimes a hiring process will include having lunch with the hiring manager. Despite anything said to the contrary (like "It'll just be an informal lunch so we can get to know each other."), this is a formal part of your interview!This can be a very tricky situation.Impressions made in a restaurant are just as important as those in an office or meeting room.If you don't want an "eating mishap" to ruin your chances at a new job (or a promotion if you're dining with the boss), follow these tips:1. Avoid ordering messy foods.This includes long pasta, of course, but also anything with stringy cheese... you know, the kind that stretches up with your fork from the plate to your mouth.Watch out for soup, anything with a sauce or other "drippable" ingredient. No matter how careful you are, you know an invisible hole can magically appear in your spoon and cause you to drip all over yourself!Even a salad can be hazardous! Have you ever tried to spear a cherry tomato with your fork and squirted yourself, your neighbor, or watched the tomato go flying off your plate? Not impressive. Avoid cherry tomatoes.2. Mind your manners.First, let me say I am definitely NOT "Miss Manners." These are just common-sense tips, not something you'd learn at charm school. (So don't send me an email with the "proper" etiquette, OK?)This may be considered old-fashioned and unnecessary by some (especially women's libbers, if there's still such a thing), but I think it's still a nice courtesy for a man to pull out a chair for a woman. Either sex can offer to take some

bugs and enhancement requests as issues.

Because of the impact issues have on a project, product development or ongoing service, issue management is an important aspect in any management methodology. This issue management methodology promises to make the handling of issues a seamless part of your larger scoped methodologies rather than a process separate from them.

It is usually not hard for team members to identify issues, but it is still worth having a working definition of an issue. Remember that the more ambitious your project the more issues will arise.

Action item: The project team must be made aware of what issues are, provide some examples, and ask other team members to provide some examples.

2. Requirements

A central repository of issue information easily accessible to all team members, because it is good for team morale and productivity to know that their issues are being addressed. An automated central repository like Issue Tracker is desirable because it make the issue management and reporting much easier.

Action item: Choose a central repository for your issues.

An issue manager is the person chosen to oversee all issues. It can be the project manager, team leader or another person in a responsible leadership position. The issue manager is responsible for making sure that there is consistent, disciplined and continuous progress made on all issues. The issue manager is accountable to upper management for the progress made on all issues. The issue manager communicates issue progress to the team, upper management and all stakeholders.

Action item: Appoint an Issue Manager and notify the issue manager of their role and responsibilities.

This issue management methodology represents best practice for managing issues. However, the goal is to have a successful project, product development or service, the goal is not to follow a methodology fanatically.

Action item: Adapt the methodology so yo

Can't Find A Job?
Why can’t I find a job?If you’ve been asking yourself this question recently, trust me you’re not alone.Searching for a new job can be a difficult and frustrating task especially when you are out of work or when you are in a job you hate and want to escape.If you can’t find a job and are increasingly frustrated with your lack of results, let’s look at the possible reasons for this outcome: 1. You are not getting interviews: If you aren’t getting interviews, your resume and cover letter are not doing their jobs. Their job is to get you interviews. Either that, or you are applying for the wrong jobs. Your resume and cover letter need to sell you to the employer and show them why you are the best person for the job. Alternatively, are you applying for jobs you really have no chance of getting? If so, don’t waste your time or the time of the employer who might eventually have a job that suits you that you should be applying for.2. You are getting interviews but not job offers. If you are unable to close the deal in the interview process, look for possible problems: Are you coming across as too aggressive or laid back during interviews? Are you asking for too much money? Is your style of dress turning interviewers off? Are you better on paper than you are in person? Get as much feedback as possible (ask for positive and negative feedback) from any employer you interview with who has turned you down for a job. Make improvements for future interviews by fixing your mistakes.3. Are your references hurting you? This can be a difficult one to figure out but are you

ct the more issues will arise.

Action item: The project team must be made aware of what issues are, provide some examples, and ask other team members to provide some examples.

2. Requirements

A central repository of issue information easily accessible to all team members, because it is good for team morale and productivity to know that their issues are being addressed. An automated central repository like Issue Tracker is desirable because it make the issue management and reporting much easier.

Action item: Choose a central repository for your issues.

An issue manager is the person chosen to oversee all issues. It can be the project manager, team leader or another person in a responsible leadership position. The issue manager is responsible for making sure that there is consistent, disciplined and continuous progress made on all issues. The issue manager is accountable to upper management for the progress made on all issues. The issue manager communicates issue progress to the team, upper management and all stakeholders.

Action item: Appoint an Issue Manager and notify the issue manager of their role and responsibilities.

This issue management methodology represents best practice for managing issues. However, the goal is to have a successful project, product development or service, the goal is not to follow a methodology fanatically.

Action item: Adapt the methodology so yo

Interviewing Skills: Presentation of Your Work History
Your work history becomes a key focus in a job interview, usually right after the requisite pleasantries of whether you had difficulty finding your way, comments about the traffic and weather, and an offer of coffee or water.As you settle back in your chair, trying to look a lot more relaxed than you feel, the interviewer picks up your resume or application and starts to ask for details about your prior experience.If you have a resume that specifies quantifiable results, now is your chance to expand on that. If you increased sales by 20% per quarter or completed a departmental reorganization that resulted in a budget reduction of 10%, you are on your way. Obviously such achievements outlined in your resume impressed the potential employer enough to call you in for an interview, so your amplification of the details of actions you took will be eagerly welcomed.Unfortunately, most of us perform work where the results are less obvious. If you have worked in production or customer service or retail, it is very difficult to tie your efforts directly to company results. In such a case, try to highlight any personal successes or management recognition that demonstrates your competence.Any promotion is excellent, even if only to a lead position or being put in charge of a special project. Describe what you did so that the interviewer can appreciate your prior employer’s belief in your ability to take on new responsibilities.If no promotions were made (often none are readily available), identify any situations where you were singled out for recognition. That may range from being employee of the mont

le because it make the issue management and reporting much easier.

Action item: Choose a central repository for your issues.

An issue manager is the person chosen to oversee all issues. It can be the project manager, team leader or another person in a responsible leadership position. The issue manager is responsible for making sure that there is consistent, disciplined and continuous progress made on all issues. The issue manager is accountable to upper management for the progress made on all issues. The issue manager communicates issue progress to the team, upper management and all stakeholders.

Action item: Appoint an Issue Manager and notify the issue manager of their role and responsibilities.

This issue management methodology represents best practice for managing issues. However, the goal is to have a successful project, product development or service, the goal is not to follow a methodology fanatically.

Action item: Adapt the methodology so yo

Five Days to More Effective Inventory Management
The litany of headaches related to the implementation and on-going care-and-feeding of enterprise-based inventory management applications (upgrading, downtime, maintenance, hardware obsolescence, and so on) is long. These implementation issues are enough make the savviest of companies want to engage in anything but another supply chain or inventory management software implementation.For this reason, your organization should consider adopting a hosted inventory management solution.Because such solutions are web-based, adopting them is as easy as selecting the processes you want to use or share, determining the roles of your users, and, using templates, loading the data. The biggest hurdle is usually getting the correct data if it has not been collected before. You determine the processes you want to map and the vendor guides you through the rest of the process.The primary reason such solutions can be implemented so quickly is that they are based upon an "on demand" or ASP (application service provider) model. This means there is no software or hardware to implement. This costly time consuming activity has already been done by the vendor. As you pay only for the users, this saves you a lot time and dollars. You determine the process flows (what steps you want to use), import data into the templates, upload the information into the application, and go. It really can be that easy.Naturally you also want to get your customers on-line. Most vendors will provide you with training, and also train your customers, and their customers. The more people (customers and suppliers) using your network and extende

ll issues. The issue manager communicates issue progress to the team, upper management and all stakeholders.

Action item: Appoint an Issue Manager and notify the issue manager of their role and responsibilities.

This issue management methodology represents best practice for managing issues. However, the goal is to have a successful project, product development or service, the goal is not to follow a methodology fanatically.

Action item: Adapt the methodology so your project's success is maximized.

3. Steps

3.1 Discovery

Issues can arise at any time. When an issue is discovered it is recorded in the central repository.

It is important to allow issues to be recorded by a broad group of people including team members, upper management, users, customers, stakeholders, vendors and contractors. It is important because if there are barriers to reporting an issue then there is an increased chance that the issue will go unrecorded. You cannot address issues that you do not know about. It is not necessary that everyone has access to central repository, but the more you can allow the better.

Action item: Set up access to the central repository for those people that need it.

3.2 Recording

Training people to identify issues is often unnecessary, however getting people to record the issue in the central repository will take some training and encouragement. For example, a team member may mention an unrecorded issue to the project manager during a coffee break or other informal occasion, this team member needs some encouragement to record such issues in the central repository.

For all kinds of issues, prevention is better than correction. Also, issues tend to be less severe if they are addressed earlier rather than later. This means that every effort should be made to report issues as soon as they are discovered, instead of waiting for the issue to become "serious enough" before recording it. Do not be afraid of duplicating an issue or overlapping with existing issues, it is better than missing an issue.

A complete description of the cause of the issue should be recorded in the central repository. Resist the temptation to describe the issue in terms of a solution. Any implication of the issue should be recorded. Attach any supporting documentation, screenshots, report output, faxes, error messages and other media that describes the issue.

The person who is recording the issue can make a recommendation for a solution, if they have one. This person should also assign the issue if possibl