If you’re anything like me, you find yourself reaching for your real camera less and your phone more and more. We can’t deny the convenience of the phone as a way to document our families and capture quick images for sharing on social media, so here are some tips to help you do it well! 1. Lighting Lighting is the single most important factor in your image. Pay attention to where the light is coming from. If you’re outdoors, see where the sun is. While backlighting is good for your real camera, the phone doesn’t take great pictures that way. Make sure the sun is hitting your subject’s face to get the best lighting. If it’s really bright outside, it might even be better to find some shade. The soft, even light you find there is the best! If you’re inside, it’s likely dark which can cause blurry pictures. Open up the blinds and move closer to the windows to get as much sun as you can on your subject. It’s usually best to turn off your inside lights because they cast awful shadows! 2. Subject Before you think about taking a picture, first consider what you’re photographing. What is [...]

“That’s it!” I exclaimed excitedly, during a brainstorming session. “We’ve got to stop doing tasks. From now on, every team member needs ownership areas.” Don’t you love when you have an A-HA moment that you’ve been waiting on? So our team has done this in the last few months. We’ve done away with tasks and implemented ownership areas. Why? Because tasks are tedious. Tasks can just as easily get done as they can be forgotten. Tasks sound insignificant. And just from the sheer definition of the word, tasks sound like someone is getting bossed around. On the other hand, ownership areas don’t get missed because responsibility is clear. Ownership areas simultaneously show your trust in your team and give them authority to make decisions they’re fully capable to make. So I’m challenging you: Effective immediately, stop doing tasks and start assigning ownership areas.  You will do yourself and your team a huge service with this simple change in verbiage. How it helps your team: Competence + Authority For lack of a better word, if you’re the “boss,” there will be plenty of tasks your team feels they need to run by you if you’re the “owner” of every area. [...]