Manager Sandwich: The Middle Manager's Survival Blog

This time of year, a while back, I was the only area manager in the plant just before Christmas.  We were in the middle of a large capital project installation.  The plant was down for the holidays, except for the construction work going on in the new facility.  Earlier the same morning, the millwrights had discovered that over $15,000 in hand tools and equipment had been stolen from the mechanical shop.  There was too much equipment missing all at once to be anything but theft.  The automation technicians had recently installed some DVR video cameras throughout the new part of the plant.  These cameras were situated to allow the operators to view key parts of the process from the operating pulpit. On one of the video feeds, the senior automation tech thought that he noticed two guys moving tools out of the shop through a glimpse of the camera.  The resolution wasn't very sharp, and was even worse when the footage was blown up to see as much detail as we could.  Meanwhile, there

When it comes to presentations, there is no such thing as the old "Overhead Projector" anymore.  Just about every meeting room has a computer projector, and nobody uses clear overhead film.  Just about every presentation from a classroom to a boardroom is done with Microsoft Powerpoint.  Let's just get this straight, this rant is not anti-technology.  I only aim to point out certain things to avoid when using Powerpoint with its infinite detail capabilities when giving a presentation.  Remember, just because we can do things, doesn't mean we should. When it comes to putting every bell and whistle that Powerpoint has to offer into a presentation, just use some common sense, and have some mercy on the audience with these tips: One font at a time please.  Just because there are about a gazillion fonts available, doesn't mean you need to use the goofiest one to make your point stand out.  Use simple easy to read fonts, anything Gothic, cursive, or seemingly hand