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iPhone maker is facing one of the biggest threats to its business in yearsView the full article

Projects are delicate operations. There is so much that can impact them; a storm cutting off the supply chain, equipment failure or a labor dispute are merely three possible situations in a seemingly endless succession of risks. The risk response plan that you create to deal with these risks, which describes risk identification, assessment, and mitigation response strategies, could mean the success or failure of the project. It’s no wonder so much of project management is focused on risk! Controlling risk, having a risk response plan and implementing risk response strategies are methods to better manage your project and deliver success. Another way is to have project management software to plan and track your risk response strategies. /wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Risk-management-plan-template-1.jpg Get your free Risk Management Plan Template Use this free Risk Management Plan Template for Word to manage your projects better. Download Word File What Is a Project Risk? A project risk is an uncertain event that can potentially impact a project, either positively or negatively. Project managers need to create risk response plans that describe the risk mitigation strategies they will use to minimize the negative effect of risk events. What many don’t think about is that risk can also be good for a project. Negative risk? A blackout-causing storm that halts production. Positive risk? The price for the materials you need for your project has dropped considerably. In project management, negative risks are commonly referred to as threats, while positive risks are known as opportunities. Negative Risks (Threats) Positive Risks (Opportunities) Whatever type of risk you get, you want to have a risk register and a risk response plan for dealing with it. While it’s impossible to prepare for everything that might happen in a project, with the use of historical data, experience and luck, you can identify project risks that are likely to occur and then create a plan to respond to them. Identifying risks is only the beginning. You need project management software to manage those risks. ProjectManager is online software that can manage your risks in real time. View all of your risks from the project menu, create risks as tasks and assign them to your team. You can then set priorities, add tags and more. Feel free to set the risk status by using the pulldown menu. Get started with ProjectManager today for free. /wp-content/uploads/2024/03/CTA-light-mode-risk-view.pngLearn more What Is Risk Response? Risk response refers to the actions taken to manage and address identified project risks in project management. When the risks are identified, analyzed and prioritized, the project team develops strategies and actions to help reduce the negative impact of threats or increase the likelihood or impact of opportunities. The goal is to bring the project’s overall risk exposure to an acceptable level to increase the chances of meeting project objectives. What Is a Risk Response Plan? A risk response plan is a document that explains the strategies that would be taken to mitigate negative project risks. It’s part of the larger risk management plan that is subsequently part of any project management plan. Risk response is just as it sounds. You’re responding to risks. To do so, project managers must work with stakeholders, secure resources for the risk response strategies and assign risk owners to deploy them. Before you respond to risk, you have to identify it. Risk identification is done in the project planning phase. While the definition of risk is uncertainty, that doesn’t mean that every potential risk to your project is going to come out of left field and surprise you. Good risk response starts with good risk identification. As noted above, you can figure out a lot of potential project risks by looking at similar projects you managed, talking to your experienced project team members about what they think could happen and reaching out to stakeholders and mentors. Why Is a Risk Response Plan Important in Project Management? Since risk happens, having a risk response plan is important. Managing a project is all about organizing activities to meet schedules and budget constraints. Project risks can impact that timeline and increase costs. The quicker you identify them and resolve any issues that come up, the more likely you are to deliver a successful project. Therefore, a risk response plan is a way to reduce or eliminate any threats to the project. It can also be used to increase the opportunity offered by positive risk. That is, if there are positive risks that can help the project, a well-thought-out plan sets up how to quickly gain as much advantage from it as you can. Sometimes, risks are not going to be resolved. The risk response is also a way to put a contingency plan into action. That is, have a Plan B when you can’t proceed the way you have been in the project. Again, a risk response plan gives the project manager options. It provides awareness of the many risks that might occur in the project and provides various means of addressing them. Free Risk Response Plan Template Identifying and managing risk is made easier with a reliable process. This free risk management plan template will help you build a risk response strategy by addressing the fundamentals of risk management. This Word document will help you identify risks, propose a risk breakdown structure and more. Download yours today. /wp-content/uploads/2023/09/risk-management-plan-template-for-word-screenshot-600x564.jpg Types of Risk Response Strategies We’ve talked a lot about having a risk response to address positive and negative risks as they show up in your project. That’s where a risk response plan comes in. A plan gives the project manager a variety of risk response strategies to mitigate negative risk if it occurs. As defined, risk is uncertainty that can impact a project in either a negative or positive way. As such, there are strategies for maximizing the benefit of positive risk. Risk Response Strategies for Negative Risks (Threats) The main risk response strategies for negative risks are listed below. Avoid This risk response strategy is about removing the threat by any means. It’s a proactive approach that aims to eliminate the possibility of a risk occurring to help protect the project from its impact. That can mean changing your project management plan to avoid the risk because it’s detrimental to the project. This strategy is ideal to use when the risk has a high probability and/or a significant negative impact. It’s also useful when the risk is beyond the organization’s risk tolerance and there are viable alternatives. Mitigate Some project risks you just can’t avoid. Risk mitigation involves planning, developing and implementing options to reduce the probability of a risk even occurring. The goal isn’t necessarily to eliminate all risk, but instead to reduce it to a more acceptable level. Risk mitigation is usually used when the risk cannot be avoided entirely or the potential impact is significant enough to warrant action. It’s also used when there are opportunities to reduce the likelihood or impact through specific actions. Transfer As the name implies, here you’ll transfer or pass the work on resolving the project risk to a third party, such as buying insurance or getting a warranty and guarantee. The core of a risk transfer is moving the potential financial impact of a risk event to another entity. The party inheriting the risk usually utilizes a formal agreement or contract when accepting the risk. A risk transfer is typically utilized when there aren’t enough resources or expertise available to manage a specific risk. It also allows the project team to focus on core project objectives and they can minimize distractions when risk responsibilities are transferred. Monitor Risk monitoring consists of continuously tracking identified risks and monitoring trigger conditions. It aims to answer questions like “how has the risk changed, are there new risks that have emerged or are the risk mitigation plans working as expected?” Large, complex projects benefit from risk monitoring or those with tight deadlines or budgets. It’s also useful in projects utilizing new or unproven technologies. Buffer This strategy revolves around adding extra resources, such as time or budget, to a project plan to absorb potential disruptions or negative impacts that a risk can cause. It creates a cushion that helps the project stay on scope, schedule and budget even if the risk materializes. This approach is especially useful when the project has a high degree of uncertainty or the impact of potential risks can be significant. It’s also used in projects where maintaining the project timeline or budget is critical. Accept This risk response strategy consists of identifying a risk and documenting all the risk management information about it, but not taking any action unless the risk occurs. This is a deliberate decision, not an oversight, as the team consciously accepts the potential consequences should the risk occur. Risk acceptance is typically used when the potential risk impact is low or the probability of the risk happening is low. It may also be used when there are no cost-effective alternative responses or if the project has sufficient contingency reserves. Risk Response Strategies for Positive Risks (Opportunities) On the other side of the coin, there are those positive risks that you want to exploit. There are three strategies for these, too: Exploit When there’s a positive risk or opportunity you want to exploit, you need to add more tasks or change the management plan to take advantage of it. There is risk inherent in this approach, but often the reward is worth it. Unlike strategies for negative risks that aim to avoid or mitigate harm, the exploit strategy revolves around actively pursuing opportunities. It’s the ideal strategy to use when the positive risk has a significant potential benefit and the cost and effort to exploit the risk are justified by the potential benefits. Enhance Here, you increase the chance of a positive risk occurring in your project and increase its positive impact on objectives. Think of this strategy as nurturing a potential opportunity to maximize its upside for the project. It targets either making the opportunity more likely to materialize or increasing positive consequences if it does. This strategy is ideal when the risk has significant potential benefits and the cost and effort to enhance the risk are justified by the potential benefits. Share Here you’ll share the risk response with other partners across various teams or projects. It might mean sharing a skilled team member across various projects. The rationale is that another entity may have better expertise, resources or capacity to capitalize on an opportunity or reduce the impact of a threat. It’s the preferred approach when another party has a clear advantage in managing the risk or sharing can lead to greater efficiency or effectiveness in capitalizing on an opportunity. Accept The accept risk response is choosing not to take any proactive action to pursue the opportunity. It’s often done when the opportunity has a low probability of occurring or the potential impact is small. Teams use this strategy when the likelihood of a positive risk materializing is very low or if there’s a high cost or effort to exploit the risk. /wp-content/uploads/2021/10/PPM-ebook-banner-ad-evergreen.jpg What If There’s Both a Positive and a Negative to a Risk? Sometimes risk can have both a threat and an opportunity embedded within. In that case, there are a couple of risk response strategies you can apply: Accept: Here you accept the risk and wait until an adequate response can be determined, such as a contingency plan or allocation of time and cost. This decision must be shared with stakeholders. Escalate: If the risk cannot be monitored and is beyond the management of the project, it is escalated to a higher level, such as program or portfolio management. How to Make a Risk Response Plan Only once you understand the types of risk response strategies you can begin to develop a risk response plan. The risk response planning process is where you outline the strategies that you’ll use to manage negative risks (threats) and positive risks (opportunities). The plan will include the identification of risks, tasks associated with responding to them and the risk owner who takes action. The plan is a way to structure your strategies to make sure that no steps are skipped. You have to take into account the probability and level of impact of a risk and prioritize your response to it. Then, determine if it’s cost-effective and realistic and whether it will be successful if followed through. Your risk assessment must be agreed upon by all those involved, especially the project stakeholders. The plan will employ one of the risk response strategies listed above. Then, there will be risk triggers that set off the plan. These responses must be prioritized as well, from low probability and low impact to high probability and high impact. This will help you determine which risks to respond to. How ProjectManager Helps with Risk Response ProjectManager is online software that helps you organize your plan, monitor its progress and report to stakeholders to keep them updated on your progress. ProjectManager delivers real-time data that helps identify risk faster and track your risks in real time. Create Risk Response Plans on Gantt Charts Build robust risk response plans on our interactive Gantt charts. You can add risks to your plan as you would task, adding whether to avoid, mitigate, transfer or accept the risk. You can also add documentation and note if the status is opened or closed. Then share the Gantt chart with your team and stakeholders so everyone is in the loop. /wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Gantt_Construction_Wide_Zoom-150.jpg Use Multiple Project Views Teams won’t always need the details of a Gantt chart. In this case, they can simply toggle to another project view to execute their work while resolving risks. Teams can use a robust list view or utilize the visual workflow of a kanban board to manage their backlog and collectively plan sprints. Managers get transparency into the process and can relocate resources as needed to avoid bottlenecks. /wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Kanban_Marketing_Wide_Zoom-150_Moving-task-to-different-status.jpg Track Risks in Real-Time on Project Dashboards Another tool to give managers a high-level view of the risk response is the real-time dashboard. Unlike lightweight tools, our dashboard doesn’t have to be configured. It’s ready to work when you are. It automatically collects status updates and calculates project metrics, which are then displayed in easy-to-read charts and graphs. /wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Dashboard_Construction_Wide_Zoom-150.jpg ProjectManager is award-winning software that organizes, tracks and reports on project risk with live data that informs insightful decision-making. Keep your teams connected whether in the office or distributed across the globe. See why NASA, the Bank of America and Ralph Lauren use our tool to work more productively. Try ProjectManager free today! The post Risk Response Plan in Project Management: Key Strategies & Tips appeared first on ProjectManager. View the full article

The Netherlands expanded a government-run initiative on Monday allowing legal cannabis sales. While growing cannabis is still illegal, cannabis shops—known as coffeeshops—in 10 municipalities will be allowed to sell marijuana from 10 licensed producers. “Weed was sold here legally for 50 years, but the production was never legal. So it’s finally time to end that crazy, unexplainable situation and make it a legal professional sector,” Rick Bakker, commercial director at Hollandse Hoogtes, one of the regulated producers, told the Associated Press. Some 80 coffeeshops are taking part in the experiment which advocates hope this will ultimately end a long-standing legal anomaly—you can buy and sell small amounts of weed without fear of prosecution in the Netherlands, but growing it commercially remains illegal. Bakker’s company in Bemmel, near the German border, is indistinguishable from the surrounding greenhouses producing tomatoes and peppers. But it makes 200 kilograms (440 pounds) of weed per week and is one of the largest producers in the experiment. A trailblazer in decriminalizing pot since the 1970s, the Netherlands has grown more conservative. Amsterdam, long a magnet for marijuana smokers, has been closing coffeeshops in recent years and has banned smoking weed on some of the cobbled streets that make up its historic center. Advocates have been pushing for a legal growing for years, citing the safety of the product as well as concerns about crime. Benjamin Selma, the head grower at Hollandse Hoogtes who worked in cannabis production in California for more than a decade, said the quality control for the cannabis is extremely high. “We do a full test, microbial, cannabinoid, terpene, as well as yeast and anaerobic bacteria, heavy metals as well. So it’s very, very controlled,” he told the AP. The company, which does not use pesticides and tightly regulates growing conditions, has an eye to the environment. The production facility gets its energy from solar panels and uses biodegradable packaging. “It is also a great opportunity to see how cooperation within the closed chain between legal growers, coffeeshop owners and all other authorities involved works,” Breda Mayor Paul Depla told the AP when the first phase was launched in 2023. The experiment “is really a political compromise,” according to Derrick Bergman, chairman of the Union for the Abolition of Cannabis Prohibition. The plan dates to 2017, when Christian political parties and pro-legalization parties agreed to a test run after a bill to decriminalize production failed. The government will evaluate the experiment after four years. “A research team, advised by an independent guidance and evaluation committee, is examining the effects of a controlled cannabis supply chain on crime, safety and public health,” the government said in a statement. Selma said he is happy to be working without concerns about prosecution. “I’ve seen some bad moments,” he said, “and I don’t know if I ever believed I would be so free.” The coffeeshops taking part in the initiative are located in Almere, Arnhem, Breda, Groningen, Heerlen, Hellevoetsluis, Maastricht, Nijmegen, Tilburg, and Zaanstad. —Molly Quell, Associated Press View the full article

Long-delayed talks between London and New Delhi given fresh impetus by US taxes on importsView the full article

Google is directing its quality raters to flag pages with auto or AI-generated main content – and rate them as lowest quality, according to Google’s Senior Search Analyst and Search Relations team lead John Mueller, speaking at Search Central Live in Madrid. This was shared by Aleyda Solis today on LinkedIn: This change was part of the January 2025 update of the Search Quality Rater Guidelines. In case you missed anything else from that update, here’s a recap of the most significant changes from the latest version. 1. Google introduces a new definition: Generative AI With its latest Search Quality Rater Guidelines update, Google added a definition and framing for generative AI for the first time. Google’s document calls it a useful tool, but one that can be abused. The addition of Generative AI appears in Section 2.1 (Important Definitions): “Generative AI is a type of machine learning (ML) model that can take what it has learned from the examples it has been provided to create new content, such as text, images, music, and code. Different tools leverage these models to create generative AI content. Generative AI can be a helpful tool for content creation, but like any tool, it can also be misused.” 2. Google reorganizes and expands spam definitions Google significantly overhauled how spammy webpages are defined. The previous section 4.6.3 (Auto-generated MC) is gone. In its place, Google added new subsections and increased its focus on scaled, low-effort content, including potential AI misuse. What’s new in 2025 brings the guidelines in line with Google’s big search quality changes from last year: Expired Domain Abuse (Section 4.6.3): This happens when “an expired domain name is purchased and repurposed primarily to benefit the new website owner by hosting content that provides little to no value to users.” Site Reputation Abuse (Section 4.6.4): When “third-party content is published on a host site mainly because of that host’s already-established ranking signals, which it has earned primarily from its first-party content. The goal of this tactic is for the content to rank better than it could otherwise on its own.” Scaled Content Abuse (Section 4.6.5): Creating a lot of content “with little effort or originality with no editing or manual curation.” Generative AI is mentioned as one example of an automated tool used for this. MC [Main Content] Created with Little to No Effort, Little to No Originality, and Little to No Added Value for Website Visitors (Section 4.6.6): This is a new catch-all section for low-quality paraphrased content, often seen with generative AI and other forms of automated generation. Section 4.6.6. is what Mueller called attention to in his presentation, specifically this part: “The Lowest rating applies if all or almost all of the MC on the page (including text, images, audio, videos, etc) is copied, paraphrased, embedded, auto or AI generated, or reposted from other sources with little to no effort, little to no originality, and little to no added value for visitors to the website. Such pages should be rated Lowest, even if the page assigns credit for the content to another source.” [emphasis added]. Now, how exactly would a rater know whether content is auto or AI-generated? There is no guidance specific to AI-generated content, but there is some new guidance around “paraphrased content”: Section 4.6.6: “Automated tools can also be used to create paraphrased content by restating or summarizing the content on other pages.” Section 4.6.7: “Paraphrased content can be much harder to recognize… Paraphrased content is likely to: Only contain commonly known information or generally known facts Have high overlap with webpages on well established sources such as Wikipedia, reference websites, etc. Appear to summarize a specific page such as a forum discussion or news article without any added value Have words or other indications of summarizing or paraphrasing generative AI tools, such as words like ‘As an AI language model'” 3. Google explains low vs. lowest rating This new section introduces rater guidance for when content isn’t bad enough to get a Lowest rating, but still deserves a Low rating. Here’s the difference: Low: Some MC is reused, but there is at least minimal effort to curate or modify it. Lowest: Almost all MC is copied or paraphrased with no effort or added value. The Search Quality Rater Guidelines share examples of repackaged content like: “Social media reposts with little additional comment or discussion” “Pages with content from other sources (e.g. pages of embedded videos or pages with ‘repinned’ images) with little additional comment, discussion, or curation by the content creator of the page” “‘Best’ lists based on existing reviews and lists with little original content.” Google wants raters to flag thin content that tries to pass as original but doesn’t meet the standard for a quality user experience​. 4. Google adds ‘filler’ content This new section addresses “filler” content — that is, low-effort, low-relevance content that may visually dominate a page while failing to support its purpose. “Filler can artificially inflate content, creating a page that appears rich but lacks content website visitors find valuable.” It emphasizes that even if content isn’t harmful, it can earn a Low rating if it makes it harder to access truly helpful material. Especially targeted: pages that bury useful info beneath ads, generic introductions, or bloated paragraphs: Filler that’s prominently placed and distracts from the MC Pages that appear longer or richer than they are by padding out space Raters are encouraged to evaluate how page layout and content hierarchy affect the user’s ability to achieve their goal​. 5. Google gets stricter on exaggerated or mildly misleading claims Google’s Search Quality Rater Guidelines ]now explicitly target exaggerated or mildly misleading claims about the creator of a webpage, even if those claims don’t rise to the level of outright deception. Newly added Section 5.6 explains: “Deceptive information about a website or content creator is a strong reason for the Lowest rating.” But it also warns that less blatant exaggerations (e.g., inflated credentials, manufactured expertise) are now enough to warrant a Low rating: “Sometimes the information about the website or content provider seems exaggerated or mildly misleading, such as claims of personal experience or expertise that seem overstated or included just to impress website visitors.” This means raters are supposed to rely on what the main content actually demonstrates, plus outside research, rather than taking claims at face value: “E-E-A-T assessments should be based on the MC itself, the information you find during reputation research, verifiable credentials, etc., not just website or content creator claims of ‘I’m an expert!’” If a rater finds that the creator’s claimed qualifications feel more like marketing spin than substance, the document is clear: “If you find the information about the website or the content creator to be exaggerated or mildly misleading, the Low rating should be used.” Some other smaller changes Google also made a few other minor changes. Lowest quality pages (Section 4.0): Google added this line: “The Lowest rating is required if the page is created to benefit the owner of the website (e.g. to make money) with very little or no attempt to benefit website visitors or otherwise serve a beneficial purpose.” Deceptive Page Purpose, Deceptive Information about the Website, Deceptive Design (Section 4.5.3): Google revised this section and added more information, breaking these out with a table and bulleted list with examples. New rating type: Low Recipe 3: This will be given to recipe pages with a prominent amount of unrelated content, interstitials, and ads. Ad Blocking Extensions (Section 0.4): Raters must now “turn off any ad blocker capabilities of the browser you use to view webpages for rating tasks.” This applies to browsers like Chrome that automatically block some ads. View the full article

Oil price hit by recession fears as trade war between US and China escalatesView the full article

With macOS Sequoia 15.4, Apple fully rolled out all of its new Apple Intelligence features to the Mail app. As such, when you open Mail after updating to the latest OS, the app will look quite different. You'll see new "Mail Categories," a Priority Messages box, and email summaries, the latter two of which are powered by AI. It's not something many asked for, and you might be longing for the Mail app you're used to. But there's good news here: If you don't like these features, you can easily disable or customize them to suit your needs. How to disable Mail Categories on Mac Credit: Khamosh Pathak Apple first added Mail Categories to the iPhone back in iOS 18.2. After a few rounds of updates, it's now front and center on the Mac, too. This feature automatically sorts all your emails into four neat boxes: Primary, Transactions, Updates, and Promotions. Apple's positioning for this feature is a bit weird. While Apple is using on-device processing to sort out these emails, it's not actually an Apple Intelligence feature. So, turning off Apple Intelligence on the Mac won't instantly get rid of this feature, either. The idea is that Apple does all the heavy lifting to figure out which emails are most important and useful, and presents them to you in the Primary box. It mostly works, but it isn't always accurate. Credit: Khamosh Pathak If you want to see all your emails at any given time, swipe right on the trackpad or Magic Mouse while hovering on the Categories tab to switch to the All Mail tab. This tab presents your messages in chronological order, as you're used to. But that might not be enough. If you want to disable the Categories view altogether, click the three dotted Menu button at the top of the Mail list, then uncheck Show Mail Categories. After that, the Mail list will be back to how it used to be. How to recategorize emailIn case you do like this feature and want to keep it around, here's a tip for when things go a bit wrong. In case the Mail app incorrectly categorizes an email, you can take a bit of manual control and point the app in the right direction. Credit: Khamosh Pathak Right-click on an email in the Mail list, then choose Categorize Sender. Here, choose the category where you want the email to end up in. How to disable Priority MessagesWhen you receive a time-sensitive email, or something that Apple deems significant (like an email from your company, or your family member) it will show up in a new Priority box on top of the Mail list. Credit: Khamosh Pathak If you don't like this feature, there's a quick way to disable it as well. Click the three-dotted Menu button on top of the Mail window, then uncheck Show Priority Messages. How to disable AI summary previews Credit: Khamosh Pathak Apple now provides a short summary for each email instead of showing you the first couple of lines. This too, is hit or a miss. Just like Notifications Summaries on iPhone, these Mail summaries can sometimes go horribly wrong, as the app changes the meaning of the message completely. Credit: Khamosh Pathak If you don't like this feature, here's what to do: Go to Mail > Settings (Command + Comma) from the menu bar, and switch over to the Viewing tab. Here, uncheck Summarize Message Previews to get rid of Mail summaries. How to disable all Mail AI featuresLastly, there's the nuclear option. To turn off all AI features in Mail, you can simply disable Apple Intelligence on your Mac. In one fell swoop, you can get rid of the Priority mail box, AI summaries, and the Summary button in emails, as well as hidden features like Apple Intelligence Writing Tools and Smart Replies options. Credit: Khamosh Pathak To do this, open System Settings, go to Apple Intelligence & Siri and disable the Apple Intelligence toggle. From the popup, click Turn Off Apple Intelligence to confirm. Of course, when you do this, you'll also miss out on the new Siri design, Writing Tools, Gemmoji, Image Playground and more. But if you don't care for these AI features anyway, better to just keep them off completely. View the full article

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. Remember the letter-writer whose employee said they needed to give her longer breaks because she’s a smoker? Here’s the update. Update on my employee who is a smoker and requested extra break time due to her disability. First, wrong terminology on my part was used when I wrote in. The campus is non-tobacco use, not just non-smoking. Second, Deleana is an excellent worker other than her tardiness in coming back from breaks. I did ask my other employees if they would prefer one long 30-minute break or two shorter 15-minute breaks. 100% of the other employees (I didn’t ask Deleana) prefer having two breaks, so the break policy will stay the same. Deleana did come back with a doctor’s note for her disability. Apparently, she was in a serious car accident years ago and shattered her knee. Due to this, she is limited on how fast she can walk/run. The note involved an accommodation allowing extra time to complete tasks where she has to walk an extended distance. I explained to her that if I had an issue with how long it was taking her to walk from the back of the store to the front to greet a customer, this would apply as it is related to her job tasks. I have no issues with her on this. Going to her car to have a smoke break is not a job-related task so the note doesn’t apply. I told her she is a great asset to the business and team but disciplinary action would be taken, including termination, if the tardiness continues. Obviously, it did not go the way she wanted and said she would take steps to correct the issue. The first step was when she came into work chewing nicotine gum. I had to remind her, per the employee handbook, that no food or drink (including gum) is allowed out on the sales floor. Then she started using the nicotine patches, but she has said it was making her “agitity” and doesn’t like them, so quit using them. Starting this week she will be gone for two weeks as her daughter is having a baby. A few days ago, we were talking about this and she mentioned that having a grandchild would be a good excuse to quit smoking and planned on going “cold turkey” when she left to go to her daughter’s house. I wished her the best of luck in quitting smoking. As of now that is where it stands. In a perfect world she comes back as a non-smoker and I hope she does. Note from me: the nicotine gum might actually be considered a reasonable accommodation under the law, unless there’s a genuine work-related reason she can’t use it (for example, if she works around fragile textile fibers or similar, but not just because you generally don’t permit it). It’s worth running that by HR or legal counsel. View the full article

Accept your inherent value and don’t compromise. By Jody Padar The Radical CPA Go PRO for members-only access to more Jody Padar. View the full article

Accept your inherent value and don’t compromise. By Jody Padar The Radical CPA Go PRO for members-only access to more Jody Padar. 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. Bose makes speakers that have been dominating their space since their release—and when it comes to portable mid-size rugged speakers, the Bose New Soundlink Flex has been one of the best since its release in 2021, and is still very competitive three years later. Right now, you can get it for $119 (originally $149), the lowest price it has been according to price-tracking tools. Bose New SoundLink Flex Battery Life 12 Hours, Included Components USB-C, Is Waterproof True, Item Weight 1.2 Pounds. $113.00 at Amazon /images/amazon-prime.svg $149.00 Save $36.00 Get Deal Get Deal $113.00 at Amazon /images/amazon-prime.svg $149.00 Save $36.00 The Bose New SoundLink Flex is the middle sibling between the oldest (but smallest) Bose SoundLink Micro, and the youngest (but biggest) Bose SoundLink Max. The Flex also strikes a good middle ground between them as far as portability and sound, making it the best portable speaker for most people. The Flex has an IP67 rating, which means you get complete water and dust-proof protection. The speaker even floats in the water, so you can bring it with you in the pool. While it doesn't have full EQ customization in its companion app, the sound it offers is clear with rich bass depth and clear highs out of the box, according to PCMag's review. It also has a speakerphone, so you can take calls with it and even speak to it, thanks to its microphone. Although it's older, it comes with a USB-C charger, so it will charge quickly. At 3.6 by 7.9 by 2.1 inches (HWD) and 1.3-pound, it is light and portable. The Bluetooth 4.2 supports SBC codec, but not AAC or AptX, so it is more suitable for Android users than for Apple users, but either works. The SoundLink Flex is perfect for those who want to take their speaker with them anywhere, thanks to its small size and light weight. And for the price, it offers some of the best audio available. View the full article

But don't try comparing IRS.gov web traffic. By Beth Bellor Go PRO for members-only access to more Beth Bellor. View the full article

But don't try comparing IRS.gov web traffic. By Beth Bellor Go PRO for members-only access to more Beth Bellor. View the full article

Do you appreciate what you have? By Ed Mendlowitz Tax Season Opportunity Guide Go PRO for members-only access to more Edward Mendlowitz. View the full article

Do you appreciate what you have? By Ed Mendlowitz Tax Season Opportunity Guide Go PRO for members-only access to more Edward Mendlowitz. View the full article

In a speech at the American Bankers Association Washington Summit Wednesday morning, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent downplayed economic risks from tariffs, floated capital reforms, and urged regulatory relief for community banks. View the full article

Italian fashion group set to announce cut price $1.38bn tie-up with Capri-owned house as soon as ThursdayView the full article

A pullback from US Treasuries sent longer-term yields surging by the most since pandemic struck in 2020, deepening losses in what's supposed to be a haven from financial turmoil and roiling markets abroad as investors sell government bonds to raise cash. View the full article

And how they can maul usView the full article

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. A reader writes: I have a question about something that happened early in my career. Obviously there’s nothing I can do to change the past, but I’m curious about whether I had options I didn’t know about due to my inexperience. Immediately out of college, I was hired to work for a religious nonprofit organization. I started by working in their after-school program and eventually moved in to a supervisor position. My manager, “Simon,” and I got along really well for a couple of years (we were close in age and I’d say I considered him a friend), but in my third year at the organization, his attitude toward me shifted drastically. I will be the first to admit that my performance really fell off at that time. I had gotten involved in an abusive relationship and was struggling to focus. I wasn’t completing tasks on time and wasn’t keeping up my relationships with my coworkers or the kids I worked with. Simon called me out on my poor performance, but would always circle the conversation around to my boyfriend, “Luke.” He made it clear that he thought I should break up with Luke. Obviously he was right about that, but he was my manager and I didn’t feel comfortable with him having input into my relationship. It was as though he wanted to be my friend but was trying to leverage his role as manager to “help” me. When my performance didn’t improve, he called me into his office and told me to have a seat. After a moment of silence he said, “I need to know if you and Luke are having sex.” I was stunned. I am a private person by nature and that’s not something I discussed even with close friends. I didn’t answer him, and so he launched into a speech about the Bible’s teachings on premarital sex (for what it’s worth, I disagree with his theological arguments on the subject, but that’s neither here nor there) and how he had made some poor decisions in that area when he was younger but now that he was married, he realized the error of his ways. I was so shocked and upset that I began to cry while he told me that if I was involved in a sexual relationship I could no longer work for the organization. He then told me, in a way that was clearly intended as comforting, “The only person who will need to know is [head of organization].” That sent me into an absolute panic attack as I imagined him telling the director of the organization that I was leaving because I wanted to have sex with my boyfriend. He took my crying as an admission of guilt and left the room, despite my never having uttered a word the entire time. I quit a few days later because I felt so embarrassed and attacked. I knew I would never feel comfortable stepping foot there again. In retrospect, I wonder if I should have done something. The denomination affiliated with the organization only has rules about celibacy for unmarried ordained clergy (and even those are not enforced). It’s a relatively progressive denomination so there isn’t an emphasis on purity culture or anything. I never signed any forms about my personal conduct outside of work. The only thing mentioned in my contract involving religion was that I must be a member of a church and that I would lead Bible study once a week. Did Simon’s actions count as sexual harassment? Is a religious nonprofit allowed to fire people for sexual activity, even if it isn’t explicitly stated anywhere? Could I have reported him without having to disclose information on my private life? WTF. There are some religious institutions that hold employees to a purity code of sorts, grounded in their religious practice. Normally federal law prohibits employers with 15 or more employees from discriminating on the basis of religious belief or practice, but organizations whose “purpose and character are primarily religious” are exempt from that law. Even then, though, they would need to apply any kind of religious purity code without violating other anti-discrimination laws — so they couldn’t, for example, apply it only to women but not to men. But based on what you said in your letter, it doesn’t sound like Simon’s edict was based on the organization’s conduct rules, as opposed to his own personal moral code. There’s no law against managers requiring employees to adhere to a personal code of conduct, as long as they apply it evenly and without discrimination. So they could decide they won’t employ anyone who has sex outside of marriage (or who wears blue on Tuesdays, or who likes Drake), but they couldn’t apply that only to women and not men. (It’s possible that a state with very strong out-of-work privacy protections, like California, might prohibit that … although I suspect you’d need a test case to know for sure.) In any case, was Simon applying this to everyone, or only to you? And was this an organization-wide policy or just Simon’s? It sounds very much like the latter. As for what you could have done, yes, you absolutely could have reported him without having to disclose information about your private life. “Simon is requiring me to quit unless I will agree not to have sex outside of marriage” is reportable on its own; you wouldn’t need to add “and that’s a problem because I’m sexually active.” If indeed this was just Simon’s personal agenda, it’s likely that someone above in him in the organization (or in HR, if they had it) would have shut this down and told him to stop talking to employees about their sex lives. But I hope knowing that doesn’t make you blame yourself for not handling it that way at the time. You were in an abusive relationship and under stress both at home and at work, and someone in a position of authority wildly overstepped a boundary with you. You’re not to blame for not navigating this differently; Simon is to blame for being an overstepping asshole. View the full article

Google Discover is coming to desktop search. Learn why it's becoming a top traffic source and how to optimize your content before the rollout. The post Google Confirms Discover Coming To Desktop Search appeared first on Search Engine Journal. View the full article

It's 2025. You've applied to 97 remote jobs, optimized your resume (you think), and still—crickets. No interviews. No replies. Just endless "We've decided to move forward with other candidates." You're not alone if you're tired of sending applications into the void. The remote job market is more competitive than ever, but the good news is that a few clever tweaks can make your application rise to the top of the pile. Here's how to stand out this year, without rewriting your entire life story. 📌 1. Use the job description as your SEO cheat sheet from Imgflip Meme Generator Hiring managers and recruiters are busy people. And whether or not they're using applicant tracking systems (ATS), they're definitely scanning for keywords. That means don't just imply you have the experience: spell it out. As Natania Malin Gazek, Principal People Strategist at NMGazek.com, puts it: It might feel obvious to you that the section of your resume that describes the work you did for a remote company indicates that you have experience as a fully remote worker. But if a job description indicates that they're looking for someone with experience working remotely, a hiring manager might be filtering for resumes that mention the word 'remote' explicitly – so make sure it's in there!So yes, go ahead and include those exact phrases from the job description. "Remote team management," "asynchronous communication," and "Zapier workflows"—if it's in the listing and applies to you, put it in writing. 💡 2. Stop pricing yourself out of interviews Salary transparency is great—but that first application isn't always the place to lead with a number. Unless the job description specifically asks for it, consider writing "N/A" or "Open to discussion" in the salary field. Why? Because: Many job boards filter candidates based on salary expectationsPutting a high number might get you eliminated before anyone sees your actual experienceNegotiation happens after you've proven you're the right fit, not before. ⬆️ 3. Refresh your resume weekly (yes, really) This one's sneaky. Many platforms—especially large job boards—surface new or recently updated resumes higher in recruiter searches. So, even small changes can give your profile a visibility boost. Career coach Katie McIntyre from CareerSprout recommends: Change SOMETHING on your resume each Sunday night. Even if it's adding a comma or changing your zip code to the next town over. This will bump you back to the top of the list.Make it a weekly habit and keep your name fresh in the stack. 🧠 4. Think like a recruiter via GIPHY Recruiters often get 100+ applicants within a few days. Once they've found a shortlist, they're unlikely to keep scrolling to page 6. That means your application has a very short window to make an impact. Make sure your resume: It is easy to skim (bullet points > dense paragraphs)Mentions relevant tools and outcomesClearly states you're seeking remote workUses plain, direct languageNo buzzwords. No fluff. Just clear, measurable wins. 🛠️ 5. Don't do this aloneRemote job hunting can feel isolating, but it doesn't have to be. Some of the best leads and insights come from community spaces: Slack groups, LinkedIn circles, industry forums, or even niche newsletters. These places offer support, accountability, and sometimes the inside scoop on roles before they're posted. 💡 Want more remote roles and a place to connect? The Remotive Accelerator is our premium job board: it unlocks access to even more remote jobs and includes membership in our private Slack community. Whether through a group, a mentor, or just a few fellow job seekers, you don't have to figure it all out solo. from Imgflip Meme Generator 🔍 Ready to find remote jobs that actually exist?Skip the endless scroll. ✅ Remotive's remote job board, filled with curated roles from companies that truly hire remotely. Updated daily. Sources:LinkedIn's 2025 Jobs on the RiseHarvard Business Review – Why You're Not Getting Interview CallsThe quotes have been slightly edited for length and clarityView the full article

The double whammy of falling bond and equity prices could partly be hedge funds unwinding so-called ‘basis trades’ View the full article

Starting your projects in the right way makes it so much easier to manage your work and your team. While it’s tempting to dive straight in and get on with your tasks, it pays to take a bit of time at the beginning to plan out your work and check that you’ve got everything you need. Set your projects up for success with this easy-to-use checklist. Work through the list and make sure you can say ‘yes’ to each item: then you’ll know you can start work confidently. But first, let’s run through some basics about project kickoff. /wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Project-kickoff-template.jpg Get your free Project Kickoff Template Use this free Project Kickoff Template for Word to manage your projects better. Download Word File What Is Project Kickoff? Project kickoff is the first official meeting held at the start of a project. It unites stakeholders such as the project team, the client or sponsor and other involved parties. The main goal of the kickoff meeting is to formally launch the project and ensure everyone is aligned on its goals, scope, roles and initial plans. Think of it as a way to build enthusiasm and commitment for the project. Why Is Project Kickoff Important? Think of a project kickoff as an investment in the project’s future. When a project kickoff is well executed, it can help set up the project for success as it sets a positive tone and encourages enthusiasm. It establishes a shared vision for the project to ensure everyone is on the same page regarding its goals and secures buy-in from all stakeholders. It also fosters collaboration, building a sense of teamwork. During the kickoff, it’s easy to clarify key aspects of the project early on. Project Kickoff Part 1: Define Your Project This first section is all about making sure that you know exactly what you have to do. Spend some time asking the right questions here and you’ll create common objectives and a clear understanding of the work involved and what you are expected to deliver at the end. /wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Gantt_Manufacturing_Wide_Zoom-175_Focus-on-Tasklist_Spreadsheet-CTA.jpg Appoint the Project Manager That’s you. See, you can tick the first one off already! Approve the business case Your company should have a process for submitting and approving business cases, also referred to as the project charter. You shouldn’t start work on a project that doesn’t have a business case approved. In some firms, that could be as informal as someone emailing you to say it’s okay to go ahead. A “business case” doesn’t have to be a lengthy and complicated document: the point of this step is to make sure that someone who knows about this stuff has said that it’s okay for you to spend your time working on this. Download a free project charter template and other templates essential for project kickoff here. Identify Project Objectives Write down what you are trying to achieve with this project. If you did have a formal business case, you can extract the objectives from there. The purpose of this step is to be clear that you know why you are working on it and what problem the project is going to solve for the company. Define Project Scope Write down everything that is going to be included in the scope of the project. Then write down anything that will not be delivered: these are your “out of scope” items. Documenting it helps everyone see what you are planning to do. If they notice anything that isn’t on the list they can tell you now, rather than waiting until you’ve practically finished to ask you to include more. Approve the Budget Check that you’ve got the money approved! And any other resources that will be required. It’s also worth asking your management team how you can get your hands on it and sorting out the process for spending it now so there isn’t a rush to ask those questions when you need to pay a supplier. Identify Initial Project Risks Risks are things that might affect your ability to complete the project to the specified brief, such as a vendor letting you down or not having resources with the right skills available when you need them. Analyze any risk that could go wrong before you start doing too much of the project work – then you can prepare your Plan B and be ready in case anything on that list does happen. Produce List of Deliverables Deliverables are what you make on the project: a new product, a training manual, a building etc. Write down what this project is making. Then you can tick them off as you finish them and you’ll be able to see how close you are to completing the whole project. Don’t start from scratch with this list – use your project scope document as a starting point. Watch this video with Jennifer Bridges to learn more about essential project kickoff documents. Project Kickoff Part 2: Build Your Team Now that you are clear about what you are doing, it’s time to work out who is going to do it. Appoint Project Sponsor This is normally your manager or another senior manager who is the project’s champion. They are probably the one who asked you to manage the project in the first place. Another one you can tick off straight away! Appoint Team Members Can you do all the work yourself? Thought not. Work out who else you need on the team and ask them to join you. You’ll need a team charter to define the team’s roles and responsibilities, and document other important information about the project. Identify Other Stakeholders There will be other people who will be affected by your project, such as customers or departments in your own company who don’t need to be on the project team but who will need to be involved or kept informed. These are your stakeholders. Make a list. Identify Suppliers You may need to draw on other experts, consultants, suppliers or third parties. Find out who you need and prepare any contracts required. Define Roles and Responsibilities Now you know who is involved and affected by the project, define everyone’s role and areas of responsibility so they are clear on what you are asking them to do. A project organization chart can be an easy way to show how the different teams will be working together. Produce Communications Plan How are you going to keep your team and stakeholders informed with progress? A communications plan doesn’t have to be complicated: a note in your diary once a month to send a status report is good enough. Arrange First Team Meeting Book a meeting with everyone. This will be your kick off meeting and it’s a good opportunity to run through each person’s role and what tasks you are doing, as well as to answer any questions. Project Kickoff Part 3: Set Up Your Tools Finally, you’ll need to think about what tools you are going to use to make it easier to keep on top of the work. When you are managing lots of different activities you’ll need some systems and processes to save you time. Select Project Management Software If you don’t already have project management software in your company, choose which tool you are going to use. You can stick with email and spreadsheets, but if you’ve got more than three people in the team you’ll soon find that becomes difficult and you need a better tool so choose one now. Don’t forget the collaborative benefits on interaction. Set Up User Accounts Give everyone user accounts for your project management software and make sure they know how to use it. Set Up Project Filing System Your project filing system can be anything from remembering to keep all your notes in one notebook to a fully-featured document management system. In reality, it’s most practical to use your project management tools to store documents related to the project so everything is in one place. Go ahead and upload those documents you created in Part 1 now. Create Task List Your project task list is the starting point for planning the work. Add the tasks to your online tools so that your project management To Do list is available wherever your team is working. Create Project Schedule Add some dates to the tasks on your list and voilà! A project schedule. Share this with your team and make sure they know which of the tasks will be their responsibility. Use this list to start each of your projects off on the right foot. When you’ve ticked off all the items you’ll be confident that everyone knows what the project is going to deliver and how you are going to get there as a team. Project Kickoff Template This project kickoff template helps you gather the elements about your project that you’d like to address with your team during a project kickoff meeting such as the project background, scope, timeline and roles and responsibilities. /wp-content/uploads/2023/09/project-kickoff-template-image-600x557.jpg Running Your Project Kickoff Meeting Now that you have a better understanding of what a project kickoff is and how to set up a checklist, consider using these helpful tips. Plan Before the Meeting: Nobody likes to waste time in an unproductive meeting. Define the purpose of the meeting and articulate exactly what you want to accomplish during it. Ensures all stakeholders have the invitation and created a detailed agenda. If any documents are needed, compile them ahead of time. Clearly Communicate the Vision and Goals: Project stakeholders will be more inspired to participate in the project kickoff when they understand the “why” behind the project. Note its strategic importance and state the project objectives and desired outcomes. Paint a picture so everyone knows what success looks like. Establish Communication Channels: How and when will communication occur throughout the project? This is a simple yet important thing to clarify during project kickoff. Will there be regular meetings, emails or specific tools used to communicate? This ties into the reporting requirements and frequency. If risks arise, be sure to have a plan on how to mitigate them. Foster Open Discussion: During the project kickoff, encourage active participation and questions from all attendees. Make sure to leave plenty of time for questions at the end of the meeting. If there are any concerns, address them thoughtfully. Follow Up After the Kickoff: When the meeting is done, the work doesn’t stop. Distribute a summary of the meeting that outlines key action items, owners and deadlines. Ensure that everyone understands their role and follow up with them as needed. You can also send a follow-up email to reiterate the project goals, key takeaways and excitement for the project. Make starting projects easy with ProjectManager. It’s the fastest way to create professional, online project workspaces. Simple team collaboration, an intuitive interface and access from anywhere make it the choice for thousands of project managers around the world. Click here to start using our software for free. The post The Only Project Kickoff Checklist You’ll Ever Need appeared first on ProjectManager. View the full article

A few weeks ago, Google promised us the 24-hour data in the Search Performance report view would soon come to the Search Console API, with a way to go back 8 days. Well, today this API access is rolling out and Google is giving us 10 days, not 8 days. What Google said. Google posted on X just now saying, “Today, we’re adding support for hourly data to the Search Analytics API; we heard ecosystem requests to make this data more accessible, loud and clear. The API will return data for up to 10 days with an hourly breakdown.” Today, we’re adding support for hourly data to the Search Analytics API; we heard ecosystem requests to make this data more accessible, loud and clear. The API will return data for up to 10 days with an hourly breakdown. — Google Search Central (@googlesearchc) April 9, 2025 Knew it was coming. Today at the Google Search Central Live event in Madrid, Google said it was coming today and here it is: Moshe from Google: the Search Console API Hourly View is being released today #sclmadrid cc @rustybrick @martinibuster pic.twitter.com/yGQ6TwoWet — Aleyda Solis (@aleyda) April 9, 2025 Google 24 hours data available via API from today, Google announced at Search Central Madrid. — Gianluca Fiorelli (@gfiorelli1) April 9, 2025 24-hour data. When Google announced this originally, Google said this “view includes data from the last available 24 hours and will appear with a delay of only a few hours.” Google added: “The ’24 hours’ view includes hourly granularity in an overtime graph, which is available in all 3 performance reports: Search results, Discover, and Google News. To show you data as soon as possible, Search Console will show data points as soon as we have any data on them, even if we haven’t completed collecting all the data for these points. We will indicate this in the UI using a dotted line.” Technical details. Google posted some examples over here that say: In order to make hourly data available in the Search Analytics API, we’re introducing 2 changes to the API request body: New ApiDimension named HOUR for you to group the response by hour. New dataState value named HOURLY_ALL, which should be used when grouping by HOUR. This will indicate that hourly data might be partial. In the following section we provide a sample API request and a sample response for reference. Export. Google added the ability to export the data in a few file formats back in January. But now you also can access the data via the API, so you can get more real-time data to your internal tools or third-party SEO tools. Why we care. Being able to access this data outside of the web interface in Google Search Console can be super helpful when trying to debug and discover new insights. Having API access lets you program your own reporting and dashboards to see this data, in almost real time, from Google Search Console. That being said, the more recent data is not always the final data that Google shows, so reviewing the data again may be important, depending on what reports you are trying to generate. Keep an eye on this data, validate it against the other exports, and see how you can use it to improve your site and content over time. Try accessing this data via the API today to see what you can do with it. View the full article