Group Projects, Brag Lists, and Speedy "Hacks"

Group Project Tip:I did a lot of group projects during my time at Johnson and Wales University. As various groups of students and I put together our projects and papers, I found that the fastest way to get group projects done was through text.Texting the group and collaborating via text was the quickest and most effective way for us to communicate. We also had good luck with conference calls.Anyway, I just thought that this tip might come in handy for you!Brag List:Have you ever struggled with an effective way to present yourself as an expert or mentor without either selling yourself short or looking like a braggart?I found a fantastic resource from Peggy Klaus during a recent session of my Palo Alto “Lean In” group: The Brag List.Klaus, author of the fantastic book BRAG! The Art of Tooting Your Own Horn Without Blowing It, has assembled a list of 12 questions that educators can ask themselves in order to identify and then celebrate their accomplishments.Questions on this list include:

• “What would you and others say are five of your personality pluses?”
• “How does your job/career use your skills and talents, and what projects are you working on right now that best showcase them?”
• “In what ways are you making a difference in people's lives?”

I find this exercise to be extraordinarily helpful when it comes to writing about myself, introducing myself at cooking demonstrations and presentations, and sending in project proposals. It was featured in a Lean-In group meeting in Palo Alto.How will you use your brag list?What is a Hack?One of our readers recently asked me to define a “hack.” Since I love sharing everything from kitchen hacks to shopping hacks, I figured I’d better give my definition right away!I think a hack is a shortcut or a tip to make things easier. It’s a popular term on the internet now and I heard it first from Shenoa French of the Beef Council! Wikipedia defines a life hack as any tip or short cut that makes a job easier and more efficient. And that is exactly what I have in mind with my kitchen hacks!By Judy Doherty, AOS, BS, PC II