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Tech Decision Maker
Toni Bowers
TechRepublic Staff
Toni Bowers

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Do family values = more productivity?
If a company offers an onsite daycare facility, does it increase expenses or productivity? What if an organization provides paid sick day benefits? Is it just a nice benefit for the employees...
Posted by John McKee | October 4, 2007, 4:13 PM PDT | Latest comment by pgerdes@...
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Who's planning to take your job?
It is always difficult to think that some else is capable of doing your job. Of course, it is even more challenging to think that someone–anyone–can do it better than you. However, that is...
Posted by Wayne L. Anderson | October 1, 2007, 5:35 PM PDT
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Powerful managers understand these two concepts
I recently got a call from a man who’d just taken the free mini coaching program we offer on our website. He wanted to know, “Can you give me some advice to help me force my team to work on...
Posted by John McKee | September 27, 2007, 12:17 PM PDT | Latest comment by gaurav.v.jain@...
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Facilitate a meeting to define what success looks like for your project
Although most projects start enthusiastically, optimism fades quickly unless an analysis and design team gets traction and learns where it is going. Working from a project charter, the team's next...
Posted by Joe Goss | September 25, 2007, 8:53 AM PDT
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Reporting to a board = walking the plank?
I was watching We Are Marshall last night, the movie about the loss of the Marshall University Football Team in a 1970 plane crash, and the ending left me a little flat. Not because of the...
Posted by Ramon Padilla | September 21, 2007, 12:23 PM PDT | Latest comment by meryllogue@...
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Noodle on this before choosing outsourced “experts�
I’m in the process of remodeling a home. It was built in 1963 by an architect who my wife and I have always admired and we bought it about 3 months ago. At the time we recognized it was a true...
Posted by John McKee | September 20, 2007, 8:12 PM PDT | Latest comment by Aspire2Work
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Getting to the bottom of a buzzword: What is Web 2.0?
Are you a Dilbert fan? I find his strips not only hilarious but they often hit close to home. It's as if Scott Adams (the creator of Dilbert) has a cube in every office in America. This explains...
Posted by Ramon Padilla | September 15, 2007, 9:22 AM PDT | Latest comment by pr.arun@...
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How to transform your organization through IT
I just finished reading an article on the top 100 CIOs deemed "transformers" who changed their organizations through IT. The purpose of the article, besides recognizing these accomplishments, was...
Posted by Ramon Padilla | September 9, 2007, 2:30 PM PDT | Latest comment by gnr
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5 very important questions
It's easier to be successful if you are doing something which you are passionate about. Most people agree with this statement, more or less. And yet most people are doing things that don't get...
Posted by John McKee | September 6, 2007, 5:34 PM PDT | Latest comment by JamesRL
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Using sex as a career booster
Ever known anyone who used their body to move up the corporate ranks? If not, you should be aware that it happens more than you might guess. Both men and women do it. It's still more...
Posted by John McKee | August 31, 2007, 7:21 AM PDT | Latest comment by Dr_Zinj
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Don’t talk to your people
I strongly believe that managers should stop talking to their people. Think about it. Do you really want to spend all your valuable time talking to your people? Or would you rather spend...
Posted by Wayne L. Anderson | August 31, 2007, 5:55 AM PDT | Latest comment by Chuckchuckj@...
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Moonlighting: Opportunities and Pitfalls
Is Moonlighting in your future? Last week I was asked to make a guest appearance on a radio show based out of New York. In addition to me, there was a second guest who had recently started her...
Posted by John McKee | August 23, 2007, 5:27 PM PDT | Latest comment by mnjenga@...
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Seven species of mentors
When you have a discussion about management, leadership, succession planning, or career planning, someone usually brings up mentoring. Usually at this point people nod their heads and...
Posted by Ramon Padilla | August 17, 2007, 3:45 PM PDT
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Try TA to improve your communications success
Here’s a 40 year old “secret� for getting ahead. It involves research done back in the 1960's by Dr. Eric Berne. His work back then has become a time-tested and easily implemented...
Posted by John McKee | August 16, 2007, 8:23 PM PDT
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Seven traits of fearful managers
I recently came across a survey blurb that stated that a certain percentage of management feared being out of the office because they were afraid that a subordinate would outshine them in their...
Posted by Ramon Padilla | August 11, 2007, 9:11 AM PDT | Latest comment by jim_ilog@...
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Pigeonholing can kill your chances for promotion
Do you feel like you should have been promoted by now? It hasn't happened, but no one is telling you why?  Perhaps this major promotion killer is holding you back. A while back I was retained...
Posted by John McKee | August 9, 2007, 8:27 AM PDT | Latest comment by terrybaughman@...
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It's 9:00am: Do you know where your people are?
 Today's workforce is located everywhere. This geographic dispersion of workers presents some interesting management challenges-especially for the IT manager. You may work in a high rise...
Posted by Wayne L. Anderson | August 8, 2007, 3:55 AM PDT | Latest comment by larryjoe43@...
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iPhone making laptops obsolete in the enterprise?
Given all the hype regarding the iPhone and the other next-generation handheld mobile devices lately, one would think that the days of the laptop are numbered. However, I tend to disagree and...
Posted by Ramon Padilla | August 5, 2007, 5:31 PM PDT | Latest comment by dinle
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My favorite tool to improve productivity
I'm not a big believer in time management programs and tools. I find that while most people understand them conceptually, they never get the big improvements expected when they were putting them...
Posted by John McKee | August 2, 2007, 5:15 PM PDT | Latest comment by DesertPete9
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Should the CIO be a technologist or a business person?
A chief information officer (CIO) must have multiple personalities in order to effectively do their job. They are required to have a personality that demonstrates that they are the company's...
Posted by Wayne L. Anderson | August 2, 2007, 4:06 AM PDT | Latest comment by jeff.gillis@...
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Does IT eat its young?
Sometimes IT is less than welcoming to new blood. Is your IT department willing to destroy its future in order to maintain its current all-stars?
Posted by Patrick Gray | May 27, 2013, 6:53 AM PDT | Latest comment by the-dream
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Amazon to develop 3D smartphones. Why?
Amazon has plans to develop 3D smartphones. Somebody please give me a reason why this is a good idea.
Posted by Toni Bowers | May 21, 2013, 7:40 AM PDT | Latest comment by jsargent
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Improve the image of your IT department
Sometimes the stereotypical image of your department keeps you from getting the job done. Learn how to fight this image to benefit your employees and the company as a whole.
Posted by Guest Contributor | June 4, 2013, 4:55 AM PDT | Latest comment by user530717
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Leadership lessons for IT from the White House
What leadership lessons can IT learn from the recent scandals in the White House?
Posted by Patrick Gray | June 3, 2013, 7:14 AM PDT | Latest comment by Fairbs
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Want to motivate your team? Here are 20 things to start doing now
Ilya Bogorad shows you how to create a dynamic, exciting, motivating environment in an otherwise unexciting, underperforming or stodgy organization
Posted by Ilya Bogorad | November 28, 2011, 4:21 AM PST | Latest comment by jkameleon@...
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IT needs to understand the move from BI to data analytics
How exactly do the areas of data and predictive analyses differ from business intelligence and what should IT leaders be doing differently?
Posted by Toni Bowers | May 28, 2013, 6:52 AM PDT
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Does IT have a problem with women?
If we can shed some of the industry's juvenile past, while maintaining this merit-based culture, IT will attract all comers, regardless of gender.
Posted by Patrick Gray | April 24, 2013, 6:03 AM PDT | Latest comment by whiterabbit-6dcb6
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Are your tender requirements killing your IT project?
Plenty of organizations have well-formed procedures for procurement on large projects, but when the projects are small, the contracts are short-term, or the budget is low, those same procedures...
Posted by Ben Evans | May 20, 2013, 6:23 AM PDT | Latest comment by Slayer_
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Tech companies that are sitting on cash piles
Apple, Inc. has been the recipient of great scrutiny over its $137 billion cash surplus. They're not the only one sitting one sitting on a giant cash pile.
Posted by Toni Bowers | June 7, 2013, 7:23 AM PDT | Latest comment by NickNielsen
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Hiring a programmer? Ask these questions in the interview
Routine interviews for programmers often offer tests that evaluate rote memorization that the modern development environment doesn't require. Here are some better questions to ask.
Posted by Justin James | February 18, 2010, 4:11 AM PST | Latest comment by youareyouyou
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Three reasons to have a post implementation project
Jay Rollins reminds PMs not to forget about the post-project project. Here are three considerations for following up after the implementation of a software project.
Posted by Jay Rollins | November 19, 2009, 3:11 AM PST | Latest comment by sysdev@...
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6 essential elements for a winning business case
The vast majority of unsuccessful projects fail not because of poor project management, but because of poor decisions with respect to the choice of projects. A good business case helps to make...
Posted by Ilya Bogorad | July 28, 2008, 3:31 AM PDT | Latest comment by rajeshamith
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Create the Timeline View in Microsoft Project 2010
If you use PowerPoint or Visio to create milestone reports, find out how using Microsoft Project 2010 Timeline View instead can save you time and a lot of hassle.
Posted by Andrew Makar | January 20, 2011, 5:24 PM PST | Latest comment by lbostic@...
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Infographic: Which E-Commerce platform is best?
This infographic compares Magento, osCommerce and OpenCart.
Posted by Toni Bowers | February 25, 2013, 5:24 AM PST
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Manual vs. autoscheduled tasks in Microsoft Project 2010
Microsoft Project 2010 gives you the option of scheduling tasks manually or letting Project use the scheduling engine. Andy Makar explores these options for project managers.
Posted by Andrew Makar | March 23, 2011, 5:23 AM PDT | Latest comment by MickeyBlueOwl
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Why critical path is critical to project management
If the PMBK definition of critical path has you puzzled, read Dr. Andrew Makar's explanation of this project methodology in real-world terms.
Posted by Andrew Makar | September 10, 2009, 1:02 PM PDT | Latest comment by Tony Hopkinson
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Top five reasons organizations fail at project management
Why are many organizations still so bad at project management? After pondering this question on many consulting and training engagements, Tom Mochal has come up with his top five reasons.
Posted by Tom Mochal | August 20, 2008, 7:11 AM PDT | Latest comment by billsherlock
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Best practices for software license management
Organizations spend a fortune on licenses every year, and a lack of management around it can result in heavy fines. Here are some best practices to follow.
Posted by Abhinav Kaiser | November 5, 2012, 4:33 AM PST | Latest comment by secureoncloud
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The business value of Google Glass and wearable computing
Wearable computing is an emerging technology that's affecting both the consumer and enterprise space.
Posted by Patrick Gray | May 15, 2013, 4:52 AM PDT | Latest comment by rexrich2k
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Windows XP: If it ain't broke...
Although XP has less than one year of official support remaining from Microsoft, many organizations have no plans to replace it. What's going on?
Posted by Patrick Gray | May 3, 2013, 5:25 AM PDT | Latest comment by grenet

































