Five best practices for communication with acronyms

How often have you been presented with unfamiliar acronyms without being told what they stand for? Acronyms, can streamline communications when used effectively, but acronyms create confusion, loss of productivity, and frustration when misused. Communications effectiveness and productivity can be improved by applying and promoting best practices when using acronyms. Before getting to the 5 best practices, it's helpful to understand some of the problems created when acronyms are misunderstood:
a) Different people may have different meanings for the same acronym which leads to confusion and mistakes. The medical profession has identified misunderstood acronyms as a serious source of medical errors.
b) People may assume they know the acronym and sometimes guess what it means, but if their guess is wrong, they proceed, thinking they understand the acronym, when their understanding is incorrect or incomplete.
c) By saving a few seconds, not defining an acronym, you risk losing the meaning of your message and the attention of your audience as they wonder what the acronym means.
d) The meaning of acronyms can be diluted over time. As some acronyms become ingrained within organizations, many people who use them, don’t know their correct meaning, and misuse them compounding the loss of communication effectiveness.
e) Acronyms create barriers to effective cross-cultural communication.
f) It is difficult, if not impossible, to build an effective culture based on cooperation and trust in the absence of clear understanding.
Five best practices for communication using Acronyms:
1. The best practice when employing acronyms in speech or writing is to define the acronym when it is introduced, then to use the acronym for subsequent instances. If you are not going to repeat the acronym, then consider if you really want to use it in the first place.
2. The key to applying acronyms effectively is to identify when their use is appropriate. Acronyms expedite communication within teams who work closely together, and are familiar with their meaning. When you are certain that you are speaking to someone who knows the acronym, by all means, use it to save time. However when writing, it’s better to define your acronyms. You may be writing to a team member, but your message may be forwarded to others who are unfamiliar with your terminology.
3. If you are uncertain if some members of your audience are familiar with your terminology, it’s better to err on the conservative side and explain acronyms. Even when the audience is from the same organization, they may not understand the acronyms and terminology.
4. Develop a culture that encourages people to ask what acronyms mean when they are not familiar.
5. Maintain a central reference for company and industry specific acronyms.
Let me know if you have recommendations for improving clarity and understanding when using acronyms.
Best,
Chuck

Yahoo email outage is pushing me to GMAIL

Although there are many reasons why I continue using Yahoo mail, they seem to be doing everything to convince me that I should quit using Yahoo as my primary email source and switch over to GMAIL. Let's see how long this lasts.


Yes, my connection to Yahoo mail is still functioning - I got your pop-up message didn't I?

I guess I'll copy the contents of my message over to GMAIL

Escape from Cubicle Nation - offers more than an exit strategy for corporate employees

Pam Slim's new book Escape from Cubicle Nation From Corporate Prisoner to Thriving Entrepreneur has a lot to offer to corporate employees who aren't necessarily looking for an exit, but who are looking for ideas and practical advice on how to thrive within the corporate world. One example is the eye opening exercise Breaking the Grip of Destructive Thoughts from Byron Katie on pages 35 & 36, which provides a simple process for deconstructing doubts and turning around your point of view.
Best,
Chuck



Update: EscapeFromCubicleNation.com appears to be offline just before 10:30 am EDT - I'm sure that Pam is doing everything possible to get this resolved ASAP, but I'm sure she is not happy about this. This is the last thing anyone wants on the day of their book launch.
2nd Update: The problem appears to have been fixed by early this evening.

Too much litter on Twitter

The world is going bonkers over Twitter, and frankly, I don't get it.

Robert Rosenthal posted this awesome video clip on his Freaking marketing blog.

Twitter could be useful, but there is so much drivel, I can't see how serious professionals can find it productive. (of course, Western Union once said something like that once about the telephone - "The telephone has too many problems to be considered a serious method of communication. The invention has no value for us")

We used to say there is a lot of litter in the literature. Now we can say with confidence: there is too much litter on twitter ©

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Twitter Frenzy

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things With Demetri Martin

Political Humor
Joke of the Day

ProductCampBoston Feb 2009 Photos and Take-aways

The first ProductCampBoston was a great event today. About 100 people turned out to share information and best practices. I learned a lot. Thanks to the leading organizers Todd, Brooks and Sasha, and the presenters. Here are a few photos. I enjoyed making a lot of new contacts and look forward to continued networking & collaboration with you.


Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.


Summary of take-aways from the sessions I attended:
From Steve Johnson of Pragmatic Marketing on the Four Roles of PM:
When writing requirements - short is better. Writing requirements isn't like writing a will - you should expect be around to answer any questions that come up along the way.
You have to know and love the industry you are in to be a Product Manager.
The job of the PM is to be one of the "parents of the product." It's possible to be a single parent, but it's a lot harder when you have to do it on your own.
As a "parent of the product" our job is to "get the child ready to leave and rarely return." In other words, the PM is supposed to give Development, Sales, and Marcom enough information so they can answer their own questions.

From Bob Levy (Former BPMA President) on Requirements Management Best Practices:
Resource material on managing relationships and building trust:
Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High
Crucial Confrontations: Tools for talking about broken promises, violated expectations, and bad behavior

Contributors to Cognitive Distortion - (not seeing reality - or different people seeing reality differently)
The telephone game: messages get distorted when passed from one person to the next.
Over generalization: everyone does it. (duh!)
Recency effect: placing heavier reliance on recent information.
Observer expectancy: unconscious manipulation of results based on expectations.
Confirmation bias: trying to prove a point.
Status quo: resistance to change
Group think: going along
Projection bias: assuming that other share our own preferences.

Bob presented a systematic methodology for capturing, ranking and reviewing and maintaining requirements in three levels:
green: these are believable, attainable, committed requirements and should should include a description of the market problem, target customer, how it fits with the strategy, revenue estimate, co-requisites, political factors, win-loss history, development estimate.
yellow: these are unfunded stretch goals and should include a use case or scenario, ROI estimate, development effort/time SWAG.
red: future requirements, recommended only with additional investment, don't spend a lot of effort describing these because they aren't likely but should include a target customer.

Steve Haines of Sequent Marketing on Innovation;
Innovation is part of a strategy that enables taking chances while managing risks, focusing on the best return on investment, diversification through resource allocation.

Innovation requires
o Culture of ongoing investment in improvement
o Leadership nurturing an innovative environment
o Attitude mindset for managers and teams
o Process - integrated in new product development

Alyssa Dver of Mint Green Marketing: Seven Habits of Highly Successful PMs
1. PM's must know their products and their own limitations (clarified thanks to comment from Todd)
2. Listen first: start by asking, "tell me what you do."
3. Ask "why?", not "what?" Why to you need the product and how are you going to use it?
4. Decisive - based on market data - PM's make decisions with confidence when they have market data to back up their decisions.
5. Responsive: if people ask for information, if you can't respond right away, let them know when to expect a response.
6. Communicate concretely, frequently and concisely
7. Manage passion - you must be passionate, but not emotional better to be composed and display conviction based on concrete data than rely on emotional persuasion.

In summary an outstanding PM is:
A humble leader, careful, artful communicator and an avid student.

I asked Alyssa if she would add being organized and analytical as attributes of a PM, and she said yes, you need those skills, to perform at even a minimal level of competence, but they are not sufficient to make a PM outstanding.

Another recommended book: Portfolio Management for New Products - (thanks Cory!)

Thanks again to the presenters and participants for sharing their ideas and experience, and to the sponsors for making the day possible.

Closing note: One of my final activities at the end of my 2008 term as Director of Program Planning for BPMA was to champion approval for BPMA's co-sponsorship of this event. It took quite a bit of effort to establish consensus within the board on a package of financial and marketing resource support for ProductCamp. Helping to make this day happen ranks among my most satisfying experiences as a member of the BPMA Board. Thanks especially to my former fellow BPMA board members who supported PCampBoston.

US Airways Flight 1549 - Ordinary People, Extraordinary Heroes

I'm compelled to express my admiration and appreciation for the genuine heroism demonstrated by the captain, crew, passengers, and both the professional and volunteer first responders who averted a huge potential tragedy when US Airways Flight 1549 ditched in the icy Hudson River this week. Our society tends to idolize celebrities who attain their fame for dubious reasons. This event has captured the nation's attention because a group of ordinary people created a true life miracle by averting panic and cooperating under leadership of a few extraordinary individuals preserving the lives of all on board through this harrowing ordeal.

The pilot, Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger III, is receiving well deserved recognition for his skill in landing the plane safely on the Hudson after loosing power. US Airways identified the the first officer as Jeffrey Skiles, and the three flight attendants; Donna Dent, Doreen Welsh and Sheila Dail, who quickly evacuated passengers, and preserved calm through their rescue.

A bulletin to members of the US Airline Pilots Association, said said Capt. Sullenberger personally accounted for all the passengers and remained on the sinking aircraft until he was sure the plane was empty.

"The fact that 155 people walked away from a very dangerous situation is a testament to the skill and professionalism of the entire flight crew."

The Association of Flight Attendants union, which represents the cabin crew members at US Airways, commended the three attendants for safely and quickly evacuating the passengers in the emergency landing. "Their years of experience and training made all the difference once the aircraft was in the water."

Ferry operators arrived on the scene within minutes and started the rescue. They were joined moments later by NYC emergency personnel.

The heroic efforts of this rescue undoubtedly benefited from good fortune, or as people of faith (including myself) say, "miraculous Divine intervention". I was touched by the "cartoon" published on the editorial page of the Providence Journal today reproducing the now famous AP photograph by Steven Day, showing the plane floating on the Hudson while passengers lined up, waiting for rescue on the wings and evacuation rafts. The illustrator added God's hands providing support from below the waters. I don't know the artist's name, but the drawing conveys a very powerful message.

Keep Warm,

Adobe Reader 9: how to turn off updates

As part of my annual home PC clean-up, I upgraded to a 320 Gb drive and started from a fresh OS install to clear up all of the junk that slows things down. I was really tickled that the old machine was practically jumping off the desk after I installed Windows XP, MS Office, and my video editing software, but when I re-installed Adobe Reader 7.0, the performance fell off a cliff. I hadn't realized that Adobe Reader 7.0 was checking the web for updates every time it started causing my machine to become unresponsive whenever it opened.

I did a little reading on the web and didn't find an easy way to turn off the updates. After seeing a few helpful notes on various forums, (this tweak in particular stands out) I saw some favorable feedback on 9.0, although there are still complaints about bloat. Adobe added the ability to update preferences in Reader 9.0, which didn't exist in Reader 7, so I decided to give 9 a try. To disable updates, click edit, preferences, general, then remove the check mark from "Check for Updates" under Application start up. With automatic updates disabled, you can still Check for Updates manually by clicking on the Help menu. Here is a composite screenshot showing the setting to disable updates for anyone who needs a clear picture.

I'm very pleased with the result (I also disabled Adobe Java Script as recommended in the above tweak link above. (click: edit, preferences, javascript, remove check mark, click OK.)

PS. After the original post, I learned the same preference is also in Adobe Reader 8.

Happy New Year,

Chuck