Presentations (slideshows) from Evernote

Although the presentation function has been available for a while in Evernote for Windows, it never seemed possible to move from one slide to the next.  This is now possible using Shift + Ctrl + right/left, turning this into a powerful tool that will be much quicker than Powerpoint for 'on the fly' slideshows.

Apart from the above omission, these notes by Evernote are really useful.

AML/CTF Course

Spending 2 hours' of a Christmas holiday each year taking CIMA's Anti Money Laundering (AML) and Counter Terrorism Financing (CTF) course may not seem fun, but is a relatively painless way of keeping up to date.

Excel chart tips: display hidden worksheet data and empty cells in a chart

The link below explains how to enable your chart to show blanks or zeros instead of missing data or continue lines from the previous point to the one after the missing point.

Display hidden worksheet data and empty cells in a chart:

Excel keyboard shortcut for strikethrough

Control + 5 is a quick shortcut for strikethrough.  It works both for whole cells and part cells.  Pressing the same again removes the strikethrough.

Web meetings

The ability to share your screen over the internet, with sound via computer, phone or a combination of computer and phone is not new.  Some providers now have better offerings than others and below are the results of my recent testing:

Key considerations

1. Ease of setting up meeting
   With WebEx, there seems to be no Outlook integration.  To book a meeting, start in Outlook, find a free slot in everyone's diaries, then book the Webex meeting, then paste the details in to the email and send.  It is easier with GotoMeeting or JoinMe which can work from inside Outlook, adding details for you.
2. Ease of use by people joining you
   WebEx requires your invitees to install a piece of software.  This can be a problem in many organisations with rigorously rules about downloading.  Goto Meeting requires no downloads from the receivers (but a quick download is required if you then make them presenters).
3. Localisation
   If everyone is using computer based sound, this may not be an issue.  If you expect that some of your delegates may dial in, consider the phone number they may need to use.  I am in the UK so am most interested in UK numbers: Webex and GotoMeeting both have UK numbers and default to these for me.  JoinMe has UK numbers but there was no way of hiding a long list of US numbers, which for me made it unusable.
4. Reliability
   I have used WebEx of a number of years and found it reliable until about Nov 2015, when suddenly there were many one way sound issues.  After 2 weeks' use I have found Goto Meeting to be more reliable.

Conclusion

My preference is for Goto Meeting which seems to be easier to use with Outlook and have better sound quality.

How to Perform Under Pressure

Read How to Perform under Pressure (The Science of Doing Your Best When It Matters Most) by Hendrie Weisinger and J P Pawliw-Fry.  The authors are business coaches and Olympic athletic coaches and the book is well referenced with research as well as their experience.

Key points:

1. Visualisation works not by 'I can see myself winning' but by 'I can see myself winning, so what I do I need to do to ensure I make that happen' ie plan ahead and anticipate what will be required.
2. Key factors to succeed in a pressure situation (these can be practised): Confidence, Optimism, Tenacity and Enthusiasm.  Look around - it's surprising how accurately this describes the high performers that I know.

A risk-based approach to enterprise resource planning implementations

Read an article titled A risk-based approach to enterprise resource planning implementations in Financial Management June 2015.  Drew attention to fact that many risks are not IT related but soft skill related - managing expectations, buy in and acceptance.  This link works for me only due to copyright of the article.

8 Ways to manage forex risk

Read an article from Financial Management June 2015, titled 8 Ways to manage forex risk.  Good revision for the treasury and forex work that I did at PLB.  The link here works just for me as the article is copyright.

Solvency II introduction (rules for Insurance Industry)

Several layers of hurdles, seem to be aimed at encouraging organisations to become increasingly self-monitoring (recording how they are testing themselves rather than just results):

Standard formula
Easiest to calculate but probably sets the highest bar

Undertaking Specific Parameters (USPs)
Organisation works out their own version of some of the numbers to replace assumptions in the standard formula.  Requires more work and significant justification to back up the changed numbers.  Likely to reduce the threshold.

Partial Internal Model
The organisation replaces parts of the model and records the justification of having done so.

Full Internal Model
The organisation replaces the whole model and records justification for having done so.

Split into 3 (or 4) 'pillars':

Pillar 1
Solvency requirement

Pillar 2
Risk Documentation

Pillar 3
Reporting

Pillar 4  (in some organisations, or may be included among the other three pillars)
Data Maintenance and Control

Abbreviations

ETL: Extract Transform Load
QRT: Quantitative Reporting Template

Internal Finance Control Framework

Took part in a session to revise Financial Control Framework as taking part in a large implementation.  (Restricted access notes are here).

Main points:

• Important to build in to culture of organisation
• Principles rather than rules
• Good practice: Introduction to the COSO - public domain information here.

Excel Tip: Enter the same data in multiple cells at once

Excel Tip: Enter the same data in multiple cells at once using ctl enter.  This is so simple yet so useful and will give a relative copy if used in formulae.