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Origination volume at the San Diego-based company rose 57% to $24 billion in 2024. View the full article

Mexican and Canadian officials are increasingly frustrated by tariff negotiations with the Trump administration, with a lack of clarity over exactly what the U.S. wants making any resolution seem impossible, sources from both countries told Reuters. After implementing across-the-board 25% tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico earlier this week, President Donald Trump on Thursday announced a one-month reprieve for Mexico with an exemption for the North American auto sector also in the works. On Thursday, just after midday Eastern Time, tariffs remained in place for Canada. The on-again, off-again tariffs and the high-level discussions surrounding them have exasperated negotiating teams, according to three Mexican officials and two Canadian sources familiar with negotiations. It’s like “dealing with an angry partner and you don’t know what they’re mad about,” one Mexican official. “It’s not clear what they want.” The press person for Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum responded to a request for comment by directing Reuters to Sheinbaum’s public comment on Thursday. In a post on X, Sheinbaum said: “We had an excellent and respectful call,” that respected the “sovereignties” of both countries. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s office and the White House both did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Trump based the legal justification for the tariffs on combating fentanyl and illegal immigration, but he and others in his administration often expand the justification to include trade deficits and protecting U.S. industries like autos and lumber. Despite the shared frustration of Mexico and Canada, the two countries have taken distinct tones in public. Sheinbaum has stressed her respect for Trump and the close cooperation with the U.S. Canada has bluntly criticized the chaos. Trudeau on Thursday said Canada will be in a trade war with the United States for “the foreseeable future.” U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called Trudeau “a numbskull.” Trudeau’s foreign minister has been even franker. “We won’t get through this, another psychodrama every 30 days,” Foreign Minister Melanie Joly told business leaders in Toronto earlier this week. “The problem we’ve had is it’s not clear what the American president wants,” she added. “I’ve had conversations with colleagues in Washington saying, ‘Okay, but at the end of the day, what do you guys want?’ And I got the answer, ‘We’re about to know.’ There’s one decision maker in the system. He’s the only one to know.” U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick dismissed the idea that he didn’t know what Trump wants as “fake news” and “so silly” in an interview on Thursday with CNBC. Trump “calls everybody all the time,” Lutnick said. “I speak to him all the time. You’ve got to be kidding me. The president knows exactly what he wants. We know exactly what he wants.” But Canadian and Mexican officials said the lack of clarity over demands as well as uncertainty over whether Trump administration officials in bilateral meetings were actually able to deliver on what they said was making discussions incredibly challenging. The scope of negotiations is not clear, they said, with talks sometimes seeming to be focused on fentanyl and at other times on migration, while on some occasions the focus seemed to be trade deficits. “The U.S. reasons for the tariffs constantly shift,” said another Mexican official. “If we can’t identify the problem, we can’t identify the solution.” —Emily Green, Jarrett Renshaw, David Ljunggren; writing by Stephen Eisenhammer, Reuters View the full article

Hsieh stepped down from a day-to-day operational role following a contentious proxy battle for board leadership in 2023 but remained a director. View the full article

In a public appearance Thursday, Federal Reserve Gov. Christopher Waller said the Founding Fathers supported independent money management and undoing it now would be a mistake. View the full article

Officials in the Western U.S. who warn the public about avalanches are sounding a different type of alarm. They say they’re worried that the Trump administration firing hundreds of meteorologists and other environmental scientists could hinder life-saving forecasts that skiers and mountain drivers rely on. The forecasting work is crucial for skiers and climbers who flirt with danger when they travel through mountain gullies that are prone to slide. Recovery efforts for three victims of a large avalanche near Anchorage, Alaska, were ongoing Thursday, two days after the accident in mountains where forecasters had warned it would be “easy” to trigger a slide that day because of a weak layer in the deep snow. The forecasts also are used to protect the general public. Transportation officials use them to gauge the risk on well-traveled roads like one in Colorado where a vehicle got pushed off the highway by a slide earlier this month. “We save lives and there are people alive today because of the work we do,” said Doug Chabot, who directed the Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center in Montana for almost 24 years. “To take funding and to just randomly cut programs, it will affect our ability to save lives.” ‘There’s a lot of pieces that will fall apart’ Avalanches kill about two dozen people annually in the U.S. Predicting their likelihood, potential severity and location depends heavily on information provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The information comes in two forms: data-driven models and conversations between avalanche forecasters and National Weather Service meteorologists who can help assess the data. “We have our own numerical model, but we can’t run that without the work that NOAA is doing,” said Ethan Greene, director of the Colorado Avalanche Information Center, which publishes avalanche forecasts. “Without that work, there’s a lot of pieces that will fall apart.” So far this winter 18 people had been killed by avalanches, most of them in remote areas in Western states. Weather models from NOAA are used by 14 avalanche centers run by the U.S. Forest Service. The Colorado center is largely state funded. Chabot said employees at the federal avalanche centers have so far been exempt from cuts, but officials worry that could change. Shrinking the federal workforce The Trump administration has not disclosed what positions are being lost at NOAA. Former leaders of the agency have said the firings will have wide-ranging negative impacts on flight safety, shipping safety and warning networks for tornados and hurricanes. NOAA has about 13,000 employees. The firings come as billionaire Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency shrink a federal workforce that President Donald Trump has called bloated and sloppy. A NOAA spokesperson declined to answer questions from The Associated Press about the potential for the cuts to degrade avalanche forecasting quality. “We are not discussing internal personnel and management matters,” spokesperson Susan Buchanan wrote in an email. “We continue to provide weather information, forecasts and warnings pursuant to our public safety mission.” Greene and Chabot said they don’t anticipate immediate effects. But if NOAA’s data is weaker, Greene said his center’s forecasts will be more uncertain. “We will probably look at the same things that we’re looking at and see that they’re not working as well as they were,” he said. Dangerous layers of snow On a mountainside near Leadville, Colorado, this week, Greene dug a pit into the snow and scooped out snow crystals that he scattered across a plastic blue card. “It’s so beautiful,” he said, referring to a layer of snow turned to ice crystals, which under certain conditions can create weak layers prone to avalanche. Such surveys are an essential part of forecasting and so is data on weather, which impacts snow and helps drive avalanche risk. In nearby Frisco, Colorado, light snow fell in the parking lot at the Mayflower Gulch trailhead, where college students Joseph Burgoyne and his friend Michael Otenbaker from Michigan donned snow shoes and strapped skis to a backpack before heading up a mountain trail. Burgoyne said it’s scary to see headlines on social media sites about skiers who were “carried and buried” by avalanches “It’s serious terrain, and those reports, they can save lives,” Burgyone said of the avalanche forecasts. “Everybody just wants to have a good time. Going fast is fun. Finding deep snow is fun, but there’s serious dangers behind that.” —Brittany Peterson and Matthew Brown, Associated Press View the full article

Tie-up will bring to an end the drugstore chain’s century-long run as a public companyView the full article

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge ruled Thursday that President Donald Trump acted illegally when he fired a member of an independent labor agency, and the judge ordered that she be allowed to remain on the job. U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell in Washington, D.C., found Trump did not have the authority to remove Gwynne Wilcox from the National Labor Relations Board. “An American president is not a king—not even an ‘elected’ one—and his power to remove federal officers and honest civil servants like plaintiff is not absolute,” Howell wrote. She acknowledged the administration’s argument that the Supreme Court may be inclined to overturn a 90-year-old decision restricting the president’s power to remove members of independent agencies. But the judge said that until and unless the high court acts, current law clearly supports keeping Wilcox in her role. Wilcox sued Trump after he fired her and the agency’s general counsel, Jennifer Abruzzo, on Jan. 27. Wilcox’s attorneys said no president previously had tried to remove an NLRB member. They argued that board members can only be fired “for neglect of duty or malfeasance in office” and only after giving notice and holding a hearing. Trump’s “only path to victory” in Wilcox’s case would be to persuade the U.S. Supreme Court to ”adopt a new, more aggressive vision of presidential power that would effectively abolish independent agencies” in the U.S., her lawyers wrote. During a hearing Wednesday, Howell jokingly referred to herself as a “speed bump” for the case on its way to the Supreme Court. Government attorneys argued that NLRB members should be “removable at will to ensure democratic accountability.” Reinstating Wilcox to the board would be “an extraordinary intrusion on the executive branch,” they added. “The President cannot be compelled to retain the services of a principal officer whom the President no longer believes should be entrusted with the exercise of executive power,” Justice Department lawyers wrote. Wilcox was the first Black woman to serve on the five-member board in its 90-year history. The Senate confirmed Wilcox for a second five-year term in September 2023. Congress created the board in 1935. Its primary purpose is to resolve disputes over unfair labor practices. It adjudicated hundreds of cases in the last fiscal year. — Michael Kunzelman, Associated Press Associated Press writer Lindsay Whitehurst contributed to this story. View the full article

Explore proven strategies for creating high-performing landing pages that guide users towards action and conversion goals. The post 10 Top Converting Landing Pages That Boost Your ROI [With Examples] appeared first on Search Engine Journal. View the full article

Much like all the upheaval shaking the world, the huge swings rocking Wall Street may feel far from normal. But, for investing at least, all this is typical. Sharp moves for the U.S. stock market, like its recent 6% drop in just a couple of weeks, happen regularly. Stomaching them is the price investors have to pay for the bigger returns that stocks can offer over other investments in the long term. This time doesn’t look much different, experts say. Here’s a glimpse at what’s behind the market’s wild moves and what experts are advising investors young and old to consider: The market is bad, right? It has certainly struggled. The stock market’s main benchmark, the S&P 500, has been dropping since setting an all-time high last month, largely because of worries about President Donald Trump‘s tariffs and signals that the U.S. economy is running less powerfully than economists expected. Any kind of uncertainty around the economy will give Wall Street pause. These tariffs have had a particularly jostling effect because no one knows how long Trump will go through with them. When worries are high, stocks sink sharply. When Wall Street goes back to thinking Trump is using tariffs as just a negotiating tactic, stocks have bounced back, such as on Wednesday. Stocks do this often? Yes. The S&P 500 has regularly seen declines bigger than this recent one, of 10% or more, every year or so. Often, experts view them as a culling of optimism that can otherwise run overboard, driving stock prices too high. Before this recent stumble, many critics were already saying the U.S. stock market was too expensive after prices rose faster than corporate profits. They also pointed to how only a handful of companies was driving so much of the market’s returns. A group of just seven Big Tech companies accounted for more than half of the S&P 500’s total return last year, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices. Should I sell and get out? Anytime an investor sees they’re losing money, it feels bad. This recent run feels particularly unnerving because of how incredibly calm the market had previously been. The S&P 500 is coming off a second straight year where it shot up by more than 20%, the first time that’s happened since baggy pants were last in style before the millennium. Selling may offer some feeling of relief. But it also locks in losses and prevents the chance of making the money back over time. Historically, the S&P 500 has come back from every one of its downturns to eventually make investors whole again. That includes after the Great Depression, the dot-com bust and the 2020 COVID crash. Some recoveries take longer than others, but experts often recommend not putting money into stocks that you can’t afford to lose for several years, up to 10. “Data has shown, historically, that no one can time the market,” said Odysseas Papadimitriou, CEO of WalletHub. “No one can consistently figure out the best time to buy and sell.” Put another way: “Keep on keeping on,” suggests Chris Fasciano, vice president, investment management and research, and chief market strategist at Commonwealth Financial Network. Should I change anything with my investments? Even as the overall U.S. stock market has dropped, some corners outside the Magnificent Seven have done much better, Fasciano said. So have stocks outside the United States. It could all be a reminder that investors often do best when they have a mixed set of investments rather than going all-in on just a few. And investors may no longer be as diversified as they thought after years of sheer dominance by the Magnificent Seven over the U.S. stock market and by Wall Street over global markets. “Now’s the time to revisit some of the old tried-and-true of portfolio construction, like diversification,” Fasciano said. I just started investing in stocks. What should I do? The proliferation of online trading platforms and the ease of smartphones has helped create a new generation of investors who may not be used to such volatility. But the good news is younger investors often have the gift of time. With decades to go until retirement, they can afford to ride the waves and let their stock portfolios hopefully recover before compounding and eventually growing even bigger. “We would advise younger investors to not worry about this at all,” said Phil Battin, CEO of Ambassador Wealth Management. “It’s just background noise. If you have 30 to 50 years until you need the money, the economy has survived world wars, oil embargoes, presidential assassinations, Y2K, and a global pandemic. It will survive the Trump tariffs as well.” What about crypto? This is a little trickier. “In theory, part of the appeal of crypto is that it’s supposed to be a hedge investment that isn’t correlated with the stock market or the fiat-currency economy,” said Sam Taube, lead investing writer for NerdWallet. But in reality, at least recently, crypto has often gone down in price when stocks have gone down, instead of offering that hoped-for protection during Wall Street’s sell-offs. “So, young investors may need to rethink the idea that crypto’s value is completely independent of the stock market and broader economy,” Taube said. What if I’m near retirement? Older investors have less time than younger ones to allow their investments to bounce back. But even in retirement, some people will need their investments to last 30 years or more, said Niladri “Neel” Mukherjee, chief investment officer of TIAA Wealth Management. People who have already retired may want to cut back on spending and withdrawals after sharp market downturns, because bigger withdrawals will remove more potential compounding ability in the future. But even retirees, at least in the early part of retirement, should still be invested in stocks to prepare for the possibility of decades of spending ahead. “You may want to slow that down and pick that back up once the market recovers,” Mukherjee said, “but it all comes down to having that conversation with your adviser and your portfolio manager.” How long will this last? No one knows, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. —Stan Choe and Cora Lewis, AP business writers View the full article

Google's first Pixel Drop of 2025 happened this week with a long list of upgrades for the company's flagship phones, tablets, and watches. Google followed the update closely with the March 2025 Android Security Bulletin, with fixes for 43 malicious bugs—including two zero-day vulnerabilities that may actively be under "limited, targeted exploitation" on devices running Android OS. The patches cover concerns ranging from flaws that allow attackers to gain remote code execution on vulnerable devices to issues with Qualcomm and MediaTek components. The two zero-day (highest severity) exploits are labeled CVE-2024-43093 and CVE-2024-50302, both of which are "privilege escalation" flaws. According to Bleeping Computer, the former lets attackers access sensitive data by bypassing a file path filter without any additional input from the user. The latter is an issue in the Linux kernel that allows the unlocking of confiscated devices (and has reportedly been used by Serbian law enforcement to target activists). Zero-days are security vulnerabilities that are publicly disclosed before the developer has an opportunity to issue a patch. Even if the current exploitation is limited to these Serbian authorities, it's important to protect your devices before additional bad actors take advantage of these flaws as well. How to ensure your Android device is updatedIn most cases, all you need to do to fix security flaws on Android is update your device when you receive a notification to do so. Google issues patches for its own Pixel phones and the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) code, and also alerts other manufacturers—like Samsung, Motorola, and OnePlus—when updates are on their way. Devices running Android 10 and later may get both security updates and Google Play system updates. The current batch of patches applies to AOSP versions 12, 12L, 13, 14, and 15, and the most recent is dated 2025-03-05. If you're not sure whether your Android device has been updated or believe you may have missed the notification, head to your device settings to locate your Android version (About phone or About tablet > Android version) and check your update status (System > Software update or System update). Follow the on-screen prompts to download and install available patches. View the full article

President Donald Trump on Thursday postponed 25% tariffs on many imports from Mexico and some imports from Canada for a month amid widespread fears of the economic fallout from a broader trade war. The White House insists its tariffs are about stopping the smuggling of fentanyl, but the taxes proposed by Trump have caused a gaping wound in the decades-old North American trade partnership, and Canada has felt compelled to quickly take aggressive countermeasures. Trump’s tariff plans have also caused the stock market to sink and alarmed U.S. consumers. In addition to his claims about fentanyl, Trump has insisted that the tariffs could be resolved by fixing the trade deficit and he emphasized while speaking in the Oval Office that he still plans to impose “reciprocal” tariffs starting on April 2. “Most of the tariffs go on April the second,” Trump said before signing the orders. “And then we have some temporary ones and small ones, relatively small, although it’s a lot of money having to do with Mexico and Canada.” Trump said he was not looking to extend the exemption on the 25% tariff for autos for another month. Imports from Mexico that comply with the 2020 USMCA trade pact would be excluded from the 25% tariffs for a month, according to the orders signed by Trump. Imports from Canada that comply with the trade deal would also avoid the 25% tariffs for a month, while the potash that U.S. farmers import from Canada would be tariffed at 10%, the same rate at which Trump wants to tariff Canadian energy products. Roughly 62% of imports from Canada would likely still face the new tariffs because they’re not USMCA compliant, according to a White House official who insisted on anonymity to preview the orders on a call with reporters. Half of imports from Mexico that are not USCMA compliant would also be taxed under the orders being signed by Trump, the official said. Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum has planned to announce any retaliatory measures on Sunday, but Trump credited her with making progress on illegal immigration and drug smuggling as a reason for again pausing tariffs that were initially supposed to go into full effect in February. “I did this as an accommodation, and out of respect for, President Sheinbaum,” Trump said on Truth Social. “Our relationship has been a very good one, and we are working hard, together, on the Border.” Trump’s on-again, off-again tariffs threats have roiled financial markets, lowered consumer confidence, and enveloped many businesses in an uncertain atmosphere that could delay hiring and investment. Major U.S. stock markets briefly bounced off lows after Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick previewed the month-long pauses on CNBC on Thursday. Significant declines already seen this week resumed within an hour. The S&P 500 stock index has fallen below where it was before Trump was elected. Sheinbaum said she and Trump “had an excellent and respectful call in which we agreed that our work and collaboration have yielded unprecedented results,” on a post on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter. Mexico has cracked down on cartels, sent troops to the U.S. border and delivered 29 top cartel bosses long chased by American authorities to the Trump administration in a span of weeks. At a press conference, Sheinbaum elaborated on her call with Trump Thursday, saying that she told the president that Mexico was making great strides in fulfilling his security demands. “I told him we’re getting results,” Sheinbaum said. But the U.S. imposed the tariffs, so she asked Trump “how are we going to continue cooperating, collaborating with something that hurts the people of Mexico?” She added that “practically all of the trade” between the U.S. and Mexico will be exempt from tariffs until April 2. She said the two countries will continue to work together on migration and security, and to cut back on fentanyl trafficking to the U.S. From January to February, the amount of fentanyl seized at the border dropped more than 41%, according to Sheinbaum, citing data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection. She cited the dip as meeting a commitment made to Trump. Ontario Premier Doug Ford, the leader of Canada’s most populous province, said that starting Monday the province will charge 25% more for electricity shipped to 1.5 million Americans in response to Trump’s tariff plan. Ontario provides electricity to Minnesota, New York and Michigan. “This whole thing with President Trump is a mess,” Ford said Thursday. “This reprieve, we’ve went down this road before. He still threatens the tariffs on April 2.” Ford’s office said that the tariff would remain in place even if there’s a one month reprieve from the Americans. Ford has said that so long as the threat of tariffs continue, Ontario’s position will not change. Lutnick said that he will be watching fentanyl overdose deaths in the U.S. as a key “metric” he will focus on when evaluating Canada and Mexico’s efforts to combat the synthetic opioid. In his speech to a joint session of Congress Tuesday night, Trump portrayed tariffs — which he has also levied on China at 20% due to their role in fentanyl production — as a source of increasing wealth and power for the United States. Yet most economists expect the import duties to send prices higher, slow the economy, and potentially cost jobs. The Yale University Budget Lab has estimated that the tariffs on Canada, China, and Mexico would increase inflation by a full percentage point, cut growth by half a percentage point and cost the average household about $1,600 in disposable income. Trump appeared to acknowledge Tuesday night that there could be some pain: “There’ll be a little disturbance, but we’re okay with that. It won’t be much.” —Christopher Rugaber and Josh Boak Associated Press writers Rob Gillies, and Megan Janetsky contributed to this report. View the full article

US cabinet told to ‘keep all the people you want’ in first sign of pushback against Elon Musk’s cost-cutting projectView the full article

The company first entered the Canadian market in 2020 through an investment in an Ontario-based brokerage, which later rebranded to Rocket Mortgage Canada. View the full article

Efforts to hollow out the federal workforce by Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) have resulted in a dramatic rise in layoff announcements. The latest monthly data from Challenger, Gray & Christmas shows that employers in the United States announced more than 172,000 layoffs during February, which was an increase of 245% from January and the highest monthly total since mid-2020, during the pandemic. Further, it was the highest number of layoffs for the month of February since 2009, in the middle of the financial crisis and subsequent Great Recession, when more than 186,000 layoffs were announced. So far, through the first two months of the year, employers have cut a total of 222,000 jobs, an increase of 33% over last year. Which industries have been hardest hit? DOGE’s slashing of the federal government’s headcount meant a huge increase in government layoffs. In fact, through February, the report notes that 62,530 government jobs have been eliminated, which was an increase of 41,311% year-over-year. Meanwhile, the retail and technology sectors continue to see significant cuts. Further, almost 39,000 jobs were lost in the retail sector, 14,554 in technology, and 13,804 in the services and consumer products sector during February. “Private companies announced plans to shed thousands of jobs last month, particularly in Retail and Technology," said Andrew Challenger, senior vice president and workplace expert for Challenger, Gray & Christmas, in a statement included with the report. "With the impact of the Department of Government Efficiency [DOGE] actions, as well as canceled Government contracts, fear of trade wars, and bankruptcies, job cuts soared in February." Interestingly, the report also notes that hiring plans are on an uptick for many employers, too. “So far this year, companies plan to hire 40,669 workers, an increase of 159% from the 15,693 hiring plans announced during the same period last year,” the report reads. “This is the highest number for February since 2022, when companies announced 215,127 new hires.” View the full article

Subscribe to Work LifeGet stories like this in your inbox Subscribe In psychology, an internal locus of control is a key predictor of life satisfaction. People who see themselves – not external forces – as in charge of their life outcomes feel more grounded, fulfilled, and empowered. This principle applies to our professional lives, too. But as an employee, it might feel like you don’t have much power to control what you spend your days working on. In her new book Managing Up: How to Get What You Need from the People in Charge, Melody Wilding demonstrates that we often have more self-determination than we think we do. Managing Up gives readers a map for shaping their career by building a strong relationship with their boss or manager. Part of that strategy is taking ownership: seizing projects and opportunities that can move your career forward. We sat down with Melody to unpack what it means to take ownership, what it can do for your career, and how to do it in an impactful way. What does it mean to take ownership at work? Related Article How to advocate for yourself at work By Lauren Parker In Productivity In Managing Up, taking ownership is the act of declaring that you’ll step in to resolve an issue or seize an opportunity – then following through on your claim. “Ownership is the courage to raise your hand and say you’ll take something on to make work better for everyone – even if it’s not in your job description,” says Melody. Does this sound scary? Well, pivoting to a more proactive approach to work can be intimidating! But today, we’re explaining how to take ownership in exactly the right way. By taking ownership of initiatives that interest you, you can take a more active role in building the career you want. You don’t need to wait around for someone to hand you that perfect project – you can start proving your abilities in the areas you’d like to expand into. If you’ve ever heard the saying ‘dress for the job you want,’ taking ownership is like a more powerful version of that same strategy because you’re doing the work, not just dressing for it. Not to mention it’s better suited for 2025, when plenty of talented people log on to work in their pajamas. Finding an ownership-ready challenge Melody has a simple rubric for identifying opportunities that are ripe for the taking: look for a triple win. “What’s something that has a career benefit to you, will feel important to your boss, and will also have a positive impact on the organization as a whole?” she asks. “Ideally, you’ll take ownership of a challenge that’s at the intersection of these three things.” You should also account for the working environment you’re in. For example, if you’re a new hire or your company is financially risk-averse, you may want to start by taking ownership of a project that would have fewer negative outcomes if you don’t succeed. Not sure where to look? Consider starting with: Things colleagues consistently complain about or seem drained by Areas where people are using inefficient workarounds What leadership discussions are focusing on and where future budget is being allocated 5 challenges and opportunities to own Related Article 7 sneaky ways friction is making your work life harder By Genevieve Michaels In Productivity Bothersome bottlenecks: Inefficiencies that stress people out and slow down productivity It’s taking forever to onboard new hires, so you propose and lead the creation of a centralized knowledge base with self-serve onboarding workflows Neglected needs: Unmet needs, projects, and priorities that are consistently being overlooked Your industry landscape has changed, and your company has spent months discussing new features that could help you stay competitive. You plan a series of cross-team prioritization discussions to start bringing them out of the theoretical stage Feedback patterns: What do colleagues, customers, and stakeholders keep saying they need more or less of? Customers keep coming to the support team with the same kinds of issues over and over. You propose a new service management tool that will let you create automated responses to these persistent issues, and oversee its implementation Upcoming projects: What priorities are coming up in the pipeline, and how can you proactively address them? Your organization is launching a full, rebranded website. You propose a launch strategy with industry influencers to get the word out and give your community context for this new direction Innovation opportunities: How can your organization reimagine or evolve its work to create better results? You notice a skills gap in your organization, so you develop a training program or partner with a local university to train interns 4 steps to taking ownership Storming into the CEO’s office unannounced with a bold new cost-cutting or money-making plan is unlikely to go over well. As you prepare to take ownership, here are four steps to build momentum around your idea, get stakeholders on board, and set yourself up for success. Build buy-in with pre-suasion You don’t want your boss or manager to be hearing about your project for the first time when you’re trying to get it approved. “Change makes people nervous,” explains Melody. “You’re likely to get immediate pushback if you haven’t tested the waters for your idea.” That’s why she recommends using a technique called pre-suasion, a term coined by psychologist Robert Cialdini. “This isn’t about manipulation or planting an idea in someone’s head,” she says. “The goal is to lay the groundwork so when you make a request to move forward, it feels like a natural next step.” Here’s how pre-suasion could sound in practice: Ask for feedback on how your organization is currently addressing (or not addressing) the problem, before bringing up your new solution Build urgency by talking about results competitors have created in the area you’re focused on, or why now might be the right time to act Mention that you’ve been researching potential solutions or strategies, even before you have something concrete to share Present your idea with the SCQA framework (Situation, Complication, Question, Answer) It’s important to be concise and focus on value when you’re ready to present your idea. “Very often, people either lead with too much backstory, or they problem-dump and focus on the issue and not their solution,” says Melody. “Either way, you risk stressing out leadership and losing their attention.” Instead, use the SCQA framework as an easy tool to make sure you’re sharing your idea convincingly. Here’s what it looks like in action: Situation: Context to help your listener understand the problem or opportunity “It’s been years since we’ve had a healthy talent pipeline. Everyone feels like they don’t have the headcount to get things done, even though there’s budget to hire.” Complication: Challenges or obstacles that stand in the way of taking action “Every department is doing whatever they can to find people – everything from posting multiple job boards to tapping personal networks to managers acting as informal recruiters. There’s no cohesion between job postings, and candidates we do attract are often unqualified.” Question: Your hypothesis for a worthwhile solution “I think we need a more organized, centralized strategy that makes connecting with incredible talent an ongoing business process.” Answer: How you propose putting that hypothesis into action to solve the problem “I’ve compiled this list of specialized recruiting firms that focus on our industry. Many are connected to local universities and other firms in our field. I think we should build a stable, long-term partnership with one of them and take finding candidates off managers’ plates.” Bring others along Even though you’re taking ownership, other collaborators will need to be involved to some degree. Taking ownership effectively is about striking a balance between individual initiative and maintaining a team player spirit. “The goal is to include the right people, in the right ways, without creating extra work or adding to their cognitive load,” says Melody. That will look different at different stages of the ownership process. As you work on your idea, consider bringing others along by: Asking for input on initial strategy via surveys or brainstorming sessions Inviting other perspectives with informal coffee chats as you develop the idea Keeping stakeholders in the loop on outcomes via regular Slack updates or 1:1s Pre-plan for challenges Very few great ideas become reality without any unforeseen challenges. Hurdles and uncertainty shouldn’t be a dealbreaker – especially if you anticipate them. Melody recommends planning for both internal resistance and less-than-ideal project outcomes. Reframe resistance and respond strategically “Don’t take resistance personally. It’s usually related to peoples’ natural fear response, not the quality of your idea,” Melody says. “You can even reframe resistance as a form of engagement. People have opinions, and are actively pressure-testing your idea.” Here are some possible ways you might respond to resistance: Try opening the discussion with an even more ambitious idea, so you can find common ground together that’s closer to your original plan Highlight how resistors’ own skills and talents could actually contribute to the outcomes you want Don’t be afraid to keep bringing up your idea (tactfully), even if your manager didn’t seem open to discussing it at first Play out and plan for the worst-case scenario “What would happen in the absolute worst-case scenario, like your plans totally flop and you embarrass yourself?” asks Melody. “If you play this out, you can come up with a bounce-back plan. You’ll likely also get a reality check that a negative outcome isn’t as bad as you fear.” Here are a few worst-case scenarios, and how you could plan for them: Your manager is completely unreceptive and won’t even listen to your idea, let alone give you the green light This could indicate you may need to apply for other internal or external roles to get the growth you want, if that option is available to you. Your initiative doesn’t get the results or ROI you promise, and you’ve wasted company resources You suggest easing into the project, and scaling up depending on initial outcomes. For example, you could start with a smaller budget or use freelancers instead of making a new hire As soon as you launch a new feature, your competitor comes out with a similar but more comprehensive version Plan ahead for the new feature to be reassessed and improved after four months based on user and stakeholder feedback Managing Up is available now. Connect with Melody Wilding on LinkedIn, and learn more about her books, programs, coaching, and speaking on her website. Subscribe to Work LifeGet stories like this in your inbox Subscribe The post How to take ownership of your work (and why you should) appeared first on Work Life by Atlassian. View the full article

Subscribe to Work LifeGet stories like this in your inbox Subscribe In psychology, an internal locus of control is a key predictor of life satisfaction. People who see themselves – not external forces – as in charge of their life outcomes feel more grounded, fulfilled, and empowered. This principle applies to our professional lives, too. But as an employee, it might feel like you don’t have much power to control what you spend your days working on. In her new book Managing Up: How to Get What You Need from the People in Charge, Melody Wilding demonstrates that we often have more self-determination than we think we do. Managing Up gives readers a map for shaping their career by building a strong relationship with their boss or manager. Part of that strategy is taking ownership: seizing projects and opportunities that can move your career forward. We sat down with Melody to unpack what it means to take ownership, what it can do for your career, and how to do it in an impactful way. What does it mean to take ownership at work? Related Article How to advocate for yourself at work By Lauren Parker In Productivity In Managing Up, taking ownership is the act of declaring that you’ll step in to resolve an issue or seize an opportunity – then following through on your claim. “Ownership is the courage to raise your hand and say you’ll take something on to make work better for everyone – even if it’s not in your job description,” says Melody. Does this sound scary? Well, pivoting to a more proactive approach to work can be intimidating! But today, we’re explaining how to take ownership in exactly the right way. By taking ownership of initiatives that interest you, you can take a more active role in building the career you want. You don’t need to wait around for someone to hand you that perfect project – you can start proving your abilities in the areas you’d like to expand into. If you’ve ever heard the saying ‘dress for the job you want,’ taking ownership is like a more powerful version of that same strategy because you’re doing the work, not just dressing for it. Not to mention it’s better suited for 2025, when plenty of talented people log on to work in their pajamas. Finding an ownership-ready challenge Melody has a simple rubric for identifying opportunities that are ripe for the taking: look for a triple win. “What’s something that has a career benefit to you, will feel important to your boss, and will also have a positive impact on the organization as a whole?” she asks. “Ideally, you’ll take ownership of a challenge that’s at the intersection of these three things.” You should also account for the working environment you’re in. For example, if you’re a new hire or your company is financially risk-averse, you may want to start by taking ownership of a project that would have fewer negative outcomes if you don’t succeed. Not sure where to look? Consider starting with: Things colleagues consistently complain about or seem drained by Areas where people are using inefficient workarounds What leadership discussions are focusing on and where future budget is being allocated 5 challenges and opportunities to own Related Article 7 sneaky ways friction is making your work life harder By Genevieve Michaels In Productivity Bothersome bottlenecks: Inefficiencies that stress people out and slow down productivity It’s taking forever to onboard new hires, so you propose and lead the creation of a centralized knowledge base with self-serve onboarding workflows Neglected needs: Unmet needs, projects, and priorities that are consistently being overlooked Your industry landscape has changed, and your company has spent months discussing new features that could help you stay competitive. You plan a series of cross-team prioritization discussions to start bringing them out of the theoretical stage Feedback patterns: What do colleagues, customers, and stakeholders keep saying they need more or less of? Customers keep coming to the support team with the same kinds of issues over and over. You propose a new service management tool that will let you create automated responses to these persistent issues, and oversee its implementation Upcoming projects: What priorities are coming up in the pipeline, and how can you proactively address them? Your organization is launching a full, rebranded website. You propose a launch strategy with industry influencers to get the word out and give your community context for this new direction Innovation opportunities: How can your organization reimagine or evolve its work to create better results? You notice a skills gap in your organization, so you develop a training program or partner with a local university to train interns 4 steps to taking ownership Storming into the CEO’s office unannounced with a bold new cost-cutting or money-making plan is unlikely to go over well. As you prepare to take ownership, here are four steps to build momentum around your idea, get stakeholders on board, and set yourself up for success. Build buy-in with pre-suasion You don’t want your boss or manager to be hearing about your project for the first time when you’re trying to get it approved. “Change makes people nervous,” explains Melody. “You’re likely to get immediate pushback if you haven’t tested the waters for your idea.” That’s why she recommends using a technique called pre-suasion, a term coined by psychologist Robert Cialdini. “This isn’t about manipulation or planting an idea in someone’s head,” she says. “The goal is to lay the groundwork so when you make a request to move forward, it feels like a natural next step.” Here’s how pre-suasion could sound in practice: Ask for feedback on how your organization is currently addressing (or not addressing) the problem, before bringing up your new solution Build urgency by talking about results competitors have created in the area you’re focused on, or why now might be the right time to act Mention that you’ve been researching potential solutions or strategies, even before you have something concrete to share Present your idea with the SCQA framework (Situation, Complication, Question, Answer) It’s important to be concise and focus on value when you’re ready to present your idea. “Very often, people either lead with too much backstory, or they problem-dump and focus on the issue and not their solution,” says Melody. “Either way, you risk stressing out leadership and losing their attention.” Instead, use the SCQA framework as an easy tool to make sure you’re sharing your idea convincingly. Here’s what it looks like in action: Situation: Context to help your listener understand the problem or opportunity “It’s been years since we’ve had a healthy talent pipeline. Everyone feels like they don’t have the headcount to get things done, even though there’s budget to hire.” Complication: Challenges or obstacles that stand in the way of taking action “Every department is doing whatever they can to find people – everything from posting multiple job boards to tapping personal networks to managers acting as informal recruiters. There’s no cohesion between job postings, and candidates we do attract are often unqualified.” Question: Your hypothesis for a worthwhile solution “I think we need a more organized, centralized strategy that makes connecting with incredible talent an ongoing business process.” Answer: How you propose putting that hypothesis into action to solve the problem “I’ve compiled this list of specialized recruiting firms that focus on our industry. Many are connected to local universities and other firms in our field. I think we should build a stable, long-term partnership with one of them and take finding candidates off managers’ plates.” Bring others along Even though you’re taking ownership, other collaborators will need to be involved to some degree. Taking ownership effectively is about striking a balance between individual initiative and maintaining a team player spirit. “The goal is to include the right people, in the right ways, without creating extra work or adding to their cognitive load,” says Melody. That will look different at different stages of the ownership process. As you work on your idea, consider bringing others along by: Asking for input on initial strategy via surveys or brainstorming sessions Inviting other perspectives with informal coffee chats as you develop the idea Keeping stakeholders in the loop on outcomes via regular Slack updates or 1:1s Pre-plan for challenges Very few great ideas become reality without any unforeseen challenges. Hurdles and uncertainty shouldn’t be a dealbreaker – especially if you anticipate them. Melody recommends planning for both internal resistance and less-than-ideal project outcomes. Reframe resistance and respond strategically “Don’t take resistance personally. It’s usually related to peoples’ natural fear response, not the quality of your idea,” Melody says. “You can even reframe resistance as a form of engagement. People have opinions, and are actively pressure-testing your idea.” Here are some possible ways you might respond to resistance: Try opening the discussion with an even more ambitious idea, so you can find common ground together that’s closer to your original plan Highlight how resistors’ own skills and talents could actually contribute to the outcomes you want Don’t be afraid to keep bringing up your idea (tactfully), even if your manager didn’t seem open to discussing it at first Play out and plan for the worst-case scenario “What would happen in the absolute worst-case scenario, like your plans totally flop and you embarrass yourself?” asks Melody. “If you play this out, you can come up with a bounce-back plan. You’ll likely also get a reality check that a negative outcome isn’t as bad as you fear.” Here are a few worst-case scenarios, and how you could plan for them: Your manager is completely unreceptive and won’t even listen to your idea, let alone give you the green light This could indicate you may need to apply for other internal or external roles to get the growth you want, if that option is available to you. Your initiative doesn’t get the results or ROI you promise, and you’ve wasted company resources You suggest easing into the project, and scaling up depending on initial outcomes. For example, you could start with a smaller budget or use freelancers instead of making a new hire As soon as you launch a new feature, your competitor comes out with a similar but more comprehensive version Plan ahead for the new feature to be reassessed and improved after four months based on user and stakeholder feedback Managing Up is available now. Connect with Melody Wilding on LinkedIn, and learn more about her books, programs, coaching, and speaking on her website. Subscribe to Work LifeGet stories like this in your inbox Subscribe The post How to take ownership of your work (and why you should) appeared first on Work Life by Atlassian. View the full article

When working in an agile or scrum environment, teams plan their work by creating a product backlog, a document that lists all the activities and deliverables that must be done to complete a project. Then, once a product backlog has been created, teams execute work in sprints, a short period of time from one to four weeks. Because of their short length, agile teams need to constantly prioritize the tasks defined in the product backlog through a process known as backlog refinement, or backlog grooming. What Is Backlog Refinement? Backlog refinement is the process of identifying and prioritizing the most critical product backlog items for an upcoming sprint, which is done by having a meeting among the development team, product owner, scrum master and other stakeholders where they review a set of backlog refinement criteria to identify and prioritize tasks, often referred to as user stories in agile frameworks. Product backlog refinement is obviously not a one-time endeavor, but an ongoing process between the product owner and the development team. It’s a place where they can collaborate to make sure the product backlog is clean and orderly. That can mean removing outdated user stories and tasks, adding new user stories that come from newly discovered insights or breaking larger user stories into smaller ones. You might reorder the user stories on your backlog, or better describe them to avoid issues later. Assignments and estimates might change and you can identify and remove roadblocks if possible. Project management software is able to capture this product backlog refinement meeting and represent the workflow visually in a kanban board. ProjectManager is a cloud-based work management software that has dynamic kanban boards that have custom workflows and task approval to set who has authority to approve and move tasks forward. And all this is done in real time that is collaborative to the core. Get started with ProjectManager today for free! /wp-content/uploads/2024/03/operations-implementation-kanban-150-cta.jpgKanban boards from ProjectManager for backlog refinement and sprint planning.—Learn More! You could look at backlog refinement as a means to a mutual understanding between the product owner and the scrum team. This understanding is focused on the product, of course, and what it will or won’t do. Then, you decide the amount of effort necessary to implement, as well as the order to do it. Backlog Refinement vs. Backlog Grooming The terms backlog refinement and backlog grooming refer to the exact same process. The difference between them is the term “backlog grooming” was originally used in the agile and scrum community, but it was replaced with “backlog refinement” due to concerns about unintended meanings and confusion brought by the former term. So even though “backlog grooming” might still be used informally, “backlog refinement” is now the official term encouraged by current agile and scrum best practices. How to Conduct a Backlog Refinement Meeting To better understand the concept of backlog refinement or backlog grooming, let’s define the main steps in a backlog refinement meeting. 1. Review Existing Backlog Items The first step in any backlog refinement meeting is to review the current product backlog items to determine whether they’re still relevant or not for the upcoming agile sprint. To do so, the agile team goes over the following backlog refinement criteria. Strategic Alignment: Each backlog item should support the product vision and business objectives. Aligning tasks with strategy ensures the team works on high-impact features. If an item no longer fits strategic goals, consider modifying, deprioritizing or removing it to maintain a focused and effective backlog. Required Effort: Estimating effort helps the team understand workload distribution and sprint feasibility. Using techniques like story points or T-shirt sizing, teams gauge how much work is needed. Accurate effort assessment prevents overcommitment, balances workloads and improves predictability in sprint planning. Business Value: Every backlog item should deliver meaningful value to users or the business. Prioritization should favor high-impact product features or project deliverables that enhance user experience, drive revenue or improve efficiency. Regularly reassessing business value ensures the backlog remains relevant and aligned with customer and stakeholder needs. Acceptance Criteria: Well-defined acceptance criteria clarify when a task is considered “done.” These criteria help developers, testers and stakeholders align on expectations, reducing ambiguity. Clear, testable acceptance conditions improve quality, streamline development and prevent unnecessary rework. Technical Feasibility: Assessing feasibility ensures backlog items are realistically achievable within technical constraints. This includes evaluating system limitations, required integrations and potential technical debt. Early feasibility checks help teams mitigate risks and identify necessary architectural decisions before development begins. Size and Scope: Backlog items should be small enough to complete within a sprint but still provide value. Large epics should be broken into smaller, manageable stories. Right-sizing backlog items enables efficient development, easier estimation and clearer progress tracking. Dependencies: Identifying dependencies between tasks, teams or external systems prevents bottlenecks. Dependencies should be addressed early to avoid delays and conflicts. Mapping out interdependencies ensures smoother workflows and better coordination between cross-functional teams. Risk Assessment: Understanding potential risks associated with backlog items helps teams prepare for obstacles. Risks may include technical challenges, regulatory concerns or changing business priorities. Addressing risks early allows teams to develop mitigation strategies, ensuring projects stay on track. Resource Constraints: Every backlog item requires resources such as time, budget and personnel. Evaluating constraints helps teams allocate resources efficiently and avoid overloading team members. Awareness of limitations allows for realistic planning and better decision-making during backlog refinement. 2. Clarify and Break Down Epics, User Stories or Backlog Items To ensure smooth execution, backlog items must be clear, concise and manageable. Large epics should be broken into smaller user stories that can be completed within a sprint. Refining details such as scope, dependencies and expected outcomes helps the team understand requirements, align on priorities, and estimate effort more accurately. 3. Add New Backlog Items (If Necessary) As business needs evolve, new backlog items may emerge. This step involves identifying and adding relevant user stories, technical improvements or bug fixes. Ensuring that new items align with strategic goals and are well-defined prevents last-minute surprises and keeps the product backlog dynamic and responsive to changing priorities. 4. Identify Risks Proactively identifying risks helps the team mitigate potential blockers before they become major issues. Risks can include technical challenges, resource limitations, dependencies or shifting business priorities. By assessing and addressing risks early, the team improves predictability, reduces uncertainties and ensures backlog items remain feasible within the sprint timeline. 5. Prioritize Backlog Items Not all backlog items hold equal value, so prioritization is key. This step ensures the most impactful, high-value items are addressed first. Using techniques like MoSCoW, weighted shortest job first (WSJF) or stakeholder input, teams determine what should be tackled in upcoming sprints to maximize efficiency and business impact. 6. Eliminate Unnecessary Backlog Items A cluttered backlog slows down decision-making. Regularly reviewing and removing outdated, low-value or duplicate items keeps the backlog lean and manageable. If an item no longer aligns with business objectives or has become irrelevant, it should be archived or deprioritized to maintain a clear and focused development roadmap. 7. Confirm Readiness for Sprint Planning The final step ensures backlog items are properly refined and ready for sprint planning. This includes verifying that acceptance criteria, dependencies and effort estimates are complete. By ensuring all items meet the “definition of ready,” teams can transition smoothly into sprint planning without additional clarification, improving sprint execution and velocity. 8. Incorporate Stakeholder Feedback Backlog refinement isn’t just an internal team process—it benefits from stakeholder input. Engaging product owners, business leaders, or end users ensures that backlog items align with real business needs and user expectations. Gathering feedback early helps refine priorities, clarify requirements and prevent costly rework, ultimately leading to a more valuable and customer-focused product. Who Participates in the Backlog Refinement Meeting? A backlog refinement meeting usually begins with the product owner showing the scrum or agile development team what product backlog items need refinement. This opens up a discussion between the product owner and the scrum team, which is moderated by the scrum master. Having said this, let’s explore the role and responsibilities of each of these participants in more detail. Product Owner The product owner leads the backlog refinement meeting by ensuring the backlog items are well-defined, prioritized and aligned with business goals. They clarify any uncertainties, make decisions on item priorities and ensure that the team understands the vision and objectives behind each item. The product owner also manages scope changes and adjusts priorities as needed. Scrum Master The scrum master facilitates the backlog refinement meeting, ensuring that it follows scrum practices and stays on track. They help the team maintain focus, resolve any process issues and encourage open communication. The scrum master removes any obstacles that might impede the team’s understanding of backlog items and ensures that the meeting environment supports collaboration. Development Team The development team actively participates in the backlog refinement meeting by providing technical insights and effort estimates for each backlog item. They help clarify requirements, identify dependencies and discuss potential challenges or risks. The team ensures that the backlog items are actionable, feasible and well-understood, enabling smooth planning for upcoming sprints. Sample Backlog Refinement Agenda Here’s a sample backlog refinement agenda that can help agile teams plan their agile sprints. Introduction and objective setting (five minutes): The meeting begins with a brief introduction and setting clear objectives for the session. Review current backlog (15 minutes): The team analyzes the existing backlog, removing outdated or irrelevant items. Prioritization (20 minutes): Re-prioritize backlog items based on project goals and current business objectives. New item introduction (15 minutes): Discuss and add new items to the backlog, ensuring they align with project needs. User story review and clarification (10 minutes): Examine user stories, clarify requirements, and ensure they are well-defined. Effort estimation (10 minutes): The development team provides estimates for the effort required to complete each item Risk assessment (five minutes): Identify and discuss any potential risks or concerns related to upcoming tasks. Backlog cleaning (five minutes): Remove unnecessary items and split larger tasks into smaller, manageable pieces Next steps and action items (five minutes): Summarize decisions made and outline action items for team members. Backlog Refinement vs. Sprint Planning Because backlog refinement is done before sprint planning meetings, they can often be confused with each other, but they’re two different processes. Backlog refinement involves reviewing and revising the product backlog to ensure items are well-defined, prioritized and ready for future sprints. This process involves the whole team in clarifying and estimating backlog items, but it’s not tied to a specific sprint. When planning a sprint, the scrum team is working on the priority items from the backlog and focusing on further detailed clarification, lightweight modeling, re-estimation, creating a sprint goal and sprint backlog. Benefits of Backlog Refinement Backlog refinement is a crucial ongoing activity that ensures the product backlog remains well-organized, prioritized and ready for sprint planning. Regular refinement improves team efficiency and enhances project collaboration. Here are some key benefits: Improved Clarity: Ensures backlog items are well-defined and understood by the team. Better Prioritization: Aligns backlog items with business goals, making sure the most valuable items are worked on first. Enhanced Estimation: Provides the team with an opportunity to estimate effort, ensuring more accurate sprint planning. Increased Efficiency: Helps identify dependencies, blockers and risks early, minimizing surprises during sprints. Stronger Collaboration: Encourages communication between the product owner, development team and scrum master, fostering team alignment. Backlog Refinement Techniques Backlog refinement is essential for maintaining an organized and prioritized product backlog. Best practices ensure the backlog is continuously prepared for successful sprint planning. These practices help teams clarify requirements, improve prioritization and ensure tasks are manageable, leading to smoother project execution and better alignment with business goals. WSJF (Weighted Shortest Job First) WSJF is a prioritization technique used to calculate the value of backlog items by comparing their cost of delay with their job size. This helps prioritize tasks that deliver the highest value in the shortest time. It encourages focusing on high-value, low-effort tasks first, optimizing both time and resources for maximum impact. Kano Model The Kano Model is a prioritization tool that categorizes features based on stakeholder engagement. It helps teams identify which features will delight customers, meet basic needs or provide little to no impact. This model allows product owners to make informed decisions about which features will drive the most customer value, guiding prioritization in backlog refinement. MoSCoW Prioritization MoSCoW prioritization is a technique for categorizing backlog items into four groups: must-have, should-have, could-have and won’t-have. This method helps teams focus on delivering the most critical features first while ensuring less important tasks are addressed later. MoSCoW is particularly useful for balancing stakeholder demands and optimizing resource allocation in a project. DEEP Criteria By having a product backlog refinement process you create an outcome that is DEEP, which is an acronym that was made up by Roman Pichler, a product management expert who specializes in digital products and agile practices. DEEP stands for detailed, emergent, estimated and prioritized. You want more detail for the user stories in your backlog. The adding, changing or removing of items will lead to new insights. Each item on the backlog is estimated and prioritized. INVEST Criteria The INVEST criteria is a framework for writing clear and actionable user stories. It stands for independent, negotiable, valuable, estimable, small and testable. By ensuring user stories meet these criteria, teams can make sure the work is clear, achievable and aligned with project goals. This practice enhances backlog refinement by making backlog items well-defined and ready for development. How ProjectManager Helps With Product Backlog Refinement ProjectManager is cloud-based work management for hybrid teams that are collaborative to the core and provides a single source of truth that keeps everyone on the product team on the same page. Real-time data helps you make more insightful decisions when in a backlog refinement meeting, which leads to more successful sprints. Multiple Project Views Kanban boards are the preferred tool when managing a backlog, but that can be done on a task list, too. People work differently and our tool is designed to accommodate various work styles with multiple project views. Other departments might use the Gantt chart, sheet or calendar to track the project. No matter which view they’re using, the data they’re seeing is current and in real time to keep everyone on the same page. /wp-content/uploads/2025/03/gantt-light-mode-screenshot-2025-compressed.png Get Real-Time Data with Dashboards Every project view feeds automatically into the live dashboard, which doesn’t require any time-consuming setup as you’ll find in other software. The real-time dashboard captures data and automatically calculates the information to display it in easy-to-read graphs and charts. The product owner can view six project metrics whenever they want to monitor the sprint and remove any roadblocks they find. /wp-content/uploads/2024/05/portfolio-dashboard-screenshot-lightmode.png Generate Timely Reports One-click reporting goes deeper into the data and helps the product owner make insightful decisions. Reports on time, tasks and more can all be filtered to show only what you want to see. Then they can be saved as a PDF or printed out and shared with stakeholders to keep them updated on progress. /wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Reports-Light-2554x1372-1.png Email notifications are automatically triggered whenever team members make a comment or an item on the backlog is updated. But you also have in-app alerts so you don’t have to leave your tool to stay updated. This keeps you working on your sprint and adjusting it according to the most current data, which boosts productivity. ProjectManager is an award-winning hybrid work management software that connects scrum teams as well as everyone else in the organization. It’s one tool that works in an agile, traditional and hybrid environment to keep everyone working together regardless of where they are or how they work. Join the 35,000-plus users at NASA, Siemens and Nestles who are already delivering success with our tool. Get started today for free! The post Backlog Refinement: A Quick Guide With Examples appeared first on ProjectManager. View the full article

For the four weeks ended March 2, pending sales were down 6.4% annually as prices continued to rise, pushing borrower monthly payments near their all-time high. View the full article

President Donald Trump appears to have backed off issuing an executive order to dismantle the Department of Education on Thursday, but is expected to do so soon, according to multiple reports including from the Wall Street Journal and NPR, who have seen a draft version and confirmed the details. The news comes a day after Linda McMahon was installed as the new education secretary, following her recent Senate confirmation. Here’s what you need to know. What is happening at the Department of Education? Dismantling the department has been a long time coming. In recent months, Trump has attacked it, calling it “a big con job,” while the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has slashed dozens of contracts; placed dozens of others on administrative leave; targeted its diversity programs; and gutted the Institute of Education Sciences, where many employees have been fired or suspended. Trump is all but guaranteed to face legal challenges, because only Congress can abolish federal agencies, and the administration’s push is just another example of how Trump is trying to cross the boundaries of his actual presidential power. Meanwhile, advocates and congressional leaders have been mounting a pushback campaign, including Republicans, whose districts rely heavily on federal funding from the Education Department. ​Educators, along with members of Congress, are also worried about what will happen to the department’s billions of dollars meant for our nation’s students and schools. So what does the Department of Education do anyway? Simply put, the Department of Education distributes billions of federal dollars to colleges and schools, and manages the federal government’s student loan portfolio. It also maintains and regulates vital services for our nation’s students, guaranteeing an education to low-income, homeless, and disabled kids, per the Associated Press. The department is the smallest cabinet-level agency, with around 4,500 employees. Polls show more than 60% of Americans oppose eliminating it. Interestingly, a majority of public K-12 school funding comes from the states, or locally, with only about 14% from federal funds. Universities and colleges, for their part, depend mostly on the department’s dollars for student financial aid and research grants, which have also been halted. Trump has tied the funding to his own political agenda, threatening to cut off federal money to all institutions that teach what he calls “critical race theory, transgender insanity, and other inappropriate racial, sexual or political content,” and favoring those who support his school choice programs and ending teacher tenure. View the full article

Intuit Mailchimp has announced a series of product enhancements, including a completely redesigned popup forms experience, now in beta. The new popup forms aim to help marketers effectively target and engage site visitors using branded, interactive forms for improved lead generation and customer growth. The feature allows businesses to leverage customizable, mobile-first designs to collect data directly from prospects, supporting AI-powered personalized marketing strategies. According to Mailchimp, the refreshed popup forms provide a seamless way for businesses to drive conversions with eight different offer types, including discount promotions, free shipping, newsletter signups, contests, and more. “Marketers are increasingly prioritizing ownership of their customer relationships and data, with lead generation as a crucial step toward long-term success,” said Fay Kallel, VP of Product and Design at Intuit Mailchimp. “Popup forms solve a top pain point for marketers and SMBs, allowing them to collect data directly from customers, creating a frictionless way to capture leads, grow their customers, and build deeper, more meaningful relationships. Compelling data capture provides the foundation for how marketers can leverage AI for more effective personalization, and we’re making it easier than ever for them to integrate this effective tool into their strategies.” A Revamped Approach to Lead Generation Mailchimp’s new popup forms feature unlimited design customization, providing access to over 80 fully-designed templates that businesses can modify to match their brand identity. The forms also include dynamic visitor targeting with custom filters and triggers, seamless zero-party data capture for customer profiling, and opt-in lead generation capabilities that can help businesses reduce acquisition costs and accelerate list growth. New Campaign and Upcoming Enhancements To promote the refreshed popup forms, Mailchimp has launched the “Popup Like It’s Hot” campaign. The campaign, developed by Mailchimp’s in-house creative agency, Wink Creative, includes a remixed version of an early 2000s hip-hop track to highlight the ease and effectiveness of popup forms. “Bringing this campaign to life over the iconic early 2000s hip-hop beat was an exciting challenge that pushed our creative boundaries,” said Jeremy Jones, Executive Creative at Wink Creative. “Our team, in collaboration with Breakfast for Dinner, leveraged a blend of still imagery and emerging AI technologies to produce something truly unique. This approach not only increased flexibility and efficiency in our creative process but also reimagined how we bring Mailchimp’s popup forms to market—delivering an innovative campaign that excites marketers about this powerful reinvention.” Mailchimp has also announced upcoming improvements to its integration with Meta’s lead ads portfolio. The update will allow for automatic syncing of new leads from Meta Business Suite—including Facebook, Messenger, and Instagram—directly into Mailchimp. Additionally, new features will include a simplified Customer Journey Builder, improved audience management with .xlsx Microsoft Excel file imports, and access to promo codes in the SMS editor for customers with SMS marketing plans. Image: Intuit Mailchimp This article, "Mailchimp Introduces Enhanced Popup Forms and New Marketing Features" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

Intuit Mailchimp has announced a series of product enhancements, including a completely redesigned popup forms experience, now in beta. The new popup forms aim to help marketers effectively target and engage site visitors using branded, interactive forms for improved lead generation and customer growth. The feature allows businesses to leverage customizable, mobile-first designs to collect data directly from prospects, supporting AI-powered personalized marketing strategies. According to Mailchimp, the refreshed popup forms provide a seamless way for businesses to drive conversions with eight different offer types, including discount promotions, free shipping, newsletter signups, contests, and more. “Marketers are increasingly prioritizing ownership of their customer relationships and data, with lead generation as a crucial step toward long-term success,” said Fay Kallel, VP of Product and Design at Intuit Mailchimp. “Popup forms solve a top pain point for marketers and SMBs, allowing them to collect data directly from customers, creating a frictionless way to capture leads, grow their customers, and build deeper, more meaningful relationships. Compelling data capture provides the foundation for how marketers can leverage AI for more effective personalization, and we’re making it easier than ever for them to integrate this effective tool into their strategies.” A Revamped Approach to Lead Generation Mailchimp’s new popup forms feature unlimited design customization, providing access to over 80 fully-designed templates that businesses can modify to match their brand identity. The forms also include dynamic visitor targeting with custom filters and triggers, seamless zero-party data capture for customer profiling, and opt-in lead generation capabilities that can help businesses reduce acquisition costs and accelerate list growth. New Campaign and Upcoming Enhancements To promote the refreshed popup forms, Mailchimp has launched the “Popup Like It’s Hot” campaign. The campaign, developed by Mailchimp’s in-house creative agency, Wink Creative, includes a remixed version of an early 2000s hip-hop track to highlight the ease and effectiveness of popup forms. “Bringing this campaign to life over the iconic early 2000s hip-hop beat was an exciting challenge that pushed our creative boundaries,” said Jeremy Jones, Executive Creative at Wink Creative. “Our team, in collaboration with Breakfast for Dinner, leveraged a blend of still imagery and emerging AI technologies to produce something truly unique. This approach not only increased flexibility and efficiency in our creative process but also reimagined how we bring Mailchimp’s popup forms to market—delivering an innovative campaign that excites marketers about this powerful reinvention.” Mailchimp has also announced upcoming improvements to its integration with Meta’s lead ads portfolio. The update will allow for automatic syncing of new leads from Meta Business Suite—including Facebook, Messenger, and Instagram—directly into Mailchimp. Additionally, new features will include a simplified Customer Journey Builder, improved audience management with .xlsx Microsoft Excel file imports, and access to promo codes in the SMS editor for customers with SMS marketing plans. Image: Intuit Mailchimp This article, "Mailchimp Introduces Enhanced Popup Forms and New Marketing Features" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

There are nearly two million apps on the iOS App Store, and a lot of them aren't worth your time. That's why many of us, when considering a new app, turn to reviews: You want to see what other users' experiences were like with the app—whether they loved it, liked it, or loathed it. Personally, the current review system works fine for me. I scan some reviews, and generally get a sense of whether the app is right for me. If I'm feeling particularly analytical, I'll even adjust the filters, perhaps to see which reviews are most critical (so it's not just a bunch of fluff) or ones that are most recent, to see what customers thought of the latest version of the app. But it's 2025, which means one thing: AI. We can't continue to live in the past. We must embrace the future of artificial intelligence, so say the tech companies. Why do 30 seconds of scanning, when the AI can cut that work down to 20 seconds? Perhaps even 15? Apple's AI App Store review summariesWith iOS 18.4, currently in beta, Apple is testing AI-generated summaries for reviews in the App Store. According to Apple, these summaries pull from "highlights and key information" from reviews for apps and games and are updated at least once a week, if the app or game has enough reviews to support it. These summaries will appear directly beneath the rating for the app or game, under the heading "Reviews Summary." Apple says review summaries are currently only available in English for a "limited number of apps and games" in the United States. The company plans to expand the feature to more countries and languages over the year. Here's the thing about features like this: they're largely ignorable. If you love them, great! You can take a peek at the AI-generated summary and decide for yourself whether you'd like to read the reviews further. If you don't like them, also great! Scroll right past to the reviews. That latter approach is likely the one I'd take. For one, I don't trust AI to get the gist right, even if the situation is relatively low-stakes. But, like I alluded to earlier, I also don't think it saves that much time to read an AI summary versus scanning the reviews yourself. You might even miss some interesting insights the AI thought wasn't important enough to make the review, or see some nuance that went over the AI's, uh, "head." Apple is far from the only company to summarize reviews with AI. Google, Amazon, even NewEgg have all dabbled in this practice, so it's not like Apple is breaking the mold here. But it does slightly rub me the wrong way—if we start relying on AI to summarize content like this, who is the original content being written for? Hundreds if not thousands of people are writing reviews of their experience, but if you only read the summary, those people are really writing their reviews for the AI—not other human beings. iOS 18.4 is due out sometime in April. You can experience these summaries now if you install the beta, but if you'd prefer not to risk running temperamental software on your iPhone, you can simply wait until next month. View the full article

As an app designed to facilitate gay hookups, popular site Sniffies has had a limitation since it started in 2018—it was only accessible via web browser. Until Monday, when the map-based cruising site debuted its Apple-approved iOS app. Building an app that complies with Apple’s notoriously stringent content moderation—and total ban on apps that directly serve adult content—was a challenge for Sniffies, which wears its sexuality proudly. Its users, which it calls “cruisers,” do, too. Many users put nude images as their cover photos, meaning adult content is visible from the second the platform is opened in a browser. The company needed to tame the experience for Apple to get on board, without losing what most users come to Sniffies for: sex. “We needed to be very strategic about this, to get around Apple’s strict not safe for work content policies, but also keep the magic of Sniffies,” says Eli Martin, Sniffies’ chief marketing officer. “The key was giving cruisers control of the experience.” How Sniffies met Apple’s content safety standards Sniffies leadership weren’t begging to get on the App Store. Its web app format worked well, particularly for the men who aren’t out or are exploring their sexuality, who Martin says make up a core—and growing—part of its user base. But fans wanted a native app, and it was difficult to compete with the market’s heavyweights like Grindr without the App Store’s discovery tools. When they finally decided to make the move, the Sniffies team looked to bigger apps like Reddit and X, both of which host explicit content, as models. Similar to those sites’ apps, when you download the new Sniffies app, it is in “Vanilla mode” (internally, the company calls this “deep safe”). Anything explicit is blurred; to unblur the photos, users must follow a link to the browser version, where they can change their settings. Then, the app will respond to the changed settings and allow users to see graphic content. [Photo: Sniffies] “There was certainly back-and-forth with the App Store and figuring out how to make it work on both ends,” Martin says, estimating the process lasted about a year and a half. “It took way longer than we thought, but it seems like Apple was very open to us being a part of the store as long as we could meet the guidelines.” They had to make some concessions. Sniffies’ anonymous log-in function, which allowed users to enter with only a birthdate, won’t be accessible through the iOS app.(This anonymous log-in feature has left the door open to the abuse of minors, per The Information.) There’s a “friction” to the process of creating an account that will be necessary in the App Store, Martin says; users can’t just download and see the map. But there are also benefits: Some users report the map being faster, and the app’s notification system is now more robust than it was just with the web version. Preserving the cruising spirit While the company doesn’t yet know which audiences will gravitate towards which mediums, Martin has his suspicions. Those “DL and curious” guys, as he describes them, will likely stay on the webapp, not wanting to download something to their phone. (This is a problem with Grindr, he points out: Users download and delete the app, over and over.) But the iOS launch opens them up to a new audience: the users that were never going to navigate to the Sniffies link. This audience was loud. Martin recounts years of comments across the Sniffies social media, begging them to get in the App Store. His team is now going through each and every one of these comments, telling them to download. App users are also privvy to the larger brand world that Sniffies has built around its main offering. The company has invested deeply in its (often explicit) marketing, which spans an apparel shop, its Hush lifestyle blog, and its Cruising Confessions podcast. The company has also sponsors in-person events and parties, echoing the pushes from other dating apps. Even in the app store, Sniffies proclaims that it is “for cruisers, by cruisers.” Martin points out that the company’s marketing strategy is based on “foreplay,” teasing the app’s sexuality without being completely blatant with it. They can do that in the app store, too. But does Martin see access to a mainstream audience as a threat to the more clandestine nature of the web app that made Sniffies unique? “I personally am not too worried about that,” Martin says. “We’ve only seen better results for cruisers the larger we’ve gotten. The important thing is the culture. We’ve already set the groundwork.” View the full article

Big things coming from small beginnings might sound like a cliche, but it’s rooted in truth. Project managers understand that before embarking on large endeavors, it’s best to test the waters. The phrase for that in project management is a pilot project. What is a pilot project? We’ll get to that and the industries that use a pilot plan before initiating big, expensive and complex projects. We’ll then explain how to execute a pilot project plan, what should be included, the benefits of doing so and much more. What Is a Pilot Project? A pilot project is a small-scale, preliminary study or test run of a new concept, process, product or service before full-scale implementation. It helps organizations assess feasibility, identify potential challenges and refine their approach based on real-world feedback. The key characteristic of a pilot project includes being of limited scope. These projects are conducted on a small scale to minimize risks and costs, and this test phase is used to evaluate the effectiveness of an idea before full deployment. It’s a learning opportunity, which helps identify issues, gather data and make improvements, as well as mitigate risks by detecting failures early. This decision-making tool provides results that help stakeholders decide whether to scale up, modify or abandon the project. But beyond the pilot project meaning, it’s still a project. Whether used to test a new software system, launch new infrastructure or develop a new process before full adoption, it still requires project management software to reap all those benefits. ProjectManager is award-winning project and portfolio management software that has multiple project views to plan, manage and track pilot projects in real time. Project managers can schedule tasks, resources and cost but also link task dependencies to avoid delays and cost overruns, filter for the critical path to identify essential tasks and set a baseline to track progress in real time. The project team can use kanban boards or task lists to execute their work, while the calendar view keeps stakeholders updated. Get started with ProjectManager today for free. /wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Gantt-CTA-2025.jpgProjectManager’s Gantt charts schedule, manage and track pilot projects. Learn more What Industries Execute Pilot Projects? Many industries use pilot projects to test innovations, improve processes and reduce risks before full-scale implementation. Below is a brief overview of how pilot projects apply in different sectors: Construction: Pilot projects in construction test new building materials, techniques or project management strategies on a smaller scale before large-scale deployment. This helps in evaluating safety, efficiency and cost-effectiveness. Pharmaceuticals: Pharmaceutical companies conduct pilot studies in drug development and clinical trials. These small-scale trials assess a drug’s safety, efficacy and potential side effects before proceeding to large-scale testing and regulatory approval. Telecommunications: Telecom providers test new technologies, such as 5G networks, in select locations before nationwide rollouts. These projects help evaluate network performance, customer experience and infrastructure requirements. Manufacturing: Manufacturers use pilot projects to test new production processes, automation technologies and supply chain optimizations. This reduces waste, improves efficiency and ensures quality before large-scale implementation. Software Development and IT: In software and IT, pilot projects involve testing new applications, systems or cybersecurity measures with a small user group before a full rollout. This allows companies to gather user feedback, fix bugs and optimize performance. When to Execute a Pilot Project A pilot project should be conducted when an organization wants to test a new idea, process or technology before full-scale implementation. The ideal situations for executing a pilot project include the following. Introducing a New Product or Service When launching an innovative product or service to gauge market acceptance. To gather customer feedback before mass production or a wider release. Implementing New Technologies Before integrating a new system, software or technology into business operations. To test compatibility, functionality and user adoption. Improving Processes and Operations When optimizing workflows or introducing automation in manufacturing or service industries. To identify potential bottlenecks and make necessary adjustments. Reducing Risks in High-Investment Projects When a full-scale rollout involves high costs or risks, such as in construction or pharmaceuticals. To test the feasibility and avoid costly mistakes. Meeting Regulatory or Compliance Requirements When operating in highly regulated industries (e.g., healthcare, finance, pharmaceuticals) where compliance is essential. To ensure adherence to legal and industry standards before full deployment. Testing Market Demand and Feasibility When entering a new market or launching a product in a new region. To evaluate customer behavior, preferences and potential challenges. What Is a Pilot Plan? A pilot plan is a strategic guide that outlines how a pilot project will be conducted. It serves as a blueprint for testing a new idea, process or technology on a small scale before a full-scale rollout. The plan ensures that the pilot is well-structured and manageable and provides meaningful insights for decision-making. A well-developed pilot plan helps organizations minimize risks, control costs and identify potential challenges early. It clarifies how the test will be executed, how success will be measured and what steps will be taken based on the results. By running a pilot with a clear plan, businesses and industries can refine their approach, make data-driven decisions and increase the chances of successful implementation when scaling up. Next, let’s look at what makes up a successful pilot plan. /wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Pilot-project-example-featured-image.jpg Get your free Pilot Project Plan Example Use this free Pilot Project Plan Example for Word to manage your projects better. Download Word File What Should Be Included in a Pilot Plan? A pilot plan is essential for guiding a pilot project toward success. It outlines the purpose, scope, resources and evaluation criteria to ensure a structured approach. Below are key elements that should be included in a well-designed pilot plan: Goals and Objectives of the Pilot Project Clearly define what the pilot aims to achieve. Goals should be specific, measurable and aligned with the broader organizational strategy. Objectives help determine whether the pilot is successful and inform decisions on scaling up. Pilot Project Scope Define the boundaries of the pilot, including what will be tested, the timeframe and the target group or location. The scope ensures clarity and prevents the project from expanding beyond manageable limits. Resource Requirements Identify the human, technical and financial resources needed to execute the pilot effectively. This includes personnel, equipment, technology, and support systems required for a smooth operation. Estimated Cost of the Pilot Project Provide a financial estimate covering all necessary expenses, such as staffing, materials, technology and operational costs. A well-planned budget ensures cost control and financial feasibility. Stakeholder Identification and Mapping Recognize key stakeholders involved in or affected by the pilot. Mapping their roles, expectations and influence helps in effective communication and decision-making throughout the pilot. Key Deliverables and Milestones Outline the major outputs and milestones that mark progress during the pilot. These checkpoints help track performance, keep the project on schedule and make necessary adjustments. Pilot Project Success Criteria Define the benchmarks that will determine whether the pilot was successful. Success criteria may include performance metrics, user feedback, cost savings, or efficiency improvements. Lessons Learned Document Capture insights, challenges, and best practices from the pilot. This document serves as a reference for future projects and helps refine processes before full-scale implementation. Key Benefits of Conducting a Pilot Project A pilot project provides a controlled environment to test a new initiative before full-scale implementation. It minimizes risks, optimizes resource allocation and ensures better decision-making. Below are some key benefits of conducting a pilot project. 1. Confirms the Feasibility of a Full-Scale Project By running a small-scale test, organizations can determine whether the project is viable. If the pilot proves successful, it provides confidence to move forward with a larger rollout. 2. Helps Identify Unforeseen Risks A pilot helps uncover potential challenges that may not have been initially considered. Identifying risks early allows for proactive solutions, preventing costly mistakes in the full-scale implementation. 3. Allows to Gather Stakeholder Feedback and Requirements Stakeholders, including employees, customers, and partners, can provide valuable input during the pilot phase. Their feedback helps refine and align the project with user needs and expectations. 4. Validates Project Assumptions and Constraints A pilot tests key assumptions, such as expected performance, resource availability and operational constraints. This validation ensures that the project is based on real-world data rather than just predictions. 5. Helps Accurately Estimate Project Costs A pilot provides a more precise understanding of the financial requirements for full-scale implementation. It helps refine budget estimates, ensuring better financial planning and resource allocation. Pilot Project Plan Example The pilot project plan example below helps to better understand what a pilot project looks like in a real-life scenario. Imagine a battery recycling company that has developed an innovative method of extracting metals from used batteries with a low environmental impact and lower costs than traditional methods. /wp-content/uploads/2025/03/pilot-project-example-1.png The battery recycling company is trying to obtain a grant from the United States Department of Energy (DOE). To do so, the DOE has provided funds for the construction of a pilot recycling facility to further test the company’s technology and confirm its feasibility and scalability. How to Manage a Pilot Project With ProjectManager Managing a pilot project effectively requires the same tools needed to control a project of any size. It requires features to track progress, allocate resources and measure success. ProjectManager is award-winning project and portfolio management platform that helps teams streamline pilot projects with multiple project views and provides robust planning, tracking and reporting features. Robust Resource Management and Cost Tracking Tools Resource management begins with scheduling resources efficiently and tracking personnel, equipment and materials in real time. Then when onboarding, project managers can set their team’s availability, including PTO, vacation, global holidays and skill sets. This helps simplify the assignment of tasks to the right people at the right time. The platform includes cost-tracking tools that help monitor expenses against the budget to ensure financial control throughout the pilot project. These tools include secure timesheets that streamline payroll and track labor costs. With the color-coded workload chart, project managers get an overview of resource allocation and can balance workload to optimize team performance and prevent resource bottlenecks. /wp-content/uploads/2024/05/timesheet-lightmode-good-version-lots-of-tasks.png Real-Time Project Management Dashboards and Reports Managing resources is important to keep pilot projects on schedule and within their budget. When a baseline is set on the Gantt chart, ProjectManager can compare actual progress against the plan. For a high-level view of the pilot project or multiple projects, use the real-time dashboards that provide an overview of project status, key milestones and progress metrics on easy-to-read charts. Project managers can track performance indicators such as task completion rates, budget utilization and risk factors. Additionally, custom reports enable data-driven decision-making so stakeholders can assess the success of the pilot project. /wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Dashboard-light-mode.jpg Related Content For those who want to read more about managing pilot projects, below are some recent posts we’ve published on the topic. What Is a Feasibility Study? How to Conduct One for Your Project Feasibility Study Template Cost-Benefit Analysis: A Quick Guide with Examples and Templates Cost Benefit Analysis Template Project Initiation: How to Start Your Project Off Right 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 Pilot Project: Meaning, Benefits and Example appeared first on ProjectManager. View the full article

Ironically enough, a divisive moment in the Oval Office last weekend seems to have brought the entire internet together. When Ukrainian president Vladimir Zelensky visited the White House on February 28, ostensibly to hammer out plans for a peace agreement between his country and Russia, he probably didn’t expect to get berated by both Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance. The ensuing, historically fiery exchange appeared to catch him off guard. Similarly, most people who watched the spectacle play out on live TV may not have expected Vance’s role in it to explode into a meteor shower of memes among people of all political stripes. But that’s exactly what has happened. “Have you said thank you once” https://t.co/kCNfr59RAn pic.twitter.com/01mm34xg1u — New Liberals 🌐🇺🇦 (@CNLiberalism) March 1, 2025 Anyone wandering around X at just about any moment this week is bound to come across images of Vance’s boyish face enhanced to look cartoonishly cherubic. (The surrounding beard adds a perverse dissonance.) The meme pokes fun at how petulant some say Vance came across by getting angry at Zelensky’s insufficient gratitude over U.S. aid that Vance himself had nothing to do with. The archetypal version features an altered Vance sitting smugly in the Oval Office, with a caption that reads: “You have to say pwease and tank you, Mistow Zensky.” As a result, the word ‘pwease’ is now so associated with both the Zelensky meeting and the meme that followed, some X users now refer to Vance as ‘the pwease guy.’ The origins of the JD Vance meme actually predate the doomed Zelensky meeting by many months. It began last October, when Republican congressman Mike Collins tweeted a photo of Vance that had been digitally altered in a flattering way. X users noticed the “yassified” portrait and responded by going in another, decidedly less flattering direction. With ever-weirder alterations of Vance’s face last fall, the kindling for the “pwease” meme spread around the firepit of the internet. All it took was Vance going aggro in the Oval Office to light a match underneath it. For every 100 likes I will turn JD Vance into a progressively apple cheeked baby pic.twitter.com/WgGS9IhAfY — 7/11 Truther (@DaveMcNamee3000) October 2, 2024 Throughout this past week, the JD Vance meme continued to evolve, branching out into stranger spaces. It now includes pop culture figures like Pennywise the clown from It, the Teletubbies, and the oafish village boy holding a lollipop in Shrek Forever After, other political leaders including Kim Jong Un, but also increasingly esoteric and abstract variations. (Vance as Las Vegas’s The Sphere, anyone?) However, what may be most strange about the meme—which has gotten so ubiquitous many now claim to have forgotten what Vance’s face actually looks like—is its bipartisan appeal. Obviously, left-leaning social media users are into infantilizing the Vice President. Not only is it a chance to mock the opposition, but an indirect way to show support for Ukraine in their war with Russia. It’s no wonder popular accounts like anti-Trump media group Meidas Touch and even The Daily Show have gotten in on the action. Less obvious is why Vance’s supporters are also into the meme. Polymarket, a MAGA-friendly, Peter Thiel-backed betting platform has put Vance memes in multiple tweets throughout the week, for instance, and many of the Vice President’s fans suspect the hyper-online Vance is enjoying his own memedom. (At least one reporter’s account backs that up.) “actually i think it’s good that people are making me look insane” is a very funny way to play this https://t.co/IYHs4Q4hql pic.twitter.com/CJ0eC3NKZW — rat king 🐀 (@MikeIsaac) March 6, 2025 It’s unclear exactly why the online right has embraced a meme targeting one of their own. The most generous explanation is that they’re still ebullient from last November’s victory, and secure enough in their party’s current dominance to admit these images are funny. Another possibility is that the 4Chan-bred, meme-savvy faction of Trump’s base never much cared for Vance—either because of his former resistance to Trump or for more disgusting reasons—and are happy to throw him under the bus for the sake of some lulz. Some X users, however, claim their embrace of the JD Vance meme is a way to neutralize the left’s use of it. If Vance’s supporters are also in on the joke, the logic suggests, they can’t also be stung by it. (As when liberals repurposed the Biden-bashing “Let’s Go, Brandon” into the Dark Brandon meme.) While some X denizens seem pleased that the meme is bringing both sides together, others seem to see it as a zero-sum meme war. When the Never Trump conservative PAC The Lincoln Project tweeted Weird Vance after Tuesday night’s congressional address, one user responded, “It’s only funny when we do it,” and added a slur for good measure. View the full article