Archive for the ‘Project Management’ Category


Worker solidarity: 6 ways you can win points with coworkers when you’re out of the office

The final days of the year are fast approaching, which spells vacation time for many office workers across the land. December is filled with excused absences tied to shopping trips, travel adventures and the ever-popular HR vacation threat, “use it or lose it.” Whether you plan to be out for a day, a week or […]

I’m not there: Five ways to check in when you’re checked out (for vacation)

Much has been written about the value of completely de-tethering yourself from the office during vacation: Look at something besides your computer screen. Recharge your (metaphorical) batteries. Reconnect with family. These are all valiant and important pursuits – but not always realistic in today’s world. As consultants, we fight a constant battle to balance our […]

Top 5 Ways to Improve Your PowerPoint Presentation

The words “PowerPoint” and “presentation” have become almost synonymous in the business world. The software is packed with mini-tools designed to grab the audience’s attention and drive home your message. Used correctly, these tools can be a powerful message enhancer. Go overboard, and it’s just a mess. Here are the top five ways to improve […]

End-of-year self review part 2: preparing your small business for the New Year

We discussed basic office organization in part 1 of the series. Today, we’ll focus on the home-based office. We recommend starting with the organization discussed in part 1, as it will make your small business tasks we’ll be tackling here much, much easier. Step 1: Review your professional materials While we live in a primarily […]

End-of-year self review, part 1: organizing your office life for a happy New Year

It’s the end of the year, when offices are mostly empty and the self-employed are at the movies. Whether you volunteered to stay at work “in case a client calls” or you’re just taking it easy in the home office, you have work to do. In this three part series, we’ll discuss the key tasks […]

Get inside your customer’s head: It’s just like packing a lunch!

For some reason, relating the work I do to the customer’s experience of it comes naturally to me. I think it’s because I’m empathetic, which in high school made me pathetic but now, as an adult, it’s a job skill! I just instinctively look at a particular deliverable (be it a site, article or tool) and […]

Planning a Client Visit, Part 3: Final Prep

You’ve refined your story, prepped your team and picked up a roll of quarters just in case parking is a problem. Now, it’s time to round up the team and head out! Here are some tips for the 24 hours preceding your visit: 1. Remind your team the day before. Send an e-mail to the […]

Planning a Client Visit, Part 2: Prepping Your Team

You’ve done due diligence to get to know your client. Now it’s time to help your team prepare. While technology tools are helpful in keeping everyone on track, don’t assume people pay as much attention to them as you do. To help keep your team on track: 1. Set specific deadlines for each person. If […]

Planning a Client Visit, Part 1: Better Know Your Client

Your team relies on you to be the travel agent, correspondent and reminder service all in one. You can help your team help you by doing some pre-meeting homework and ensuring everyone does THEIR homework as well. Here are some tips to help ensure a successful client visit before you enter the lobby. First impressions […]

Introducing The Writer’s Bloc

Welcome to our Seattle-based consulting company home page. But we’re more than just consultants. We’re scribes, community experts, project managers and social networking afficionados. We want to share back some of the ideas we develop in the course of our daily work. So we have relaunched this site as a blog where we can tell you some […]