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Two decades of coaching leaders and developing myself as a leader have taught me a key lesson: Leadership isn’t a destination. Just when you think you’ve reached the top of the mountain, look up—you’ll see another peak waiting. The truth is, there’s no secret sauce for leading yourself or others. Leadership is an ever-evolving process of learning and growing. The best leaders never stop evolving. Here are four lessons every great leader eventually learns. 1. Humility is a strength Humility is often mistaken for weakness. In one survey, more than half of fifth and sixth graders described humility as “embarrassed, sad, or shy.” Adults often confuse it with humiliation. But groundbreaking research tells a different story. Bradley Owens and David Hekman found that humble leaders don’t assume success is guaranteed. They test their progress, revise plans, and seek feedback. They empower others to take initiative and celebrate team wins over personal credit. Far from soft, humility gives leaders flexibility and strength. They avoid reacting from ego or abusing power, and instead lead from integrity, self-control, and emotional intelligence. 2. Great leaders learn from others Strong leaders know they don’t know it all. They constantly seek wisdom from others and expand their perspective beyond their own experience. Remember the saying: If you’re the smartest person in the room, you’re in the wrong room. The best leaders deliberately put themselves in spaces where they can learn, grow, and connect with people further down the path. They remain lifelong students. 3. Patience gives you an edge Patience doesn’t always get attention and it won’t make any headlines, but it’s one of leadership’s most underrated strengths. (I cover patience extensively in my new book.) Research shows that patient people make more progress toward tough goals, feel more satisfied when they achieve them, and experience less stress and depression. Impatient leaders tend to jump to conclusions and act impulsively. Patient leaders, by contrast, are steady and rational. In conflict, they listen first, respond calmly, and diffuse tension. That kind of presence builds trust and resilience in teams. 4. Self-awareness is nonnegotiable In a study reported by Harvard Business Review, teams with less self-aware team members made worse decisions, coordinated poorly, and struggled with conflict compared with teams led by self-aware individuals. Self-awareness is the foundation of emotional intelligence. Leaders who cultivate it see the bigger picture, regulate emotions, and empathize with others. As emotional intelligence expert Daniel Goleman put it: If your emotional abilities aren’t in hand, if you don’t have self-awareness, if you are not able to manage your distressing emotions, if you can’t have empathy and have effective relationships, then no matter how smart you are, you are not going to get very far. In closing, remember: Leadership is about committing to the climb. And here’s the real test: You don’t prove your leadership on the easy days when everything goes smoothly. You prove it in the moments when your patience is tested, your humility is questioned, and your self-awareness is the difference between escalating a conflict or inspiring a breakthrough. Keep climbing. Keep growing. The best leaders aren’t defined by the peak they’ve reached, but by their willingness to take the next step. —Marcel Schwantes This article originally appeared on Fast Company’s sister publication, Inc. Inc. is the voice of the American entrepreneur. We inspire, inform, and document the most fascinating people in business: the risk-takers, the innovators, and the ultra-driven go-getters that represent the most dynamic force in the American economy. View the full article

Big Four firm quietly scraps pledge to add 100,000 workers worldwide by mid-2026 amid rise of AI View the full article

The announcement came suddenly on Thursday. A Fortune 500 technology client needed an interim CFO immediately. Its previous executive had departed unexpectedly, leaving a $2.3 billion merger and reorganization in limbo. By Monday, Denise, the number two finance executive, occupied the interim CFO post. She faced 10,000 skeptical employees and a board expecting miracles. Interim leadership has exploded: The number of Fortune 1000 companies that have used an interim CXO has increased 117% since 2022. Yet most leaders enter these roles unprepared for the unique demands that await. Not only do these leaders suffer, companies do as well. When leadership transitions fail, organizations face a 20% higher likelihood of losing direct reports, experience 20% lower employee engagement, and incur replacement costs up to 10 times the executive’s salary. I’ve helped several interim executives land the job: here’s what worked. In this piece, paid subscribers will learn: Five tried and true strategies interim executives can use to land the job The questions they should ask to assess their performance Common pitfalls to avoid 1. From Methodical Relationship Building to Accelerated Trust Unlike executives afforded the luxurious nine months before performance expectations kick in, interim leaders face immediate scrutiny. Organizations typically place them during crises that don’t afford more reasonable onboarding runways. If externally hired, their high fees create financial pressure for quick returns. It can take months to build relationships, and understand where the problems in an organization lie. I worked with an interim COO at a manufacturing company who cracked this code. The COO and a small team conducted 20-minute interview sessions with 70% of the 350 stakeholders over a two week period to map the real power structure of the organization. This allowed him to identify needed wins neglected by the prior COO within 18 days. The learning: don’t assume people with big titles have the deepest and most impactful influence. Here are some questions to surface needed relational information quickly and accelerate trust building: • Who are the three most influential people beyond the org chart? • What’s the one thing everyone complains about, but no one fixes? • Which relationships will make or break my first initiative? • What unspoken rules govern how decisions really get made? 2. From Holistic Solutions to Getting Traction with Visible Wins Instead of focusing on holistic solutions that include too much at once, getting traction in a few critical areas through visible and well-timed wins can take you to the finish line of landing the big role. These wins must coincide with high visibility, broadly supported parallel initiatives, and experience minimal disruption. As an example, an interim CHRO I worked with in a rapidly growing global Fortune 500 retailer was appointed to stop a talent hemorrhage in a flagship brand. The loss of recently hired talent was causing confusion, communication problems, and erroneous product assortments being sent to stores. Sales were suffering and internal teams started blaming each other for the errors. There were several areas across the company that needed to be addressed, but the CHRO honed in on what was underneath her control: onboarding new talent. The existing onboarding program for employees was expensive, lengthy, and outdated. However, a full redesign of the program would have taken eight months and rolling out the program would have taken another year. Instead, the CHRO and her new team laser focused on redesigning a module for field and merchandising employees: the employees who could make the most impact in fixing the organization’s problems. The team transformed the 21-day onboarding program, which had a 23% dropout rate, into an efficient 10-day program with an 8% drop rate. The program also trained new hires in the field more efficiently on how to communicate with product decision-makers in merchandising. The result: better product assortment and sales for the brand, more collaborative relationships across merchandising and field organizations, and an improvement of 15% retention in the onboarding program. All of this was done within the interim CHRO’s tenure, over the period of a month without disruptions, and was universally celebrated as an all around win. Well-timed wins to focus on can be easily identified with some simple questions: • What’s causing the most visible pain across departments? • Which broken process would everyone celebrate fixing? • What improvement would make my biggest skeptic an ally? • Where can I demonstrate competence without threatening existing structures? 3. From Moving Quickly to Progressive Decision-Making I often observe new leaders put immense pressure on themselves to achieve something quickly, as a means of demonstrating their worth. Many times this leads to catastrophic overaction. An interim CTO inherited a cybersecurity software product failure crisis that resulted in a public customer backlash and a steady quarterly profit loss of 45%. Instead of a five-alarm fire reaction, he chose a graduated approach. His 30-day plan included an initial round of tactical fixes, while continuing to gather intelligence and keeping open lines of communication with both customer and investment communities. By day 60, armed with data and buy-in, he unveiled a short-term strategy to fix the points of failure using customer feedback to improve security and user intuitiveness. For those existing customers that participated and were pleased with the new software’s performance, discounts and incentives were provided through a new program. Overall, the CTO mitigated an initial potential profit loss of 34% and increased sales steadily 20% per quarter thereafter. Both metrics fed into a longer-term strategy that was being developed in parallel. Hitting pause on moving hastily allows you to step back and ask what decisions can be made incrementally for progressive success? Questions that can help are: • What decisions are easily reversible if wrong? • Which stakeholders must I consult before irreversible changes are made? • How can I test hypotheses on small scales first? • What data moves me from tactical to strategic decisions? 4. From Steward to Serious Candidate Interim executives are often perceived as more stewards of the status quo, seat warmers, until the permanent executive arrives. To avoid this pitfall, I recommend taking two precautions. Buffer risk by coalition building: Denise’s tech company merger carried enormous risks stemming from clashing cultures. Rather than freezing at the face of this risk, she identified 12 “culture carriers,” advocates from both organizations, forming an integration advisory committee, who became the company’s informal culture coalition. The merger, projected for 22 months, was completed in 18 and considered widely as a success. Role clarity negotiation focusing on management success: Because interim executives are automatically given shorter-term objectives as a “test-drive” strategy before being offered the permanent spot, I advise interim leaders to ask for more. By actively working with sponsors to clarify the longer-term expectations of the job, interim leaders can make headway on demonstrating their managerial skills and ability to deliver on longer-term goals. One interim CFO I advised drafted her own “ideal CFO description” of the role and what would be required of her so she could clarify what impact she could make if she were operating as the full-time, permanent CFO. She reviewed the description with her board sponsor and documented weekly progress reports with this criteria after their meetings. This created transparency about both short- and long-term operational plans and their intended strategic outcomes. This systematic communication transformed perceptions of her as a placeholder executive to a proven C-suite ready leader within three to four months. By month six, she had landed the job. Demonstrate your abilities by asking the following: • What evidence can demonstrate my ability to perform in a longer-term capacity? • How do I maintain momentum while navigating the potential Caretaker perception? • What three initiatives warrant acceleration versus transformation? • What’s my exit strategy if the role doesn’t convert? 5. From Shifting Assumptions to Reputation Intelligence Two to three months in, stakeholder misperceptions crystallize but haven’t hardened. This critical window is the perfect opportunity for course correction—yet most operate blind to one’s internal reputation. Dr. Chen’s cautionary tale illustrates this perfectly. As acting head of medicine within a highly esteemed healthcare institute, she delivered strong financial results with her CEO’s support yet remained oblivious to her profound unpopularity amongst peers and her teams. When a permanent appointment seemed imminent, 40% of medical staff departed within six months. A 360-feedback check would have revealed trust scores 70% below average at a time when she had a chance to turn it around. Unfortunately, this feedback was obtained in exit interviews as most knew of the strong relationship between Dr. Chen and the CEO. It took several months before Dr. Chen began to intellectually process the disparity between what the exit data showed and her CEO’s exuberant support of her. Sadly, because the transition was not well supported through proper vetting and personal development, it simply became too late for the board to regain confidence in Dr. Chen as a full time candidate. Unlike external recruitment’s gradual relationship-building, interim leaders are left in limbo. They aren’t given proper evaluations but people form impressions of them anyway. Companies should treat interim appointments like external searches from day one: establish formal evaluation criteria, capture feedback systematically, and reset relationship expectations immediately. I advise leaders to get ahead of such challenges by negotiating support: 360 leadership evaluations with recommendations and follow up, 1:1 executive transition and team coaching that surfaces differing needs, values, and personalities. Get ahead of potential reputation challenges by shifting assumptions to intelligence through these questions: • How might peers perceive me differently as their leader? • What concerns are discussed privately but not raised directly? • Which actions have been misinterpreted, under which context(s) and how? • Who provides genuinely candid feedback? • When and how should I seek feedback? Interim does not always mean temporary if you possess a serious drive and desire to land the permanent role. If mastered, these five strategies can transform interim appointments into securing your role in the C-suite. And the rewards—both personal and organizational—can prove remarkable. View the full article

On a recent flight, I watched a woman try to sneak an oversize briefcase and suitcase onto the plane. When challenged, she waved her boarding pass at the gate agent and declared, “Do you see what that says?” pointing to her top-tier status. “That means I get to do what I want.” Her sense of entitlement was staggering, but familiar. Leaders of organizational transformation, such as major digital/data analytical capability overhauls, or launching a new set off offerings across the globe, often cling to equally delusional rationalizations. And just like that traveler, their self-justifications backfire. The odds of transformation success are already dismal: 70% to 80% of efforts fail. While external forces can derail even the best-laid plans, more often it’s leaders’ self-inflicted fallacies that undo their own initiatives. I’ve identified five particularly destructive fallacies that appear again and again. Recognizing them is the first step. Choosing better responses is the only way through. 1. The Myth of the Mandate: Repeating Yesterday’s Wins Justification: “I’ve done this before, and I was hired to do it again.” Reality: Past victories offer wisdom, not formulas. Many leaders believe their résumé is a ready-made solution. They assume that because a strategy, campaign, or turnaround worked once, it should work again. A consumer-products executive I advised had saved a skincare brand with a precise campaign. When he joined a tech firm, he tried to cut-and-paste the same formula. The market, customer base, and competitors were different, and the approach failed miserably. The danger of this fallacy is that it hides behind genuine strength. Leaders should use their experience, but if they impose it as a mandate, they miss the nuances of the new context. Teams sense the mismatch, and enthusiasm drains as people see yesterday’s playbook failing on today’s field. The antidote: Treat mandates as invitations, not marching orders. Start by studying your new environment as if you were an anthropologist: walk the halls, ask questions, listen deeply. Instead of asking “What worked last time?” ask “What does this context demand?” Extract principles—such as how you built trust or navigated resistance—from your past, but resist the temptation to replicate recipes. That’s how you turn past wisdom into present credibility. 2. Excessive Tolerance: Making Change Optional Justification: “I’m sure they’ll get on board eventually, we just need to give them time.” Reality: Some people have no intention of getting on board. When leaders become exhausted, confrontation often feels harder than compromise. Deadlines slip, underperformers are excused, and resistance festers. Employees learn quickly that change is “recommended” but not required. The costs are steep. Accountability erodes, peers resent double standards, and even those committed to change begin asking, “Why should I bother if others aren’t held to it?” The antidote: Sharpen accountability and send clear, early signals. Use symbols—sometimes tough ones—to show that the “urgency of now” is real. Dashboards of metrics tracking progress and regressions are common. Sometimes removing long-tenured leaders whose behavior contradicts the change is necessary. When actions don’t match commitments, call it out. Consequences matter. Research on loss aversion shows that people fight harder to avoid losses than to gain bonuses. That means accountability must accompany rewards. Yes, it will feel lonely. Yes, you may lose popularity. But credibility depends on consistency. Tolerance masquerades as empathy, but it undermines urgency. Leaders who name and enforce consequences create trust, because people know the rules apply to everyone. 3. Settling For Dysfunction: Accepting the Wrong Norms Justification: “It is what it is. With time, people will come around.” Reality: Without sustained pressure, dysfunction becomes the new normal. One COO I worked with entered his role determined to challenge entrenched practices. But when resistance persisted, his frustration grew. Eventually he lost his composure in a board meeting, mirroring the very volatility of the previous CEO he’d been hired to replace. Employees sighed, “At least with the old guy, we knew what to expect.” Instead of disrupting dysfunction, he had absorbed it. This rationalization is subtle. Leaders begin doubting their instincts: Maybe it’s me. Maybe I’m asking too much. Surrounded by colleagues who shrug and say “Rome wasn’t built in a day,” leaders can slowly adopt resignation as their operating norm. The antidote: Stay differentiated. Make time to decode the unhealthy patterns you see—why do meetings after the meeting carry more energy than the actual meeting? Why does feedback trigger overreaction? Then encode what should be true—optimism, accountability, or healthy debate—and measure progress against it. Even incremental wins reinforce hope and prevent you from being seduced into complacency. Transformation requires leaders to behave differently than the culture they inherit. Settling into dysfunction might feel like relief, but it heralds surrender. 4. Dismissing the Devil You Know: Protecting the Wrong People Justification: “She may not be perfect, but I can’t afford to lose her now. Better the devil you know.” Reality: The devil you know is still the devil. Few decisions are harder than removing a long-tenured executive. Leaders justify delay by citing loyalty, sunk costs, or fear of disruption. But keeping misaligned leaders is corrosive. It demoralizes others, who see that performance doesn’t matter. It consumes disproportionate time and energy. And it erodes credibility, as people conclude the leader lacks the courage to act. The antidote: Evict the devils. Not everyone should make the journey. Leaving someone in a role they cannot succeed in isn’t compassion, it’s cruelty. It sets them up for failure and broadcasts to everyone else that standards are optional. Yes, exits are painful. But acute pain from a tough decision is far better than chronic pain from avoiding it. Free yourself to focus on people already predisposed to advance the vision. When you remove dams, momentum flows again. 5. Reporting Enmeshment: Confusing Emulation with Growth Justification: “We’ve been a great team for years, and she’s now ready to succeed me.” Reality: Long-term reporting relationships often breed co-dependence, not development. Mentoring is essential. But when a promising leader spends too long in one boss’s orbit, they risk becoming a replica rather than an original. I’ve seen organizations elevate successors who sound and act just like their predecessor, only to find that “more of the same” isn’t what transformation requires. Enmeshment feels safe but creates blind spots. It can also choke off opportunities for broader growth. Without varied assignments, leaders stagnate, lacking the agility transformation demands. The antidote: Move talent around, early and often. Diverse experiences stretch leaders’ styles and voices. Assign high-potentials to struggling business units, rival functions, or cross-border roles. The more of the organization they see, the stronger—and more authentic—they become. Emulation is admirable, but growth requires mobility. Choosing the Path of Progress Transformation isn’t undone by markets alone. More often, it’s these rationalizations, comforting stories leaders tell themselves, that derail progress. The woman at the airport thought her “special status” exempted her from the rules. Leaders often think the same. But leaders who resist these fallacies, and instead choose accountability, contextual wisdom, differentiation, courage, and mobility, create transformations that last. The costs of indulging rationalizations are dire: wasted time, lost credibility, and failed change. The benefits of escaping them are equally profound: resilient organizations, energized people, and futures worth building. Don’t let the justifications win. View the full article

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It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. My boss treats our coworker’s performance issues as team performance issues I have a colleague, Sarah, who has been in the job longer than anyone else but constantly ignores our processes. Some of these processes were put in place even before I joined almost eight years ago and she helped teach me. This has resulted in extra work for me and another colleague, Jacinta, who has now been assigned to monitor Sarah’s work and provide feedback. But even worse, our manager does not seem to directly address the issue with Sarah but instead calls team meetings (some in-office when we are all remote) over and over again to address the same issues that via data we know are only regularly made by Sarah. Jacinta has told our manager that it has not made an impact, but the issues persist (and have for years), along with blatant disregard of any correction Jane makes at the manager’s request. How can we get our manager to accept that there needs to be direct conversations from them and not from Jacinta, who officially is in the same role as Sarah? P.S. I do really enjoy my job. My boss is very nice and knowledgeable. Plus, I work from home which I love. I also really enjoy the company I work for. Jacinta is the one best positioned to spell it out for your manager. It sounds like she’s overdue in saying to your manager very bluntly, “When you address XYZ via team meeting, it’s not registering with Sarah and the same problems continue. She needs to hear from you one-on-one that XYZ needs to change.” And she also probably needs to draw a line about monitoring Sarah’s work and giving her feedback. As Sarah’s peer, it’s really only appropriate to ask her to do that if Sarah is receptive to feedback and if your manager is, you know, doing the job of actually managing Sarah (and even then, asking Jacinta to monitor her work — as opposed to just providing feedback — isn’t great). It sounds like your boss is trying to outsource the uncomfortable parts of her job to Jacinta rather than doing them herself … but Jacinta doesn’t have the authority to actually do what’s being asked of her, which is why everyone is so frustrated. This is only going to get better if Jacinta tells your boss it isn’t working and that your boss needs to get more hands-on with Sarah. Related: my boss sends scolding emails to all of us — and then tells me I shouldn’t take them personally 2. Handling a manager’s strong negative reaction to a discussion about inclusion I’m looking for advice on how to handle a difficult situation at work involving a senior leader’s reaction to diversity and inclusion initiatives. A colleague of mine had a one-on-one conversation with a senior leader to suggest sharing recommendations from our DEI committee to help make an upcoming conference more inclusive. During that conversation, the senior leader reacted very strongly and negatively: * He talked over her for roughly 10 minutes. * He repeatedly said the idea wasn’t feasible and was counterproductive. * He appeared angry and frustrated and shut the conversation down. * He commented that because the conference audience is predominantly one demographic (white and male), the organization was “already doing a pretty good job representing their demographic.” (!!!!) The conversation ended unresolved. My colleague is worried about raising the issue further because it could damage her working relationship with this leader. She brought the situation to me because I am the next most senior person on the team. We both agree that something should be done, as this behavior is contrary to our organization’s stated values. However, HR is not really an option — they handle benefits and employee handbook issues, not interpersonal dynamics, culture, or promotions. The next level up would be the COO, who has shown herself to be responsive in situations like this, but it feels like “bringing in the biggest guns,” and we’re hesitant to escalate to that level. But maybe we should. Given these constraints, what is the best way to handle a situation where a senior leader dismisses diversity initiatives so forcefully in a private conversation, and the person raising it fears retaliation? We have both already documented these incidents privately, but otherwise have yet to take further action. Your colleague should talk to the COO. This is a big enough deal to escalate it, and she’s the appropriate person to escalate it to. When she has that conversation, she should say that she’s worried about retaliation for escalating it, and ask the COO for her help in guarding against that. That’s something people receiving these kinds of complaints should always be thinking about it, but it can help to spell it out and explicitly ask for assistance in ensuring it doesn’t happen. That will often prompt the complain-receiver to be more proactive about guarding against that. 3. Should I tell my manager I know she’s been promoted? My (excellent) manager has been due for a promotion for a while. Last week I noticed that her Teams label changed from “Job Title” to “Senior Job Title” – but she hasn’t said anything about it! Her email signature, which employees manually create, has remained the same, but things that are controlled by corporate have been updated. She’s been candid with me that she worried she was “mommy-tracked” after returning from maternity leave and has been working hard for this. I’d love to congratulate her and talk about it, but I haven’t brought it up so she can announce on her own schedule. But it’s been close to two weeks and I’m getting impatient! The promotion won’t affect our team structure, and it’s not a role that anyone else was competing for – just a title and pay bump for people after a certain length of seniority and strong performance. I understand there’s all kinds of reasons that she, her supervisors, or corporate may want to hold off on announcing a promotion. My questions are: a) what are those reasons, and b) would it ever be appropriate to quietly tell her I noticed and offer my congratulations? I don’t think it’s the worst thing in the world to quietly say, “I saw your title changed — congratulations!” … but first give her a while longer to announce it herself. She might have reasons for holding off. As for what those reasons could be, generally internal politics of some sort. For example, someone else going after the same title didn’t get it and they’re trying not to rub it in her face, or they’re still working out some details of the new role (i.e., it won’t just be a pay bump) and aren’t ready to share those yet, or they’re waiting to announce it paired with something else, or she’s got personal stuff going on and doesn’t want to deal with even positive commotion at work right now, and on and on. There’s no knowing. If she still hasn’t said anything after a month, I think it’s fair game (they did update the corporate stuff, after all, and you’re seeing it), but give her some space with it for now since she seems to be trying to take some. 4. I was told not to take lunch breaks — but it turns out everyone else takes them I work at a nonprofit with over 2,000 remote employees. When I started remotely, almost two years ago, I was told multiple times by my boss that I needed to work 40 hours per week, and that the culture was that we worked through lunch from 9-5, for a total of 40 hours. After two years of this routine, I found out that others on my same level and below me have been working 9-5 and taking an hour paid lunch break. I had no idea this was happening! And it feels very unfair. My direct report has also been doing the same as I have, as I instructed her. She is non-exempt and I am exempt. She is based in New York and I am based in Illinois. After I connected with my boss about it, he said that he would speak with HR. Their response (through him) was that there are no labor laws requiring paid or unpaid lunch breaks and everyone should feel they have the agency to balance work and rest time to perform and tend to their priorities. I feel a bit taken advantage of because, after consulting with a few of my colleagues, I’ve been working an extra ~260 hours per year compared to others on the same level who have been taking a lunch break everyday. Am I unreasonable wanting clarity on this? Is it legal for me to be working through lunch without a break? Federal law doesn’t require meal breaks at all; it’s left to the states, so the laws in play are different for you and your employee. For you, New York requires employers to provide at least 30 minutes of break time if an employee works more than six hours (if you were non-exempt, it could be unpaid but because you’re exempt, your pay can’t be docked). So if they ever told you that you didn’t get a lunch break (which it sounds like they did), that’s a legal problem. For your employee in Illinois, her state requires a meal break for every 7.5 hours worked (and no later than five hours after the start of the shift), though it doesn’t need to be paid. So, there’s a second legal issue. A lot of states don’t require meal breaks for exempt employees. Since you’re remote, I wonder if your employer is based elsewhere and didn’t know about New York’s law — which wouldn’t excuse them from complying with it, but might explain what happened. But most states do require meal breaks for non-exempt employees, so it’s extra odd that they wouldn’t have known about that. Still, it sounds like this direction was coming from your boss, not from the broader company (since no one else has been functioning that way). But your boss was acting as a representative of your employer, and your employer is liable for the directives he gave you. As for what to do, can you talk with HR yourself? Point out that the organization has inadvertently been violating both state laws, and that as a result you and your employee have both worked a couple hundred hours more than everyone else. Then say, “I’d like to get this remedied in a way that’s fair to us both” and see what they say. If this had just been an unfortunate accident that didn’t break any laws, they might tell you there was nothing they could do and they’d just ensure it was fixed going forward. But given that they’ve been breaking the law, you have some leverage to push for some additional compensation to each of you to make it right. 5. Can my old manager share info about me with my new manager? While I was on leave, my manager was promoted and we got a new manager. Before I left, I had a meeting with my old manager and the team lead because there was a miscommunication about the hours I could work. In my interview, because I’m a single mom, we had agreed that the only night hours I would work were if there was an emergency. Well, this new manager came in and sat me down to say that word around the office is I won’t work nights. She said she reached out to my old manager, who she said I refused to work nights. Is this type of conversation legally even allowed? The meetings within my company are supposed to be protected and confidential. My lead and my old boss apparently spread this around my office, as no one should’ve even known this. Yes, it’s legal — and generally necessary — for your old manager to relay information to your new manager about your schedule. This is a pretty normal conversation for managers to have. Otherwise, how else would she know, let alone adhere to, what you had negotiated for when you were hired? It also wouldn’t be that unusual for others in the office to know if you’re never available nights; that’s going to come up in a bunch of work-relevant ways that other people may have a legitimate need to know. Generally the only info you can expect to be treated as confidential in a work context would be private health information — but even then something might be shared with a new manager to the extent that it affected things like scheduling or medical accommodations. The post boss treats our coworker’s performance issues as team issues, my manager hasn’t announced her promotion, and more appeared first on Ask a Manager. View the full article

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When David Dominé moved to Louisville, Kentucky, for law school in the 1990s, he was captivated by the historic district of Old Louisville, lined with stately Victorian mansions. After he bought a reputedly haunted home in the neighborhood—and had “some strange things happen” there—he began researching the ghost stories told in the area. That led Dominé to write books about the community’s legendary hauntings. Soon, reader interest convinced him to offer tours, leading to a business he calls Louisville Historic Tours. Dominé’s company now has about nine tour guides, mostly people interested in local history. Many live in the neighborhoods where they give tours. “We started off with ghost tours—those seem to be the most popular—but we also do history and architecture tours, [and] we do food tours,” he says. Across the country, people passionate about history and curious about the supernatural have followed a similar path. In an age of ghost-hunting TV shows, YouTube channels, and podcasts, they combine historic storytelling with spooky local legends—and frequently operate at night after other attractions close down. “They surprised me for being these rich and kind of complicated little storytelling projects, even though they were clearly sensationalist sometimes,” says Heidi Aronson Kolk, a professor at Washington University in St. Louis who has written about ghost tours. But the game has changed, thanks to the ascendance of multicity ghost tour chains. As with other industries, from ride hailing to news media, the internet has contributed to their rise. These outfits take advantage of economies of scale in centralizing operations like reservations, human resources, and even tour route planning, while leveraging search engine optimization and online advertising expertise to be the first ghost tour option tourists see. The rise of online marketing has, however, brought with it numerous disputes between local ghost tour operators and a handful of national chains over intellectual property, with tour companies accusing one another of copying tour titles and business names in an effort to game search listings. Big tour companies have also faced allegations of plagiarizing tour content from local operators in a rush to expand. Some have also faced allegations of violating labor laws around subjects like independent contractor classification and overtime pay as they recruit a national workforce of tour guides and other staff. Long-standing tour operators say chain operators can appear to be just another internet-based hustle with little consideration for what was once a cozy industry presided over by local history buffs. “Competition isn’t a bad thing, but you’ve got to kind of be respectful,” Dominé says. “You can’t just go in and copy what someone’s doing, use their information, and things like that.” “You can’t own history” Dominé has firsthand experience with these sorts of disputes. In 2022, he sued a ghost tour chain called Ghost City Tours, which bills itself as “the world’s largest and best ghost tour company,” serving more than 600,000 customers per year and advertising tours in at least 26 U.S. cities. Dominé alleged copyright infringement and unfair competition, saying Ghost City incorporated stories from his books—including fictionalized elements—into its tours and worked his name into marketing materials, falsely implying his endorsement. Citing a nondisclosure agreement, Dominé declined to comment on the case, which settled in 2023. Ghost City Tours declined to make someone available for an interview for this article, citing concerns about revealing proprietary information. Another chain, called US Ghost Adventures (USGA), offers tours in more than 150 cities, from Akron, Ohio, to Yorktown, Virginia, and claims to have more than 1,000 “local experts and trained guides” on staff. The company was founded by serial entrepreneur and Marine Corps veteran Lance Zaal, who has said the business grew out of efforts to build a mobile tour guide app. Zaal, who did not respond to questions asked via email, also operates a broader tourism website called Tourismo. In recent years, Zaal has also purchased reputedly haunted historic properties. They include the Lizzie Borden House in Massachusetts, site of the notorious 1892 axe murders of Borden’s parents and now a bed-and-breakfast, and New Orleans’s LaLaurie Mansion, a French Quarter site associated with the torture of enslaved people in the 1830s. (Zaal currently lives at the mansion.) Zaal also operates an online ghost hunting equipment store called Ghost Daddy—which boasts that it tests its merchandise at the Borden house—and even founded a Ukraine-focused aid organization called Ghosts of Liberty. Zaal’s businesses have been on both sides of ghost industry intellectual property disputes. In 2023, US Ghost Adventures sued Miss Lizzie’s Coffee, a newly opened coffee shop next door to the Lizzie Borden House, for allegedly infringing trademarks on the Lizzie Borden name and a hatchet logo. USGA says consumers and even local officials had been confused into believing the businesses are related. “I said, ‘This is ridiculous,’ because I always knew Lizzie Borden as a historical figure,” says Miss Lizzie’s owner Joe Pereira. “And you can’t own history.” So far, USGA has failed to convince a federal judge to issue a preliminary injunction in the matter, and the case remains before the court. Mimicry USGA has itself been repeatedly accused by other ghost tour companies of mimicking their business and tour names. The company was sued in 2024 by the owner of Queen City Tours in Charlotte, North Carolina, for allegedly infringing its trademarks in operating tours under the name Queen City Ghosts. USGA has filed its own legal challenge to the Queen City Tours trademark, and the cases remain pending. Queen City Tours did not respond to an inquiry from Fast Company. Terror Tours, the company behind a line of haunted pub crawls known as Nightly Spirits, also sued USGA in 2024 for allegedly infringing its “Booze and Boos” trademark. In its lawsuit, the company said USGA operated “Boos and Booze” tours, which confused consumers, including some who mistakenly brought complaints to Terror Tours. The case was settled in 2024. Founder Jared Broach declined to comment on the matter, citing a nondisclosure agreement. In Baltimore, USGA has advertised under the name Baltimore Ghosts, which is similar to the name of a local ghost tour company founded in 2001. Melissa Rowell, one of the founders of Baltimore Ghost Tours, says her business has received messages from customers seeking USGA, including an angry voicemail she shared with Fast Company. And, she says, Google at one time erroneously merged the business listings for the two tour operations. The two companies have exchanged cease-and-desist letters, which Rowell shared with Fast Company. Lawyers for Rowell’s company have claimed USGA is infringing on Baltimore Ghost Tours’s trademark as part of a plan “to ride on the coattails of an established business” in various cities through similar naming. USGA attorneys have questioned the validity of the “geographically descriptive” Baltimore Ghost Tours trademark and alleged misconduct and defamation involving allegations around the Google issue. Jeanine Plumer, owner of Austin Ghost Tours, says she’s spoken to multiple tour companies who’ve reported similar tactics by USGA. Mike Carter, owner of Tours & Crawls in Annapolis, Maryland, says he’s also received texts and voicemails from confused customers who will often turn out to have actually booked with USGA. “I get calls almost daily from somebody who’s confused or wants to verify which company it is,” he says. USGA entered that market around 2023, using a variety of names including “Ghosts of Annapolis,” which Carter had previously used, he says. After he complained through an attorney, he says USGA began using the name “Annapolis Ghost Tours,” which Carter also previously used. “Taking on the Goliath” In 2024, Carter registered the domain usaghostadventures.com, one letter off from the USGA site, listing local alternatives in cities where USGA operated, along with the message: “Don’t be tricked by the large national chains who pretend to offer the local tour experience you’re seeking,” according to Zaal’s legal filings. Zaal filed a legal complaint with the World Intellectual Property Organization, which handles domain name trademark disputes. The organization awarded Zaal ownership of the domain after finding Carter “went beyond offering criticism and advocacy” in linking to USGA competitors, including his own business. “I abided by that decision,” Carter says. “I understood where it came from.” But in June, Zaal and USGA sued Carter and his company in federal court. They alleged Carter continued to infringe USGA trademarks with a new “Local Ghost Adventures” site and defamed USGA and Zaal through disparaging blog and social media posts, as well as comments to an Annapolis tourism organization. Zaal’s lawsuit also cites comments by other ghost tour operators around the country criticizing the company, arguing Carter and his company “actively engage with fellow competitor ghost tour operators and potential customers to encourage harmful and misleading attacks,” in part via a private Facebook group for local ghost tour operators. Carter acknowledges that he is active on such a group, but says members are more likely to share SEO and marketing tips or recommendations for graphic designers, along with other advice for operating a ghost tour in the internet age, than they are to discuss particular competitors. “It’s more about sharing information than it is taking on the Goliath,” he says. “Death trap” Like some other businesses that have rapidly expanded thanks to the internet, USGA has also faced accusations of violating employment laws. In 2023, two Pennsylvania women sued USGA and Zaal, saying they had been employed by the company as content creators documenting ghost tours but were improperly denied overtime pay, even when working more than 80 hours per week. “Plaintiffs protested the lack of overtime wages to Mr. Zaal personally who erroneously stated that Plaintiffs were ‘1099’ [independent contractors] and refused to discuss the matter further,” they alleged. The women also alleged that Zaal and USGA provided them with an RV and pickup truck to use for ghost tours but said the truck wasn’t large enough to tow the RV, with customers allegedly referring to the arrangement as a “death trap.” When they complained, they said Zaal and USGA traded in the RV for a smaller model at a loss, and began to illegally deduct the cost difference from their paychecks. Zaal and USGA denied the allegations, and the case was settled for an undisclosed amount earlier this year. In another case that remains pending, a Kentucky woman named Emily Menshouse alleges she worked for USGA-affiliated Zaal Ventures in administrative roles and was misclassified as an independent contractor, illegally underpaid for overtime and breaks, and fired when she complained. Menshouse, who previously appeared in a TV show called Paranormal Journeys and has a supernatural-themed video podcast, says she had hoped the position would be her “dream job.” Zaal Ventures has denied the allegations but made a payment to Menshouse after the lawsuit was brought, though Menshouse says the amount was inadequate to resolve the matter. Ghost City Tours also faced an employment lawsuit filed in 2024 by San Antonio tour guide JoAnn Valenzuela, who alleged she was fired after complaining to the federal Department of Labor that she wasn’t paid her $50-per-hour wage for more than 20 hours of mandatory training. The company said in a legal filing that Valenzuela was fired for not showing up for shifts, not because of the complaint, and that while she had attended the company’s “public tour guide training classes which are offered to members of the public,” she had signed an offer letter that said she wouldn’t be paid until she finished her first solo tour. The case was settled in 2024. Committed to the supernatural For their part, leaders of ghost tour chains have generally said they have the same commitment to supernatural storytelling as their independent rivals. Mike Huberty, founder of American Ghost Walks, which has expanded from a single operation in Madison, Wisconsin, to more than 25 cities across the country, says he still gathers stories personally before launching tours in new locales. He claims to talk to everyone from museum workers to busboys about legends that might fit into a tour, and often simply asks whether a particular place might be haunted. “I’ve repeated that question probably to 5,000 people in my life,” he says. “That’s how you start collecting the stories.” Zaal and USGA have emphasized their devotion to preserving their historic properties and bringing “meticulously researched” stories to life. And in a blog post, Ghost City Tours founder Tim Nealon wrote about becoming interested in ghosts after believing he had recorded the voice of one in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and his company’s commitment to telling real, well-researched stories. But to some local competitors, certain chain operations can feel like just another online get-rich-quick scheme, disrupting long-standing mom-and-pop businesses in pursuit of a buck. View the full article

Russia’s second-largest oil producer makes move after the US imposed sanctions on the companyView the full article

YouTube launched Ask Studio, an AI assistant in YouTube Studio that analyzes channel data to surface comment insights, performance analysis, and content ideas. The post YouTube Introduces ‘Ask Studio’ AI For Channel Analytics appeared first on Search Engine Journal. View the full article

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. This brand-new Microsoft Surface Pro 7 offers portability, flexibility, and power that still holds up for most people who want a dependable Windows machine without overpaying, and it's on sale for $659.99 at StackSocial right now. The 12.3-inch PixelSense touchscreen remains sharp and responsive, with a 2736x1824 resolution that makes documents, spreadsheets, and streaming look crisp. It’s lightweight at 1.7 pounds, and the built-in kickstand turns it from tablet to laptop on demand—something the Surface line has always nailed. The Surface Pro 7 is powered by a 10th Gen Intel Core i5 processor, paired with 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD. That combination is no longer cutting-edge, but it’s still sufficient for everyday tasks like writing, browsing, video calls, and light creative projects. The battery is rated for up to 10.5 hours, which means you’ll likely get through a workday before needing to recharge. You also get a mix of ports that newer devices sometimes skip: both USB-A and USB-C, a headphone jack, and even a microSDXC card reader for quick storage expansion. Wifi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0 ensure modern connections, and for those invested in the Surface ecosystem, it still works with accessories like the Type Cover keyboard and Surface Pen, though they’re sold separately. This model won’t compete with the latest Surface Pro 11 or high-end ultrabooks if you’re looking for raw speed, and the cameras top out at 1080p video when many laptops now ship with 1080p or even 4K webcams. It also doesn’t come with a warranty, so the price reflects a final-sale deal. Still, for someone who needs a 2-in-1 that balances tablet portability with laptop functionality, the Surface Pro 7 remains a solid choice. It’s a way to get a brand-new Microsoft device with decent specs at a reasonable cost, if you’re willing to accept that it’s no longer the newest kid on the block. Our Best Editor-Vetted Tech Deals Right Now Apple AirPods Pro 2 Noise Cancelling Wireless Earbuds — $169.99 (List Price $249.00) Apple iPad 11" 128GB A16 WiFi Tablet (Blue, 2025) — $299.00 (List Price $349.00) Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Plus — $29.99 (List Price $49.99) Shark AV2501AE AI XL Hepa- Safe Self-Emptying Base Robot Vacuum — $299.99 (List Price $649.99) Ring Pan-Tilt Indoor Cam, White with Ring Indoor Cam (2nd Gen), White — $59.99 (List Price $99.99) Blink Video Doorbell Wireless (Newest Model) + Sync Module Core — $29.99 (List Price $69.99) Blink Mini 2 1080p Indoor Security Camera (2-Pack, White) — $27.99 (List Price $69.99) Ring Video Doorbell Pro 2 with Ring Chime Pro — $149.99 (List Price $259.99) Introducing Amazon Fire TV 55" Omni Mini-LED Series, QLED 4K UHD smart TV, Dolby Vision IQ, 144hz gaming mode, Ambient Experience, hands-free with Alexa, 2024 release — $699.99 (List Price $819.99) Blink Outdoor 4 1080p 2-Camera Kit With Sync Module Core — $51.99 (List Price $129.99) Deals are selected by our commerce team View the full article

The GSE accused four companies of trademark infringement, alleging they misrepresented to consumers that their products received its endorsement. View the full article

OpenAI is telling companies that “relationship building” with AI has limits. Emotional dependence on ChatGPT is considered a safety risk, with new guardrails in place. The post OpenAI Flags Emotional Reliance On ChatGPT As A Safety Risk appeared first on Search Engine Journal. View the full article

Fannie Mae revised its economic and housing outlook for 2025 and 2026, projecting mortgage rates to hit 6.3% and 5.9%, respectively. View the full article

OBR’s more pessimistic view adds to pressure on chancellor to breach Labour manifesto pledge on taxView the full article

Project specifications are essential documents that define the requirements, standards and expectations for a construction project. They provide detailed information on materials, workmanship, dimensions and quality, ensuring every team member understands the project goals. Clear project specifications help prevent misunderstandings, reduce errors and maintain consistency across all phases of construction. They also serve as a reference for regulatory compliance and contract management. By establishing measurable criteria, project specifications enable accurate cost estimation, scheduling and quality control, making them a critical tool for project managers, contractors and stakeholders to deliver successful projects on time and within budget. What Are Project Specifications? Project specifications are the detailed description of what a project must deliver and how its success will be measured. They translate broad objectives into clear, verifiable terms that define what “done” looks like. Unlike technical specifications used in engineering or construction, project specifications in general project management aren’t about materials or blueprints—they’re about requirements and outcomes. They clarify what the project will produce, the standards those deliverables must meet and the conditions that must be satisfied for stakeholders to accept the results. In practice, project specifications bring together two key elements, project requirements and project success criteria. Together, they form a bridge between the project scope and the project evaluation process. A well-defined set of project specifications ensures every stakeholder shares the same understanding of what the final deliverables will include, how performance will be assessed and what quality standards must be maintained along the way. In other words, project specifications serve as the project’s “definition of success,” the baseline against which progress, performance and completion are judged. Project management software helps teams organize, track and share project specifications efficiently. It centralizes documents, allows version control and ensures all stakeholders have access to the latest updates. By linking specifications to tasks, schedules and budgets, the software reduces miscommunication, enforces compliance and keeps projects aligned with design and quality requirements. ProjectManager makes managing project specifications simple with features like unlimited document storage, version control and customizable templates. Robust Gantt charts connect specifications directly to timelines and deliverables, linking dependencies and setting a baseline to track work in real time. Dashboards monitor compliance in real time and automated notifications alert teams to changes. Its collaboration tools enable seamless communication while AI-powered reporting highlights inconsistencies or risks in specifications. Get started with ProjectManager today for free. /wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Gantt-CTA-2025.jpgLearn more Project Requirements Project requirements define what a project must achieve and the conditions necessary to meet stakeholder expectations. They guide planning, design and execution, ensuring the team understands the objectives and constraints. Clear requirements reduce risks, improve communication and provide a basis for measuring progress. Well-documented project requirements support resource allocation, scheduling and budgeting, helping teams deliver outcomes that align with business goals, regulatory standards and technical needs while minimizing misunderstandings and costly rework. Business Requirements: Outline the high-level goals and objectives that the project must fulfill to meet organizational needs. They focus on value creation, operational improvements and strategic alignment to ensure the project delivers measurable benefits and supports overall business priorities. Functional Requirements: Specify the features, behaviors and capabilities the project must provide. They describe what the system, product or service should do to meet user needs and include workflows, interactions and data handling criteria to ensure proper operation. Non-functional Requirements: Define the quality attributes, performance levels and constraints of a project. These include usability, reliability, scalability, security and maintainability to ensure the solution operates effectively under expected conditions. Technical Requirements: Detail the technology, tools and infrastructure necessary to implement the project. They cover hardware, software, network specifications and integration needs, ensuring the solution meets technical standards and functions as intended. Regulatory Requirements: Define the legal, safety and compliance standards the project must follow. They ensure adherence to local, national and industry regulations to avoid penalties and guarantee safe, lawful operations. /wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Project-requirements-template-featured-image.jpg Get your free Project Requirements Template Use this free Project Requirements Template to manage your projects better. Get the Template Project Success Criteria Project success criteria establish the measurable benchmarks to determine if a project has achieved its objectives. They guide decision-making, performance evaluation and stakeholder communication. Success criteria include metrics for scope, schedule, cost, quality, stakeholder satisfaction and strategic impact. Defining these criteria early helps teams prioritize tasks, allocate resources effectively and maintain accountability. By setting clear expectations, success criteria provide a shared understanding of project goals and ensure all aspects of performance are monitored and evaluated throughout the project lifecycle. Scope and Deliverables: Defines the project outputs and boundaries, ensuring all tasks, products and services meet stakeholder expectations. A clear scope prevents scope creep and ensures the team focuses on the required deliverables. Schedule Management: Establishes timelines, milestones and deadlines for completing project tasks. Effective schedule management ensures work progresses efficiently, resources are allocated appropriately and the project finishes on time. Project Financial Management: Sets budgets, tracks costs and ensures spending aligns with projections. Financial management monitors expenses, identifies variances and maintains profitability while supporting resource planning and cost control. Quality Assurance and Control: Defines standards, processes and inspections to ensure deliverables meet expected quality levels. QA and QC help prevent defects, maintain compliance and increase stakeholder confidence in the project outcomes. Stakeholder Satisfaction: Measures how well the project meets the needs and expectations of clients, users and other stakeholders. High satisfaction ensures continued support, positive relationships and alignment with business objectives. Strategic Impact: Evaluates how the project contributes to broader organizational goals and long-term benefits. It ensures alignment with business strategy, supports decision-making and maximizes value from project investments. What Is the Importance of Project Specifications? Project specifications are critical documents that define the detailed requirements, standards and expectations for a project. They guide planning, design, execution and quality control, ensuring all team members understand the objectives and constraints. Clear project specifications reduce errors, prevent miscommunication and help maintain consistency across all deliverables. They also provide a framework for compliance, cost management and schedule adherence. By using project specifications, teams can align resources effectively, track progress against defined benchmarks and deliver outcomes that meet stakeholder expectations while achieving project goals efficiently. Related: 32 Must-Have Project Management Templates for Google Sheets How to Manage Project Specifications Managing project specifications involves a structured approach to ensure clarity, accuracy and compliance throughout the project lifecycle. By following defined steps, teams can capture stakeholder expectations, translate them into actionable requirements and maintain consistent documentation. Proper management of project specifications ensures all team members are aligned, reduces risks of errors, supports change control and allows performance to be measured against clearly defined criteria, ultimately improving project outcomes and stakeholder satisfaction. Identify Stakeholder Needs Identifying stakeholder needs is the first step in creating accurate project specifications. This involves gathering input from clients, end users and regulatory bodies to understand expectations, priorities and constraints. By capturing these needs early, project managers can ensure the project specifications reflect the true goals of the project, align with business objectives and anticipate potential risks, which helps guide design decisions and resource allocation effectively. /wp-content/uploads/2025/02/PM-101-eBook-banner-ad.jpg Define Project Requirements Defining project requirements translates stakeholder needs into specific, measurable and actionable items within the project specifications. This includes functional, technical, business and regulatory requirements. Clear requirements provide a foundation for project planning, resource allocation, risk management and quality control. Including comprehensive project specifications at this stage reduces misunderstandings and ensures all team members have a shared understanding of what the project must achieve. Establish Success Criteria Establishing success criteria ensures project specifications include measurable benchmarks for evaluating performance. This covers scope, schedule, budget, quality, stakeholder satisfaction and strategic outcomes. By defining these criteria, project managers can monitor progress effectively, make informed decisions and ensure the project meets its objectives. Success criteria embedded in project specifications provide a clear reference for performance measurement throughout the project lifecycle. Document the Specifications In the Project Plan Documenting project specifications in the project plan centralizes all requirements, expectations and standards for the project. This ensures consistency and accessibility for all team members. Proper documentation provides a reference point for planning, execution, quality control and reporting. Including detailed project specifications in the plan reduces miscommunication, supports regulatory compliance and enables efficient resource allocation and schedule management throughout the project. /wp-content/uploads/2023/02/operations-implementation-gantt-chart-150-600x295.pngLearn more Validate and Get Approval Validating project specifications and obtaining approval ensures all requirements and standards are agreed upon by stakeholders. This step confirms that the specifications are complete, realistic and aligned with project goals. Approval provides accountability, minimizes scope changes later in the project and serves as a formal reference for project execution. Project specifications approved early reduce risks and enhance confidence in the project plan. Communicate with the Project Team Communicating project specifications to the project team ensures everyone understands requirements, responsibilities and expected outcomes. Clear communication minimizes errors, prevents delays and aligns team efforts. By sharing project specifications through meetings, documentation and collaboration tools, project managers maintain transparency and foster accountability. Effective communication of project specifications ensures teams can execute tasks efficiently and deliver results that meet stakeholder expectations. Monitor Changes and Updates Monitoring changes and updates to project specifications ensures the project remains aligned with stakeholder needs and regulatory requirements. Any modifications should be documented, reviewed and approved to maintain accuracy. This process helps prevent scope creep, ensures resource and schedule adjustments are managed effectively and keeps the team informed. Keeping project specifications current reduces risks and supports consistent project delivery. /wp-content/uploads/2023/11/risk-image-lightmode-600x331.pngLearn more Review and Close-Out Reviewing and closing out project specifications ensures all requirements have been met and deliverables align with expectations. This step includes verifying compliance, documenting lessons learned and finalizing records for future reference. A thorough review of project specifications at close-out provides accountability, supports auditing and helps inform future projects. It confirms that the project successfully adhered to its defined objectives and standards. What Free Templates Help Manage Project Specifications? Managing project specifications is easier with structured templates that organize requirements, responsibilities and tasks. These free templates provide a clear framework for capturing stakeholder needs, defining project requirements and tracking accountability. By using these tools, teams can ensure consistency, reduce errors and maintain alignment throughout the project lifecycle while improving communication and documentation. Project Requirements Template Download this free project requirements template to capture functional, technical and regulatory requirements in a structured format. It organizes specifications by category, priority and stakeholder, making it easier to manage complex projects. Using this template ensures that all project requirements are documented, accessible and tracked, supporting accurate planning and execution while reducing miscommunication. Business Requirements Document Template Use this free business requirements document template to focus on high-level organizational needs and objectives. It captures goals, constraints and success metrics that the project must achieve. This template links business requirements directly to project specifications, providing clarity for decision-making, resource allocation and compliance. It ensures the project delivers measurable value and aligns with the overall business strategy. RACI Matrix Template This free RACI matrix template clarifies roles and responsibilities for each task or deliverable in the project specifications. By defining who is Responsible, Accountable, Consulted and Informed, the template promotes accountability, reduces confusion and ensures tasks are completed efficiently. It is especially useful for coordinating complex projects with multiple stakeholders. How ProjectManager Helps Deliver Project Specifications Successfully While templates provide a good starting point, ProjectManager offers dynamic tools that make managing project specifications far more effective. Instead of static documents, teams can collaborate in real time, assign ownership and track progress across tasks directly linked to specifications. Multiple project views—such as Gantt, kanban, sheet and calendar—allow managers to visualize timelines, dependencies and resource assignments from every angle. This flexibility ensures specifications are met on time and within scope, even as project demands evolve. Optimize Resources and Balance Workloads ProjectManager’s resource management features help teams allocate people and materials efficiently to meet project specifications. The workload chart displays team capacity in real time, helping managers avoid bottlenecks and over-allocation. The team page provides a centralized hub for viewing assignments, monitoring progress and reallocating resources as needed. This ensures the right people are focused on the right tasks, keeping deliverables aligned with project goals. /wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Team-Light-2554x1372-1.png Track Progress and Improve Accuracy Tracking performance against project specifications is effortless with ProjectManager’s real-time dashboards and AI-powered reporting. Dashboards instantly visualize progress, costs and resource metrics while AI Project Insights suggests performance insights and potential optimizations. Timesheets can be updated from the field through the mobile app, giving managers visibility into labor costs and productivity at every stage. This integrated tracking process ensures that teams stay on schedule, budgets remain accurate and specifications are delivered successfully. /wp-content/uploads/2025/10/AI-Insights-Light-Mode-Dashboard-GPT5.png Related Project Management Content Project specifications are important, but they’re not the only thing general contractors, subcontractors and construction crews need to know. For those interested in learning more about construction project management, the links below introduce key concepts, explain the phases of the project and much more. 22 Project Activities for Each Phase of the Project Life Cycle Introduction to Project Management: Key Concepts How to Make a Project Outline (Example Included) The 5 Project Management Phases: A Quick Guide 8 Project Plan Examples (Templates Included) ProjectManager is online project and portfolio management software that connects teams, whether they’re in the office or on the job site. They can share files, comment at the task level and stay updated with email and in-app notifications. Get started with ProjectManager today for free. The post Project Specifications: Why Are They Important? appeared first on ProjectManager. View the full article

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Just in time for winter, a bundle including the fourth-generation Google Nest Learning Thermostat and a second-generation Nest temperature sensor is $70 off at Walmart. That brings the price down to $209.55 (originally $279.99). The smart thermostat \ allows you to customize your home’s heating and cooling schedule with AI, conserving energy and ensuring consistent temperatures throughout your entire home. Google Nest Learning Thermostat (4th Gen) with Nest Temperature Sensor (2nd Gen) $209.55 at Walmart $279.99 Save $70.44 Get Deal Get Deal $209.55 at Walmart $279.99 Save $70.44 This fourth-generation Nest thermostat offers several updates from its predecessor, including support for Matter, which allows compatibility with a wide range of smart home ecosystems (though it doesn’t support Thread). According to this PCMag review, it’s simple to install, comes with a remote room sensor, and uses AI to learn preferences and create a customized heating and cooling schedule that adjusts as your routine changes—though you can also manually make changes and reject suggested tweaks. It has a larger display than the previous generation (2.7 inches with a 600x600 pixel resolution, compared to 2.1 inches with a 480x480 pixel resolution) with a thin stainless steel ring that allows you to scroll through menu options and adjust temperature settings or switch between modes like Comfort, Eco, and Sleep. The thermostat works with most 24V heating and cooling systems and includes ambient light, humidity, motion, and temperature sensors. You can control it via the Google Home app or Google Assistant voice commands. This model also has a new version of Nest's Farsight technology, which uses a motion sensor to turn on the display when you enter the room and adapts what’s shown based on how far away you are from the thermostat, showing more details as you get closer. Unlike more feature-rich options like the Ecobee Smart Thermostat Premium, it can’t detect air quality or double as a home security hub when paired with sensors and cameras. Ultimately, this bundle—currently around 25% off—is worth it if you’re seeking a smart thermostat with a large display, a stylish aesthetic, and remote room sensing. If you value design and simplicity over maximum features, it’s a better choice than the Ecobee Smart Thermostat Premium. Our Best Editor-Vetted Tech Deals Right Now Apple AirPods Pro 2 Noise Cancelling Wireless Earbuds — $169.99 (List Price $249.00) Apple iPad 11" 128GB A16 WiFi Tablet (Blue, 2025) — $299.00 (List Price $349.00) Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Plus — $29.99 (List Price $49.99) Shark AV2501AE AI XL Hepa- Safe Self-Emptying Base Robot Vacuum — $299.99 (List Price $649.99) Ring Pan-Tilt Indoor Cam, White with Ring Indoor Cam (2nd Gen), White — $59.99 (List Price $99.99) Blink Video Doorbell Wireless (Newest Model) + Sync Module Core — $29.99 (List Price $69.99) Blink Mini 2 1080p Indoor Security Camera (2-Pack, White) — $27.99 (List Price $69.99) Ring Video Doorbell Pro 2 with Ring Chime Pro — $149.99 (List Price $259.99) Introducing Amazon Fire TV 55" Omni Mini-LED Series, QLED 4K UHD smart TV, Dolby Vision IQ, 144hz gaming mode, Ambient Experience, hands-free with Alexa, 2024 release — $699.99 (List Price $819.99) Blink Outdoor 4 1080p 2-Camera Kit With Sync Module Core — $51.99 (List Price $129.99) Deals are selected by our commerce team View the full article

If you've watched enough Mission Impossible (or Inspector Gadget, if your parents wouldn't let you watch Mission Impossible), you're familiar with the self-destructing message. Now, Meta's X competitor, Threads, is making them a core feature. Called "Ghost posts," the new type of message launches today, and it lets you post to your timeline without the pressure of leaving a permanent trace. Ghost posts will appear on your timeline while active, but after 24 hours, they'll automatically be archived. "Here today and gone tomorrow," as Threads puts it, the idea is to encourage posters to share "spontaneous thoughts" and "fresh takes." It's not the first time a social media platform has experimented with ephemeral content—Snapchat is probably the most famous example—but it makes sense. People change, and the person I was 10 years ago may not look like who I am today. Even if you don't have anything cancel-able on your timeline, it can be embarrassing to see old posts. And if you still stand by everything you've ever posted, it's still a good idea to clear your timeline before leaving a platform behind. That's why sites like X already have a number of third-party programs that will delete your old posts for you, but Threads is the first platform of its type to offer the feature officially. Here's how it works: How to use Ghost Posts on Threads Credit: Michelle Ehrhardt Threads' Ghost posts are already live, so you can try them out right away. The only catch is they don't yet seem to be available for desktop (at least based on my testing), so you'll need to use the Threads app to get started, at least for now. To write a ghost post, open the Threads app and find the "What's new?" box under your username (it's usually right up at the top of the page). Hit the icon that looks like a smiley face inside a dotted-line chat bubble to the right of it. From there, write your post as you normally would. When you send it, it'll appear in your followers' feeds in a chat bubble surrounded by dotted-lines, and on your profile in a special Ghost posts subsection. Aside from being temporary, ghost posts also hide their metrics and replies. Only you will be able to see who's interacted with your post, and any replies are sent to your messaging inbox, rather than directly below the post. Everyone else will just see smiley faces next to the post's metrics, indicating that at least one person has interacted with it. And that's it. You've successfully haunted your friends' feeds. What happens to a Ghost Post after 24 hours?While Ghost Posts are mostly set-it and forget it, you can technically still interact with them after 24 hours. They'll be archived, which means others won't be able to see them, but if you ever want to scroll through your old thoughts, it's easy enough to look at your archived posts. Just go to your profile page, hit the two-lined button in the top right corner, and tap Archive. Also note that while archived posts no longer show up on Threads, they might continue to be shared on other servers if you've turned on sharing to the fediverse in your profile. I've reached out to Meta to see how this affects Ghost posts, and will update this post when I hear back (my assumption is that Ghost posts simply won't be shared to other servers, but I'll let you know if that's not the case). View the full article