Volunteering: A Fed's Guide to giving back during the Season of Giving

Gillian Anderson once said "Be of service. Whether you make yourself available to a friend or co-worker, or you make time every month to do volunteer work, there is nothing that harvests more of a feeling of empowerment than being of service to someone in need." Federal employees have great resilience in overcoming a variety of challenges in the federal work space to meet agency goals. Their tenacity is also used in service to others. On occasion, some feds will take time out to volunteer in their local communities throughout the year as a means of giving back.

So how does one find the time to volunteer during this holiday season when schedules are packed with so many other requirements? Check out this Fed's Guide to Volunteering during the Season of Giving.

1. Volunteer for projects that peak your interest and leverage your skills by checking out Serve.gov for opportunities near you
2. Support annual charity programs such as the Combined Federal Campaign, Special Olympics, Feds Feed Families, Toys for Tots and many others to make an impact year round
3. Consider your next team building event as a volunteer group effort
4. Encourage employees to seek out volunteer opportunities that will engage, empower and explore the world around them
5. Share employee success stories regarding volunteering in office newspapers and other employee communications
6. Nominate  extraordinary coworkers for the President's Volunteer Service Awards Program to recognize their amazing volunteer efforts
7. Donate additional leave to co-workers in need

This is Not Your Mother's Career Path: 7 Tips to develop a Credible IDP

It is the first of November, and some of us are diving into the yearly individual development plan (IDP) phase- phase two. Phase one included management's review of your of your initial drafts and now you are finalizing details on what you really want out of your career.

Everyone will try to share insight including your Mom on how to plan your professional development. This is a good opportunity to listen with "a grain of salt" and then make decisions based on your actual career goals. Not the goals that someone has suggested you follow. For example, in the no so distant past some people stayed with the same federal agency for 30 to 40 years only to retire and ride off into the sunset.

Those days for the most part are over due to a fluctuating economy, continuing resolutions, reorganized structures as well as "right-sizing" agency offices under the guise that efficiency will occur in the end. Feds, especially women can take a more proactive approach to their jobs by letting go of the perception that every job will last for lifetime as in bygone eras.
Top 7 Tips to Develop a Credible IDP:

1. Take time to identify the type of work that you are passionate about
2. Document your career progression using an IDP to map your progress for 2 to 5 years
3. Leverage new workplace skills by using business acumen books as part of your professional development
4. Seek leadership training opportunities such as the OPM Leadership Education and Development (LEAD) program
5. Draft as well as revise your IDP to ensure you achieve the desired career results
6. Share your ideas with a mentor and seek guidance on diverse training programs
7. Consider the possibly of changing careers if the one you have does not readily meet your professional and personal needs

Press Release Checklist

Business communicators and public relations professionals at one time or another develop materials for the press to communicate, inform, educate and manage crisis events. There is a canonical way to develop a "good" press release such as working with an entire team of seasoned public relations (PR) professionals and leadership to generate an accurate and consistent message. Or simply just gathering facts and dispelling rumors.

How does one create a succinct press release? Leverage tips from the checklist below.

Press Release Checklist

• Take the time to verify all facts for accuracy
  
• Work with management and identify organizational messaging goals
• Determine target audience messaging
• Depending on the situation, create readily accessible online resources for people to view and take action
• Make your message clear and concise
• Brevity is key. Too much information will lead to message overload
• Coordinate the distribution of your message to key target audiences so the data is shared in a consistent manner
• Share your communications team's contact information
• Be receptive  and responsive to media inquiries

Business Lessons I Learned from the Movie “The Intern”

During my career I’ve worked on a variety of jobs and realized that business lessons can materialize from a variety of places. For example, your mentor, manager or friends can inspire you to do great things. You can also learn from your business experience, books such as the collection of Harvard Business Review and maybe a movie or two.

I recently took a break from catching up on work over the weekend to take in a movie titled “The Intern” with some friends. While watching the movie, we saw some resounding business lessons and ended up discussing them at the end of the film. The movie stars Anne Hathaway as the founder of an e-commerce business that recently began hiring senior citizens as office interns. Robert DeNiro plays Hathaways’ office intern.

The light hearted film included everything from the complex office dynamics, teamwork, to inter-generational communications and collaboration that offered a few stark similarities to the federal workforce today.


Read more.

Build a Better Business Case in Zero to Sixty

Innovation and initiative are great talents for federal employees to exude every day. The ideas that you generate today can lead to process improvement, reduced expenses as well as improved customer service. Yet the road to develop, design and implement great ideas can be a challenging one.

The ability to create, implement and manage new concepts starts in one place- your business case. A solid business case may include a multi-tiered process that allows you to determine how to move new ideas forward so you can actually see the potential for tangible results.

Read more on GovLoop.com.

The Art of Informal Mentoring

Today's employee may seek a work life balance, solid wages and a great path forward in their chosen field. It is truly a gift to work with a group of highly trained professionals with a focus on a common goal. It also helps to identify your personal career goals so that the path forward incorporates your needs as an employee.

A great way to begin and maintain one's career goals is through the art of informal mentoring. This may occur by identifying various subject matter experts, leaders and innovators in your chosen field to talk to about how to excel at work. Their input may guide your decisions about your future and specific skills needed to advance your career.

Moreover, the great part of informal mentoring includes meeting with thought-leaders based on specific career needs instead of a dedicated schedule of meetings. Flexibility and the use of various communication and technology tools will keep you and your informal mentor connected even during hectic times at work.

Remember to keep all informal mentoring sessions confidential between you and your mentor. There is no need to share information regarding your informal mentoring sessions as it may only create animosity or challenges with peers who may perceive similar access to these types of opportunities are limited. It is helpful to share with your manager that you are meeting with an informal mentor to ensure that you meet or exceed agency expectations. It will reflect positively on your initiative and problem-solving skills.

It also helps to have more than one informal mentor so that you can gain diverse perspectives regarding everything from business communications; leadership; team work challenges; issues with managers; training and preparing for promotions. Their wisdom can help you grow professionally in the right direction. Moreover, when informal mentors share their insights with new mentees they also learn something new as well.

9 Ways to Prime and Prep your Promotion

Imagine today is the last day at your current job. You checked out the link at USAJobs and realized the offer letter is real and you have received your promotion job offer letter. It is a great feeling to know that after countless hours of resume writing, editing, and interview practicing that you can reap the rewards of your deft career efforts. Read more...