All Posts - Page 1 of 5

Boost your 1-on-1s with this one simple trick

Posted 10 Feb 2019

The number one rule of being a manager is to have 1-on-1s with your direct reports (Don’t believe me? Read this and this and this). But the best 1-on-1s are those where your direct report has spent time thinking about what they want to discuss with you. How can you ensure this happens?

In my experience, some of your employees will jump at the opportunity to have uninterrupted time with their manager, and they will have a million things they want to talk about. But what about the other type of employee? At least half, if not more, of your employees need to spend time reflecting and thinking about what they want to get out of the meeting beforehand. How do you encourage these people to prepare for their 1-on-1 with you?

I’ve found that sending a specific, helpful, and timely reminder email can have a huge impact on the quality of your 1-on-1s. Sounds easy, right?

Some Things Never Change

Posted 21 Jun 2017

My mom just sent me this old picture from when I was a kid. That's me and our family cat.

Nicole then showed me a picture she recently took. I guess some things never change.

Open a new 529 plan, get $50

Posted 13 May 2014

May 29th is 529 College Savings Day. Get it, 5/29? But wait, what is 529 College Savings Day you might ask? Good question.

Celebrated nationwide, the event raises awareness about saving for higher education using 529 plans. In observance of 529 Day, Virginia529 is matching contributions and waiving online application fees for new accounts opened May 15 through 29.

Backyard Fun

Posted 18 Aug 2013

We recently upgraded our backyard. We had a playground installed with swings, slide and climbing wall. Our kids never used to be fans of swinging, but now they love it. We also finally broke out th easel and paints for the boys. You have to admit, it's really all about the smocks. Check out the pics.

Goodbye SMS, hello Google Hangouts

Posted 04 Aug 2013

Nicole is still hanging onto her grandfathered non-unlimited text messaging plan and I've been using Google Voice for a while to avoid paying the outrageous cost** of SMS. As awesome as Google Voice is, it has its annoyances and I was never fully happy with the messaging experience.

Unsurprisingly, the person I text most often is Nicole. She recently got a new iPhone 5 and I took this as an opportunity to try something different. So we've been using Google Hangouts for the past few weeks and it's been surprisingly awesome.

Gravity is cool

Posted 22 Jul 2013

Checkout this awesome graphic of our solar system. I stumbled upon this while browsing Google+ (yes, I use Google+). Read on below for the explanation and the source post.

$30 buys parents a good night's sleep

Posted 12 Jul 2013

I've been remiss in not blogging about this sooner. Looking back, I can say that the Kid'Sleep Classic "bunny clock" must be the best $30 we've spent on our kids, at least in terms of getting them to sleep through the night.