Keeping It Cool

Keeping It Cool Keeping It Cool Keeping It CoolLooking up into the sky can remind us of some of humanitys greatest achievements. The moon landing is one. And though you may need a telescope to see it, the planet Mars reminds us of the next possible frontier in space. But our universe kompetenzprofilly offers us so much more without ever leaving the ground. That we havent taken more advantage of that medium-sized star in the center of our solar system surprises Shanhui Fan, professor of electrical engineering at Stanford University.The universe presents an enormous thermodynamic resource and there doesnt seem to be a large amount of work that looks into it and tries to explore it, he says. Weve known for a long time about what the universe can do and yet its been this way.According to Fan, the solar industry is an incredibly fast-growing industry and the advantage of solar cells can be utilized to a much greater degree. But even though the sun is involved, the strange thing about thes e cells is that greater efficiency can actually be achieved by keeping the cells cooled, something that is not such an easy task.You would think Fans team of researchers opted to work on the roof of the electrical engineering building just to get closer to the sun, but it was actually chosen for its construction flat and smooth, just like they needed to put their work to the test. They put silicon material over a solar absorber, which Fan says has a similar makeup to a solar cell, and waited to see if cooling would take effect.behauptung two solar absorbing structures may look the same, but the one on the right has a cooling layer on top. Image Prof. Shanhui Fan / Stanford.It was within minutes that we saw the cooling effect but the experiment ran for several hours where we had the structure on the roof and recorded the temperature of the structure, he says. We found it had a temperature of about 13 degrees Celsius, which is truly much cooler relatively speaking when compared to the structure without the layer on top of it. This is not a solar cell experiment, but if one can lower the temperature of a cell by even 10 degrees Celsius then that would translate into an efficiency enhancement of perhaps more than one percentage point. That would be very significant, and it could save a great deal of money, especially when you consider solar is a billion-dollar industry.The absorber was partly inspired by an earlier radiated cooling project of which Fan was a participant.When you look at a practical solar cell, every layer serves a number of different purposes, he says. The overlayer typically is used for protection purposes and what we point out in our work is, its inefficient to do protection. For the functionality for these overlayers, a longer term challenge is designing overlayers for cooling purposes but also to be able to preserve all the other functionality for these overlayers.The potential applications for their work are numerous, he says. Were talking ab out a category we call lower preserving cooling, he says. An absorption property of a given object, for example. Think of color and solar and the effect on temperature. For example, lets say you have a red automobile, which means it absorbs a certain amount of sunlight. But you want it as cold as possible under the sun. This work may help that. Again, the universe is offering up answers, we just have to take advantage of it.Eric Butterman is an independent writer.Learn about the latest energy solutions at ASMEsPower Energy Conference and Exhibition. For Further Discussion The universe is offering up answers, we just have to take advantage of it.Prof. Shanhui Fan, Stanford University

5Â Steps to Improving Engagement in Meetings

5Steps to Improving Engagement in Meetings 5Steps to Improving Engagement in Meetings The interview for that new job youre hoping to get. The coffee date with your personal hero and, hopefully, future mentor. The make-or-break sales demo with that perfect-fit client. The last-ditch attempt to mend a broken partnership.When everyone in the room understands whats at stake, engagement is automatic. We dont worry about engagement in these situations. Instead, we focus on success. When you are clear about why your group needs to meet and what you want to accomplish together, engagement is natural.Sadly, many meetings lack this clarity.The good news Every meeting can be as focused, compelling, and engaging as the high-stakes meetings listed above when you follow these five steps 1. Define What You Want People to ContributeGet clear about what you want to help each person actively do or say during the meeting. Engagement involves mora than simply paying attention Active engagement results in observable behavior.It helps to visualize the meeting in advance and think through everyone invited. Picture in your mind what each person will do in your best-case scenario. Thats the engagement you want.If you picture someone just listening quietly, they probably dont belong at your meeting. Of the 16 types of meetings businesses run, only two (training and broadcasts) expect a passive audience. The rest of our business meetings are leid spectator sports only active players belong in the game. 2. Ask for EngagementDo you want written feedback? Verbal input in a go-around? A show of hands? Get specific and provide examples.This seems obvious, and thats actually the problem. To the person leading the meeting, its obvious how things should play out, because they have thought about it in advance. Meeting leaders frequently forget to fill everyone else in, though. They dont give people advance notice about how to prepare for the meeting, and they dont ask clear questions during the meeting. Then, they get frustrated when no one participates.Remember You must explicitly ask for engagement to get engagement. 3. Make Space for People to EngageMake koranvers you have enough meeting time for engagement. For example, to get feedback from 10 people with each speaking for just two minutes, you need 20 minutes.Many leaders prefer meetings with five or fewer people precisely because its far easier to make sure everyone has a chance to contribute in a small group. We cant keep all meetings tiny, though. With more people involved, you have three options- Make the meeting longer so everyone has time to speak.- Break out some facilitation skills. There are great ways to engage large groups, all of which require advance planning and some know-how to pull off.- Accept that youre going to basically ignore some of the people in the meeting.This last option is the default choice in most corporations. Its also a lousy way to treat people. 4. Acknowledge ContributionsAt the very least, people who make a contribution to the meeting deserve thanks.For many individuals, speaking up in a group means taking a personal risk. Some people are shy, and some environments are hostile. Whether the risk arises from internal or external factors, it still takes courage and effort to overcome. When this contribution is then glossed over, when its dismissed, or when you havent made time for it, people learn that the risk was not worth the effort.Many high-performing teams make a point of reserving time at the end of each meeting for sharing appreciations, where individuals publicly thank one another for specific contributions. This is a fabulous way to acknowledge the value people bring, improve team relationships, and reinforce the benefits of contributing for those who might be reluctant to speak up. 5. Use What You ReceiveMost importantly, make sure contributions made during the meeting impact what happens after the meeting. With our high-stakes meetings, this is a no-br ainer. Can you imagine a salesperson failing to send over a contract after a successful demo? Hardly. In these cases, we know that the decisions we make in the meeting will result in action after the meeting.That shouldnt be different for other meetings - and yet, it often it is.For example, strategic planning workshops are notorious for creating a significant outcome that never gets used, and not because they fail to engage participants. Its possible to run a fabulously engaging workshop to build out your companys strategic plan, only to then have that plan sit on the shelf for a year.When it comes to engagement, the rule is use it or lose it. Clever facilitation tricks cant get people engaged if they learnengagement doesnt matter. When people see theyve made a difference, however, theyll contribute again.- Every meeting presents an opportunity for engagement and the creation of new value. For some meetings, this opportunity is obvious. For others, we have work to do. When you fol low the five simple steps outlined above, youve got a great shot at transforming every meeting into one worth your teams investment.J. Elise Keith is the cofounder of Lucid Meetings and the author of Where the Action Is The Meetings That Make or Break Your Organization. Connect with her on Twitter EliseID8.

Avoid family fights about work and money using HR tricks

Avoid family fights about work and money using HR tricksAvoid family fights about work and money using HR tricksMy family is being strategically restructured. No one is getting laid-off (thank goodness), but the organizational chart is definitely changing. You see, my wife, who has been a stay-at-home-mom for the past five years, will be returning to work full-time as our youngest matriculate into elementary school. The shift is as dramatic for our family as it would be for a company experiencing a shake-up in management. Were all facing new and unfamiliar roles - the kids included. Interdepartemental disagreements are inevitable.Having lived through a restructuring or two in corporate America, I know how rocky things can get when expectations shift and Im hoping to keep ahead of conflicts and schwimmbad feelings. To do that we need a plan. What kind of plan? Im leid sure. But I do know one thing good marriages are predicated on top-notch communication and a fair distribution of lab or. Anything else leads to resentment, pain, and nights spent sleeping on the couch. Families, like businesses, fall into disarray unless someone is doing the hard work of management. Fights are a product of procrastination.The good nachrichtensendung for my wife and I is that we can get ahead of the situation and start out on the right foot. Like any good business, we could use someone to help with team-building, conflict resolution, and morale. But Id rather not press my family into trust falls off the playroom couch (the kids arent nearly strong enough to catch me). Instead, I decided to outsource my family human resources to a therapist. Thats why I called up licensed psychotherapist and relationship specialist Terry Klee, who told me the biggest boon to family morale is not to avoid the inevitable conflict, but to boost recognition.You both agreed on a scenario and its going to bring up difficult feelings in each of you and thats the definition of conflict, Klee tells me, befor e reassuring me that conflict avoidance is a pretty universal trait. Each of us as people are not comfortable with conflict. That is human nature. Our brains are wired to avoid difficult situations otherwise wed be extinct. Approaching a saber-toothed tiger is a conflict.But my wife is not a saber-toothed tiger. herbei feelings are not an actual danger to me despite how her eyes darken when she is feeling pissed. Im not a tiger either, but that doesnt keep my wife from avoiding conflict with me too. In other stimmts, this evolutionary prerogative, while helpful in making us feel normal, does little to help in actual circumstances in conflict, which are imminent. So whats to be done?What we have to do is learn to tolerate when our partner has a bad day, Klee explains. Because when a partner expresses feelings of being overburdened it can trigger feelings of guilt, shame, and inadequacy. That can lead to retorts, quibbling, and fights.The shift is when someone wants the space to say t hey really dislike something, the other partner has to try really hard not to be defensive, Klee says. They have to agree and accept and validate Yes, I can see how hard this is, thank you. Avoiding a defensive attitude is key to solving conflicts in the business too. Because the fact is there will be times where the problem we face requires mora than validation. It will require action. In those cases, I can look for guidance on how problems are solved in the boardroom. In those circumstances, active listening is key. Its part of focusing on the problem - What I hear you saying is There is also a huge premium for respect and calm, and very little room for accusation and blame. The problem at hand is the focus and nobody can tackle a problem when theyre angry. But most importantly, the best business people understand conflict as a potential for growth. That mindset allows for a crucial reframing of the issue. If my wife and I see conflicts as an opportunity to shake something loos e and keep growing? So much the better.Of course, that wont stop me from thanking her for her hard work. Thats super important too. Any manager knows that. Its not so different than businesses that lean into employee of the month or offer shout-outs during a staff meeting. And while I cant give my wife the best parking spot, or a plaque, I can let her know that I appreciate what shes doing to increase the families earning potential.This is particularly important as my wife heads back to work. I am acutely aware that working mothers are regularly saddled with more household duties than men. In fact, according to a 2015 survey from the Pew Research Center, working moms in two-income households are twice as likely to report being responsible for more household chores than fathers. Its not just a perception either. Studies routinely show that when mothers are employed demands at home do not decrease proportionately with the increase in paid labor outside the home. Moms routinely take on more than dads. Thats just fact.They say that knowing is half the battle and that might be true, but Im not naive enough to think my family will be the exception to the statistical rule. So its my job to think of this like a good coworker and try to shoulder some of the burdens while giving appropriate credit where due.People want to be appreciated, says Klee. Half the time people dont need the regret to be fixed. But they do want space to be witnessed.Still, I understand that we cant just go into this new phase of our family life without some sort of structure. While grateful to Klee for acting as a top-notch family human resources person, I was still unsure about the actual day to day structure of our family? How would we navigate this change?What corporations are doing is making unspoken expectation spoken and clarified, says Klee. She notes that making expectations clear will be tantamount to our success. Still, Klee explains, well need to be a bit more forgiving than hard-nose d a-type bosses.Married couples have unspoken expectations about how well things are done, Klee explains before making a suggestion. There could be a house rule that you dont challenge each other on how things are done. Because thats how you start to micromanage each other. Time is limited as it is. You cannot get into how things are done, unless its really obvious. If youre feeding your kid Schlitz beer for breakfast, that needs to be talked about.Besides the fact that my go-to dad beer is Coors, Im taking Klees point to heart. And I hope my wife does too. But theres still the pesky issue of what the new organizational flow will look like. Thats why after speaking with Klee, my next call is to Certified Professional Organizer and Productivity Consultant Amy Tokos, owner of Freshly Organized.You need to treat the family like a team, Tokos explains. To help with communication, you need to have family meetings.This is a familiar task in my house. Or was, at least, for a few weeks back in April when my wife and I tried to tackle some chaos via a regular meeting. It didnt last long. In fact, I feel continually shamed by a sign I made and hung next to the dinner table. It reads Family Meetings Monday 630 p.m. The shame is particularly sharp on Monday evenings when we specifically avoid our family meeting because were feeling overwhelmed and would rather engage in some screen-based self-care.Tokos helps me understand where things might have gone wrong. It doesnt have to be formal, she explains. If you asked my kids if we had a weekly family meeting they would wonder what you were talking about. They dont even know were having a family meeting. Its just a conversation.Tokos frames the meeting more as a conversation that slots into the natural rhythm of the familys life. It might happen during a walk, over brunch, or over dinner. The point is that the event is an unrushed natural moment where everyone gets on the same page about everything from sports games and practi ces, travel, obligation, transportation, and even needs from the grocery store.Because when everyones working and has school and activities, there has to be a lot of coordination, Tokos says. Its a cohesive, strategic conversation about the week. Because when we become reactive is when we get angry.That said, Tokos notes that there has to be someone making sure the conversation happens. Someone has to be the keeper, she says. It cant be everybodys responsibility or no one will do it.Which brings me to the pesky point of division of labor. My first thought is creating an organizational structure like a chore chart. Tokos tells me that shes never seen one that really works. Theyre hard to maintain, she says. Theres a lot on the parent to make sure theyre putting them together and thinking through it each week.Instead, Tokos suggests routine and habit. Her tactic is more akin to giving a person a job description that guides their behavior every day. Even better? Those job descriptions play into a families core values.This whole thing is a family project, Tokos explains This is not mom and dad managing this for everyone. If were going to have company, rooms need to be clean or were not having company. Theres no arguing thats just the way it is.To most important part, Tokos says, is that whatever we decide to do, it needs to be easy to maintain. She says that this is the same advice that works for her corporate clients. If youre creating elaborate systems for grocery lists, or elaborate systems of communication, or elaborate chore charts, someone needs to expend energy to maintain that, she explains. You need to make this lean and efficient, or else its not going to happen.Tokos notes that any good system of management is one based on asking and answering questions. The only real systemic structure she recommends is a list so things arent forgotten.For my part, Im excited about the idea of giving the family new job descriptions. I love the idea of creating core val ues that we internalize. More than that Im reminded that our kids must be part of the team too. They are not our clients they are part of what makes the family successful as we move into this new phase of life. So as hard as I will work to ensure that I take on important responsibilities she once oversaw, its just as important to have my kids involved too. And thats really a revolution in the way our family will be run.But as we move forward, Terry Klee does have one word of caution. You guys are living organisms, she says. The plan will change as you guys grow and change, and as the children grow and change. You might not even have the plan right from the beginning where neither of you changes.I am prepared for that. But Im also certain, thanks to my HR person and my organizational consultant, that my family will see strong returns in the coming months and nobody will quit.This article first appeared on Fatherly.