Dear BNET reader,

Returning to work after a mid-week holiday can be hard. Offices and cubicles are more empty than usual and there's a hard-to-resist temptation to coast through Thursday and Friday. If you've come back after a day of family, fireworks and fun, and you're struggling to get things done, peruse these BNET resources to plan your next brainstorming meeting or to finetune the big idea you want to pitch to your boss.

BNET Basics

Chairing a Brainstorming Meeting
Sometimes meetings are held in order to pool knowledge and ensure that everyone is on the same page; but at other times meetings call for more creative input. In these situations, a brainstorming session may be exactly what you need.

The Right Way to Brainstorm
The term brainstorming dates to the 1953 book "Applied Imagination," in which advertising veteran Alex Osborn first articulated how a well-managed group could generate more ideas than the same number of individuals thinking on their own. Here's how to avoid common mistakes and get the most out of any ideas meeting.

Improving Communication with Your Team
When managing a team, good communication skills are vital. In fact, good communication is central to most of the important functions a manager performs-monitoring progress, receiving early warning of problems, promoting co-operation, encouraging team involvement.

How to Nurture New Ideas
From Henry Ford's assembly line to Apple's iPod, every great innovation started with a great idea. But in the business world, it's a lot easier to say "no" to new ideas than it is to dedicate time, money, and resources to developing them.

Insight

What to Consider Before Agreeing to a Job Relocation
Taking a new position in a new city can invigorate your life and your career. It can also be terribly daunting, depending on the particulars of the promotion and the relocation.

After the Job Posting, Dealing with the Deluge
The modern job application process - type email, attach resume, hit send - can be easy for job applicants. Maybe even too easy - at least for the managers who receive those resumes.

How to Sync Files Between PCs
It's a common scenario: You've got a work PC and a home PC, and invariably the file(s) you need are sitting on the "other" machine. What you need is an easy way to keep your files and folders in sync.

Stop Being Friendly
Why should you be curt with colleagues and customers over email? According to a study of executive recruiters (via Web Worker Daily), people are more likely to reply to important things when there's no chitchat mixed in.

Video

Nurturing New Ideas
According to recent research, companies that foster innovation grow 5.8 percent faster. As a manager and leader, it's your job to nurture that creativity and welcome new ideas, no matter where they come from. It's not only critical for the growth of your company but for the satisfaction of your employees, as well.

The Secret to Selling Your Idea
You have an idea - it's bold, brilliant, and creative. But how do you sell your great idea to the people who can actually implement it? Communications Coach Carmine Gallo has some hot tips.

Thought Leadership Sponsors

Blackberry 8830 World Edition smartphone for Verizon Wireless

Adobe Acrobat 8 Pro -- learn more.

Experience All Your Business Can Be with the Dell Virtual Office.

Sincerely,

Leslie Leite
BNET

Send us your feedback here.