This week's podcast addresses a topic that many of you might be surprised about: your resume. Your resume, regardless of the baggage associated with it, is probably your most critical career management document. While it's not something you ought to leave laying around on your desk, that doesn't mean you ought to treat it like something you dust off only when you really need it. It needs to be reviewed quarterly, believe it or not.

So, in this cast we'll teach you how to prepare it, and how to maintain it. We won't talk about cover letters, or how resumes are used in the job search, because job search is only one use of your resume.

We tackle a tough topic in this week's cast: Layoffs. We know it's not an upbeat topic, but it's highly likely you're going to be involved in one at some point.

Professional managers know how to conduct layoffs efficiently, with candor and compassion. While this is the first time we address the topic, this cast is second in order of the three we plan on the subject. One is on preparation- what you need to do in advance. This is for more senior managers, and those who will be in discussions with HR. Today we address what everyone always asks us about - How to Actually Lay Someone Off. What do I say in the conversation? How do I say it? How can I deliver this news effectively and compassionately? The final cast is how to communicate to everyone after the fact. It's an oft-ignored part of the process, but done well it can really help.

We break our recommendations down into three sections: Before, During, and After.

One of the most challenging aspects of being a manager is leading people who are remote to you. Sometimes it's one team member being offsite; sometimes entire teams are spread across the country or even the globe, or even just across a corporate campus. All these situations are examples of "virtual" teams...and managing a virtual team is notably harder than managing a group that are co-located. And, these suggestions work well for project teams that may be in the same location but are matrixed together.

This cast addresses the special difficulties virtual teams present. First, we briefly discuss teams in general, and then we outline the three specific steps a 'virtual' manager can take to turn her workgroup into a team.

If you've ever scrambled around at the last minute to prepare to interview someone, and then not felt good about the results, you're like a lot of other managers we know. For some reason, even though we have all been frustrated at times by team members who aren't as good as we want them to be, we STILL under-invest in the process which could improve the quality of our team -- recruiting.

We think interviewing is a real opportunity for most managers -- it's not hard to understand, or to do it right, but we're guessing that no one's ever told you how or given you a detailed process. We're going to show you how in detail over a series of many podcasts. In this first one on interviewing, we tackle interview preparation - what questions you need to ask yourself and your team/org about hiring someone new. We're NOT going to tell you what questions to ask in the interview (yet). If you wonder why, well, give a listen. When you hear it, you'll understand.