Recently I finished going through Evaluating Performance (pictured on the left) and Communicating Effectively - both of which I found at my public library. Just like the books I read before (Motivating Employees and Managing People) the content in these two books is not rocker science, and it is not meant to be read quickly from cover to cover. Rather, it is meant to be used as a guide and to be consulted every now and then.

I found both books to be a great resource. Evaluating performance was something that was covered in my Human Resources class, but it was never something that we went extensively into. A lot of effort in the evaluation of performance is about communication - it's not just enough to fill out a piece of paper once a year to give (or deny) someone an annual merit raise - it's important to communicate with your employees in order to gauge what is happening, and to be able to steer the ship in the right course (if it isn't already).

The book on communicating effectively is a great companion to the evaluating performance. I have written (and co-written) a lot of papers during my management curriculum, and I have had many presentations. However, I never took a course on business communications. I found this particular book to be a good guide on business communications from the humble (but yet so hated) memo, to the more elaborate business report. There was also a section in the book on oral communication, which I found helpful as well.

I have a couple more of these books to read, but thus far, it seems to me that this series on best practices is quite a useful thing to have and consult if you are a manager or aspiring to be one.

Tags: management, work, evaluation, books, communication

It only took two fires to ravage the Peloponnese peninsula in Greece, according to today's TA NEA newspaper.

Tags: Greece, fire, unbelievable

Silent protest in Athens' main square, and in other main town squares across Greece today. Silently protesting the government's inability to take control of the situation, to save lives, property and the Dignity of the Greek nation.

Tags: Greece, fire, protest, Silent

Here is an image of Greece from space. Pictured are some some of the fires that are currently burning up the country.
I can't really describe the anger, and sadness, that this situation makes me feel. Whole villages have been burned off the map, people are losing their lives, property, livelihoods and precious forrest land. 150 fires started in three days, and it's suspected that all this is due to arson. Honestly, I don't know wtf is wrong with people. This year happens to be an election year, and you know that politicians will use this for political gain - I hope they don't, but I suspect they will.

Tags: Greece, fire, arson, images, space

Recently I've been playing Syphon Filter Dark Mirror for the Sony PSP. I've been wanting to play this game for quite some time, but only got it recently when it became part of the 'best hits' collection and thus the price dropped to a more affordable (in my mind) price of $20. In the game you play agent Gabe Logan (for the most part anyway) in his quest to root out some terrorist cell and stop their evil plot of causing great harm to the world (in other words it's sort of like Metal Gear Solid, James Bond, and Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell).

I played through the game in Easy mode, and now I am in the process of playing through it in Hard mode. The story is quite interesting, and it doesn't get boring (at least I did not get bored), and the game was fulfilling enough to evoke yearnings of a sequel. I think for $20, this game is well worth the price, and if you don't mind buying used (or renting), I think it's well worth giving it a try. Of course, hard core games have probably already played this game, and I am just convincing the laggards (like myself) who wait for a game to go on the reduced pricing bin before they buy it. Playing through the game in normal or hard modes unlocks extra stages to play (which I guess complete the syphon filter story). The first one is Narbonne (a city in the south of France). This was a rather short stage. Having vacationed in Narbonne a few years ago, I was expecting to go around and explore some of the city and see if the game version was as I remembered the real version to be, however this was not the case. All things considered, I liked this game.

Tags: PSP, video games, espionage, entertainment

A couple of weeks ago I was at my local public library and I was browsing through the new books that had come in. Two books stood out, both by Barry Silverstein. One was Best Practices: Motivating Employees: Bringing Out the Best in Your People (Best Practices)(pictured on the left) and the other was Best Practices: Managing People: Secrets to Leading for New Managers (Best Practices). These books are pocket sized books, so since they were 'light reading' I picked both of them up and checked them out. Anyone who's been through an MBA curriculum (at least one as rigorous as I have been through) will not necessarily find something really groundbreaking in these two books.

The thing I liked about these two books was that they both were good summaries of what I had learned, and they both offered a convenient place for Do's and Don't's, as well as some red flags to look out for (just to prevent things from going south). The books were a really fast read, however I don't think that this is the kind of book that you pick up, read and then put it back on the shelf. I do believe that this is the kind of book that you pull out for a quick reference when you need some help in these two areas. I would say that these books are akin to the in a nutshell series of books that are written on technical subjects.

Tags: management, work, motivation, books