Interview 17: Anita Bruzzese on 45 Things

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A Woman Who Knows Your Boss

I met Anita Bruzzese via email quite a few weeks ago. Then about two weeks before SOBCon, we had a wonderful conversation via telephone about her book and her job as a nationally syndicated workplace columnist for Gannett News Service and USAToday.com. Anita has been writing her column for about 15 years, with a readership of more than 8 million. She also blogs at AnitaBruzzese.com. Recently, she wrote her second book, 45 Things You Do That Drive Your Boss Crazy–And How to Avoid Them published by Perigee.

Anita, how did you get started writing about workplace issues?

I had been the managing editor of a magazine on employee benefits, and that exposed me to a lot of workplace issues. Then, when I had my first child, I decided to start freelancing from home and looked into writing about the workplace for a general interest audience. It was interesting because when I first proposed it to several newspaper syndicates they werenâ€™t interested, saying that they already had finance columns. They just didnâ€™t get it. The workplace had changed and people needed information to manage their own careers. It wasnâ€™t just about money â€“ it was about the problems with co-workers and bosses and the strategies people needed to get a raise or get a promotion.

I had worked for USA Today, so the company that owns it, Gannett, knew me and decided to begin distributing the column nationwide. I sort of held my breath the first week, not knowing what the reaction would be. Then, the mail started coming in, and I knew that I was on the right track. All these people were writing me saying, â€œI thought I was the only one going through this at work..â€ They now felt they had someone (me) out there helping them.

In that respect, it really was like blogging. I wrote about an issue, and people just jumped on it, responding with situations they were going through, looking for more information. I spent a lot of time in those early years responding to reader letters â€“ that was before the Internet and e-mail, and people didnâ€™t have any idea where to go for more resources. Now, with blogging, you get that instant community and that instant access to information.

Your book certainly has an interesting title. How is it different from the other career books out there?

Iâ€™m a journalist. That means Iâ€™m not promoting a specific product or method that will get you ahead at work. Iâ€™ve always said thereâ€™s no holy grail of workplace advice, and I am constantly looking for sources of information that will help people at work. To me, information is power. If I give that information to readers, then Iâ€™ve given them the keys to their own success.

At the same time, I kept getting these letters from readers that showed me they werenâ€™t always getting it. They were making the same mistakes over and over, so that got me to thinking that perhaps I needed to not only put all this information in one place, but I needed to tell them WHY the boss cared whether they talked on their personal cell phone too much, gossiped or failed to write things down. It was, simply, the stuff that was driving bosses crazy.

So, why does the boss care?

Itâ€™s pretty simple, really. He or she cares because what you do affects his or her job. Itâ€™s always about the bottom line. Anything you do that adversely affects the bossâ€™s ability to get ahead, to look good in front of his boss or to contribute to the companyâ€™s bottom line is going to get you on the bossâ€™s radar screen in a bad way. And thatâ€™s something you want to avoid, because once he or she notices something youâ€™re doing wrong â€“ like wearing the wrong thing to work â€“ then the boss says, â€œHmmmâ€¦What else is this person doing wrong?â€ And then the boss starts watching you closely to catch you screwing up something else. Thatâ€™s never a good thing.

What are some of the most common mistakes people make at work?

I think the most common errors people make have to do with communication. Despite having technology at our fingertips, sometimes it gets in the way of common sense. Donâ€™t put anything in an e-mail at work that you wouldnâ€™t mind 12 lawyers seeing. Donâ€™t blog nasty things about your company or your boss. Donâ€™t gossip because itâ€™s demoralizing and immature. Make sure you know how your boss best likes to be communicated with and how often. Itâ€™s also a good idea to keep your language clean and your jokes cleaner, because co-workers who get offended can end up complaining about you to the boss.

Any final thoughts?

I think a lot of people feel trapped in their jobs. They find themselves in these difficult situations, and they donâ€™t think they have any power to do anything about it. Iâ€™d never be comfortable thinking Iâ€™ve got all the answers, so thatâ€™s why I try to continually interview other people and offer readers the best information out there. I tell people not to get discouraged â€“ there are so many people out there willing to offer good advice and help, and you really do have the power to make your career what you want it to be.

Thanks, Anita. It’s always fun talking to you. Your book would have served me well — both when I was a boss and when I had one. It’s a pleasure to see that you have put this information where real people can use it.

Good luck on your May 27th appearance on the Today Show!!

–ME “Liz” Strauss

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5 Things to Consider Before Starting a Totally New Project

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Never Been There, Never Done That

The first . . . the first time we do anything from talk to walk to write our name, it’s a challenge. Hopefully, we bring to it the skillset that put us smack dab in the middle between the easy (bored) and difficult (anxious). Then we’ll be in flow, in the zone, moving forward through time and space without sefl-consciousness.

Even so, it helps to keep a few things in mind when we do something we’ve never done before.

5 Things to Consider Before Doing Something Totally New

Whenever I take a new task, yes there are still a few, I try to remind myself that I should look for what might be hiding inside the project.

Everything is easier than it looks.

Everything takes longer than I think it will.

Planning the path at the beginning is worth every agonizing minute. No matter how much I want to run.

Every project that I’ve never done holds a problem I’ve not foreseen, a decision I’ve never faced, a crisis that is totally new as well.

It’s always better to consult the experienced folks before the problems start.

I know. I’m putting this one on my wall too. I would have told you the stories, but there are too many. Why don’t you tell me yours instead?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Check out the Work with Liz!! page in the sidebar.

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Business Rule 11: Apples and Oranges

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A List Is a List

Betsy, a second-year editor was working a series of Dinosaur books. The books were for second graders. Thatâ€™s when kids get crazy for dinosaurs. So, the details had to be precise. Second graders know dinosaurs better than their teachers do.

The schedule was pushed tight. To kick up the pitch one more notch. When the books were done, we’d be using them to build online and CD-Rom products. Those new products relied on the books being complete on time. To raise the bar exponentially, we were working with a developer, that added time in transport and in communication.

At one point Betsy came to me, requesting help. She was a planner and a good project manager. She could see that with only one of her that the schedule was in jeopardy. We looked over the remaining tasks to see what parts she might delegate. A time-consuming and discrete part was writing the art specs.

Another editor, Susannah — of “Oh Susannah” fame — loved anything science. Her husband also taught at the university. One of us suggested that Susannah might write the art specs for the dinosaur books. We discussed the pros and cons of the idea.

â€œSusannah likes to go deep on everything,â€ I said. â€œYouâ€™ll have to manage her time, or each art spec will end up a book-long narrative.â€

Betsy explained to Suzannah the time frame and the help that was needed. She asked Susannah for the specs as two lists for each book page -â€“ a list of the animals and a list of the plants -â€“ with references where possible. She encouraged Susannah to collaborate with the professor of paleobotany that Susannah was friends with, telling her we would pay him a stipend. The two editors agreed on a date when the first specs were due.

Betsy concentrated on the books in progress, while Susannah prepared the next art specs so that they would be ready when the artists were.

When the first art specs were delivered, Betsy brought them to me. She plopped in my visitorâ€™s chair and bemoaned what she saw.

â€œI told her a list,â€ was all that she said, as she handed me three single-spaced, covered pages of text.

I looked at them. I looked at Betsy. I looked at the pages again. I thought for a minute about Betsyâ€™s fine communications skills, and then I said what had to be true.

â€œThis must be Susannahâ€™s definition of a list.â€ We talked a bit. Then I sent Betsy back to artfully find out if Susannah had her own idea of what a list was.

Yep.

We use the same words, but donâ€™t be surprised when they mean different things.

I donâ€™t know why Suzannah thought what she wrote was a list. I donâ€™t know who taught her that nor did I try to find out. I only know that this same kind of thing happens frequently, and itâ€™s easily avoided by defining terms before people start work.

Five minutes of showing an art spec list already completed might have saved a bunch of time and some exhausted feelings. I wish I’d thought of suggesting that then.

Of course, some business lessons you just have to learn. And if you’re me, you have to learn them over and over, and over, and over again.

–Me “Liz” Strauss
Check out the Work with Liz!! page in the sidebar.

SOBCON 07
Starts this FRIDAY!!

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Business Rule 10: Is Their Urgency Real?

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Set Your Urgency Level on Facts

My title was Director of Project Managment. My job was to make sure that the clientâ€™s needs were met as product was built. I was also responsible for strategy, budget, schedule, and all project issues.

My production manager was a bit of a pain. He was young. He was focused on personal recognition. He wanted to be KING.
I was no piece of cake either. I was young. I had no aspirations for territory, but I was focused on being SUPER MANAGER, DOER OF THE IMPOSSIBLE.

One day the production manager, Larry, stopped by my office. He said that he needed a particular something by 2 p.m. tomorrow, because it was due to the printer. I had about 800,972 other priorities that were equally urgent, but being SUPER MANAGER, DOER OF THE IMPOSSIBLE, I agreed to the deadline. I could find a few minutes between 2 and 3 a.m. when I might fit in reviewing it. Then I would have to send it over to be corrected and proofed. Then I would get it back again in time to check it before I handed it off to Larry. It could be done, but it would take keeping a close eye on.

I made it happen. In fact, I got it to Larryâ€™s desk at 1p.m. He wasnâ€™t there. I asked the woman at the next desk when Larry was due back from lunch. She said, â€œOh, he left at 11 and heâ€™s not coming back until Monday. Heâ€™s on vacationâ€“extra long weekend. Didnâ€™t he tell you?â€

I couldnâ€™t believe it! He told me he desparately needed it by 2p.m., and then he was gone!. In that split second, I made my mind up never to blindly buy into someone elseâ€™s sense of urgency again.

What to Do When Someone Is Urgent

These days when someone says, â€œI need this by . . . ,â€ I follow a set 3-step routine.

I pick up a pencil and prepare to write.

Then I ask, â€œWhen will you actually be able to work on this again?â€ That always makes the person stop to consider the date Iâ€™ve just been given. The usual response is something like, â€œWell, now that you mention it, . . .â€

At the point a new date is offered, I write down that date, the project, and the person’s name in very large handwriting, so the person sees me doing it. No words are necessary.

Just three simple steps help me find where to place my own sense of urgency so that I know when I’m urgent I am urgently moving things that will keep on moving.

I don’t get frustrated anymore by a false sense of urgency. Oh yeah and I gave up trying to be SUPER MANAGER, DOER OF THE IMPOSSIBLE in favor of trying to be MANAGER WITH A HEART WHO BELIEVES IN QUALITY a year or two after that.

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Check out the Work with Liz!! page in the sidebar.

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SOBCon 07: Prizes and Gifts from Generous Folks

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Fabulous Books and a Blog Design for Attendee Gifts

Wonderful people have arranged to be sending books and a special prize for attendees at SOBCon. I want to personally thank them for their generosity.

Prizes

Thank you to these generous folks who have offered at their own cost to donate these prizes to attendees at this years’s SOBCon event in Chicago on May 11-12.

The Blog Studio

Peter Flaschner, Creative Dictator, of The Blog Studio has come forward to present an offer of a $2,000 blog design as a door prize. Here’s a sample of what they’ve done in the last year. Click the design to visit their gallery.

Lisa Haneberg

Lisa has donated multiple copies of her book, Two Weeks to a Breakthrough: How to Zoom Toward Your Goal in 14 Days or Less, and pens to go along with the book. Using Lisa Hanebergâ€™s proven process will help you move beyond your fears and bad habits and help you make significant breakthroughs, even amid the overwhelming clutter of everyday life. Two Weeks to a Breakthrough uses both repetition and the gradual introduction of new techniques to increase your ability to discover and manifest new possibilities. Through a combination of step-by-step instructions, examples, exercises, and illustrations, you will learn how to clarify your goals, take steps to break through both internal and external obstacles, and discover how to transform your career and personal life into exactly what youâ€™ve always wanted. from the Amazon review

Ted Demopoulos

Ted has generously provided a pile of his book Secrets of Successful Blogging to the conference. This popular tome is has had rave reviews from everyone who has had a chance to use it. Amazon says: 101+ tips for blogging more efficiently, effectively, and profitably, gleamed from interviewing hundreds of people who concretely benefit from the blogosphere. from the Amazon review

And Gift Books Too!

Tim Johnson

Tim is bringing his hot-off-the-presses, new book, Gust: The “Tale” Wind of Office Politics. Office politics are a fact of life in every company, but no one has ever told us how to use them to our advantage until now. Timothy Johnson has written a compelling, entertaining and deeply practical guide to navigating through the often-treacherous winds of office dynamics. You can t avoid company politics any more than you can dodge air molecules, so you may as well learn how to thrive in the midst of it. This wonderful book will show you how. –Steve Farber, Author, The Radical Leap: A Personal Lesson in Extreme Leadership and The Radical Edge: Stoke Your Business, Amp Your Life and Change the World

Rumor has it that

Rumor has it that the famous Lorelle, that’s right Lorelle VanFossen of Lorelle on WordPress and The Blog Herald, will not only be at SOBCon, but will also introduce her brand new book for bloggers and will be providing a copy to every attendee courtesy of The Blog Herald, a SOBCon 07 Sponsor. Until then, the book title and contents are a secret.

Thank you to all of these generous people. Aren’t they great? If you see one, please say I told you what a big deal we all think their support is.

–ME “Liz” Strauss
SOBCon 07 — Be part of the most interactive and attendee-focused experience in blogging history.

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