Specialists are highly qualified - they know that. They are and act accordingly self-confident. Among other things, this means: They question decisions made by their superiors, confront them with their expectations and want to have a tangible influence on what happens in their environment.

In addition, specialists often have greater technical and experiential knowledge of their subject area than their hierarchical superiors. For this reason, they often cannot be guided by them, at least in terms of their expertise. It is also difficult for them to control the content of their work. This makes their leadership even more difficult.

In addition, specialists are often rare and thus sought-after employees due to their know-how and skills. Accordingly, they are courted by competitors. This means that their existential dependence on their current employer is low, as they have good job alternatives. That's why it's important to bind specialists to the company emotionally - for example, by

• offers them great scope for action and decision-making as well as attractive work opportunities,
• integrates them into decision-making processes and
• regularly signals to them how much they are valued as people and their work, and what a valuable contribution they make to the success of the company.

Here are 15 tips that you as a manager should take to heart when leading specialists.

1. Check whether you are happy to have highly qualified and appropriately confident specialists on your team - even if they are sometimes more difficult to manage than "normal" employees".
2. If no, realize that you need the know-how and active cooperation of the specialists to fulfill complex and demanding (future) tasks.
3. Be pleased that your specialists are proud of their know-how and self-confident. Because without these qualities, they would not be able to perform their special tasks largely independently.
4. Grant them the decision-making and action latitude they need to fulfill their tasks.
5. However, seek regular discussion with the specialists about what their company's short-, medium- and long-term goals are and why. So that they have the necessary orientation and are involved in their work.
6. In a discussion with them, derive concrete goals for their work; furthermore, factors that need to be taken into account.
7. However, give the specialists a largely free hand in deciding how they will achieve the agreed goals and which paths they will take to do so.
8. Consider your specialists as valuable advisors and supporters when it comes to achieving the goals of your division and the company. Signal this appreciation to them as well - for example, by asking them for expert advice on your own initiative when making decisions.
9. Check the extent to which you may feel personally attacked when specialists question your assessments or decisions.
10. Realize that this questioning is usually an expression of commitment.
11. Don't take it for granted that your employees identify with their work and are committed to finding suitable solutions to problems. Give them credit for this as well.
12. Praise your specialists publicly - for example in the team - for the valuable contribution they make to finding suitable solutions and achieving the division's/company's goals.
13. Regularly ask your specialists what you need to fulfill your tasks - in the future. Also get feedback regarding your leadership behavior.
14. The value of specialists' labor largely depends on their specialized knowledge. And this knowledge usually becomes obsolete quickly. The specialists know this, too. That's why you should offer them the opportunity to continue their professional development.
15. Realize that high-performance teams usually consist of a large number of specialists who cooperate optimally. And the future belongs to such teams. That is why it is important for your success as a manager that you have the competence to lead such employees and teams. Work on it.

Dr. Albrecht Müllerschön

Dr. Albrecht Müllerschön is the owner of Müllerschön Managementberatung, Starzeln (Baden-Württemberg), which offers, among other things, a seminar "Leading High Performers and Self-Confident Specialists". The business psychologist is the author of several personnel reference books and was a teaching coach at the University of Tübingen. http://www.muellerschoen-beratung.de

With Erik Qualman, DEF presents a digital thought leader who has written his way into the international bestseller lists as the author of "Socialnomics" and was voted the second most popular author in the world with "Digital Leader" in 2012. With his latest work, "What Happens in Las Vegas Stays on YouTube," Qualman declares the privacy of individuals and businesses to be at ultimate risk and urges them to take the lead in digital reputation for themselves and acquire the relevant know-how without delay.

The DEF in Zurich will also focus on the entire potential of digital technologies, from the creation of new business models, the digitization of processes and the new user imperatives. Managers are challenged to keep the orientation in a disruptive process, which again and again requires new thinking, new rules, new partners and increased own change. In addition to attractive and highly topical speakers (Erik Qualman, Gerd Leonhard, Julius van de Laar, Ali Mahlodji, Andreas Krebs, Kamales Lardi, Pascal Kaufmann, Andreas Staub and Carsten Maschmeyer), international companies will present megatrends in half-hour interactive business tracks and highlight topics such as design and innovation, digital payment, health care, fintech and digital transformation.

http://www.digitaleconomicforum.ch

1. analyze the current environment

The first step for a successful hybrid cloud implementation starts with an analysis of the current workloads. It is important to identify which tasks are adequate for the public cloud, private cloud and traditional IT. Mission-critical environments and most sensitive data are not good choices for the public cloud; regulatory requirements can fundamentally thwart this use. Seasonal, non-critical workloads and short-lived applications, on the other hand, are ideal for leveraging the scalability of a public cloud. Peaks and lulls in web traffic can be absorbed.

2. clearly define guidelines and rules

With rules and policies, companies can document for which applications and data a private or public cloud is suitable. Performance and regulatory requirements should be kept in mind, as well as mission-critical environments, geographic constraints and strategic core business applications.

3. think outside your own IT world

A hybrid cloud solution offers new capabilities and technologies. Now companies need to assess how this huge potential can best serve day-to-day business. This is an ideal opportunity to rethink business processes, make the IT organization more efficient and align it with the business objective. You should resist the temptation to transfer existing processes to a hybrid cloud solution. Better: think about how this new type of environment can be used to derive maximum benefit for the business.

4. the question of costs

Reducing costs and improving performance are likely and a crucial aspect of the hybrid cloud strategy. Cost savings must be considered in the short and long term, as well as total cost of ownership. The hybrid cloud offers many opportunities to save money. Any investment in hardware should be reconsidered to see if a public or hybrid cloud solution would be more cost effective. Companies therefore have the opportunity to shift from a capital-oriented to a flexible operating cost-oriented IT model.

5. assess resources realistically

Enterprises must not forget to consider the human resources required to implement, migrate and manage a hybrid cloud. Hybrid clouds are very complex and require expertise in transformation, compliance, storage, networking, virtualization and management. It is highly unlikely that an organization can cover all of this with existing resources. They will therefore need to rely on a trusted advisor or service provider that could be part of the chosen solution.

6. search for - and find - the right partner

An essential ingredient for a successful hybrid cloud solution is a trusted partner with proven experience in implementing hybrid clouds. Ideally, a partner who clearly understands the need and is able to guide the company through the process. It makes sense to ask for successful references from the same industry or similar hybrid cloud projects.

7. trust is good, control of the public cloud is better

Ultimately, it is a company's own responsibility to ensure that business processes and compliance requirements are met by the public cloud partner. In doing so, they need tools to manage and monitor their hybrid cloud environment in real time. To do this, they need to discuss the available options with the partner and test the management using non-critical environments. Encryption functions for data held in the public cloud are also relevant.

8. don't rush: step by step to the hybrid cloud

Solid implementation of a hybrid cloud solution is critical to ensure the trust of management, users and customers. If companies don't have any experience with private clouds, they should build them first and then select some applications and workloads to be considered for the hybrid cloud. This step could also be a good opportunity to compare two cloud providers. They can learn from this experience and gradually migrate additional workloads as they feel more comfortable and confident. The flexible nature of the hybrid cloud allows you to adjust processes as needed until you achieve the results that are satisfactory for your business.

Source: http://www.actifio.com/de

"A hybrid cloud strategy combines the control of a private cloud with the flexibility of the public cloud. The benefits an organization can derive depend on the effort invested in designing, building, implementing and monitoring the hybrid cloud solution."

The canton of Zurich is facing increased interest in the use of the deep underground for energy production. Specifically, this involves geothermal energy and the extraction of natural gas.

Since there are still gaps in the law in this area, the Zurich government council has drafted a law on the use of the underground.

Energy production around mineral resources
The aim of the law is to protect the population and the environment from damage and to create legal certainty for entrepreneurs and investors. Clear framework conditions are intended to favor the use of the subsurface for domestic energy production. This is done in particular by the law creating precise responsibilities and a transparent procedure.

The subject of the law are investigations of the subsurface (geological-geophysical investigations such as excavations, drillings and seismic investigations) as well as its use, in particular energy production on a larger scale (for example geothermal power plants, natural gas production) but also extraction or mining of other mineral resources as well as the storage of gases in the subsurface (such as natural gas or CO2).

Sovereignty with the canton
The law clarifies that sovereignty over the subsoil lies with the canton and that concessions for the extraction of mineral resources must be put out to public tender, establishes the procedure for granting permits and concessions, and requires that the use of the subsoil be coordinated with neighboring cantons.

Focus on the environment and people
Furthermore, the law clarifies that the investigation and use of the subsurface must always be carried out without endangering humans or the environment, regardless of the method used. However, it does not comment on specific technologies such as fracking. This would not make sense in view of the constant technological change.
By means of regulations on security deposits and liability, the law prevents any damage to the environment or property from remaining uncovered or the state from having to assume liability for private activities.

Data should belong to the public
Not only the subsurface itself belongs to the public, but also the knowledge gained through investigation and use of the subsurface should belong to it. According to the draft law, all geological and hydrogeological data on the subsurface must be made available to the canton free of charge. The canton can make these data available to other state institutions and research facilities. After a retention period of three years, the data can be made publicly available with the corresponding evaluations.

The Government Council has authorized the Construction Directorate to conduct a consultation procedure on the draft law. The consultation begins today and lasts three months.

The consultation documents can be downloaded from www.vernehmlassungen.zh.ch, search term "underground", can be viewed.

The resolution of the Government Council No. 265/2016 is available at. www.rrb.zh.ch available.

The West Atlantic Ice Sheet is a freshwater reservoir with an area of around 200,000 square kilometers. Climate models show that the ice sheet can break up even with a relatively small increase in global temperature. If it dissolves completely, global sea levels could rise by three meters or more. Until now, however, researchers have assumed that these effects will not occur for hundreds or even thousands of years.

How the New York Times reports, however, this could happen much earlier: Researchers at a Studypublished in the renowned scientific journal Nature, concluded that the shield will degrade within a few decades - if greenhouse gas emissions continue as they are now.

Increase by one meter
According to the researchers, sea levels could rise by as much as one meter by the year 2100 - with catastrophic consequences. That's about twice as much as the UN's previous worst-case scenario indicates.

After that, according to climate calculations, things will get even worse: every 10 years, sea levels are expected to rise by around 30 cm until they are around 4 meters above today's level. Many coastal areas, low-lying countries and coastal cities would disappear into the sea as a result; including London, Venice, New York, Shanghai and Sydney.

The Indian government has set itself the goal of strongly promoting electromobility: By 2030, every vehicle in the country should be electric. This is reported by the India Times.

The incentive program will operate entirely without financial support from the government, according to Energy Minister Piyush Goyal: The idea is that buyers will not have to make a down payment on a new vehicle, and their installments will match the amount they save by not using expensive gasoline. The program is not yet a done deal, however.

India is the third largest vehicle market in Asia and suffers from heavy air pollution from fossil-fuel vehicles.

Next-generation high-energy batteries are set to succeed the lithium-ion battery. But will current battery technology for automotive and stationary applications really soon be obsolete? What can so-called post-lithium-ion battery systems achieve? These and other questions are being addressed by a new research project being conducted at the Battery Research Center MEET of the Westphalian Wilhelms University Münster (WWU). The project will run for three years and is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) with a total of around three million euros.

In addition to WWU researchers from MEET and from the Department of Economic Chemistry, scientists from the Research Center Jülich are also involved, as well as from the Helmholtz Institute "Ionics in Energy Storage" in Münster (HI MS), from the Technical University of Braunschweig and from the Justus Liebig University of Giessen. The project title is "BenchBatt - Benchmarking and evaluation of the performance and costs of high-energy and high-voltage lithium-ion batteries in comparison with post-lithium-ion technologies".

Higher ranges for electric vehicles
Compared to lithium-ion batteries, subsequent battery generations would have much higher energy densities per battery weight, experts hope. The challenges: So far, these batteries would not yet be competitive where space is limited - for example, in electric cars - because of their higher space requirements. Moreover, the development of these systems is still at the basic research stage.

In addition to the lithium-air and lithium-sulfur systems, candidates for tomorrow's batteries include sodium-based batteries and solid-state batteries ("all-solid-state batteries"). "There are numerous challenges to overcome before they are ready for the market, including high self-discharge rates and a short service life," is the assessment of Prof. Dr. Martin Winter, scientific director of MEET and director of HI MS.

"'BenchBatt' will make it possible to assess the future competitiveness of next-generation battery technologies at an early stage, realistically and in a scientifically sound manner - in terms of energy density, costs and resource availability, among other things," explains Dr. Richard Klöpsch, project manager at MEET. To do this, the scientists will compare the latest generation of energy-optimized lithium-ion battery systems with next-generation systems, theoretically and experimentally at the material, process and cell levels.

For the first time, the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) conducted a broad-based performance review of building with Minergie and statutory building standards. The study now available determined the actual energy consumption of around 200 different buildings. The result: the planning values only partially correspond to the energy consumption values in practice. This discrepancy is particularly striking in the case of new or converted apartment buildings.

The aim of the SFOE study was to examine the extent to which the planning values correspond to the actual, measured energy consumption values. The annual energy consumption in relation to the energy reference area of 214 properties that were built or renovated according to Minergie, Minergie A and Minergie P or statutory building standards was examined. The planning values were met to varying degrees in single-family houses and conversions, depending on the building category and standard. The majority of new and converted multi-family houses did not comply with them.

The authors of the study cited functional and adjustment problems as well as low heating efficiency as possible reasons for the numerous instances in which the design values were exceeded. In some buildings, however, less energy was consumed than the planned values. The large deviations of the planning values from the actual energy consumption are therefore also strongly due to the behavior of the building users.

Great satisfaction
The study also examined qualitative aspects of Minergie: The satisfaction of building owners who build according to Minergie is high, as an online survey of architects and building owners shows. Almost four out of five building owners would build to the same Minergie standard again today. According to the survey, the Minergie quality label serves as a sales argument. However, discussions with 50 experts have shown that Minergie building standards have lost their edge because technological advances have also been made in conventional building - not least thanks to Minergie.

In another online survey, users of Minergie properties showed themselves to be satisfied in terms of sound insulation, protection from drafts and protection from cooking odors, but often found the air in their rooms to be too dry in winter. The interplay between energy efficiency and user needs still needs to be analyzed in more detail.

Based on the results, SwissEnergy intends to further develop and support the area of operational optimization together with the Swiss Society of Engineers and Architects (SIA), the building technology associations and other market players.

Download the study.

(BFE)

Swiss gas consumers are becoming increasingly enthusiastic about biogas. In 2015, for example, a total of 25 plants fed 262 GWh of biogas into the grid. This is an increase of 23% compared to the previous year. This is reported by the Swiss Gas Industry Association (VSG).

Biogas as a renewable and CO2-free energy is produced from natural waste materials. Like natural gas, it consists essentially of methane and can be mixed with it as desired. Many local suppliers now offer natural gas with different biogas contents.

Gas vehicles on the upswing
In Switzerland, a total of 12,480 (+5%) vehicles powered by natural gas/biogas were in operation in 2015. Most gas-powered vehicles are in the cantons of Zurich, Bern, Vaud and Aargau. The number of new registrations amounted to 1198 vehicles (-4%); for passenger cars, the number of new registrations increased by 2%.

The average biogas content in fuel was just under 24% in 2015. The addition of biogas further improves the already very good CO2 balance of natural gas vehicles. Vehicles powered by natural gas/biogas generally emit fewer pollutants that are harmful to the environment and human health than vehicles with gasoline or diesel engines. As in previous years, the current Auto Environmental List of the Swiss Transport Club (VCS) confirms the environmental friendliness of gas vehicles.

Gas industry consolidates position
A total of 37,120 GWh of natural gas and biogas were sold in Switzerland in 2015. The increase of 7% compared to the previous year is mainly due to the increase in heating degree days (+10%).

In recent years, the Swiss gas industry has been able to consolidate its position on the Swiss energy market. Over the past five years, for example, an average of around 36,800 GWh of gas has been sold annually; the share of natural gas in final energy consumption is around 13%. Today, three quarters of the Swiss population are served by the approximately 19,500 kilometer long transport and distribution network. For Swiss industry, natural gas is primarily used to generate process heat. For example, the mechanical, electrical and metal industries now cover around one-third of their energy requirements with natural gas, making a significant contribution to reducing CO2 emissions.

The Federal Council has launched the new National Research Program (NRP) "Sustainable Management". The NRP is expected to make important contributions to a sustainable economy with more efficient use of resources and greater resource security. Among other things, this should favor the competitiveness of the Swiss economy and promote the welfare of the population. The research duration of the program is five years, with a total budget of 20 million Swiss francs.

Natural resources have a limited regenerative capacity and are becoming increasingly scarce. The new NRP, conducted by the Swiss National Science Foundation, aims to provide insights from a systemic perspective that takes into account the environment, the economy and society, and considers all natural resources and all stages of the value chain. It invites submissions of research projects that expand existing knowledge and comprehensively identify opportunities, risks and potential. Based on this, measures and instruments are to be analyzed and general findings translated into concrete applications, for example by developing innovative standards, designing innovative consumption and production models, and marketing "clean" technologies and products.

With the National Research Programs, the federal government supports research projects that develop knowledge for orientation and action and thus contribute to solving current problems. NRPs are concluded after a period of about five years.

According to the Research and Innovation Promotion Act, the Federal Council periodically decides on the implementation and financial framework of National Research Programs.

(WBF)

As of July 1, 2016, the revised Ordinance on the Movement of Waste will apply. This has been confirmed by the Federal Council.

The amendments are mainly of a technical nature and primarily concern the obligation to issue consignment notes for certain other wastes subject to control, the environmentally sound disposal of which requires comprehensive organizational measures. This generally involves waste that is generated in large quantities. These include used tires or end-of-life vehicles, the improper disposal of which can endanger the environment.

Register transports electronically
Every year, the FOEN approves around 900 applications for the import and export of waste. Within this framework, 75,000 transports are carried out, which must be documented with consignment bills. The transmission of the documents by mail, fax or e-mail and the manual entry in the electronic database is a major administrative burden for the companies and the competent authorities. As of July 1, 2017, this will be simplified: the electronic transmission of notifications of transboundary waste shipments will be introduced. This means that exporters no longer have to hand in a copy of the consignment bill at Swiss customs, but must declare the transport electronically on the database provided by the FOEN.

At the same time, DETEC has adapted the departmental ordinance on lists for the transport of waste.

The Paris climate agreement obliges all countries to submit reduction targets, K to develop a strategy for adapting to climate change and to align financial flows in a climate-friendly way. The Federal Council has decided that Switzerland will sign the agreement. The goal is to reduce Switzerland's greenhouse gas emissions by 50% below 1990 levels by 2030.

For national implementation, the Federal Council does not want to introduce any really new measures, but rather revise the CO2 Act and strengthen the instruments preserved therein:

• Continuation of the CO2 tax on fuels, which is increased depending on the development of emissions, with the possibility for greenhouse gas-intensive companies to be exempted;
• emissions trading system between large companies, to be linked to that of the EU before 2020 if possible (an agreement to this effect was initialed at the beginning of the year);
• Obligation of fuel importers to compensate a part of the traffic emissions with measures at home and now also abroad;
• Continue regulations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from passenger cars in line with the EU;
• Temporary continuation of the building program, medium-term replacement by subsidiary CO2 regulations depending on a reduction path;
• Technology Fund to provide federal guarantees to innovative companies;
• Continuation of the legal basis for educational and communication measures;
• Further development of the national strategy for adaptation to climate change.

For the WWF, these targets do not go nearly far enough. It criticizes the fact that the Federal Council does not want to make an additional contribution. In addition, Switzerland's climate targets fall short in comparison with other countries: Just to keep up with the EU and the USA, Switzerland would have to reduce its CO2 emissions after 2020 twice as fast as the Federal Council is now planning. The climate targets agreed in Paris would even require a tripling of the pace.

The WWF is therefore calling for three more far-reaching measures:

• The Federal Council must make full use of the current CO2 law and expand the short-term climate target for 2020 to -40% in line with Paris.
• Transport is the number one climate problem in Switzerland. A reduction of subsidies for air traffic and a performance-based tax on passenger traffic on the road (similar to the HVF) will bring justice to the polluter and reduce emissions.
• For the period after 2020, Switzerland needs a climate target in line with the Paris Agreement.