No matter how informal the meeting, preparation in advance can improve the effectiveness of the meeting itself. When planning a meeting, visualize in advance how the meeting will unfold: who will stand where, how long the presentations will last, how the meeting will be organized.HomeworkWhen sending materials in advance of the meeting, be clear what home work you are asking attendees to do. For example, if you send a document for review, ask for comments on specific aspects of the document - different reviewers are asked to comment on substance, design, and editorial issues. If you've been as... view article details

Salary.com's Annual Father's Day Survey Reveals Dad's Parenting PaycheckNo longer relegated to the role of babysitters, modern-day dads are putting in long hours performing various jobs on the homefront.Salary.com conducts an annual survey which determines how handsomely dads would be compensated if parenting came with a paycheck. Using a hybrid Job Valuation Tool and based on Certified Compensation Professional benchmarking principles that determine the value of jobs, salaries for 1,074 stay-at-home and working dads were created using the 10 most common 'dad jobs' including: day care center t... view article details

Time wasted by employees at work is down from 2005, but it is still costing companies billions in 2006. According to the 2nd annual survey by America Online and Salary.com, the average worker admits to squandering 1.86 hours per 8-hour workday, not including lunch and scheduled break-time, which is down from 2.09 hours in 2005. As a matter of practice, companies assume a certain amount of wasted time when determining employee pay. However, the 2nd installment of the survey indicates that employees are continuing to waste about twice as much time as their employers expect. Salary.com calculates... view article details

Which statement best describes how you make a decision?The best decisions are the result of thorough research, where several alternatives are considered, and the pros and cons of each are weighed carefully before reaching a fact-based decision.The best decisions are the result of input from a group—two heads are better than one, and three heads are better than two.The best decisions are the ones I make unilaterally. Just kidding—sort of.The best decisions are the result of brainstorming possibilities and choosing the one that everyone is most excited about.If you are familiar with personality ... view article details

Employers know that their employees need a break once in a while. That's why companies offer paid time off (PTO) in the form of vacation days, holidays, personal leave, and sick leave. Some employers' plans offer a specific amount of days for each form of PTO, while others, particularly in the healthcare and financial industries, provide one set amount of paid days off that can be used for various reasons at the employee's discretion. The definition of paid time off is any time not worked by an employee for which the regular rate, a fixed or a prorated amount of pay, is accrued and paid to th... view article details

The start of a new year is always a good time to set new career resolutions. No matter where you are in your career -- entry level, mid-career, or nearing retirement -- there are always new challenges to tackle and goals to meet.Make this year the year you shine at work and make some long awaited changes. Here are 15 resolution ideas to help make this the year you get ahead.Resolution 1: Conquer a fear Is there a pesky fear that's holding you back at work? Think about what that may be costing you. For example, if you're afraid of public speaking, it may be costing you opportunities to... view article details

Earning a higher education degree is a big investment. With all that money (and time) on the line, students may want to confirm that the entry level jobs they’re setting themselves up for tend to yield a good return on investment (ROI). Using Salary.com data, we found 10 jobs that have median level I salaries over $60,000. These jobs promise even bigger pay outs as employees climb the ranks. Read on to see if one of these jobs may be right for you to pursue: 1) Electrical Engineer I What you’ll earn to start: $68,171 What you’ll do: Assist with the design, development, and testing of electric... view article details

Discover How to Be the American Express for Visas During the last eight years, James Sheldon* has served his Uncle Sam in Athens, Tokyo, and the Sinai Desert. And he did not even have to go through basic training. Sheldon was working as a foreign service officer for the U.S. Department of State. Foreign service officers are America's diplomacy corps. They typically are generalists who perform a multitude of duties across the globe - issuing visas, protecting U.S. citizens overseas, accompanying foreign officials, reporting on diplomatic issues, and conducting press conferences for ambassado... view article details

The Remains of the Day It's midnight on a crisp October night in New England, and Fred Skinner, funeral director at Levine Chapels in Brookline, Mass., is just getting in to the office. "I kid people that I work in a bloody environment," said Skinner. "But actually, my role is much more comparable to that of a butler in a large country home: I organize several different service providers to ensure that an event crucial to a large group of people goes smoothly." Those who experience the death of a loved one rely on Skinner not only for his compassion, but also for his ability to organize clergy... view article details

Reaping the Benefits Every morning Jay Fox wakes up at 4:30 to tend his 20-acre farm. Cleaning chicken coops, tilling fields, and hand-weeding three large gardens can't wait for the sunrise. There's no snooze button and hardly any sick or vacation days when it comes to working with nature. "It's all seasonal work. What you do on the farm depends on the season," said Fox. "You can be doing anything from spreading manure to weeding a garden to baling hay depending on the time of the year." Although Fox works long hours practically every day, he gets to enjoy the many perks of tilling the beautif... view article details