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eLearning - the Gateway to Growth
First, it’s an efficient educational system, and inexpensive as well.
It’s self-driven and hence the sense of admission and accountability is all-time high.
It’s not bound by anything – be it place or time. So you can do-it-yourself anytime, anywhere.The freedom is unrestrained and unhinged. You are absolutely free in apportioning your time according to your convenience. The same is applicable for both the employers and employees.
Many are well-acquainted with e-Learning, and the positive highlights. The rapid rise in technology removes any hassles with regard to the reach. Access is not the issue. It’s the approach. Just because it can be accessed anytime, there is a tendency to procrastinate. Since there is no one to monitor, complacency creeps in making one lethargic and even lazy and listless. We expect self-discipline, and regretfully, the instances of utter disregard to discipline are just incredible.
So, what makes e-Learning as an important tool for learning and development?
Transform your training Think Technology, think mobile. Empowering your employees in enriching their education in the way forward would be, naturally, mobile. You can choose your training modules and create it in an interesting and engaging manner to make the learner more involved and absorbed. It increases the attention span and greatly improves retention. The present and the future belong to mobile. Highly advanced companies, as much as 18% of all training is now delivered through mobile devices’.
Close the gapIt is often the case of ‘learn what we want you study’ without much emphasis on the content and packaging. Learners prefer a more personalized content that’s relevant and fast paced. Instead they are made to study subjects that best befits classroom setup. So there clearly exists a gap – that needs to be closed. E-Learning will help you in customizing to the crowd, and also identify and individual needs. That’s the flexibility made possible – kind of custom made or made to order. Its basically “to get them on your side”. And for that ‘you need to see their side.’
Promote a strong learning cultureFor a company to report growth, it is imperative to nurture talent and promote a platform for knowledge acquisition and upgrade. Companies need to look beyond the conventional classroom and look for means that can effectively leverage technology in advancing the workforce skills. E-Learning should be viewed as complementing knowledge and development.
Technology is the trump card, and you play smart to emerge triumphant.
image source: goo.gl/F5p84X
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ITIL® - Define IT Success Through Service
A gaze into the future. That sounds exciting in terms of prospects and expectation. We seem to be advancing at an incredible speed. Technology is spearheading and impacting our lives in ways we would have imagined. According to Gartner’s prediction for 2016, some interesting insights that probably upped the ante would be
• By 2018, 6 billion connected things will be requesting support.• In Gartner's IoT forecast, by 2020, more than 35 billion things will be connected to the Internet • by 2021, 1 million IoT devices will be purchased and installed every single hour.
Of course, we expect smartness not just from people but in the products made by the people. When a solution is proposed, we pay attention and give equal weightage to the service aspect as well. Going by the statistics presented, there is going to an increased dependence on human intervention.
The stress on system and humans is significant to assess the way things will turnaround tomorrow. And that suggests the need of qualified professionals in ITSM. If the numbers in the forecasts are mind boggling, think about the demand that will be generated as a result and in terms of readiness what it takes to be prepared to face the challenges ahead. Looking forward, specialization and skills in service management will prove crucial and critical.
The advice to aspirants, especially those engaged in handling and managing of IT systems is to step out of the comfort zone and step up their credentials, wherein training and certification will establish credibility. ITIL and COBIT come across as commendable certification that should bolster your candidature. The digital divide is blurred and soon the switch to digital is expected to be complete attributing to the spike in the number presented.
By 2018, 2 million employees will be required to wear health and fitness tracking devices as a condition of employment.’ From a service perspective, for the system to be up and running, downtime is just unthinkable and SLAs charted will determine the uptime expected, which should be '200%'. So where are we heading? And how are we placed should the prediction come true? It might be baffling but to disbelieve would be disastrous.
It’s a clear indicator that systems would go up and so will the coordination to streamline. IT Services would hold a prominent portfolio. And if you are service personnel, its time to roll up your sleeves and start preparing to face tomorrow.
image courtesy: goo.gl/YX82HX
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Effective Communication - Clarity With a Purpose
All us will agree to the need for greater clarity in communication – be it any form, verbal, or written.
A sales person to software analyst - communication is critical and crucial.
Despite a set agenda, meetings, at times, drag for hours not deliberating the issues tabled. When a stray thought entertained finds resonance with someone seated and soon the discussion veers off in a direction that’s tangential. When the meeting is concluded, everyone leaves learning a lesson not to get distracted but fall into the same trap that was supposed to be safeguarded.
Likewise, a client call to collect requirements goes nowhere because of the lack of connectivity. The stakeholders are not in the same page for the lack of understanding. It’s as if the conversation is taking place in a foreign tongue that the attendees in the call are absolutely clueless.
Or, the instance when a simple mail intended to communicate a message can be so misleading.You don’t have to be poetic. Just be precise.
There is no need to compose an essay. A 2-liner will be enough if the message can be conveyed.
Be verbal, not verbose. Compose crisp concise message that usually are shorter sentences. Rather, simplify. Make it easier for the reader to understand. It should not be a test on IQ. Is your message universally understandable? Clarity means simplicity. We often confuse that word as a business jargon. The challenge of a learned mind is to communicate to a third-grade kid or a professor with absolute clarity. There should not be any confusion at all; nor the need to refer the dictionary. Prose that is polished, professional and stay simple, correct in its context brings out greater clarity in communication.
It can be challenging. So is communication.
image courtesy: goo.gl/QEqJ5Q
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Fast Track Your Career | PRINCE2® Certification
The market is flooded with jobseekers yet headhunters are flummoxed with the failure to find the right fitment. The case is no different with Project Managers. We have moved past the times when experience was enough for an audience with the HR, if not an offer. A veteran armed with 20 years of experience is pitted against someone who is at the start of professional leg with 5 years under the belt. It isn’t fair-play? Well, the rules of the game have changed. Experience should have to be backed up with a certification. Take it or leave it. You cannot wallow in self-pity with “I have so many years to my credit.” Fine, show the credential. The most popular project management certifications are PMP®, PRINCE2®. This paper will discuss the prospects of PRINCE2® shaping up your profile as that consummate project management professional.
PRINCE2® is a major prerequisite for Project Management
In UK, PRINCE2® (Projects in Controlled Environments) is considered de facto standard for IT project management. PRINCE2 doesn’t define project as temporary endeavor, rather as a project management method it delivers based on a business case. The progress of the project is measured and monitored through periodical review of the business case so as not to deviate from the business outcome, and thus the situation at the ground level is assessed and addressed with a greater control and clarity. PRINCE2 can be used for any kind of project cutting across culture and setting aside geographic barriers. It is an effective process method, also easy to learn and the ease of use of framework makes it more favorable with newcomers to PRINCE2®
PRINCE2® helps the Board oversee Project Management
In PRINCE2 methodology, the decision making doesn’t rest with the project manager, rather the functional and financial authority is with the senior executive. The project manager will help in managing and administering he project by directing resources on behalf of the board and primarily the reason why government sector prefer this program due to its standardized approach.
PRINCE2® improves employment opportunities.
The mind has never been at such a premium and to those talented, corporate are just waiting to tap to make it a win-win. . It’s very mutual. But how does PRINCE2 can turn out to be an asset? Its world class and widely renowned and increasing number want to be certified, especially the PRINCE2 Practitioner. You can go global for opportunities and show you got it what it takes with your PRINCE2 credential. Just check the stats at the top which is a clear indicator in the surge for the demand for qualified and PRINCE2® certified project managers.
image courtesy: goo.gl/wbvjcX
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WE HELP YOU SUCCEED | PMP® EXAM
Enroll for Project Management Professional (PMP®) with a reputed education provider to earn 35 Contact Hours which is mandatory as prerequisite for taking up the PMP® exam. The 4-day program will enable you to become proficient with the Principles of Project Management, mainly the 47 project management processes and 10 knowledge areas – this will be the curriculum or syllabus. The trainer, at best, can take you through the topics by apportioning time required to spend on modules. careful analysis has defined the hours to be dedicated to a particular module, which greatly differ from one to other.
The basic training must be supplemented through self-study by diving deep into the 10 knowledge areas as detailed in ‘PMBOK Guide- A guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge’ as key reference, and the course materials provided by the education provider.
The 4-day training is matter of choice and convenience, be it classroom or virtual classroom or e-Learning. End of the day, much depends about your competency and capability in cracking the PMP® certification examination. So far the answer is academic.
Now from a practical perspective, your performance in the final exam boils down to the preparation. The better prepared you are, best are chances of making it big at the first attempt. Every institution’s bet is to equip their participants to successfully clear the PMP® certification exam, and this is the differentiation for iCertGlobal to be one of the most sought after destination in preparing for professional certification.
We offer, in addition to the well-planned and well-structured classroom or LVC training, other notables that prove to be the key ingredients to our immense success and popularity:
Exemplary course materials prepared by Industry experts, who are PMP® certified with hands-on experience in project management and training. Their value-add is in terms of experience and expertise in carving out the course related resources like Books, Quiz, Practice Questionnaire, Case Studies, and real-time scenario analysis.
Exam Simulator with more than 6000 questions. The questions are created in the same complexity as it would be in the final PMP exam. The pattern and population of questions drawn for various modules will be of the same density as expected in the PMP exam.
Refreshing sessions are for those, on request, to brush up the lessons already learnt to brace for the final race.
Participants are encouraged to stay in touch and maintain contact through the 24x7 support channel.
Participant ar urged to create as many opportunities at every turn to sharpen the skills in gaining the edge. A repository of resources is available for online access anytime, more as a supplementary link.
Moreover, we follow-up with every participant to sense their progress, understand and offer services wherever struggle is detected or discovered.
Of course, the growing testimonies speak for itself!!
image courtesy: goo.gl/snMtkK
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Unlearn and Relearn.| Upskill
How long can you dwell in the past? Dust up and wipe the cobwebs for the mind needs fine-tuning and freeing up the bandwidth these cobwebs occupy. It’s going to be a hard-shell. We need to step up to sync with the trend that’s fast changing like shifting sands. Steam engine won’t work in 2000 and electric engine will be powerful enough to pull a bullet train. Just as we change with times and arise to the calling, learning is no different. We have an understanding about illiteracy. But, ‘The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn’ – Alvin Toffle
The threat of robots replacing jobs looming large just like the long shadows on an overcast skies. This is not the challenge per se. This is just a part. For the algorithm in the robot can be reworked to make it more intelligent. But what about you? If much is expected from a robot, the expectations for sure will surge when it comes to man. We are stepping into an era which mandates man to be more dispensable. The endeavor is to eliminate the dependence on human – for instance, the driverless car, self-engaging instruments, even flying cars in the future. We are speaking the language of artificial intelligence with robotics gleaning away the role meant for humans. If the sky is no longer the limit, then those fancied becomes a possibility. That’s the philosophy now.
It is challenging times – critically and constructively. Lethargic, lackadaisical, and laidback attitude won’t carry an inch forward. To be on your toes, you need to stay abreast with the rapid changes all over. 360 degrees.
Your ‘value add’ for the day can be contested. Companies are extremely competitive that they only want ‘A’ players. How can you become the part of the A team? Confrontation with such uncomfortable poser might sound uncivilized, but then that’s inevitable. If not today, it’s going to pop tomorrow and you better brace yourself. You have to be significantly superior to justify your hire.
How?
Unlearn and relearn. You will realize that your learning will help you winnow the wanted from unwanted. Its about reskilling and upskilling. When a product needs an upgrade, the mind needs more of it.
So start enrolling for the latest workshops, boot camps, certifications, knowledge hubs. Pursue knowledge. Stay relevant.
image courtesy: goo.gl/SRK3s5
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‘Handful of employees and few thousands’- an Entrepreneurial Journey by the founder and CEO,
iCert Global is the fastest growing Education Industry, both as an Accredited Training Organization (ATO) and Accredited Examination Centre (AEC).
RecollectionIt was a humble beginning in a 1 BHK flat. A simple flat for soaring ambition, is by itself too ambitious. The founder and CEO, Irfan Sharief, recollects being very independent as a child, and quips “I guess it’s the self-reliance more than independence - the resolve to live on my own legs. That attitude perhaps strengthened my determination in the days to come. “. He funded his own education by moonlighting and also gained a first-hand experience of the financial hardship in educating oneself. “Surely, there has to be some other alternative to college.” That was a nagging thought that trailed him long since he successfully graduated and got to work in the education domain.Life, in a way, is more comfortable if you are salaried because you are taken care, well-fed, sheltered and most of the needs attended. Hence this guaranteed life is a good deal for many who just settle down pushing paper and changing chairs.
On my ownEntrepreneurship is about getting out of the comfort zone and come to face those insecurities and uncertainties with grit and gumption. Irfan always wanted to go on his own, and that nagging thought turned out to be the idea incubation. He aimed at providing alternate to brick and Mortar College by enabling the internet as the medium for knowledge transfer so that education is affordable and accessible.
He decided to break free and took the plunge. Soon he checked into a 1BHK flat which would be office cum home for months. Finance was from friends and family – it was not a gamble but a tug on the back or call of the hour that he decided to pursue his passion of ‘empowerment through education.’
Vital Statistics and Vision statementThe HBR 2012 stated in their survey done globally of managers and leaders, a compelling 67% felt the need to update their middle level management programs. Alarming was the talent gap even at graduate level with only 15% of potential students emerging out successfully. What happened to the remaining? So brick and mortar colleges won’t suffice and education space offered good scope and space to grow and scale.
Present day’s statistics of the surplus funding seen in the education stream almost to $208 million dollars might appear to connect the dots but 3 years back it was sporadic, with investors hard to come by. So the first statement to be written was the vision ‘To become most preferred organization in training, consultancy.”
The target market being educated professionals, the mission was to ‘enrich education and empower professionals’. And the mission was not just to retain talent but reach out to the unemployed or fresh graduates and train them to bolster their confidence in employment pursuits. Complementing the physical classroom, online or virtual classrooms found traction and the demand for organizing classes started to grow in numbers – for primary reasons of cost and access because comparatively the cost was much lower and the flexibility to plan study more convenient.
Handful of employees and few thousandsRegistered in 2013, operational by mid of 2013, with a handful of employees and few thousands in funding, the company today caters to the education needs of both corporate and individual, offering their services across 3 continents and 150 nations.
With headquarters in Houston, United States, the Company is primarily into online Professional Certification training programs and successfully trained and transformed the lives of more than 50,000 professionals.
Industry experts with years of experience and domain knowledge design and develop the course ware, ably delivered by our capable Trainers, who themselves are renowned and recognized in their sphere of work.
The most significant aspect in this business is to understand the context and customize the offering. To make the engagement more meaningful and not business-like. The takeaway of the customer should make them reconsider. That’s the bottom line.
Different People, different DemandsNot everyone who walks in wants the same, and there were instances when a group enrolled for the same course. So, different people make different demand and the ability to rise up the ask calls for a kind of agility that sets one apart.
The market is ferocious, cut-throat and competitive. It’s the fighting spirit and survival instincts that enable to keep the head above the water. The endurance and perseverance in pursuit of excellence in any engagement is the differentiating factor. “The benchmark is set by the customer or consumers of our services and we find the yardstick rising, which in a way is healthy as it increases appetite and inspires to scale further. The world today has no boundary, and competition can crop from anywhere. We have seen some rough weather and sailed smooth. So those roaring waves and soothing water are nothing new to us. If anything, they grow in intensity and gear us to be more prepared,” remarked Irfan about the competition.
He added, “Other names in the industry make us to acknowledge they too have a space to share but our uniqueness is underscored by our competency and capacity to deliver as testified by the success rate of 99% with more than 50,000 professionals from various industry verticals all across the receiving quality tutelage in clearing certification” acknowledged the founder, who is still in his late twenties and already rich in work experience with more than 8 active years to his credit.
Irfan is buoyant about the market performance and the company’s growth has been positive and quite steady at the rate of 15-20 percent and sales forecast has climbed in numbers with the coming months expected to pick up steam and move the needles.
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' I Love My Job' | Employee Engagement
What is the challenge today? To keep stakeholders interested and
engaged. Stakeholders are wrongly read as customers. Employees too are
stakeholders, and earn the respect as
any actor in the eco-system
eco-system.
Why is it so difficult to engage? That’s not much as an issue,
rather keeping them engaged. It’s the attention span. For instance, observe the
consumer behavior – a person visiting your website. More than 5 seconds,
nothing on screen, the person fidgets, and 10 seconds later seeing nothing, the
person moves on to something else. So, whatever drew the person to your place
was whittled in that 10 seconds to feel withdrawn, and shutdown. You just blew
away a prospect – blame the bandwidth, or the brainstorming that sat on the
site design, nothing can be done to salvage the damage.
If you want to dismiss it as ‘website issue’, then remind
yourself of your beating to the personal branding. The site is your reflection.
If you weren’t able to sustain the interest, how do you probably expect people
to engage? Like that a letter starts with a single dot, which often is either
ignored or overlooked, we miss out on the basics and begrudgingly admit after
the deck is done. Most companies do the product first and then look for
customers. Apple did and succeeded. So, is that the template for achievement or
tried model for accomplishment? Then its own iterations were based on the
consumer behavior and customer response. You just can’t get everything right in
your first attempt. Alright. But neither can you create something and then
create a demand. It’s not reverse engineering.
The ground reality.
The challenge today is all about expectations and engagement.
Attrition or exodus of talent is the direct impact of engagement
management.
Why should I stay in this company? What must I do to find a
fitment? Read it again and you will observe the difference in terms of
perspective.
The company questions your existence and you question the
company’s prudence. Win-win alone can survive and sustain this
eco-system. So long one needs to survive and thrive, then it’s by
challenging oneself. Keep raising the bar.
It takes two to tango. So validation in isolation wouldn’t be
fair. How come an individual with an accomplished track record failed to
deliver in the present organization? One cannot shine selectively, and that too
when he nature of job demands excellences, yet we are witnessing burn-outs and
drop-outs. So, an organization is as much accountable, just like the individual
to meeting deadlines and delivery.
Sounds like a leaf pulled out of employee
management? Richard Branson quoted “take care you employees and they
will take care of your business.”
image courtesy: goo.gl/6N3D3N
Read More
What is the challenge today? To keep stakeholders interested and engaged. Stakeholders are wrongly read as customers. Employees too are stakeholders, and earn the respect as any actor in the eco-system eco-system.
Why is it so difficult to engage? That’s not much as an issue,
rather keeping them engaged. It’s the attention span. For instance, observe the
consumer behavior – a person visiting your website. More than 5 seconds,
nothing on screen, the person fidgets, and 10 seconds later seeing nothing, the
person moves on to something else. So, whatever drew the person to your place
was whittled in that 10 seconds to feel withdrawn, and shutdown. You just blew
away a prospect – blame the bandwidth, or the brainstorming that sat on the
site design, nothing can be done to salvage the damage.
If you want to dismiss it as ‘website issue’, then remind
yourself of your beating to the personal branding. The site is your reflection.
If you weren’t able to sustain the interest, how do you probably expect people
to engage? Like that a letter starts with a single dot, which often is either
ignored or overlooked, we miss out on the basics and begrudgingly admit after
the deck is done. Most companies do the product first and then look for
customers. Apple did and succeeded. So, is that the template for achievement or
tried model for accomplishment? Then its own iterations were based on the
consumer behavior and customer response. You just can’t get everything right in
your first attempt. Alright. But neither can you create something and then
create a demand. It’s not reverse engineering.
The ground reality.
The challenge today is all about expectations and engagement.
Attrition or exodus of talent is the direct impact of engagement
management.
Why should I stay in this company? What must I do to find a
fitment? Read it again and you will observe the difference in terms of
perspective.
The company questions your existence and you question the
company’s prudence. Win-win alone can survive and sustain this
eco-system. So long one needs to survive and thrive, then it’s by
challenging oneself. Keep raising the bar.
It takes two to tango. So validation in isolation wouldn’t be
fair. How come an individual with an accomplished track record failed to
deliver in the present organization? One cannot shine selectively, and that too
when he nature of job demands excellences, yet we are witnessing burn-outs and
drop-outs. So, an organization is as much accountable, just like the individual
to meeting deadlines and delivery.
Sounds like a leaf pulled out of employee
management? Richard Branson quoted “take care you employees and they
will take care of your business.”
image courtesy: goo.gl/6N3D3N
The Reputation and Recognition…….| Stakeholder Management
Reputation management is critical to business interest. Customer experience is THE differentiator in moving the needles. Ensure the user experience in the superlative, lest your business interest would be superseded. Bad user experience is more than a frown. It can beat your bottom-line so hard to mark it purple and bleed crimson. You don’t need others to wreck your image: your action or inaction will do the damage, sometimes beyond repair.
Googled is an acceptable word today replacing ‘searched’. Adults to kids are aware and even decided that the search engine has an answer for every query posed. Remarkable, more than a search engine, it becomes kind of a genie ‘to fetch the answer at your beck and call’. It’s no more an illusion of the Alibaba ‘open sesame’. But every tidbit pooled as and served as ‘information’ – whether phony or perfect, anything on the net leaves a digital imprint. So it is imperative to be on your toes when it comes to customer service –regardless of the domain or industry as a customer is a customer. In as many languages possible. Period.
What rattles a service provider – it’s the review. For 100 positive reviews, it just takes one nasty one to make you feel so negative. Like a pin-prick to a blown-up balloon. Why? Is it because bade vibes spread fast and leaves distaste? From your personal experience, checks out how many time you have searched for ‘any negative comments’. Because we tend to believe others’ experience. Because we lend credibility to the bitter cry of wrong customer, without even validating the statement, assuming everything typed by an individual is true to the last letter. Because we are too lenient to offer ‘the customer’s experience the benefit of doubt’ rather than question the authenticity of the statement.
If one cares to notice, more than ever new business boom big with growing interest and alarming consumption of the internet that people’s lives are impacted by internet, Google and social media – which seem inevitable and indispensable. Gone is a single day without a shy at the social media and as consumers, our appetite is insatiable. Our hunger to know is fuelled all the more. Our thirst for knowledge is never quenched. It’s for the good? No one is competent to address that poser, but admittedly inadequate to come out with a convincing answer.
When business depends on the customer, then make sure the deal is fair, engagement positive and memories pleasant, else it will boomerang and knock you out of your senses. For the best brand out there, their best ambassador is the customer. The unofficial spokesperson. Any word spoken out of place from that spokesperson can erode your company’s credibility and cast you into infamy , We weigh in too much about the personal experience and too much reliance on anecdotes, which can be figment of imagination or statement of exaggeration or just someone settling scores. Words can be far from the truth, but who validates before your reputation is already in ruins.
Modern economy is way much different as plastic money and e-wallets are highly innovative when it comes to transaction. It’s a huge leap from the barter system, but what happens if there is a shutdown of services, including the internet. And growing dependence on the internet also makes it vulnerable for cyber-attacks throwing the reputation on the line. The best adocates are the rocogntion and repuation, so protect and preserve it.
image courtesy: goo.gl/NtH2Dq
Read More
Reputation management is critical to business interest. Customer experience is THE differentiator in moving the needles. Ensure the user experience in the superlative, lest your business interest would be superseded. Bad user experience is more than a frown. It can beat your bottom-line so hard to mark it purple and bleed crimson. You don’t need others to wreck your image: your action or inaction will do the damage, sometimes beyond repair.
Googled is an acceptable word today replacing ‘searched’. Adults to kids are aware and even decided that the search engine has an answer for every query posed. Remarkable, more than a search engine, it becomes kind of a genie ‘to fetch the answer at your beck and call’. It’s no more an illusion of the Alibaba ‘open sesame’. But every tidbit pooled as and served as ‘information’ – whether phony or perfect, anything on the net leaves a digital imprint. So it is imperative to be on your toes when it comes to customer service –regardless of the domain or industry as a customer is a customer. In as many languages possible. Period.
What rattles a service provider – it’s the review. For 100 positive reviews, it just takes one nasty one to make you feel so negative. Like a pin-prick to a blown-up balloon. Why? Is it because bade vibes spread fast and leaves distaste? From your personal experience, checks out how many time you have searched for ‘any negative comments’. Because we tend to believe others’ experience. Because we lend credibility to the bitter cry of wrong customer, without even validating the statement, assuming everything typed by an individual is true to the last letter. Because we are too lenient to offer ‘the customer’s experience the benefit of doubt’ rather than question the authenticity of the statement.
If one cares to notice, more than ever new business boom big with growing interest and alarming consumption of the internet that people’s lives are impacted by internet, Google and social media – which seem inevitable and indispensable. Gone is a single day without a shy at the social media and as consumers, our appetite is insatiable. Our hunger to know is fuelled all the more. Our thirst for knowledge is never quenched. It’s for the good? No one is competent to address that poser, but admittedly inadequate to come out with a convincing answer.
When business depends on the customer, then make sure the deal is fair, engagement positive and memories pleasant, else it will boomerang and knock you out of your senses. For the best brand out there, their best ambassador is the customer. The unofficial spokesperson. Any word spoken out of place from that spokesperson can erode your company’s credibility and cast you into infamy , We weigh in too much about the personal experience and too much reliance on anecdotes, which can be figment of imagination or statement of exaggeration or just someone settling scores. Words can be far from the truth, but who validates before your reputation is already in ruins.
Modern economy is way much different as plastic money and e-wallets are highly innovative when it comes to transaction. It’s a huge leap from the barter system, but what happens if there is a shutdown of services, including the internet. And growing dependence on the internet also makes it vulnerable for cyber-attacks throwing the reputation on the line. The best adocates are the rocogntion and repuation, so protect and preserve it.
image courtesy: goo.gl/NtH2Dq
Big Games and Big Data
There is a funny exchange as seen in a native movie wherein a vagabond takes shelter in a temple and manages to employ a runaway teenager to run errands for him to get ‘free’ breakfast, lunch and dinner from temples that provides food as religious offering to be consumed by worshippers after worship. Initially, the starved teenager assents and accepts to do the rounds by collecting food and shares with his ‘master’. One day, frustrated to be at the beck and call of the ‘vagabond’ who just sits and does nothing but instructs him to go to a particular outlet to collect ‘that day’s food offering’, the teenager puts his foot down and refuses to move a muscle. “Why should I have to share with you when you don’t as much lift a leg? Why can’t I just eat it all?” The vagabond smiles “son, I agree you can eat it all yourself. What about the next meal? Who will offer where? You see, that’s where my value-add comes into play. I don’t merely sit on my bottom. I alone know on which day, what time, who will offer you what? How is that?” Tapping his head, he smirks “the database is right here and that’s why I sit and you sweat. Got it? Now get going.”
Big Data – some insights.
The precursor to Big Data analytics undoubtedly is predictive analysis. The Brad Pitt starrer Moneyball, which went to become a box-office hit, employed empirical statistical analysis using to analyze the potential of a player, and also predict about performance. As they say every picture has a story behind, and now every second is snapped when you factor that in the blink of an eye the ball gets passed, thrown, kicked or creamed.
Big Data provides that window to analyze in any role one may choose - player, coach, fan, viewer, stakeholder, analyst, economist and the list goes on. We live in this digital age where there is a downpour of data that is ‘humungous’ in size and count keeps climbing.
Big Data and Sports
Remember the good old days of Tennis, when hard heavy wooden racquets. Bjorn Borg vs McEnroe matches at Wimbledon are truly legendary, and in fact holds the record for tie-breaker, and check the latest play and notice the racquets are the most advanced lightweight carbon fiber composites with powerful guts. Its more power play now. Times have changed and so has technology.
The comments made by Cynthia Rudin, associate professor of statistics at MIT condenses the essence of Big Data and its impact in sports “Sports are watched by millions and millions of people - yet, pretty much all of the strategic decisions are made by humans in a split second. These decisions could definitely be enhanced by learning from past data, but humans can’t keep large databases in their heads. I wanted to build predictive analytics tools to help teams make these decisions,”.
“If we know, for instance, that in certain circumstances, a particular coach on the opposition team tends to make a particular decision, then we can be ready for it,” “Another example - we can place sensors all over a car while it is in training for a race, and use the sensor data to help a driver learn how to race better.”
It couldn’t have been said better.
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The Certified Business Analysis Professional (CBAP® ) | Professional Certification
Professional certification is no more an alternative; it’s the benchmark. Professional certification is no longer restricted to a domain; its across business.
Professionals need certification todayTo be counted;To stay competitive;To possess intellectual capital;To present credentials.
Are you professionally certified?
Be certified to expand career path
Whatever be your chosen field, unless you excel and exceed expectations, you talent remain unharnessed. Certifications help you to amplify your skills and get the doors opened.
The overriding factor and dire demand proved to be the digital presence and exceptional soft skills. Over time, the medium has become mobile and so has the means. The key differentiator is technologists are the game-changers by delivering technology at doorstep. The road ahead is full of opportunities if one knows how to count and capitalize. Knowledge is the key and Technology-enabled services will be the touchstone.
Today there is a surplus in headcount There is indeed a growing skill gap – both the employers and employees standpoint. The fitment is really a hard-find. Hence, grooming the greatest asset – human capital – is the critical need as exponential growth in technological developments makes it mandate to embrace existing and emerging technologies.
CBAP® is a certification for Business Analysts. Just the same we have for Programming or Networking.
Business Analyst, as a role and title, is often connected with IT industry given its dominating presence and dependence in the scope of business. This is not to discount or discredit Business Analysis in other industries but it’s more predominant and prominent in IT.
In business, the most difficult part is to please is your customer. Try as you might, they are never content. It’s an uphill task and times, unreasonable too. The customer need not necessarily know all the requirements since they are evolving in nature. We start with something but end up elsewhere.. The information points can be obtained via different techniques like brainstorming, workshops, prototypes, tractions, face-to-face interviews and other means. Still, we can’t conceive every single detail during the first call with the client. The unrecorded requirements arise in due course of development.
In startups a Business Analyst could double up as a PM. Even established companies don’t need one when the product is in maintenance state. Analysis is indispensable because it could endanger the progress of a project or leave it in a limbo. Much worse, there will be no life to the software lifecycle.
When we slip into the customer’ shoes and start listing the requirements, it gives us a fair idea about the customer’s expectations. Customers come well prepared, armed with data points and quite at ease in conversing about technology. What is new today turns out to be history tomorrow. Today’s most phenomenal innovation can become primitive in no time. Therefore Business Analysts are not just touch points but the interface between the organization and the customer, translating business needs and providing feasible solutions that can be implemented at the agreed cost – which effectively contains scope.
As a professional, you need to establish credibility and build trust. A CBAP® certification criterion makes it a mandate to possess 7500 hours of hands-on business experience which makes it extensive in terms of learning in terms of time and talent. It’s given to understand that CBAP® certified professionals are ‘experts in identifying the business needs of an organization in order to determine the best solutions’ as stated in iiba.org. Just like PMP® for Project Management, organization these days are stressing on the significant of a CBAP® certification for Business Analyst and is fast gaining currency as one of the best known benchmark for business analysis. CBAP certification enhances the human capital of an organization and builds competency in business analysis practice. Also the recognition and career advancement potential for the professional makes it a synergetic growth for the organization. It enables effective work with stakeholders associated and helps better understand the profession as an expert.
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Data Scientist | coming soon.....
We live in exciting times, taken over by technological dominance. Just imagine fuel delivered at your doorstep. Possible? Well, one may find it hard to accept, let alone believe but that’s exactly mission to achieve – beat all the odds. Man to mars – not as a cosmonaut but a commoner. Incredible, and mind-blowing.
Are you aware how many photos gets posted, messages tweeted, videos made and posted? The social media is busy and gets busier by the day. And it does impact your business. If you care to look at the data accumulated, don’t panic if it looks like a deluge. What happens to this data? Think about it, as its growing every day.
There can be data pile-up in your workplace. Imagine having multiple folders with hundreds of documents and completely clueless. Processed data becomes information. But who will process the data? Data Scientist. Something unheard a decade ago, is fast becoming the most sought after profile, and rightly so, given the data produced in a day.
To give you a glimpse, “According to computer giant IBM, 2.5 exabytes - that's 2.5 billion gigabytes (GB) - of data was generated every day in 2012”.
The total amount of data in the world was 4.4 zettabytes in 2013.
So, how much data is produced per day? 2.5 Exabytes. That’s a whopping number. A colossal one.
And to deal with data, you need someone adept and hands-on in weeding out the unwanted and clean out the clutter. You need a Data Scientist.
Data scientists are big data professionals who wrestle with enormous data that can be structured or unstructured , and bringing to the fore their exceptional statistical skills , Data Scientists can assess, evaluate and organize them. On top of that, they apply their analytics prowess to bring out solutions for challenges crippling the business.
Typically defined, ‘” data scientist is someone who is better at statistics than any software engineer and better at software engineering than any statistician.” And they are placed in a prominent slot as a formidable force. Just check out the pay of a Data Scientist.
Image Courtesy: https://www.payscale.com
Watch this space for more news about the launch of Data Scientist Course. Coming soon.
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We live in exciting times, taken over by technological dominance. Just imagine fuel delivered at your doorstep. Possible? Well, one may find it hard to accept, let alone believe but that’s exactly mission to achieve – beat all the odds. Man to mars – not as a cosmonaut but a commoner. Incredible, and mind-blowing.
Are you aware how many photos gets posted, messages tweeted, videos made and posted? The social media is busy and gets busier by the day. And it does impact your business. If you care to look at the data accumulated, don’t panic if it looks like a deluge. What happens to this data? Think about it, as its growing every day.
There can be data pile-up in your workplace. Imagine having multiple folders with hundreds of documents and completely clueless. Processed data becomes information. But who will process the data? Data Scientist. Something unheard a decade ago, is fast becoming the most sought after profile, and rightly so, given the data produced in a day.
To give you a glimpse, “According to computer giant IBM, 2.5 exabytes - that's 2.5 billion gigabytes (GB) - of data was generated every day in 2012”.
The total amount of data in the world was 4.4 zettabytes in 2013.
So, how much data is produced per day? 2.5 Exabytes. That’s a whopping number. A colossal one.
And to deal with data, you need someone adept and hands-on in weeding out the unwanted and clean out the clutter. You need a Data Scientist.
Data scientists are big data professionals who wrestle with enormous data that can be structured or unstructured , and bringing to the fore their exceptional statistical skills , Data Scientists can assess, evaluate and organize them. On top of that, they apply their analytics prowess to bring out solutions for challenges crippling the business.
Typically defined, ‘” data scientist is someone who is better at statistics than any software engineer and better at software engineering than any statistician.” And they are placed in a prominent slot as a formidable force. Just check out the pay of a Data Scientist.
Image Courtesy: https://www.payscale.comWork-life Balance with Discipline | Project Management
There seems to be early burn-out in IT professionals. Doctors are appalled at the heart-risks and related ailments that when wheeled a young person into the emergency ward, the first question invariably is “are you working in IT?” why is too so? Job pressure, peer pressure, management pressure – the stress is too much. a number of factors collide and contribute to this havoc wreaked on youngsters. Heart attack in the forties or fifties doesn’t shock or surprise but in late twenties and early thirties psyches the physicians, who are perplexed dealing with the predicament. Such is the severity, and cut-throat the companies, work force either by choice or force end up staying late at their desk ‘burning the midnight oil’.
Does the number of hours clocked or the contributions made in fewer count. The misconception in the market is one who spends long hours in the office is deemed ‘hard working’. Anything less and your talent is questionable or the workload is not just enough to justify your paycheck. So some just pretend to stretch or ‘kill’ time by indulging in other activity instead of freeing up bandwidth to take up additional tasks. “If I do this task or accommodate more chores in addition, will the amount in the salary credited change?” this reflects not just the individual lack of commitment, but reflects poorly on the leadership as well.
Devotion to work should be willful lest its leaves one dissatisfied and disgruntled. Once resourceful, now turned rebels are primarily due to poor people management. Hours makes one hardworking? Then at what cost? Tradeoff at the cost of health? Everything ought to be balanced – including work.
A project manager, whom I used to report, will sit beside me and plan the ‘tasks for the week’ taking my inputs for the ‘hours allocated’ and sometimes let me estimate the ‘number of hours’. Effort estimation is both critical and crucial. Bagging the project by heck or crook, and later slogging the days, night and weekend are typical signs of burnout. It’s like cutting the foot to match the boot. That’s not project management. Weekends usually act as buffer and my manager maxim of “if you can’t get the work done in eight hour, either you are inefficient or incompetent.’ People also tend to procrastinate – another malaise with no medicine in sight. Hence there is blaming the managers. There has to be a middle ground.
The 40 hour week
Any project manager with appreciable knowledge and experience will not estimate more than 8-hours as man day in the project plan. How many hours do the team work is another question but for the record its hours, and usually the weekends are not factored – and mostly serve as buffers. Remember time is money and hence any inflation in your estimation will have an adverse implication on your cost estimation. The budget balloons and the project just slipped out of your hands. It’s a typical trapeze act or skating on thin ice. So balancing the 40-hour and keeping the project within cost calls for a skilled and smart time management.
Performance and Productivity
No matter how many hours you clock, its 4 hours spread across 8. The body might be willing but the mind simply is not up to it. Exhaustion, fatigue leads to failure. Your ability to concentrate ebb s with passage of time. There should be a reason why Henry For came out with the brilliant strategy of ‘weekend’ so as to boost morale, improve productivity and increase time spent with family. Sources from public domain cite that working fewer hours increase productivity and thereafter tend to wane.
Work-Life balance
“I am too busy at work” is the usual refrain. You start before the kids awake and return after the fast asleep. Many professionals itinerary falls in to this pattern. Genuine cases of work chewing and even gobbling time is a possibility but that can’t become the norm. Its not family first or work at any cost. One has to strike a balance to do justice to both – stakeholder management. Your internal and external client included family too is part of stakeholders. And its important to attend on everyone, and if possible content.
A gallup study revealed that we work 47 hours – which is 7 hours more. What will all the dollars, incentive, promotions and perks amount when the people you value the most – your family aren’t there to share your moment to happiness and bask in glory.
image courtesy: goo.gl/vbW3j5
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There seems to be early burn-out in IT professionals. Doctors are appalled at the heart-risks and related ailments that when wheeled a young person into the emergency ward, the first question invariably is “are you working in IT?” why is too so? Job pressure, peer pressure, management pressure – the stress is too much. a number of factors collide and contribute to this havoc wreaked on youngsters. Heart attack in the forties or fifties doesn’t shock or surprise but in late twenties and early thirties psyches the physicians, who are perplexed dealing with the predicament. Such is the severity, and cut-throat the companies, work force either by choice or force end up staying late at their desk ‘burning the midnight oil’.
Does the number of hours clocked or the contributions made in fewer count. The misconception in the market is one who spends long hours in the office is deemed ‘hard working’. Anything less and your talent is questionable or the workload is not just enough to justify your paycheck. So some just pretend to stretch or ‘kill’ time by indulging in other activity instead of freeing up bandwidth to take up additional tasks. “If I do this task or accommodate more chores in addition, will the amount in the salary credited change?” this reflects not just the individual lack of commitment, but reflects poorly on the leadership as well.
Devotion to work should be willful lest its leaves one dissatisfied and disgruntled. Once resourceful, now turned rebels are primarily due to poor people management. Hours makes one hardworking? Then at what cost? Tradeoff at the cost of health? Everything ought to be balanced – including work.
A project manager, whom I used to report, will sit beside me and plan the ‘tasks for the week’ taking my inputs for the ‘hours allocated’ and sometimes let me estimate the ‘number of hours’. Effort estimation is both critical and crucial. Bagging the project by heck or crook, and later slogging the days, night and weekend are typical signs of burnout. It’s like cutting the foot to match the boot. That’s not project management. Weekends usually act as buffer and my manager maxim of “if you can’t get the work done in eight hour, either you are inefficient or incompetent.’ People also tend to procrastinate – another malaise with no medicine in sight. Hence there is blaming the managers. There has to be a middle ground.
The 40 hour week
Any project manager with appreciable knowledge and experience will not estimate more than 8-hours as man day in the project plan. How many hours do the team work is another question but for the record its hours, and usually the weekends are not factored – and mostly serve as buffers. Remember time is money and hence any inflation in your estimation will have an adverse implication on your cost estimation. The budget balloons and the project just slipped out of your hands. It’s a typical trapeze act or skating on thin ice. So balancing the 40-hour and keeping the project within cost calls for a skilled and smart time management.
Performance and Productivity
No matter how many hours you clock, its 4 hours spread across 8. The body might be willing but the mind simply is not up to it. Exhaustion, fatigue leads to failure. Your ability to concentrate ebb s with passage of time. There should be a reason why Henry For came out with the brilliant strategy of ‘weekend’ so as to boost morale, improve productivity and increase time spent with family. Sources from public domain cite that working fewer hours increase productivity and thereafter tend to wane.
Work-Life balance
“I am too busy at work” is the usual refrain. You start before the kids awake and return after the fast asleep. Many professionals itinerary falls in to this pattern. Genuine cases of work chewing and even gobbling time is a possibility but that can’t become the norm. Its not family first or work at any cost. One has to strike a balance to do justice to both – stakeholder management. Your internal and external client included family too is part of stakeholders. And its important to attend on everyone, and if possible content.
A gallup study revealed that we work 47 hours – which is 7 hours more. What will all the dollars, incentive, promotions and perks amount when the people you value the most – your family aren’t there to share your moment to happiness and bask in glory.
The Significance Communication | Project Management
Records reveal that 90% of the productive time engaged by Project Managers is on communication. The PMI’s 2013 Pulse of the Profession report states that effective communications to all stakeholders as the most critical in project management.
The report further cautioned about the high risks due to poor communication, which is a shocking figure of 56% percentage. One of the reason attributed to this rise in risk is the negligence to proper communication as project managers, at times, tend to take it for granted. Communication during the inception, especially about requirement walk-through can prove critical and impact the outcome of the project. It’s important all the stakeholders well informed and educated about the expectations. Capturing the requirement correctly – usually exchanging notes and drawings or prototype – is again typical communication management. If the start is good, it’s as good half the battle won. Most of the failures when analyzed point to the requirement analysis when the customer and vendor’ understanding failed to match. For the scope of this article, let’s look at key aspects that stress the need for effective communication in a business project.
Understanding stakeholders’ expectation: it’s easy to misread as ‘requirements’. Stakeholders always have an expectation as to how the project should evolve and shape up. It will be difficult to gauge the expectation in the first call and hence it’s iterative. The back and forth exchange is a necessity till all involved are able to read and interpret the message in voice – unanimous. The objectives agreeable mutually should be engaged as the mission of the project.
Risk Mitigation: Any undertaking will have its share of risks. Black and white is almost picture perfect. There will be some grey area, which is expected in a business engagement. . When the communication is free and frequent, chances are good in ironing out the difference and closing the gaps. The worst of risks are the assumptions made in the absence of valid or required information. Correspondence between different stakeholders will cut down the clutter and enhance understanding. The better the understanding, lesser will be the assumptions. Assumptions are inevitable, but efforts should be made to keep it to the minimum with least impact.
Transparency breeds trust. Communication helps to earn the stakeholders confidence. Much depends on the matter and manner which is being communicated and the manner. Its time bound and information critical to build a good rapport in order to build credibility. When there is nothing to hide, why will be the need to doubt? Open and transparent communication always clear results in garnering goodwill and establishing trustworthiness. An honest response that conveys an unpleasant message might be difficult to savor but that’s how integrity is build. Trust deficit or erosion can create serious conflicts in slowing or stopping project. On the other hand, earning stakeholders’ confidence will help in better understanding within both the parties to allow some leeway or latitude. All said and done, it boils to the trust – how reliable you are, and more importantly, truthful.
Precise and concise communication. Prompt, punctual and proper exchange of information using appropriate channels defines communication. How many actually acknowledge a mail receipt – though it’s the best way to assure. It doesn’t need to be rich in prose or sound poetic – a simple message using simple language is enough as long it communicates the required and desired information. Besides, stakeholders, especially decision makers are always short of time and may not be read the length of the letter. Hence it’s recommended to keep it precise and to the point.
Regular and frequent communication. It’s never construed as disturbance when it comes to the messages affecting the commitment. Free and forthcoming communication that’s scheduled or unscheduled is always welcome and never understood as an intrusion specifically about project updates. The daily status report, weekly status report and similar reports are scheduled ones that are expected. And any alerts, warning or clarification exchanges are unplanned or unscheduled. Frequent communication will help in project navigation and better understanding of the actual progress made as accountable stakeholders will confirm or raise flags as concern to undertake remedial measures, if required.
Communication Management features as one the knowledge areas in PMI’s PMBOK® A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide). If you have a comment, please drop by and we can discuss it further.
We are one of the leading educational service provider offering project management programs as part of niche certification courses. In case you are interested to know more, please visit our website www.icertglobal.com
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Scope Creep | Project Management
(A personal account of the perils of scope creep)
As Jobs puts it ‘we can only connect the dots afterwards’. That’s the benefit of hindsight? Well, if you have that as foresight, it makes you a visionary. Las Vegas was just a desert till one guy redrew the map toasting success on the sand dunes, and Vegas couldn’t have been just conjecture then.
When I took over the reins, the project looked promising. Communications were open and the client very forthcoming in comments. One look at the team composition and my hopes were inflated: a trusted hand, a familiar figure and a total stranger, rest of the crew comprised of tester, Us Ex, web developer. The lead developer is more of a man-Friday as we have engaged in couple of projects and hence a tried and tested chap. It looked good and should have soared to great. We could spot the shore. If wishes were horses then beggars would ride!
We prepared the plan, sized the effort, scoped the requirement, and swung into action. The progress too was pretty much in line. We built a good rapport with the client and the stinkers were sporadic. The plan and progress almost matched with some slippage. A qualified tester got onboard and it was a shot in the arm. I had several sessions with the team and joint calls with client in understanding the requirement.
The long evenings, late nights, brainstorming sessions, soaring rhetoric and sizzling arguments, and not to miss the cat-fights, we saw it all as a team. The phone would suddenly scream followed by a volley of questions growing in decibel, and my team mate would politely hush her husband ‘I will be leaving in 5 minutes’. Remarkably, she taught me what I can never achieve no matter how much ever I aspire – that patience and politeness in answering an agitated call. Perplexingly the problems and posers kept piling, and from then on, we prioritized issues as critical, major and minor with color red, yellow and orange respectively. An open document was created and shared with client. And the bug count closely monitored with status reports both at start and end of day. The fixes left me vexed; flummoxed by failure after failure as I knew for sure that the bugs will be reopened. I chewed my finger nails all the way to my knuckles and went bone dry when the count refused to climb down. We dragged out weary souls and worn-out soles day-in and day-after licking defeat in the hope that ‘we lost the battle but will win the war’.
The client is not to be blamed completely as for the team goofed up pretty bad in managing the scope. A little here and a little there and the result wasn't scope creep but a bloated scope with too many ‘bells and whistles’. It wasn't the foot in my mouth but the whole leg. Chewed more than we could swallow? It wasn't time to wallow in self-pity. But I couldn't help feeling sorry for the team; for myself and then DH Lawrence hit me hard where it hurts the most ‘I have never known a wild animal feel sorry for itself’. May be I am ‘domestic’ – heck, man is a social animal, if it can be used as a disclaimer. The client squeezing hard and the management make it clear about the climbing cost, the noose was tightening. The stakeholders had a simple mandate – the timeline. Problems and philosophy are a pair. When you muck-up big time, be prepared for your back to be blackened. But as they say if the progress is as per the plan, then there is something wrong with the plan. Then why plan? [we will discuss as a different thread]
Tell me something, only Results count? Is it? I checked this quote by Jacob Riis who, it seems, coined it for me.
“When nothing seems to help, I go look at a stonecutter hammering away at his rock perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred and first blow it will split in two, and I know it was not that blow that did it, but all that had gone before” - Jacob Riis.
Results count but efforts can’t be discounted.
We narrowed down the action-items as in-scope’ and passed it around, armed ourselves with facts and figures as counterweight. We managed to complete the project but not in the prospect and promise we had pinned our hopes, rather it was mixed-feeling of bitter-sweet that the final handover happened. Post the delivery, when we did the causal analysis, the scope creep sank our boat. Expectedly CRs (Change Request) were raised but they were either counted in as ‘courtesy’ or ‘cost-free’ who didn’t treat it binding as billable.
It was a lesson learnt about clearly recording your scope and securing a sign-off on the deliverables and we became more conscious and cautious about the creep in succeeding projects. It was indeed a slippery slope!
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PRINCE2® 2017 – The Exam Updates
Continuing with our previous blog post about the changes in the PRINCE 2017 Release, this posting covers the exam details for both Foundation Exam and Practitioner exam.
The details are provided from the Axelos site to preserve integrity of the data, and also avoid unnecessary ambiguity
Foundation Examination Design
Exam Design
• Number of questions reduced to 60 (previously 75 with trial questions), and no trial questions
• Exam duration unchanged (1 hour)
• (Pass mark may be adjusted following standard setting)
• Negative questions removed, except where it is part of the learning outcome to know that something shouldn’t occur (e.g. NOT, FALSE, INCORRECT)
• Number of list and missing word questions reduced, i.e. more standard questions
Foundation Exam Structure
• 5 Questions on key concepts
• 8 questions on principles
• 28 questions on themes
• 3-5 questions on each theme
• 19 questions on processes
• 2-3 questions on each process.
Practitioner Examination Design
Exam Design - Questions
• Number of questions (marks) reduced to 75 (previously 80)
• Exam duration unchanged (2.5 hours)
• (Pass mark may be adjusted following standard setting)
• Question styles removed:
• Multiple response
• Assertion reason
• Question styles retained:
• Matching (for BL3) – max 3 marks with 5-6 tokens
• Classic (for BL4) e.g. Yes, because…..
Practitioner Examination Design
Exam Design – Scenario/Information
Candidates will only need to refer to:
• A one-page project scenario
• One page of additional information for the organization theme (person profiles)
• Approx. 4 lines of information before the question stem to provide the context (especially BL4 questions).
In other words:
• No separate lengthy additional information (except for organization theme)
• No ‘delete entry 1’, ‘amend entry 1’ questions’!!
please watch this space for more update. We will keep you posted more about the developments about PRINCE 2-2017 release.
Wishing you good lucl in your endevaors.
image courtesy: goo.gl/XrGZEt
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Continuing with our previous blog post about the changes in the PRINCE 2017 Release, this posting covers the exam details for both Foundation Exam and Practitioner exam.
The details are provided from the Axelos site to preserve integrity of the data, and also avoid unnecessary ambiguity
Foundation Examination Design
Exam Design
• Number of questions reduced to 60 (previously 75 with trial questions), and no trial questions
• Exam duration unchanged (1 hour)
• (Pass mark may be adjusted following standard setting)
• Negative questions removed, except where it is part of the learning outcome to know that something shouldn’t occur (e.g. NOT, FALSE, INCORRECT)
• Number of list and missing word questions reduced, i.e. more standard questions
Foundation Exam Structure
• 5 Questions on key concepts
• 8 questions on principles
• 28 questions on themes
• 3-5 questions on each theme
• 19 questions on processes
• 2-3 questions on each process.
Practitioner Examination Design
Exam Design - Questions
• Number of questions (marks) reduced to 75 (previously 80)
• Exam duration unchanged (2.5 hours)
• (Pass mark may be adjusted following standard setting)
• Question styles removed:
• Multiple response
• Assertion reason
• Question styles retained:
• Matching (for BL3) – max 3 marks with 5-6 tokens
• Classic (for BL4) e.g. Yes, because…..
Practitioner Examination Design
Exam Design – Scenario/Information
Candidates will only need to refer to:
• A one-page project scenario
• One page of additional information for the organization theme (person profiles)
• Approx. 4 lines of information before the question stem to provide the context (especially BL4 questions).
In other words:
• No separate lengthy additional information (except for organization theme)
• No ‘delete entry 1’, ‘amend entry 1’ questions’!!
please watch this space for more update. We will keep you posted more about the developments about PRINCE 2-2017 release.
Wishing you good lucl in your endevaors.
image courtesy: goo.gl/XrGZEt
PRINCE2® 2017 – The Latest Release And Updates
PRINCE2 – Managing Projects in a Controlled Environment, is one of the well-known, widely acclaimed, and globally recognized certification in Project Management.
Those familiar with Axelos-PRINCE2 (2009) don’t need any introduction. By Mid-2017, Axelos decided to roll out an enhanced edition, which they named as PRINCE-2017.
Recently PRINCE2 has evolved further with changes incorporated in its syllabus, Examinations for both Foundation and Practitioners. The changes reflected are only in English language and for other language supported by Axelos, the release is expected in 2018.
Now you may ask, why Axelos got this change done? What is so different in this new edition?
AXELOS regularly seeks feedback from the international community about the standard and usage of its Certification programs in enhancing the ability of the PRINCE2 certified professionals to manage and deliver projects successfully. The feedback over a period of consultation from 75% of Accredited Organizations (AOs) concurred the need and agreed for an update of the program syllabus and exams. Not only the AOs, but Industry experts and stakeholders were consulted in improving the content to align with the work-environment that’s fast-paced and ever-growing to reap more benefits for the practitioners, customers and other associated benefactors.
Answering the second part of the question, as to what is so different in this new edition, the themes chapters have been restructured to enhance flow and readability and to accommodate important new material on how to tailor projects.
Besides, The update is characterized by an emphasis on:
● tailoring PRINCE2 to the needs of organizations and project environments
● the principles that underpin PRINCE2
● greater clarity on the link between the themes and principles
● the restructuring of the themes guidance to accommodate specific examples of tailoring
Now the next question expected would be, ‘why so much stress on Tailoring’?
As you know, PRINCE2 is extremely flexible, versatile and completely scalable., which have always been a key factors in the success of PRINCE2: the method is readily tailored to the needs of any organization. The philosophy and practice of tailoring is a thread that now runs throughout the guidance and the training programme. In fact, it permeates the entire thinking of the PRINCE2 2017 update.
Summary of the changes in PRINCE 2017
With regards to the syllabi:
In the Foundation level, Addition of chapter 2, 4 and 21;
• Chapter 2: Project Management with PRINCE2
• Chapter 4: Tailoring and adopting PRINCE2
• Chapter 21: Practical considerations for organizational adoption (Tailoring & Embedding)
Notably the old Chapter 19 (PRINCE2®: TAILORING PRINCE2® TO PROJECT ENVIRONMENT) removed.
Now, there is much emphasis about Tailoring.
In terms of Exam, the changes include:
Foundation Exam
– Focus is clearly on the core of PRINCE2
- Elements of the exam that are not part of the core have been removed
- Assessment criteria around tailoring have been added
- The emphasis on different parts of the syllabus has been readjusted
The Practitioner exam
The major changes include:
● The Practitioner exam will now test candidates on all parts of the PRINCE2 method
● The emphasis on different parts of the syllabus has been readjusted
● The candidate is now tested on the general application of the core of each theme and process and on their practical ability to assess, in a particular context, whether an approach to project management is effective and fit for purpose
● Improvements to the exam design have been made.
In our next blog posting, we will dive deeper about the exams, especially the format, number of questions, duration, pass mark, - and more importantly how does it differ from the previous version.
Watch this space for more information. For any queries, please write to info@icertglobal.com
Disclaimer: to avoid ambiguity, some of the information used in this blog were sourced from Axelos.
Image courtesy: www.prince2.com
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PRINCE2 – Managing Projects in a Controlled Environment, is one of the well-known, widely acclaimed, and globally recognized certification in Project Management.
Those familiar with Axelos-PRINCE2 (2009) don’t need any introduction. By Mid-2017, Axelos decided to roll out an enhanced edition, which they named as PRINCE-2017.
Recently PRINCE2 has evolved further with changes incorporated in its syllabus, Examinations for both Foundation and Practitioners. The changes reflected are only in English language and for other language supported by Axelos, the release is expected in 2018.
Now you may ask, why Axelos got this change done? What is so different in this new edition?
AXELOS regularly seeks feedback from the international community about the standard and usage of its Certification programs in enhancing the ability of the PRINCE2 certified professionals to manage and deliver projects successfully. The feedback over a period of consultation from 75% of Accredited Organizations (AOs) concurred the need and agreed for an update of the program syllabus and exams. Not only the AOs, but Industry experts and stakeholders were consulted in improving the content to align with the work-environment that’s fast-paced and ever-growing to reap more benefits for the practitioners, customers and other associated benefactors.
Answering the second part of the question, as to what is so different in this new edition, the themes chapters have been restructured to enhance flow and readability and to accommodate important new material on how to tailor projects.
Besides, The update is characterized by an emphasis on:
● tailoring PRINCE2 to the needs of organizations and project environments
● the principles that underpin PRINCE2
● greater clarity on the link between the themes and principles
● the restructuring of the themes guidance to accommodate specific examples of tailoring
Now the next question expected would be, ‘why so much stress on Tailoring’?
As you know, PRINCE2 is extremely flexible, versatile and completely scalable., which have always been a key factors in the success of PRINCE2: the method is readily tailored to the needs of any organization. The philosophy and practice of tailoring is a thread that now runs throughout the guidance and the training programme. In fact, it permeates the entire thinking of the PRINCE2 2017 update.
Summary of the changes in PRINCE 2017
With regards to the syllabi:
In the Foundation level, Addition of chapter 2, 4 and 21;
• Chapter 2: Project Management with PRINCE2
• Chapter 4: Tailoring and adopting PRINCE2
• Chapter 21: Practical considerations for organizational adoption (Tailoring & Embedding)
Notably the old Chapter 19 (PRINCE2®: TAILORING PRINCE2® TO PROJECT ENVIRONMENT) removed.
Now, there is much emphasis about Tailoring.
In terms of Exam, the changes include:
Foundation Exam
– Focus is clearly on the core of PRINCE2
- Elements of the exam that are not part of the core have been removed
- Assessment criteria around tailoring have been added
- The emphasis on different parts of the syllabus has been readjusted
The Practitioner exam
The major changes include:
● The Practitioner exam will now test candidates on all parts of the PRINCE2 method
● The emphasis on different parts of the syllabus has been readjusted
● The candidate is now tested on the general application of the core of each theme and process and on their practical ability to assess, in a particular context, whether an approach to project management is effective and fit for purpose
● Improvements to the exam design have been made.
Data is the new Oil | Digital Marketing
The most powerful mode of marketing is the word of mouth.
Is Digital marketing same as word-of-mouth marketing? Yes or no? Well, what do you call ‘thing going viral on the social media’. The word spreads faster than a forest fire. We bank on referrals and trust the testimonies of our contacts before deciding on a service provider or business provider.
Today, it’s too expensive to try out the trial and error, and hence we follow footprints to be better safe and sure. Check and double-check. And that’s the reason why the online reviews are attached too much importance because you can’t collect all the information from your known sources, and hence, need to rely on unknown sources as well. Be it a travel or hotel booking or buying a car, we need to arm ourselves with facts, figures and Opinions. It matters more these days on others’ experience to get a perspective of ‘how it will be’, before doing it on our own for the ‘self-experience.’ Isn’t it? How many times have you checked a restaurant‘s reputation online before booking a table? And scrolled down all the way to sniff out foul smell? Yes, that one star rating which makes your face frown. Yes!
Word of mouth is more personalized. But in this digital era, where time is money, it’s impossible to knock on every door to get first-hand feedback. Technology has advanced. We speak of being ahead or behind the curve in technology. So the best way to pool in people’s views in one place would be the internet. And if that be, what’s stopping you from marketing using internet as a channel.
This could be the genesis of digital marketing. People prefer both brick and mortar shops and online shopping too. There exists a market share for both, and if you consider convenience, comfort, choice, online shopping is head over shoulder.
Times have changed and it’s wise to turn along the tide. So hoardings which do exist have shrunk in number and instead the online banners have risen exponentially in numbers. The medium of sale has shifted. Online transactions have spiked in numbers. Marketing of products and services using technologies through internet is otherwise known as Digital marketing, wherein the online space is used to provide the user experience to the best extent possible in promotions and pushing sales.
‘data is the new oil’
Why? Because that’s the most valuable resource. What moves the needle? Sales. And sales to happen, you need data. Refined. There, indeed, is an information overload. Looks like there is a data dump, and that’s why refined.
Transparency is the key. Be it a website or a product/service promoted in a website. ‘how many users? how many likes? how many new users? And that leads to the next poser ‘do you have the resource to refine?’
People are crunching the numbers and scrambling for data to dissect the demography in order to study and better understand the market conditions and customer behavior. Anything that cannot be backed up with data becomes merely an opinion. Credibility is the cornerstone. Data integrity. Everything centers on it.
Know your customer.
When a customer shops for a book, or a perfume or a laptop, or holiday vacation or anything for that matter, it gives a glimpse of the customer in terms of taste and take. Next time when the same customer visits the page, there will be “you might also like” with several allied products or services listed. If that can bring a smile on customer’s face, then its good user experience.
Now this can be made possible only we have credible data. Don’t let data sound so technical. It is information. How much you know about your customer to serve better and thereby improve your relationship. Relationship building is the ultimate key because that's how you earn the customer’s confidence.
Data is the decisive factor.
Image credit: goo.gl/WmYFDt
We will discuss more about this subject in the week to come. Stay tuned.
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The most powerful mode of marketing is the word of mouth.
Is Digital marketing same as word-of-mouth marketing? Yes or no? Well, what do you call ‘thing going viral on the social media’. The word spreads faster than a forest fire. We bank on referrals and trust the testimonies of our contacts before deciding on a service provider or business provider.
Today, it’s too expensive to try out the trial and error, and hence we follow footprints to be better safe and sure. Check and double-check. And that’s the reason why the online reviews are attached too much importance because you can’t collect all the information from your known sources, and hence, need to rely on unknown sources as well. Be it a travel or hotel booking or buying a car, we need to arm ourselves with facts, figures and Opinions. It matters more these days on others’ experience to get a perspective of ‘how it will be’, before doing it on our own for the ‘self-experience.’ Isn’t it? How many times have you checked a restaurant‘s reputation online before booking a table? And scrolled down all the way to sniff out foul smell? Yes, that one star rating which makes your face frown. Yes!
Word of mouth is more personalized. But in this digital era, where time is money, it’s impossible to knock on every door to get first-hand feedback. Technology has advanced. We speak of being ahead or behind the curve in technology. So the best way to pool in people’s views in one place would be the internet. And if that be, what’s stopping you from marketing using internet as a channel.
This could be the genesis of digital marketing. People prefer both brick and mortar shops and online shopping too. There exists a market share for both, and if you consider convenience, comfort, choice, online shopping is head over shoulder.
Times have changed and it’s wise to turn along the tide. So hoardings which do exist have shrunk in number and instead the online banners have risen exponentially in numbers. The medium of sale has shifted. Online transactions have spiked in numbers. Marketing of products and services using technologies through internet is otherwise known as Digital marketing, wherein the online space is used to provide the user experience to the best extent possible in promotions and pushing sales.
‘data is the new oil’
Why? Because that’s the most valuable resource. What moves the needle? Sales. And sales to happen, you need data. Refined. There, indeed, is an information overload. Looks like there is a data dump, and that’s why refined.
Transparency is the key. Be it a website or a product/service promoted in a website. ‘how many users? how many likes? how many new users? And that leads to the next poser ‘do you have the resource to refine?’
People are crunching the numbers and scrambling for data to dissect the demography in order to study and better understand the market conditions and customer behavior. Anything that cannot be backed up with data becomes merely an opinion. Credibility is the cornerstone. Data integrity. Everything centers on it.
Know your customer.
When a customer shops for a book, or a perfume or a laptop, or holiday vacation or anything for that matter, it gives a glimpse of the customer in terms of taste and take. Next time when the same customer visits the page, there will be “you might also like” with several allied products or services listed. If that can bring a smile on customer’s face, then its good user experience.
Now this can be made possible only we have credible data. Don’t let data sound so technical. It is information. How much you know about your customer to serve better and thereby improve your relationship. Relationship building is the ultimate key because that's how you earn the customer’s confidence.
Data is the decisive factor.
Image credit: goo.gl/WmYFDt
We will discuss more about this subject in the week to come. Stay tuned.
Managing Successful Programs – an overview.
Quick rundown on what are key skills & expertise that helps to manage the programs successfully. First and the most important aspect is how well we connect with our customer and how soon we speak the language of our customer, which really helps to get the connect with customer and their stakeholders.
Business Context/Knowledge: The person who is in charge of the program should have the complete knowledge on the Customer Business in terms of revenue generation model, and their customer base etc.
Broader View/Vision: Scope of the program is much larger than the project and in most of the cases program contains more than one project stream in it. Hence it’s inevitable for the program manager to have the broader vision of the program that would help to streamline the projects in it.
Antedate Customer Needs/Solutions: We need to provide solution upfront before even customer identify the problem. Fierce market condition deprives the luxury of attention. Customers are not interested to wait anymore for wireframe. They instead ask for prototype for which they might prepare their business specifications.
Effective Communication: What do we mean by effective communication? Everyone communicates and people who communicate effectively influence the people with less time. Communication is not only speaking/presenting but also formal and informal mail communications and how effectively facilitates the meetings etc.
Stakeholder Management: Stakeholders are groups, organizations or individuals who can affect, get affected, or perceive themselves to be affected by a programme. The stakeholder response is critical as some may oppose and some support. So the threat can come from within and hence it’s important to have the buy-in of the stakeholders as some may stand to gain or lose, some may see the program as a threat or some will support. It cannot be a mixed bag. What about the human resources? They too can become stakeholders Resources given their competency and skill.
Wish to know more about this MSP – Managing Successful Program? Please click here or call +1 (713)-287-1252
image courtesy: goo.gl/2zijy8
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Quick rundown on what are key skills & expertise that helps to manage the programs successfully. First and the most important aspect is how well we connect with our customer and how soon we speak the language of our customer, which really helps to get the connect with customer and their stakeholders.
Broader View/Vision: Scope of the program is much larger than the project and in most of the cases program contains more than one project stream in it. Hence it’s inevitable for the program manager to have the broader vision of the program that would help to streamline the projects in it.
Antedate Customer Needs/Solutions: We need to provide solution upfront before even customer identify the problem. Fierce market condition deprives the luxury of attention. Customers are not interested to wait anymore for wireframe. They instead ask for prototype for which they might prepare their business specifications.
Effective Communication: What do we mean by effective communication? Everyone communicates and people who communicate effectively influence the people with less time. Communication is not only speaking/presenting but also formal and informal mail communications and how effectively facilitates the meetings etc.
Stakeholder Management: Stakeholders are groups, organizations or individuals who can affect, get affected, or perceive themselves to be affected by a programme. The stakeholder response is critical as some may oppose and some support. So the threat can come from within and hence it’s important to have the buy-in of the stakeholders as some may stand to gain or lose, some may see the program as a threat or some will support. It cannot be a mixed bag. What about the human resources? They too can become stakeholders Resources given their competency and skill.
Wish to know more about this MSP – Managing Successful Program? Please click here or call +1 (713)-287-1252
The Sixth Edition of PMBOK® Guide Will Be Soon Out
The Sixth Edition of PMBOK® Guide Will Be Soon Out | Project Management
PMI (Project Management Institute) is expected to roll out the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide) – Sixth Edition by the third quarter of 2017. It is expected that the draft version of the Sixth Edition is ready by the first or second quarter, and the final version of the Sixth Edition should be available by mid-2017, if things go as planned.
What are the changes expected in the Sixth Edition?
>> The size of the book. Presently, the fifth edition PMBOK® Guide, has 13 chapters that spans 415 pages. The sixth edition is expected to be quarter the size of the 5th edition, which means it should be close to 84 pages and the number of chapters too have come down to 10. So, sixth edition should be 10 chapters with 84 pages in the draft version. By the time sixth edition gets published, PMI possibly will add more pages. The final number of pages for now is unknown.
>> Inputs, Tools & Techniques, Outputs (ITTOs) – the sixth edition will not dwell deep into ITTOs, rather it will be covered at a high level.
>> The first version of the PMBOK 6th edition is ¼ the size of the PMBOK 5th edition. The 6th editions currently has 10 chapters and 84 pages, while the 5th edition had 13 chapters and 415 pages.
>> Alignment with Process Groups: the sixth edition will be divided based on the 5 process groups, and not the 10 knowledge areas. This is considered a major change as the Role Delineation Study (RDS) conducted by PMI has presented its findings and proposed the changed to be aligned with process groups.
>> Combination of first three chapters. In the sixth edition, the first three chapters will be combined as one – the interpersonal skills of the project manager and organizational skills will be merged in to one.
>>Two processes are expected to be deleted. The Close Procurements process and Estimate Activities Resources are more likely to be deleted.
>>Two knowledge areas to be renamed; Time Management and Human Resource Management to be renamed. Time management will be renamed Schedule management, while human resource management becomes Resource Management
>> Knowledge Areas to feature four section. Every knowledge areas will have four new sections, namely, Key Concepts, Trends and Emerging Practices, Tailoring Considerations and Considerations for Agile/Adaptive Environments.
>> An exclusive chapter on role of Project manager. This chapter on Project Manager will cover the key concepts about core competencies, expertise, leadership skills expected in leading a project.
>> Approaches for Agile : every knowledge area will be inclusive of a section with approaches to Agile, Iterative and Adaptive Environments’. This section will detail the integration of agile practices in project backgrounds.
>> PMI Talent Triangle™: PMI spells the details about the technical skills, business intelligence , and leadership considered the key skills for success. It is also known as Talent triangle.
Reference source: http://www.examspm.com/2016/07/16/pmbok-6th-edition-release-date-changes/
https://www.pmi.org/pmbok-guide-standards/about/current-projects
http://www.pmi.org/certifications/types/project-management-pmp/update
https://www.pmi.org/pmbok-guide-standards/foundational-standards-exposure-draft
https://www.pmi.org/learning/training-development/talent-triangle
image courtesy: goo.gl/D9V6Rb
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The Sixth Edition of PMBOK® Guide Will Be Soon Out | Project Management
PMI (Project Management Institute) is expected to roll out the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide) – Sixth Edition by the third quarter of 2017. It is expected that the draft version of the Sixth Edition is ready by the first or second quarter, and the final version of the Sixth Edition should be available by mid-2017, if things go as planned.
What are the changes expected in the Sixth Edition?
>> The size of the book. Presently, the fifth edition PMBOK® Guide, has 13 chapters that spans 415 pages. The sixth edition is expected to be quarter the size of the 5th edition, which means it should be close to 84 pages and the number of chapters too have come down to 10. So, sixth edition should be 10 chapters with 84 pages in the draft version. By the time sixth edition gets published, PMI possibly will add more pages. The final number of pages for now is unknown.
>> Inputs, Tools & Techniques, Outputs (ITTOs) – the sixth edition will not dwell deep into ITTOs, rather it will be covered at a high level.
>> The first version of the PMBOK 6th edition is ¼ the size of the PMBOK 5th edition. The 6th editions currently has 10 chapters and 84 pages, while the 5th edition had 13 chapters and 415 pages.
>> Alignment with Process Groups: the sixth edition will be divided based on the 5 process groups, and not the 10 knowledge areas. This is considered a major change as the Role Delineation Study (RDS) conducted by PMI has presented its findings and proposed the changed to be aligned with process groups.
>> Combination of first three chapters. In the sixth edition, the first three chapters will be combined as one – the interpersonal skills of the project manager and organizational skills will be merged in to one.
>>Two processes are expected to be deleted. The Close Procurements process and Estimate Activities Resources are more likely to be deleted.
>>Two knowledge areas to be renamed; Time Management and Human Resource Management to be renamed. Time management will be renamed Schedule management, while human resource management becomes Resource Management
>> Knowledge Areas to feature four section. Every knowledge areas will have four new sections, namely, Key Concepts, Trends and Emerging Practices, Tailoring Considerations and Considerations for Agile/Adaptive Environments.
>> An exclusive chapter on role of Project manager. This chapter on Project Manager will cover the key concepts about core competencies, expertise, leadership skills expected in leading a project.
>> Approaches for Agile : every knowledge area will be inclusive of a section with approaches to Agile, Iterative and Adaptive Environments’. This section will detail the integration of agile practices in project backgrounds.
>> PMI Talent Triangle™: PMI spells the details about the technical skills, business intelligence , and leadership considered the key skills for success. It is also known as Talent triangle.
Reference source: http://www.examspm.com/2016/07/16/pmbok-6th-edition-release-date-changes/
https://www.pmi.org/pmbok-guide-standards/about/current-projects
http://www.pmi.org/certifications/types/project-management-pmp/update
https://www.pmi.org/pmbok-guide-standards/foundational-standards-exposure-draft
https://www.pmi.org/learning/training-development/talent-triangle
CONFLICT AND STAKEHOLDER MANAGEMENT
The biggest
challenge in any corporate or company [big or small] is conflict management.
Most of the professionals as part of the human capital are admittedly
millennials and the most worrisome aspect is their psyche. This generation is
simply intolerant or less tolerant. However talent they might, being a bigot is
the last thing a Project Manager want in the team, the delivery is not going to
happen. No project has ever delivered by one person. It’s a team effort. The
team has to be open to each other and are to criticize the ideas but criticize
the person. That’s a very line as differentiating a person from their thought
isn’t easy as put. Many tend to take it personal.
Another
challenge is that most of the people don’t have common objective. Or the vision is not the same for everybody.
The same thought can be perceived differently – just like half full and half
empty. We tend to see things differently looking at the same object. So this
lack of sync in project members adds to the conflict. Hence people at different
layers in a project need to be in the same and understand one another. This, of
course, is easier said than done because there is something called residual
anger that becomes a huge bottleneck. There could be a bitter rub in the past
project or some engagement and human by nature are egoist. Hence, in a
professional environment, we have to conduct professionally setting aside
personal differences.
How to fix
when we have multiple stakeholders [internal stakeholders]?
People
should know their boundaries. [It is already mentioned that they must have
common objectives,]. There might be a QA manager in the development team.
Though the QA Manager identified some issues in the development, it will not in
in the person’ premise to fix as part of the common objective. Rather, the QA
manager must escalate to the Dev Manager who must attend on the fix. The
conflict arises when the QA Manager tries to solve the Dev manager’ problem out
of enthusiasm or interest or urgency or reason conceivable. But this is unacceptable. This will cause chaos and conflict in the
system. Unless they are the owner of the
problem, they should not solve the problem. In a professional environment, if
every profession tries to solve every other problem, that itself will create
conflict because different people will different strategies to deal with
problems and manage project. The need of the hour then is people at al layers
must be organized – they should their mission, vision, boundaries and roles
& responsibilities.
In a complex
project, conflicts are common, and this where the project plan plays a critical
role. The project plan helps in communication plan – as how as stakeholders –
must communicate with each other and the frequency of communication and manner
in which information can flow back and forth. The moment people start to
respect their project plan, then there is less chances for conflict. Sometimes
we may need to set back and view what the plan states. T There might be moments
when you may have to listen to your instincts. Before the project started, you
might have agreed to do, and by now looking the project plan, you may not be on
track and even lag. Whether you are over boarding or under. Whether there burn
rate is more as compared to the efforts or within control. Going by experience,
the burn will be more. That’s why you may have to sit back and look back at the
rule of engagement drafted at the start of project initiation for greater
clarity.
The
boundaries for the stakeholders too must identified, well documented, and
respected. Thus will avoid inference, intrusion and encroachment. Thus when
there is greater collaboration and cooperation within the team is paramount to
keep the stakeholders satisfied.
image courtesy: http://www.pmi-ksa.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Stakeholder-Management-and-Conflict-Resolution-Course-Brochure-3.png
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The biggest
challenge in any corporate or company [big or small] is conflict management.
Most of the professionals as part of the human capital are admittedly
millennials and the most worrisome aspect is their psyche. This generation is
simply intolerant or less tolerant. However talent they might, being a bigot is
the last thing a Project Manager want in the team, the delivery is not going to
happen. No project has ever delivered by one person. It’s a team effort. The
team has to be open to each other and are to criticize the ideas but criticize
the person. That’s a very line as differentiating a person from their thought
isn’t easy as put. Many tend to take it personal.
Another
challenge is that most of the people don’t have common objective. Or the vision is not the same for everybody.
The same thought can be perceived differently – just like half full and half
empty. We tend to see things differently looking at the same object. So this
lack of sync in project members adds to the conflict. Hence people at different
layers in a project need to be in the same and understand one another. This, of
course, is easier said than done because there is something called residual
anger that becomes a huge bottleneck. There could be a bitter rub in the past
project or some engagement and human by nature are egoist. Hence, in a
professional environment, we have to conduct professionally setting aside
personal differences.
How to fix
when we have multiple stakeholders [internal stakeholders]?
People
should know their boundaries. [It is already mentioned that they must have
common objectives,]. There might be a QA manager in the development team.
Though the QA Manager identified some issues in the development, it will not in
in the person’ premise to fix as part of the common objective. Rather, the QA
manager must escalate to the Dev Manager who must attend on the fix. The
conflict arises when the QA Manager tries to solve the Dev manager’ problem out
of enthusiasm or interest or urgency or reason conceivable. But this is unacceptable. This will cause chaos and conflict in the
system. Unless they are the owner of the
problem, they should not solve the problem. In a professional environment, if
every profession tries to solve every other problem, that itself will create
conflict because different people will different strategies to deal with
problems and manage project. The need of the hour then is people at al layers
must be organized – they should their mission, vision, boundaries and roles
& responsibilities.
In a complex
project, conflicts are common, and this where the project plan plays a critical
role. The project plan helps in communication plan – as how as stakeholders –
must communicate with each other and the frequency of communication and manner
in which information can flow back and forth. The moment people start to
respect their project plan, then there is less chances for conflict. Sometimes
we may need to set back and view what the plan states. T There might be moments
when you may have to listen to your instincts. Before the project started, you
might have agreed to do, and by now looking the project plan, you may not be on
track and even lag. Whether you are over boarding or under. Whether there burn
rate is more as compared to the efforts or within control. Going by experience,
the burn will be more. That’s why you may have to sit back and look back at the
rule of engagement drafted at the start of project initiation for greater
clarity.
The
boundaries for the stakeholders too must identified, well documented, and
respected. Thus will avoid inference, intrusion and encroachment. Thus when
there is greater collaboration and cooperation within the team is paramount to
keep the stakeholders satisfied.
image courtesy: http://www.pmi-ksa.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Stakeholder-Management-and-Conflict-Resolution-Course-Brochure-3.png
Management Styles
Coercive Style – This style if project management is possible when the project manager is technically and functionally knowledgeable enough to give the detailed direction to the team. Though there is not much risk to the project in this style, as the project manager has all the details to the last very point, many may not agree with this style. As the solution is provided by Project Manager, team may lose interest after some time with this project Manager. In this style of project management, there is no or less chances for innovation. This style will fit in some mission critical projects in water fall methodologies however this may not go well with Agile methodology as everyone should own the responsibility and accountability of the delivery made by the project team
Authoritative Style: In this style project Manager gives the direction to the team however team has space to come up with the solution and implement the same. Project Manager has complete vision of the project and helps the project team to understand the vision and let them to execute the same. In this style project team gets assistance and guidance. In this case project Manager needs to have very good functional and some technical expertise to exercise this type of management style
Affiliate Style: In this style project manager is more friendly with the project team and also takes care of they needs including the career goals and personal needs. In most cases when the team has right set if technical and functional skills where the team needs very less guidance from the manager on the project delivery this style will fit aptly.
Democratic Style: In this style everyone in the team has a say in the project execution and planning. In this case to arrive at the proper project plan, it takes longer time as everyone in the team involves in the planning and at times its very hard to come to a conclusion when more than one people have different opinion.
Coaching Style: Any project Manager is required to play the role of coaching at some point in time of the project execution. This too comes along with democratic style where project manager encourages the project team even in their times of failure. This skill/style is more required when the project team is inexperienced and needs more hand holding.
We have gone through the different styles of project management, and its clearly visible that we may need to exercise different styles at different phases or times of projects. Depends on the complexity, maturity of the team, stakeholders we have to decide what type of style we should exercise..
img source: http://www.wns.com/Portals/0/Images/HeaderBanner/desktop/933/15/Management-team-HD_LR.jpg
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Authoritative Style: In this style project Manager gives the direction to the team however team has space to come up with the solution and implement the same. Project Manager has complete vision of the project and helps the project team to understand the vision and let them to execute the same. In this style project team gets assistance and guidance. In this case project Manager needs to have very good functional and some technical expertise to exercise this type of management style
Affiliate Style: In this style project manager is more friendly with the project team and also takes care of they needs including the career goals and personal needs. In most cases when the team has right set if technical and functional skills where the team needs very less guidance from the manager on the project delivery this style will fit aptly.
Democratic Style: In this style everyone in the team has a say in the project execution and planning. In this case to arrive at the proper project plan, it takes longer time as everyone in the team involves in the planning and at times its very hard to come to a conclusion when more than one people have different opinion.
Coaching Style: Any project Manager is required to play the role of coaching at some point in time of the project execution. This too comes along with democratic style where project manager encourages the project team even in their times of failure. This skill/style is more required when the project team is inexperienced and needs more hand holding.
We have gone through the different styles of project management, and its clearly visible that we may need to exercise different styles at different phases or times of projects. Depends on the complexity, maturity of the team, stakeholders we have to decide what type of style we should exercise..
Role of Project Manager
Role of Project Manager Vs Different Cases of Project Types
Here I would like to share some of the project management styles that would be effective in certain environments. We can consider some of the common project environments and what type of project management style will go well with those situations
1. Customer is well organized (Clear Scope, fixed time line & Efficient project Teams)
This is very ideal scenario however this may not the case in most cases but there is some challenge if the project team is not engaged well, there is high chance they will lose the interest which will damage the work. So in this type of environment Project Manager needs to be more organized and more people -centric to manager for the project to be successful as the focus needs to be there on the people more (in terms of engaging them well)
2. Difficult Customer (Scope changes, Demand fixed timeline & Efficient Project Teams)
This is most common scenario which we can see in most of cases. Here challenging part is stakeholder management and clear communication mechanism should be in place. In this case Project Manager needs to be commanding and have control over all the stakeholder to ensure that all commitments from different stakeholders are honored on time. All communications to be strictly followed and any deviation to be communicated and rebaseline accordingly upon the approval of the respective stakeholders
3. Difficult Customer (Scope changes, Demand fixed timeline & Unorganized Project Teams)
When both Customer and Project Teams are not as expected, then project manager’s role become even critical and Project Manager needs to implement almost all the project management principles strictly in all phases of project execution so that he/she can bring the predictability of the project to the stakeholders. So in this case for sure Project Manager needs to be trained in Project Management thoroughly to reduce the risk to the project.
img source: http://www.projectmanage.com/files/PM-certificate.jpg
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Here I would like to share some of the project management styles that would be effective in certain environments. We can consider some of the common project environments and what type of project management style will go well with those situations
1. Customer is well organized (Clear Scope, fixed time line & Efficient project Teams)
This is very ideal scenario however this may not the case in most cases but there is some challenge if the project team is not engaged well, there is high chance they will lose the interest which will damage the work. So in this type of environment Project Manager needs to be more organized and more people -centric to manager for the project to be successful as the focus needs to be there on the people more (in terms of engaging them well)
2. Difficult Customer (Scope changes, Demand fixed timeline & Efficient Project Teams)
This is most common scenario which we can see in most of cases. Here challenging part is stakeholder management and clear communication mechanism should be in place. In this case Project Manager needs to be commanding and have control over all the stakeholder to ensure that all commitments from different stakeholders are honored on time. All communications to be strictly followed and any deviation to be communicated and rebaseline accordingly upon the approval of the respective stakeholders
3. Difficult Customer (Scope changes, Demand fixed timeline & Unorganized Project Teams)
When both Customer and Project Teams are not as expected, then project manager’s role become even critical and Project Manager needs to implement almost all the project management principles strictly in all phases of project execution so that he/she can bring the predictability of the project to the stakeholders. So in this case for sure Project Manager needs to be trained in Project Management thoroughly to reduce the risk to the project.img source: http://www.projectmanage.com/
Are the curtains coming down on certification? NO
NO. The title was coined deliberately to draw your attention. But the layoff and downsizing news is all over the media, especially IT sector, and some in the industrial sector too. During the appraisal week, its no surprise to hear about the pink slips. No performers has a place in the team. Typical chopping off the deadwood. Some companies follow clearing of bottom 10-20 percent workforce, but the figures read in the media seem to bamboozle as the layoffs is by hundreds and thousands. Accept the fact the market has changed. It’s a buyers’ market, and talent alone is spotted. Rest is not even counted.
Companies strategize by shrinking the workforce to keep the focus on their talent pool. Companies are increasingly scrutinising their human capital to compete, especially, in niche technologies and that’s when the certifications from reputed governing bodies really make cut above the crew. There was a time, when hiring was made on a particular technology or expertise. So if you are good in conventional development particularly waterfall methodology, then the typical hunt is for the profile fitting the requirement. Nowadays, even the profiles needs the resume revived has to be mixed-bag. Will this resource help us for an agile based project since the experience weighs heavily on waterfall? And that’s why and where the certifications count. Mentioning experience in a particular stream of technology won’t suffice. You need to be accredited. And that gives you the recognition to be at least considered as a candidate. PMI has its own certifications, of which PMP is their flagship, but the PMI-ACP has gained traction these days to lend the stress on your agile expertise.
Now you might question why the ‘flavors’? These days, project managers are expected to code. The managing, leading, supervision is the very job description, but coding has also become the minimum expectation. If the project manager starts coding, who will manage the project? Its an interesting poser. The project manager will have to manage time as well to apportion some for coding. It is something added to the job profile. Unless you are proficient in coding, how will can you assess your team’ productivity, or even trouble shoot by rolling up the sleeves when needed.
Resources must be so flexible that they can be placed anywhere – doesn’t matter what is the technology. Be it java or dot net; be it water fall or agile; be it proprietary of open source. And the expectation set is very clear: the quality cannot be compromised, and the learning curve cannot be steep. Mostly, its on the job, or beforehand.
Its tough. Yes, it is. ‘when the going gets tough, the tough gets going’. So the shine of the verifications has not waned. In fact, it has become more of a necessity to possess, and the more you have, more are the chances for you to be identified and after that the interview process takes over. Even then, you will learn that all you spent in the time of certifications has made you more confident in facing the panel.
Good luck.
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Temperament – Tame Your Tongue | Human Resources Management
The tongue has no bones but it can break bones. You heard it before, now hear it again."Three things that never come back; the spent arrow, the spoken word and the lost opportunity” said William Gregory Paige. So we ought to be careful with the choice of words and its utterance as well. The tone and modality matters too.
At junior level, when cant brook no dissent, seniors must even be even more careful when wielding with words, a word spoken out of line can mar and make matters worse.
When tempers flare, this is expected when people of different opinions are around, even the put a leash to your tongue so that you don’t end putting your foot into your mouth.
An agreement that has be signed didn’t see the ink on its paper because there was a someone said something. Eventually, business suffers? People suffer.
In a fit of anger we throw a volley or words only to become remorseful for what was spoken cannot be swallowed not the hurt inflicted become can be reverted to normalcy. Something in life are irrevocable. At some point in time, we all have been guilty.
Recently a co-worker walked away because the superior screamed at her in full force on the floor with everyone watching. Human dignity won’t allow its self-respect to be stepped like a door mat. Collecting herself and whatever leftover on the table, she quit on the spot and walked out. That’s a typical lose-lose situation. She was a performer always ahead of her timeline and never failed to deliver, something she made or said sent spark flying and the senior manager just lost it. The composure crumbled like pieces of cookies. It would be unfair to say that a replacement is impossible after all no person or position indispensable. But when you are in a team, and develop a rapport build a reputation and there is chemistry when you know ell to count on the performer, find another one to fill that chair is just impossible. Let’s accept that.
You can do the ‘what went wrong’ will be more as post-mortem, but there are two bruised souls licking up their wounds, corporate or conglomerates – they are still humans bundled with emotions and touch a raw nerve and there is an explosion. In this case, had the superior handled with more care checking the temperament, that’s questionable, the firecrackers could have been avoided. Instead of giving into your emotions, rein in and even reason. The employee that walked was was someone on whom the company had invested time and money in the form training, mentoring, grooming and upskilling, and with one word that turned toxic, would torment the superior no end. Eventually, all things pass but some take quite a bit of time. Like the say there is light at the end of end of tunnel but no know how long is the tunnel. Like, this will pass but the timeline cant be put in days or hours.
To become a better you, take note of what gets you offended quickly and never go there or let it come to you.” ― Israelmore Ayivor, Become a Better You
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Quality Management - Six Sigma
Automation is almost everywhere, and head more in the IT sphere. Of course it started from there and soon spread to other industries. It wasn’t a question when they are introduced in software industry, especially in testing. It was more about the replacement skilled hands good at manual testing. No matter how good you are testing, there is a slack on everyone as the day wears out, human fatigue, wear and tear is all part of the daily rigor, but for a machine that’s lifeless and programmed to perform complex and complicated work, there is no such fatigue except the glitch, which the engineers anticipate, preempt before deploying into production.
There is flip side into automation but the benefits far overweigh manual testing and hence the job loss. With automation taking over as a technological drive, it was only a matter of time before manual testing would replace men with machines. That’s the reality and sooner one reconciles and find alternatives to stay relevant, and required there is less to worry about pink slips.
It is a technique that was devised way back in 1990s by two engineers working in Motorola to improve the quality by decreasing the numbers of errors that might occur. It is basically about identifying the causes of the errors, and systematically removing there errors, so that there will be not any recurrence. The quality engineer follows management methods based on experimentation and observation and analyse their findings through statistical methods.
The higher the probability of reducing the errors, then higher will the profitability to the organization. This was the underlying principle. This practice created a specialized pool of talented people who have an eye of detecting the flaws and direction solutions to fix.
They follow a step of methods that sequential in inspecting and identifying the defect to create a defect-free product. Statistically speaking 3.4 defective features per million opportunities means 99.99966% of all opportunities to produce some feature of a part that are free from defects. That is six sigma in a nut shell.
Six Sigma Green Belt Certification
Couresty:wiki
DPMO is Defect Per Million Opportunities. From the chart, it is evident the desired six sigma level is 6.
Along with the various level of identification came the expertise with in a person to handle six-sigma related projects and to evaluate their expertise, karate belts like yellow, black were used to identify the skillset of the six sigma professionals.
The Six Sigma Green Belt professionals are generally employees who are involved with maintenance of Six-Sigma as part of their job responsibilities. This does mean that this is their only job but one among many parts of their line of work. Six Sigma Certification Online is very much possible as training centers provide different modes of imparting knowledge transfer: Instructor-led Classroom, Instructor-Led Online Class and E-Learning.
There are many benefits of Sig Sigma testing, some of which are highlighted below:
Improved quality: when Motorola initiated in early 90s, it almost went unnoticed. Jack Welch made it popular when he announced the annual results and heads started turns to Six Sigma and more companies followed suit.
Increased ROI: As mentioned above, higher probability of reducing the errors leads to greater profitability to the organization.
Greater Customer Satisfaction: It’s a win-win where both the stakeholders are happy: the client and vendor.
Employee Recognition. The employees who worked in bringing the turnaround by tightly controlling the defects deserve due appreciation and accolade.
image courtesy: goo.gl/sfgsje
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Automation is almost everywhere, and head more in the IT sphere. Of course it started from there and soon spread to other industries. It wasn’t a question when they are introduced in software industry, especially in testing. It was more about the replacement skilled hands good at manual testing. No matter how good you are testing, there is a slack on everyone as the day wears out, human fatigue, wear and tear is all part of the daily rigor, but for a machine that’s lifeless and programmed to perform complex and complicated work, there is no such fatigue except the glitch, which the engineers anticipate, preempt before deploying into production.
There is flip side into automation but the benefits far overweigh manual testing and hence the job loss. With automation taking over as a technological drive, it was only a matter of time before manual testing would replace men with machines. That’s the reality and sooner one reconciles and find alternatives to stay relevant, and required there is less to worry about pink slips.
It is a technique that was devised way back in 1990s by two engineers working in Motorola to improve the quality by decreasing the numbers of errors that might occur. It is basically about identifying the causes of the errors, and systematically removing there errors, so that there will be not any recurrence. The quality engineer follows management methods based on experimentation and observation and analyse their findings through statistical methods.
The higher the probability of reducing the errors, then higher will the profitability to the organization. This was the underlying principle. This practice created a specialized pool of talented people who have an eye of detecting the flaws and direction solutions to fix.
They follow a step of methods that sequential in inspecting and identifying the defect to create a defect-free product. Statistically speaking 3.4 defective features per million opportunities means 99.99966% of all opportunities to produce some feature of a part that are free from defects. That is six sigma in a nut shell.
Six Sigma Green Belt Certification
Couresty:wiki
DPMO is Defect Per Million Opportunities. From the chart, it is evident the desired six sigma level is 6.
Along with the various level of identification came the expertise with in a person to handle six-sigma related projects and to evaluate their expertise, karate belts like yellow, black were used to identify the skillset of the six sigma professionals.
The Six Sigma Green Belt professionals are generally employees who are involved with maintenance of Six-Sigma as part of their job responsibilities. This does mean that this is their only job but one among many parts of their line of work. Six Sigma Certification Online is very much possible as training centers provide different modes of imparting knowledge transfer: Instructor-led Classroom, Instructor-Led Online Class and E-Learning.
There are many benefits of Sig Sigma testing, some of which are highlighted below:
Improved quality: when Motorola initiated in early 90s, it almost went unnoticed. Jack Welch made it popular when he announced the annual results and heads started turns to Six Sigma and more companies followed suit.
Increased ROI: As mentioned above, higher probability of reducing the errors leads to greater profitability to the organization.
Greater Customer Satisfaction: It’s a win-win where both the stakeholders are happy: the client and vendor.
Employee Recognition. The employees who worked in bringing the turnaround by tightly controlling the defects deserve due appreciation and accolade.
image courtesy: goo.gl/sfgsje
The Importance Of IT Service Management.
Does artificial intelligence fall under the ambit of IT services? Yes, so long they are used for IT related projects and programs. Automation is again big time in the software industry. Check out and you will find them more IT-services based.
Failed computer replaced during U.S. astronauts' spacewalk [source- Reuters]that doesn’t speak of IT Service Management? News like and a horde of such articles and news items in the public domain only stresses the importance of IT Service management.
Who will manage the IT Services?Of course, IT Service Management team, that could include IT System Managers, IT Administrators, System Administrators, IT Quality Specialists, IT Audit, IT System Analysts and Quality Control who are either responsible for streamlining the IT Systems or part of IT Service Management team, Quality Assurance teams responsible for software and infrastructure.
Who will manage the people handling IT Services?The reiteration IT Service management is because there is no sphere of our life which IT has not shaped up. IT is ubiquitous. It’s almost everywhere. So you need people who are skilled in managing and handling IT systems. The need for ITIL® Certifications is more as a test of competency and validation expertise in handling critical scenarios. IT Service setup can be simple or complicated, and more often not, the complexity varies in severity, and you can take it for granted that any IT System will be complex. Hence, most companies prefer skilled people with experience and rich expertise in entrusting the systems. Just like mirror servers, company don’t prefer to depend on any particular team, rather they prefer a mix of teams who can be deployed and pressed in to service should a situation warrant. This is the very reason why the ITIL® Certifications have gained prominence in the recent times as professionals start at foundation level and then move on to the intermediate modules – which can be either Lifecycle modules best suited for professional pursuing management of services and the other is capability modules, which is apt for professionals preferring the process, and the next level of certification is the MALC ( Managing Across the Lifecycle) and clearance will lead to ITIL Expert. So given the mix of management and process in the intermediate levels, companies also use a judicious mix of people capable of handling scenarios pertaining to management or process or both.
Who will maintain the IT Systems?It is an interesting poser. Maintenance of IT Systems need not be the same as the one managing the IT Systems. There can be a dedicated team exclusively for IT system maintenance. The prerequisites, qualifications, certification and validation in terms of capability and competency remain the same. Maintenance is a critical and crucial as managing. In case of any faulty issues or malfunction, troubleshooting will be taken care by the maintenance crew who are always on standby. Expecting the unexpected is a good maxim and mostly follow b all the companies that have deployed IT Systems. There is also a misconception that IT Systems pertains to the software industry. The perception should ‘wherever IT Systems are deployed’, it calls for managing and maintenance of IT Systems.
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Problem And Incident – Are They Same? | Problem Management
Problem is an unwelcome situation that has to be overcome. It is something we must deal, and solve. A solution that should purge the problem from persistence and recurrence.
Incident, is an occurrence. It’s more specific and confined to something that’s happening.
While problems and incident are different, the similarities lie in their potential to trigger trouble and difficulties in our scope of work. The hardships imposed could very unsettling.
Let’s gets both these terms in a project perspective.
Incident management and problem management are critical areas to be concentrated and contained for the smooth functioning, streamlining, and success of any project.
Incident in a project mostly refers to a particular happening. It can be at a task level to a module level, whereas problem can be across the project and same problem can be encountered in many phases and many parts of the project cycle.
Incident management and problem management are by itself exhaustive and quite complex. The severity may vary but every incident or problem calls for a thorough identification, analysis, solution and implementation. More than the fix, it’s even more important to avert recurrence. If there is Recurrence, then the fix or solution was only provisional and not a final resolution.
Incident managementThe primary aim is to identify the incidents which are adverse in its impact, develop the fix, test and deploy. If the incident severity is high, then the concerned stakeholders should be ‘on-call’ till issues is resolved. For sure, impact analysis will be conducted to ensure the fixes deployed are successful.
Problem management Problems ideally states that ‘system doesn’t work the way it has to’. So steps to recreate the problems will be enumerated to ascertain the validity and then identification of the root cause – using methods like fish-bone analysis etc., fix the bug (problem), conduct impact analysis, deliver and deploy.
Sometimes root cause of incidents can be a part of the problem and that’s how they are related.
You can get to understand more in-depth by enrolling for Project Management (PMP®) Courses.
For more details on PMP® Certification training course, click here.
You can also know more about PMP® Exam cost and how to apply online for your information, Project Management Professional (PMP)® is based on A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide) —Fifth Edition.
Courtesy of the banner image: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Ipb8Q7S0WTQ/hqdefault.jpg
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Topline is Talent
The HI-B visa creating a ruckus and protectionism playing it out in the front with full force, the parity in the pay that reckoned to be lopsided, the crunch now will be on the talent as the metric has been set for the minimum pay – be it native or foreign workers. Still, there exists a gap between the available with the desirable. The numbers simply don’t add up to it. The reason why foreign workers were hired was to offset the numbers. Jobs were there in numbers but hand were fewer. With the new change in hiring policy and severe clamp in the Hi-B policies mainly aiming to guard the interest of the citizen.
Alright, enough said about safeguarding jobs of residents. The question now would be “are you employable?” as one of the leading online education service provider, we regularly conduct boot camps, workshops and training mainly to equip the professionals/participants in enriching their knowledge base, and confidence level in order to become capable of becoming counted first as candidates and then crack the number of interview rounds to be make it on top as ‘employee’. The grind is difficult. Its talent alone that takes you to the top of the heap. Remember, there is no shortage of resume, it’s the skill that suffers a shortage. The demand-supply is always skewed and very rarely have we witnessed the demand surpassing the supply. More often, vacancies remain vacant for want of the right talent.
You are an amazing resource – just showcase it. Most of us are unaware of our true potential. Tap it. How will you when they are hidden. That’s when mentoring helps.
Consult . Especially the ones you respect and value their opinions.
Mentoring. Everyone needs a mentor. A guide to show the path and lead them on. Not everyone can become your mentor. There has to be a connect and chemistry, the one who earns your confidence and you repose faith in them to groom and guide you.
Identify your natural skills. The ones that comes to you naturally. May be writing is your forte, or painting or some sports. Every individual is gifted with some ability. It’s all about sighting and sprucing up. Remember, that’s your primary skill.
Whatever be your chosen field, unless you excel and exceed expectations, you talent remain unharnessed. Certifications help you to amplify your skills and , get the doors opened. Talent is what takes you further to the top.
we value your feedback and your comments are important to us. Please post it to info@icertglobal.com.
banner courtesy: goo.gl/oXTuNq
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The HI-B visa creating a ruckus and protectionism playing it out in the front with full force, the parity in the pay that reckoned to be lopsided, the crunch now will be on the talent as the metric has been set for the minimum pay – be it native or foreign workers. Still, there exists a gap between the available with the desirable. The numbers simply don’t add up to it. The reason why foreign workers were hired was to offset the numbers. Jobs were there in numbers but hand were fewer. With the new change in hiring policy and severe clamp in the Hi-B policies mainly aiming to guard the interest of the citizen.
Alright, enough said about safeguarding jobs of residents. The question now would be “are you employable?” as one of the leading online education service provider, we regularly conduct boot camps, workshops and training mainly to equip the professionals/participants in enriching their knowledge base, and confidence level in order to become capable of becoming counted first as candidates and then crack the number of interview rounds to be make it on top as ‘employee’. The grind is difficult. Its talent alone that takes you to the top of the heap. Remember, there is no shortage of resume, it’s the skill that suffers a shortage. The demand-supply is always skewed and very rarely have we witnessed the demand surpassing the supply. More often, vacancies remain vacant for want of the right talent.
You are an amazing resource – just showcase it. Most of us are unaware of our true potential. Tap it. How will you when they are hidden. That’s when mentoring helps.
Consult . Especially the ones you respect and value their opinions.
Mentoring. Everyone needs a mentor. A guide to show the path and lead them on. Not everyone can become your mentor. There has to be a connect and chemistry, the one who earns your confidence and you repose faith in them to groom and guide you.
Identify your natural skills. The ones that comes to you naturally. May be writing is your forte, or painting or some sports. Every individual is gifted with some ability. It’s all about sighting and sprucing up. Remember, that’s your primary skill.
Whatever be your chosen field, unless you excel and exceed expectations, you talent remain unharnessed. Certifications help you to amplify your skills and , get the doors opened. Talent is what takes you further to the top.
we value your feedback and your comments are important to us. Please post it to info@icertglobal.com.
banner courtesy: goo.gl/oXTuNq
Where the Differently-abled Deliver | iCertGlobal
By the time Beethoven was in his prime, he was deaf. What about the greatest music compositions? The innate abilities will somehow find its way.
The creations are unique and unequalled. That’s the beauty of life. Mortals can be so different. The law of nature is such that any shortcoming or deficit is made up in its own way.
I am reminded of the story when one night a blind boy walks beaming torch light in a dark lane. Two boys who happen to walk that way guffaw “why are you lighting that torch when you can’t see?” The blind boy replies “the light is for you to see. I know this way well.” Stunned, that smirk on their faces was wiped off. That’s when they realized their stupidity and respected the blind boy.
How many of us think street-smart till someone physically challenged humbles us with their human dignity. Remember Hellen Keller’s emotional outpour “I cried because I had no shoes until I met a man who had no feet”. It’s awe-inspiring. Every individual is incredibly talented.
In this company where I work, the most incredible and impressive aspect are the opportunities provided for the “Differently-abled’ people. I shook hands with that new face and question about his native and he responded through gestures and sound “I have hearing problem and speech too” and for a moment I stood there transfixed. I warmly shook his hands and mouthed a “pleasure meeting you” and never miss to greet him whenever our paths cross.
When the CEO announced the top performer for the month, , it was that person who went to collect the gift and certificate from the CEO and beamed me huge smile flashing a V sign. Moments like that can make one emotional. Oh yes, I was incredibly happy for him. Despite the physical difficulties. the sheer courage to overcome and become one among the equals. Call it fortitude. That moment of glory is frozen in my memory. They have to complete like any of the employees. My HR confided that we have many such ‘professionals’, An individual career path is carved and can carry oneself with pride as being ‘specially and significantly’ abled. And deliver too.
I was reminded someone saying “life is like a chess board. We cannot get into a white square without crossing the black”. Pearls of wisdom from all the corners of this place that enlighten me and continue to do so.
You don’t have to enlisted in the fortune 500 or rake in millions as turnover. In a small way, you still contribute to the society by hiring people who are ‘specially-abled’ and qualify to be recruited. To me this wasn’t just benevolence or CSR, but very noble to ’have such a heart’ to that you don’t have to big shot in business – just a big heart will do. Awesome!!!
And the company I am associated is iCertGlobal.
Divya works as Business Manager, and is actively involved with NGOS and charitable institutions. Divya actively contributes to our blogs .She loves arts, music and fond of street-food.
the image on the banner is courtesy : https://successtrogendotcom.files.wordpress.com/2016/05/clapping-hands-6.jpg
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By the time Beethoven was in his prime, he was deaf. What about the greatest music compositions? The innate abilities will somehow find its way.
The creations are unique and unequalled. That’s the beauty of life. Mortals can be so different. The law of nature is such that any shortcoming or deficit is made up in its own way.
I am reminded of the story when one night a blind boy walks beaming torch light in a dark lane. Two boys who happen to walk that way guffaw “why are you lighting that torch when you can’t see?” The blind boy replies “the light is for you to see. I know this way well.” Stunned, that smirk on their faces was wiped off. That’s when they realized their stupidity and respected the blind boy.
How many of us think street-smart till someone physically challenged humbles us with their human dignity. Remember Hellen Keller’s emotional outpour “I cried because I had no shoes until I met a man who had no feet”. It’s awe-inspiring. Every individual is incredibly talented.
In this company where I work, the most incredible and impressive aspect are the opportunities provided for the “Differently-abled’ people. I shook hands with that new face and question about his native and he responded through gestures and sound “I have hearing problem and speech too” and for a moment I stood there transfixed. I warmly shook his hands and mouthed a “pleasure meeting you” and never miss to greet him whenever our paths cross.
When the CEO announced the top performer for the month, , it was that person who went to collect the gift and certificate from the CEO and beamed me huge smile flashing a V sign. Moments like that can make one emotional. Oh yes, I was incredibly happy for him. Despite the physical difficulties. the sheer courage to overcome and become one among the equals. Call it fortitude. That moment of glory is frozen in my memory. They have to complete like any of the employees. My HR confided that we have many such ‘professionals’, An individual career path is carved and can carry oneself with pride as being ‘specially and significantly’ abled. And deliver too.
I was reminded someone saying “life is like a chess board. We cannot get into a white square without crossing the black”. Pearls of wisdom from all the corners of this place that enlighten me and continue to do so.
You don’t have to enlisted in the fortune 500 or rake in millions as turnover. In a small way, you still contribute to the society by hiring people who are ‘specially-abled’ and qualify to be recruited. To me this wasn’t just benevolence or CSR, but very noble to ’have such a heart’ to that you don’t have to big shot in business – just a big heart will do. Awesome!!!
And the company I am associated is iCertGlobal.
Divya works as Business Manager, and is actively involved with NGOS and charitable institutions. Divya actively contributes to our blogs .She loves arts, music and fond of street-food.
Get Certified. Get PMP®. Gain the Edge.
The certification is no assurance of a ‘job in waiting with wings spread wide’ and not a down or flip side of certification –its ground reality. Surely and certainly, PMP® does equip you with the knowledge considered essential and emboldens with a positive spirit to take the ‘corporate bull by its horn’. Given a choice would you want to flaunt your certification or your crazy pay check with incredible numbers? My take? Simple: a judicious mix of both. It’s left to the discretion of the individual in the given circumstances to highlight which but there have compelling circumstances with dire straits in trying to cloak the pay over post. Market sentiments reek stronger of the smell that emanates when one reads headline as like ‘Certified PMPs earn 25% more than non-PMPs*. It can be dismissed as subjective bereft of substance but the market seems to buy that by gorging the plate dirt clean with no leftover. Such is the frenzy with respondents react in this space that any such comparison is lapped and when numeric data are inserted to drive home the message, the market feeds on it and never dumps.
Possessing a certification in not just a cosmetic facelift; it’s all about cognizance. It stamps your understanding of PMP concept in measurable data good enough for interpretation and thereby allows validation of your profile that’s close to correct. Globally recognized and demanded, the PMP® certification course is an accreditation clearly demonstrates you have the experience, education and competency to lead, manage and direct projects. PMP is a definite differentiating factor to distinguish you from peers. Very seldom an advertisement these days is placed without mentioning PMP as a mandate of skill and talent acquisition. A certified professional earns for sure 10k dollars more as compared to an uncertified one. You are better with it than without.
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Attrition Has Never Been An Issue To This EdTech Company - iCertGlobal
People are leaving. Dropping off like nine pins. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, stating he the people who quit was at 2.2% which translates to 3.22 million Americans. The highest seen since February 2001.
Does it impact the companies when employees leave? It depends on who is leaving. If it is a top performer, then it might rock the boat
No Scarcity In Skills
iCertGlobal has faced a number of challenges, but never struggled with talent erosion. The ability to anticipate and manage expectations is one of its cornerstones. The company has risen in headcount steadily – not in leaps and bounds, but steady growth, just as their bottom line. “From that simple set-up with few heads” acknowledged their CEO Irfan Sharief “to where we stand today, I would say we have grown in numbers, increased our technology space but never compromised on core principles.”
Attrition Low. So what’s the big deal? That speaks a lot that fails to meet the eye. For an industry that’s known for poaching talent, it speaks a lot about the stability of the company.
It’s not a story by luck or chance that a company is started and survives and thrives in the digital transformation age when competition is fierce and you need to more than firefighting tactics. It’s one of audacity and ambition.
So, the challenge always is to enroll the employees in your mission. Unless, there is a buy-in from the staff, things will stall.
Pay, Passion, Or Profession
Why do employees stay or quit? The same reason can be cited for staying or leaving – the corporate culture, may be suiting or stifling. Again, subjective. The likes and dislikes vary from person to person. As a professional, what drives you to work? Pay, passion, policies, principle, or perks or any other factor. It could also be the same for you to stick on. It may be difficult to pinpoint. It is imperative to retain key talent. Looking at workforce, some have chosen to stay since inception.remain since inception.
What makes them stay? This is a place wherein every hand is ‘deemed’ indispensable and the philosophy of the ‘leader is as good as the team” is perfectly embodied in spirit and letter.
The vision is to reach out to everyone wanting education – the level doesn’t matter. It’s the willingness to learn. One of the reasons to switch the knowledge transfer to electronic mode apart from connectivity is cost. When education became expensive, affordability raised too many concerns and the drop-out rate increased. To curb this drop rate and encourage to enrol, e-Learning met many objectives. It was swift in reach, affordable in cost, and powerful as a platform. And who will deliver them? Not robots? So, it becomes even more important to retain the staff. Never undermine the check on attrition. When you take care of your employees, they will take care of business.
image courtesy: goo.gl/KnjbPz
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People are leaving. Dropping off like nine pins. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, stating he the people who quit was at 2.2% which translates to 3.22 million Americans. The highest seen since February 2001.
Does it impact the companies when employees leave? It depends on who is leaving. If it is a top performer, then it might rock the boat
No Scarcity In Skills
iCertGlobal has faced a number of challenges, but never struggled with talent erosion. The ability to anticipate and manage expectations is one of its cornerstones. The company has risen in headcount steadily – not in leaps and bounds, but steady growth, just as their bottom line. “From that simple set-up with few heads” acknowledged their CEO Irfan Sharief “to where we stand today, I would say we have grown in numbers, increased our technology space but never compromised on core principles.”
Attrition Low. So what’s the big deal? That speaks a lot that fails to meet the eye. For an industry that’s known for poaching talent, it speaks a lot about the stability of the company.
It’s not a story by luck or chance that a company is started and survives and thrives in the digital transformation age when competition is fierce and you need to more than firefighting tactics. It’s one of audacity and ambition.
So, the challenge always is to enroll the employees in your mission. Unless, there is a buy-in from the staff, things will stall.
Pay, Passion, Or Profession
Why do employees stay or quit? The same reason can be cited for staying or leaving – the corporate culture, may be suiting or stifling. Again, subjective. The likes and dislikes vary from person to person. As a professional, what drives you to work? Pay, passion, policies, principle, or perks or any other factor. It could also be the same for you to stick on. It may be difficult to pinpoint. It is imperative to retain key talent. Looking at workforce, some have chosen to stay since inception.remain since inception.
What makes them stay? This is a place wherein every hand is ‘deemed’ indispensable and the philosophy of the ‘leader is as good as the team” is perfectly embodied in spirit and letter.
iCertGlobal wins Business Leadership Award | Success Story
An award — for the Accomplishment
iCertGlobal was back in the news bagging their second award in the year.
During the International Achievers Summit, 2017, convened last week, iCertGlobal was awarded the Business Leadership for their outstanding contribution towards progress and development in the educational segment. The selection committee for the award included the Chairman-ASEAN Affairs, Thailand, President-IB Alliance, Russia, Vice-Chairman, Indo-American of Commerce (IACC). iCertGlobal emerged as the winner after a close scrutiny in terms of excellence in commitment, market strategy, business potential, financial stability, innovation and leadership outclassing its peers and rivals.
As one of the thought leaders and pioneers in Edtech Industry, iCertGlobal was acknowledged for its influence and involvement in shaping the career of many professionals by its dedicated drive to up-skill and thereby close the skill gap.
“The Business Leadership Award by the International Achievers Summit is a telling testimony of iCertGlobal’s outstanding performance and contribution in augmenting and enhancing soft skills of professionals in the region.”
Participating in the event that was graced with Diplomats, leading lights from various industries, other dignitaries and hundreds of delegates, Irfan Sharief remarked “we need to reinvent constantly and continuously, to stay relevant in this market where people compete for mindshare. We are pleased to receive the award and humbled by the recognition. It will be an honor in carrying the expectations forward.”
iCertGlobal, is one of the leading professional certification training providers, offering several programs to corporate and consumers. Based out of Houston, Texas, US, and operations in UK, Australia, APAC and India, iCertGlobal has a global imprint across the globe.
Microsoft, one of the major corporate, among many has partnered with iCertGlobal in recent times for nurturing more talents.
Success Streak
When queried for the success in winning this award, Irfan remarked “we have upgraded from traditional teaching to technology backed learning, but offer the choice to the customer to decide on the mode. As compared to the physical learning and current training, there exists a huge gap. Our job is to bridge. From classroom training to eLearning and then Instructor led Live Virtual classes, the customer has many a choice. Be it blended or dedicated mode, we strive to offer the best and scale as much as we can by staying competitive in cost, and to pass on the benefits to our customers. It has been a rewarding experience so far as we have never stopped in our efforts to strive and scale.”
iCertGlobal conducts professional trainings on varied and diverse list from Project Management, Service Management, Quality Management, Agile & Scrum and Niche technologies. They are active in both B2B (Business to Business) and B2C (Business to Consumers) models, and successfully trained more than 75,000 professionals with more than 3,000,000 quality hours of active training, spread across strategic locations like Malaysia, Singapore, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Saudi Arabia, India, Australia, UK and US.
Irfan further asserts “our charts have climbed ever since commencing operation in 2013. We have seen variations in some regions, and managed to keep the sales steadily rise up. We never saw any slump so far. “
Some insights about iCertGlobal
About The Company
Website:www.icertglobal.com — — -Industry: EdTech Services
US Headquarters: Houston, Texas — Growth: up by 200%
Headcount :up by 300% — — — — — No of Trainers:300
No of SME 200 — — — — — — — — — Founded:2013
‘What lies ahead of Successful run ‘
“Huge opportunities” noted Irfan.
Reminiscing the time of start, Irfan walked down memory lane “there are newcomers in the market with soaring ambitions. And that’s inevitable. Just the way we started, there will be new faces trying to explore. Today, the customers are spoilt for choice, and competition is real hard to outrun and outclass. So, it’s all about digging deeper and harder to keep pace with the changing expectations. What the customer want yesterday, may not remain the same this day. So in such a dynamic and volatile environment, one can’t be complacent. So to be successful, treat every day as special and significant. Keep igniting yourself with innovation in customer service. That is the edge. That zeal and passion should never waver or lower. It might be trite but so long you compete with the best, burning as much energy and enthusiasm, we can be successful.” iCertGlobal has posted remarkable growth year on year. On a concluding note, Irfan stressed “customer service is undergoing a paradigm shift. From my experience, it looks like the finish has been redrawn upfront to the pre-sales. You need to convince the client about your capabilities and move forward together. That’s the way ahead.”
About the Award
Achievers’ World Excellence Awards
There are people in the society for whom circumstances, lack of resources and setbacks are no hurdles. These individuals are people of strong will and dedication. Despite all odds, these champions polish their lives so much in their field of interest that they stand apart in society. Having achieved great heights in their respective domains, these individuals need to be encouraged, hence Achievers’ World Excellence Awards.
Read More
An award — for the Accomplishment
iCertGlobal was back in the news bagging their second award in the year.
During the International Achievers Summit, 2017, convened last week, iCertGlobal was awarded the Business Leadership for their outstanding contribution towards progress and development in the educational segment. The selection committee for the award included the Chairman-ASEAN Affairs, Thailand, President-IB Alliance, Russia, Vice-Chairman, Indo-American of Commerce (IACC). iCertGlobal emerged as the winner after a close scrutiny in terms of excellence in commitment, market strategy, business potential, financial stability, innovation and leadership outclassing its peers and rivals.
As one of the thought leaders and pioneers in Edtech Industry, iCertGlobal was acknowledged for its influence and involvement in shaping the career of many professionals by its dedicated drive to up-skill and thereby close the skill gap.
“The Business Leadership Award by the International Achievers Summit is a telling testimony of iCertGlobal’s outstanding performance and contribution in augmenting and enhancing soft skills of professionals in the region.”
Participating in the event that was graced with Diplomats, leading lights from various industries, other dignitaries and hundreds of delegates, Irfan Sharief remarked “we need to reinvent constantly and continuously, to stay relevant in this market where people compete for mindshare. We are pleased to receive the award and humbled by the recognition. It will be an honor in carrying the expectations forward.”
iCertGlobal, is one of the leading professional certification training providers, offering several programs to corporate and consumers. Based out of Houston, Texas, US, and operations in UK, Australia, APAC and India, iCertGlobal has a global imprint across the globe.
Microsoft, one of the major corporate, among many has partnered with iCertGlobal in recent times for nurturing more talents.
Success Streak
When queried for the success in winning this award, Irfan remarked “we have upgraded from traditional teaching to technology backed learning, but offer the choice to the customer to decide on the mode. As compared to the physical learning and current training, there exists a huge gap. Our job is to bridge. From classroom training to eLearning and then Instructor led Live Virtual classes, the customer has many a choice. Be it blended or dedicated mode, we strive to offer the best and scale as much as we can by staying competitive in cost, and to pass on the benefits to our customers. It has been a rewarding experience so far as we have never stopped in our efforts to strive and scale.”
iCertGlobal conducts professional trainings on varied and diverse list from Project Management, Service Management, Quality Management, Agile & Scrum and Niche technologies. They are active in both B2B (Business to Business) and B2C (Business to Consumers) models, and successfully trained more than 75,000 professionals with more than 3,000,000 quality hours of active training, spread across strategic locations like Malaysia, Singapore, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Saudi Arabia, India, Australia, UK and US.
Irfan further asserts “our charts have climbed ever since commencing operation in 2013. We have seen variations in some regions, and managed to keep the sales steadily rise up. We never saw any slump so far. “
Some insights about iCertGlobal
About The Company
Website:www.icertglobal.com — — -Industry: EdTech Services
US Headquarters: Houston, Texas — Growth: up by 200%
Headcount :up by 300% — — — — — No of Trainers:300
No of SME 200 — — — — — — — — — Founded:2013
‘What lies ahead of Successful run ‘
“Huge opportunities” noted Irfan.
Reminiscing the time of start, Irfan walked down memory lane “there are newcomers in the market with soaring ambitions. And that’s inevitable. Just the way we started, there will be new faces trying to explore. Today, the customers are spoilt for choice, and competition is real hard to outrun and outclass. So, it’s all about digging deeper and harder to keep pace with the changing expectations. What the customer want yesterday, may not remain the same this day. So in such a dynamic and volatile environment, one can’t be complacent. So to be successful, treat every day as special and significant. Keep igniting yourself with innovation in customer service. That is the edge. That zeal and passion should never waver or lower. It might be trite but so long you compete with the best, burning as much energy and enthusiasm, we can be successful.” iCertGlobal has posted remarkable growth year on year. On a concluding note, Irfan stressed “customer service is undergoing a paradigm shift. From my experience, it looks like the finish has been redrawn upfront to the pre-sales. You need to convince the client about your capabilities and move forward together. That’s the way ahead.”
About the Award
Achievers’ World Excellence Awards
There are people in the society for whom circumstances, lack of resources and setbacks are no hurdles. These individuals are people of strong will and dedication. Despite all odds, these champions polish their lives so much in their field of interest that they stand apart in society. Having achieved great heights in their respective domains, these individuals need to be encouraged, hence Achievers’ World Excellence Awards.
Classroom Training Is Still Required And Relevant? What Do You Say?
The technology outreach is phenomenon today. In every sphere of life, there is impact of technology. That probably could spell the sophistication in learning approach and mode.
Nowadays, individual and more companies and corporate switching to online mode in training and knowledge transfer. all the more reason to leverage technology and its benefits. So given all the advantages, the need for more traditional learning is losing its touch? This point is subject to debate and deliberation. Why do we have classroom training still?
Have you stopped using a pen or pad?
Seriously. This is not some data point. If you look around, have we disposed all stationery? With the advent of touch-pads and novel laptops with touch-enabled screens, there is no need of pens. Why then pens around? The answer is obvious – a matter of convenience and reach. The classroom setting makes sense in some cases – what happens if the internet is down or beyond reach? Why do you need online classes when the team can be assembled in a room? Besides, the tutor-led instructional set-up is more conducive for brainstorming, sharing and dissemination knowledge. Learning can be different – with different kind of people.
Competitions compliments coaching
The positives of classroom training are the infusion a competitive streak, which is identified as healthy as it promotes learning. Constructive criticism is welcome. Where there is scope to exchange ideas and deliberate on thoughts, won’t you agree it is healthier? Only when you are challenged, can you expect real growth.
‘The more things change, the more they stay the same.’
It is a French quote by Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr, which is true in this context. So much has changed with regard to learning but the fundamental aspect of classroom still remains relevant. There is a need to retrain on new tools or learn new skills in the digital disruption. Agreed. But has technology good enough to do away with classroom? No, if at all, there is virtual classroom. Why? The system is hard to replace. We still need a white board for discussion and analysis. it is hard to dispense with the essentials. One doesn’t wish to tamper the time tested mode. May be chalk is replaced with marker, and white board to smart board. Call that incremental innovation, in terms of technological advances.
From generations to millennial to centennial, the system has preserved and persisted using conventional classroom mode for education, Man has witnessed the agricultural and industrial revolution and stands witness to scientific upheaval. And with time, moved along the changes. Some, though, remains.
image courtesy: goo.gl/xPgsnP
Read More
Nowadays, individual and more companies and corporate switching to online mode in training and knowledge transfer. all the more reason to leverage technology and its benefits. So given all the advantages, the need for more traditional learning is losing its touch? This point is subject to debate and deliberation. Why do we have classroom training still?
Have you stopped using a pen or pad?
Seriously. This is not some data point. If you look around, have we disposed all stationery? With the advent of touch-pads and novel laptops with touch-enabled screens, there is no need of pens. Why then pens around? The answer is obvious – a matter of convenience and reach. The classroom setting makes sense in some cases – what happens if the internet is down or beyond reach? Why do you need online classes when the team can be assembled in a room? Besides, the tutor-led instructional set-up is more conducive for brainstorming, sharing and dissemination knowledge. Learning can be different – with different kind of people.
Competitions compliments coaching
The positives of classroom training are the infusion a competitive streak, which is identified as healthy as it promotes learning. Constructive criticism is welcome. Where there is scope to exchange ideas and deliberate on thoughts, won’t you agree it is healthier? Only when you are challenged, can you expect real growth.
‘The more things change, the more they stay the same.’
It is a French quote by Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr, which is true in this context. So much has changed with regard to learning but the fundamental aspect of classroom still remains relevant. There is a need to retrain on new tools or learn new skills in the digital disruption. Agreed. But has technology good enough to do away with classroom? No, if at all, there is virtual classroom. Why? The system is hard to replace. We still need a white board for discussion and analysis. it is hard to dispense with the essentials. One doesn’t wish to tamper the time tested mode. May be chalk is replaced with marker, and white board to smart board. Call that incremental innovation, in terms of technological advances.
From generations to millennial to centennial, the system has preserved and persisted using conventional classroom mode for education, Man has witnessed the agricultural and industrial revolution and stands witness to scientific upheaval. And with time, moved along the changes. Some, though, remains.
image courtesy: goo.gl/xPgsnP
Learning And Learners Knowledge Management
Learning is for a lifetime. Learn from your mistakes. Learn, learn and learn. Do you ever stop listening to such suggestions or at times, sermons? Be it office or home, professional or personal, the aspect of learning never ceases. Unbeknown to us, don’t we learn? We do. But do we apply? That’s questionable. Take it from day-to-day life; there are many facets of learning. In fact, we are shocked at the level of our learning and also of ignorance. ‘My son’s sixth grade teaches me a lot many things which I didn’t know it existed’ remarked a colleague. ‘I was ignorant until this moment, but no more’, said another.
Learning Passionately
Some have never-quenching thirst to learn – willfully, without any constraints. They spend the time liking what they do - the kind of people who are passionate and take pride and personal ownership in their engagement. There is self-investment in the form of time, energy and other utilities. The one interested to learn won’t mind the investment. For the learned and informed are more equipped and well-prepared to make good of opportunities. In the best-seller, ‘Corner Office’, the same subject is taken up the author while asking some 700 leading CEOs about their success and the response amazingly was “passionate curiosity.”
There are the kinds that can view ‘failures’ as part of learning. Nothing succeeds like success but there can be no better trainer than failure. To take failure in your stride and move on with learning is the mark of an experienced mind. It is easier said than done. All it takes is just a stone to break the glass ceiling. There are many examples of the most successful when stricken with failure to fumble and fall down. And there are some who can still stand up and face it – the notables. Check with them and they will attribute learning as key takeaway.
“Man does not simply exist but always decides what his existence will be, what he will do in the next moment. By the same token, every human being has the freedom to change at any instant… One of the main features of human existence is the capacity to rise above [our] conditions, to grow beyond them.” -Victor Frankl
The Reluctant Learner
Not all have the same interest or inclination. Not all are interested in reading, which doesn’t discount their abilities. But there are some poor learners- failing to learn from mistakes and past experience. Some need to be enticed with incentives, for instance, ‘promotion’, ‘pay hike’ and other perks. Some companies, these days, are making it a mandate for working professionals to be ‘professionally certified’ to be ‘eligible’. Some companies make certification a prerequisite in screening resume – this type of pruning can be observed when there exists a skill gap, whereby the supply greatly exceeds the demand. For want of better profile, certification is set as a criterion, failing which you don’t make the cut. The typical carrot-on-top method employed by some companies is to ‘make them learn’ by enlisting for programs or become certified in some practices. PMP is one typical example for companies of repute to insist as a minimum requirement for their Project Managers or only hire those who are PMP certified.
To their defense, not all are reluctant. "Show me the space to allocate bandwidth for learning and I will gladly enrol." And to some extent, it cannot be denied that those wanting to pursue higher education or professional certification that might burn efforts, unless there is time to follow educational quest, 'how to' will dangle as a huge question. And that's fair an expectation and also proposition.
image courtesy: https://goo.gl/rHB14e
Read More
Learning is for a lifetime. Learn from your mistakes. Learn, learn and learn. Do you ever stop listening to such suggestions or at times, sermons? Be it office or home, professional or personal, the aspect of learning never ceases. Unbeknown to us, don’t we learn? We do. But do we apply? That’s questionable. Take it from day-to-day life; there are many facets of learning. In fact, we are shocked at the level of our learning and also of ignorance. ‘My son’s sixth grade teaches me a lot many things which I didn’t know it existed’ remarked a colleague. ‘I was ignorant until this moment, but no more’, said another.
Some have never-quenching thirst to learn – willfully, without any constraints. They spend the time liking what they do - the kind of people who are passionate and take pride and personal ownership in their engagement. There is self-investment in the form of time, energy and other utilities. The one interested to learn won’t mind the investment. For the learned and informed are more equipped and well-prepared to make good of opportunities. In the best-seller, ‘Corner Office’, the same subject is taken up the author while asking some 700 leading CEOs about their success and the response amazingly was “passionate curiosity.”
“Man does not simply exist but always decides what his existence will be, what he will do in the next moment. By the same token, every human being has the freedom to change at any instant… One of the main features of human existence is the capacity to rise above [our] conditions, to grow beyond them.” -Victor Frankl
The Reluctant Learner
Not all have the same interest or inclination. Not all are interested in reading, which doesn’t discount their abilities. But there are some poor learners- failing to learn from mistakes and past experience. Some need to be enticed with incentives, for instance, ‘promotion’, ‘pay hike’ and other perks. Some companies, these days, are making it a mandate for working professionals to be ‘professionally certified’ to be ‘eligible’. Some companies make certification a prerequisite in screening resume – this type of pruning can be observed when there exists a skill gap, whereby the supply greatly exceeds the demand. For want of better profile, certification is set as a criterion, failing which you don’t make the cut. The typical carrot-on-top method employed by some companies is to ‘make them learn’ by enlisting for programs or become certified in some practices. PMP is one typical example for companies of repute to insist as a minimum requirement for their Project Managers or only hire those who are PMP certified.
Turn the Threats to Opportunities Risk Management
Sometime back GE’ CEO hit headlines with a zinger that threw even the reader off the rails.”If you are joining the company in your 20s, unlike when I joined, you’re going to learn to code, "GE CEO Jeff Immelt wrote in a LinkedIn post on Thursday. "It doesn’t matter whether you are in sales, finance or operations. You may not end up being a programmer, but you will know how to code. We are also changing the plumbing inside the company to connect everyone and make the culture change possible. This is existential and we’re committed to this."
Become multi-skilled. Expand career options.
One can’t figure out the relevance of code with someone handling compensation or making cold calls in the hope of a prospect. How does coding propel a career in finance, HR or Sales? It’s hard to connect and yet the call is to ‘code.’ Is that a threat or opportunity? Look at the plus side; if you become competent to code, hailing from a finance background or pursuing a sales career, isn’t that a shot in the arm, with ‘soft skills” making your profile more sophisticated. Besides, in terms of career choice, you have more than one option. The choices presented upfront are just wide and varied. Turn that threat to an opportunity.
Don’t rely on one individual. Transition.
From newly found start-ups to deep grounded companies, this curse of leaving the core knowledge in the hands of very few, or someone reliable and then totally rely on that person is a paradox that remains unsolved till date. Can Manager code? It could be the pitch to the millennial, but from experience, can senior-level managers ask the programmers to move aside and start coding? Then who will manage?
Some of the tools and even languages that were potent and popular during their times have either faded or obliterated, distanced or disappeared. You don’t get to hear about BASIC or FORTRAN or Pascal. Where are they today? They had their hour of glory, shone in limelight and stepped offstage for some other language to become prominent. The show goes on; the actors change and so does the costume.
Besides, Managers have a higher calling than coding. They have to manage overruns and burn rate, keep cost within budget, cope with scope, rein risk and always an eye on the bottom-line. Leaders are expected to extract the best/optimal outcome from the team. Lead the team with strategic vision. As long as leader keeps their next level or second-in-command motivated to take care of things, they can focus on other responsibilities.
Today Leadership is about connecting with everyone and not the peers and reporting heads. That aside, isn’t it a threat to depend on someone or identified few? Over-dependence or too much reliance is harmful to the interest of any organization. It is a threat. Pooling all information in one server or maintaining multiple mirror servers spread across different geographical locations so that they will come in handy should one server crash - which makes more sense? Knowledge in the hands of one or concentrated few is a serious threat. To mitigate this threat, start transitioning. Disseminate. Distribute. Decentralize.
image courtesy:goo.gl/xYdeKD
Read More
Become multi-skilled. Expand career options.
One can’t figure out the relevance of code with someone handling compensation or making cold calls in the hope of a prospect. How does coding propel a career in finance, HR or Sales? It’s hard to connect and yet the call is to ‘code.’ Is that a threat or opportunity? Look at the plus side; if you become competent to code, hailing from a finance background or pursuing a sales career, isn’t that a shot in the arm, with ‘soft skills” making your profile more sophisticated. Besides, in terms of career choice, you have more than one option. The choices presented upfront are just wide and varied. Turn that threat to an opportunity.
Don’t rely on one individual. Transition.
From newly found start-ups to deep grounded companies, this curse of leaving the core knowledge in the hands of very few, or someone reliable and then totally rely on that person is a paradox that remains unsolved till date. Can Manager code? It could be the pitch to the millennial, but from experience, can senior-level managers ask the programmers to move aside and start coding? Then who will manage?
Some of the tools and even languages that were potent and popular during their times have either faded or obliterated, distanced or disappeared. You don’t get to hear about BASIC or FORTRAN or Pascal. Where are they today? They had their hour of glory, shone in limelight and stepped offstage for some other language to become prominent. The show goes on; the actors change and so does the costume.
Besides, Managers have a higher calling than coding. They have to manage overruns and burn rate, keep cost within budget, cope with scope, rein risk and always an eye on the bottom-line. Leaders are expected to extract the best/optimal outcome from the team. Lead the team with strategic vision. As long as leader keeps their next level or second-in-command motivated to take care of things, they can focus on other responsibilities.
Today Leadership is about connecting with everyone and not the peers and reporting heads. That aside, isn’t it a threat to depend on someone or identified few? Over-dependence or too much reliance is harmful to the interest of any organization. It is a threat. Pooling all information in one server or maintaining multiple mirror servers spread across different geographical locations so that they will come in handy should one server crash - which makes more sense? Knowledge in the hands of one or concentrated few is a serious threat. To mitigate this threat, start transitioning. Disseminate. Distribute. Decentralize.
image courtesy:goo.gl/xYdeKD
Let Us Agree To Disagree Stakeholder Management
Disagreements can turn toxic. Those who are confrontational by nature tend to handle disagreements differently and that usually is far from friendly. How do you handle disagreements?
It can be a clash of ego when emotions run high and are not kept in check, resulting in aggression and confrontation, which can be potentially disastrous. How do you handle confrontations?
The best way to avert the head-on collision is to avoid the collision. Many a seasoned HRs would advise on the ‘discussion and dialogue’ mode, rather than ‘returning the fire’. One HR opined, “Confrontation takes you nowhere and leaves those involved with heartburn that’s going to take some time to heal. Instead resort to conversation which doesn’t get heated as altercation. There is a fine line between conversation and argument. Debate is encouraged and so is deliberation. Those who tend to be too argumentative are going to making things difficult for themselves and those around them."
Find resolution; not reasons to justify.
Meetings with pain points can drag on and on for hours together tossing back and forth with both parties either reasoning why ‘they are right” or typical cat fight to clamor for the attention. The lie when uttered the loudest becomes the truth kind of maxim. Don’t turn meetings to shouting matches, instead gain control and aim for closure at the earliest possible. If you don’t have the authority to take decisions, then collect data points and carry the conversation assuring action by escalating to the next level. There is always a way – when you are composed and collected unwilling to pick a fight, how can someone start a fight? Experience plays a critical role as profiling of employees is possible to a mature professional. They know how to give and take; accede and agree; identify common ground and settle as well. Typical trade-off.
Negotiate, but don’t negate.
What is meant by trade-off? Go for a win-win situation. Sometimes, the employee might be a valued asset and hence losing will not be a profitable proposition. In such cases, companies do tend to go for the mutually settlement whereby both the interests' are protected. There is no need to negate the grievance; hear it out and if and where possible, negotiate. And outright rejection is refusal to entertain any request or remedy.
Leave room for Disagreement
The work place is made up of people, not puppets pulled by strings. So as individuals, everyone is entitled to their opinion and its highly likely there might exist difference in opinion. A progressive culture will call for debate and disagreements. If dissent is the essence of democracy, then disagreements should be heard and sorted. Sweeping aside or dismissing those disagreeing would make the culture regressive, suffocative and stifling. Everyone must feel that they have a voice – which may agree or disagree with the views/opinions presented. You can’t force someone to think on the same lines as you do, and you can’t be always right, and neither can you force someone to think right. Agreeing to disagree is a challenge and you better be up to it, if you want to be successful in whatever you are engaged.
Honest disagreement is often a good sign of progress. - Mahatma Gandhi
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It can be a clash of ego when emotions run high and are not kept in check, resulting in aggression and confrontation, which can be potentially disastrous. How do you handle confrontations?
The best way to avert the head-on collision is to avoid the collision. Many a seasoned HRs would advise on the ‘discussion and dialogue’ mode, rather than ‘returning the fire’. One HR opined, “Confrontation takes you nowhere and leaves those involved with heartburn that’s going to take some time to heal. Instead resort to conversation which doesn’t get heated as altercation. There is a fine line between conversation and argument. Debate is encouraged and so is deliberation. Those who tend to be too argumentative are going to making things difficult for themselves and those around them."
Find resolution; not reasons to justify.
Meetings with pain points can drag on and on for hours together tossing back and forth with both parties either reasoning why ‘they are right” or typical cat fight to clamor for the attention. The lie when uttered the loudest becomes the truth kind of maxim. Don’t turn meetings to shouting matches, instead gain control and aim for closure at the earliest possible. If you don’t have the authority to take decisions, then collect data points and carry the conversation assuring action by escalating to the next level. There is always a way – when you are composed and collected unwilling to pick a fight, how can someone start a fight? Experience plays a critical role as profiling of employees is possible to a mature professional. They know how to give and take; accede and agree; identify common ground and settle as well. Typical trade-off.
Negotiate, but don’t negate.
What is meant by trade-off? Go for a win-win situation. Sometimes, the employee might be a valued asset and hence losing will not be a profitable proposition. In such cases, companies do tend to go for the mutually settlement whereby both the interests' are protected. There is no need to negate the grievance; hear it out and if and where possible, negotiate. And outright rejection is refusal to entertain any request or remedy.
Leave room for Disagreement
The work place is made up of people, not puppets pulled by strings. So as individuals, everyone is entitled to their opinion and its highly likely there might exist difference in opinion. A progressive culture will call for debate and disagreements. If dissent is the essence of democracy, then disagreements should be heard and sorted. Sweeping aside or dismissing those disagreeing would make the culture regressive, suffocative and stifling. Everyone must feel that they have a voice – which may agree or disagree with the views/opinions presented. You can’t force someone to think on the same lines as you do, and you can’t be always right, and neither can you force someone to think right. Agreeing to disagree is a challenge and you better be up to it, if you want to be successful in whatever you are engaged.
Honest disagreement is often a good sign of progress. - Mahatma Gandhi
As an Employee What Are The Returns On Your Investment ROI To The Company Stakeholder Management
You draw salary ever month, right? how it is accounted? as CTC – cost to the company. Everything comes at a cost. Be it a server or computers – all of these fixed assets or movable assets come at a cost. What about human assets? Of course, they come at a cost. But expensive as compared to any other.
As employees, there are so many expectations. Likewise, the employer too harbours much from the workforce. Harmony is when both the expectations are met. In many cases employees whine about a lot many things – some just need the perfect excuse to complain and the whining begins, and at times never ends.
When things are not to your satisfaction, accept and adapt.
Human psyche is such that nothing satisfies – ‘when one need is meet, another crops’- Maslow’s law and very much applicable in all places. We don’t live in a perfect world. So expecting a Utopian set-up is worse than wishful thing or simply aid ‘unrealistic’. From a small startup to established behemoth, there are always possibilities for people to complain.
Always contribute more than your job description.
When you work to your true potential, you can do more than that’s specified in the Job Description. Meeting expectation is breakeven. You are compensated to the services rendered and company CTC is justified. No loss. No gain. When the equation does become beneficial? When your contribution becomes more in scope and involvement on a higher scale.
Widen your horizon and Broaden your Base.
When do you, as an employee, exceed expectation? When you complete tasks ahead of time; when you rise far and above to the call of your duty; when you go out your way to accommodate more work. But if you are comfortable doing the same job, then get out of the comfort zone as you tend to become complacent and soon a replacement to fill you slot will be lookout.
Wear Multiple Hats and Multi-task.
The demand versus supply is skewed. The competition is cut-throat. The more skilled and more ways of skilled will make you outstanding. Now complementing a ‘specialist’ role with ‘add-ons’ draws more eyeballs as end of the day, like it or not, companies do tend to question ‘what more do I get from this resource?”. It was about primary and secondary skills. Since the competition has intensified, so have the expectations. So how many primary skills and how many secondary skills are calibrated by the recruiter in terms of proficiency: elementary, Limited Working, Professional Working, and Full Professional working. These metrics are just a sample and companies have their own systems of measurement to score marks for profiling. The more, the better are your chances to get past screening to selection.
The Budget on you should not become a burden.
The company apportions budget on its requirement. Spending on salaries is huge slice of the pie as it’s a recurring cost. The investment of other things can be a one-time or yearly (like renewals) but salaries are paid monthly. So unless, there is appreciable returns from the employee’s output companies will start bleeding and remain in red. Forget breakeven, the company is headed towards loss.
So what are we driving at?
Since you, as an employee, come at a cost, ensure your returns to the company IS ALWAYS HIGHER, else you become a liability. All those trainings and workshops and knowledge sharing are meant to shape you up for stellar performance, and the when you fail to deliver, what happens to the investment on you? Many companies ask such employees to leave or quit, and they come out and crib as ‘injustice’ without justifying their cost to the company. Increase you value-add. Become the game changer. Bring more to the table. Do more. Let your action-items increase in number, and add to the revenue.
image courtesy: goo.gl/Nwerpc
Read More
You draw salary ever month, right? how it is accounted? as CTC – cost to the company. Everything comes at a cost. Be it a server or computers – all of these fixed assets or movable assets come at a cost. What about human assets? Of course, they come at a cost. But expensive as compared to any other.
As employees, there are so many expectations. Likewise, the employer too harbours much from the workforce. Harmony is when both the expectations are met. In many cases employees whine about a lot many things – some just need the perfect excuse to complain and the whining begins, and at times never ends.
When things are not to your satisfaction, accept and adapt.
Human psyche is such that nothing satisfies – ‘when one need is meet, another crops’- Maslow’s law and very much applicable in all places. We don’t live in a perfect world. So expecting a Utopian set-up is worse than wishful thing or simply aid ‘unrealistic’. From a small startup to established behemoth, there are always possibilities for people to complain.
Always contribute more than your job description.
When you work to your true potential, you can do more than that’s specified in the Job Description. Meeting expectation is breakeven. You are compensated to the services rendered and company CTC is justified. No loss. No gain. When the equation does become beneficial? When your contribution becomes more in scope and involvement on a higher scale.
Widen your horizon and Broaden your Base.
When do you, as an employee, exceed expectation? When you complete tasks ahead of time; when you rise far and above to the call of your duty; when you go out your way to accommodate more work. But if you are comfortable doing the same job, then get out of the comfort zone as you tend to become complacent and soon a replacement to fill you slot will be lookout.
Wear Multiple Hats and Multi-task.
The demand versus supply is skewed. The competition is cut-throat. The more skilled and more ways of skilled will make you outstanding. Now complementing a ‘specialist’ role with ‘add-ons’ draws more eyeballs as end of the day, like it or not, companies do tend to question ‘what more do I get from this resource?”. It was about primary and secondary skills. Since the competition has intensified, so have the expectations. So how many primary skills and how many secondary skills are calibrated by the recruiter in terms of proficiency: elementary, Limited Working, Professional Working, and Full Professional working. These metrics are just a sample and companies have their own systems of measurement to score marks for profiling. The more, the better are your chances to get past screening to selection.
The Budget on you should not become a burden.
The company apportions budget on its requirement. Spending on salaries is huge slice of the pie as it’s a recurring cost. The investment of other things can be a one-time or yearly (like renewals) but salaries are paid monthly. So unless, there is appreciable returns from the employee’s output companies will start bleeding and remain in red. Forget breakeven, the company is headed towards loss.
So what are we driving at?
Since you, as an employee, come at a cost, ensure your returns to the company IS ALWAYS HIGHER, else you become a liability. All those trainings and workshops and knowledge sharing are meant to shape you up for stellar performance, and the when you fail to deliver, what happens to the investment on you? Many companies ask such employees to leave or quit, and they come out and crib as ‘injustice’ without justifying their cost to the company. Increase you value-add. Become the game changer. Bring more to the table. Do more. Let your action-items increase in number, and add to the revenue.
image courtesy: goo.gl/Nwerpc
How Do You Really Manage Time Time Management
They say ‘it’s easier said than done’. Truth be told, we are all pathetic in managing time. Take for instance, when you arrive at the Airport, and read the flight status as “Delayed”. The Project delivery is marked “Delayed”. No Project finishes on time without incurring some delay. Delay is now acknowledged as part of life and surprises springs when things happen on time.
Don’t take your time for granted
Its 24 hours –like it or not. Yes, these days, its hardly enough. Science changes many things but not the solar system. So 24 hours are all you have. How best to utilize without wasting? Then much depends on what is ‘waste’? But what is certain: time is limited. Life is short.
Time flies. When it is ‘about Time’, then wrap it up. So work within the time limit set. That’s why estimation is essential. Though accuracy is something difficult to achieve, even with the advancement in techniques and thought process, historic data or past experience should at least provide you ballpark. When you plan a task or trip, what’s that you focus on? When will we complete / when will we reach? It’s the ‘when’ which is assigned the maximum weightage.
Likewise, where and whom you spend your time too matters. Professionals don’t work in line with the arms of the clock. Overstretching leads to early burnout. In reality, it impacts the productivity of the succeeding day. When you are dead tired after a hard day’s work, then you miss out on a lot many things, especially stress relievers like family time, rest and sleep. The hangover is carried forward. So the following day, your weariness pulls you down plunging the productivity. Consistency is the key, and for that managing time is the most important of all.
Some are sticklers to time. A minute late and tempers can be seen flying and epithets and expletives expressed unreservedly. Why? Because the person values time so much, while the ones to go easy with are more likely to take time for granted.
“ Better appreciate what you HAVE before it turns out to be what you HAD! “
Don’t take others' time for granted
If your respect someone, you will respect their time as well. “Don’t waste my time and your time” – sounds familiar. Typically annoyed or totally disinterested. Why? Because the time can be spent on something worthwhile.
Besides, there are some characters with their own idiosyncrasy, who just take a sadistic pleasure in making others wait – for the heck of it. Since they sit on plum positions that offer the kind of cushion, comfort and the control, people wait. Wait as they have no choice – it can be anyone from a vendor to a stakeholder. Now is an employee a stakeholder? Of course, yes. And is it fair to make them wait just because your calendar for that day is crowded. Whose interest supersedes – an individual or company? Company. But without the ‘individuals’ will the company survive? And wont the individuals have their agenda for the day and ripping off their rationed time for family is fair just because you’re the Business Head or the Manager or the CEO? Those who wait might oblige grudgingly, but the payback can be expected in some form. Those ‘Heads’ must think about the possible ramification. Repercussions are bound to happen. When the suppressed spirit finds release, don’t expect it to behave benevolently. ‘You will be repaid in the same coin’ and ‘taste your own bitter medicine.’
Your agenda for the day might be jam-packed, and of course unknown or unexpected calls might spring up, which can’t be ignored. They need to be accommodated without affecting the agenda adversely.
“The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.” – Stephen Covey
Remember, just as your time important, so will it be for others you interact. Don’t abuse your position by taking their time for granted. That’s the worst form of injustice.
Your feedback is important to us. Please leave your thoughts here.
image courtesy: goo.gl/mmtUVN
Read More
They say ‘it’s easier said than done’. Truth be told, we are all pathetic in managing time. Take for instance, when you arrive at the Airport, and read the flight status as “Delayed”. The Project delivery is marked “Delayed”. No Project finishes on time without incurring some delay. Delay is now acknowledged as part of life and surprises springs when things happen on time.
Don’t take your time for granted
Its 24 hours –like it or not. Yes, these days, its hardly enough. Science changes many things but not the solar system. So 24 hours are all you have. How best to utilize without wasting? Then much depends on what is ‘waste’? But what is certain: time is limited. Life is short.
Time flies. When it is ‘about Time’, then wrap it up. So work within the time limit set. That’s why estimation is essential. Though accuracy is something difficult to achieve, even with the advancement in techniques and thought process, historic data or past experience should at least provide you ballpark. When you plan a task or trip, what’s that you focus on? When will we complete / when will we reach? It’s the ‘when’ which is assigned the maximum weightage.
Likewise, where and whom you spend your time too matters. Professionals don’t work in line with the arms of the clock. Overstretching leads to early burnout. In reality, it impacts the productivity of the succeeding day. When you are dead tired after a hard day’s work, then you miss out on a lot many things, especially stress relievers like family time, rest and sleep. The hangover is carried forward. So the following day, your weariness pulls you down plunging the productivity. Consistency is the key, and for that managing time is the most important of all.
Some are sticklers to time. A minute late and tempers can be seen flying and epithets and expletives expressed unreservedly. Why? Because the person values time so much, while the ones to go easy with are more likely to take time for granted.
“ Better appreciate what you HAVE before it turns out to be what you HAD! “
Don’t take others' time for granted
If your respect someone, you will respect their time as well. “Don’t waste my time and your time” – sounds familiar. Typically annoyed or totally disinterested. Why? Because the time can be spent on something worthwhile.
Besides, there are some characters with their own idiosyncrasy, who just take a sadistic pleasure in making others wait – for the heck of it. Since they sit on plum positions that offer the kind of cushion, comfort and the control, people wait. Wait as they have no choice – it can be anyone from a vendor to a stakeholder. Now is an employee a stakeholder? Of course, yes. And is it fair to make them wait just because your calendar for that day is crowded. Whose interest supersedes – an individual or company? Company. But without the ‘individuals’ will the company survive? And wont the individuals have their agenda for the day and ripping off their rationed time for family is fair just because you’re the Business Head or the Manager or the CEO? Those who wait might oblige grudgingly, but the payback can be expected in some form. Those ‘Heads’ must think about the possible ramification. Repercussions are bound to happen. When the suppressed spirit finds release, don’t expect it to behave benevolently. ‘You will be repaid in the same coin’ and ‘taste your own bitter medicine.’
Your agenda for the day might be jam-packed, and of course unknown or unexpected calls might spring up, which can’t be ignored. They need to be accommodated without affecting the agenda adversely.
“The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.” – Stephen Covey
Remember, just as your time important, so will it be for others you interact. Don’t abuse your position by taking their time for granted. That’s the worst form of injustice.
Your feedback is important to us. Please leave your thoughts here.
image courtesy: goo.gl/mmtUVN
The Art Of Poor Communication
When you are in a commanding position – from a Lead to a CEO or Stakeholder, much is expected in terms of communication. Someone said ‘giving is the best form of communication’. What do you give? Information.
And what exactly is communication? Transmitting thoughts that can be read and understood. It’s not the mastery of the language or the command of the vocabulary that makes your communication good. These are of course required, if not good to possess, but the essence of communications gets down to the basics. The simpler the content, easier the read, and greater the understanding – it applies to both verbal and written form. We tend to assume speakers who can speak for hours are good communicators. Some of the greatest communicators, like Former President Ronald Reagan, who was known pen his own drafts, is hailed one amongst the best in connecting with the audience. That is the ultimate objective. Exchange of thoughts in manner there is no misunderstanding.
So what are the pitfalls in communication that makes it poor? There are many, and we have selected some of the most recurring and repeated mistakes.
Occupation Hazard: It could be an occupation hazard or the work backdrop, that communication suffers – though unintentionally. A Marketing professional uses some jargon frequently used at the work place which subconsciously influences the fluency. “So, what is the bottom line?” can have many interpretations and mostly misunderstood. It can mean as the ‘most fundamental aspect’ or ‘the balance sheet’. So how does a kid understand? ‘What is that you want to say finally?’ that’s why the disclaimer ‘occupational hazards’. It happens. Take for instance, the acronyms. MSP can stand for “Managing Successful Programmes” to “Medicare Secondary Payer “and several more expansions. So the context is essential. Set the context, and even the jargons will fall in place. Else Mandarin and Cantonese become Chinese languages but totally different.
Follow the 5-minute rule: this happens with mind boggling frequency at the senior level when they have to go through hundreds of mail in a day that some get missed out of oversight but the sender feels slighted and, at times, insulted. It is a good practice to post a return mail within 5 minutes, even if it’s just a line. “I am busy right now. Can I get back by the end of the day?” and let’s say you miss by the end of the day, the sender will give you the benefit of doubt that something caught up and put the response on hold.
Avoid condescension; another bane when mail or phone calls are deliberately given a pass because of any reasons, mostly personal. Or even the gap in the ladder? “Oh, that person is just a junior”. To shake your head sideways to proclaim ‘I never did that’ is sanctimonious, at least, you would have delayed and assigned lower priority. To say the least, the very act is unprofessional. So avoid. Effective Leaders are known to make others feel exceptional, especially at the grassroots and above. Treat everyone alike actually commands respect that they salute your spirit.
Beating the bush: Time is money, and when time gets wasted, the loss is colossal. This happens mostly in meetings when the speaker meanders, wandering around the world or circling around the centerpiece without ever approaching the subject. Agile standup meeting is cited as an example for its effectiveness in communication as there is an agenda and a time limit. Carry an agenda and stick to it without deviating much. There is a difference between brainstorming and team meetings. Let’s not confuse and get carried away. Sometimes, even after hours of deliberation, attendees have stepped out of the room scratching their head “what really went inside?” this is the reason ‘Minutes of Meeting’ helps.
Listen and let the other talk. There is no need for dominate but carry the conversation. Don’t pretend listening or don’t listen with intent to ‘give it back’. There is a streak of self-righteousness in all of us and hence we feel right in our sight and assessment and most unwilling to entertain an alternate or opposing perspective. You learn a lot by listening f only there is patience and willing to hear out till the end without interrupting. Preempting or try to prove ‘I am always right’ only weaken your stance. Rather let the other speak and hear. ‘The less he spoke the more he heard.’ Business conversations ought to be professional.
No Communication. This is the worst form of communication. A meeting scheduled for a face to face interaction gets postponed or deferred or doesn’t happen at all. A response to a mail is delayed, deferred or plainly ignored. This can be both discouraging and demoralizing. It is poor in etiquette, and pathetic to note that willful negligence can only resulted in wasted hours.
We love your feedback. Please leave your thoughts here.
Read More
And what exactly is communication? Transmitting thoughts that can be read and understood. It’s not the mastery of the language or the command of the vocabulary that makes your communication good. These are of course required, if not good to possess, but the essence of communications gets down to the basics. The simpler the content, easier the read, and greater the understanding – it applies to both verbal and written form. We tend to assume speakers who can speak for hours are good communicators. Some of the greatest communicators, like Former President Ronald Reagan, who was known pen his own drafts, is hailed one amongst the best in connecting with the audience. That is the ultimate objective. Exchange of thoughts in manner there is no misunderstanding.
So what are the pitfalls in communication that makes it poor? There are many, and we have selected some of the most recurring and repeated mistakes.
Occupation Hazard: It could be an occupation hazard or the work backdrop, that communication suffers – though unintentionally. A Marketing professional uses some jargon frequently used at the work place which subconsciously influences the fluency. “So, what is the bottom line?” can have many interpretations and mostly misunderstood. It can mean as the ‘most fundamental aspect’ or ‘the balance sheet’. So how does a kid understand? ‘What is that you want to say finally?’ that’s why the disclaimer ‘occupational hazards’. It happens. Take for instance, the acronyms. MSP can stand for “Managing Successful Programmes” to “Medicare Secondary Payer “and several more expansions. So the context is essential. Set the context, and even the jargons will fall in place. Else Mandarin and Cantonese become Chinese languages but totally different.
Follow the 5-minute rule: this happens with mind boggling frequency at the senior level when they have to go through hundreds of mail in a day that some get missed out of oversight but the sender feels slighted and, at times, insulted. It is a good practice to post a return mail within 5 minutes, even if it’s just a line. “I am busy right now. Can I get back by the end of the day?” and let’s say you miss by the end of the day, the sender will give you the benefit of doubt that something caught up and put the response on hold.
Avoid condescension; another bane when mail or phone calls are deliberately given a pass because of any reasons, mostly personal. Or even the gap in the ladder? “Oh, that person is just a junior”. To shake your head sideways to proclaim ‘I never did that’ is sanctimonious, at least, you would have delayed and assigned lower priority. To say the least, the very act is unprofessional. So avoid. Effective Leaders are known to make others feel exceptional, especially at the grassroots and above. Treat everyone alike actually commands respect that they salute your spirit.
Beating the bush: Time is money, and when time gets wasted, the loss is colossal. This happens mostly in meetings when the speaker meanders, wandering around the world or circling around the centerpiece without ever approaching the subject. Agile standup meeting is cited as an example for its effectiveness in communication as there is an agenda and a time limit. Carry an agenda and stick to it without deviating much. There is a difference between brainstorming and team meetings. Let’s not confuse and get carried away. Sometimes, even after hours of deliberation, attendees have stepped out of the room scratching their head “what really went inside?” this is the reason ‘Minutes of Meeting’ helps.
Listen and let the other talk. There is no need for dominate but carry the conversation. Don’t pretend listening or don’t listen with intent to ‘give it back’. There is a streak of self-righteousness in all of us and hence we feel right in our sight and assessment and most unwilling to entertain an alternate or opposing perspective. You learn a lot by listening f only there is patience and willing to hear out till the end without interrupting. Preempting or try to prove ‘I am always right’ only weaken your stance. Rather let the other speak and hear. ‘The less he spoke the more he heard.’ Business conversations ought to be professional.
No Communication. This is the worst form of communication. A meeting scheduled for a face to face interaction gets postponed or deferred or doesn’t happen at all. A response to a mail is delayed, deferred or plainly ignored. This can be both discouraging and demoralizing. It is poor in etiquette, and pathetic to note that willful negligence can only resulted in wasted hours.
We love your feedback. Please leave your thoughts here.
Communicate with Clarity Stakeholder Management
All us will agree to the need for greater clarity in communication – be it any form, verbal, or written. We say a lot and
really don't mean anything much.
Conflicts arise mainly due to poor communication. When words are minced, message loses its meaning. Basically, we failed to
make sense, and probably never realized. Confusion is otherwise called as noise.
Let’s look into some real-time scenarios:
Despite a set agenda, meetings, at times, drag for hours not deliberating the issues tabled, rather a stray thought entertained finds resonance with someone seated and soon the discussion veers off in a direction that’s tangential. When the meeting is concluded, everyone leaves learning a lesson not to get distracted but fall into the same trap that was supposed to be safeguarded.
Likewise, a client call to collect requirements goes into an infinite loop of ‘back and forth’. Why? Either the message is
not clear or the stakeholders are not in the same page for the lack of understanding. It’s as if the conversation is taking
place in a language that the attendees in the call are absolutely clueless. This, when Language is no longer a limitation
can be so ironical.
Or, the instance when a simple mail intended to communicate a message can be so misleading.
So, how do you bring clarity in communication?
You don’t have to be poetic. Just be precise.
There is no need to compose an essay. A 2-liner will be enough if the message can be conveyed.
Be verbal, not verbose. Compose crisp concise message using shorter sentences.
The second paragraph is this post itself is typical disclaimer as to ‘how not to write’. Rather, simplify. Make it easier
for the reader to understand. It should not be a test on IQ. Is your message easy to understand? Assess the easiness. If
yes, post. If not, rewrite.
Clarity means simplicity. We often confuse that word as a business jargon. The challenge today that 'you might be possess
the knowledge of a professor' but can you explain in a way that a third-grade kid can understand?
There should not be any confusion at all; nor the need to refer the dictionary. Prose that is plain yet elegant; correct in
its context brings out greater clarity in communication.
It can be challenging. So is clarity in communication.
Read More
really don't mean anything much.
Conflicts arise mainly due to poor communication. When words are minced, message loses its meaning. Basically, we failed to
make sense, and probably never realized. Confusion is otherwise called as noise.
Let’s look into some real-time scenarios:
Despite a set agenda, meetings, at times, drag for hours not deliberating the issues tabled, rather a stray thought entertained finds resonance with someone seated and soon the discussion veers off in a direction that’s tangential. When the meeting is concluded, everyone leaves learning a lesson not to get distracted but fall into the same trap that was supposed to be safeguarded.
Likewise, a client call to collect requirements goes into an infinite loop of ‘back and forth’. Why? Either the message is
not clear or the stakeholders are not in the same page for the lack of understanding. It’s as if the conversation is taking
place in a language that the attendees in the call are absolutely clueless. This, when Language is no longer a limitation
can be so ironical.
Or, the instance when a simple mail intended to communicate a message can be so misleading.
So, how do you bring clarity in communication?
You don’t have to be poetic. Just be precise.
There is no need to compose an essay. A 2-liner will be enough if the message can be conveyed.
Be verbal, not verbose. Compose crisp concise message using shorter sentences.
The second paragraph is this post itself is typical disclaimer as to ‘how not to write’. Rather, simplify. Make it easier
for the reader to understand. It should not be a test on IQ. Is your message easy to understand? Assess the easiness. If
yes, post. If not, rewrite.
Clarity means simplicity. We often confuse that word as a business jargon. The challenge today that 'you might be possess
the knowledge of a professor' but can you explain in a way that a third-grade kid can understand?
There should not be any confusion at all; nor the need to refer the dictionary. Prose that is plain yet elegant; correct in
its context brings out greater clarity in communication.
It can be challenging. So is clarity in communication.
Resignation / Retention: A Page In People Management
When resignations are rampant and the attrition rate spikes, all the eyes invariably turns on the eyes of the HR as scapegoats, when nothing concrete comes out as evidence for the exit . other than speculations flying thick and fast which twirls into wild rumours, the real reason for someone’ departure is never disclosed, for whatever reasons.
Some of the most heard is “blame the manager”. Fine. What happens if the manager quits? Blame the manager who managed the manager? We can keep going round in circles. The bottom-line – the person was either willing to go or forced to leave. The reasons can be anything – from conjectures to outright conclusions.
Pinning on a person fails to make sense. Rather look at the person leaving. Particularly HR. The HR derives no pleasure as they alone know better the ‘cost of hire’ right from advertising about openings to screening resume and shortlisting and hoping the candidate will clear the countless rounds of interview so that they can close the file or requirement. It can be daunting in cost and effort. And it gets tough on the Hiring manager to bring the ‘new hire’ to speed, the transition in timeline will sometimes roll into months. So overall, it is an expensive exercise that no one wants unless or otherwise forced to engage. Rather, it is far more prudent to retain than release. That’s why many companies consider to ‘talk it through’ the pain points that made the employee severe ties.
And what could be the pain points? The data points collected from various exit interviews and successful retention discussions were pooled and the most striking listed :
Stagnation. When an employee feels grinding the same stone with nothing new but regular, routine, monotonous work, frustration boils and resentment builds badly seeking a release. That’s when they look around. Everyone has an axe to grind. When you do something repeatedly, that’s called monotony or specialist? Its your take. Somehow the passion in you has replaced with pressure.
Stunning Offer: something you can’t resist or refuse. Obviously, it far better than where you are that has made up your mind to move. A great work culture, exciting job responsibilities, eye-popping package with perks and all the freebies and holidays. Sometimes, the allure with the offer tantalizing which is hard to let go . money is a great motivator – the lure of CTC. Not many read CTC as cost, but as ‘package’. Not many realize the grass is just as green on the other side.
Sense of belonging: by far, what many fail to admit or accept is that the employee simply lost the sense of belonging in in the work place . “I don’t fit in here anymore.” What made the employee draw such a conclusion could be attributed to any factor – may be the manager or the employee itself for underperformance or incompetent. But the unmistakable fact is unless one feels "I belong here", expecting to stay on is simply chasing the wind.
Erosion in trust. It works both ways. The employee loses or the employer. Trust is sacred. Trust is both strong and fragile. So long trust is upheld, it remains strong. But just like one stone to bring down a glass plane, its so brittle. Once doubt creeps, trust dilutes.
Unreasonable timeline. Overwork overburdens. When the effort estimation is not realistic then one has to wake up to reality. Pushing beyond the permissible limits can prove punishing. Expecting productivity is preposterous. Sometimes, one has set reasonable expectations. Stretching in grave situation is acceptable so long the stakeholders concerned are accommodative, failing which the situation simmers with hostility. The person in-charge can hammer about delayed deadline while the programmer under pressure will cry foul about the fixtures.
The way out is a win-win. Earning confidence is the best way to build a relationship. Times have proved how the crew went beyond their call of duty to combat challenges only because of the confidence and faith placed in them. People management is a practice that many leaders are yet to perfect.
image courtesy: goo.gl/kkVniC
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When resignations are rampant and the attrition rate spikes, all the eyes invariably turns on the eyes of the HR as scapegoats, when nothing concrete comes out as evidence for the exit . other than speculations flying thick and fast which twirls into wild rumours, the real reason for someone’ departure is never disclosed, for whatever reasons.
Some of the most heard is “blame the manager”. Fine. What happens if the manager quits? Blame the manager who managed the manager? We can keep going round in circles. The bottom-line – the person was either willing to go or forced to leave. The reasons can be anything – from conjectures to outright conclusions.
Pinning on a person fails to make sense. Rather look at the person leaving. Particularly HR. The HR derives no pleasure as they alone know better the ‘cost of hire’ right from advertising about openings to screening resume and shortlisting and hoping the candidate will clear the countless rounds of interview so that they can close the file or requirement. It can be daunting in cost and effort. And it gets tough on the Hiring manager to bring the ‘new hire’ to speed, the transition in timeline will sometimes roll into months. So overall, it is an expensive exercise that no one wants unless or otherwise forced to engage. Rather, it is far more prudent to retain than release. That’s why many companies consider to ‘talk it through’ the pain points that made the employee severe ties.
And what could be the pain points? The data points collected from various exit interviews and successful retention discussions were pooled and the most striking listed :
Stagnation. When an employee feels grinding the same stone with nothing new but regular, routine, monotonous work, frustration boils and resentment builds badly seeking a release. That’s when they look around. Everyone has an axe to grind. When you do something repeatedly, that’s called monotony or specialist? Its your take. Somehow the passion in you has replaced with pressure.
Stunning Offer: something you can’t resist or refuse. Obviously, it far better than where you are that has made up your mind to move. A great work culture, exciting job responsibilities, eye-popping package with perks and all the freebies and holidays. Sometimes, the allure with the offer tantalizing which is hard to let go . money is a great motivator – the lure of CTC. Not many read CTC as cost, but as ‘package’. Not many realize the grass is just as green on the other side.
Sense of belonging: by far, what many fail to admit or accept is that the employee simply lost the sense of belonging in in the work place . “I don’t fit in here anymore.” What made the employee draw such a conclusion could be attributed to any factor – may be the manager or the employee itself for underperformance or incompetent. But the unmistakable fact is unless one feels "I belong here", expecting to stay on is simply chasing the wind.
Erosion in trust. It works both ways. The employee loses or the employer. Trust is sacred. Trust is both strong and fragile. So long trust is upheld, it remains strong. But just like one stone to bring down a glass plane, its so brittle. Once doubt creeps, trust dilutes.
Unreasonable timeline. Overwork overburdens. When the effort estimation is not realistic then one has to wake up to reality. Pushing beyond the permissible limits can prove punishing. Expecting productivity is preposterous. Sometimes, one has set reasonable expectations. Stretching in grave situation is acceptable so long the stakeholders concerned are accommodative, failing which the situation simmers with hostility. The person in-charge can hammer about delayed deadline while the programmer under pressure will cry foul about the fixtures.
The way out is a win-win. Earning confidence is the best way to build a relationship. Times have proved how the crew went beyond their call of duty to combat challenges only because of the confidence and faith placed in them. People management is a practice that many leaders are yet to perfect.
image courtesy: goo.gl/kkVniC