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ZeroBounce has released its Email Statistics Report for 2025, providing insights into email user behavior to help marketers optimize engagement. The report, based on a survey of 985 participants across four continents, details how individuals interact with their inboxes and what influences their email preferences. According to the ZeroBounce survey results, 93% of respondents check their email daily, with 42% doing so three to five times per day. While 35% of users spend less than an hour managing their inbox, another 35% dedicate between two and five hours each day to email. The survey highlights that email remains a crucial tool for both personal and professional communication. Among respondents, 79% stated they check their email for critical work-related messages, while 41% said they primarily look for discounts and promotions from brands. The study indicates that relevance is the primary driver of email engagement, with 46% of respondents opening emails consistently from brands that send relevant messages. Additionally, 67% of users prefer shorter emails, while 28% are indifferent to length as long as the content is tailored to their needs. The report also underscores the importance of permission-based marketing. According to the findings, 80% of people mark an email as spam if it “looks like spam,” while 55% report messages if the sender did not request permission to contact them. Additionally, 47% file a spam complaint when an email lacks an unsubscribe option. Frequent email campaigns can lead to subscriber fatigue, with 43% of respondents stating they unsubscribe from lists when brands email too often. The survey also reveals that while 76% of users check their spam folders, 25% only do so a few times per year, and 14% never review it at all. Despite the rise of alternative communication channels, email remains dominant for workplace interactions. Sixty percent of respondents identified email as their preferred work communication tool, surpassing messaging apps and other digital platforms. The report highlights the growing reliance on mobile devices for email access, with 64% of participants checking their inbox primarily on smartphones. Meanwhile, 25% of users never check their email’s Promotions tab, reinforcing the challenge for marketers to reach consumers outside of their primary inbox. ZeroBounce emphasizes that understanding these user behaviors can help marketers craft more effective email campaigns. The company provides email validation and deliverability solutions to improve inbox placement and minimize spam complaints. Image: ZeroBounce This article, "ZeroBounce Releases 2025 Email Statistics Report" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

TikTok’s global advertising revenue is projected to reach $32.4bn this year, representing 24.5% year-over-year growth, even as the platform faces potential shutdown in its largest market according research done by WARC media. By the numbers (according to WARC Media): Global TikTok ad revenue is forecasted to hit $32.4 billion in 2025, marking a 24.5% YoY increase. The US remains its largest market, but its share of TikTok’s ad revenue is projected to decline from 43.3% in 2022 to 34.0% by 2026. $11.8 billion in US ad spend is at stake if a ban moves forward. TikTok users worldwide spend 35 hours per month on the app—far exceeding Instagram usage. TikTok’s advertising is driving 4.2x ROAS when factoring in Amazon sales impact. Why we care. A potential TikTok ban in the US threatens to shake up the digital ad market, with Instagram, YouTube, and Snapchat poised to absorb displaced spending. Nearly $12bn in US advertising spend hangs in the balance as the April 5th deadline for ByteDance to divest TikTok approaches, creating significant uncertainty for brands that have made the platform central to their marketing strategies. The big picture: TikTok is becoming a full-funnel advertising powerhouse, from discovery to purchase. 81% of agencies plan to increase TikTok ad investments this year (according to data from WARC). Brands are seeing tangible results—TikTok is influencing Amazon sales at unprecedented levels. What’s next: The US government has extended the TikTok ban deadline to April 5, keeping advertisers on edge. If the ban is implemented, Instagram and YouTube are expected to be the biggest winners. Advertisers remain intrigued but cautious due to regulatory uncertainties and concerns over targeting and brand safety. The bottom line. TikTok’s rapid ad growth is undeniable, but looming regulatory challenges in the US create an unpredictable future for brands and advertisers. View the full article

Google advises against redirecting all 404 pages to the homepage, recommending proper redirects or maintaining 404 status codes. The post Google’s Martin Splitt Warns Against Redirecting 404s To Homepage appeared first on Search Engine Journal. View the full article

More than two-thirds of the counties most at risk of a housing downturn were concentrated in five states, according to a new report from Attom. View the full article

Maybe a better question: Is the IRS trying to make it not work? By CPA Trendlines Research Go PRO for members-only access to more CPA Trendlines Research. View the full article

Maybe a better question: Is the IRS trying to make it not work? By CPA Trendlines Research Go PRO for members-only access to more CPA Trendlines Research. View the full article

Is Notion the right tool for those looking for a project management dashboard? A Notion dashboard would be ideal for monitoring project progress. It’s an essential tool for task management, whether using a business dashboard or personal dashboard. There’s no argument about dashboards. They are an important part of any collaborative work environment. But is there a Notion dashboard? Let’s find out, and if there is one, let’s see what it can and can’t do. Only then will readers be able to make an informed decision on the time-tracking tool that’s right for them. What Is Notion? Notion is an all-in-one workspace designed for organizing and managing various types of information like notes, tasks, documents and more. Users can create pages, add text, images, checklists, tables and even embed content from other apps. It’s a highly customizable tool, which users can adapt to fit their own workflows, whether for personal use, team collaboration or anything in between. It likes to think of itself as a digital notebook that lets users combine many different organization tools into one place but without the rigid structure. Some key features include pages and blocks, which can be text, images, a list, a table or even a calendar. Notion has powerful database features that allow users to organize information. It’s also a collaborative tool allowing users to share pages, comment on content and work together in real time. If this sounds project management adjacent, it is. But is there a Notion dashboard to provide a high-level overview of work? This might be software that can help with some projects, but without a dashboard, it’s going to fall short. That leads us to the big question. Does Notion Have a Dashboard? Project managers and their teams need dashboards. If there is a Notion dashboard, does it have the features that project professionals rely on to monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) such as time, tasks, workload and more? Before deciding on Notion as the software to manage your project, take a moment to see if there is a Notion dashboard and, if there is, what it can do. Managing a project without a dashboard, or even with one that is not robust, is like driving blind. It’s not a good idea. Short Answer: Yes, Notion Has Dashboards Yes, Notion allows users to create dashboards that can help with task management. A Notion dashboard shows tasks and project progress via the kanban boards, tables or timelines. It can also show deadlines and schedules in the calendar view. Meeting notes and documents can be linked pages and embedded files. Progress bars and to-do lists help with goal tracking and other metrics. Embedded widgets and external tools make it excellent for custom workspaces, documentation and personal productivity tracking. /wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Notion-Dashboard-e1741362017728.png Long Answer: Notion Dashboards Lack Key Features for Project Management Again, yes, Notion dashboards do exist! However, users have to create them. On the plus side, they are customizable and flexible. But to reiterate, they don’t come pre-built and some features are lacking. These are not plug-and-play dashboards as found in other apps. Here are some areas where Notion dashboards fall short. No Native Gantt Charts or Advanced Timeline Features While Notion offers a basic timeline view, it lacks the dynamic Gantt chart functionality found in tools like Monday or Asana. Dependencies, critical path tracking and automated scheduling are missing, making it less ideal for complex project planning. Limited Automation & Workflow Triggers Unlike project management tools that support task automation (e.g., auto-assigning tasks, updating statuses), Notion requires manual updates. While third-party tools like Zapier can add automation, it’s not built-in. No Built-In Planned vs. Actual Tracking Notion doesn’t have native features for comparing planned vs. actual timelines, budgets or effort. You would need to manually set up formulas or external integrations, making variance analysis difficult. Lack of Workload & Resource Management There’s no workload view to show team capacity or prevent the overallocation of tasks. Unlike tools with a workload widget, Notion doesn’t easily track who is over- or underutilized across multiple projects. No Dedicated Project Portfolio Management (PPM) Features Notion is not ideal for managing multiple projects at a high level. There’s no native dashboard for tracking interdependencies, prioritization or risk across a portfolio, requiring manual database setups or external tools. Those looking to use a powerful dashboard for their projects will want to look beyond a Notion dashboard to the built-in and dynamic dashboards found in the award-winning project and portfolio management software of ProjectManager. We have dashboards for a high-level overview of single projects, programs and portfolios of projects, all ready to use when you are and delivering real-time data on time, cost, workload and more. Get started with ProjectManager today for free. /wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Light-mode-portfolio-dashboard-CTA.pngProjectManager’s real-time project and portfolio dashboards are better than a Notion dashboard. Learn more How to Make a Notion Dashboard Better With ProjectManager For those who are itching for a dashboard that can do more than the Notion dashboard, there is a workaround. Use the data from Notion to make a dashboard in ProjectManager. All it takes is a few steps and users will find that they’re can now monitor their project with more metrics for greater insights. Just start a 30-day trial with ProjectManager for free, no credit card required, and follow these steps. /wp-content/uploads/2025/03/notion-pm-import-dashboard.png 1. Export Your Notion Project Open Notion and navigate to the database or project page that you want to export. 2. Select the Excel File and Import Into ProjectManager Choose that file and export it into a CSV file. Then open up ProjectManager and import that file into our software using the Gantt chart view. /wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Gantt-import-light-mode.png 3. Add the Data to a New or Existing Project In ProjectManager, users will either create a new project or, for those who already have an account, they can add the exported file to an existing project. If you’re adding data to an existing project, make sure the project in ProjectManager aligns with the Notion project’s structure or manually match the task categories and columns to create consistency. 4. Choose What Data to Import ProjectManager allows users to import all the data from the Notion exported file or only the task list. Users can decide to add all data or choose specific task details such as task name due date, assignee, priority level and more. The software will map these fields from the Notion project into ProjectManager. To compare actual vs. planned data on the ProjectManager dashboard, be sure to set a baseline on the Gantt chart. You can then toggle to the ProjectManager dashboard view to access live project data. 5. Success! View Notion Dashboard Data In ProjectManager When the popup window says, success, that means the data is now in ProjectManager. This allows users to view their project on our robust project dashboard as well as have access to real Gantt charts, resource management features, automation, risk management, global search, version control and so much more. ProjectManager Has a Better Dashboard Than Notion Once users have a chance to view their project in our software and compare it to a Notion dashboard, they’ll quickly see how superior ours is. Our real-time dashboard is built in with access to advanced project management features such as progress tracking, cost tracking and slippage reporting. Let’s break it down. Project Portfolio Management Dashboard: While Notion can build a portfolio-style dashboard, it has to be manually set up and a database linked to it. That requires a lot of customization. ProjectManager has portfolio dashboards, which makes it easier to track multiple initiatives simultaneously. Planned vs. Actual Project Management Data: Again, Notion dashboards require custom databases and a lot of manual tracking. ProjectManager has planned vs. actual data tracking built in. Progress Tracking: It sounds like a broken record, but that’s what happens when describing the broken Notion dashboard. Instead of manually setting up progress tracking, ProjectManager has progress tracking with Gantt charts, task lists and, of course, the dashboard, and it’s ready when you are. Cost Tracking: Notion has no automated way to track expenses in real time. You guessed it, ProjectManager tracks costs directly in the dashboard, including labor, materials and other expenses in real time to set a budget and track actual spending against it. Workload Management Data: Notion can assign tasks, but lacks built-in workload management tools. ProjectManager can assign tasks to team members, track their availability and balance workloads to avoid overloading, with its color-coded workload charts. Slippage Reporting: Users better like manually setting up features that ProjectManager has built-in because that’s what they’ll have to do to get slippage reporting. ProjectManager tracks project delays and automatically highlights any milestones or deadlines that are slipping. It helps identify risks early and provides a way to act before the situation gets worse. Notion Dashboard Example Enough abstract talk about what a Notion dashboard can or can’t do, let’s look at an example to view this tool in a real-life scenario. Below is an actual screenshot of a dashboard from the Notion software. /wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Notion-Dashboard-Example-e1741364663682.png Let’s look at two widgets. There’s a today list on the left, which shows a list of tasks, priority, when they’re due and which project they belong to. On the right, there’s a list of projects. These projects are filtered by current and archived projects. How to Make a Dashboard in Notion Let’s now look at how to create a dashboard in Notion. It’s more involved compared to tools with pre-built dashboards like ProjectManager. Users have to create multiple databases and link them together manually. Then set up different views to represent the data in a way that works for them. At this point, filters and sorters can be added to tailor each view based on specific conditions like due dates, assignees, priority, etc. Users can then organize these views into a cohesive layout, which can get complex depending on the amount of information one’s working with. The level of customization in a Notion dashboard is a double-edged sword. It’s nice to design a dashboard how one wants, but it also means having to figure out how to make it work with one’s workflows. Notion doesn’t offer automatic analytics or reporting, though. To track slippage or budget vs. actuals, users have to manually input and calculate that information. Why ProjectManager Is a Better Project Tracking Software Than Notion Rather than doing all that work for so little return, not to mention pulling one away from the more important work of managing the project, users tend to prefer project management software with built-in dashboards. A Notion dashboard is a poor substitute for the real-time project and portfolio dashboards from the award-winning ProjectManager. Not only are our dashboards more robust, but they connect with a suite of powerful project management features that make them stand head and shoulders above the competition. Plan, Schedule and Track With Multiple Project Management Views For one thing, our software also has multiple project views, such as kanban boards for visualizing workflow, task and calendar views. But unlike Notion, we have real Gantt charts, which schedule tasks, resources and costs, add milestones, assign teams and more. Unlike other Gantt charts software, though, we can link all four types of task dependencies, which helps project managers avoid delays and cost overruns. Our Gantt charts can filter for the critical path, which means no time-consuming and difficult calculations. Then set a baseline and track progress in real time, comparing the planned against actual live data. /wp-content/uploads/2024/04/critical-path-light-mode-gantt-construction-1.png Track Costs with Online Timesheets, Workload Charts and Reports While our dashboards offer a high-level overview of the project, other features can provide tracking. For example, our secure timesheets streamline payroll and allow team members to update timesheets anywhere and at any time with our mobile app for Android and iOS. But they also give project managers visibility into labor costs, which helps keep the project on budget. Color-coded workload charts show resource allocation, which makes it easy to see who is overallocated or underutilized and balance workload to keep teams working at capacity without threatening burnout. For more details, customizable reports on variance, timesheets, workload, status, portfolio and more can be generated with a keystroke. These reports are also easy to share with stakeholders to keep them updated. /wp-content/uploads/2024/05/timesheet-lightmode-good-version-lots-of-tasks.png Related Content Still curious about Notion or dashboards? No problem, below are links to more recent posts on those subjects and more. Notion Kanban Board: Key Features, Pros & Cons Notion Gantt Chart: Key Features, Pros & Cons Project Dashboard Template (Free Excel Download) Must-Have Project Dashboard Tools KPI Dashboard Template ProjectManager is online project and portfolio management software that connects teams whether they’re in the office or out in the field. They can share files, comment at the task level and stay updated with email and in-app notifications. Join teams at Avis, Nestle and Siemens who use our software to deliver successful projects. Get started with ProjectManager today for free. The post Notion Dashboard: Key Features, Pros and Cons appeared first on ProjectManager. View the full article

I've recently rented a car in two different states. Both times I was asked if I wanted to pay an extra fee per day to avoid worrying about paying tolls—a crucial issue in some states, like Florida, that no longer accept cash on the road and sometimes won't even allow you to pay online. Both times I declined, and set my Google Maps to "avoid tolls." I was reasonably confident Google would keep me safe from an unpaid toll ticket, but my heart still skipped a beat when, a few weeks ago, I got a text message letting me know I had unpaid I-Pass tolls from Illinois. But then I took a closer look at the text. Missed toll texts are the latest scamIt turns out that texts purporting to be from a tolling administration telling you you have unpaid tolls and you have to pay up, or else face fines or even lose your driver's license, are the latest in an unending stream of text-based phishing scams trying to get you to give up your personal info (and your money). Transportation authorities in multiple states have issued warnings about these texts, which seem fairly legit at a glance. Typically they will purport to come from one of the major tolling programs—the E-ZPass in the northeast, FasTrak in California, I-Pass in Illinois. The text will inform you that you have an unpaid toll, provide a looming due date, and outline dire consequences for failing to pay up. Also included will be a handy, official-looking URL where you can make your payment. Accessing that link will take you to a site that invites you to enter your credit card or banking information to settle your fine. And I'm sure you can imagine what happens from there, because you've just given your credit card number to a scammer. How to spot a scam missed toll textAs scams go, this one isn't very sophisticated. The scammers aren't doing anything special to target you—they just have your phone number somehow and are including you in a mass spamming attempt in the hopes you'll be too distracted to notice the obvious signs the message isn't legit. So here are a few things to watch out for: Do you even use this particular tolling service? In the last week, I've received half a dozen of these texts. Some of them are for services I've used and could conceivably owe money (like I-Pass, which operates in Illinois, one of the states I recently visited). Others, not so much: I didn't even know California used something called "FasTrak" until I googled it. So take a beat to think: Is there a legitimate reason this tolling agency is asking me for money? I might have a missed E-ZPass toll, but I definitely don't have a missed FasTrak toll. Check the sender. One of the most obvious tells is the source of the text. Official automated texts will usually come from a 5-digit number. The texts I get telling me my E-ZPass has topped up, for example, come from "39769." Scam texts will more likely come from a full phone number, likely an international one, with an unfamiliar country code at the start (I recently got one from a number that began with "+44," indicating a number based in the U.K.). Another tell: If the sender is an email—especially if it's from a free email service like Gmail or Outlook (I've even gotten a few from Hotmail, which hasn't existed for years). Non-hyperlinked URLs. When a message comes from a legitimate sender, any URLs included will likely be clickable. Scam texts will almost always have non-clickable URLs, with weird instructions either telling you to copy and paste the address into your browser, or to respond to the text with a Y, and then close and reopen it. This is an attempt to get around an iPhone security feature. Conveniently (for the scammer), once you've responded to a text and then reopened it, the link they sent you before will become clickable, taking you right to the site that will steal your payment info. Look for other signs of an online scam. Chances are good the payment sites these URLs lead you to will also carry telltale signs of a phishing scam, like poor grammar, misspellings, or weird formatting. Luckily, all the ones I've been directed to visit via my most recent scam texts don't actually work, suggesting that the sites are being taken down as fast as the scammers can put them up. But I keep getting more of them, so they probably aren't going to stop trying. View the full article

Love ’em or hate ’em, the cicadas are coming. 2025 will bring back Brood XIV, the largest of all 17-year periodical cicada broods. Cicada enthusiasts surely don’t mind the noisy creatures. But if you’re someone who finds the constant nighttime buzz bothersome and live in one of the following 13 states, maybe consider investing in a good pair of noise-canceling earbuds. Brood XIV are expected this spring in Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. Gene Kritsky, founder of Cicada Safari, a group that crowdsources and reviews data on cicadas, told USAToday that some areas will get more of the critters than others, and that based on historical data and the weather, Georgia, Tennessee, and the Carolinas can expect to hear the visitors first, starting as early as the end of April. “It takes about two full weeks for the great bulk of the cicadas to come out,” Kritsky said. “Once they start coming out at a specific location, that starts the clock. You’ll have cicadas at that location for the next six weeks.” And though Kritsky predicts that this year’s gang will be heavy in some areas, 2024 was a much busier (and buzzier) year for cicadas. That’s because 13-year cicadas, Brood XIX, and 17-year cicadas, Brood XIII, both emerged last year, according to the University of Connecticut’s research team. That was the first time the two broods synced up since 1803, and it won’t happen again until 2037. If you’re thinking that you’ve seen cicadas way more than once every 17 years, you’re not wrong. There are seven species of cicadas that emerge on different schedules. Four have 13-year cycles and three have 17-year cycles. Plus, most cicada species are annual, which means you can see—and hear—some species every year. View the full article

Tesla’s stock has hit its lowest price since Election Day, hovering around the $251 threshold on midday Friday before slowly creeping back up again. Shares were down 4.6%, putting Tesla on track to erase its entire $700 billion post-election gain. The company’s year-to-date losses reached around 35%, reported Yahoo Finance. Meanwhile, CEO Elon Musk’s net worth has fallen from a peak of $486 billion to $330 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires List. Gains from Trump’s 2024 election victory vanish Shares of Tesla (Nasdaq: TSLA) had surged 91% in the aftermath of the 2024 U.S. presidential election, reaching their peak in mid-December. The rally was fueled by Wall Street’s expectations that Musk’s near $300 million donation to Donald Trump and GOP election efforts would lead to a big win for Tesla, reported Forbes. However, the stock’s sharp decline follows a series of setbacks for the company. In February, Tesla’s sales plummeted in Europe and China, raising concerns among investors in the EV maker. Additionally, Musk’s growing political involvement has raised questions of whether he is becoming distracted from his role as chief executive. On Tuesday, Bank of America downgraded Tesla’s stock, slashing its price target from $490 to $380. Tesla remains highly sensitive to tariffs, as China is its second-largest market and the company relies on materials from Canada for production. “Tesla is still very reliant on parts from across the world for all our businesses,” Tesla CFO Vaibhav Taneja cautioned in January, as Forbes reported. Tech-heavy Nasdaq leads broader market downturn Adding to the pressure, broader market turmoil has intensified. The market rally that followed the election—fueled by speculation around what Wall Street had hoped would be a more pro-business administration—has been dampened by concerns over U.S. trade policy and slowing economic growth, according to Bloomberg. The S&P 500 has dropped more than 7% from its peak. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down a similar amount. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite fell below 18,000 for the first time since October and is now trading at below its Election Day level. View the full article

We may earn a commission from links on this page. International Women's Day, in one form or another, has existed since around 1909—placing the holiday's inception roughly in line with the early days of film. It seems fitting, then, to take a look at movies that examine and celebrate the accomplishments (and trials) of real women in history. This isn't an exhaustive list of movies about women who've changed the world (or at least changed their worlds), and there are plenty of very important women whose lives have never been touched by filmmakers (and others, sadly, with movies that aren't streaming—I'm looking at you Hypatia of Alexandria and Agora). But, like International Women's Day itself: It's a start. Colette (2018) Rural village girl Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette (played by Keira Knightley) begins an affair with Henry Gauthier-Villars, the author known only, absurdly, as "Willy." He supplements his income by hiring ghostwriters to produce works to be released under his more bankable name and, when he realizes that Colette isn't without storytelling talent of her own, he comes to see her as a source of free material for the Willy brand. As her works become increasingly successful, Colette finds herself unwilling to be locked in a closet toiling for her husband, instead coming to assert her own artistic (and sexual) agency as one of the most important French writers of the last couple of centuries. Her ultimate independence and popularity among women readers helped to change the ways in which books are marketed while also broadening the range of topics (including a lot more sex, and not all of it straight) about which women could be seen to discuss in print. You can stream Colette on Prime Video. Colette (2018) Learn More Learn More Hidden Figures (2016) There's nothing easy about orbital mechanics (I'm told—I count on my fingers), and Hidden Figures tells a story of math involving three women: Katherine Goble Johnson (Taraji P. Henson), Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer), and Mary Jackson (Janelle Monáe). Long neglected by history books, Hidden Figures dramatizes the stories of the Black women who performed complex calculations in an era before computers, and then became expert programmers once machines were introduced. Their calculations put John Glenn into space. You can rent Hidden Figures from Prime Video. Hidden Figures (2016) at Prime Video Learn More Learn More at Prime Video Norma Rae (1979) Sally Field (who won an Oscar) plays the title’s Norma Rae Webster, based pretty squarely on real-life union organizer Crystal Lee Sutton. A factory worker in North Carolina is fired for running off a union sign on the company printer, leading to the climactic, indelible moment when she brings the factory to a complete standstill. One of the most memorable moments in American movie history—when Norma Rae stops the factory with her hand-scribbled "union" sign—is straight from history, and it made Sutton a labor icon. You can stream Norma Rae on Watch TCM. Norma Rae (1979) at Watch TCM Learn More Learn More at Watch TCM Live Nude Girls Unite! (2000) Sex work is work, and workers in the industry face challenges both universal and unique in fighting for wages or improved conditions. In the late 1990s, the staff at the Lusty Lady, a San Francisco peep show, were faced with arbitrary wage policies, racism, and lacked even the most basic job perks while dealing with problem customers without management support. When the staff threatened a strike, management wouldn’t even concede that what the women did was a real job; as though they were doing it for fun. So they got organized, resulting in a truly groundbreaking moment in labor history, even if sex workers still struggle for recognition. Filmmaker Julia Query actually worked at the club and brings a sharp insider’s perspective to this documentary. You can stream Live Nude Girls Unite! on Kanopy or rent it from Prime Video. Live Nude Girls Unite! (2000) at Prime Video Learn More Learn More at Prime Video On the Basis of Sex (2018) Felicity Jones stars as a young Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who, later in life, became the Supreme Court Justice most likely to appear on a T-shirt. The consequences of the end of Ginsburg's career are very much present, but the movie takes us back to the very beginning, with the Harvard law-school student caring for her ailing husband and young daughter while studying. Despite graduating at the top of her class, she's unable to find work until she's introduced to case involving a man who was denied a tax deduction for nursing care of his aging mother because the law was limited to either a woman or a husband. Ginsburg came to believe that a precedent in a case involving a man facing sex discrimination could be used in later cases involving women; while it didn't have quite that impact as precedent, it did lead to changes in law and Ginsburg's success paved the way for other women in American law. You can stream On the Basis of Sex on Netflix or rent it from Prime Video. On the Basis of Sex (2018) Learn More Learn More Harriet (2019) A woman aided by the Underground Railroad system, Harriet Tubman (played here by Cynthia Erivo) quickly became one of its most effective conductors, and is now remembered as the most important single name in the entire operation, an unquestioned leader who approached the quest for freedom with a religious (literally) zeal. Later, she lead soldiers in battle during the Civil War before becoming a leader in the suffragist movement. A $20 bill with her face on it seems like the least we can do, but in the meantime, Kasi Lemmons' thrilling and heartfelt, if occasionally formulaic, biopic will have to do. You can stream Harriet on Hulu or rent it from Prime Video. Harriet (2019) at Hulu Get Deal Get Deal at Hulu The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928) Carl Theodor Dreyer's essential historical drama makes as clear a case as any film does for the distinct power of silent cinema, with Renée Jeanne Falconetti offering one of the medium's most profound performances. Interrogated by the French clerical court relentlessly about her belief in her own mission from God, Joan remains steadfast even as it seems that the very architecture around her is closing in to damn her. In the end, whether she's right or wrong, it feels as though Joan's defiant face is the only authentic thing in her increasingly confined world, and her status as a martyr to women in western religion is made secure. You can stream The Passion of Joan of Arc on Max, Tubi, and The Criterion Channel or rent it from Prime Video. The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928) at Max Learn More Learn More at Max Suffragette (2015) Blending real-life figures like Emmaline Pankhurst (Meryl Streep) and Emily Davison (Natalie Press) with leads more loosely based on actual suffragettes, the film explores the voting rights movement in Britain of the early 20th century through the eyes of 24-year-old laundry worker Maud Watts (Carey Mulligan). Though only reluctantly caught up in the struggle, Maud gradually becomes radicalized when she witnesses the cost that other women are paying for their activism. Helena Bonham Carter, Brendan Gleeson, and Ben Whishaw make up some of the rest of the impressive cast. You can stream Suffragette on Peacock or rent it from Prime Video. Suffragette (2015) at Peacock Learn More Learn More at Peacock Madame Curie (1943) Though there are elements of melodrama here, at least on the surface, this classic Hollywood biopic from director Mervyn LeRoy has a deep appreciation for the hard mental and physical labor involved in scientific breakthroughs. Greer Garson stars as Marie Curie, working alongside her husband, Pierre (Walter Pidgeon) as she begins a study of pitchblende rock that leads her to the discovery of uranium, and that begins a long and intensive process of refining the substance such that its properties can be fully studied. You can rent Madame Curie from Prime Video. Madame Curie (1943) at Prime Video Learn More Learn More at Prime Video Little Women (2019) While decidedly not a biography, this specific adaptation of Louisa May Alcott's 1868 novel does a better job than many biopics at capturing something of the spirit of the author. Played here by Saoirse Ronan, Jo March has always been a bit of a stand-in for the similarly unconventional Alcott, a parallel that director Greta Gerwig takes a step further in the movie's climax. She deliberately blends the novel's reality with Alcott's life story, reminding the viewer that Little Women, while groundbreaking, wasn't entirely the book that Alcott set out to write. There's a great biopic about Alcott yet to be made, but, in the meantime, this 2019 adaptation of her most influential work pays tribute to the writer in smart ways. You can rent Little Women from Prime Video. Little Women (2019) at Prime Video Learn More Learn More at Prime Video Barbie (2023) Sticking with Greta Gerwig for a moment, and on the subject of movies that come at their subjects sideways, Barbie pays tremendous tribute to the doll's creator Ruth Handler (played here Rhea Perlman), even as the inventor and magnate only gets limited screen time. Set in matriarchal Barbieland, the film finds Margot Robbie's Barbie doll escaping into the real world to discover both her own worth as an icon and the limitations placed on her that she's never understood. After a couple of cameos, Ruth shows up in the final act to put a button on her creation's journey, both in the movie and in the real world. A full-length biopic about the creation of Mattel (and Handler's IRS issues) could doubtless be fascinating, but couldn't possibly do a better job of relaying her cultural impact. You can stream Barbie on Netflix and Max or rent it from Prime Video. Barbie (2023) at Max Learn More Learn More at Max The Death and Life of Martha P. Johnson (2017) Using a belated investigation into Johnson' mysterious death as a framing device, the film follows activist Victoria Cruz's exploration of the lives of Johnson, Sylvia Rivera, and other key figures in the early days of the gay liberation and trans rights movements. While death is the starting point, the movie focuses on the messy and strident vibrancy of Johnson's life and work, and speaks to the challenges and sacrifices for the progress that's been made (and sometimes un-made) in LGBTQIA+ equality. You can stream The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson on Netflix. The Death and Life of Martha P. Johnson (2017) at Netflix Learn More Learn More at Netflix Queen of Katwe (2016) A kid from one of Kampala, Uganda's biggest slums, forced to drop out of school at age nine, Phiona Mutesi (Madina Nalwanga) had the good fortune to meet chess coach Robert Katende (David Oyelowo) at a young age. This smart, feel-good movie charts her real-life progress to the top of the chess rankings first in Uganda, before she competes globally. It might be a bit early to suggest that Mutesi has changed history (her first Candidate title came in 2012), but she's certainly providing inspiration for Ugandan women across a number of fields. You can stream Queen of Katwe on Disney+ or rent it from Prime Video. Queen of Katwe (2016) at Disney+ Learn More Learn More at Disney+ Frida (2002) Stepping from the shadow of her, at one time, more famous husband Diego Rivera (Alfred Molina), Frida Kahlo became one of Mexico's most important artists, blending intimate themes with revolutionary ideas and blurring gender lines—as she did in her own life—and chronicling her own disabilities in ways unheard of at the time. She and her art gave voice to a budding Mexican nationalist movement, and her life serves as a reminder that art can move nations at least as powerfully as traditional politics. Salma Hayek stars in this ultra-stylish adaptation from director Julie Taymor, one that earned multiple Academy Award nominations. You can stream Frida on Paramount+ or rent it from Prime Video. Frida (2002) at Paramount+ Learn More Learn More at Paramount+ Elizabeth (1998) Cate Blanchett plays Queen Elizabeth I, a woman of whom you might have heard, a wildly unlikely heir to the throne of England who became the modern British monarchy, securing her country militarily in a fraught time while solidifying a religious framework that's with us to this day. In many ways, it’s a film about choices: We meet Elizabeth first as a young woman with no expectation of rule, but see that, as she gains power, her options contract rather than expand. Given the enormous pressure to select a husband, and the limitations placed on her choice, she ultimately opts for public celibacy as the “Virgin Queen,” reflecting, in a way, the impossible divide modern women must often navigate between career and family. Women in history are often seen working behind the scenes to change the world but, in Elizabeth, we have someone who very much took center stage. You can stream Elizabeth on Starz or rent it from Prime Video. Elizabeth (1998) at Prime Video Learn More Learn More at Prime Video The Lady (2011) Aung San Suu Kyi's legacy has been complicated by failures of leadership (to say the least) during her later role as State Counsellor of Myanmar, but there's no question that her impact on the history of that country and its halting moves away from military rule has been immense. The daughter of an independence leader, the movie sees her living a comfortable life in England before being drawn into the politics of her homeland, becoming a leader and figurehead for independence and democracy. Michelle Yeoh gives a thoroughly impressive performance as the complex Nobel laureate. You can stream The Lady on Tubi or rent it from Prime Video. The Lady (2011) at Prime Video Learn More Learn More at Prime Video Battle of the Sexes (2017) Emma Stone and Steve Carell star here as Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs in the lead-up to the titular "Battle of the Sexes" in 1973. King is a top women's tennis player, frustrated that the payouts for matches are dramatically lower than anything men would be expected to play for. Riggs, meanwhile, is struggling in his marriage and finances because of a gambling addiction. He hits upon the idea of a flashy, money-making exhibition match with a very reluctant King, reasoning that, even well past his prime, he's perfectly capable of beating even the best woman player. She's eventually convinced to join in and the rest is sports (and queer) history. You can rent Battle of the Sexes from Prime Video. Battle of the Sexes (2017) at Prime Video Learn More Learn More at Prime Video View the full article

McDonald’s, Wingstop, and Starbucks are among Gen Z’s most popular and appealing restaurant brands, according to Dcdx’s new Magnetic 100: Restaurants report, measured by organic, user-generated content. The report looks at what young consumers spent their hard-earned money on in the first quarter of 2025, noting which brands attracted the most organic conversations, either by generating online buzz or through word-of-mouth, including during big cultural moments such as the Super Bowl and holidays like Valentine’s Day. Some surprising names to crack Dcdx’s top-10 roster this year were Crumbl Cookies (#6) and Raising Cane’s (#7), a fast-casual chain specializing in chicken fingers. Here’s the top 10 rankings from the new Magnetic 100: Restaurants: McDonald’s Wingstop Starbucks Chipotle Taco Bell Crumbl Cookies Raising Cane’s KFC Chick-fil-A Subway It’s worth noting that some of the top brands have had success with special-item offerings for a limited time, such as McDonald’s, which has collaborated with popular celebrities in creating some special-edition meals; and Crumbl, which features a rotating menu of cookie flavors. Gen Z’s spending power grows A lot has been written about Gen Z’s spending habits, mostly because the 12-to-27-year-old demographic’s spending power is expected to grow to $12 trillion by 2030, according to Nielsen. That would make it the wealthiest generation to date, giving it significant influence over the products retailers and manufacturers choose to sell, both now and in the future. It’s also the largest generation in history, making up more than 25% of the global population. The report makes clear that brands aren’t just competing for dollars, but also for a share in an ongoing and crowded online conversation. For example, the report’s top 100 brands racked up 7.78 billion total engagements, with McDonald’s, the leading brand, generating 1 billion engagements alone. Of the 139 total restaurant brands analyzed in the report, the top 6 brands drove more than 50% of the conversation in the restaurant category, representing nearly 4 billion engagements. View the full article

Former Barclays CEO is fighting FCA ban over allegedly playing down ties to the dead paedophileView the full article

MP who criticised leader Nigel Farage is accused of bullying View the full article

A project budget makes sure you keep spending on your project in check, helps keep stakeholders happy, and helps you deliver the project successfully. Here's how to create a project budget that details exactly how much you can spend on project resources and other project expenses. The post How To Create A Project Budget: 6 Key Steps appeared first on The Digital Project Manager. View the full article

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell emphasized the need for patience amid uncertainty over Trump administration's policies, saying there would be no immediate rate changes but that the Fed would proceed carefully. View the full article

Chair says US central bank in no ‘hurry’ to cut interest rates at end of turbulent week for Wall StreetView the full article

The Trump administration has stalled at least $60 million in funding intended largely for affordable housing developments nationwide, throwing hundreds of projects into a precarious limbo, according to information and documents obtained by The Associated Press The move is part of a flurry of funding freezes, staffing cuts and contract cancellations by the Trump administration at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, changes that have instilled widespread uncertainty in the affordable housing industry. The some $60 million is intended to go to small community development nonprofits in small grants. The money is often used as seed funding for affordable housing projects, turning a concept into a viable development and consequently drawing in more public and private investment. Congress chose three nonprofits to distribute the grants, but HUD said in letters that it was cancelling contracts with two of the organizations which together were to distribute the $60 million. That’s pushed millions in funding already promised to small nonprofits, or yet to be awarded, into the twilight zone. “Many of those organizations have already committed funds to pay workers, such as HVAC technicians, local contractors, homeownership counselors,” said Shaun Donovan, CEO of Enterprise Community Partners, one of the two groups whose contract was cancelled. “They will have to stop that work immediately. That will cost local jobs, hobble the creation of affordable homes, and stall opportunity in hundreds of communities.” A spokesperson for HUD said the program, called Section 4, will continue and is not being cut, but that “the department is consolidating some grants, while others remain.” It remains unclear how or when the funding will arrive to the small nonprofits, which has thrown their work into disarray. “Not knowing for me means we assume that the money is not coming, and that means that I have to pivot,” said Jonathan Green, executive director of a nonprofit in Mississippi that’s building a 36-unit affordable housing development in Biloxi. Green said about $20,000 in grant dollars are now in limbo, money that was meant to pay for an environmental review that could cost upwards of $10,000, and licenses and permits. That threatens discussions Green is having with potential partners and investors who want to see all the up-front work done first. “My fear is that, if the project stops altogether, we may never get it started again,” he said. The development is supposed to be in East Biloxi, where lots still remain empty after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Before an ounce of dirt has been moved on the project, Green’s organization has received enough calls from people eager to become tenants that they’ve started a waiting list. That’s the position hundreds of other small nonprofits have found themselves in, with not just their grant funds in question but investments on the line. For every dollar in grants disbursed by Enterprise Community Partners, the local nonprofits leverage another $95 in other capital, CEO Donovan said. Congress gave the national nonprofits the job of administering the grants, fielding and assessing hundreds of applications, so that the government doesn’t have to, Donovan said. In one of the contract termination letters obtained by the AP, HUD said the contracts were cancelled at the direction of the Department of Government Efficiency. It said the group’s operations “were not in compliance” with Trump’s executive order targeting diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. The letter also allows the organizations to appeal the termination. The Local Initiatives Support Corporation is the other group whose contract was cancelled. “Without access to this seed capital, housing projects for hardworking, families will stall, worsening shortages and pushing distressed neighbors into overcrowded conditions or homelessness,” it said in a statement. Habitat for Humanity International is the third nonprofit disbursing the grants, but the organization has not responded to repeated requests for comment or said if their contract was cancelled. —Jesse Bedayn, Associated Press/Report for America View the full article

Shares of Costco (COST) fell over 7% in midday trading on Friday after the wholesale retailer reported mixed second-quarter earnings results, missing profit estimates but beating on revenue, as the company braces for the impact of tariffs and inflation on consumer spending. “The tariffs are very fluid right now, so it’s hard to give any predictions about what we can do, but our people are well equipped to deal with anything coming our way and we have great partnerships with our suppliers,” CEO Ron Vachris said during the company’s earnings call. “Our people are nimble and ready to go.” Costco’s Q2 revenue came in at $63.72 billion, slightly beating analyst estimates for $63.11 billion. Meanwhile, same-store sales jumped slightly from 6.38% to 6.8%, beating forecasts for an increase of 6.4%, and e-commerce came in at an increase of 20.9%. However, adjusted earnings per share came in at $4.02, missing estimates of $4.11. And while overall same-store sales were up, the company missed estimates in Canada and other international markets. One advantage Costco has over some other retailers is its popular membership, whose fees make up more than 70% of its operating profits. Costco raised those fees last year for the first time since 2017; a basic Gold Star individual membership now costs $65, while an Executive membership is $120 to $130. Another good sign: Costco announced it expects to open 12 new stores across the nation in 2025, including seven locations this spring in March and April. Here’s a list of those seven locations: Brentwood, CA Genesee County, MI Highland, CA Prosper, TX Sharon, MA Weatherford, TX Stuart, FL In addition, Vachris said the company plans to open two locations in Canada and four other international locations in the coming six months. According to Costco’s website, two of those international stores will be in Minami Alps, Japan and Ardeer, Australia. Costco currently operates 897 warehouses, with a majority of those in the U.S. and Puerto Rico (617). Other locations include Canada (109), Mexico (41), Japan (36 ), UK (29), Korea (19), Australia (15), Taiwan (14), China (7), Spain (5), France (2), and one each in Iceland, New Zealand, and Sweden. View the full article

There’s something magical about having a pool you can just dip into any time you want. That’s why it’s estimated there are nearly 11 million pools in the U.S., most of them residential. But pools are expensive. Aside from the price of installing one, it can cost anywhere from $3,000 to $6,000 annually to own and maintain a pool, which is why it’s often advisable not to add a pool to your home if you’re thinking of selling it someday. If your house already has a pool, or you want those summertime pool parties more than you want your money, you can at least cut down on those pool maintenance costs with a few simple steps. Use a pool coverOne of the easiest ways to lower your pool maintenance costs is to use a pool cover. Covering your pool when you’re not using it has several distinct benefits: It slows evaporation, which saves you money because you won’t have to refill your pool as often. It keeps the pool cleaner by keeping debris out of the pool, which can help your pool filtering system last longer because it won’t be under as much stress. It reduces the amount of chemicals you’ll need to put into the water—these chemicals break down easily in sunlight, so the more the pool is covered, the longer they will last. It will keep the water warmer, reducing the need to run a heater. Filter at nightMany people run their pool filters 24 hours a day. That’s understandable, because no one likes to dive under the water and discover dead bugs, rotting leaves, and other gross stuff floating around. But most pools only need to be filtered about eight hours a day to get a full “turnover” of the water, depending on the volume of your pool and the gallons per minute (GPM) your filter can handle. Running the filter for those eight hours at night has another benefit: Chances are electricity is cheaper then, so you’ll pay less overall to keep your pool clean. Clean the filterWhile the rule of thumb for cleaning out your pool’s filter is to do it every few months, the more often you clean it the more efficiently your filter will run, and the less wear and tear you’ll put on it. You can see physical evidence of this by checking your filter’s pressure (measured in pounds per square inch, or PSI). If it’s above the normal range (typically anywhere between 10-25 PSI depending on the size of your filter and pool), it’s working harder than it should be. Cleaning out your filter twice a month is probably ideal, especially if your pool is located in a spot that causes it to fill up with debris regularly. It’ll save you money in the long run because your pool systems will last longer. Keep the chemicals and water level in balanceA pool is a system, and that system has to be kept in balance: Chemicals. A large standing body of water will quickly turn into a swampy mosquito farm if you don’t treat it with a cocktail of chemicals, including sanitizer (usually stabilized chlorine). Checking the pH level, chlorine, alkalinity, and other factors on a regular basis will reduce your maintenance costs because it will reduce the frequency of bacterial and algae blooms, and keeping the acidity level of your water low will protect your equipment from damage. Water. One of the simplest things you can do to keep your pool maintenance costs low is not overfill your pool. If you fill it to the brim, every time someone steps (or dives) into it a large volume of water will be wasted as it sloshes over the rim. Over time you’ll be paying to refill the pool more than you should be. Add a dark-colored pool linerIf you’re paying to keep your pool warm, you should consider putting in a dark-colored liner. This can be a DIY job—you’ll need to drain the pool, remove the old liner if you have one, and install the new one—though you’ll be better off hiring professionals. A darker pool liner will keep the water naturally warmer because it will absorb more of the sun’s energy. You could also install a solar-powered heating system, of course, but that will cost a lot more than a liner. View the full article

Project management planning is made up of many parts. There’s the schedule, the stakeholder matrix, the managing of resources. Speaking of the latter, there’s the matter of how you’re going to procure resources that require vendors of goods and services. That’s procurement management. The procurement plan is part of the overall project management plan. Over the life cycle of a project there are likely to be many points where it will intersect with vendors. This process needs to be managed. To manage these relationships and keep the flow of those goods and services moving without interruption requires a procurement management plan. If it seems like we’re going too fast, it’s because we are. The act of procurement, its management and planning are all deeply embedded in the methodology of project management. Let’s slow down and take a moment to unpack these terms. What Is a Procurement Plan? A procurement plan, also known as a procurement management plan, is a document that outlines the process of finding and selecting vendors for goods or services required by an organization. It serves as a blueprint for the entire project procurement process, detailing how products or services will be acquired and how vendors will be managed during a project. /wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Procurement-plan-example.png Get your free Procurement Plan Example Use this free Procurement Plan Example for Word to manage your projects better. Download Word File The primary goals of a procurement plan are to increase efficiency, effectiveness and transparency of the procurement process. It also justifies the need for external suppliers and describes the steps for identifying and selecting vendors. Finally, the procurement plan outline contract types, delivery schedules and performance metrics. When to Make a Procurement Plan A procurement plan should be made at the initiation phase of a project or before the start of any procurement activities. Typically, it is developed during the project planning phase to outline the procurement process and ensure that everything needed for the project is acquired on time and within budget. Here are key times to create a procurement plan. At the Start of a Project: Before executing any procurement activities, having a procurement plan helps identify what goods, services, or works need to be acquired, the timing, and the procurement method. When Budgeting for a Project: Having a procurement plan helps ensure that the costs of the procurement are included in the overall project budget. When Scaling Up or Expanding: If you’re expanding a project or business and need additional resources, a procurement plan helps you strategically manage increased needs. When Introducing New Suppliers or Contracts: A procurement plan helps establish a clear process for introducing new suppliers, contractors, or partnerships, ensuring alignment with project goals. When Contracting With Vendors: If you’re negotiating long-term contracts or one-time purchases, it’s important to have a procurement plan that ensures consistency, compliance, and strategic sourcing. For Risk Management: It helps identify procurement risks and prepares mitigation strategies, ensuring smooth delivery of the required materials or services. Before Project Execution: Before any procurement activities are launched, the plan must be in place to ensure you’re procuring the right materials and services at the right time. Overall, a procurement plan is best developed early in the process to guide purchasing decisions and ensure successful project completion. However, a procurement plan is only one of many tools that project managers need to oversee procurement and manage the costs related to project resources. The best tool to manage these and other areas or projects is a project management software like ProjectManager. ProjectManager is an award-winning project management solution equipped with multiple project management views to plan, schedule and track projects from start to finish such as Gantt charts, project dashboards, timesheets, workload management charts and many other features designed to schedule work, allocate resources, make budgets and track costs, which greatly helps with project procurement management. Get started with ProjectManager today for free. /wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Gantt-CTA-2025-1600x868.jpgProjectManager’s Gantt charts help allocate resources and track procurement costs. Learn more Who Makes the Procurement Plan A procurement plan is typically made by the procurement team, project managers or supply chain managers, depending on the organization’s structure and the complexity of the procurement needs. The key stakeholders involved in creating a procurement plan include the following. Procurement Officer/Manager: Responsible for overseeing the entire procurement process, ensuring compliance with policies and managing supplier relationships. Project Manager: Ensures that procurement aligns with project timelines, budget and deliverables. Finance Team: Helps in budgeting, cost analysis and ensuring financial approvals for procurement activities. Department Heads/End Users: Those who need the goods or services provide input on specifications and quality requirements. Legal and Compliance Teams: Ensures that procurement follows legal and regulatory requirements, including contracts and supplier agreements. Supply Chain or Logistics Team: Assists in managing the delivery, transportation, and inventory aspects of procurement. Executive Management (For Large Projects): Provides strategic direction, approvals and ensures procurement aligns with organizational goals. The procurement plan is usually developed collaboratively, with the procurement manager leading the process while gathering input from various stakeholders to ensure smooth execution. What Should Be Included in a Procurement Plan? A procurement plan is a strategic document used to guide the acquisition of goods, services or works required for a project. It outlines the process, methodologies and goals of procurement to ensure timely, cost-effective and quality purchases. Here’s what should be included in a procurement plan. Procurement Objectives The procurement objectives define the goals of the procurement process, such as securing the required resources on time, within budget and according to quality standards. These objectives help align procurement with the overall project or organizational goals. Scope of Procurement The scope of procurement outlines what will be procured, including the types of goods, services or works. It details the specifications, quantities and the expected deliverables, ensuring a clear understanding of what is to be acquired. Procurement Methodology The procurement methodology describes the approach to acquiring goods and services, such as competitive bidding, direct purchasing or sole sourcing. It ensures the process is fair, transparent, and meets organizational standards and legal requirements. Supplier Selection Criteria Supplier selection criteria set the standards for evaluating potential suppliers or vendors. It may include factors like cost, quality, experience, delivery time and reputation. This ensures that the best-suited suppliers are chosen based on predefined requirements. Cost Estimates and Budget Cost estimates and budget provide an overview of the expected costs for the procurement process. This includes estimating the cost of materials, labor and overheads, helping to ensure procurement stays within the allocated budget. Procurement Schedule A procurement schedule outlines the timeline for the procurement process, including key milestones such as issuing tenders, receiving bids and finalizing contracts. It ensures that procurement activities are completed on time, keeping the project on track. Risk Management Plan The risk management plan identifies potential risks in the procurement process (such as supplier delays or cost overruns) and outlines strategies to mitigate them. This helps ensure smooth procurement and prevents disruptions. Roles and Responsibilities Roles and responsibilities define who is responsible for each aspect of the procurement process. It ensures clear accountability, coordination, and communication between stakeholders involved in procurement, such as project managers, procurement officers and legal teams. Contract Management Plan The contract management plan details how contracts will be managed, monitored, and enforced throughout the procurement process. This includes performance evaluations, dispute resolution processes and ensuring that suppliers meet contractual obligations. Project Budget Template This free project budget template allows you to estimate all the costs related to resources such as labor, equipment and any capital assets that you might need to procure for your organization. Making a budget is a very important of a procurement plan as it defines clear limits for spending. /wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Project-Budget-Screenshot.jpg How to Write a Procurement Plan The project manager is the project team member responsible for overseeing the procurement management plan, but it’s not a one-person job. Since the procurements will be project-wide, it’s important that everyone is on board with the process. Everyone should have some involvement in approving and even managing contracts. The procurement management plan can be broken down into these eight steps. 1. Define Terms To begin, start by defining the procurement terms. This means listing what you need to procure in detail: how many, what size, for how long, etc. Then you want to know what service is provided to the project and why this is important. Now add a date of use to each of these procurements and who on the project team is authorized to make these purchases. This information will be necessary when you’re ready to make a purchase order which specifies the price, quantity, delivery window and terms of payment of the goods/services you purchase. It’s a legally binding document that makes sure that you and your vendor are on the same page. Our purchase order template can help you create one that fits your project. 2. Outline Type of Agreement The contract is how everyone agrees on the terms of service. There are different types of contracts, for instance, a fixed price and cost reimbursement are two. Therefore, the type of agreement must be decided on and how it will be managed. 3. Identify and Mitigate Risks Risks are inherent in every part of a project process, and so they lie dormant in procurement until they show themselves. It is now time to figure out what those risks might be and list them. Once a thorough list has been collected, each must have a way to resolve them. It’s also good to assign a team member with the task of mitigating those risks, so they have the ownership to follow through on closing them. A risk register template can help. 4. Estimate Costs & Make a Budget What are the costs involved with the project procurements? Once those have been figured out, it is likely that a request for proposal will be issued, with the needs outlined and requesting bids from suppliers. Be thorough and note everything required. The suppliers will come back with their costs for products or services. Then, once you estimate the costs of project resources, you can make a budget. 5. Identify Constraints It helps to try and identify any project constraints before starting the project to avoid getting blindsided by unforeseen limitations during execution. Once this list is complete it can be looked at throughout the project phases. Constraints related to procurements include cost, scope, limited resources and technical specifications. 6. Get the Contract Approved Review the bids and do a service and cost analysis. Then have a list of who the decision-makers are in the project group and pass the bids on to them for review (a DACI framework can help identify decision-makers). This process makes sure that everyone who needs to oversee the contract approval is involved and can provide input. 7. Make a Decision Criteria You have a workflow, but now you need criteria by which to decide on which bid to go into contract with. Every person who reviews the bid should have these criteria at hand to measure their response. 8. Create a Vendor Management Plan Once a contract is signed, the procurement management plan will segue into a vendor management plan. The terms of the contract must be met. And, to make sure that happens, a management plan surrounding the suppliers will help ensure that goods and services are delivered as specified and on time. It is a good idea to add a performance metric to rate how well each supplier does their job, so you can improve relations on the next project and know who is worth contracting with again. ProjectManager Helps with Procurement Management Each procurement is a project or a subset of the larger project. Therefore, each procurement can be planned, tracked and reported on just as you would the larger project. ProjectManager is an online project management software that can make that process easy and effective. Procurement management can feel overwhelming. ProjectManager helps with executing your procurement plan with its kanban boards, Gantt charts, dashboards and other project management features. Using Kanban for Procurement Management By making each supplier a project on a kanban board, you can then track what stage their inventory is in and not get any unpleasant surprises. ProjectManager has customizable columns, so you can name them ordered, shipped, stocked and need to reorder. This way you’re always on top of your resources. Plus, you can add tags and priority levels to make sure everything is well-organized and tracked. /wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Kanban-MOVING-COLUMN-CAR.jpg Gantt Can Link Tasks and Make Timelines Sometimes procurement is dependent on other tasks. Maybe the visual kanban doesn’t give you the control you need. No problem, switch over to the Gantt view. Now you can link dependencies and see timelines. Timing is important of course. If your resource isn’t here on time, then the whole project can be delayed! /wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Gantt_Marketing_Wide_Zoom-175_WBS.jpg They say, “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.” But in project management software you want to have all your tools in one place. ProjectManager keeps you organized, so you can work better. ProjectManager is a cloud-based project management software that helps control procurement throughout the project phases. Workload and resource management features keep track of supplies and calculate planned versus actual costs. ProjectManager assists project managers with planning, monitoring and reporting projects. Team members get a collaborative platform to work together more productively. Try it today with this free 30-day trial. The post How to Make a Procurement Plan (Example Included) appeared first on ProjectManager. View the full article

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Apple just casually announced the new M4 MacBook Air with sales beginning on March 12. While that may be exciting news for anyone looking to get the latest and greatest devices, it can also be a boon for anyone hunting for deals. After new products launch, there tend to be some great discounts on earlier models to help clear inventory. Apple unfortunately has a pretty controlled sales market, so finding new units of earlier models may be difficult. But if you’re familiar and comfortable with the wide world of refurbished products, you can find some excellent deals on slightly older MacBooks. To help you start your search, I’ve rounded up a few exciting options from the refurbished market. M1 Pro MacBook ProThis refurbished M1 Pro MacBook Pro comes in under the new $999 MacBook Air, but offers some upgrades. It has more storage than a base MacBook Air, matches its memory, features a large 16-inch display, and comes with extra ports. This model also runs an M1 Pro chip, which is a more powerful version of the M1 chip that dazzled so many in the tech community. 16-inch M1 Pro MacBook Pro (16GB RAM, 512GB storage) $949.00 at Amazon $1,040.00 Save $91.00 Get Deal Get Deal $949.00 at Amazon $1,040.00 Save $91.00 M3 MacBook AirIf you don’t need the latest processor, the M3 MacBook Air could serve you well. This discount from Amazon offers a new M3 MacBook Air for $200 less than the newer model. This one is thankfully upgraded to 16GB of memory, which improves both the device's ability to run multiple tasks at once, as well as its overall longevity. 13-inch M3 MacBook Air (16GB RAM, 256GB storage) $799.00 at Amazon /images/amazon-prime.svg $1,099.00 Save $300.00 Get Deal Get Deal $799.00 at Amazon /images/amazon-prime.svg $1,099.00 Save $300.00 M2 MacBook AirYou can go yet another generation back and save even more on a Mac. This M2 MacBook Air from Amazon is still in new condition, and costs just $699. It’s not a base model either, shipping with the all-too-important 16GB memory upgrade for future-proofing. 13-inch M2 MacBook Air (16GB RAM, 256GB storage $699.00 at Amazon /images/amazon-prime.svg $999.00 Save $300.00 Get Deal Get Deal $699.00 at Amazon /images/amazon-prime.svg $999.00 Save $300.00 M1 Pro MacBook ProFor less than the price of a new M4 MacBook Air, you can grab this beefed up M1 Pro MacBook Pro. It, too, comes with 16GB of memory, ensuring better longevity, and it even includes 512GB of storage. This unit is in "Excellent - Refurbished" condition, so it should still look and work like new, and it gets a one-year Allstate warranty. The same configuration is also available from Amazon for $899. 14-inch M1 Pro MacBook Pro (16GB RAM, 512GB storage) $889.72 at Amazon $978.00 Save $88.28 Get Deal Get Deal $889.72 at Amazon $978.00 Save $88.28 M3 Pro MacBook ProThis 16-inch MacBook Pro is a sizable discount next to the M4 Pro models Apple now offers. eBay is currently offering it for $1,679.95, down from $2,099.99. The 18GB of memory and powerful M3 Pro processor offer a big edge on heavy computing workloads, and comes with a fantastic display. This model is eBay Certified Refurbished, so you can expect a like-new machine and enjoy a two-year warranty backed by Allstate. View the full article

Google discontinues the Page Annotations feature, which diverted traffic from websites back to Google's search results. The post Google Discontinues Controversial “Page Annotations” On iOS appeared first on Search Engine Journal. View the full article

Microsoft is bringing more transparency to its search advertising with a new feature that explains ad placement decisions directly in Bing results. Details: The feature appears as a dropdown option next to ad URLs in Bing search results Currently shows varying levels of detail depending on the user or region How it works. When users click the dropdown arrow next to a search ad’s URL, they can access a dialog box that explains why that particular advertisement was selected for display. Barry Schwartz reports seeing only a generic “Learn how your ads are chosen” message on Search Engine Roundtable. Others, like Digital Marketer, Khushal Bherwani, report seeing detailed information including: Specific reasons for ad selection Complete advertiser details User-specific targeting factors Why we care. As digital ad platforms face growing scrutiny over transparency and user privacy, Microsoft is following Google’s lead by giving users more visibility into how and why they’re seeing specific ads. Between the lines. The inconsistent rollout suggests Microsoft is testing the feature before a wider release, possibly in response to similar transparency features Google has implemented in its search results. What they’re saying. While Microsoft hasn’t made an official announcement about the feature, social media discussions indicate users are noticing the change and comparing it to Google’s existing ad transparency tools. View the full article

Trump is the heir to a national-populist strain that runs deep in American politicsView the full article