Anantha Natarajan

DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n

DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};

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DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n

DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n

Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next

DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n

DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n

DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n

Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next

DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n

DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n

DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n

DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n

Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next

DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};

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\n
4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
- DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
  
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  \n
- DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
  4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
  - DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  - DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  - DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  - DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  - DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
  - DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  - DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
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    \n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
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    \n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
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    \n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
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    \n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
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    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
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    \n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
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    \n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
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    \n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
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    \n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
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    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
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    \n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
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    \n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
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    \n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
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    \n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    The next question is: \u2018Should you succumb to this concern and let it rule you?\u2019. This is where your philosophy comes into play. We talk about this in the blog: <\/span>https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/five-beacons-leadership-journey\/<\/span><\/a>. To quote: \u201cGreat leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    My response is: Yes - it would be, if you are someone who does not believe in working long hours. Perceptions and concerns like - my appraisal will be impacted - are bound to set in, more so, if you have ambitions of growing into the role of your manager.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The next question is: \u2018Should you succumb to this concern and let it rule you?\u2019. This is where your philosophy comes into play. We talk about this in the blog: <\/span>https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/five-beacons-leadership-journey\/<\/span><\/a>. To quote: \u201cGreat leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    My response is: Yes - it would be, if you are someone who does not believe in working long hours. Perceptions and concerns like - my appraisal will be impacted - are bound to set in, more so, if you have ambitions of growing into the role of your manager.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The next question is: \u2018Should you succumb to this concern and let it rule you?\u2019. This is where your philosophy comes into play. We talk about this in the blog: <\/span>https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/five-beacons-leadership-journey\/<\/span><\/a>. To quote: \u201cGreat leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    My response is: Yes - it would be, if you are someone who does not believe in working long hours. Perceptions and concerns like - my appraisal will be impacted - are bound to set in, more so, if you have ambitions of growing into the role of your manager.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The next question is: \u2018Should you succumb to this concern and let it rule you?\u2019. This is where your philosophy comes into play. We talk about this in the blog: <\/span>https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/five-beacons-leadership-journey\/<\/span><\/a>. To quote: \u201cGreat leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Would your concern be valid?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    My response is: Yes - it would be, if you are someone who does not believe in working long hours. Perceptions and concerns like - my appraisal will be impacted - are bound to set in, more so, if you have ambitions of growing into the role of your manager.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The next question is: \u2018Should you succumb to this concern and let it rule you?\u2019. This is where your philosophy comes into play. We talk about this in the blog: <\/span>https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/five-beacons-leadership-journey\/<\/span><\/a>. To quote: \u201cGreat leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    \n
    Would your concern be valid?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    My response is: Yes - it would be, if you are someone who does not believe in working long hours. Perceptions and concerns like - my appraisal will be impacted - are bound to set in, more so, if you have ambitions of growing into the role of your manager.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The next question is: \u2018Should you succumb to this concern and let it rule you?\u2019. This is where your philosophy comes into play. We talk about this in the blog: <\/span>https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/five-beacons-leadership-journey\/<\/span><\/a>. To quote: \u201cGreat leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Would your concern be valid?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    My response is: Yes - it would be, if you are someone who does not believe in working long hours. Perceptions and concerns like - my appraisal will be impacted - are bound to set in, more so, if you have ambitions of growing into the role of your manager.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The next question is: \u2018Should you succumb to this concern and let it rule you?\u2019. This is where your philosophy comes into play. We talk about this in the blog: <\/span>https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/five-beacons-leadership-journey\/<\/span><\/a>. To quote: \u201cGreat leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    You joined this team couple of months back. You notice that your manager generally works very long hours on week-days and comes to work on certain week-ends too. You are concerned that you would not get good appraisal if you do not work similar hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Would your concern be valid?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    My response is: Yes - it would be, if you are someone who does not believe in working long hours. Perceptions and concerns like - my appraisal will be impacted - are bound to set in, more so, if you have ambitions of growing into the role of your manager.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The next question is: \u2018Should you succumb to this concern and let it rule you?\u2019. This is where your philosophy comes into play. We talk about this in the blog: <\/span>https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/five-beacons-leadership-journey\/<\/span><\/a>. To quote: \u201cGreat leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Use of constructs such as different levels of planning, scrum of scrums, meta scrums etc. for effective cross-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","post_title":"Podcast - Managing an Agile Transformation for Success","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"podcast-managing-agile-transformation-success","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11270","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11144,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:43:04","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:13:04","post_content":"\n
    You joined this team couple of months back. You notice that your manager generally works very long hours on week-days and comes to work on certain week-ends too. You are concerned that you would not get good appraisal if you do not work similar hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Would your concern be valid?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    My response is: Yes - it would be, if you are someone who does not believe in working long hours. Perceptions and concerns like - my appraisal will be impacted - are bound to set in, more so, if you have ambitions of growing into the role of your manager.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The next question is: \u2018Should you succumb to this concern and let it rule you?\u2019. This is where your philosophy comes into play. We talk about this in the blog: <\/span>https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/five-beacons-leadership-journey\/<\/span><\/a>. To quote: \u201cGreat leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Ensure senior leadership team at both locations has bought into the initiative and is fully committed to it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use of constructs such as different levels of planning, scrum of scrums, meta scrums etc. for effective cross-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","post_title":"Podcast - Managing an Agile Transformation for Success","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"podcast-managing-agile-transformation-success","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11270","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11144,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:43:04","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:13:04","post_content":"\n
    You joined this team couple of months back. You notice that your manager generally works very long hours on week-days and comes to work on certain week-ends too. You are concerned that you would not get good appraisal if you do not work similar hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Would your concern be valid?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    My response is: Yes - it would be, if you are someone who does not believe in working long hours. Perceptions and concerns like - my appraisal will be impacted - are bound to set in, more so, if you have ambitions of growing into the role of your manager.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The next question is: \u2018Should you succumb to this concern and let it rule you?\u2019. This is where your philosophy comes into play. We talk about this in the blog: <\/span>https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/five-beacons-leadership-journey\/<\/span><\/a>. To quote: \u201cGreat leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Use a holistic approach (rather than just training) that considers where the organization and teams are currently with respect to the objectives and specific interventions such as training and coaching targeted at addressing the gaps identified<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ensure senior leadership team at both locations has bought into the initiative and is fully committed to it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use of constructs such as different levels of planning, scrum of scrums, meta scrums etc. for effective cross-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","post_title":"Podcast - Managing an Agile Transformation for Success","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"podcast-managing-agile-transformation-success","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11270","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11144,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:43:04","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:13:04","post_content":"\n
    You joined this team couple of months back. You notice that your manager generally works very long hours on week-days and comes to work on certain week-ends too. You are concerned that you would not get good appraisal if you do not work similar hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Would your concern be valid?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    My response is: Yes - it would be, if you are someone who does not believe in working long hours. Perceptions and concerns like - my appraisal will be impacted - are bound to set in, more so, if you have ambitions of growing into the role of your manager.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The next question is: \u2018Should you succumb to this concern and let it rule you?\u2019. This is where your philosophy comes into play. We talk about this in the blog: <\/span>https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/five-beacons-leadership-journey\/<\/span><\/a>. To quote: \u201cGreat leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Define specific objectives for this initiative based on senior leadership directive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use a holistic approach (rather than just training) that considers where the organization and teams are currently with respect to the objectives and specific interventions such as training and coaching targeted at addressing the gaps identified<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ensure senior leadership team at both locations has bought into the initiative and is fully committed to it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use of constructs such as different levels of planning, scrum of scrums, meta scrums etc. for effective cross-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","post_title":"Podcast - Managing an Agile Transformation for Success","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"podcast-managing-agile-transformation-success","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11270","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11144,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:43:04","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:13:04","post_content":"\n
    You joined this team couple of months back. You notice that your manager generally works very long hours on week-days and comes to work on certain week-ends too. You are concerned that you would not get good appraisal if you do not work similar hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Would your concern be valid?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    My response is: Yes - it would be, if you are someone who does not believe in working long hours. Perceptions and concerns like - my appraisal will be impacted - are bound to set in, more so, if you have ambitions of growing into the role of your manager.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The next question is: \u2018Should you succumb to this concern and let it rule you?\u2019. This is where your philosophy comes into play. We talk about this in the blog: <\/span>https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/five-beacons-leadership-journey\/<\/span><\/a>. To quote: \u201cGreat leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    \n
    Define specific objectives for this initiative based on senior leadership directive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use a holistic approach (rather than just training) that considers where the organization and teams are currently with respect to the objectives and specific interventions such as training and coaching targeted at addressing the gaps identified<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ensure senior leadership team at both locations has bought into the initiative and is fully committed to it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use of constructs such as different levels of planning, scrum of scrums, meta scrums etc. for effective cross-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","post_title":"Podcast - Managing an Agile Transformation for Success","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"podcast-managing-agile-transformation-success","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11270","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11144,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:43:04","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:13:04","post_content":"\n
    You joined this team couple of months back. You notice that your manager generally works very long hours on week-days and comes to work on certain week-ends too. You are concerned that you would not get good appraisal if you do not work similar hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Would your concern be valid?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    My response is: Yes - it would be, if you are someone who does not believe in working long hours. Perceptions and concerns like - my appraisal will be impacted - are bound to set in, more so, if you have ambitions of growing into the role of your manager.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The next question is: \u2018Should you succumb to this concern and let it rule you?\u2019. This is where your philosophy comes into play. We talk about this in the blog: <\/span>https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/five-beacons-leadership-journey\/<\/span><\/a>. To quote: \u201cGreat leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    To Summarize key aspects from the dialogue:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Define specific objectives for this initiative based on senior leadership directive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use a holistic approach (rather than just training) that considers where the organization and teams are currently with respect to the objectives and specific interventions such as training and coaching targeted at addressing the gaps identified<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ensure senior leadership team at both locations has bought into the initiative and is fully committed to it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use of constructs such as different levels of planning, scrum of scrums, meta scrums etc. for effective cross-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","post_title":"Podcast - Managing an Agile Transformation for Success","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"podcast-managing-agile-transformation-success","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11270","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11144,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:43:04","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:13:04","post_content":"\n
    You joined this team couple of months back. You notice that your manager generally works very long hours on week-days and comes to work on certain week-ends too. You are concerned that you would not get good appraisal if you do not work similar hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Would your concern be valid?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    My response is: Yes - it would be, if you are someone who does not believe in working long hours. Perceptions and concerns like - my appraisal will be impacted - are bound to set in, more so, if you have ambitions of growing into the role of your manager.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The next question is: \u2018Should you succumb to this concern and let it rule you?\u2019. This is where your philosophy comes into play. We talk about this in the blog: <\/span>https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/five-beacons-leadership-journey\/<\/span><\/a>. To quote: \u201cGreat leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Neeraj approaches you as an Agile coach to help him with defining and implementing a program that will ensure the success of this initiative. <\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To Summarize key aspects from the dialogue:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Define specific objectives for this initiative based on senior leadership directive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use a holistic approach (rather than just training) that considers where the organization and teams are currently with respect to the objectives and specific interventions such as training and coaching targeted at addressing the gaps identified<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ensure senior leadership team at both locations has bought into the initiative and is fully committed to it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use of constructs such as different levels of planning, scrum of scrums, meta scrums etc. for effective cross-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","post_title":"Podcast - Managing an Agile Transformation for Success","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"podcast-managing-agile-transformation-success","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11270","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11144,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:43:04","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:13:04","post_content":"\n
    You joined this team couple of months back. You notice that your manager generally works very long hours on week-days and comes to work on certain week-ends too. You are concerned that you would not get good appraisal if you do not work similar hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Would your concern be valid?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    My response is: Yes - it would be, if you are someone who does not believe in working long hours. Perceptions and concerns like - my appraisal will be impacted - are bound to set in, more so, if you have ambitions of growing into the role of your manager.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The next question is: \u2018Should you succumb to this concern and let it rule you?\u2019. This is where your philosophy comes into play. We talk about this in the blog: <\/span>https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/five-beacons-leadership-journey\/<\/span><\/a>. To quote: \u201cGreat leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Trailblazers Inc. have decided to embark on an Agile transformation journey with their SVP of Engineering. Mike Simpson, personally kicking off an initiative targeted at improving predictability, reducing cycle time and improving customer responsiveness. Mike wants Neeraj who is the VP of Engineering at their Bangalore development center to drive this initiative with Scrum as the primary approach and complete the transformation within the next one and a half years. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Neeraj approaches you as an Agile coach to help him with defining and implementing a program that will ensure the success of this initiative. <\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To Summarize key aspects from the dialogue:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Define specific objectives for this initiative based on senior leadership directive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use a holistic approach (rather than just training) that considers where the organization and teams are currently with respect to the objectives and specific interventions such as training and coaching targeted at addressing the gaps identified<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ensure senior leadership team at both locations has bought into the initiative and is fully committed to it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use of constructs such as different levels of planning, scrum of scrums, meta scrums etc. for effective cross-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","post_title":"Podcast - Managing an Agile Transformation for Success","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"podcast-managing-agile-transformation-success","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11270","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11144,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:43:04","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:13:04","post_content":"\n
    You joined this team couple of months back. You notice that your manager generally works very long hours on week-days and comes to work on certain week-ends too. You are concerned that you would not get good appraisal if you do not work similar hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Would your concern be valid?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    My response is: Yes - it would be, if you are someone who does not believe in working long hours. Perceptions and concerns like - my appraisal will be impacted - are bound to set in, more so, if you have ambitions of growing into the role of your manager.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The next question is: \u2018Should you succumb to this concern and let it rule you?\u2019. This is where your philosophy comes into play. We talk about this in the blog: <\/span>https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/five-beacons-leadership-journey\/<\/span><\/a>. To quote: \u201cGreat leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    The case study is given below<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Trailblazers Inc. have decided to embark on an Agile transformation journey with their SVP of Engineering. Mike Simpson, personally kicking off an initiative targeted at improving predictability, reducing cycle time and improving customer responsiveness. Mike wants Neeraj who is the VP of Engineering at their Bangalore development center to drive this initiative with Scrum as the primary approach and complete the transformation within the next one and a half years. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Neeraj approaches you as an Agile coach to help him with defining and implementing a program that will ensure the success of this initiative. <\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To Summarize key aspects from the dialogue:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Define specific objectives for this initiative based on senior leadership directive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use a holistic approach (rather than just training) that considers where the organization and teams are currently with respect to the objectives and specific interventions such as training and coaching targeted at addressing the gaps identified<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ensure senior leadership team at both locations has bought into the initiative and is fully committed to it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use of constructs such as different levels of planning, scrum of scrums, meta scrums etc. for effective cross-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","post_title":"Podcast - Managing an Agile Transformation for Success","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"podcast-managing-agile-transformation-success","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11270","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11144,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:43:04","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:13:04","post_content":"\n
    You joined this team couple of months back. You notice that your manager generally works very long hours on week-days and comes to work on certain week-ends too. You are concerned that you would not get good appraisal if you do not work similar hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Would your concern be valid?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    My response is: Yes - it would be, if you are someone who does not believe in working long hours. Perceptions and concerns like - my appraisal will be impacted - are bound to set in, more so, if you have ambitions of growing into the role of your manager.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The next question is: \u2018Should you succumb to this concern and let it rule you?\u2019. This is where your philosophy comes into play. We talk about this in the blog: <\/span>https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/five-beacons-leadership-journey\/<\/span><\/a>. To quote: \u201cGreat leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Agile transformations, like any other are challenging for most organizations. This episode engages experts from PM Power Consulting J Veeraraaghavan, Vishveshwar Hegde and Anand Natarajan in dialogue, sharing their agile leadership coaching and consulting insights. The dialogue also explores common challenges and approaches to agile transformations for leaders and geographically distributed teams with diverse view points of the experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The case study is given below<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Trailblazers Inc. have decided to embark on an Agile transformation journey with their SVP of Engineering. Mike Simpson, personally kicking off an initiative targeted at improving predictability, reducing cycle time and improving customer responsiveness. Mike wants Neeraj who is the VP of Engineering at their Bangalore development center to drive this initiative with Scrum as the primary approach and complete the transformation within the next one and a half years. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Neeraj approaches you as an Agile coach to help him with defining and implementing a program that will ensure the success of this initiative. <\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To Summarize key aspects from the dialogue:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Define specific objectives for this initiative based on senior leadership directive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use a holistic approach (rather than just training) that considers where the organization and teams are currently with respect to the objectives and specific interventions such as training and coaching targeted at addressing the gaps identified<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ensure senior leadership team at both locations has bought into the initiative and is fully committed to it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use of constructs such as different levels of planning, scrum of scrums, meta scrums etc. for effective cross-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","post_title":"Podcast - Managing an Agile Transformation for Success","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"podcast-managing-agile-transformation-success","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11270","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11144,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:43:04","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:13:04","post_content":"\n
    You joined this team couple of months back. You notice that your manager generally works very long hours on week-days and comes to work on certain week-ends too. You are concerned that you would not get good appraisal if you do not work similar hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Would your concern be valid?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    My response is: Yes - it would be, if you are someone who does not believe in working long hours. Perceptions and concerns like - my appraisal will be impacted - are bound to set in, more so, if you have ambitions of growing into the role of your manager.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The next question is: \u2018Should you succumb to this concern and let it rule you?\u2019. This is where your philosophy comes into play. We talk about this in the blog: <\/span>https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/five-beacons-leadership-journey\/<\/span><\/a>. To quote: \u201cGreat leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    https:\/\/embeds.audioboom.com\/posts\/7092680-managing-an-agile-transformation-for-success\/embed\/v4?eid=AQAAAJTk81vIOWwA<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Agile transformations, like any other are challenging for most organizations. This episode engages experts from PM Power Consulting J Veeraraaghavan, Vishveshwar Hegde and Anand Natarajan in dialogue, sharing their agile leadership coaching and consulting insights. The dialogue also explores common challenges and approaches to agile transformations for leaders and geographically distributed teams with diverse view points of the experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The case study is given below<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Trailblazers Inc. have decided to embark on an Agile transformation journey with their SVP of Engineering. Mike Simpson, personally kicking off an initiative targeted at improving predictability, reducing cycle time and improving customer responsiveness. Mike wants Neeraj who is the VP of Engineering at their Bangalore development center to drive this initiative with Scrum as the primary approach and complete the transformation within the next one and a half years. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Neeraj approaches you as an Agile coach to help him with defining and implementing a program that will ensure the success of this initiative. <\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To Summarize key aspects from the dialogue:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Define specific objectives for this initiative based on senior leadership directive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use a holistic approach (rather than just training) that considers where the organization and teams are currently with respect to the objectives and specific interventions such as training and coaching targeted at addressing the gaps identified<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ensure senior leadership team at both locations has bought into the initiative and is fully committed to it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use of constructs such as different levels of planning, scrum of scrums, meta scrums etc. for effective cross-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","post_title":"Podcast - Managing an Agile Transformation for Success","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"podcast-managing-agile-transformation-success","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11270","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11144,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:43:04","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:13:04","post_content":"\n
    You joined this team couple of months back. You notice that your manager generally works very long hours on week-days and comes to work on certain week-ends too. You are concerned that you would not get good appraisal if you do not work similar hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Would your concern be valid?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    My response is: Yes - it would be, if you are someone who does not believe in working long hours. Perceptions and concerns like - my appraisal will be impacted - are bound to set in, more so, if you have ambitions of growing into the role of your manager.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The next question is: \u2018Should you succumb to this concern and let it rule you?\u2019. This is where your philosophy comes into play. We talk about this in the blog: <\/span>https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/five-beacons-leadership-journey\/<\/span><\/a>. To quote: \u201cGreat leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    enable & encourage teams to improve the underlying factors that influence productivity (not productivity directly)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"IT Productivity \u2013 a point of view","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"productivity-point-view","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11462","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11270,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-11-20 16:24:35","post_date_gmt":"2018-11-20 10:54:35","post_content":"\n
    https:\/\/embeds.audioboom.com\/posts\/7092680-managing-an-agile-transformation-for-success\/embed\/v4?eid=AQAAAJTk81vIOWwA<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Agile transformations, like any other are challenging for most organizations. This episode engages experts from PM Power Consulting J Veeraraaghavan, Vishveshwar Hegde and Anand Natarajan in dialogue, sharing their agile leadership coaching and consulting insights. The dialogue also explores common challenges and approaches to agile transformations for leaders and geographically distributed teams with diverse view points of the experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The case study is given below<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Trailblazers Inc. have decided to embark on an Agile transformation journey with their SVP of Engineering. Mike Simpson, personally kicking off an initiative targeted at improving predictability, reducing cycle time and improving customer responsiveness. Mike wants Neeraj who is the VP of Engineering at their Bangalore development center to drive this initiative with Scrum as the primary approach and complete the transformation within the next one and a half years. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Neeraj approaches you as an Agile coach to help him with defining and implementing a program that will ensure the success of this initiative. <\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To Summarize key aspects from the dialogue:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Define specific objectives for this initiative based on senior leadership directive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use a holistic approach (rather than just training) that considers where the organization and teams are currently with respect to the objectives and specific interventions such as training and coaching targeted at addressing the gaps identified<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ensure senior leadership team at both locations has bought into the initiative and is fully committed to it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use of constructs such as different levels of planning, scrum of scrums, meta scrums etc. for effective cross-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","post_title":"Podcast - Managing an Agile Transformation for Success","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"podcast-managing-agile-transformation-success","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11270","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11144,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:43:04","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:13:04","post_content":"\n
    You joined this team couple of months back. You notice that your manager generally works very long hours on week-days and comes to work on certain week-ends too. You are concerned that you would not get good appraisal if you do not work similar hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Would your concern be valid?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    My response is: Yes - it would be, if you are someone who does not believe in working long hours. Perceptions and concerns like - my appraisal will be impacted - are bound to set in, more so, if you have ambitions of growing into the role of your manager.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The next question is: \u2018Should you succumb to this concern and let it rule you?\u2019. This is where your philosophy comes into play. We talk about this in the blog: <\/span>https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/five-beacons-leadership-journey\/<\/span><\/a>. To quote: \u201cGreat leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    use macro-level means like app portfolio optimization, automation, focus on business value, etc. to improve productivity in collaboration with business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    enable & encourage teams to improve the underlying factors that influence productivity (not productivity directly)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"IT Productivity \u2013 a point of view","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"productivity-point-view","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11462","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11270,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-11-20 16:24:35","post_date_gmt":"2018-11-20 10:54:35","post_content":"\n
    https:\/\/embeds.audioboom.com\/posts\/7092680-managing-an-agile-transformation-for-success\/embed\/v4?eid=AQAAAJTk81vIOWwA<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Agile transformations, like any other are challenging for most organizations. This episode engages experts from PM Power Consulting J Veeraraaghavan, Vishveshwar Hegde and Anand Natarajan in dialogue, sharing their agile leadership coaching and consulting insights. The dialogue also explores common challenges and approaches to agile transformations for leaders and geographically distributed teams with diverse view points of the experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The case study is given below<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Trailblazers Inc. have decided to embark on an Agile transformation journey with their SVP of Engineering. Mike Simpson, personally kicking off an initiative targeted at improving predictability, reducing cycle time and improving customer responsiveness. Mike wants Neeraj who is the VP of Engineering at their Bangalore development center to drive this initiative with Scrum as the primary approach and complete the transformation within the next one and a half years. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Neeraj approaches you as an Agile coach to help him with defining and implementing a program that will ensure the success of this initiative. <\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To Summarize key aspects from the dialogue:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Define specific objectives for this initiative based on senior leadership directive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use a holistic approach (rather than just training) that considers where the organization and teams are currently with respect to the objectives and specific interventions such as training and coaching targeted at addressing the gaps identified<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ensure senior leadership team at both locations has bought into the initiative and is fully committed to it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use of constructs such as different levels of planning, scrum of scrums, meta scrums etc. for effective cross-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","post_title":"Podcast - Managing an Agile Transformation for Success","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"podcast-managing-agile-transformation-success","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11270","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11144,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:43:04","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:13:04","post_content":"\n
    You joined this team couple of months back. You notice that your manager generally works very long hours on week-days and comes to work on certain week-ends too. You are concerned that you would not get good appraisal if you do not work similar hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Would your concern be valid?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    My response is: Yes - it would be, if you are someone who does not believe in working long hours. Perceptions and concerns like - my appraisal will be impacted - are bound to set in, more so, if you have ambitions of growing into the role of your manager.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The next question is: \u2018Should you succumb to this concern and let it rule you?\u2019. This is where your philosophy comes into play. We talk about this in the blog: <\/span>https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/five-beacons-leadership-journey\/<\/span><\/a>. To quote: \u201cGreat leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    define & measure productivity at Sub-BU or BU levels (not at team level) in a way that is meaningful to business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    use macro-level means like app portfolio optimization, automation, focus on business value, etc. to improve productivity in collaboration with business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    enable & encourage teams to improve the underlying factors that influence productivity (not productivity directly)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"IT Productivity \u2013 a point of view","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"productivity-point-view","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11462","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11270,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-11-20 16:24:35","post_date_gmt":"2018-11-20 10:54:35","post_content":"\n
    https:\/\/embeds.audioboom.com\/posts\/7092680-managing-an-agile-transformation-for-success\/embed\/v4?eid=AQAAAJTk81vIOWwA<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Agile transformations, like any other are challenging for most organizations. This episode engages experts from PM Power Consulting J Veeraraaghavan, Vishveshwar Hegde and Anand Natarajan in dialogue, sharing their agile leadership coaching and consulting insights. The dialogue also explores common challenges and approaches to agile transformations for leaders and geographically distributed teams with diverse view points of the experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The case study is given below<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Trailblazers Inc. have decided to embark on an Agile transformation journey with their SVP of Engineering. Mike Simpson, personally kicking off an initiative targeted at improving predictability, reducing cycle time and improving customer responsiveness. Mike wants Neeraj who is the VP of Engineering at their Bangalore development center to drive this initiative with Scrum as the primary approach and complete the transformation within the next one and a half years. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Neeraj approaches you as an Agile coach to help him with defining and implementing a program that will ensure the success of this initiative. <\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To Summarize key aspects from the dialogue:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Define specific objectives for this initiative based on senior leadership directive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use a holistic approach (rather than just training) that considers where the organization and teams are currently with respect to the objectives and specific interventions such as training and coaching targeted at addressing the gaps identified<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ensure senior leadership team at both locations has bought into the initiative and is fully committed to it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use of constructs such as different levels of planning, scrum of scrums, meta scrums etc. for effective cross-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","post_title":"Podcast - Managing an Agile Transformation for Success","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"podcast-managing-agile-transformation-success","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11270","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11144,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:43:04","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:13:04","post_content":"\n
    You joined this team couple of months back. You notice that your manager generally works very long hours on week-days and comes to work on certain week-ends too. You are concerned that you would not get good appraisal if you do not work similar hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Would your concern be valid?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    My response is: Yes - it would be, if you are someone who does not believe in working long hours. Perceptions and concerns like - my appraisal will be impacted - are bound to set in, more so, if you have ambitions of growing into the role of your manager.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The next question is: \u2018Should you succumb to this concern and let it rule you?\u2019. This is where your philosophy comes into play. We talk about this in the blog: <\/span>https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/five-beacons-leadership-journey\/<\/span><\/a>. To quote: \u201cGreat leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    \n
    define & measure productivity at Sub-BU or BU levels (not at team level) in a way that is meaningful to business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    use macro-level means like app portfolio optimization, automation, focus on business value, etc. to improve productivity in collaboration with business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    enable & encourage teams to improve the underlying factors that influence productivity (not productivity directly)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"IT Productivity \u2013 a point of view","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"productivity-point-view","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11462","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11270,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-11-20 16:24:35","post_date_gmt":"2018-11-20 10:54:35","post_content":"\n
    https:\/\/embeds.audioboom.com\/posts\/7092680-managing-an-agile-transformation-for-success\/embed\/v4?eid=AQAAAJTk81vIOWwA<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Agile transformations, like any other are challenging for most organizations. This episode engages experts from PM Power Consulting J Veeraraaghavan, Vishveshwar Hegde and Anand Natarajan in dialogue, sharing their agile leadership coaching and consulting insights. The dialogue also explores common challenges and approaches to agile transformations for leaders and geographically distributed teams with diverse view points of the experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The case study is given below<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Trailblazers Inc. have decided to embark on an Agile transformation journey with their SVP of Engineering. Mike Simpson, personally kicking off an initiative targeted at improving predictability, reducing cycle time and improving customer responsiveness. Mike wants Neeraj who is the VP of Engineering at their Bangalore development center to drive this initiative with Scrum as the primary approach and complete the transformation within the next one and a half years. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Neeraj approaches you as an Agile coach to help him with defining and implementing a program that will ensure the success of this initiative. <\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To Summarize key aspects from the dialogue:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Define specific objectives for this initiative based on senior leadership directive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use a holistic approach (rather than just training) that considers where the organization and teams are currently with respect to the objectives and specific interventions such as training and coaching targeted at addressing the gaps identified<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ensure senior leadership team at both locations has bought into the initiative and is fully committed to it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use of constructs such as different levels of planning, scrum of scrums, meta scrums etc. for effective cross-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","post_title":"Podcast - Managing an Agile Transformation for Success","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"podcast-managing-agile-transformation-success","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11270","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11144,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:43:04","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:13:04","post_content":"\n
    You joined this team couple of months back. You notice that your manager generally works very long hours on week-days and comes to work on certain week-ends too. You are concerned that you would not get good appraisal if you do not work similar hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Would your concern be valid?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    My response is: Yes - it would be, if you are someone who does not believe in working long hours. Perceptions and concerns like - my appraisal will be impacted - are bound to set in, more so, if you have ambitions of growing into the role of your manager.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The next question is: \u2018Should you succumb to this concern and let it rule you?\u2019. This is where your philosophy comes into play. We talk about this in the blog: <\/span>https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/five-beacons-leadership-journey\/<\/span><\/a>. To quote: \u201cGreat leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    In summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    define & measure productivity at Sub-BU or BU levels (not at team level) in a way that is meaningful to business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    use macro-level means like app portfolio optimization, automation, focus on business value, etc. to improve productivity in collaboration with business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    enable & encourage teams to improve the underlying factors that influence productivity (not productivity directly)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"IT Productivity \u2013 a point of view","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"productivity-point-view","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11462","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11270,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-11-20 16:24:35","post_date_gmt":"2018-11-20 10:54:35","post_content":"\n
    https:\/\/embeds.audioboom.com\/posts\/7092680-managing-an-agile-transformation-for-success\/embed\/v4?eid=AQAAAJTk81vIOWwA<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Agile transformations, like any other are challenging for most organizations. This episode engages experts from PM Power Consulting J Veeraraaghavan, Vishveshwar Hegde and Anand Natarajan in dialogue, sharing their agile leadership coaching and consulting insights. The dialogue also explores common challenges and approaches to agile transformations for leaders and geographically distributed teams with diverse view points of the experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The case study is given below<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Trailblazers Inc. have decided to embark on an Agile transformation journey with their SVP of Engineering. Mike Simpson, personally kicking off an initiative targeted at improving predictability, reducing cycle time and improving customer responsiveness. Mike wants Neeraj who is the VP of Engineering at their Bangalore development center to drive this initiative with Scrum as the primary approach and complete the transformation within the next one and a half years. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Neeraj approaches you as an Agile coach to help him with defining and implementing a program that will ensure the success of this initiative. <\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To Summarize key aspects from the dialogue:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Define specific objectives for this initiative based on senior leadership directive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use a holistic approach (rather than just training) that considers where the organization and teams are currently with respect to the objectives and specific interventions such as training and coaching targeted at addressing the gaps identified<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ensure senior leadership team at both locations has bought into the initiative and is fully committed to it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use of constructs such as different levels of planning, scrum of scrums, meta scrums etc. for effective cross-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","post_title":"Podcast - Managing an Agile Transformation for Success","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"podcast-managing-agile-transformation-success","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11270","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11144,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:43:04","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:13:04","post_content":"\n
    You joined this team couple of months back. You notice that your manager generally works very long hours on week-days and comes to work on certain week-ends too. You are concerned that you would not get good appraisal if you do not work similar hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Would your concern be valid?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    My response is: Yes - it would be, if you are someone who does not believe in working long hours. Perceptions and concerns like - my appraisal will be impacted - are bound to set in, more so, if you have ambitions of growing into the role of your manager.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The next question is: \u2018Should you succumb to this concern and let it rule you?\u2019. This is where your philosophy comes into play. We talk about this in the blog: <\/span>https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/five-beacons-leadership-journey\/<\/span><\/a>. To quote: \u201cGreat leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    All of the above 5 levers should influence the productivity index as we had defined earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    define & measure productivity at Sub-BU or BU levels (not at team level) in a way that is meaningful to business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    use macro-level means like app portfolio optimization, automation, focus on business value, etc. to improve productivity in collaboration with business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    enable & encourage teams to improve the underlying factors that influence productivity (not productivity directly)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"IT Productivity \u2013 a point of view","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"productivity-point-view","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11462","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11270,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-11-20 16:24:35","post_date_gmt":"2018-11-20 10:54:35","post_content":"\n
    https:\/\/embeds.audioboom.com\/posts\/7092680-managing-an-agile-transformation-for-success\/embed\/v4?eid=AQAAAJTk81vIOWwA<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Agile transformations, like any other are challenging for most organizations. This episode engages experts from PM Power Consulting J Veeraraaghavan, Vishveshwar Hegde and Anand Natarajan in dialogue, sharing their agile leadership coaching and consulting insights. The dialogue also explores common challenges and approaches to agile transformations for leaders and geographically distributed teams with diverse view points of the experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The case study is given below<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Trailblazers Inc. have decided to embark on an Agile transformation journey with their SVP of Engineering. Mike Simpson, personally kicking off an initiative targeted at improving predictability, reducing cycle time and improving customer responsiveness. Mike wants Neeraj who is the VP of Engineering at their Bangalore development center to drive this initiative with Scrum as the primary approach and complete the transformation within the next one and a half years. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Neeraj approaches you as an Agile coach to help him with defining and implementing a program that will ensure the success of this initiative. <\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To Summarize key aspects from the dialogue:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Define specific objectives for this initiative based on senior leadership directive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use a holistic approach (rather than just training) that considers where the organization and teams are currently with respect to the objectives and specific interventions such as training and coaching targeted at addressing the gaps identified<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ensure senior leadership team at both locations has bought into the initiative and is fully committed to it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use of constructs such as different levels of planning, scrum of scrums, meta scrums etc. for effective cross-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","post_title":"Podcast - Managing an Agile Transformation for Success","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"podcast-managing-agile-transformation-success","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11270","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11144,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:43:04","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:13:04","post_content":"\n
    You joined this team couple of months back. You notice that your manager generally works very long hours on week-days and comes to work on certain week-ends too. You are concerned that you would not get good appraisal if you do not work similar hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Would your concern be valid?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    My response is: Yes - it would be, if you are someone who does not believe in working long hours. Perceptions and concerns like - my appraisal will be impacted - are bound to set in, more so, if you have ambitions of growing into the role of your manager.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The next question is: \u2018Should you succumb to this concern and let it rule you?\u2019. This is where your philosophy comes into play. We talk about this in the blog: <\/span>https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/five-beacons-leadership-journey\/<\/span><\/a>. To quote: \u201cGreat leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Inter-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    All of the above 5 levers should influence the productivity index as we had defined earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    define & measure productivity at Sub-BU or BU levels (not at team level) in a way that is meaningful to business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    use macro-level means like app portfolio optimization, automation, focus on business value, etc. to improve productivity in collaboration with business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    enable & encourage teams to improve the underlying factors that influence productivity (not productivity directly)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"IT Productivity \u2013 a point of view","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"productivity-point-view","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11462","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11270,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-11-20 16:24:35","post_date_gmt":"2018-11-20 10:54:35","post_content":"\n
    https:\/\/embeds.audioboom.com\/posts\/7092680-managing-an-agile-transformation-for-success\/embed\/v4?eid=AQAAAJTk81vIOWwA<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Agile transformations, like any other are challenging for most organizations. This episode engages experts from PM Power Consulting J Veeraraaghavan, Vishveshwar Hegde and Anand Natarajan in dialogue, sharing their agile leadership coaching and consulting insights. The dialogue also explores common challenges and approaches to agile transformations for leaders and geographically distributed teams with diverse view points of the experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The case study is given below<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Trailblazers Inc. have decided to embark on an Agile transformation journey with their SVP of Engineering. Mike Simpson, personally kicking off an initiative targeted at improving predictability, reducing cycle time and improving customer responsiveness. Mike wants Neeraj who is the VP of Engineering at their Bangalore development center to drive this initiative with Scrum as the primary approach and complete the transformation within the next one and a half years. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Neeraj approaches you as an Agile coach to help him with defining and implementing a program that will ensure the success of this initiative. <\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To Summarize key aspects from the dialogue:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Define specific objectives for this initiative based on senior leadership directive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use a holistic approach (rather than just training) that considers where the organization and teams are currently with respect to the objectives and specific interventions such as training and coaching targeted at addressing the gaps identified<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ensure senior leadership team at both locations has bought into the initiative and is fully committed to it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use of constructs such as different levels of planning, scrum of scrums, meta scrums etc. for effective cross-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","post_title":"Podcast - Managing an Agile Transformation for Success","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"podcast-managing-agile-transformation-success","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11270","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11144,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:43:04","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:13:04","post_content":"\n
    You joined this team couple of months back. You notice that your manager generally works very long hours on week-days and comes to work on certain week-ends too. You are concerned that you would not get good appraisal if you do not work similar hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Would your concern be valid?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    My response is: Yes - it would be, if you are someone who does not believe in working long hours. Perceptions and concerns like - my appraisal will be impacted - are bound to set in, more so, if you have ambitions of growing into the role of your manager.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The next question is: \u2018Should you succumb to this concern and let it rule you?\u2019. This is where your philosophy comes into play. We talk about this in the blog: <\/span>https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/five-beacons-leadership-journey\/<\/span><\/a>. To quote: \u201cGreat leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Softer aspects like: conflicts (unhealthy); gender diversity; product vision; Goal-focus; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Inter-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    All of the above 5 levers should influence the productivity index as we had defined earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    define & measure productivity at Sub-BU or BU levels (not at team level) in a way that is meaningful to business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    use macro-level means like app portfolio optimization, automation, focus on business value, etc. to improve productivity in collaboration with business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    enable & encourage teams to improve the underlying factors that influence productivity (not productivity directly)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"IT Productivity \u2013 a point of view","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"productivity-point-view","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11462","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11270,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-11-20 16:24:35","post_date_gmt":"2018-11-20 10:54:35","post_content":"\n
    https:\/\/embeds.audioboom.com\/posts\/7092680-managing-an-agile-transformation-for-success\/embed\/v4?eid=AQAAAJTk81vIOWwA<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Agile transformations, like any other are challenging for most organizations. This episode engages experts from PM Power Consulting J Veeraraaghavan, Vishveshwar Hegde and Anand Natarajan in dialogue, sharing their agile leadership coaching and consulting insights. The dialogue also explores common challenges and approaches to agile transformations for leaders and geographically distributed teams with diverse view points of the experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The case study is given below<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Trailblazers Inc. have decided to embark on an Agile transformation journey with their SVP of Engineering. Mike Simpson, personally kicking off an initiative targeted at improving predictability, reducing cycle time and improving customer responsiveness. Mike wants Neeraj who is the VP of Engineering at their Bangalore development center to drive this initiative with Scrum as the primary approach and complete the transformation within the next one and a half years. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Neeraj approaches you as an Agile coach to help him with defining and implementing a program that will ensure the success of this initiative. <\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To Summarize key aspects from the dialogue:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Define specific objectives for this initiative based on senior leadership directive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use a holistic approach (rather than just training) that considers where the organization and teams are currently with respect to the objectives and specific interventions such as training and coaching targeted at addressing the gaps identified<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ensure senior leadership team at both locations has bought into the initiative and is fully committed to it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use of constructs such as different levels of planning, scrum of scrums, meta scrums etc. for effective cross-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","post_title":"Podcast - Managing an Agile Transformation for Success","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"podcast-managing-agile-transformation-success","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11270","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11144,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:43:04","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:13:04","post_content":"\n
    You joined this team couple of months back. You notice that your manager generally works very long hours on week-days and comes to work on certain week-ends too. You are concerned that you would not get good appraisal if you do not work similar hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Would your concern be valid?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    My response is: Yes - it would be, if you are someone who does not believe in working long hours. Perceptions and concerns like - my appraisal will be impacted - are bound to set in, more so, if you have ambitions of growing into the role of your manager.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The next question is: \u2018Should you succumb to this concern and let it rule you?\u2019. This is where your philosophy comes into play. We talk about this in the blog: <\/span>https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/five-beacons-leadership-journey\/<\/span><\/a>. To quote: \u201cGreat leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Self-organizing teams<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Softer aspects like: conflicts (unhealthy); gender diversity; product vision; Goal-focus; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Inter-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    All of the above 5 levers should influence the productivity index as we had defined earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    define & measure productivity at Sub-BU or BU levels (not at team level) in a way that is meaningful to business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    use macro-level means like app portfolio optimization, automation, focus on business value, etc. to improve productivity in collaboration with business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    enable & encourage teams to improve the underlying factors that influence productivity (not productivity directly)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"IT Productivity \u2013 a point of view","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"productivity-point-view","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11462","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11270,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-11-20 16:24:35","post_date_gmt":"2018-11-20 10:54:35","post_content":"\n
    https:\/\/embeds.audioboom.com\/posts\/7092680-managing-an-agile-transformation-for-success\/embed\/v4?eid=AQAAAJTk81vIOWwA<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Agile transformations, like any other are challenging for most organizations. This episode engages experts from PM Power Consulting J Veeraraaghavan, Vishveshwar Hegde and Anand Natarajan in dialogue, sharing their agile leadership coaching and consulting insights. The dialogue also explores common challenges and approaches to agile transformations for leaders and geographically distributed teams with diverse view points of the experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The case study is given below<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Trailblazers Inc. have decided to embark on an Agile transformation journey with their SVP of Engineering. Mike Simpson, personally kicking off an initiative targeted at improving predictability, reducing cycle time and improving customer responsiveness. Mike wants Neeraj who is the VP of Engineering at their Bangalore development center to drive this initiative with Scrum as the primary approach and complete the transformation within the next one and a half years. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Neeraj approaches you as an Agile coach to help him with defining and implementing a program that will ensure the success of this initiative. <\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To Summarize key aspects from the dialogue:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Define specific objectives for this initiative based on senior leadership directive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use a holistic approach (rather than just training) that considers where the organization and teams are currently with respect to the objectives and specific interventions such as training and coaching targeted at addressing the gaps identified<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ensure senior leadership team at both locations has bought into the initiative and is fully committed to it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use of constructs such as different levels of planning, scrum of scrums, meta scrums etc. for effective cross-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","post_title":"Podcast - Managing an Agile Transformation for Success","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"podcast-managing-agile-transformation-success","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11270","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11144,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:43:04","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:13:04","post_content":"\n
    You joined this team couple of months back. You notice that your manager generally works very long hours on week-days and comes to work on certain week-ends too. You are concerned that you would not get good appraisal if you do not work similar hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Would your concern be valid?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    My response is: Yes - it would be, if you are someone who does not believe in working long hours. Perceptions and concerns like - my appraisal will be impacted - are bound to set in, more so, if you have ambitions of growing into the role of your manager.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The next question is: \u2018Should you succumb to this concern and let it rule you?\u2019. This is where your philosophy comes into play. We talk about this in the blog: <\/span>https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/five-beacons-leadership-journey\/<\/span><\/a>. To quote: \u201cGreat leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Waste reduction - re-work in development; Unsuccessful changes; App outage; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Self-organizing teams<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Softer aspects like: conflicts (unhealthy); gender diversity; product vision; Goal-focus; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Inter-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    All of the above 5 levers should influence the productivity index as we had defined earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    define & measure productivity at Sub-BU or BU levels (not at team level) in a way that is meaningful to business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    use macro-level means like app portfolio optimization, automation, focus on business value, etc. to improve productivity in collaboration with business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    enable & encourage teams to improve the underlying factors that influence productivity (not productivity directly)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"IT Productivity \u2013 a point of view","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"productivity-point-view","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11462","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11270,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-11-20 16:24:35","post_date_gmt":"2018-11-20 10:54:35","post_content":"\n
    https:\/\/embeds.audioboom.com\/posts\/7092680-managing-an-agile-transformation-for-success\/embed\/v4?eid=AQAAAJTk81vIOWwA<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Agile transformations, like any other are challenging for most organizations. This episode engages experts from PM Power Consulting J Veeraraaghavan, Vishveshwar Hegde and Anand Natarajan in dialogue, sharing their agile leadership coaching and consulting insights. The dialogue also explores common challenges and approaches to agile transformations for leaders and geographically distributed teams with diverse view points of the experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The case study is given below<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Trailblazers Inc. have decided to embark on an Agile transformation journey with their SVP of Engineering. Mike Simpson, personally kicking off an initiative targeted at improving predictability, reducing cycle time and improving customer responsiveness. Mike wants Neeraj who is the VP of Engineering at their Bangalore development center to drive this initiative with Scrum as the primary approach and complete the transformation within the next one and a half years. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Neeraj approaches you as an Agile coach to help him with defining and implementing a program that will ensure the success of this initiative. <\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To Summarize key aspects from the dialogue:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Define specific objectives for this initiative based on senior leadership directive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use a holistic approach (rather than just training) that considers where the organization and teams are currently with respect to the objectives and specific interventions such as training and coaching targeted at addressing the gaps identified<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ensure senior leadership team at both locations has bought into the initiative and is fully committed to it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use of constructs such as different levels of planning, scrum of scrums, meta scrums etc. for effective cross-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","post_title":"Podcast - Managing an Agile Transformation for Success","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"podcast-managing-agile-transformation-success","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11270","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11144,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:43:04","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:13:04","post_content":"\n
    You joined this team couple of months back. You notice that your manager generally works very long hours on week-days and comes to work on certain week-ends too. You are concerned that you would not get good appraisal if you do not work similar hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Would your concern be valid?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    My response is: Yes - it would be, if you are someone who does not believe in working long hours. Perceptions and concerns like - my appraisal will be impacted - are bound to set in, more so, if you have ambitions of growing into the role of your manager.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The next question is: \u2018Should you succumb to this concern and let it rule you?\u2019. This is where your philosophy comes into play. We talk about this in the blog: <\/span>https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/five-beacons-leadership-journey\/<\/span><\/a>. To quote: \u201cGreat leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Team level automation (e.g. scripting of repetitive tasks; population of test data)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Waste reduction - re-work in development; Unsuccessful changes; App outage; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Self-organizing teams<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Softer aspects like: conflicts (unhealthy); gender diversity; product vision; Goal-focus; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Inter-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    All of the above 5 levers should influence the productivity index as we had defined earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    define & measure productivity at Sub-BU or BU levels (not at team level) in a way that is meaningful to business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    use macro-level means like app portfolio optimization, automation, focus on business value, etc. to improve productivity in collaboration with business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    enable & encourage teams to improve the underlying factors that influence productivity (not productivity directly)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"IT Productivity \u2013 a point of view","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"productivity-point-view","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11462","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11270,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-11-20 16:24:35","post_date_gmt":"2018-11-20 10:54:35","post_content":"\n
    https:\/\/embeds.audioboom.com\/posts\/7092680-managing-an-agile-transformation-for-success\/embed\/v4?eid=AQAAAJTk81vIOWwA<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Agile transformations, like any other are challenging for most organizations. This episode engages experts from PM Power Consulting J Veeraraaghavan, Vishveshwar Hegde and Anand Natarajan in dialogue, sharing their agile leadership coaching and consulting insights. The dialogue also explores common challenges and approaches to agile transformations for leaders and geographically distributed teams with diverse view points of the experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The case study is given below<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Trailblazers Inc. have decided to embark on an Agile transformation journey with their SVP of Engineering. Mike Simpson, personally kicking off an initiative targeted at improving predictability, reducing cycle time and improving customer responsiveness. Mike wants Neeraj who is the VP of Engineering at their Bangalore development center to drive this initiative with Scrum as the primary approach and complete the transformation within the next one and a half years. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Neeraj approaches you as an Agile coach to help him with defining and implementing a program that will ensure the success of this initiative. <\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To Summarize key aspects from the dialogue:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Define specific objectives for this initiative based on senior leadership directive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use a holistic approach (rather than just training) that considers where the organization and teams are currently with respect to the objectives and specific interventions such as training and coaching targeted at addressing the gaps identified<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ensure senior leadership team at both locations has bought into the initiative and is fully committed to it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use of constructs such as different levels of planning, scrum of scrums, meta scrums etc. for effective cross-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","post_title":"Podcast - Managing an Agile Transformation for Success","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"podcast-managing-agile-transformation-success","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11270","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11144,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:43:04","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:13:04","post_content":"\n
    You joined this team couple of months back. You notice that your manager generally works very long hours on week-days and comes to work on certain week-ends too. You are concerned that you would not get good appraisal if you do not work similar hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Would your concern be valid?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    My response is: Yes - it would be, if you are someone who does not believe in working long hours. Perceptions and concerns like - my appraisal will be impacted - are bound to set in, more so, if you have ambitions of growing into the role of your manager.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The next question is: \u2018Should you succumb to this concern and let it rule you?\u2019. This is where your philosophy comes into play. We talk about this in the blog: <\/span>https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/five-beacons-leadership-journey\/<\/span><\/a>. To quote: \u201cGreat leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Multi-skilling<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Team level automation (e.g. scripting of repetitive tasks; population of test data)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Waste reduction - re-work in development; Unsuccessful changes; App outage; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Self-organizing teams<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Softer aspects like: conflicts (unhealthy); gender diversity; product vision; Goal-focus; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Inter-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    All of the above 5 levers should influence the productivity index as we had defined earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    define & measure productivity at Sub-BU or BU levels (not at team level) in a way that is meaningful to business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    use macro-level means like app portfolio optimization, automation, focus on business value, etc. to improve productivity in collaboration with business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    enable & encourage teams to improve the underlying factors that influence productivity (not productivity directly)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"IT Productivity \u2013 a point of view","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"productivity-point-view","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11462","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11270,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-11-20 16:24:35","post_date_gmt":"2018-11-20 10:54:35","post_content":"\n
    https:\/\/embeds.audioboom.com\/posts\/7092680-managing-an-agile-transformation-for-success\/embed\/v4?eid=AQAAAJTk81vIOWwA<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Agile transformations, like any other are challenging for most organizations. This episode engages experts from PM Power Consulting J Veeraraaghavan, Vishveshwar Hegde and Anand Natarajan in dialogue, sharing their agile leadership coaching and consulting insights. The dialogue also explores common challenges and approaches to agile transformations for leaders and geographically distributed teams with diverse view points of the experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The case study is given below<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Trailblazers Inc. have decided to embark on an Agile transformation journey with their SVP of Engineering. Mike Simpson, personally kicking off an initiative targeted at improving predictability, reducing cycle time and improving customer responsiveness. Mike wants Neeraj who is the VP of Engineering at their Bangalore development center to drive this initiative with Scrum as the primary approach and complete the transformation within the next one and a half years. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Neeraj approaches you as an Agile coach to help him with defining and implementing a program that will ensure the success of this initiative. <\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To Summarize key aspects from the dialogue:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Define specific objectives for this initiative based on senior leadership directive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use a holistic approach (rather than just training) that considers where the organization and teams are currently with respect to the objectives and specific interventions such as training and coaching targeted at addressing the gaps identified<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ensure senior leadership team at both locations has bought into the initiative and is fully committed to it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use of constructs such as different levels of planning, scrum of scrums, meta scrums etc. for effective cross-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","post_title":"Podcast - Managing an Agile Transformation for Success","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"podcast-managing-agile-transformation-success","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11270","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11144,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:43:04","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:13:04","post_content":"\n
    You joined this team couple of months back. You notice that your manager generally works very long hours on week-days and comes to work on certain week-ends too. You are concerned that you would not get good appraisal if you do not work similar hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Would your concern be valid?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    My response is: Yes - it would be, if you are someone who does not believe in working long hours. Perceptions and concerns like - my appraisal will be impacted - are bound to set in, more so, if you have ambitions of growing into the role of your manager.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The next question is: \u2018Should you succumb to this concern and let it rule you?\u2019. This is where your philosophy comes into play. We talk about this in the blog: <\/span>https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/five-beacons-leadership-journey\/<\/span><\/a>. To quote: \u201cGreat leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Business domain knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Multi-skilling<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Team level automation (e.g. scripting of repetitive tasks; population of test data)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Waste reduction - re-work in development; Unsuccessful changes; App outage; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Self-organizing teams<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Softer aspects like: conflicts (unhealthy); gender diversity; product vision; Goal-focus; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Inter-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    All of the above 5 levers should influence the productivity index as we had defined earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    define & measure productivity at Sub-BU or BU levels (not at team level) in a way that is meaningful to business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    use macro-level means like app portfolio optimization, automation, focus on business value, etc. to improve productivity in collaboration with business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    enable & encourage teams to improve the underlying factors that influence productivity (not productivity directly)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"IT Productivity \u2013 a point of view","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"productivity-point-view","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11462","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11270,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-11-20 16:24:35","post_date_gmt":"2018-11-20 10:54:35","post_content":"\n
    https:\/\/embeds.audioboom.com\/posts\/7092680-managing-an-agile-transformation-for-success\/embed\/v4?eid=AQAAAJTk81vIOWwA<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Agile transformations, like any other are challenging for most organizations. This episode engages experts from PM Power Consulting J Veeraraaghavan, Vishveshwar Hegde and Anand Natarajan in dialogue, sharing their agile leadership coaching and consulting insights. The dialogue also explores common challenges and approaches to agile transformations for leaders and geographically distributed teams with diverse view points of the experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The case study is given below<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Trailblazers Inc. have decided to embark on an Agile transformation journey with their SVP of Engineering. Mike Simpson, personally kicking off an initiative targeted at improving predictability, reducing cycle time and improving customer responsiveness. Mike wants Neeraj who is the VP of Engineering at their Bangalore development center to drive this initiative with Scrum as the primary approach and complete the transformation within the next one and a half years. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Neeraj approaches you as an Agile coach to help him with defining and implementing a program that will ensure the success of this initiative. <\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To Summarize key aspects from the dialogue:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Define specific objectives for this initiative based on senior leadership directive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use a holistic approach (rather than just training) that considers where the organization and teams are currently with respect to the objectives and specific interventions such as training and coaching targeted at addressing the gaps identified<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ensure senior leadership team at both locations has bought into the initiative and is fully committed to it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use of constructs such as different levels of planning, scrum of scrums, meta scrums etc. for effective cross-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","post_title":"Podcast - Managing an Agile Transformation for Success","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"podcast-managing-agile-transformation-success","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11270","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11144,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:43:04","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:13:04","post_content":"\n
    You joined this team couple of months back. You notice that your manager generally works very long hours on week-days and comes to work on certain week-ends too. You are concerned that you would not get good appraisal if you do not work similar hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Would your concern be valid?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    My response is: Yes - it would be, if you are someone who does not believe in working long hours. Perceptions and concerns like - my appraisal will be impacted - are bound to set in, more so, if you have ambitions of growing into the role of your manager.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The next question is: \u2018Should you succumb to this concern and let it rule you?\u2019. This is where your philosophy comes into play. We talk about this in the blog: <\/span>https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/five-beacons-leadership-journey\/<\/span><\/a>. To quote: \u201cGreat leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Application knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Business domain knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Multi-skilling<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Team level automation (e.g. scripting of repetitive tasks; population of test data)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Waste reduction - re-work in development; Unsuccessful changes; App outage; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Self-organizing teams<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Softer aspects like: conflicts (unhealthy); gender diversity; product vision; Goal-focus; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Inter-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    All of the above 5 levers should influence the productivity index as we had defined earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    define & measure productivity at Sub-BU or BU levels (not at team level) in a way that is meaningful to business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    use macro-level means like app portfolio optimization, automation, focus on business value, etc. to improve productivity in collaboration with business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    enable & encourage teams to improve the underlying factors that influence productivity (not productivity directly)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"IT Productivity \u2013 a point of view","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"productivity-point-view","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11462","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11270,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-11-20 16:24:35","post_date_gmt":"2018-11-20 10:54:35","post_content":"\n
    https:\/\/embeds.audioboom.com\/posts\/7092680-managing-an-agile-transformation-for-success\/embed\/v4?eid=AQAAAJTk81vIOWwA<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Agile transformations, like any other are challenging for most organizations. This episode engages experts from PM Power Consulting J Veeraraaghavan, Vishveshwar Hegde and Anand Natarajan in dialogue, sharing their agile leadership coaching and consulting insights. The dialogue also explores common challenges and approaches to agile transformations for leaders and geographically distributed teams with diverse view points of the experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The case study is given below<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Trailblazers Inc. have decided to embark on an Agile transformation journey with their SVP of Engineering. Mike Simpson, personally kicking off an initiative targeted at improving predictability, reducing cycle time and improving customer responsiveness. Mike wants Neeraj who is the VP of Engineering at their Bangalore development center to drive this initiative with Scrum as the primary approach and complete the transformation within the next one and a half years. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Neeraj approaches you as an Agile coach to help him with defining and implementing a program that will ensure the success of this initiative. <\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To Summarize key aspects from the dialogue:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Define specific objectives for this initiative based on senior leadership directive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use a holistic approach (rather than just training) that considers where the organization and teams are currently with respect to the objectives and specific interventions such as training and coaching targeted at addressing the gaps identified<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ensure senior leadership team at both locations has bought into the initiative and is fully committed to it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use of constructs such as different levels of planning, scrum of scrums, meta scrums etc. for effective cross-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","post_title":"Podcast - Managing an Agile Transformation for Success","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"podcast-managing-agile-transformation-success","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11270","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11144,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:43:04","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:13:04","post_content":"\n
    You joined this team couple of months back. You notice that your manager generally works very long hours on week-days and comes to work on certain week-ends too. You are concerned that you would not get good appraisal if you do not work similar hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Would your concern be valid?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    My response is: Yes - it would be, if you are someone who does not believe in working long hours. Perceptions and concerns like - my appraisal will be impacted - are bound to set in, more so, if you have ambitions of growing into the role of your manager.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The next question is: \u2018Should you succumb to this concern and let it rule you?\u2019. This is where your philosophy comes into play. We talk about this in the blog: <\/span>https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/five-beacons-leadership-journey\/<\/span><\/a>. To quote: \u201cGreat leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    \n
    Application knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Business domain knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Multi-skilling<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Team level automation (e.g. scripting of repetitive tasks; population of test data)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Waste reduction - re-work in development; Unsuccessful changes; App outage; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Self-organizing teams<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Softer aspects like: conflicts (unhealthy); gender diversity; product vision; Goal-focus; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Inter-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    All of the above 5 levers should influence the productivity index as we had defined earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    define & measure productivity at Sub-BU or BU levels (not at team level) in a way that is meaningful to business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    use macro-level means like app portfolio optimization, automation, focus on business value, etc. to improve productivity in collaboration with business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    enable & encourage teams to improve the underlying factors that influence productivity (not productivity directly)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"IT Productivity \u2013 a point of view","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"productivity-point-view","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11462","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11270,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-11-20 16:24:35","post_date_gmt":"2018-11-20 10:54:35","post_content":"\n
    https:\/\/embeds.audioboom.com\/posts\/7092680-managing-an-agile-transformation-for-success\/embed\/v4?eid=AQAAAJTk81vIOWwA<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Agile transformations, like any other are challenging for most organizations. This episode engages experts from PM Power Consulting J Veeraraaghavan, Vishveshwar Hegde and Anand Natarajan in dialogue, sharing their agile leadership coaching and consulting insights. The dialogue also explores common challenges and approaches to agile transformations for leaders and geographically distributed teams with diverse view points of the experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The case study is given below<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Trailblazers Inc. have decided to embark on an Agile transformation journey with their SVP of Engineering. Mike Simpson, personally kicking off an initiative targeted at improving predictability, reducing cycle time and improving customer responsiveness. Mike wants Neeraj who is the VP of Engineering at their Bangalore development center to drive this initiative with Scrum as the primary approach and complete the transformation within the next one and a half years. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Neeraj approaches you as an Agile coach to help him with defining and implementing a program that will ensure the success of this initiative. <\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To Summarize key aspects from the dialogue:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Define specific objectives for this initiative based on senior leadership directive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use a holistic approach (rather than just training) that considers where the organization and teams are currently with respect to the objectives and specific interventions such as training and coaching targeted at addressing the gaps identified<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ensure senior leadership team at both locations has bought into the initiative and is fully committed to it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use of constructs such as different levels of planning, scrum of scrums, meta scrums etc. for effective cross-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","post_title":"Podcast - Managing an Agile Transformation for Success","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"podcast-managing-agile-transformation-success","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11270","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11144,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:43:04","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:13:04","post_content":"\n
    You joined this team couple of months back. You notice that your manager generally works very long hours on week-days and comes to work on certain week-ends too. You are concerned that you would not get good appraisal if you do not work similar hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Would your concern be valid?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    My response is: Yes - it would be, if you are someone who does not believe in working long hours. Perceptions and concerns like - my appraisal will be impacted - are bound to set in, more so, if you have ambitions of growing into the role of your manager.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The next question is: \u2018Should you succumb to this concern and let it rule you?\u2019. This is where your philosophy comes into play. We talk about this in the blog: <\/span>https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/five-beacons-leadership-journey\/<\/span><\/a>. To quote: \u201cGreat leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Improvement Lever #5: Enable & encourage teams to identify, measure & improve on factors that influence productivity (a few examples below):<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Application knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Business domain knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Multi-skilling<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Team level automation (e.g. scripting of repetitive tasks; population of test data)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Waste reduction - re-work in development; Unsuccessful changes; App outage; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Self-organizing teams<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Softer aspects like: conflicts (unhealthy); gender diversity; product vision; Goal-focus; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Inter-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    All of the above 5 levers should influence the productivity index as we had defined earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    define & measure productivity at Sub-BU or BU levels (not at team level) in a way that is meaningful to business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    use macro-level means like app portfolio optimization, automation, focus on business value, etc. to improve productivity in collaboration with business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    enable & encourage teams to improve the underlying factors that influence productivity (not productivity directly)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"IT Productivity \u2013 a point of view","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"productivity-point-view","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11462","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11270,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-11-20 16:24:35","post_date_gmt":"2018-11-20 10:54:35","post_content":"\n
    https:\/\/embeds.audioboom.com\/posts\/7092680-managing-an-agile-transformation-for-success\/embed\/v4?eid=AQAAAJTk81vIOWwA<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Agile transformations, like any other are challenging for most organizations. This episode engages experts from PM Power Consulting J Veeraraaghavan, Vishveshwar Hegde and Anand Natarajan in dialogue, sharing their agile leadership coaching and consulting insights. The dialogue also explores common challenges and approaches to agile transformations for leaders and geographically distributed teams with diverse view points of the experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The case study is given below<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Trailblazers Inc. have decided to embark on an Agile transformation journey with their SVP of Engineering. Mike Simpson, personally kicking off an initiative targeted at improving predictability, reducing cycle time and improving customer responsiveness. Mike wants Neeraj who is the VP of Engineering at their Bangalore development center to drive this initiative with Scrum as the primary approach and complete the transformation within the next one and a half years. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Neeraj approaches you as an Agile coach to help him with defining and implementing a program that will ensure the success of this initiative. <\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To Summarize key aspects from the dialogue:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Define specific objectives for this initiative based on senior leadership directive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use a holistic approach (rather than just training) that considers where the organization and teams are currently with respect to the objectives and specific interventions such as training and coaching targeted at addressing the gaps identified<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ensure senior leadership team at both locations has bought into the initiative and is fully committed to it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use of constructs such as different levels of planning, scrum of scrums, meta scrums etc. for effective cross-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","post_title":"Podcast - Managing an Agile Transformation for Success","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"podcast-managing-agile-transformation-success","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11270","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11144,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:43:04","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:13:04","post_content":"\n
    You joined this team couple of months back. You notice that your manager generally works very long hours on week-days and comes to work on certain week-ends too. You are concerned that you would not get good appraisal if you do not work similar hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Would your concern be valid?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    My response is: Yes - it would be, if you are someone who does not believe in working long hours. Perceptions and concerns like - my appraisal will be impacted - are bound to set in, more so, if you have ambitions of growing into the role of your manager.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The next question is: \u2018Should you succumb to this concern and let it rule you?\u2019. This is where your philosophy comes into play. We talk about this in the blog: <\/span>https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/five-beacons-leadership-journey\/<\/span><\/a>. To quote: \u201cGreat leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Review tool\/technology portfolio and optimize<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #5: Enable & encourage teams to identify, measure & improve on factors that influence productivity (a few examples below):<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Application knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Business domain knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Multi-skilling<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Team level automation (e.g. scripting of repetitive tasks; population of test data)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Waste reduction - re-work in development; Unsuccessful changes; App outage; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Self-organizing teams<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Softer aspects like: conflicts (unhealthy); gender diversity; product vision; Goal-focus; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Inter-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    All of the above 5 levers should influence the productivity index as we had defined earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    define & measure productivity at Sub-BU or BU levels (not at team level) in a way that is meaningful to business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    use macro-level means like app portfolio optimization, automation, focus on business value, etc. to improve productivity in collaboration with business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    enable & encourage teams to improve the underlying factors that influence productivity (not productivity directly)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"IT Productivity \u2013 a point of view","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"productivity-point-view","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11462","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11270,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-11-20 16:24:35","post_date_gmt":"2018-11-20 10:54:35","post_content":"\n
    https:\/\/embeds.audioboom.com\/posts\/7092680-managing-an-agile-transformation-for-success\/embed\/v4?eid=AQAAAJTk81vIOWwA<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Agile transformations, like any other are challenging for most organizations. This episode engages experts from PM Power Consulting J Veeraraaghavan, Vishveshwar Hegde and Anand Natarajan in dialogue, sharing their agile leadership coaching and consulting insights. The dialogue also explores common challenges and approaches to agile transformations for leaders and geographically distributed teams with diverse view points of the experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The case study is given below<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Trailblazers Inc. have decided to embark on an Agile transformation journey with their SVP of Engineering. Mike Simpson, personally kicking off an initiative targeted at improving predictability, reducing cycle time and improving customer responsiveness. Mike wants Neeraj who is the VP of Engineering at their Bangalore development center to drive this initiative with Scrum as the primary approach and complete the transformation within the next one and a half years. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Neeraj approaches you as an Agile coach to help him with defining and implementing a program that will ensure the success of this initiative. <\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To Summarize key aspects from the dialogue:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Define specific objectives for this initiative based on senior leadership directive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use a holistic approach (rather than just training) that considers where the organization and teams are currently with respect to the objectives and specific interventions such as training and coaching targeted at addressing the gaps identified<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ensure senior leadership team at both locations has bought into the initiative and is fully committed to it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use of constructs such as different levels of planning, scrum of scrums, meta scrums etc. for effective cross-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","post_title":"Podcast - Managing an Agile Transformation for Success","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"podcast-managing-agile-transformation-success","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11270","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11144,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:43:04","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:13:04","post_content":"\n
    You joined this team couple of months back. You notice that your manager generally works very long hours on week-days and comes to work on certain week-ends too. You are concerned that you would not get good appraisal if you do not work similar hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Would your concern be valid?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    My response is: Yes - it would be, if you are someone who does not believe in working long hours. Perceptions and concerns like - my appraisal will be impacted - are bound to set in, more so, if you have ambitions of growing into the role of your manager.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The next question is: \u2018Should you succumb to this concern and let it rule you?\u2019. This is where your philosophy comes into play. We talk about this in the blog: <\/span>https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/five-beacons-leadership-journey\/<\/span><\/a>. To quote: \u201cGreat leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Focus on appropriate tools & technologies to automate engineering practices like test automation; build automation; release management, etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Review tool\/technology portfolio and optimize<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #5: Enable & encourage teams to identify, measure & improve on factors that influence productivity (a few examples below):<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Application knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Business domain knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Multi-skilling<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Team level automation (e.g. scripting of repetitive tasks; population of test data)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Waste reduction - re-work in development; Unsuccessful changes; App outage; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Self-organizing teams<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Softer aspects like: conflicts (unhealthy); gender diversity; product vision; Goal-focus; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Inter-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    All of the above 5 levers should influence the productivity index as we had defined earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    define & measure productivity at Sub-BU or BU levels (not at team level) in a way that is meaningful to business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    use macro-level means like app portfolio optimization, automation, focus on business value, etc. to improve productivity in collaboration with business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    enable & encourage teams to improve the underlying factors that influence productivity (not productivity directly)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"IT Productivity \u2013 a point of view","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"productivity-point-view","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11462","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11270,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-11-20 16:24:35","post_date_gmt":"2018-11-20 10:54:35","post_content":"\n
    https:\/\/embeds.audioboom.com\/posts\/7092680-managing-an-agile-transformation-for-success\/embed\/v4?eid=AQAAAJTk81vIOWwA<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Agile transformations, like any other are challenging for most organizations. This episode engages experts from PM Power Consulting J Veeraraaghavan, Vishveshwar Hegde and Anand Natarajan in dialogue, sharing their agile leadership coaching and consulting insights. The dialogue also explores common challenges and approaches to agile transformations for leaders and geographically distributed teams with diverse view points of the experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The case study is given below<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Trailblazers Inc. have decided to embark on an Agile transformation journey with their SVP of Engineering. Mike Simpson, personally kicking off an initiative targeted at improving predictability, reducing cycle time and improving customer responsiveness. Mike wants Neeraj who is the VP of Engineering at their Bangalore development center to drive this initiative with Scrum as the primary approach and complete the transformation within the next one and a half years. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Neeraj approaches you as an Agile coach to help him with defining and implementing a program that will ensure the success of this initiative. <\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To Summarize key aspects from the dialogue:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Define specific objectives for this initiative based on senior leadership directive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use a holistic approach (rather than just training) that considers where the organization and teams are currently with respect to the objectives and specific interventions such as training and coaching targeted at addressing the gaps identified<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ensure senior leadership team at both locations has bought into the initiative and is fully committed to it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use of constructs such as different levels of planning, scrum of scrums, meta scrums etc. for effective cross-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","post_title":"Podcast - Managing an Agile Transformation for Success","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"podcast-managing-agile-transformation-success","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11270","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11144,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:43:04","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:13:04","post_content":"\n
    You joined this team couple of months back. You notice that your manager generally works very long hours on week-days and comes to work on certain week-ends too. You are concerned that you would not get good appraisal if you do not work similar hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Would your concern be valid?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    My response is: Yes - it would be, if you are someone who does not believe in working long hours. Perceptions and concerns like - my appraisal will be impacted - are bound to set in, more so, if you have ambitions of growing into the role of your manager.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The next question is: \u2018Should you succumb to this concern and let it rule you?\u2019. This is where your philosophy comes into play. We talk about this in the blog: <\/span>https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/five-beacons-leadership-journey\/<\/span><\/a>. To quote: \u201cGreat leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    \n
    Focus on appropriate tools & technologies to automate engineering practices like test automation; build automation; release management, etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Review tool\/technology portfolio and optimize<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #5: Enable & encourage teams to identify, measure & improve on factors that influence productivity (a few examples below):<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Application knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Business domain knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Multi-skilling<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Team level automation (e.g. scripting of repetitive tasks; population of test data)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Waste reduction - re-work in development; Unsuccessful changes; App outage; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Self-organizing teams<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Softer aspects like: conflicts (unhealthy); gender diversity; product vision; Goal-focus; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Inter-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    All of the above 5 levers should influence the productivity index as we had defined earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    define & measure productivity at Sub-BU or BU levels (not at team level) in a way that is meaningful to business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    use macro-level means like app portfolio optimization, automation, focus on business value, etc. to improve productivity in collaboration with business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    enable & encourage teams to improve the underlying factors that influence productivity (not productivity directly)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"IT Productivity \u2013 a point of view","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"productivity-point-view","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11462","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11270,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-11-20 16:24:35","post_date_gmt":"2018-11-20 10:54:35","post_content":"\n
    https:\/\/embeds.audioboom.com\/posts\/7092680-managing-an-agile-transformation-for-success\/embed\/v4?eid=AQAAAJTk81vIOWwA<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Agile transformations, like any other are challenging for most organizations. This episode engages experts from PM Power Consulting J Veeraraaghavan, Vishveshwar Hegde and Anand Natarajan in dialogue, sharing their agile leadership coaching and consulting insights. The dialogue also explores common challenges and approaches to agile transformations for leaders and geographically distributed teams with diverse view points of the experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The case study is given below<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Trailblazers Inc. have decided to embark on an Agile transformation journey with their SVP of Engineering. Mike Simpson, personally kicking off an initiative targeted at improving predictability, reducing cycle time and improving customer responsiveness. Mike wants Neeraj who is the VP of Engineering at their Bangalore development center to drive this initiative with Scrum as the primary approach and complete the transformation within the next one and a half years. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Neeraj approaches you as an Agile coach to help him with defining and implementing a program that will ensure the success of this initiative. <\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To Summarize key aspects from the dialogue:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Define specific objectives for this initiative based on senior leadership directive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use a holistic approach (rather than just training) that considers where the organization and teams are currently with respect to the objectives and specific interventions such as training and coaching targeted at addressing the gaps identified<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ensure senior leadership team at both locations has bought into the initiative and is fully committed to it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use of constructs such as different levels of planning, scrum of scrums, meta scrums etc. for effective cross-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","post_title":"Podcast - Managing an Agile Transformation for Success","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"podcast-managing-agile-transformation-success","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11270","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11144,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:43:04","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:13:04","post_content":"\n
    You joined this team couple of months back. You notice that your manager generally works very long hours on week-days and comes to work on certain week-ends too. You are concerned that you would not get good appraisal if you do not work similar hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Would your concern be valid?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    My response is: Yes - it would be, if you are someone who does not believe in working long hours. Perceptions and concerns like - my appraisal will be impacted - are bound to set in, more so, if you have ambitions of growing into the role of your manager.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The next question is: \u2018Should you succumb to this concern and let it rule you?\u2019. This is where your philosophy comes into play. We talk about this in the blog: <\/span>https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/five-beacons-leadership-journey\/<\/span><\/a>. To quote: \u201cGreat leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Improvement Lever<\/em> #4: Invest in automation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Focus on appropriate tools & technologies to automate engineering practices like test automation; build automation; release management, etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Review tool\/technology portfolio and optimize<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #5: Enable & encourage teams to identify, measure & improve on factors that influence productivity (a few examples below):<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Application knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Business domain knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Multi-skilling<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Team level automation (e.g. scripting of repetitive tasks; population of test data)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Waste reduction - re-work in development; Unsuccessful changes; App outage; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Self-organizing teams<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Softer aspects like: conflicts (unhealthy); gender diversity; product vision; Goal-focus; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Inter-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    All of the above 5 levers should influence the productivity index as we had defined earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    define & measure productivity at Sub-BU or BU levels (not at team level) in a way that is meaningful to business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    use macro-level means like app portfolio optimization, automation, focus on business value, etc. to improve productivity in collaboration with business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    enable & encourage teams to improve the underlying factors that influence productivity (not productivity directly)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"IT Productivity \u2013 a point of view","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"productivity-point-view","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11462","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11270,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-11-20 16:24:35","post_date_gmt":"2018-11-20 10:54:35","post_content":"\n
    https:\/\/embeds.audioboom.com\/posts\/7092680-managing-an-agile-transformation-for-success\/embed\/v4?eid=AQAAAJTk81vIOWwA<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Agile transformations, like any other are challenging for most organizations. This episode engages experts from PM Power Consulting J Veeraraaghavan, Vishveshwar Hegde and Anand Natarajan in dialogue, sharing their agile leadership coaching and consulting insights. The dialogue also explores common challenges and approaches to agile transformations for leaders and geographically distributed teams with diverse view points of the experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The case study is given below<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Trailblazers Inc. have decided to embark on an Agile transformation journey with their SVP of Engineering. Mike Simpson, personally kicking off an initiative targeted at improving predictability, reducing cycle time and improving customer responsiveness. Mike wants Neeraj who is the VP of Engineering at their Bangalore development center to drive this initiative with Scrum as the primary approach and complete the transformation within the next one and a half years. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Neeraj approaches you as an Agile coach to help him with defining and implementing a program that will ensure the success of this initiative. <\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To Summarize key aspects from the dialogue:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Define specific objectives for this initiative based on senior leadership directive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use a holistic approach (rather than just training) that considers where the organization and teams are currently with respect to the objectives and specific interventions such as training and coaching targeted at addressing the gaps identified<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ensure senior leadership team at both locations has bought into the initiative and is fully committed to it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use of constructs such as different levels of planning, scrum of scrums, meta scrums etc. for effective cross-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","post_title":"Podcast - Managing an Agile Transformation for Success","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"podcast-managing-agile-transformation-success","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11270","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11144,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:43:04","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:13:04","post_content":"\n
    You joined this team couple of months back. You notice that your manager generally works very long hours on week-days and comes to work on certain week-ends too. You are concerned that you would not get good appraisal if you do not work similar hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Would your concern be valid?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    My response is: Yes - it would be, if you are someone who does not believe in working long hours. Perceptions and concerns like - my appraisal will be impacted - are bound to set in, more so, if you have ambitions of growing into the role of your manager.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The next question is: \u2018Should you succumb to this concern and let it rule you?\u2019. This is where your philosophy comes into play. We talk about this in the blog: <\/span>https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/five-beacons-leadership-journey\/<\/span><\/a>. To quote: \u201cGreat leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Look for moving spend to locations where cost of people is lower without compromising efficiency<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever<\/em> #4: Invest in automation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Focus on appropriate tools & technologies to automate engineering practices like test automation; build automation; release management, etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Review tool\/technology portfolio and optimize<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #5: Enable & encourage teams to identify, measure & improve on factors that influence productivity (a few examples below):<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Application knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Business domain knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Multi-skilling<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Team level automation (e.g. scripting of repetitive tasks; population of test data)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Waste reduction - re-work in development; Unsuccessful changes; App outage; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Self-organizing teams<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Softer aspects like: conflicts (unhealthy); gender diversity; product vision; Goal-focus; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Inter-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    All of the above 5 levers should influence the productivity index as we had defined earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    define & measure productivity at Sub-BU or BU levels (not at team level) in a way that is meaningful to business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    use macro-level means like app portfolio optimization, automation, focus on business value, etc. to improve productivity in collaboration with business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    enable & encourage teams to improve the underlying factors that influence productivity (not productivity directly)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"IT Productivity \u2013 a point of view","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"productivity-point-view","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11462","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11270,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-11-20 16:24:35","post_date_gmt":"2018-11-20 10:54:35","post_content":"\n
    https:\/\/embeds.audioboom.com\/posts\/7092680-managing-an-agile-transformation-for-success\/embed\/v4?eid=AQAAAJTk81vIOWwA<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Agile transformations, like any other are challenging for most organizations. This episode engages experts from PM Power Consulting J Veeraraaghavan, Vishveshwar Hegde and Anand Natarajan in dialogue, sharing their agile leadership coaching and consulting insights. The dialogue also explores common challenges and approaches to agile transformations for leaders and geographically distributed teams with diverse view points of the experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The case study is given below<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Trailblazers Inc. have decided to embark on an Agile transformation journey with their SVP of Engineering. Mike Simpson, personally kicking off an initiative targeted at improving predictability, reducing cycle time and improving customer responsiveness. Mike wants Neeraj who is the VP of Engineering at their Bangalore development center to drive this initiative with Scrum as the primary approach and complete the transformation within the next one and a half years. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Neeraj approaches you as an Agile coach to help him with defining and implementing a program that will ensure the success of this initiative. <\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To Summarize key aspects from the dialogue:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Define specific objectives for this initiative based on senior leadership directive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use a holistic approach (rather than just training) that considers where the organization and teams are currently with respect to the objectives and specific interventions such as training and coaching targeted at addressing the gaps identified<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ensure senior leadership team at both locations has bought into the initiative and is fully committed to it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use of constructs such as different levels of planning, scrum of scrums, meta scrums etc. for effective cross-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","post_title":"Podcast - Managing an Agile Transformation for Success","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"podcast-managing-agile-transformation-success","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11270","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11144,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:43:04","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:13:04","post_content":"\n
    You joined this team couple of months back. You notice that your manager generally works very long hours on week-days and comes to work on certain week-ends too. You are concerned that you would not get good appraisal if you do not work similar hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Would your concern be valid?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    My response is: Yes - it would be, if you are someone who does not believe in working long hours. Perceptions and concerns like - my appraisal will be impacted - are bound to set in, more so, if you have ambitions of growing into the role of your manager.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The next question is: \u2018Should you succumb to this concern and let it rule you?\u2019. This is where your philosophy comes into play. We talk about this in the blog: <\/span>https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/five-beacons-leadership-journey\/<\/span><\/a>. To quote: \u201cGreat leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Look at the mix of team members; there could be opportunities to reduce the actual cost of salaries - people with lesser qualifications & experience may be good enough; higher cost resources could be shared across teams.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Look for moving spend to locations where cost of people is lower without compromising efficiency<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever<\/em> #4: Invest in automation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Focus on appropriate tools & technologies to automate engineering practices like test automation; build automation; release management, etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Review tool\/technology portfolio and optimize<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #5: Enable & encourage teams to identify, measure & improve on factors that influence productivity (a few examples below):<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Application knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Business domain knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Multi-skilling<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Team level automation (e.g. scripting of repetitive tasks; population of test data)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Waste reduction - re-work in development; Unsuccessful changes; App outage; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Self-organizing teams<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Softer aspects like: conflicts (unhealthy); gender diversity; product vision; Goal-focus; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Inter-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    All of the above 5 levers should influence the productivity index as we had defined earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    define & measure productivity at Sub-BU or BU levels (not at team level) in a way that is meaningful to business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    use macro-level means like app portfolio optimization, automation, focus on business value, etc. to improve productivity in collaboration with business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    enable & encourage teams to improve the underlying factors that influence productivity (not productivity directly)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"IT Productivity \u2013 a point of view","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"productivity-point-view","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11462","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11270,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-11-20 16:24:35","post_date_gmt":"2018-11-20 10:54:35","post_content":"\n
    https:\/\/embeds.audioboom.com\/posts\/7092680-managing-an-agile-transformation-for-success\/embed\/v4?eid=AQAAAJTk81vIOWwA<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Agile transformations, like any other are challenging for most organizations. This episode engages experts from PM Power Consulting J Veeraraaghavan, Vishveshwar Hegde and Anand Natarajan in dialogue, sharing their agile leadership coaching and consulting insights. The dialogue also explores common challenges and approaches to agile transformations for leaders and geographically distributed teams with diverse view points of the experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The case study is given below<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Trailblazers Inc. have decided to embark on an Agile transformation journey with their SVP of Engineering. Mike Simpson, personally kicking off an initiative targeted at improving predictability, reducing cycle time and improving customer responsiveness. Mike wants Neeraj who is the VP of Engineering at their Bangalore development center to drive this initiative with Scrum as the primary approach and complete the transformation within the next one and a half years. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Neeraj approaches you as an Agile coach to help him with defining and implementing a program that will ensure the success of this initiative. <\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To Summarize key aspects from the dialogue:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Define specific objectives for this initiative based on senior leadership directive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use a holistic approach (rather than just training) that considers where the organization and teams are currently with respect to the objectives and specific interventions such as training and coaching targeted at addressing the gaps identified<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ensure senior leadership team at both locations has bought into the initiative and is fully committed to it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use of constructs such as different levels of planning, scrum of scrums, meta scrums etc. for effective cross-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","post_title":"Podcast - Managing an Agile Transformation for Success","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"podcast-managing-agile-transformation-success","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11270","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11144,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:43:04","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:13:04","post_content":"\n
    You joined this team couple of months back. You notice that your manager generally works very long hours on week-days and comes to work on certain week-ends too. You are concerned that you would not get good appraisal if you do not work similar hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Would your concern be valid?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    My response is: Yes - it would be, if you are someone who does not believe in working long hours. Perceptions and concerns like - my appraisal will be impacted - are bound to set in, more so, if you have ambitions of growing into the role of your manager.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The next question is: \u2018Should you succumb to this concern and let it rule you?\u2019. This is where your philosophy comes into play. We talk about this in the blog: <\/span>https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/five-beacons-leadership-journey\/<\/span><\/a>. To quote: \u201cGreat leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
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    \n
    \n
    Look at the mix of team members; there could be opportunities to reduce the actual cost of salaries - people with lesser qualifications & experience may be good enough; higher cost resources could be shared across teams.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Look for moving spend to locations where cost of people is lower without compromising efficiency<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever<\/em> #4: Invest in automation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Focus on appropriate tools & technologies to automate engineering practices like test automation; build automation; release management, etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Review tool\/technology portfolio and optimize<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #5: Enable & encourage teams to identify, measure & improve on factors that influence productivity (a few examples below):<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Application knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Business domain knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Multi-skilling<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Team level automation (e.g. scripting of repetitive tasks; population of test data)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Waste reduction - re-work in development; Unsuccessful changes; App outage; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Self-organizing teams<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Softer aspects like: conflicts (unhealthy); gender diversity; product vision; Goal-focus; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Inter-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    All of the above 5 levers should influence the productivity index as we had defined earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    define & measure productivity at Sub-BU or BU levels (not at team level) in a way that is meaningful to business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    use macro-level means like app portfolio optimization, automation, focus on business value, etc. to improve productivity in collaboration with business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    enable & encourage teams to improve the underlying factors that influence productivity (not productivity directly)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"IT Productivity \u2013 a point of view","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"productivity-point-view","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11462","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11270,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-11-20 16:24:35","post_date_gmt":"2018-11-20 10:54:35","post_content":"\n
    https:\/\/embeds.audioboom.com\/posts\/7092680-managing-an-agile-transformation-for-success\/embed\/v4?eid=AQAAAJTk81vIOWwA<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Agile transformations, like any other are challenging for most organizations. This episode engages experts from PM Power Consulting J Veeraraaghavan, Vishveshwar Hegde and Anand Natarajan in dialogue, sharing their agile leadership coaching and consulting insights. The dialogue also explores common challenges and approaches to agile transformations for leaders and geographically distributed teams with diverse view points of the experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The case study is given below<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Trailblazers Inc. have decided to embark on an Agile transformation journey with their SVP of Engineering. Mike Simpson, personally kicking off an initiative targeted at improving predictability, reducing cycle time and improving customer responsiveness. Mike wants Neeraj who is the VP of Engineering at their Bangalore development center to drive this initiative with Scrum as the primary approach and complete the transformation within the next one and a half years. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Neeraj approaches you as an Agile coach to help him with defining and implementing a program that will ensure the success of this initiative. <\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To Summarize key aspects from the dialogue:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Define specific objectives for this initiative based on senior leadership directive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use a holistic approach (rather than just training) that considers where the organization and teams are currently with respect to the objectives and specific interventions such as training and coaching targeted at addressing the gaps identified<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ensure senior leadership team at both locations has bought into the initiative and is fully committed to it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use of constructs such as different levels of planning, scrum of scrums, meta scrums etc. for effective cross-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","post_title":"Podcast - Managing an Agile Transformation for Success","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"podcast-managing-agile-transformation-success","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11270","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11144,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:43:04","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:13:04","post_content":"\n
    You joined this team couple of months back. You notice that your manager generally works very long hours on week-days and comes to work on certain week-ends too. You are concerned that you would not get good appraisal if you do not work similar hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Would your concern be valid?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    My response is: Yes - it would be, if you are someone who does not believe in working long hours. Perceptions and concerns like - my appraisal will be impacted - are bound to set in, more so, if you have ambitions of growing into the role of your manager.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The next question is: \u2018Should you succumb to this concern and let it rule you?\u2019. This is where your philosophy comes into play. We talk about this in the blog: <\/span>https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/five-beacons-leadership-journey\/<\/span><\/a>. To quote: \u201cGreat leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Improvement Lever #3: Reduce direct cost of people<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Look at the mix of team members; there could be opportunities to reduce the actual cost of salaries - people with lesser qualifications & experience may be good enough; higher cost resources could be shared across teams.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Look for moving spend to locations where cost of people is lower without compromising efficiency<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever<\/em> #4: Invest in automation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Focus on appropriate tools & technologies to automate engineering practices like test automation; build automation; release management, etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Review tool\/technology portfolio and optimize<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #5: Enable & encourage teams to identify, measure & improve on factors that influence productivity (a few examples below):<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Application knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Business domain knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Multi-skilling<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Team level automation (e.g. scripting of repetitive tasks; population of test data)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Waste reduction - re-work in development; Unsuccessful changes; App outage; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Self-organizing teams<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Softer aspects like: conflicts (unhealthy); gender diversity; product vision; Goal-focus; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Inter-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    All of the above 5 levers should influence the productivity index as we had defined earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    define & measure productivity at Sub-BU or BU levels (not at team level) in a way that is meaningful to business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    use macro-level means like app portfolio optimization, automation, focus on business value, etc. to improve productivity in collaboration with business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    enable & encourage teams to improve the underlying factors that influence productivity (not productivity directly)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"IT Productivity \u2013 a point of view","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"productivity-point-view","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11462","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11270,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-11-20 16:24:35","post_date_gmt":"2018-11-20 10:54:35","post_content":"\n
    https:\/\/embeds.audioboom.com\/posts\/7092680-managing-an-agile-transformation-for-success\/embed\/v4?eid=AQAAAJTk81vIOWwA<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Agile transformations, like any other are challenging for most organizations. This episode engages experts from PM Power Consulting J Veeraraaghavan, Vishveshwar Hegde and Anand Natarajan in dialogue, sharing their agile leadership coaching and consulting insights. The dialogue also explores common challenges and approaches to agile transformations for leaders and geographically distributed teams with diverse view points of the experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The case study is given below<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Trailblazers Inc. have decided to embark on an Agile transformation journey with their SVP of Engineering. Mike Simpson, personally kicking off an initiative targeted at improving predictability, reducing cycle time and improving customer responsiveness. Mike wants Neeraj who is the VP of Engineering at their Bangalore development center to drive this initiative with Scrum as the primary approach and complete the transformation within the next one and a half years. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Neeraj approaches you as an Agile coach to help him with defining and implementing a program that will ensure the success of this initiative. <\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To Summarize key aspects from the dialogue:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Define specific objectives for this initiative based on senior leadership directive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use a holistic approach (rather than just training) that considers where the organization and teams are currently with respect to the objectives and specific interventions such as training and coaching targeted at addressing the gaps identified<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ensure senior leadership team at both locations has bought into the initiative and is fully committed to it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use of constructs such as different levels of planning, scrum of scrums, meta scrums etc. for effective cross-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","post_title":"Podcast - Managing an Agile Transformation for Success","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"podcast-managing-agile-transformation-success","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11270","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11144,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:43:04","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:13:04","post_content":"\n
    You joined this team couple of months back. You notice that your manager generally works very long hours on week-days and comes to work on certain week-ends too. You are concerned that you would not get good appraisal if you do not work similar hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Would your concern be valid?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    My response is: Yes - it would be, if you are someone who does not believe in working long hours. Perceptions and concerns like - my appraisal will be impacted - are bound to set in, more so, if you have ambitions of growing into the role of your manager.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The next question is: \u2018Should you succumb to this concern and let it rule you?\u2019. This is where your philosophy comes into play. We talk about this in the blog: <\/span>https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/five-beacons-leadership-journey\/<\/span><\/a>. To quote: \u201cGreat leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Implement practices in teams (engineering & product management together) to ensure that higher value requirements are getting prioritized; Focus on reducing risks associated with these higher value items<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #3: Reduce direct cost of people<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Look at the mix of team members; there could be opportunities to reduce the actual cost of salaries - people with lesser qualifications & experience may be good enough; higher cost resources could be shared across teams.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Look for moving spend to locations where cost of people is lower without compromising efficiency<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever<\/em> #4: Invest in automation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Focus on appropriate tools & technologies to automate engineering practices like test automation; build automation; release management, etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Review tool\/technology portfolio and optimize<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #5: Enable & encourage teams to identify, measure & improve on factors that influence productivity (a few examples below):<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Application knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Business domain knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Multi-skilling<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Team level automation (e.g. scripting of repetitive tasks; population of test data)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Waste reduction - re-work in development; Unsuccessful changes; App outage; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Self-organizing teams<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Softer aspects like: conflicts (unhealthy); gender diversity; product vision; Goal-focus; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Inter-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    All of the above 5 levers should influence the productivity index as we had defined earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    define & measure productivity at Sub-BU or BU levels (not at team level) in a way that is meaningful to business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    use macro-level means like app portfolio optimization, automation, focus on business value, etc. to improve productivity in collaboration with business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    enable & encourage teams to improve the underlying factors that influence productivity (not productivity directly)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"IT Productivity \u2013 a point of view","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"productivity-point-view","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11462","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11270,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-11-20 16:24:35","post_date_gmt":"2018-11-20 10:54:35","post_content":"\n
    https:\/\/embeds.audioboom.com\/posts\/7092680-managing-an-agile-transformation-for-success\/embed\/v4?eid=AQAAAJTk81vIOWwA<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Agile transformations, like any other are challenging for most organizations. This episode engages experts from PM Power Consulting J Veeraraaghavan, Vishveshwar Hegde and Anand Natarajan in dialogue, sharing their agile leadership coaching and consulting insights. The dialogue also explores common challenges and approaches to agile transformations for leaders and geographically distributed teams with diverse view points of the experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The case study is given below<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Trailblazers Inc. have decided to embark on an Agile transformation journey with their SVP of Engineering. Mike Simpson, personally kicking off an initiative targeted at improving predictability, reducing cycle time and improving customer responsiveness. Mike wants Neeraj who is the VP of Engineering at their Bangalore development center to drive this initiative with Scrum as the primary approach and complete the transformation within the next one and a half years. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Neeraj approaches you as an Agile coach to help him with defining and implementing a program that will ensure the success of this initiative. <\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To Summarize key aspects from the dialogue:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Define specific objectives for this initiative based on senior leadership directive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use a holistic approach (rather than just training) that considers where the organization and teams are currently with respect to the objectives and specific interventions such as training and coaching targeted at addressing the gaps identified<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ensure senior leadership team at both locations has bought into the initiative and is fully committed to it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use of constructs such as different levels of planning, scrum of scrums, meta scrums etc. for effective cross-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","post_title":"Podcast - Managing an Agile Transformation for Success","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"podcast-managing-agile-transformation-success","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11270","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11144,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:43:04","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:13:04","post_content":"\n
    You joined this team couple of months back. You notice that your manager generally works very long hours on week-days and comes to work on certain week-ends too. You are concerned that you would not get good appraisal if you do not work similar hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Would your concern be valid?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    My response is: Yes - it would be, if you are someone who does not believe in working long hours. Perceptions and concerns like - my appraisal will be impacted - are bound to set in, more so, if you have ambitions of growing into the role of your manager.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The next question is: \u2018Should you succumb to this concern and let it rule you?\u2019. This is where your philosophy comes into play. We talk about this in the blog: <\/span>https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/five-beacons-leadership-journey\/<\/span><\/a>. To quote: \u201cGreat leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Compare business value from current apps with potential initiatives that could generate greater business value. Move spend to the newer development projects<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Implement practices in teams (engineering & product management together) to ensure that higher value requirements are getting prioritized; Focus on reducing risks associated with these higher value items<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #3: Reduce direct cost of people<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Look at the mix of team members; there could be opportunities to reduce the actual cost of salaries - people with lesser qualifications & experience may be good enough; higher cost resources could be shared across teams.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Look for moving spend to locations where cost of people is lower without compromising efficiency<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever<\/em> #4: Invest in automation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Focus on appropriate tools & technologies to automate engineering practices like test automation; build automation; release management, etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Review tool\/technology portfolio and optimize<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #5: Enable & encourage teams to identify, measure & improve on factors that influence productivity (a few examples below):<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Application knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Business domain knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Multi-skilling<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Team level automation (e.g. scripting of repetitive tasks; population of test data)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Waste reduction - re-work in development; Unsuccessful changes; App outage; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Self-organizing teams<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Softer aspects like: conflicts (unhealthy); gender diversity; product vision; Goal-focus; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Inter-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    All of the above 5 levers should influence the productivity index as we had defined earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    define & measure productivity at Sub-BU or BU levels (not at team level) in a way that is meaningful to business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    use macro-level means like app portfolio optimization, automation, focus on business value, etc. to improve productivity in collaboration with business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    enable & encourage teams to improve the underlying factors that influence productivity (not productivity directly)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"IT Productivity \u2013 a point of view","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"productivity-point-view","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11462","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11270,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-11-20 16:24:35","post_date_gmt":"2018-11-20 10:54:35","post_content":"\n
    https:\/\/embeds.audioboom.com\/posts\/7092680-managing-an-agile-transformation-for-success\/embed\/v4?eid=AQAAAJTk81vIOWwA<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Agile transformations, like any other are challenging for most organizations. This episode engages experts from PM Power Consulting J Veeraraaghavan, Vishveshwar Hegde and Anand Natarajan in dialogue, sharing their agile leadership coaching and consulting insights. The dialogue also explores common challenges and approaches to agile transformations for leaders and geographically distributed teams with diverse view points of the experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The case study is given below<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Trailblazers Inc. have decided to embark on an Agile transformation journey with their SVP of Engineering. Mike Simpson, personally kicking off an initiative targeted at improving predictability, reducing cycle time and improving customer responsiveness. Mike wants Neeraj who is the VP of Engineering at their Bangalore development center to drive this initiative with Scrum as the primary approach and complete the transformation within the next one and a half years. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Neeraj approaches you as an Agile coach to help him with defining and implementing a program that will ensure the success of this initiative. <\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To Summarize key aspects from the dialogue:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Define specific objectives for this initiative based on senior leadership directive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use a holistic approach (rather than just training) that considers where the organization and teams are currently with respect to the objectives and specific interventions such as training and coaching targeted at addressing the gaps identified<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ensure senior leadership team at both locations has bought into the initiative and is fully committed to it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use of constructs such as different levels of planning, scrum of scrums, meta scrums etc. for effective cross-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","post_title":"Podcast - Managing an Agile Transformation for Success","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"podcast-managing-agile-transformation-success","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11270","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11144,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:43:04","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:13:04","post_content":"\n
    You joined this team couple of months back. You notice that your manager generally works very long hours on week-days and comes to work on certain week-ends too. You are concerned that you would not get good appraisal if you do not work similar hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Would your concern be valid?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    My response is: Yes - it would be, if you are someone who does not believe in working long hours. Perceptions and concerns like - my appraisal will be impacted - are bound to set in, more so, if you have ambitions of growing into the role of your manager.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The next question is: \u2018Should you succumb to this concern and let it rule you?\u2019. This is where your philosophy comes into play. We talk about this in the blog: <\/span>https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/five-beacons-leadership-journey\/<\/span><\/a>. To quote: \u201cGreat leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    \n
    Compare business value from current apps with potential initiatives that could generate greater business value. Move spend to the newer development projects<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Implement practices in teams (engineering & product management together) to ensure that higher value requirements are getting prioritized; Focus on reducing risks associated with these higher value items<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #3: Reduce direct cost of people<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Look at the mix of team members; there could be opportunities to reduce the actual cost of salaries - people with lesser qualifications & experience may be good enough; higher cost resources could be shared across teams.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Look for moving spend to locations where cost of people is lower without compromising efficiency<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever<\/em> #4: Invest in automation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Focus on appropriate tools & technologies to automate engineering practices like test automation; build automation; release management, etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Review tool\/technology portfolio and optimize<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #5: Enable & encourage teams to identify, measure & improve on factors that influence productivity (a few examples below):<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Application knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Business domain knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Multi-skilling<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Team level automation (e.g. scripting of repetitive tasks; population of test data)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Waste reduction - re-work in development; Unsuccessful changes; App outage; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Self-organizing teams<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Softer aspects like: conflicts (unhealthy); gender diversity; product vision; Goal-focus; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Inter-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    All of the above 5 levers should influence the productivity index as we had defined earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    define & measure productivity at Sub-BU or BU levels (not at team level) in a way that is meaningful to business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    use macro-level means like app portfolio optimization, automation, focus on business value, etc. to improve productivity in collaboration with business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    enable & encourage teams to improve the underlying factors that influence productivity (not productivity directly)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"IT Productivity \u2013 a point of view","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"productivity-point-view","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11462","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11270,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-11-20 16:24:35","post_date_gmt":"2018-11-20 10:54:35","post_content":"\n
    https:\/\/embeds.audioboom.com\/posts\/7092680-managing-an-agile-transformation-for-success\/embed\/v4?eid=AQAAAJTk81vIOWwA<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Agile transformations, like any other are challenging for most organizations. This episode engages experts from PM Power Consulting J Veeraraaghavan, Vishveshwar Hegde and Anand Natarajan in dialogue, sharing their agile leadership coaching and consulting insights. The dialogue also explores common challenges and approaches to agile transformations for leaders and geographically distributed teams with diverse view points of the experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The case study is given below<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Trailblazers Inc. have decided to embark on an Agile transformation journey with their SVP of Engineering. Mike Simpson, personally kicking off an initiative targeted at improving predictability, reducing cycle time and improving customer responsiveness. Mike wants Neeraj who is the VP of Engineering at their Bangalore development center to drive this initiative with Scrum as the primary approach and complete the transformation within the next one and a half years. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Neeraj approaches you as an Agile coach to help him with defining and implementing a program that will ensure the success of this initiative. <\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To Summarize key aspects from the dialogue:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Define specific objectives for this initiative based on senior leadership directive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use a holistic approach (rather than just training) that considers where the organization and teams are currently with respect to the objectives and specific interventions such as training and coaching targeted at addressing the gaps identified<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ensure senior leadership team at both locations has bought into the initiative and is fully committed to it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use of constructs such as different levels of planning, scrum of scrums, meta scrums etc. for effective cross-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","post_title":"Podcast - Managing an Agile Transformation for Success","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"podcast-managing-agile-transformation-success","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11270","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11144,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:43:04","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:13:04","post_content":"\n
    You joined this team couple of months back. You notice that your manager generally works very long hours on week-days and comes to work on certain week-ends too. You are concerned that you would not get good appraisal if you do not work similar hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Would your concern be valid?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    My response is: Yes - it would be, if you are someone who does not believe in working long hours. Perceptions and concerns like - my appraisal will be impacted - are bound to set in, more so, if you have ambitions of growing into the role of your manager.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The next question is: \u2018Should you succumb to this concern and let it rule you?\u2019. This is where your philosophy comes into play. We talk about this in the blog: <\/span>https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/five-beacons-leadership-journey\/<\/span><\/a>. To quote: \u201cGreat leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Improvement Lever #2: Increase business value<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Compare business value from current apps with potential initiatives that could generate greater business value. Move spend to the newer development projects<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Implement practices in teams (engineering & product management together) to ensure that higher value requirements are getting prioritized; Focus on reducing risks associated with these higher value items<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #3: Reduce direct cost of people<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Look at the mix of team members; there could be opportunities to reduce the actual cost of salaries - people with lesser qualifications & experience may be good enough; higher cost resources could be shared across teams.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Look for moving spend to locations where cost of people is lower without compromising efficiency<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever<\/em> #4: Invest in automation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Focus on appropriate tools & technologies to automate engineering practices like test automation; build automation; release management, etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Review tool\/technology portfolio and optimize<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #5: Enable & encourage teams to identify, measure & improve on factors that influence productivity (a few examples below):<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Application knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Business domain knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Multi-skilling<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Team level automation (e.g. scripting of repetitive tasks; population of test data)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Waste reduction - re-work in development; Unsuccessful changes; App outage; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Self-organizing teams<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Softer aspects like: conflicts (unhealthy); gender diversity; product vision; Goal-focus; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Inter-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    All of the above 5 levers should influence the productivity index as we had defined earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    define & measure productivity at Sub-BU or BU levels (not at team level) in a way that is meaningful to business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    use macro-level means like app portfolio optimization, automation, focus on business value, etc. to improve productivity in collaboration with business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    enable & encourage teams to improve the underlying factors that influence productivity (not productivity directly)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"IT Productivity \u2013 a point of view","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"productivity-point-view","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11462","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11270,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-11-20 16:24:35","post_date_gmt":"2018-11-20 10:54:35","post_content":"\n
    https:\/\/embeds.audioboom.com\/posts\/7092680-managing-an-agile-transformation-for-success\/embed\/v4?eid=AQAAAJTk81vIOWwA<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Agile transformations, like any other are challenging for most organizations. This episode engages experts from PM Power Consulting J Veeraraaghavan, Vishveshwar Hegde and Anand Natarajan in dialogue, sharing their agile leadership coaching and consulting insights. The dialogue also explores common challenges and approaches to agile transformations for leaders and geographically distributed teams with diverse view points of the experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The case study is given below<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Trailblazers Inc. have decided to embark on an Agile transformation journey with their SVP of Engineering. Mike Simpson, personally kicking off an initiative targeted at improving predictability, reducing cycle time and improving customer responsiveness. Mike wants Neeraj who is the VP of Engineering at their Bangalore development center to drive this initiative with Scrum as the primary approach and complete the transformation within the next one and a half years. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Neeraj approaches you as an Agile coach to help him with defining and implementing a program that will ensure the success of this initiative. <\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To Summarize key aspects from the dialogue:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Define specific objectives for this initiative based on senior leadership directive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use a holistic approach (rather than just training) that considers where the organization and teams are currently with respect to the objectives and specific interventions such as training and coaching targeted at addressing the gaps identified<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ensure senior leadership team at both locations has bought into the initiative and is fully committed to it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use of constructs such as different levels of planning, scrum of scrums, meta scrums etc. for effective cross-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","post_title":"Podcast - Managing an Agile Transformation for Success","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"podcast-managing-agile-transformation-success","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11270","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11144,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:43:04","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:13:04","post_content":"\n
    You joined this team couple of months back. You notice that your manager generally works very long hours on week-days and comes to work on certain week-ends too. You are concerned that you would not get good appraisal if you do not work similar hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Would your concern be valid?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    My response is: Yes - it would be, if you are someone who does not believe in working long hours. Perceptions and concerns like - my appraisal will be impacted - are bound to set in, more so, if you have ambitions of growing into the role of your manager.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The next question is: \u2018Should you succumb to this concern and let it rule you?\u2019. This is where your philosophy comes into play. We talk about this in the blog: <\/span>https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/five-beacons-leadership-journey\/<\/span><\/a>. To quote: \u201cGreat leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Sunset apps that generate low business value<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #2: Increase business value<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Compare business value from current apps with potential initiatives that could generate greater business value. Move spend to the newer development projects<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Implement practices in teams (engineering & product management together) to ensure that higher value requirements are getting prioritized; Focus on reducing risks associated with these higher value items<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #3: Reduce direct cost of people<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Look at the mix of team members; there could be opportunities to reduce the actual cost of salaries - people with lesser qualifications & experience may be good enough; higher cost resources could be shared across teams.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Look for moving spend to locations where cost of people is lower without compromising efficiency<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever<\/em> #4: Invest in automation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Focus on appropriate tools & technologies to automate engineering practices like test automation; build automation; release management, etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Review tool\/technology portfolio and optimize<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #5: Enable & encourage teams to identify, measure & improve on factors that influence productivity (a few examples below):<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Application knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Business domain knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Multi-skilling<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Team level automation (e.g. scripting of repetitive tasks; population of test data)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Waste reduction - re-work in development; Unsuccessful changes; App outage; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Self-organizing teams<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Softer aspects like: conflicts (unhealthy); gender diversity; product vision; Goal-focus; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Inter-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    All of the above 5 levers should influence the productivity index as we had defined earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    define & measure productivity at Sub-BU or BU levels (not at team level) in a way that is meaningful to business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    use macro-level means like app portfolio optimization, automation, focus on business value, etc. to improve productivity in collaboration with business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    enable & encourage teams to improve the underlying factors that influence productivity (not productivity directly)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"IT Productivity \u2013 a point of view","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"productivity-point-view","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11462","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11270,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-11-20 16:24:35","post_date_gmt":"2018-11-20 10:54:35","post_content":"\n
    https:\/\/embeds.audioboom.com\/posts\/7092680-managing-an-agile-transformation-for-success\/embed\/v4?eid=AQAAAJTk81vIOWwA<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Agile transformations, like any other are challenging for most organizations. This episode engages experts from PM Power Consulting J Veeraraaghavan, Vishveshwar Hegde and Anand Natarajan in dialogue, sharing their agile leadership coaching and consulting insights. The dialogue also explores common challenges and approaches to agile transformations for leaders and geographically distributed teams with diverse view points of the experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The case study is given below<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Trailblazers Inc. have decided to embark on an Agile transformation journey with their SVP of Engineering. Mike Simpson, personally kicking off an initiative targeted at improving predictability, reducing cycle time and improving customer responsiveness. Mike wants Neeraj who is the VP of Engineering at their Bangalore development center to drive this initiative with Scrum as the primary approach and complete the transformation within the next one and a half years. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Neeraj approaches you as an Agile coach to help him with defining and implementing a program that will ensure the success of this initiative. <\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To Summarize key aspects from the dialogue:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Define specific objectives for this initiative based on senior leadership directive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use a holistic approach (rather than just training) that considers where the organization and teams are currently with respect to the objectives and specific interventions such as training and coaching targeted at addressing the gaps identified<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ensure senior leadership team at both locations has bought into the initiative and is fully committed to it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use of constructs such as different levels of planning, scrum of scrums, meta scrums etc. for effective cross-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","post_title":"Podcast - Managing an Agile Transformation for Success","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"podcast-managing-agile-transformation-success","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11270","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11144,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:43:04","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:13:04","post_content":"\n
    You joined this team couple of months back. You notice that your manager generally works very long hours on week-days and comes to work on certain week-ends too. You are concerned that you would not get good appraisal if you do not work similar hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Would your concern be valid?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    My response is: Yes - it would be, if you are someone who does not believe in working long hours. Perceptions and concerns like - my appraisal will be impacted - are bound to set in, more so, if you have ambitions of growing into the role of your manager.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The next question is: \u2018Should you succumb to this concern and let it rule you?\u2019. This is where your philosophy comes into play. We talk about this in the blog: <\/span>https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/five-beacons-leadership-journey\/<\/span><\/a>. To quote: \u201cGreat leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Group apps in terms of their life stages. Look at the ratio of spends by output type - dev, maint & support. Variations in spend ratio by life stage would help the management identify apps where spend needs to reduced. Optimal ratios for each life stage could be based on industry benchmarks (if such benchmarks exist else figure out internal benchmarks). Nature of the app also could be another factor - mainframe, web, analytics & reports, mobile app, etc. in figuring out these ratios.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Sunset apps that generate low business value<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #2: Increase business value<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Compare business value from current apps with potential initiatives that could generate greater business value. Move spend to the newer development projects<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Implement practices in teams (engineering & product management together) to ensure that higher value requirements are getting prioritized; Focus on reducing risks associated with these higher value items<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #3: Reduce direct cost of people<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Look at the mix of team members; there could be opportunities to reduce the actual cost of salaries - people with lesser qualifications & experience may be good enough; higher cost resources could be shared across teams.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Look for moving spend to locations where cost of people is lower without compromising efficiency<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever<\/em> #4: Invest in automation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Focus on appropriate tools & technologies to automate engineering practices like test automation; build automation; release management, etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Review tool\/technology portfolio and optimize<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #5: Enable & encourage teams to identify, measure & improve on factors that influence productivity (a few examples below):<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Application knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Business domain knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Multi-skilling<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Team level automation (e.g. scripting of repetitive tasks; population of test data)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Waste reduction - re-work in development; Unsuccessful changes; App outage; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Self-organizing teams<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Softer aspects like: conflicts (unhealthy); gender diversity; product vision; Goal-focus; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Inter-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    All of the above 5 levers should influence the productivity index as we had defined earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    define & measure productivity at Sub-BU or BU levels (not at team level) in a way that is meaningful to business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    use macro-level means like app portfolio optimization, automation, focus on business value, etc. to improve productivity in collaboration with business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    enable & encourage teams to improve the underlying factors that influence productivity (not productivity directly)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"IT Productivity \u2013 a point of view","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"productivity-point-view","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11462","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11270,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-11-20 16:24:35","post_date_gmt":"2018-11-20 10:54:35","post_content":"\n
    https:\/\/embeds.audioboom.com\/posts\/7092680-managing-an-agile-transformation-for-success\/embed\/v4?eid=AQAAAJTk81vIOWwA<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Agile transformations, like any other are challenging for most organizations. This episode engages experts from PM Power Consulting J Veeraraaghavan, Vishveshwar Hegde and Anand Natarajan in dialogue, sharing their agile leadership coaching and consulting insights. The dialogue also explores common challenges and approaches to agile transformations for leaders and geographically distributed teams with diverse view points of the experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The case study is given below<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Trailblazers Inc. have decided to embark on an Agile transformation journey with their SVP of Engineering. Mike Simpson, personally kicking off an initiative targeted at improving predictability, reducing cycle time and improving customer responsiveness. Mike wants Neeraj who is the VP of Engineering at their Bangalore development center to drive this initiative with Scrum as the primary approach and complete the transformation within the next one and a half years. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Neeraj approaches you as an Agile coach to help him with defining and implementing a program that will ensure the success of this initiative. <\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To Summarize key aspects from the dialogue:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Define specific objectives for this initiative based on senior leadership directive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use a holistic approach (rather than just training) that considers where the organization and teams are currently with respect to the objectives and specific interventions such as training and coaching targeted at addressing the gaps identified<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ensure senior leadership team at both locations has bought into the initiative and is fully committed to it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use of constructs such as different levels of planning, scrum of scrums, meta scrums etc. for effective cross-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","post_title":"Podcast - Managing an Agile Transformation for Success","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"podcast-managing-agile-transformation-success","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11270","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11144,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:43:04","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:13:04","post_content":"\n
    You joined this team couple of months back. You notice that your manager generally works very long hours on week-days and comes to work on certain week-ends too. You are concerned that you would not get good appraisal if you do not work similar hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Would your concern be valid?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    My response is: Yes - it would be, if you are someone who does not believe in working long hours. Perceptions and concerns like - my appraisal will be impacted - are bound to set in, more so, if you have ambitions of growing into the role of your manager.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The next question is: \u2018Should you succumb to this concern and let it rule you?\u2019. This is where your philosophy comes into play. We talk about this in the blog: <\/span>https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/five-beacons-leadership-journey\/<\/span><\/a>. To quote: \u201cGreat leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    \n
    Group apps in terms of their life stages. Look at the ratio of spends by output type - dev, maint & support. Variations in spend ratio by life stage would help the management identify apps where spend needs to reduced. Optimal ratios for each life stage could be based on industry benchmarks (if such benchmarks exist else figure out internal benchmarks). Nature of the app also could be another factor - mainframe, web, analytics & reports, mobile app, etc. in figuring out these ratios.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Sunset apps that generate low business value<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #2: Increase business value<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Compare business value from current apps with potential initiatives that could generate greater business value. Move spend to the newer development projects<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Implement practices in teams (engineering & product management together) to ensure that higher value requirements are getting prioritized; Focus on reducing risks associated with these higher value items<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #3: Reduce direct cost of people<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Look at the mix of team members; there could be opportunities to reduce the actual cost of salaries - people with lesser qualifications & experience may be good enough; higher cost resources could be shared across teams.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Look for moving spend to locations where cost of people is lower without compromising efficiency<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever<\/em> #4: Invest in automation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Focus on appropriate tools & technologies to automate engineering practices like test automation; build automation; release management, etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Review tool\/technology portfolio and optimize<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #5: Enable & encourage teams to identify, measure & improve on factors that influence productivity (a few examples below):<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Application knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Business domain knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Multi-skilling<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Team level automation (e.g. scripting of repetitive tasks; population of test data)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Waste reduction - re-work in development; Unsuccessful changes; App outage; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Self-organizing teams<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Softer aspects like: conflicts (unhealthy); gender diversity; product vision; Goal-focus; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Inter-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    All of the above 5 levers should influence the productivity index as we had defined earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    define & measure productivity at Sub-BU or BU levels (not at team level) in a way that is meaningful to business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    use macro-level means like app portfolio optimization, automation, focus on business value, etc. to improve productivity in collaboration with business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    enable & encourage teams to improve the underlying factors that influence productivity (not productivity directly)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"IT Productivity \u2013 a point of view","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"productivity-point-view","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11462","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11270,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-11-20 16:24:35","post_date_gmt":"2018-11-20 10:54:35","post_content":"\n
    https:\/\/embeds.audioboom.com\/posts\/7092680-managing-an-agile-transformation-for-success\/embed\/v4?eid=AQAAAJTk81vIOWwA<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Agile transformations, like any other are challenging for most organizations. This episode engages experts from PM Power Consulting J Veeraraaghavan, Vishveshwar Hegde and Anand Natarajan in dialogue, sharing their agile leadership coaching and consulting insights. The dialogue also explores common challenges and approaches to agile transformations for leaders and geographically distributed teams with diverse view points of the experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The case study is given below<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Trailblazers Inc. have decided to embark on an Agile transformation journey with their SVP of Engineering. Mike Simpson, personally kicking off an initiative targeted at improving predictability, reducing cycle time and improving customer responsiveness. Mike wants Neeraj who is the VP of Engineering at their Bangalore development center to drive this initiative with Scrum as the primary approach and complete the transformation within the next one and a half years. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Neeraj approaches you as an Agile coach to help him with defining and implementing a program that will ensure the success of this initiative. <\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To Summarize key aspects from the dialogue:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Define specific objectives for this initiative based on senior leadership directive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use a holistic approach (rather than just training) that considers where the organization and teams are currently with respect to the objectives and specific interventions such as training and coaching targeted at addressing the gaps identified<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ensure senior leadership team at both locations has bought into the initiative and is fully committed to it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use of constructs such as different levels of planning, scrum of scrums, meta scrums etc. for effective cross-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","post_title":"Podcast - Managing an Agile Transformation for Success","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"podcast-managing-agile-transformation-success","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11270","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11144,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:43:04","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:13:04","post_content":"\n
    You joined this team couple of months back. You notice that your manager generally works very long hours on week-days and comes to work on certain week-ends too. You are concerned that you would not get good appraisal if you do not work similar hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Would your concern be valid?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    My response is: Yes - it would be, if you are someone who does not believe in working long hours. Perceptions and concerns like - my appraisal will be impacted - are bound to set in, more so, if you have ambitions of growing into the role of your manager.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The next question is: \u2018Should you succumb to this concern and let it rule you?\u2019. This is where your philosophy comes into play. We talk about this in the blog: <\/span>https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/five-beacons-leadership-journey\/<\/span><\/a>. To quote: \u201cGreat leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Improvement Lever #1: App life cycle analysis<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Group apps in terms of their life stages. Look at the ratio of spends by output type - dev, maint & support. Variations in spend ratio by life stage would help the management identify apps where spend needs to reduced. Optimal ratios for each life stage could be based on industry benchmarks (if such benchmarks exist else figure out internal benchmarks). Nature of the app also could be another factor - mainframe, web, analytics & reports, mobile app, etc. in figuring out these ratios.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Sunset apps that generate low business value<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #2: Increase business value<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Compare business value from current apps with potential initiatives that could generate greater business value. Move spend to the newer development projects<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Implement practices in teams (engineering & product management together) to ensure that higher value requirements are getting prioritized; Focus on reducing risks associated with these higher value items<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #3: Reduce direct cost of people<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Look at the mix of team members; there could be opportunities to reduce the actual cost of salaries - people with lesser qualifications & experience may be good enough; higher cost resources could be shared across teams.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Look for moving spend to locations where cost of people is lower without compromising efficiency<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever<\/em> #4: Invest in automation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Focus on appropriate tools & technologies to automate engineering practices like test automation; build automation; release management, etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Review tool\/technology portfolio and optimize<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #5: Enable & encourage teams to identify, measure & improve on factors that influence productivity (a few examples below):<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Application knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Business domain knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Multi-skilling<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Team level automation (e.g. scripting of repetitive tasks; population of test data)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Waste reduction - re-work in development; Unsuccessful changes; App outage; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Self-organizing teams<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Softer aspects like: conflicts (unhealthy); gender diversity; product vision; Goal-focus; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Inter-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    All of the above 5 levers should influence the productivity index as we had defined earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    define & measure productivity at Sub-BU or BU levels (not at team level) in a way that is meaningful to business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    use macro-level means like app portfolio optimization, automation, focus on business value, etc. to improve productivity in collaboration with business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    enable & encourage teams to improve the underlying factors that influence productivity (not productivity directly)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"IT Productivity \u2013 a point of view","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"productivity-point-view","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11462","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11270,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-11-20 16:24:35","post_date_gmt":"2018-11-20 10:54:35","post_content":"\n
    https:\/\/embeds.audioboom.com\/posts\/7092680-managing-an-agile-transformation-for-success\/embed\/v4?eid=AQAAAJTk81vIOWwA<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Agile transformations, like any other are challenging for most organizations. This episode engages experts from PM Power Consulting J Veeraraaghavan, Vishveshwar Hegde and Anand Natarajan in dialogue, sharing their agile leadership coaching and consulting insights. The dialogue also explores common challenges and approaches to agile transformations for leaders and geographically distributed teams with diverse view points of the experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The case study is given below<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Trailblazers Inc. have decided to embark on an Agile transformation journey with their SVP of Engineering. Mike Simpson, personally kicking off an initiative targeted at improving predictability, reducing cycle time and improving customer responsiveness. Mike wants Neeraj who is the VP of Engineering at their Bangalore development center to drive this initiative with Scrum as the primary approach and complete the transformation within the next one and a half years. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Neeraj approaches you as an Agile coach to help him with defining and implementing a program that will ensure the success of this initiative. <\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To Summarize key aspects from the dialogue:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Define specific objectives for this initiative based on senior leadership directive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use a holistic approach (rather than just training) that considers where the organization and teams are currently with respect to the objectives and specific interventions such as training and coaching targeted at addressing the gaps identified<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ensure senior leadership team at both locations has bought into the initiative and is fully committed to it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use of constructs such as different levels of planning, scrum of scrums, meta scrums etc. for effective cross-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","post_title":"Podcast - Managing an Agile Transformation for Success","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"podcast-managing-agile-transformation-success","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11270","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11144,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:43:04","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:13:04","post_content":"\n
    You joined this team couple of months back. You notice that your manager generally works very long hours on week-days and comes to work on certain week-ends too. You are concerned that you would not get good appraisal if you do not work similar hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Would your concern be valid?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    My response is: Yes - it would be, if you are someone who does not believe in working long hours. Perceptions and concerns like - my appraisal will be impacted - are bound to set in, more so, if you have ambitions of growing into the role of your manager.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The next question is: \u2018Should you succumb to this concern and let it rule you?\u2019. This is where your philosophy comes into play. We talk about this in the blog: <\/span>https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/five-beacons-leadership-journey\/<\/span><\/a>. To quote: \u201cGreat leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    When we measure productivity this way, we have multiple levers available for driving improvement without compromising quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #1: App life cycle analysis<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Group apps in terms of their life stages. Look at the ratio of spends by output type - dev, maint & support. Variations in spend ratio by life stage would help the management identify apps where spend needs to reduced. Optimal ratios for each life stage could be based on industry benchmarks (if such benchmarks exist else figure out internal benchmarks). Nature of the app also could be another factor - mainframe, web, analytics & reports, mobile app, etc. in figuring out these ratios.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Sunset apps that generate low business value<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #2: Increase business value<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Compare business value from current apps with potential initiatives that could generate greater business value. Move spend to the newer development projects<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Implement practices in teams (engineering & product management together) to ensure that higher value requirements are getting prioritized; Focus on reducing risks associated with these higher value items<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #3: Reduce direct cost of people<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Look at the mix of team members; there could be opportunities to reduce the actual cost of salaries - people with lesser qualifications & experience may be good enough; higher cost resources could be shared across teams.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Look for moving spend to locations where cost of people is lower without compromising efficiency<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever<\/em> #4: Invest in automation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Focus on appropriate tools & technologies to automate engineering practices like test automation; build automation; release management, etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Review tool\/technology portfolio and optimize<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #5: Enable & encourage teams to identify, measure & improve on factors that influence productivity (a few examples below):<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Application knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Business domain knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Multi-skilling<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Team level automation (e.g. scripting of repetitive tasks; population of test data)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Waste reduction - re-work in development; Unsuccessful changes; App outage; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Self-organizing teams<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Softer aspects like: conflicts (unhealthy); gender diversity; product vision; Goal-focus; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Inter-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    All of the above 5 levers should influence the productivity index as we had defined earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    define & measure productivity at Sub-BU or BU levels (not at team level) in a way that is meaningful to business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    use macro-level means like app portfolio optimization, automation, focus on business value, etc. to improve productivity in collaboration with business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    enable & encourage teams to improve the underlying factors that influence productivity (not productivity directly)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"IT Productivity \u2013 a point of view","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"productivity-point-view","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11462","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11270,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-11-20 16:24:35","post_date_gmt":"2018-11-20 10:54:35","post_content":"\n
    https:\/\/embeds.audioboom.com\/posts\/7092680-managing-an-agile-transformation-for-success\/embed\/v4?eid=AQAAAJTk81vIOWwA<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Agile transformations, like any other are challenging for most organizations. This episode engages experts from PM Power Consulting J Veeraraaghavan, Vishveshwar Hegde and Anand Natarajan in dialogue, sharing their agile leadership coaching and consulting insights. The dialogue also explores common challenges and approaches to agile transformations for leaders and geographically distributed teams with diverse view points of the experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The case study is given below<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Trailblazers Inc. have decided to embark on an Agile transformation journey with their SVP of Engineering. Mike Simpson, personally kicking off an initiative targeted at improving predictability, reducing cycle time and improving customer responsiveness. Mike wants Neeraj who is the VP of Engineering at their Bangalore development center to drive this initiative with Scrum as the primary approach and complete the transformation within the next one and a half years. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Neeraj approaches you as an Agile coach to help him with defining and implementing a program that will ensure the success of this initiative. <\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To Summarize key aspects from the dialogue:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Define specific objectives for this initiative based on senior leadership directive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use a holistic approach (rather than just training) that considers where the organization and teams are currently with respect to the objectives and specific interventions such as training and coaching targeted at addressing the gaps identified<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ensure senior leadership team at both locations has bought into the initiative and is fully committed to it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use of constructs such as different levels of planning, scrum of scrums, meta scrums etc. for effective cross-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","post_title":"Podcast - Managing an Agile Transformation for Success","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"podcast-managing-agile-transformation-success","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11270","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11144,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:43:04","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:13:04","post_content":"\n
    You joined this team couple of months back. You notice that your manager generally works very long hours on week-days and comes to work on certain week-ends too. You are concerned that you would not get good appraisal if you do not work similar hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Would your concern be valid?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    My response is: Yes - it would be, if you are someone who does not believe in working long hours. Perceptions and concerns like - my appraisal will be impacted - are bound to set in, more so, if you have ambitions of growing into the role of your manager.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The next question is: \u2018Should you succumb to this concern and let it rule you?\u2019. This is where your philosophy comes into play. We talk about this in the blog: <\/span>https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/five-beacons-leadership-journey\/<\/span><\/a>. To quote: \u201cGreat leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Productivity Improvement:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    When we measure productivity this way, we have multiple levers available for driving improvement without compromising quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #1: App life cycle analysis<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Group apps in terms of their life stages. Look at the ratio of spends by output type - dev, maint & support. Variations in spend ratio by life stage would help the management identify apps where spend needs to reduced. Optimal ratios for each life stage could be based on industry benchmarks (if such benchmarks exist else figure out internal benchmarks). Nature of the app also could be another factor - mainframe, web, analytics & reports, mobile app, etc. in figuring out these ratios.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Sunset apps that generate low business value<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #2: Increase business value<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Compare business value from current apps with potential initiatives that could generate greater business value. Move spend to the newer development projects<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Implement practices in teams (engineering & product management together) to ensure that higher value requirements are getting prioritized; Focus on reducing risks associated with these higher value items<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #3: Reduce direct cost of people<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Look at the mix of team members; there could be opportunities to reduce the actual cost of salaries - people with lesser qualifications & experience may be good enough; higher cost resources could be shared across teams.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Look for moving spend to locations where cost of people is lower without compromising efficiency<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever<\/em> #4: Invest in automation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Focus on appropriate tools & technologies to automate engineering practices like test automation; build automation; release management, etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Review tool\/technology portfolio and optimize<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #5: Enable & encourage teams to identify, measure & improve on factors that influence productivity (a few examples below):<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Application knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Business domain knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Multi-skilling<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Team level automation (e.g. scripting of repetitive tasks; population of test data)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Waste reduction - re-work in development; Unsuccessful changes; App outage; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Self-organizing teams<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Softer aspects like: conflicts (unhealthy); gender diversity; product vision; Goal-focus; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Inter-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    All of the above 5 levers should influence the productivity index as we had defined earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    define & measure productivity at Sub-BU or BU levels (not at team level) in a way that is meaningful to business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    use macro-level means like app portfolio optimization, automation, focus on business value, etc. to improve productivity in collaboration with business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    enable & encourage teams to improve the underlying factors that influence productivity (not productivity directly)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"IT Productivity \u2013 a point of view","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"productivity-point-view","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11462","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11270,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-11-20 16:24:35","post_date_gmt":"2018-11-20 10:54:35","post_content":"\n
    https:\/\/embeds.audioboom.com\/posts\/7092680-managing-an-agile-transformation-for-success\/embed\/v4?eid=AQAAAJTk81vIOWwA<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Agile transformations, like any other are challenging for most organizations. This episode engages experts from PM Power Consulting J Veeraraaghavan, Vishveshwar Hegde and Anand Natarajan in dialogue, sharing their agile leadership coaching and consulting insights. The dialogue also explores common challenges and approaches to agile transformations for leaders and geographically distributed teams with diverse view points of the experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The case study is given below<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Trailblazers Inc. have decided to embark on an Agile transformation journey with their SVP of Engineering. Mike Simpson, personally kicking off an initiative targeted at improving predictability, reducing cycle time and improving customer responsiveness. Mike wants Neeraj who is the VP of Engineering at their Bangalore development center to drive this initiative with Scrum as the primary approach and complete the transformation within the next one and a half years. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Neeraj approaches you as an Agile coach to help him with defining and implementing a program that will ensure the success of this initiative. <\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To Summarize key aspects from the dialogue:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Define specific objectives for this initiative based on senior leadership directive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use a holistic approach (rather than just training) that considers where the organization and teams are currently with respect to the objectives and specific interventions such as training and coaching targeted at addressing the gaps identified<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ensure senior leadership team at both locations has bought into the initiative and is fully committed to it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use of constructs such as different levels of planning, scrum of scrums, meta scrums etc. for effective cross-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","post_title":"Podcast - Managing an Agile Transformation for Success","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"podcast-managing-agile-transformation-success","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11270","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11144,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:43:04","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:13:04","post_content":"\n
    You joined this team couple of months back. You notice that your manager generally works very long hours on week-days and comes to work on certain week-ends too. You are concerned that you would not get good appraisal if you do not work similar hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Would your concern be valid?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    My response is: Yes - it would be, if you are someone who does not believe in working long hours. Perceptions and concerns like - my appraisal will be impacted - are bound to set in, more so, if you have ambitions of growing into the role of your manager.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The next question is: \u2018Should you succumb to this concern and let it rule you?\u2019. This is where your philosophy comes into play. We talk about this in the blog: <\/span>https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/five-beacons-leadership-journey\/<\/span><\/a>. To quote: \u201cGreat leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Dev-spend is indicative of future business value. This may have to be projected and most organizations would have made a business case for each development project when it was approved - that data could help. We can then measure Productivity Index for the development work being carried out in the IT organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Productivity Improvement:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    When we measure productivity this way, we have multiple levers available for driving improvement without compromising quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #1: App life cycle analysis<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Group apps in terms of their life stages. Look at the ratio of spends by output type - dev, maint & support. Variations in spend ratio by life stage would help the management identify apps where spend needs to reduced. Optimal ratios for each life stage could be based on industry benchmarks (if such benchmarks exist else figure out internal benchmarks). Nature of the app also could be another factor - mainframe, web, analytics & reports, mobile app, etc. in figuring out these ratios.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Sunset apps that generate low business value<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #2: Increase business value<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Compare business value from current apps with potential initiatives that could generate greater business value. Move spend to the newer development projects<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Implement practices in teams (engineering & product management together) to ensure that higher value requirements are getting prioritized; Focus on reducing risks associated with these higher value items<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #3: Reduce direct cost of people<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Look at the mix of team members; there could be opportunities to reduce the actual cost of salaries - people with lesser qualifications & experience may be good enough; higher cost resources could be shared across teams.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Look for moving spend to locations where cost of people is lower without compromising efficiency<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever<\/em> #4: Invest in automation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Focus on appropriate tools & technologies to automate engineering practices like test automation; build automation; release management, etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Review tool\/technology portfolio and optimize<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #5: Enable & encourage teams to identify, measure & improve on factors that influence productivity (a few examples below):<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Application knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Business domain knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Multi-skilling<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Team level automation (e.g. scripting of repetitive tasks; population of test data)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Waste reduction - re-work in development; Unsuccessful changes; App outage; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Self-organizing teams<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Softer aspects like: conflicts (unhealthy); gender diversity; product vision; Goal-focus; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Inter-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    All of the above 5 levers should influence the productivity index as we had defined earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    define & measure productivity at Sub-BU or BU levels (not at team level) in a way that is meaningful to business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    use macro-level means like app portfolio optimization, automation, focus on business value, etc. to improve productivity in collaboration with business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    enable & encourage teams to improve the underlying factors that influence productivity (not productivity directly)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"IT Productivity \u2013 a point of view","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"productivity-point-view","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11462","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11270,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-11-20 16:24:35","post_date_gmt":"2018-11-20 10:54:35","post_content":"\n
    https:\/\/embeds.audioboom.com\/posts\/7092680-managing-an-agile-transformation-for-success\/embed\/v4?eid=AQAAAJTk81vIOWwA<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Agile transformations, like any other are challenging for most organizations. This episode engages experts from PM Power Consulting J Veeraraaghavan, Vishveshwar Hegde and Anand Natarajan in dialogue, sharing their agile leadership coaching and consulting insights. The dialogue also explores common challenges and approaches to agile transformations for leaders and geographically distributed teams with diverse view points of the experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The case study is given below<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Trailblazers Inc. have decided to embark on an Agile transformation journey with their SVP of Engineering. Mike Simpson, personally kicking off an initiative targeted at improving predictability, reducing cycle time and improving customer responsiveness. Mike wants Neeraj who is the VP of Engineering at their Bangalore development center to drive this initiative with Scrum as the primary approach and complete the transformation within the next one and a half years. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Neeraj approaches you as an Agile coach to help him with defining and implementing a program that will ensure the success of this initiative. <\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To Summarize key aspects from the dialogue:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Define specific objectives for this initiative based on senior leadership directive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use a holistic approach (rather than just training) that considers where the organization and teams are currently with respect to the objectives and specific interventions such as training and coaching targeted at addressing the gaps identified<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ensure senior leadership team at both locations has bought into the initiative and is fully committed to it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use of constructs such as different levels of planning, scrum of scrums, meta scrums etc. for effective cross-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","post_title":"Podcast - Managing an Agile Transformation for Success","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"podcast-managing-agile-transformation-success","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11270","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11144,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:43:04","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:13:04","post_content":"\n
    You joined this team couple of months back. You notice that your manager generally works very long hours on week-days and comes to work on certain week-ends too. You are concerned that you would not get good appraisal if you do not work similar hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Would your concern be valid?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    My response is: Yes - it would be, if you are someone who does not believe in working long hours. Perceptions and concerns like - my appraisal will be impacted - are bound to set in, more so, if you have ambitions of growing into the role of your manager.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The next question is: \u2018Should you succumb to this concern and let it rule you?\u2019. This is where your philosophy comes into play. We talk about this in the blog: <\/span>https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/five-beacons-leadership-journey\/<\/span><\/a>. To quote: \u201cGreat leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Productivity Index for an app (or group of apps) can be (i.e. Output over Input): (BV for app in $) \/ (Maint + Support spend for each app); This approach is in some way like calculating return-on-investment. To me, it is the efficiency with which the spend is generating value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Dev-spend is indicative of future business value. This may have to be projected and most organizations would have made a business case for each development project when it was approved - that data could help. We can then measure Productivity Index for the development work being carried out in the IT organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Productivity Improvement:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    When we measure productivity this way, we have multiple levers available for driving improvement without compromising quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #1: App life cycle analysis<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Group apps in terms of their life stages. Look at the ratio of spends by output type - dev, maint & support. Variations in spend ratio by life stage would help the management identify apps where spend needs to reduced. Optimal ratios for each life stage could be based on industry benchmarks (if such benchmarks exist else figure out internal benchmarks). Nature of the app also could be another factor - mainframe, web, analytics & reports, mobile app, etc. in figuring out these ratios.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Sunset apps that generate low business value<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #2: Increase business value<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Compare business value from current apps with potential initiatives that could generate greater business value. Move spend to the newer development projects<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Implement practices in teams (engineering & product management together) to ensure that higher value requirements are getting prioritized; Focus on reducing risks associated with these higher value items<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #3: Reduce direct cost of people<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Look at the mix of team members; there could be opportunities to reduce the actual cost of salaries - people with lesser qualifications & experience may be good enough; higher cost resources could be shared across teams.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Look for moving spend to locations where cost of people is lower without compromising efficiency<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever<\/em> #4: Invest in automation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Focus on appropriate tools & technologies to automate engineering practices like test automation; build automation; release management, etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Review tool\/technology portfolio and optimize<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #5: Enable & encourage teams to identify, measure & improve on factors that influence productivity (a few examples below):<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Application knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Business domain knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Multi-skilling<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Team level automation (e.g. scripting of repetitive tasks; population of test data)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Waste reduction - re-work in development; Unsuccessful changes; App outage; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Self-organizing teams<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Softer aspects like: conflicts (unhealthy); gender diversity; product vision; Goal-focus; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Inter-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    All of the above 5 levers should influence the productivity index as we had defined earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    define & measure productivity at Sub-BU or BU levels (not at team level) in a way that is meaningful to business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    use macro-level means like app portfolio optimization, automation, focus on business value, etc. to improve productivity in collaboration with business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    enable & encourage teams to improve the underlying factors that influence productivity (not productivity directly)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"IT Productivity \u2013 a point of view","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"productivity-point-view","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11462","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11270,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-11-20 16:24:35","post_date_gmt":"2018-11-20 10:54:35","post_content":"\n
    https:\/\/embeds.audioboom.com\/posts\/7092680-managing-an-agile-transformation-for-success\/embed\/v4?eid=AQAAAJTk81vIOWwA<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Agile transformations, like any other are challenging for most organizations. This episode engages experts from PM Power Consulting J Veeraraaghavan, Vishveshwar Hegde and Anand Natarajan in dialogue, sharing their agile leadership coaching and consulting insights. The dialogue also explores common challenges and approaches to agile transformations for leaders and geographically distributed teams with diverse view points of the experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The case study is given below<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Trailblazers Inc. have decided to embark on an Agile transformation journey with their SVP of Engineering. Mike Simpson, personally kicking off an initiative targeted at improving predictability, reducing cycle time and improving customer responsiveness. Mike wants Neeraj who is the VP of Engineering at their Bangalore development center to drive this initiative with Scrum as the primary approach and complete the transformation within the next one and a half years. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Neeraj approaches you as an Agile coach to help him with defining and implementing a program that will ensure the success of this initiative. <\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To Summarize key aspects from the dialogue:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Define specific objectives for this initiative based on senior leadership directive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use a holistic approach (rather than just training) that considers where the organization and teams are currently with respect to the objectives and specific interventions such as training and coaching targeted at addressing the gaps identified<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ensure senior leadership team at both locations has bought into the initiative and is fully committed to it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use of constructs such as different levels of planning, scrum of scrums, meta scrums etc. for effective cross-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","post_title":"Podcast - Managing an Agile Transformation for Success","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"podcast-managing-agile-transformation-success","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11270","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11144,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:43:04","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:13:04","post_content":"\n
    You joined this team couple of months back. You notice that your manager generally works very long hours on week-days and comes to work on certain week-ends too. You are concerned that you would not get good appraisal if you do not work similar hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Would your concern be valid?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    My response is: Yes - it would be, if you are someone who does not believe in working long hours. Perceptions and concerns like - my appraisal will be impacted - are bound to set in, more so, if you have ambitions of growing into the role of your manager.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The next question is: \u2018Should you succumb to this concern and let it rule you?\u2019. This is where your philosophy comes into play. We talk about this in the blog: <\/span>https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/five-beacons-leadership-journey\/<\/span><\/a>. To quote: \u201cGreat leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Measurement of input is relatively easier at this level. $ spent on each app and broken up based on the output type - dev, maint & support. Again this break-up may not be straightforward in a complex organization but can be done meaningfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Productivity Index for an app (or group of apps) can be (i.e. Output over Input): (BV for app in $) \/ (Maint + Support spend for each app); This approach is in some way like calculating return-on-investment. To me, it is the efficiency with which the spend is generating value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Dev-spend is indicative of future business value. This may have to be projected and most organizations would have made a business case for each development project when it was approved - that data could help. We can then measure Productivity Index for the development work being carried out in the IT organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Productivity Improvement:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    When we measure productivity this way, we have multiple levers available for driving improvement without compromising quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #1: App life cycle analysis<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Group apps in terms of their life stages. Look at the ratio of spends by output type - dev, maint & support. Variations in spend ratio by life stage would help the management identify apps where spend needs to reduced. Optimal ratios for each life stage could be based on industry benchmarks (if such benchmarks exist else figure out internal benchmarks). Nature of the app also could be another factor - mainframe, web, analytics & reports, mobile app, etc. in figuring out these ratios.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Sunset apps that generate low business value<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #2: Increase business value<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Compare business value from current apps with potential initiatives that could generate greater business value. Move spend to the newer development projects<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Implement practices in teams (engineering & product management together) to ensure that higher value requirements are getting prioritized; Focus on reducing risks associated with these higher value items<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #3: Reduce direct cost of people<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Look at the mix of team members; there could be opportunities to reduce the actual cost of salaries - people with lesser qualifications & experience may be good enough; higher cost resources could be shared across teams.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Look for moving spend to locations where cost of people is lower without compromising efficiency<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever<\/em> #4: Invest in automation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Focus on appropriate tools & technologies to automate engineering practices like test automation; build automation; release management, etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Review tool\/technology portfolio and optimize<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #5: Enable & encourage teams to identify, measure & improve on factors that influence productivity (a few examples below):<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Application knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Business domain knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Multi-skilling<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Team level automation (e.g. scripting of repetitive tasks; population of test data)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Waste reduction - re-work in development; Unsuccessful changes; App outage; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Self-organizing teams<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Softer aspects like: conflicts (unhealthy); gender diversity; product vision; Goal-focus; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Inter-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    All of the above 5 levers should influence the productivity index as we had defined earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    define & measure productivity at Sub-BU or BU levels (not at team level) in a way that is meaningful to business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    use macro-level means like app portfolio optimization, automation, focus on business value, etc. to improve productivity in collaboration with business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    enable & encourage teams to improve the underlying factors that influence productivity (not productivity directly)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"IT Productivity \u2013 a point of view","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"productivity-point-view","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11462","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11270,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-11-20 16:24:35","post_date_gmt":"2018-11-20 10:54:35","post_content":"\n
    https:\/\/embeds.audioboom.com\/posts\/7092680-managing-an-agile-transformation-for-success\/embed\/v4?eid=AQAAAJTk81vIOWwA<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Agile transformations, like any other are challenging for most organizations. This episode engages experts from PM Power Consulting J Veeraraaghavan, Vishveshwar Hegde and Anand Natarajan in dialogue, sharing their agile leadership coaching and consulting insights. The dialogue also explores common challenges and approaches to agile transformations for leaders and geographically distributed teams with diverse view points of the experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The case study is given below<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Trailblazers Inc. have decided to embark on an Agile transformation journey with their SVP of Engineering. Mike Simpson, personally kicking off an initiative targeted at improving predictability, reducing cycle time and improving customer responsiveness. Mike wants Neeraj who is the VP of Engineering at their Bangalore development center to drive this initiative with Scrum as the primary approach and complete the transformation within the next one and a half years. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Neeraj approaches you as an Agile coach to help him with defining and implementing a program that will ensure the success of this initiative. <\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To Summarize key aspects from the dialogue:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Define specific objectives for this initiative based on senior leadership directive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use a holistic approach (rather than just training) that considers where the organization and teams are currently with respect to the objectives and specific interventions such as training and coaching targeted at addressing the gaps identified<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ensure senior leadership team at both locations has bought into the initiative and is fully committed to it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use of constructs such as different levels of planning, scrum of scrums, meta scrums etc. for effective cross-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","post_title":"Podcast - Managing an Agile Transformation for Success","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"podcast-managing-agile-transformation-success","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11270","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11144,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:43:04","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:13:04","post_content":"\n
    You joined this team couple of months back. You notice that your manager generally works very long hours on week-days and comes to work on certain week-ends too. You are concerned that you would not get good appraisal if you do not work similar hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Would your concern be valid?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    My response is: Yes - it would be, if you are someone who does not believe in working long hours. Perceptions and concerns like - my appraisal will be impacted - are bound to set in, more so, if you have ambitions of growing into the role of your manager.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The next question is: \u2018Should you succumb to this concern and let it rule you?\u2019. This is where your philosophy comes into play. We talk about this in the blog: <\/span>https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/five-beacons-leadership-journey\/<\/span><\/a>. To quote: \u201cGreat leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    For each app (or a group of apps) that produce an outcome, business can attach a BV (Business Value in $). The sum of the Business Value could be the business generated by that sub-BU or BU (or indicative of the business generated). Business can be broken by business product. However, mapping a business product to an IT app (or a group of apps) could be tricky but I believe it is possible to do this meaningfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of input is relatively easier at this level. $ spent on each app and broken up based on the output type - dev, maint & support. Again this break-up may not be straightforward in a complex organization but can be done meaningfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Productivity Index for an app (or group of apps) can be (i.e. Output over Input): (BV for app in $) \/ (Maint + Support spend for each app); This approach is in some way like calculating return-on-investment. To me, it is the efficiency with which the spend is generating value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Dev-spend is indicative of future business value. This may have to be projected and most organizations would have made a business case for each development project when it was approved - that data could help. We can then measure Productivity Index for the development work being carried out in the IT organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Productivity Improvement:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    When we measure productivity this way, we have multiple levers available for driving improvement without compromising quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #1: App life cycle analysis<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Group apps in terms of their life stages. Look at the ratio of spends by output type - dev, maint & support. Variations in spend ratio by life stage would help the management identify apps where spend needs to reduced. Optimal ratios for each life stage could be based on industry benchmarks (if such benchmarks exist else figure out internal benchmarks). Nature of the app also could be another factor - mainframe, web, analytics & reports, mobile app, etc. in figuring out these ratios.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Sunset apps that generate low business value<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #2: Increase business value<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Compare business value from current apps with potential initiatives that could generate greater business value. Move spend to the newer development projects<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Implement practices in teams (engineering & product management together) to ensure that higher value requirements are getting prioritized; Focus on reducing risks associated with these higher value items<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #3: Reduce direct cost of people<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Look at the mix of team members; there could be opportunities to reduce the actual cost of salaries - people with lesser qualifications & experience may be good enough; higher cost resources could be shared across teams.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Look for moving spend to locations where cost of people is lower without compromising efficiency<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever<\/em> #4: Invest in automation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Focus on appropriate tools & technologies to automate engineering practices like test automation; build automation; release management, etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Review tool\/technology portfolio and optimize<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #5: Enable & encourage teams to identify, measure & improve on factors that influence productivity (a few examples below):<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Application knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Business domain knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Multi-skilling<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Team level automation (e.g. scripting of repetitive tasks; population of test data)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Waste reduction - re-work in development; Unsuccessful changes; App outage; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Self-organizing teams<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Softer aspects like: conflicts (unhealthy); gender diversity; product vision; Goal-focus; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Inter-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    All of the above 5 levers should influence the productivity index as we had defined earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    define & measure productivity at Sub-BU or BU levels (not at team level) in a way that is meaningful to business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    use macro-level means like app portfolio optimization, automation, focus on business value, etc. to improve productivity in collaboration with business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    enable & encourage teams to improve the underlying factors that influence productivity (not productivity directly)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"IT Productivity \u2013 a point of view","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"productivity-point-view","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11462","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11270,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-11-20 16:24:35","post_date_gmt":"2018-11-20 10:54:35","post_content":"\n
    https:\/\/embeds.audioboom.com\/posts\/7092680-managing-an-agile-transformation-for-success\/embed\/v4?eid=AQAAAJTk81vIOWwA<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Agile transformations, like any other are challenging for most organizations. This episode engages experts from PM Power Consulting J Veeraraaghavan, Vishveshwar Hegde and Anand Natarajan in dialogue, sharing their agile leadership coaching and consulting insights. The dialogue also explores common challenges and approaches to agile transformations for leaders and geographically distributed teams with diverse view points of the experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The case study is given below<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Trailblazers Inc. have decided to embark on an Agile transformation journey with their SVP of Engineering. Mike Simpson, personally kicking off an initiative targeted at improving predictability, reducing cycle time and improving customer responsiveness. Mike wants Neeraj who is the VP of Engineering at their Bangalore development center to drive this initiative with Scrum as the primary approach and complete the transformation within the next one and a half years. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Neeraj approaches you as an Agile coach to help him with defining and implementing a program that will ensure the success of this initiative. <\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To Summarize key aspects from the dialogue:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Define specific objectives for this initiative based on senior leadership directive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use a holistic approach (rather than just training) that considers where the organization and teams are currently with respect to the objectives and specific interventions such as training and coaching targeted at addressing the gaps identified<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ensure senior leadership team at both locations has bought into the initiative and is fully committed to it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use of constructs such as different levels of planning, scrum of scrums, meta scrums etc. for effective cross-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","post_title":"Podcast - Managing an Agile Transformation for Success","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"podcast-managing-agile-transformation-success","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11270","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11144,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:43:04","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:13:04","post_content":"\n
    You joined this team couple of months back. You notice that your manager generally works very long hours on week-days and comes to work on certain week-ends too. You are concerned that you would not get good appraisal if you do not work similar hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Would your concern be valid?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    My response is: Yes - it would be, if you are someone who does not believe in working long hours. Perceptions and concerns like - my appraisal will be impacted - are bound to set in, more so, if you have ambitions of growing into the role of your manager.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The next question is: \u2018Should you succumb to this concern and let it rule you?\u2019. This is where your philosophy comes into play. We talk about this in the blog: <\/span>https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/five-beacons-leadership-journey\/<\/span><\/a>. To quote: \u201cGreat leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    There are three types of output (leaving out the infrastructure projects & support) - app development; app maintenance and app support (or production support).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    For each app (or a group of apps) that produce an outcome, business can attach a BV (Business Value in $). The sum of the Business Value could be the business generated by that sub-BU or BU (or indicative of the business generated). Business can be broken by business product. However, mapping a business product to an IT app (or a group of apps) could be tricky but I believe it is possible to do this meaningfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of input is relatively easier at this level. $ spent on each app and broken up based on the output type - dev, maint & support. Again this break-up may not be straightforward in a complex organization but can be done meaningfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Productivity Index for an app (or group of apps) can be (i.e. Output over Input): (BV for app in $) \/ (Maint + Support spend for each app); This approach is in some way like calculating return-on-investment. To me, it is the efficiency with which the spend is generating value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Dev-spend is indicative of future business value. This may have to be projected and most organizations would have made a business case for each development project when it was approved - that data could help. We can then measure Productivity Index for the development work being carried out in the IT organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Productivity Improvement:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    When we measure productivity this way, we have multiple levers available for driving improvement without compromising quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #1: App life cycle analysis<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Group apps in terms of their life stages. Look at the ratio of spends by output type - dev, maint & support. Variations in spend ratio by life stage would help the management identify apps where spend needs to reduced. Optimal ratios for each life stage could be based on industry benchmarks (if such benchmarks exist else figure out internal benchmarks). Nature of the app also could be another factor - mainframe, web, analytics & reports, mobile app, etc. in figuring out these ratios.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Sunset apps that generate low business value<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #2: Increase business value<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Compare business value from current apps with potential initiatives that could generate greater business value. Move spend to the newer development projects<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Implement practices in teams (engineering & product management together) to ensure that higher value requirements are getting prioritized; Focus on reducing risks associated with these higher value items<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #3: Reduce direct cost of people<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Look at the mix of team members; there could be opportunities to reduce the actual cost of salaries - people with lesser qualifications & experience may be good enough; higher cost resources could be shared across teams.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Look for moving spend to locations where cost of people is lower without compromising efficiency<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever<\/em> #4: Invest in automation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Focus on appropriate tools & technologies to automate engineering practices like test automation; build automation; release management, etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Review tool\/technology portfolio and optimize<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #5: Enable & encourage teams to identify, measure & improve on factors that influence productivity (a few examples below):<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Application knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Business domain knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Multi-skilling<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Team level automation (e.g. scripting of repetitive tasks; population of test data)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Waste reduction - re-work in development; Unsuccessful changes; App outage; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Self-organizing teams<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Softer aspects like: conflicts (unhealthy); gender diversity; product vision; Goal-focus; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Inter-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    All of the above 5 levers should influence the productivity index as we had defined earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    define & measure productivity at Sub-BU or BU levels (not at team level) in a way that is meaningful to business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    use macro-level means like app portfolio optimization, automation, focus on business value, etc. to improve productivity in collaboration with business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    enable & encourage teams to improve the underlying factors that influence productivity (not productivity directly)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"IT Productivity \u2013 a point of view","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"productivity-point-view","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11462","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11270,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-11-20 16:24:35","post_date_gmt":"2018-11-20 10:54:35","post_content":"\n
    https:\/\/embeds.audioboom.com\/posts\/7092680-managing-an-agile-transformation-for-success\/embed\/v4?eid=AQAAAJTk81vIOWwA<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Agile transformations, like any other are challenging for most organizations. This episode engages experts from PM Power Consulting J Veeraraaghavan, Vishveshwar Hegde and Anand Natarajan in dialogue, sharing their agile leadership coaching and consulting insights. The dialogue also explores common challenges and approaches to agile transformations for leaders and geographically distributed teams with diverse view points of the experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The case study is given below<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Trailblazers Inc. have decided to embark on an Agile transformation journey with their SVP of Engineering. Mike Simpson, personally kicking off an initiative targeted at improving predictability, reducing cycle time and improving customer responsiveness. Mike wants Neeraj who is the VP of Engineering at their Bangalore development center to drive this initiative with Scrum as the primary approach and complete the transformation within the next one and a half years. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Neeraj approaches you as an Agile coach to help him with defining and implementing a program that will ensure the success of this initiative. <\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To Summarize key aspects from the dialogue:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Define specific objectives for this initiative based on senior leadership directive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use a holistic approach (rather than just training) that considers where the organization and teams are currently with respect to the objectives and specific interventions such as training and coaching targeted at addressing the gaps identified<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ensure senior leadership team at both locations has bought into the initiative and is fully committed to it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use of constructs such as different levels of planning, scrum of scrums, meta scrums etc. for effective cross-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","post_title":"Podcast - Managing an Agile Transformation for Success","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"podcast-managing-agile-transformation-success","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11270","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11144,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:43:04","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:13:04","post_content":"\n
    You joined this team couple of months back. You notice that your manager generally works very long hours on week-days and comes to work on certain week-ends too. You are concerned that you would not get good appraisal if you do not work similar hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Would your concern be valid?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    My response is: Yes - it would be, if you are someone who does not believe in working long hours. Perceptions and concerns like - my appraisal will be impacted - are bound to set in, more so, if you have ambitions of growing into the role of your manager.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The next question is: \u2018Should you succumb to this concern and let it rule you?\u2019. This is where your philosophy comes into play. We talk about this in the blog: <\/span>https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/five-beacons-leadership-journey\/<\/span><\/a>. To quote: \u201cGreat leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Sub-BU\/BU level productivity measurement<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    There are three types of output (leaving out the infrastructure projects & support) - app development; app maintenance and app support (or production support).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    For each app (or a group of apps) that produce an outcome, business can attach a BV (Business Value in $). The sum of the Business Value could be the business generated by that sub-BU or BU (or indicative of the business generated). Business can be broken by business product. However, mapping a business product to an IT app (or a group of apps) could be tricky but I believe it is possible to do this meaningfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of input is relatively easier at this level. $ spent on each app and broken up based on the output type - dev, maint & support. Again this break-up may not be straightforward in a complex organization but can be done meaningfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Productivity Index for an app (or group of apps) can be (i.e. Output over Input): (BV for app in $) \/ (Maint + Support spend for each app); This approach is in some way like calculating return-on-investment. To me, it is the efficiency with which the spend is generating value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Dev-spend is indicative of future business value. This may have to be projected and most organizations would have made a business case for each development project when it was approved - that data could help. We can then measure Productivity Index for the development work being carried out in the IT organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Productivity Improvement:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    When we measure productivity this way, we have multiple levers available for driving improvement without compromising quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #1: App life cycle analysis<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Group apps in terms of their life stages. Look at the ratio of spends by output type - dev, maint & support. Variations in spend ratio by life stage would help the management identify apps where spend needs to reduced. Optimal ratios for each life stage could be based on industry benchmarks (if such benchmarks exist else figure out internal benchmarks). Nature of the app also could be another factor - mainframe, web, analytics & reports, mobile app, etc. in figuring out these ratios.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Sunset apps that generate low business value<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #2: Increase business value<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Compare business value from current apps with potential initiatives that could generate greater business value. Move spend to the newer development projects<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Implement practices in teams (engineering & product management together) to ensure that higher value requirements are getting prioritized; Focus on reducing risks associated with these higher value items<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #3: Reduce direct cost of people<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Look at the mix of team members; there could be opportunities to reduce the actual cost of salaries - people with lesser qualifications & experience may be good enough; higher cost resources could be shared across teams.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Look for moving spend to locations where cost of people is lower without compromising efficiency<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever<\/em> #4: Invest in automation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Focus on appropriate tools & technologies to automate engineering practices like test automation; build automation; release management, etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Review tool\/technology portfolio and optimize<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #5: Enable & encourage teams to identify, measure & improve on factors that influence productivity (a few examples below):<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Application knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Business domain knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Multi-skilling<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Team level automation (e.g. scripting of repetitive tasks; population of test data)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Waste reduction - re-work in development; Unsuccessful changes; App outage; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Self-organizing teams<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Softer aspects like: conflicts (unhealthy); gender diversity; product vision; Goal-focus; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Inter-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    All of the above 5 levers should influence the productivity index as we had defined earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    define & measure productivity at Sub-BU or BU levels (not at team level) in a way that is meaningful to business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    use macro-level means like app portfolio optimization, automation, focus on business value, etc. to improve productivity in collaboration with business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    enable & encourage teams to improve the underlying factors that influence productivity (not productivity directly)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"IT Productivity \u2013 a point of view","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"productivity-point-view","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11462","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11270,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-11-20 16:24:35","post_date_gmt":"2018-11-20 10:54:35","post_content":"\n
    https:\/\/embeds.audioboom.com\/posts\/7092680-managing-an-agile-transformation-for-success\/embed\/v4?eid=AQAAAJTk81vIOWwA<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Agile transformations, like any other are challenging for most organizations. This episode engages experts from PM Power Consulting J Veeraraaghavan, Vishveshwar Hegde and Anand Natarajan in dialogue, sharing their agile leadership coaching and consulting insights. The dialogue also explores common challenges and approaches to agile transformations for leaders and geographically distributed teams with diverse view points of the experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The case study is given below<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Trailblazers Inc. have decided to embark on an Agile transformation journey with their SVP of Engineering. Mike Simpson, personally kicking off an initiative targeted at improving predictability, reducing cycle time and improving customer responsiveness. Mike wants Neeraj who is the VP of Engineering at their Bangalore development center to drive this initiative with Scrum as the primary approach and complete the transformation within the next one and a half years. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Neeraj approaches you as an Agile coach to help him with defining and implementing a program that will ensure the success of this initiative. <\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To Summarize key aspects from the dialogue:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Define specific objectives for this initiative based on senior leadership directive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use a holistic approach (rather than just training) that considers where the organization and teams are currently with respect to the objectives and specific interventions such as training and coaching targeted at addressing the gaps identified<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ensure senior leadership team at both locations has bought into the initiative and is fully committed to it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use of constructs such as different levels of planning, scrum of scrums, meta scrums etc. for effective cross-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","post_title":"Podcast - Managing an Agile Transformation for Success","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"podcast-managing-agile-transformation-success","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11270","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11144,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:43:04","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:13:04","post_content":"\n
    You joined this team couple of months back. You notice that your manager generally works very long hours on week-days and comes to work on certain week-ends too. You are concerned that you would not get good appraisal if you do not work similar hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Would your concern be valid?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    My response is: Yes - it would be, if you are someone who does not believe in working long hours. Perceptions and concerns like - my appraisal will be impacted - are bound to set in, more so, if you have ambitions of growing into the role of your manager.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The next question is: \u2018Should you succumb to this concern and let it rule you?\u2019. This is where your philosophy comes into play. We talk about this in the blog: <\/span>https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/five-beacons-leadership-journey\/<\/span><\/a>. To quote: \u201cGreat leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Overall, I would not recommend measurement of productivity at team level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Sub-BU\/BU level productivity measurement<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    There are three types of output (leaving out the infrastructure projects & support) - app development; app maintenance and app support (or production support).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    For each app (or a group of apps) that produce an outcome, business can attach a BV (Business Value in $). The sum of the Business Value could be the business generated by that sub-BU or BU (or indicative of the business generated). Business can be broken by business product. However, mapping a business product to an IT app (or a group of apps) could be tricky but I believe it is possible to do this meaningfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of input is relatively easier at this level. $ spent on each app and broken up based on the output type - dev, maint & support. Again this break-up may not be straightforward in a complex organization but can be done meaningfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Productivity Index for an app (or group of apps) can be (i.e. Output over Input): (BV for app in $) \/ (Maint + Support spend for each app); This approach is in some way like calculating return-on-investment. To me, it is the efficiency with which the spend is generating value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Dev-spend is indicative of future business value. This may have to be projected and most organizations would have made a business case for each development project when it was approved - that data could help. We can then measure Productivity Index for the development work being carried out in the IT organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Productivity Improvement:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    When we measure productivity this way, we have multiple levers available for driving improvement without compromising quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #1: App life cycle analysis<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Group apps in terms of their life stages. Look at the ratio of spends by output type - dev, maint & support. Variations in spend ratio by life stage would help the management identify apps where spend needs to reduced. Optimal ratios for each life stage could be based on industry benchmarks (if such benchmarks exist else figure out internal benchmarks). Nature of the app also could be another factor - mainframe, web, analytics & reports, mobile app, etc. in figuring out these ratios.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Sunset apps that generate low business value<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #2: Increase business value<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Compare business value from current apps with potential initiatives that could generate greater business value. Move spend to the newer development projects<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Implement practices in teams (engineering & product management together) to ensure that higher value requirements are getting prioritized; Focus on reducing risks associated with these higher value items<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #3: Reduce direct cost of people<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Look at the mix of team members; there could be opportunities to reduce the actual cost of salaries - people with lesser qualifications & experience may be good enough; higher cost resources could be shared across teams.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Look for moving spend to locations where cost of people is lower without compromising efficiency<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever<\/em> #4: Invest in automation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Focus on appropriate tools & technologies to automate engineering practices like test automation; build automation; release management, etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Review tool\/technology portfolio and optimize<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #5: Enable & encourage teams to identify, measure & improve on factors that influence productivity (a few examples below):<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Application knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Business domain knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Multi-skilling<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Team level automation (e.g. scripting of repetitive tasks; population of test data)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Waste reduction - re-work in development; Unsuccessful changes; App outage; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Self-organizing teams<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Softer aspects like: conflicts (unhealthy); gender diversity; product vision; Goal-focus; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Inter-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    All of the above 5 levers should influence the productivity index as we had defined earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    define & measure productivity at Sub-BU or BU levels (not at team level) in a way that is meaningful to business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    use macro-level means like app portfolio optimization, automation, focus on business value, etc. to improve productivity in collaboration with business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    enable & encourage teams to improve the underlying factors that influence productivity (not productivity directly)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"IT Productivity \u2013 a point of view","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"productivity-point-view","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11462","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11270,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-11-20 16:24:35","post_date_gmt":"2018-11-20 10:54:35","post_content":"\n
    https:\/\/embeds.audioboom.com\/posts\/7092680-managing-an-agile-transformation-for-success\/embed\/v4?eid=AQAAAJTk81vIOWwA<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Agile transformations, like any other are challenging for most organizations. This episode engages experts from PM Power Consulting J Veeraraaghavan, Vishveshwar Hegde and Anand Natarajan in dialogue, sharing their agile leadership coaching and consulting insights. The dialogue also explores common challenges and approaches to agile transformations for leaders and geographically distributed teams with diverse view points of the experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The case study is given below<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Trailblazers Inc. have decided to embark on an Agile transformation journey with their SVP of Engineering. Mike Simpson, personally kicking off an initiative targeted at improving predictability, reducing cycle time and improving customer responsiveness. Mike wants Neeraj who is the VP of Engineering at their Bangalore development center to drive this initiative with Scrum as the primary approach and complete the transformation within the next one and a half years. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Neeraj approaches you as an Agile coach to help him with defining and implementing a program that will ensure the success of this initiative. <\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To Summarize key aspects from the dialogue:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Define specific objectives for this initiative based on senior leadership directive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use a holistic approach (rather than just training) that considers where the organization and teams are currently with respect to the objectives and specific interventions such as training and coaching targeted at addressing the gaps identified<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ensure senior leadership team at both locations has bought into the initiative and is fully committed to it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use of constructs such as different levels of planning, scrum of scrums, meta scrums etc. for effective cross-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","post_title":"Podcast - Managing an Agile Transformation for Success","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"podcast-managing-agile-transformation-success","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11270","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11144,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:43:04","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:13:04","post_content":"\n
    You joined this team couple of months back. You notice that your manager generally works very long hours on week-days and comes to work on certain week-ends too. You are concerned that you would not get good appraisal if you do not work similar hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Would your concern be valid?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    My response is: Yes - it would be, if you are someone who does not believe in working long hours. Perceptions and concerns like - my appraisal will be impacted - are bound to set in, more so, if you have ambitions of growing into the role of your manager.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The next question is: \u2018Should you succumb to this concern and let it rule you?\u2019. This is where your philosophy comes into play. We talk about this in the blog: <\/span>https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/five-beacons-leadership-journey\/<\/span><\/a>. To quote: \u201cGreat leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Measurement of input in terms of actual effort has not been practical and difficult to sustain in spite of having good tools and management dictum. 'Head-count' is difficult to normalize given the varying levels of experience and salaries in team members. Best measure of input in my view is cost to company of the team members given the people-intensive nature of software work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Overall, I would not recommend measurement of productivity at team level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Sub-BU\/BU level productivity measurement<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    There are three types of output (leaving out the infrastructure projects & support) - app development; app maintenance and app support (or production support).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    For each app (or a group of apps) that produce an outcome, business can attach a BV (Business Value in $). The sum of the Business Value could be the business generated by that sub-BU or BU (or indicative of the business generated). Business can be broken by business product. However, mapping a business product to an IT app (or a group of apps) could be tricky but I believe it is possible to do this meaningfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of input is relatively easier at this level. $ spent on each app and broken up based on the output type - dev, maint & support. Again this break-up may not be straightforward in a complex organization but can be done meaningfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Productivity Index for an app (or group of apps) can be (i.e. Output over Input): (BV for app in $) \/ (Maint + Support spend for each app); This approach is in some way like calculating return-on-investment. To me, it is the efficiency with which the spend is generating value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Dev-spend is indicative of future business value. This may have to be projected and most organizations would have made a business case for each development project when it was approved - that data could help. We can then measure Productivity Index for the development work being carried out in the IT organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Productivity Improvement:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    When we measure productivity this way, we have multiple levers available for driving improvement without compromising quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #1: App life cycle analysis<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Group apps in terms of their life stages. Look at the ratio of spends by output type - dev, maint & support. Variations in spend ratio by life stage would help the management identify apps where spend needs to reduced. Optimal ratios for each life stage could be based on industry benchmarks (if such benchmarks exist else figure out internal benchmarks). Nature of the app also could be another factor - mainframe, web, analytics & reports, mobile app, etc. in figuring out these ratios.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Sunset apps that generate low business value<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #2: Increase business value<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Compare business value from current apps with potential initiatives that could generate greater business value. Move spend to the newer development projects<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Implement practices in teams (engineering & product management together) to ensure that higher value requirements are getting prioritized; Focus on reducing risks associated with these higher value items<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #3: Reduce direct cost of people<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Look at the mix of team members; there could be opportunities to reduce the actual cost of salaries - people with lesser qualifications & experience may be good enough; higher cost resources could be shared across teams.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Look for moving spend to locations where cost of people is lower without compromising efficiency<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever<\/em> #4: Invest in automation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Focus on appropriate tools & technologies to automate engineering practices like test automation; build automation; release management, etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Review tool\/technology portfolio and optimize<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #5: Enable & encourage teams to identify, measure & improve on factors that influence productivity (a few examples below):<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Application knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Business domain knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Multi-skilling<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Team level automation (e.g. scripting of repetitive tasks; population of test data)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Waste reduction - re-work in development; Unsuccessful changes; App outage; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Self-organizing teams<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Softer aspects like: conflicts (unhealthy); gender diversity; product vision; Goal-focus; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Inter-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    All of the above 5 levers should influence the productivity index as we had defined earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    define & measure productivity at Sub-BU or BU levels (not at team level) in a way that is meaningful to business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    use macro-level means like app portfolio optimization, automation, focus on business value, etc. to improve productivity in collaboration with business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    enable & encourage teams to improve the underlying factors that influence productivity (not productivity directly)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"IT Productivity \u2013 a point of view","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"productivity-point-view","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11462","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11270,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-11-20 16:24:35","post_date_gmt":"2018-11-20 10:54:35","post_content":"\n
    https:\/\/embeds.audioboom.com\/posts\/7092680-managing-an-agile-transformation-for-success\/embed\/v4?eid=AQAAAJTk81vIOWwA<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Agile transformations, like any other are challenging for most organizations. This episode engages experts from PM Power Consulting J Veeraraaghavan, Vishveshwar Hegde and Anand Natarajan in dialogue, sharing their agile leadership coaching and consulting insights. The dialogue also explores common challenges and approaches to agile transformations for leaders and geographically distributed teams with diverse view points of the experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The case study is given below<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Trailblazers Inc. have decided to embark on an Agile transformation journey with their SVP of Engineering. Mike Simpson, personally kicking off an initiative targeted at improving predictability, reducing cycle time and improving customer responsiveness. Mike wants Neeraj who is the VP of Engineering at their Bangalore development center to drive this initiative with Scrum as the primary approach and complete the transformation within the next one and a half years. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Neeraj approaches you as an Agile coach to help him with defining and implementing a program that will ensure the success of this initiative. <\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To Summarize key aspects from the dialogue:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Define specific objectives for this initiative based on senior leadership directive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use a holistic approach (rather than just training) that considers where the organization and teams are currently with respect to the objectives and specific interventions such as training and coaching targeted at addressing the gaps identified<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ensure senior leadership team at both locations has bought into the initiative and is fully committed to it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use of constructs such as different levels of planning, scrum of scrums, meta scrums etc. for effective cross-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","post_title":"Podcast - Managing an Agile Transformation for Success","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"podcast-managing-agile-transformation-success","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11270","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11144,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:43:04","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:13:04","post_content":"\n
    You joined this team couple of months back. You notice that your manager generally works very long hours on week-days and comes to work on certain week-ends too. You are concerned that you would not get good appraisal if you do not work similar hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Would your concern be valid?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    My response is: Yes - it would be, if you are someone who does not believe in working long hours. Perceptions and concerns like - my appraisal will be impacted - are bound to set in, more so, if you have ambitions of growing into the role of your manager.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The next question is: \u2018Should you succumb to this concern and let it rule you?\u2019. This is where your philosophy comes into play. We talk about this in the blog: <\/span>https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/five-beacons-leadership-journey\/<\/span><\/a>. To quote: \u201cGreat leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Measurement of team output has always been a challenge. In my opinion, scientific size measurements have never worked - either difficult to learn or difficult to apply consistently. FP-like or change-complexity-based measures have failed to deliver. Newer trends like relative sizing of stories are tools for teams to plan & execute better and not a common measure of output. All the above do not make sense to business users. Only one measure of output that would make sense to business users would be number of requirements. Users may be able to attribute business value to each of these requirements - however, at this level of detail, the business value can be used to prioritize but difficult to be considered as weights for summation of output.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of input in terms of actual effort has not been practical and difficult to sustain in spite of having good tools and management dictum. 'Head-count' is difficult to normalize given the varying levels of experience and salaries in team members. Best measure of input in my view is cost to company of the team members given the people-intensive nature of software work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Overall, I would not recommend measurement of productivity at team level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Sub-BU\/BU level productivity measurement<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    There are three types of output (leaving out the infrastructure projects & support) - app development; app maintenance and app support (or production support).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    For each app (or a group of apps) that produce an outcome, business can attach a BV (Business Value in $). The sum of the Business Value could be the business generated by that sub-BU or BU (or indicative of the business generated). Business can be broken by business product. However, mapping a business product to an IT app (or a group of apps) could be tricky but I believe it is possible to do this meaningfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of input is relatively easier at this level. $ spent on each app and broken up based on the output type - dev, maint & support. Again this break-up may not be straightforward in a complex organization but can be done meaningfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Productivity Index for an app (or group of apps) can be (i.e. Output over Input): (BV for app in $) \/ (Maint + Support spend for each app); This approach is in some way like calculating return-on-investment. To me, it is the efficiency with which the spend is generating value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Dev-spend is indicative of future business value. This may have to be projected and most organizations would have made a business case for each development project when it was approved - that data could help. We can then measure Productivity Index for the development work being carried out in the IT organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Productivity Improvement:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    When we measure productivity this way, we have multiple levers available for driving improvement without compromising quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #1: App life cycle analysis<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Group apps in terms of their life stages. Look at the ratio of spends by output type - dev, maint & support. Variations in spend ratio by life stage would help the management identify apps where spend needs to reduced. Optimal ratios for each life stage could be based on industry benchmarks (if such benchmarks exist else figure out internal benchmarks). Nature of the app also could be another factor - mainframe, web, analytics & reports, mobile app, etc. in figuring out these ratios.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Sunset apps that generate low business value<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #2: Increase business value<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Compare business value from current apps with potential initiatives that could generate greater business value. Move spend to the newer development projects<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Implement practices in teams (engineering & product management together) to ensure that higher value requirements are getting prioritized; Focus on reducing risks associated with these higher value items<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #3: Reduce direct cost of people<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Look at the mix of team members; there could be opportunities to reduce the actual cost of salaries - people with lesser qualifications & experience may be good enough; higher cost resources could be shared across teams.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Look for moving spend to locations where cost of people is lower without compromising efficiency<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever<\/em> #4: Invest in automation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Focus on appropriate tools & technologies to automate engineering practices like test automation; build automation; release management, etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Review tool\/technology portfolio and optimize<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #5: Enable & encourage teams to identify, measure & improve on factors that influence productivity (a few examples below):<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Application knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Business domain knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Multi-skilling<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Team level automation (e.g. scripting of repetitive tasks; population of test data)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Waste reduction - re-work in development; Unsuccessful changes; App outage; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Self-organizing teams<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Softer aspects like: conflicts (unhealthy); gender diversity; product vision; Goal-focus; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Inter-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    All of the above 5 levers should influence the productivity index as we had defined earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    define & measure productivity at Sub-BU or BU levels (not at team level) in a way that is meaningful to business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    use macro-level means like app portfolio optimization, automation, focus on business value, etc. to improve productivity in collaboration with business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    enable & encourage teams to improve the underlying factors that influence productivity (not productivity directly)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"IT Productivity \u2013 a point of view","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"productivity-point-view","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11462","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11270,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-11-20 16:24:35","post_date_gmt":"2018-11-20 10:54:35","post_content":"\n
    https:\/\/embeds.audioboom.com\/posts\/7092680-managing-an-agile-transformation-for-success\/embed\/v4?eid=AQAAAJTk81vIOWwA<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Agile transformations, like any other are challenging for most organizations. This episode engages experts from PM Power Consulting J Veeraraaghavan, Vishveshwar Hegde and Anand Natarajan in dialogue, sharing their agile leadership coaching and consulting insights. The dialogue also explores common challenges and approaches to agile transformations for leaders and geographically distributed teams with diverse view points of the experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The case study is given below<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Trailblazers Inc. have decided to embark on an Agile transformation journey with their SVP of Engineering. Mike Simpson, personally kicking off an initiative targeted at improving predictability, reducing cycle time and improving customer responsiveness. Mike wants Neeraj who is the VP of Engineering at their Bangalore development center to drive this initiative with Scrum as the primary approach and complete the transformation within the next one and a half years. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Neeraj approaches you as an Agile coach to help him with defining and implementing a program that will ensure the success of this initiative. <\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To Summarize key aspects from the dialogue:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Define specific objectives for this initiative based on senior leadership directive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use a holistic approach (rather than just training) that considers where the organization and teams are currently with respect to the objectives and specific interventions such as training and coaching targeted at addressing the gaps identified<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ensure senior leadership team at both locations has bought into the initiative and is fully committed to it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use of constructs such as different levels of planning, scrum of scrums, meta scrums etc. for effective cross-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","post_title":"Podcast - Managing an Agile Transformation for Success","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"podcast-managing-agile-transformation-success","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11270","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11144,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:43:04","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:13:04","post_content":"\n
    You joined this team couple of months back. You notice that your manager generally works very long hours on week-days and comes to work on certain week-ends too. You are concerned that you would not get good appraisal if you do not work similar hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Would your concern be valid?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    My response is: Yes - it would be, if you are someone who does not believe in working long hours. Perceptions and concerns like - my appraisal will be impacted - are bound to set in, more so, if you have ambitions of growing into the role of your manager.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The next question is: \u2018Should you succumb to this concern and let it rule you?\u2019. This is where your philosophy comes into play. We talk about this in the blog: <\/span>https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/five-beacons-leadership-journey\/<\/span><\/a>. To quote: \u201cGreat leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Team Productivity Measurement:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of team output has always been a challenge. In my opinion, scientific size measurements have never worked - either difficult to learn or difficult to apply consistently. FP-like or change-complexity-based measures have failed to deliver. Newer trends like relative sizing of stories are tools for teams to plan & execute better and not a common measure of output. All the above do not make sense to business users. Only one measure of output that would make sense to business users would be number of requirements. Users may be able to attribute business value to each of these requirements - however, at this level of detail, the business value can be used to prioritize but difficult to be considered as weights for summation of output.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of input in terms of actual effort has not been practical and difficult to sustain in spite of having good tools and management dictum. 'Head-count' is difficult to normalize given the varying levels of experience and salaries in team members. Best measure of input in my view is cost to company of the team members given the people-intensive nature of software work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Overall, I would not recommend measurement of productivity at team level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Sub-BU\/BU level productivity measurement<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    There are three types of output (leaving out the infrastructure projects & support) - app development; app maintenance and app support (or production support).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    For each app (or a group of apps) that produce an outcome, business can attach a BV (Business Value in $). The sum of the Business Value could be the business generated by that sub-BU or BU (or indicative of the business generated). Business can be broken by business product. However, mapping a business product to an IT app (or a group of apps) could be tricky but I believe it is possible to do this meaningfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of input is relatively easier at this level. $ spent on each app and broken up based on the output type - dev, maint & support. Again this break-up may not be straightforward in a complex organization but can be done meaningfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Productivity Index for an app (or group of apps) can be (i.e. Output over Input): (BV for app in $) \/ (Maint + Support spend for each app); This approach is in some way like calculating return-on-investment. To me, it is the efficiency with which the spend is generating value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Dev-spend is indicative of future business value. This may have to be projected and most organizations would have made a business case for each development project when it was approved - that data could help. We can then measure Productivity Index for the development work being carried out in the IT organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Productivity Improvement:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    When we measure productivity this way, we have multiple levers available for driving improvement without compromising quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #1: App life cycle analysis<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Group apps in terms of their life stages. Look at the ratio of spends by output type - dev, maint & support. Variations in spend ratio by life stage would help the management identify apps where spend needs to reduced. Optimal ratios for each life stage could be based on industry benchmarks (if such benchmarks exist else figure out internal benchmarks). Nature of the app also could be another factor - mainframe, web, analytics & reports, mobile app, etc. in figuring out these ratios.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Sunset apps that generate low business value<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #2: Increase business value<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Compare business value from current apps with potential initiatives that could generate greater business value. Move spend to the newer development projects<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Implement practices in teams (engineering & product management together) to ensure that higher value requirements are getting prioritized; Focus on reducing risks associated with these higher value items<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #3: Reduce direct cost of people<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Look at the mix of team members; there could be opportunities to reduce the actual cost of salaries - people with lesser qualifications & experience may be good enough; higher cost resources could be shared across teams.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Look for moving spend to locations where cost of people is lower without compromising efficiency<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever<\/em> #4: Invest in automation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Focus on appropriate tools & technologies to automate engineering practices like test automation; build automation; release management, etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Review tool\/technology portfolio and optimize<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #5: Enable & encourage teams to identify, measure & improve on factors that influence productivity (a few examples below):<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Application knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Business domain knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Multi-skilling<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Team level automation (e.g. scripting of repetitive tasks; population of test data)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Waste reduction - re-work in development; Unsuccessful changes; App outage; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Self-organizing teams<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Softer aspects like: conflicts (unhealthy); gender diversity; product vision; Goal-focus; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Inter-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    All of the above 5 levers should influence the productivity index as we had defined earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    define & measure productivity at Sub-BU or BU levels (not at team level) in a way that is meaningful to business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    use macro-level means like app portfolio optimization, automation, focus on business value, etc. to improve productivity in collaboration with business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    enable & encourage teams to improve the underlying factors that influence productivity (not productivity directly)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"IT Productivity \u2013 a point of view","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"productivity-point-view","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11462","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11270,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-11-20 16:24:35","post_date_gmt":"2018-11-20 10:54:35","post_content":"\n
    https:\/\/embeds.audioboom.com\/posts\/7092680-managing-an-agile-transformation-for-success\/embed\/v4?eid=AQAAAJTk81vIOWwA<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Agile transformations, like any other are challenging for most organizations. This episode engages experts from PM Power Consulting J Veeraraaghavan, Vishveshwar Hegde and Anand Natarajan in dialogue, sharing their agile leadership coaching and consulting insights. The dialogue also explores common challenges and approaches to agile transformations for leaders and geographically distributed teams with diverse view points of the experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The case study is given below<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Trailblazers Inc. have decided to embark on an Agile transformation journey with their SVP of Engineering. Mike Simpson, personally kicking off an initiative targeted at improving predictability, reducing cycle time and improving customer responsiveness. Mike wants Neeraj who is the VP of Engineering at their Bangalore development center to drive this initiative with Scrum as the primary approach and complete the transformation within the next one and a half years. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Neeraj approaches you as an Agile coach to help him with defining and implementing a program that will ensure the success of this initiative. <\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To Summarize key aspects from the dialogue:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Define specific objectives for this initiative based on senior leadership directive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use a holistic approach (rather than just training) that considers where the organization and teams are currently with respect to the objectives and specific interventions such as training and coaching targeted at addressing the gaps identified<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ensure senior leadership team at both locations has bought into the initiative and is fully committed to it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use of constructs such as different levels of planning, scrum of scrums, meta scrums etc. for effective cross-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","post_title":"Podcast - Managing an Agile Transformation for Success","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"podcast-managing-agile-transformation-success","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11270","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11144,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:43:04","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:13:04","post_content":"\n
    You joined this team couple of months back. You notice that your manager generally works very long hours on week-days and comes to work on certain week-ends too. You are concerned that you would not get good appraisal if you do not work similar hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Would your concern be valid?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    My response is: Yes - it would be, if you are someone who does not believe in working long hours. Perceptions and concerns like - my appraisal will be impacted - are bound to set in, more so, if you have ambitions of growing into the role of your manager.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The next question is: \u2018Should you succumb to this concern and let it rule you?\u2019. This is where your philosophy comes into play. We talk about this in the blog: <\/span>https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/five-beacons-leadership-journey\/<\/span><\/a>. To quote: \u201cGreat leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Let us consider measuring Productivity at team level and Business Unit (BU) level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Team Productivity Measurement:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of team output has always been a challenge. In my opinion, scientific size measurements have never worked - either difficult to learn or difficult to apply consistently. FP-like or change-complexity-based measures have failed to deliver. Newer trends like relative sizing of stories are tools for teams to plan & execute better and not a common measure of output. All the above do not make sense to business users. Only one measure of output that would make sense to business users would be number of requirements. Users may be able to attribute business value to each of these requirements - however, at this level of detail, the business value can be used to prioritize but difficult to be considered as weights for summation of output.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of input in terms of actual effort has not been practical and difficult to sustain in spite of having good tools and management dictum. 'Head-count' is difficult to normalize given the varying levels of experience and salaries in team members. Best measure of input in my view is cost to company of the team members given the people-intensive nature of software work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Overall, I would not recommend measurement of productivity at team level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Sub-BU\/BU level productivity measurement<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    There are three types of output (leaving out the infrastructure projects & support) - app development; app maintenance and app support (or production support).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    For each app (or a group of apps) that produce an outcome, business can attach a BV (Business Value in $). The sum of the Business Value could be the business generated by that sub-BU or BU (or indicative of the business generated). Business can be broken by business product. However, mapping a business product to an IT app (or a group of apps) could be tricky but I believe it is possible to do this meaningfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of input is relatively easier at this level. $ spent on each app and broken up based on the output type - dev, maint & support. Again this break-up may not be straightforward in a complex organization but can be done meaningfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Productivity Index for an app (or group of apps) can be (i.e. Output over Input): (BV for app in $) \/ (Maint + Support spend for each app); This approach is in some way like calculating return-on-investment. To me, it is the efficiency with which the spend is generating value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Dev-spend is indicative of future business value. This may have to be projected and most organizations would have made a business case for each development project when it was approved - that data could help. We can then measure Productivity Index for the development work being carried out in the IT organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Productivity Improvement:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    When we measure productivity this way, we have multiple levers available for driving improvement without compromising quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #1: App life cycle analysis<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Group apps in terms of their life stages. Look at the ratio of spends by output type - dev, maint & support. Variations in spend ratio by life stage would help the management identify apps where spend needs to reduced. Optimal ratios for each life stage could be based on industry benchmarks (if such benchmarks exist else figure out internal benchmarks). Nature of the app also could be another factor - mainframe, web, analytics & reports, mobile app, etc. in figuring out these ratios.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Sunset apps that generate low business value<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #2: Increase business value<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Compare business value from current apps with potential initiatives that could generate greater business value. Move spend to the newer development projects<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Implement practices in teams (engineering & product management together) to ensure that higher value requirements are getting prioritized; Focus on reducing risks associated with these higher value items<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #3: Reduce direct cost of people<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Look at the mix of team members; there could be opportunities to reduce the actual cost of salaries - people with lesser qualifications & experience may be good enough; higher cost resources could be shared across teams.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Look for moving spend to locations where cost of people is lower without compromising efficiency<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever<\/em> #4: Invest in automation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Focus on appropriate tools & technologies to automate engineering practices like test automation; build automation; release management, etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Review tool\/technology portfolio and optimize<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #5: Enable & encourage teams to identify, measure & improve on factors that influence productivity (a few examples below):<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Application knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Business domain knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Multi-skilling<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Team level automation (e.g. scripting of repetitive tasks; population of test data)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Waste reduction - re-work in development; Unsuccessful changes; App outage; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Self-organizing teams<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Softer aspects like: conflicts (unhealthy); gender diversity; product vision; Goal-focus; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Inter-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    All of the above 5 levers should influence the productivity index as we had defined earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    define & measure productivity at Sub-BU or BU levels (not at team level) in a way that is meaningful to business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    use macro-level means like app portfolio optimization, automation, focus on business value, etc. to improve productivity in collaboration with business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    enable & encourage teams to improve the underlying factors that influence productivity (not productivity directly)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"IT Productivity \u2013 a point of view","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"productivity-point-view","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11462","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11270,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-11-20 16:24:35","post_date_gmt":"2018-11-20 10:54:35","post_content":"\n
    https:\/\/embeds.audioboom.com\/posts\/7092680-managing-an-agile-transformation-for-success\/embed\/v4?eid=AQAAAJTk81vIOWwA<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Agile transformations, like any other are challenging for most organizations. This episode engages experts from PM Power Consulting J Veeraraaghavan, Vishveshwar Hegde and Anand Natarajan in dialogue, sharing their agile leadership coaching and consulting insights. The dialogue also explores common challenges and approaches to agile transformations for leaders and geographically distributed teams with diverse view points of the experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The case study is given below<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Trailblazers Inc. have decided to embark on an Agile transformation journey with their SVP of Engineering. Mike Simpson, personally kicking off an initiative targeted at improving predictability, reducing cycle time and improving customer responsiveness. Mike wants Neeraj who is the VP of Engineering at their Bangalore development center to drive this initiative with Scrum as the primary approach and complete the transformation within the next one and a half years. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Neeraj approaches you as an Agile coach to help him with defining and implementing a program that will ensure the success of this initiative. <\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To Summarize key aspects from the dialogue:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Define specific objectives for this initiative based on senior leadership directive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use a holistic approach (rather than just training) that considers where the organization and teams are currently with respect to the objectives and specific interventions such as training and coaching targeted at addressing the gaps identified<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ensure senior leadership team at both locations has bought into the initiative and is fully committed to it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use of constructs such as different levels of planning, scrum of scrums, meta scrums etc. for effective cross-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","post_title":"Podcast - Managing an Agile Transformation for Success","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"podcast-managing-agile-transformation-success","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11270","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11144,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:43:04","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:13:04","post_content":"\n
    You joined this team couple of months back. You notice that your manager generally works very long hours on week-days and comes to work on certain week-ends too. You are concerned that you would not get good appraisal if you do not work similar hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Would your concern be valid?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    My response is: Yes - it would be, if you are someone who does not believe in working long hours. Perceptions and concerns like - my appraisal will be impacted - are bound to set in, more so, if you have ambitions of growing into the role of your manager.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The next question is: \u2018Should you succumb to this concern and let it rule you?\u2019. This is where your philosophy comes into play. We talk about this in the blog: <\/span>https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/five-beacons-leadership-journey\/<\/span><\/a>. To quote: \u201cGreat leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    To measure productivity, one needs measures of output and input. Often business users want improvement in throughput without compromising quality. Management expects IT to deliver on that expectation with the same spending ($).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Let us consider measuring Productivity at team level and Business Unit (BU) level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Team Productivity Measurement:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of team output has always been a challenge. In my opinion, scientific size measurements have never worked - either difficult to learn or difficult to apply consistently. FP-like or change-complexity-based measures have failed to deliver. Newer trends like relative sizing of stories are tools for teams to plan & execute better and not a common measure of output. All the above do not make sense to business users. Only one measure of output that would make sense to business users would be number of requirements. Users may be able to attribute business value to each of these requirements - however, at this level of detail, the business value can be used to prioritize but difficult to be considered as weights for summation of output.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of input in terms of actual effort has not been practical and difficult to sustain in spite of having good tools and management dictum. 'Head-count' is difficult to normalize given the varying levels of experience and salaries in team members. Best measure of input in my view is cost to company of the team members given the people-intensive nature of software work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Overall, I would not recommend measurement of productivity at team level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Sub-BU\/BU level productivity measurement<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    There are three types of output (leaving out the infrastructure projects & support) - app development; app maintenance and app support (or production support).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    For each app (or a group of apps) that produce an outcome, business can attach a BV (Business Value in $). The sum of the Business Value could be the business generated by that sub-BU or BU (or indicative of the business generated). Business can be broken by business product. However, mapping a business product to an IT app (or a group of apps) could be tricky but I believe it is possible to do this meaningfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of input is relatively easier at this level. $ spent on each app and broken up based on the output type - dev, maint & support. Again this break-up may not be straightforward in a complex organization but can be done meaningfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Productivity Index for an app (or group of apps) can be (i.e. Output over Input): (BV for app in $) \/ (Maint + Support spend for each app); This approach is in some way like calculating return-on-investment. To me, it is the efficiency with which the spend is generating value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Dev-spend is indicative of future business value. This may have to be projected and most organizations would have made a business case for each development project when it was approved - that data could help. We can then measure Productivity Index for the development work being carried out in the IT organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Productivity Improvement:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    When we measure productivity this way, we have multiple levers available for driving improvement without compromising quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #1: App life cycle analysis<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Group apps in terms of their life stages. Look at the ratio of spends by output type - dev, maint & support. Variations in spend ratio by life stage would help the management identify apps where spend needs to reduced. Optimal ratios for each life stage could be based on industry benchmarks (if such benchmarks exist else figure out internal benchmarks). Nature of the app also could be another factor - mainframe, web, analytics & reports, mobile app, etc. in figuring out these ratios.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Sunset apps that generate low business value<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #2: Increase business value<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Compare business value from current apps with potential initiatives that could generate greater business value. Move spend to the newer development projects<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Implement practices in teams (engineering & product management together) to ensure that higher value requirements are getting prioritized; Focus on reducing risks associated with these higher value items<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #3: Reduce direct cost of people<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Look at the mix of team members; there could be opportunities to reduce the actual cost of salaries - people with lesser qualifications & experience may be good enough; higher cost resources could be shared across teams.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Look for moving spend to locations where cost of people is lower without compromising efficiency<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever<\/em> #4: Invest in automation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Focus on appropriate tools & technologies to automate engineering practices like test automation; build automation; release management, etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Review tool\/technology portfolio and optimize<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #5: Enable & encourage teams to identify, measure & improve on factors that influence productivity (a few examples below):<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Application knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Business domain knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Multi-skilling<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Team level automation (e.g. scripting of repetitive tasks; population of test data)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Waste reduction - re-work in development; Unsuccessful changes; App outage; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Self-organizing teams<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Softer aspects like: conflicts (unhealthy); gender diversity; product vision; Goal-focus; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Inter-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    All of the above 5 levers should influence the productivity index as we had defined earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    define & measure productivity at Sub-BU or BU levels (not at team level) in a way that is meaningful to business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    use macro-level means like app portfolio optimization, automation, focus on business value, etc. to improve productivity in collaboration with business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    enable & encourage teams to improve the underlying factors that influence productivity (not productivity directly)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"IT Productivity \u2013 a point of view","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"productivity-point-view","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11462","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11270,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-11-20 16:24:35","post_date_gmt":"2018-11-20 10:54:35","post_content":"\n
    https:\/\/embeds.audioboom.com\/posts\/7092680-managing-an-agile-transformation-for-success\/embed\/v4?eid=AQAAAJTk81vIOWwA<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Agile transformations, like any other are challenging for most organizations. This episode engages experts from PM Power Consulting J Veeraraaghavan, Vishveshwar Hegde and Anand Natarajan in dialogue, sharing their agile leadership coaching and consulting insights. The dialogue also explores common challenges and approaches to agile transformations for leaders and geographically distributed teams with diverse view points of the experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The case study is given below<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Trailblazers Inc. have decided to embark on an Agile transformation journey with their SVP of Engineering. Mike Simpson, personally kicking off an initiative targeted at improving predictability, reducing cycle time and improving customer responsiveness. Mike wants Neeraj who is the VP of Engineering at their Bangalore development center to drive this initiative with Scrum as the primary approach and complete the transformation within the next one and a half years. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Neeraj approaches you as an Agile coach to help him with defining and implementing a program that will ensure the success of this initiative. <\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To Summarize key aspects from the dialogue:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Define specific objectives for this initiative based on senior leadership directive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use a holistic approach (rather than just training) that considers where the organization and teams are currently with respect to the objectives and specific interventions such as training and coaching targeted at addressing the gaps identified<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ensure senior leadership team at both locations has bought into the initiative and is fully committed to it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use of constructs such as different levels of planning, scrum of scrums, meta scrums etc. for effective cross-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","post_title":"Podcast - Managing an Agile Transformation for Success","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"podcast-managing-agile-transformation-success","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11270","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11144,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:43:04","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:13:04","post_content":"\n
    You joined this team couple of months back. You notice that your manager generally works very long hours on week-days and comes to work on certain week-ends too. You are concerned that you would not get good appraisal if you do not work similar hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Would your concern be valid?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    My response is: Yes - it would be, if you are someone who does not believe in working long hours. Perceptions and concerns like - my appraisal will be impacted - are bound to set in, more so, if you have ambitions of growing into the role of your manager.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The next question is: \u2018Should you succumb to this concern and let it rule you?\u2019. This is where your philosophy comes into play. We talk about this in the blog: <\/span>https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/five-beacons-leadership-journey\/<\/span><\/a>. To quote: \u201cGreat leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Productivity measurement in IT function has been debated and demanded over decades. Having made multiple attempts at solving this puzzle over many years, I have developed a point of view on productivity measurement. You may or may not agree but here it goes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To measure productivity, one needs measures of output and input. Often business users want improvement in throughput without compromising quality. Management expects IT to deliver on that expectation with the same spending ($).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Let us consider measuring Productivity at team level and Business Unit (BU) level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Team Productivity Measurement:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of team output has always been a challenge. In my opinion, scientific size measurements have never worked - either difficult to learn or difficult to apply consistently. FP-like or change-complexity-based measures have failed to deliver. Newer trends like relative sizing of stories are tools for teams to plan & execute better and not a common measure of output. All the above do not make sense to business users. Only one measure of output that would make sense to business users would be number of requirements. Users may be able to attribute business value to each of these requirements - however, at this level of detail, the business value can be used to prioritize but difficult to be considered as weights for summation of output.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of input in terms of actual effort has not been practical and difficult to sustain in spite of having good tools and management dictum. 'Head-count' is difficult to normalize given the varying levels of experience and salaries in team members. Best measure of input in my view is cost to company of the team members given the people-intensive nature of software work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Overall, I would not recommend measurement of productivity at team level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Sub-BU\/BU level productivity measurement<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    There are three types of output (leaving out the infrastructure projects & support) - app development; app maintenance and app support (or production support).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    For each app (or a group of apps) that produce an outcome, business can attach a BV (Business Value in $). The sum of the Business Value could be the business generated by that sub-BU or BU (or indicative of the business generated). Business can be broken by business product. However, mapping a business product to an IT app (or a group of apps) could be tricky but I believe it is possible to do this meaningfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of input is relatively easier at this level. $ spent on each app and broken up based on the output type - dev, maint & support. Again this break-up may not be straightforward in a complex organization but can be done meaningfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Productivity Index for an app (or group of apps) can be (i.e. Output over Input): (BV for app in $) \/ (Maint + Support spend for each app); This approach is in some way like calculating return-on-investment. To me, it is the efficiency with which the spend is generating value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Dev-spend is indicative of future business value. This may have to be projected and most organizations would have made a business case for each development project when it was approved - that data could help. We can then measure Productivity Index for the development work being carried out in the IT organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Productivity Improvement:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    When we measure productivity this way, we have multiple levers available for driving improvement without compromising quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #1: App life cycle analysis<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Group apps in terms of their life stages. Look at the ratio of spends by output type - dev, maint & support. Variations in spend ratio by life stage would help the management identify apps where spend needs to reduced. Optimal ratios for each life stage could be based on industry benchmarks (if such benchmarks exist else figure out internal benchmarks). Nature of the app also could be another factor - mainframe, web, analytics & reports, mobile app, etc. in figuring out these ratios.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Sunset apps that generate low business value<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #2: Increase business value<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Compare business value from current apps with potential initiatives that could generate greater business value. Move spend to the newer development projects<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Implement practices in teams (engineering & product management together) to ensure that higher value requirements are getting prioritized; Focus on reducing risks associated with these higher value items<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #3: Reduce direct cost of people<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Look at the mix of team members; there could be opportunities to reduce the actual cost of salaries - people with lesser qualifications & experience may be good enough; higher cost resources could be shared across teams.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Look for moving spend to locations where cost of people is lower without compromising efficiency<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever<\/em> #4: Invest in automation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Focus on appropriate tools & technologies to automate engineering practices like test automation; build automation; release management, etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Review tool\/technology portfolio and optimize<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #5: Enable & encourage teams to identify, measure & improve on factors that influence productivity (a few examples below):<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Application knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Business domain knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Multi-skilling<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Team level automation (e.g. scripting of repetitive tasks; population of test data)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Waste reduction - re-work in development; Unsuccessful changes; App outage; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Self-organizing teams<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Softer aspects like: conflicts (unhealthy); gender diversity; product vision; Goal-focus; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Inter-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    All of the above 5 levers should influence the productivity index as we had defined earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    define & measure productivity at Sub-BU or BU levels (not at team level) in a way that is meaningful to business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    use macro-level means like app portfolio optimization, automation, focus on business value, etc. to improve productivity in collaboration with business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    enable & encourage teams to improve the underlying factors that influence productivity (not productivity directly)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"IT Productivity \u2013 a point of view","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"productivity-point-view","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11462","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11270,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-11-20 16:24:35","post_date_gmt":"2018-11-20 10:54:35","post_content":"\n
    https:\/\/embeds.audioboom.com\/posts\/7092680-managing-an-agile-transformation-for-success\/embed\/v4?eid=AQAAAJTk81vIOWwA<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Agile transformations, like any other are challenging for most organizations. This episode engages experts from PM Power Consulting J Veeraraaghavan, Vishveshwar Hegde and Anand Natarajan in dialogue, sharing their agile leadership coaching and consulting insights. The dialogue also explores common challenges and approaches to agile transformations for leaders and geographically distributed teams with diverse view points of the experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The case study is given below<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Trailblazers Inc. have decided to embark on an Agile transformation journey with their SVP of Engineering. Mike Simpson, personally kicking off an initiative targeted at improving predictability, reducing cycle time and improving customer responsiveness. Mike wants Neeraj who is the VP of Engineering at their Bangalore development center to drive this initiative with Scrum as the primary approach and complete the transformation within the next one and a half years. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Neeraj approaches you as an Agile coach to help him with defining and implementing a program that will ensure the success of this initiative. <\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To Summarize key aspects from the dialogue:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Define specific objectives for this initiative based on senior leadership directive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use a holistic approach (rather than just training) that considers where the organization and teams are currently with respect to the objectives and specific interventions such as training and coaching targeted at addressing the gaps identified<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ensure senior leadership team at both locations has bought into the initiative and is fully committed to it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use of constructs such as different levels of planning, scrum of scrums, meta scrums etc. for effective cross-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","post_title":"Podcast - Managing an Agile Transformation for Success","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"podcast-managing-agile-transformation-success","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11270","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11144,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:43:04","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:13:04","post_content":"\n
    You joined this team couple of months back. You notice that your manager generally works very long hours on week-days and comes to work on certain week-ends too. You are concerned that you would not get good appraisal if you do not work similar hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Would your concern be valid?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    My response is: Yes - it would be, if you are someone who does not believe in working long hours. Perceptions and concerns like - my appraisal will be impacted - are bound to set in, more so, if you have ambitions of growing into the role of your manager.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The next question is: \u2018Should you succumb to this concern and let it rule you?\u2019. This is where your philosophy comes into play. We talk about this in the blog: <\/span>https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/five-beacons-leadership-journey\/<\/span><\/a>. To quote: \u201cGreat leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    That's my view. Would like to hear what you think.<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #133 - Standardization - one size fits all","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-133-standardization-one-size-fits","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:03","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:03","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11465","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11462,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2019-01-28 12:05:47","post_date_gmt":"2019-01-28 06:35:47","post_content":"\n
    Productivity measurement in IT function has been debated and demanded over decades. Having made multiple attempts at solving this puzzle over many years, I have developed a point of view on productivity measurement. You may or may not agree but here it goes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To measure productivity, one needs measures of output and input. Often business users want improvement in throughput without compromising quality. Management expects IT to deliver on that expectation with the same spending ($).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Let us consider measuring Productivity at team level and Business Unit (BU) level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Team Productivity Measurement:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of team output has always been a challenge. In my opinion, scientific size measurements have never worked - either difficult to learn or difficult to apply consistently. FP-like or change-complexity-based measures have failed to deliver. Newer trends like relative sizing of stories are tools for teams to plan & execute better and not a common measure of output. All the above do not make sense to business users. Only one measure of output that would make sense to business users would be number of requirements. Users may be able to attribute business value to each of these requirements - however, at this level of detail, the business value can be used to prioritize but difficult to be considered as weights for summation of output.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of input in terms of actual effort has not been practical and difficult to sustain in spite of having good tools and management dictum. 'Head-count' is difficult to normalize given the varying levels of experience and salaries in team members. Best measure of input in my view is cost to company of the team members given the people-intensive nature of software work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Overall, I would not recommend measurement of productivity at team level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Sub-BU\/BU level productivity measurement<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    There are three types of output (leaving out the infrastructure projects & support) - app development; app maintenance and app support (or production support).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    For each app (or a group of apps) that produce an outcome, business can attach a BV (Business Value in $). The sum of the Business Value could be the business generated by that sub-BU or BU (or indicative of the business generated). Business can be broken by business product. However, mapping a business product to an IT app (or a group of apps) could be tricky but I believe it is possible to do this meaningfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of input is relatively easier at this level. $ spent on each app and broken up based on the output type - dev, maint & support. Again this break-up may not be straightforward in a complex organization but can be done meaningfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Productivity Index for an app (or group of apps) can be (i.e. Output over Input): (BV for app in $) \/ (Maint + Support spend for each app); This approach is in some way like calculating return-on-investment. To me, it is the efficiency with which the spend is generating value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Dev-spend is indicative of future business value. This may have to be projected and most organizations would have made a business case for each development project when it was approved - that data could help. We can then measure Productivity Index for the development work being carried out in the IT organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Productivity Improvement:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    When we measure productivity this way, we have multiple levers available for driving improvement without compromising quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #1: App life cycle analysis<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Group apps in terms of their life stages. Look at the ratio of spends by output type - dev, maint & support. Variations in spend ratio by life stage would help the management identify apps where spend needs to reduced. Optimal ratios for each life stage could be based on industry benchmarks (if such benchmarks exist else figure out internal benchmarks). Nature of the app also could be another factor - mainframe, web, analytics & reports, mobile app, etc. in figuring out these ratios.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Sunset apps that generate low business value<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #2: Increase business value<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Compare business value from current apps with potential initiatives that could generate greater business value. Move spend to the newer development projects<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Implement practices in teams (engineering & product management together) to ensure that higher value requirements are getting prioritized; Focus on reducing risks associated with these higher value items<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #3: Reduce direct cost of people<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Look at the mix of team members; there could be opportunities to reduce the actual cost of salaries - people with lesser qualifications & experience may be good enough; higher cost resources could be shared across teams.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Look for moving spend to locations where cost of people is lower without compromising efficiency<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever<\/em> #4: Invest in automation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Focus on appropriate tools & technologies to automate engineering practices like test automation; build automation; release management, etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Review tool\/technology portfolio and optimize<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #5: Enable & encourage teams to identify, measure & improve on factors that influence productivity (a few examples below):<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Application knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Business domain knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Multi-skilling<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Team level automation (e.g. scripting of repetitive tasks; population of test data)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Waste reduction - re-work in development; Unsuccessful changes; App outage; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Self-organizing teams<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Softer aspects like: conflicts (unhealthy); gender diversity; product vision; Goal-focus; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Inter-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    All of the above 5 levers should influence the productivity index as we had defined earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    define & measure productivity at Sub-BU or BU levels (not at team level) in a way that is meaningful to business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    use macro-level means like app portfolio optimization, automation, focus on business value, etc. to improve productivity in collaboration with business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    enable & encourage teams to improve the underlying factors that influence productivity (not productivity directly)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"IT Productivity \u2013 a point of view","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"productivity-point-view","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11462","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11270,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-11-20 16:24:35","post_date_gmt":"2018-11-20 10:54:35","post_content":"\n
    https:\/\/embeds.audioboom.com\/posts\/7092680-managing-an-agile-transformation-for-success\/embed\/v4?eid=AQAAAJTk81vIOWwA<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Agile transformations, like any other are challenging for most organizations. This episode engages experts from PM Power Consulting J Veeraraaghavan, Vishveshwar Hegde and Anand Natarajan in dialogue, sharing their agile leadership coaching and consulting insights. The dialogue also explores common challenges and approaches to agile transformations for leaders and geographically distributed teams with diverse view points of the experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The case study is given below<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Trailblazers Inc. have decided to embark on an Agile transformation journey with their SVP of Engineering. Mike Simpson, personally kicking off an initiative targeted at improving predictability, reducing cycle time and improving customer responsiveness. Mike wants Neeraj who is the VP of Engineering at their Bangalore development center to drive this initiative with Scrum as the primary approach and complete the transformation within the next one and a half years. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Neeraj approaches you as an Agile coach to help him with defining and implementing a program that will ensure the success of this initiative. <\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To Summarize key aspects from the dialogue:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Define specific objectives for this initiative based on senior leadership directive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use a holistic approach (rather than just training) that considers where the organization and teams are currently with respect to the objectives and specific interventions such as training and coaching targeted at addressing the gaps identified<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ensure senior leadership team at both locations has bought into the initiative and is fully committed to it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use of constructs such as different levels of planning, scrum of scrums, meta scrums etc. for effective cross-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","post_title":"Podcast - Managing an Agile Transformation for Success","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"podcast-managing-agile-transformation-success","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11270","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11144,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:43:04","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:13:04","post_content":"\n
    You joined this team couple of months back. You notice that your manager generally works very long hours on week-days and comes to work on certain week-ends too. You are concerned that you would not get good appraisal if you do not work similar hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Would your concern be valid?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    My response is: Yes - it would be, if you are someone who does not believe in working long hours. Perceptions and concerns like - my appraisal will be impacted - are bound to set in, more so, if you have ambitions of growing into the role of your manager.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The next question is: \u2018Should you succumb to this concern and let it rule you?\u2019. This is where your philosophy comes into play. We talk about this in the blog: <\/span>https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/five-beacons-leadership-journey\/<\/span><\/a>. To quote: \u201cGreat leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    It is a fair expectation of managers like Sharma to have the ability to manage productivity. With an absolute measure of size, managers tend to compare productivity across teams and that creates an unhealthy competition. To start with, a fundamental problem teams would have is inconsistent understanding & implementation of the sizing rules. Moreover, measurement of productivity at team level shifts the focus of the team away from maximizing business value. Team\u2019s behaviour would be driven by how their success is measured \u2013 focus on productivity is likely to make teams to do some of these three things: 1. Focus on efficiency instead of throughput. 2. Subconsciously over-rating the complexity of story to inflate size which in turn could influence product owner\u2019s prioritization decisions. 3. Already unreliable effort data entered by individual team members could be influenced by the desire to show greater productivity. All the above are highly undesirable consequences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    That's my view. Would like to hear what you think.<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #133 - Standardization - one size fits all","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-133-standardization-one-size-fits","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:03","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:03","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11465","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11462,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2019-01-28 12:05:47","post_date_gmt":"2019-01-28 06:35:47","post_content":"\n
    Productivity measurement in IT function has been debated and demanded over decades. Having made multiple attempts at solving this puzzle over many years, I have developed a point of view on productivity measurement. You may or may not agree but here it goes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To measure productivity, one needs measures of output and input. Often business users want improvement in throughput without compromising quality. Management expects IT to deliver on that expectation with the same spending ($).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Let us consider measuring Productivity at team level and Business Unit (BU) level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Team Productivity Measurement:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of team output has always been a challenge. In my opinion, scientific size measurements have never worked - either difficult to learn or difficult to apply consistently. FP-like or change-complexity-based measures have failed to deliver. Newer trends like relative sizing of stories are tools for teams to plan & execute better and not a common measure of output. All the above do not make sense to business users. Only one measure of output that would make sense to business users would be number of requirements. Users may be able to attribute business value to each of these requirements - however, at this level of detail, the business value can be used to prioritize but difficult to be considered as weights for summation of output.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of input in terms of actual effort has not been practical and difficult to sustain in spite of having good tools and management dictum. 'Head-count' is difficult to normalize given the varying levels of experience and salaries in team members. Best measure of input in my view is cost to company of the team members given the people-intensive nature of software work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Overall, I would not recommend measurement of productivity at team level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Sub-BU\/BU level productivity measurement<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    There are three types of output (leaving out the infrastructure projects & support) - app development; app maintenance and app support (or production support).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    For each app (or a group of apps) that produce an outcome, business can attach a BV (Business Value in $). The sum of the Business Value could be the business generated by that sub-BU or BU (or indicative of the business generated). Business can be broken by business product. However, mapping a business product to an IT app (or a group of apps) could be tricky but I believe it is possible to do this meaningfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of input is relatively easier at this level. $ spent on each app and broken up based on the output type - dev, maint & support. Again this break-up may not be straightforward in a complex organization but can be done meaningfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Productivity Index for an app (or group of apps) can be (i.e. Output over Input): (BV for app in $) \/ (Maint + Support spend for each app); This approach is in some way like calculating return-on-investment. To me, it is the efficiency with which the spend is generating value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Dev-spend is indicative of future business value. This may have to be projected and most organizations would have made a business case for each development project when it was approved - that data could help. We can then measure Productivity Index for the development work being carried out in the IT organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Productivity Improvement:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    When we measure productivity this way, we have multiple levers available for driving improvement without compromising quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #1: App life cycle analysis<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Group apps in terms of their life stages. Look at the ratio of spends by output type - dev, maint & support. Variations in spend ratio by life stage would help the management identify apps where spend needs to reduced. Optimal ratios for each life stage could be based on industry benchmarks (if such benchmarks exist else figure out internal benchmarks). Nature of the app also could be another factor - mainframe, web, analytics & reports, mobile app, etc. in figuring out these ratios.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Sunset apps that generate low business value<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #2: Increase business value<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Compare business value from current apps with potential initiatives that could generate greater business value. Move spend to the newer development projects<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Implement practices in teams (engineering & product management together) to ensure that higher value requirements are getting prioritized; Focus on reducing risks associated with these higher value items<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #3: Reduce direct cost of people<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Look at the mix of team members; there could be opportunities to reduce the actual cost of salaries - people with lesser qualifications & experience may be good enough; higher cost resources could be shared across teams.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Look for moving spend to locations where cost of people is lower without compromising efficiency<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever<\/em> #4: Invest in automation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Focus on appropriate tools & technologies to automate engineering practices like test automation; build automation; release management, etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Review tool\/technology portfolio and optimize<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #5: Enable & encourage teams to identify, measure & improve on factors that influence productivity (a few examples below):<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Application knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Business domain knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Multi-skilling<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Team level automation (e.g. scripting of repetitive tasks; population of test data)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Waste reduction - re-work in development; Unsuccessful changes; App outage; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Self-organizing teams<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Softer aspects like: conflicts (unhealthy); gender diversity; product vision; Goal-focus; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Inter-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    All of the above 5 levers should influence the productivity index as we had defined earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    define & measure productivity at Sub-BU or BU levels (not at team level) in a way that is meaningful to business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    use macro-level means like app portfolio optimization, automation, focus on business value, etc. to improve productivity in collaboration with business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    enable & encourage teams to improve the underlying factors that influence productivity (not productivity directly)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"IT Productivity \u2013 a point of view","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"productivity-point-view","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11462","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11270,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-11-20 16:24:35","post_date_gmt":"2018-11-20 10:54:35","post_content":"\n
    https:\/\/embeds.audioboom.com\/posts\/7092680-managing-an-agile-transformation-for-success\/embed\/v4?eid=AQAAAJTk81vIOWwA<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Agile transformations, like any other are challenging for most organizations. This episode engages experts from PM Power Consulting J Veeraraaghavan, Vishveshwar Hegde and Anand Natarajan in dialogue, sharing their agile leadership coaching and consulting insights. The dialogue also explores common challenges and approaches to agile transformations for leaders and geographically distributed teams with diverse view points of the experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The case study is given below<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Trailblazers Inc. have decided to embark on an Agile transformation journey with their SVP of Engineering. Mike Simpson, personally kicking off an initiative targeted at improving predictability, reducing cycle time and improving customer responsiveness. Mike wants Neeraj who is the VP of Engineering at their Bangalore development center to drive this initiative with Scrum as the primary approach and complete the transformation within the next one and a half years. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Neeraj approaches you as an Agile coach to help him with defining and implementing a program that will ensure the success of this initiative. <\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To Summarize key aspects from the dialogue:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Define specific objectives for this initiative based on senior leadership directive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use a holistic approach (rather than just training) that considers where the organization and teams are currently with respect to the objectives and specific interventions such as training and coaching targeted at addressing the gaps identified<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ensure senior leadership team at both locations has bought into the initiative and is fully committed to it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use of constructs such as different levels of planning, scrum of scrums, meta scrums etc. for effective cross-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","post_title":"Podcast - Managing an Agile Transformation for Success","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"podcast-managing-agile-transformation-success","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11270","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11144,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:43:04","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:13:04","post_content":"\n
    You joined this team couple of months back. You notice that your manager generally works very long hours on week-days and comes to work on certain week-ends too. You are concerned that you would not get good appraisal if you do not work similar hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Would your concern be valid?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    My response is: Yes - it would be, if you are someone who does not believe in working long hours. Perceptions and concerns like - my appraisal will be impacted - are bound to set in, more so, if you have ambitions of growing into the role of your manager.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The next question is: \u2018Should you succumb to this concern and let it rule you?\u2019. This is where your philosophy comes into play. We talk about this in the blog: <\/span>https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/five-beacons-leadership-journey\/<\/span><\/a>. To quote: \u201cGreat leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    It is a fair expectation of managers like Sharma to have the ability to manage productivity. With an absolute measure of size, managers tend to compare productivity across teams and that creates an unhealthy competition. To start with, a fundamental problem teams would have is inconsistent understanding & implementation of the sizing rules. Moreover, measurement of productivity at team level shifts the focus of the team away from maximizing business value. Team\u2019s behaviour would be driven by how their success is measured \u2013 focus on productivity is likely to make teams to do some of these three things: 1. Focus on efficiency instead of throughput. 2. Subconsciously over-rating the complexity of story to inflate size which in turn could influence product owner\u2019s prioritization decisions. 3. Already unreliable effort data entered by individual team members could be influenced by the desire to show greater productivity. All the above are highly undesirable consequences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    That's my view. Would like to hear what you think.<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #133 - Standardization - one size fits all","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-133-standardization-one-size-fits","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:03","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:03","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11465","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11462,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2019-01-28 12:05:47","post_date_gmt":"2019-01-28 06:35:47","post_content":"\n
    Productivity measurement in IT function has been debated and demanded over decades. Having made multiple attempts at solving this puzzle over many years, I have developed a point of view on productivity measurement. You may or may not agree but here it goes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To measure productivity, one needs measures of output and input. Often business users want improvement in throughput without compromising quality. Management expects IT to deliver on that expectation with the same spending ($).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Let us consider measuring Productivity at team level and Business Unit (BU) level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Team Productivity Measurement:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of team output has always been a challenge. In my opinion, scientific size measurements have never worked - either difficult to learn or difficult to apply consistently. FP-like or change-complexity-based measures have failed to deliver. Newer trends like relative sizing of stories are tools for teams to plan & execute better and not a common measure of output. All the above do not make sense to business users. Only one measure of output that would make sense to business users would be number of requirements. Users may be able to attribute business value to each of these requirements - however, at this level of detail, the business value can be used to prioritize but difficult to be considered as weights for summation of output.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of input in terms of actual effort has not been practical and difficult to sustain in spite of having good tools and management dictum. 'Head-count' is difficult to normalize given the varying levels of experience and salaries in team members. Best measure of input in my view is cost to company of the team members given the people-intensive nature of software work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Overall, I would not recommend measurement of productivity at team level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Sub-BU\/BU level productivity measurement<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    There are three types of output (leaving out the infrastructure projects & support) - app development; app maintenance and app support (or production support).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    For each app (or a group of apps) that produce an outcome, business can attach a BV (Business Value in $). The sum of the Business Value could be the business generated by that sub-BU or BU (or indicative of the business generated). Business can be broken by business product. However, mapping a business product to an IT app (or a group of apps) could be tricky but I believe it is possible to do this meaningfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of input is relatively easier at this level. $ spent on each app and broken up based on the output type - dev, maint & support. Again this break-up may not be straightforward in a complex organization but can be done meaningfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Productivity Index for an app (or group of apps) can be (i.e. Output over Input): (BV for app in $) \/ (Maint + Support spend for each app); This approach is in some way like calculating return-on-investment. To me, it is the efficiency with which the spend is generating value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Dev-spend is indicative of future business value. This may have to be projected and most organizations would have made a business case for each development project when it was approved - that data could help. We can then measure Productivity Index for the development work being carried out in the IT organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Productivity Improvement:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    When we measure productivity this way, we have multiple levers available for driving improvement without compromising quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #1: App life cycle analysis<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Group apps in terms of their life stages. Look at the ratio of spends by output type - dev, maint & support. Variations in spend ratio by life stage would help the management identify apps where spend needs to reduced. Optimal ratios for each life stage could be based on industry benchmarks (if such benchmarks exist else figure out internal benchmarks). Nature of the app also could be another factor - mainframe, web, analytics & reports, mobile app, etc. in figuring out these ratios.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Sunset apps that generate low business value<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #2: Increase business value<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Compare business value from current apps with potential initiatives that could generate greater business value. Move spend to the newer development projects<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Implement practices in teams (engineering & product management together) to ensure that higher value requirements are getting prioritized; Focus on reducing risks associated with these higher value items<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #3: Reduce direct cost of people<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Look at the mix of team members; there could be opportunities to reduce the actual cost of salaries - people with lesser qualifications & experience may be good enough; higher cost resources could be shared across teams.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Look for moving spend to locations where cost of people is lower without compromising efficiency<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever<\/em> #4: Invest in automation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Focus on appropriate tools & technologies to automate engineering practices like test automation; build automation; release management, etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Review tool\/technology portfolio and optimize<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #5: Enable & encourage teams to identify, measure & improve on factors that influence productivity (a few examples below):<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Application knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Business domain knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Multi-skilling<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Team level automation (e.g. scripting of repetitive tasks; population of test data)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Waste reduction - re-work in development; Unsuccessful changes; App outage; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Self-organizing teams<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Softer aspects like: conflicts (unhealthy); gender diversity; product vision; Goal-focus; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Inter-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    All of the above 5 levers should influence the productivity index as we had defined earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    define & measure productivity at Sub-BU or BU levels (not at team level) in a way that is meaningful to business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    use macro-level means like app portfolio optimization, automation, focus on business value, etc. to improve productivity in collaboration with business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    enable & encourage teams to improve the underlying factors that influence productivity (not productivity directly)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"IT Productivity \u2013 a point of view","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"productivity-point-view","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11462","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11270,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-11-20 16:24:35","post_date_gmt":"2018-11-20 10:54:35","post_content":"\n
    https:\/\/embeds.audioboom.com\/posts\/7092680-managing-an-agile-transformation-for-success\/embed\/v4?eid=AQAAAJTk81vIOWwA<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Agile transformations, like any other are challenging for most organizations. This episode engages experts from PM Power Consulting J Veeraraaghavan, Vishveshwar Hegde and Anand Natarajan in dialogue, sharing their agile leadership coaching and consulting insights. The dialogue also explores common challenges and approaches to agile transformations for leaders and geographically distributed teams with diverse view points of the experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The case study is given below<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Trailblazers Inc. have decided to embark on an Agile transformation journey with their SVP of Engineering. Mike Simpson, personally kicking off an initiative targeted at improving predictability, reducing cycle time and improving customer responsiveness. Mike wants Neeraj who is the VP of Engineering at their Bangalore development center to drive this initiative with Scrum as the primary approach and complete the transformation within the next one and a half years. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Neeraj approaches you as an Agile coach to help him with defining and implementing a program that will ensure the success of this initiative. <\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To Summarize key aspects from the dialogue:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Define specific objectives for this initiative based on senior leadership directive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use a holistic approach (rather than just training) that considers where the organization and teams are currently with respect to the objectives and specific interventions such as training and coaching targeted at addressing the gaps identified<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ensure senior leadership team at both locations has bought into the initiative and is fully committed to it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use of constructs such as different levels of planning, scrum of scrums, meta scrums etc. for effective cross-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","post_title":"Podcast - Managing an Agile Transformation for Success","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"podcast-managing-agile-transformation-success","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11270","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11144,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:43:04","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:13:04","post_content":"\n
    You joined this team couple of months back. You notice that your manager generally works very long hours on week-days and comes to work on certain week-ends too. You are concerned that you would not get good appraisal if you do not work similar hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Would your concern be valid?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    My response is: Yes - it would be, if you are someone who does not believe in working long hours. Perceptions and concerns like - my appraisal will be impacted - are bound to set in, more so, if you have ambitions of growing into the role of your manager.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The next question is: \u2018Should you succumb to this concern and let it rule you?\u2019. This is where your philosophy comes into play. We talk about this in the blog: <\/span>https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/five-beacons-leadership-journey\/<\/span><\/a>. To quote: \u201cGreat leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    After moving to agile, Sharma was at a loss to manage productivity. He instructed the managers in his organization to devise and implement a measure of size that is consistent across the organization. Managers decided to institutionalize a measure similar to FP. What would be impact of such a change?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    It is a fair expectation of managers like Sharma to have the ability to manage productivity. With an absolute measure of size, managers tend to compare productivity across teams and that creates an unhealthy competition. To start with, a fundamental problem teams would have is inconsistent understanding & implementation of the sizing rules. Moreover, measurement of productivity at team level shifts the focus of the team away from maximizing business value. Team\u2019s behaviour would be driven by how their success is measured \u2013 focus on productivity is likely to make teams to do some of these three things: 1. Focus on efficiency instead of throughput. 2. Subconsciously over-rating the complexity of story to inflate size which in turn could influence product owner\u2019s prioritization decisions. 3. Already unreliable effort data entered by individual team members could be influenced by the desire to show greater productivity. All the above are highly undesirable consequences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    That's my view. Would like to hear what you think.<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #133 - Standardization - one size fits all","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-133-standardization-one-size-fits","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:03","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:03","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11465","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11462,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2019-01-28 12:05:47","post_date_gmt":"2019-01-28 06:35:47","post_content":"\n
    Productivity measurement in IT function has been debated and demanded over decades. Having made multiple attempts at solving this puzzle over many years, I have developed a point of view on productivity measurement. You may or may not agree but here it goes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To measure productivity, one needs measures of output and input. Often business users want improvement in throughput without compromising quality. Management expects IT to deliver on that expectation with the same spending ($).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Let us consider measuring Productivity at team level and Business Unit (BU) level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Team Productivity Measurement:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of team output has always been a challenge. In my opinion, scientific size measurements have never worked - either difficult to learn or difficult to apply consistently. FP-like or change-complexity-based measures have failed to deliver. Newer trends like relative sizing of stories are tools for teams to plan & execute better and not a common measure of output. All the above do not make sense to business users. Only one measure of output that would make sense to business users would be number of requirements. Users may be able to attribute business value to each of these requirements - however, at this level of detail, the business value can be used to prioritize but difficult to be considered as weights for summation of output.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of input in terms of actual effort has not been practical and difficult to sustain in spite of having good tools and management dictum. 'Head-count' is difficult to normalize given the varying levels of experience and salaries in team members. Best measure of input in my view is cost to company of the team members given the people-intensive nature of software work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Overall, I would not recommend measurement of productivity at team level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Sub-BU\/BU level productivity measurement<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    There are three types of output (leaving out the infrastructure projects & support) - app development; app maintenance and app support (or production support).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    For each app (or a group of apps) that produce an outcome, business can attach a BV (Business Value in $). The sum of the Business Value could be the business generated by that sub-BU or BU (or indicative of the business generated). Business can be broken by business product. However, mapping a business product to an IT app (or a group of apps) could be tricky but I believe it is possible to do this meaningfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of input is relatively easier at this level. $ spent on each app and broken up based on the output type - dev, maint & support. Again this break-up may not be straightforward in a complex organization but can be done meaningfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Productivity Index for an app (or group of apps) can be (i.e. Output over Input): (BV for app in $) \/ (Maint + Support spend for each app); This approach is in some way like calculating return-on-investment. To me, it is the efficiency with which the spend is generating value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Dev-spend is indicative of future business value. This may have to be projected and most organizations would have made a business case for each development project when it was approved - that data could help. We can then measure Productivity Index for the development work being carried out in the IT organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Productivity Improvement:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    When we measure productivity this way, we have multiple levers available for driving improvement without compromising quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #1: App life cycle analysis<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Group apps in terms of their life stages. Look at the ratio of spends by output type - dev, maint & support. Variations in spend ratio by life stage would help the management identify apps where spend needs to reduced. Optimal ratios for each life stage could be based on industry benchmarks (if such benchmarks exist else figure out internal benchmarks). Nature of the app also could be another factor - mainframe, web, analytics & reports, mobile app, etc. in figuring out these ratios.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Sunset apps that generate low business value<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #2: Increase business value<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Compare business value from current apps with potential initiatives that could generate greater business value. Move spend to the newer development projects<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Implement practices in teams (engineering & product management together) to ensure that higher value requirements are getting prioritized; Focus on reducing risks associated with these higher value items<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #3: Reduce direct cost of people<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Look at the mix of team members; there could be opportunities to reduce the actual cost of salaries - people with lesser qualifications & experience may be good enough; higher cost resources could be shared across teams.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Look for moving spend to locations where cost of people is lower without compromising efficiency<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever<\/em> #4: Invest in automation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Focus on appropriate tools & technologies to automate engineering practices like test automation; build automation; release management, etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Review tool\/technology portfolio and optimize<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #5: Enable & encourage teams to identify, measure & improve on factors that influence productivity (a few examples below):<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Application knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Business domain knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Multi-skilling<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Team level automation (e.g. scripting of repetitive tasks; population of test data)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Waste reduction - re-work in development; Unsuccessful changes; App outage; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Self-organizing teams<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Softer aspects like: conflicts (unhealthy); gender diversity; product vision; Goal-focus; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Inter-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    All of the above 5 levers should influence the productivity index as we had defined earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    define & measure productivity at Sub-BU or BU levels (not at team level) in a way that is meaningful to business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    use macro-level means like app portfolio optimization, automation, focus on business value, etc. to improve productivity in collaboration with business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    enable & encourage teams to improve the underlying factors that influence productivity (not productivity directly)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"IT Productivity \u2013 a point of view","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"productivity-point-view","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11462","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11270,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-11-20 16:24:35","post_date_gmt":"2018-11-20 10:54:35","post_content":"\n
    https:\/\/embeds.audioboom.com\/posts\/7092680-managing-an-agile-transformation-for-success\/embed\/v4?eid=AQAAAJTk81vIOWwA<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Agile transformations, like any other are challenging for most organizations. This episode engages experts from PM Power Consulting J Veeraraaghavan, Vishveshwar Hegde and Anand Natarajan in dialogue, sharing their agile leadership coaching and consulting insights. The dialogue also explores common challenges and approaches to agile transformations for leaders and geographically distributed teams with diverse view points of the experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The case study is given below<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Trailblazers Inc. have decided to embark on an Agile transformation journey with their SVP of Engineering. Mike Simpson, personally kicking off an initiative targeted at improving predictability, reducing cycle time and improving customer responsiveness. Mike wants Neeraj who is the VP of Engineering at their Bangalore development center to drive this initiative with Scrum as the primary approach and complete the transformation within the next one and a half years. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Neeraj approaches you as an Agile coach to help him with defining and implementing a program that will ensure the success of this initiative. <\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To Summarize key aspects from the dialogue:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Define specific objectives for this initiative based on senior leadership directive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use a holistic approach (rather than just training) that considers where the organization and teams are currently with respect to the objectives and specific interventions such as training and coaching targeted at addressing the gaps identified<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ensure senior leadership team at both locations has bought into the initiative and is fully committed to it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use of constructs such as different levels of planning, scrum of scrums, meta scrums etc. for effective cross-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","post_title":"Podcast - Managing an Agile Transformation for Success","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"podcast-managing-agile-transformation-success","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11270","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11144,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:43:04","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:13:04","post_content":"\n
    You joined this team couple of months back. You notice that your manager generally works very long hours on week-days and comes to work on certain week-ends too. You are concerned that you would not get good appraisal if you do not work similar hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Would your concern be valid?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    My response is: Yes - it would be, if you are someone who does not believe in working long hours. Perceptions and concerns like - my appraisal will be impacted - are bound to set in, more so, if you have ambitions of growing into the role of your manager.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The next question is: \u2018Should you succumb to this concern and let it rule you?\u2019. This is where your philosophy comes into play. We talk about this in the blog: <\/span>https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/five-beacons-leadership-journey\/<\/span><\/a>. To quote: \u201cGreat leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Sharma is a metrics-oriented Head of an IT function. Prior to adopting agile, his organization used Function Point (FP) method for measuring software size. Along with the effort data entered by individuals, teams measured productivity factor as FP per person day of effort. This data was used for estimating new project effort as well as the means for setting productivity targets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    After moving to agile, Sharma was at a loss to manage productivity. He instructed the managers in his organization to devise and implement a measure of size that is consistent across the organization. Managers decided to institutionalize a measure similar to FP. What would be impact of such a change?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    It is a fair expectation of managers like Sharma to have the ability to manage productivity. With an absolute measure of size, managers tend to compare productivity across teams and that creates an unhealthy competition. To start with, a fundamental problem teams would have is inconsistent understanding & implementation of the sizing rules. Moreover, measurement of productivity at team level shifts the focus of the team away from maximizing business value. Team\u2019s behaviour would be driven by how their success is measured \u2013 focus on productivity is likely to make teams to do some of these three things: 1. Focus on efficiency instead of throughput. 2. Subconsciously over-rating the complexity of story to inflate size which in turn could influence product owner\u2019s prioritization decisions. 3. Already unreliable effort data entered by individual team members could be influenced by the desire to show greater productivity. All the above are highly undesirable consequences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    That's my view. Would like to hear what you think.<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #133 - Standardization - one size fits all","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-133-standardization-one-size-fits","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:03","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:03","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11465","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11462,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2019-01-28 12:05:47","post_date_gmt":"2019-01-28 06:35:47","post_content":"\n
    Productivity measurement in IT function has been debated and demanded over decades. Having made multiple attempts at solving this puzzle over many years, I have developed a point of view on productivity measurement. You may or may not agree but here it goes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To measure productivity, one needs measures of output and input. Often business users want improvement in throughput without compromising quality. Management expects IT to deliver on that expectation with the same spending ($).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Let us consider measuring Productivity at team level and Business Unit (BU) level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Team Productivity Measurement:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of team output has always been a challenge. In my opinion, scientific size measurements have never worked - either difficult to learn or difficult to apply consistently. FP-like or change-complexity-based measures have failed to deliver. Newer trends like relative sizing of stories are tools for teams to plan & execute better and not a common measure of output. All the above do not make sense to business users. Only one measure of output that would make sense to business users would be number of requirements. Users may be able to attribute business value to each of these requirements - however, at this level of detail, the business value can be used to prioritize but difficult to be considered as weights for summation of output.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of input in terms of actual effort has not been practical and difficult to sustain in spite of having good tools and management dictum. 'Head-count' is difficult to normalize given the varying levels of experience and salaries in team members. Best measure of input in my view is cost to company of the team members given the people-intensive nature of software work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Overall, I would not recommend measurement of productivity at team level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Sub-BU\/BU level productivity measurement<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    There are three types of output (leaving out the infrastructure projects & support) - app development; app maintenance and app support (or production support).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    For each app (or a group of apps) that produce an outcome, business can attach a BV (Business Value in $). The sum of the Business Value could be the business generated by that sub-BU or BU (or indicative of the business generated). Business can be broken by business product. However, mapping a business product to an IT app (or a group of apps) could be tricky but I believe it is possible to do this meaningfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of input is relatively easier at this level. $ spent on each app and broken up based on the output type - dev, maint & support. Again this break-up may not be straightforward in a complex organization but can be done meaningfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Productivity Index for an app (or group of apps) can be (i.e. Output over Input): (BV for app in $) \/ (Maint + Support spend for each app); This approach is in some way like calculating return-on-investment. To me, it is the efficiency with which the spend is generating value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Dev-spend is indicative of future business value. This may have to be projected and most organizations would have made a business case for each development project when it was approved - that data could help. We can then measure Productivity Index for the development work being carried out in the IT organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Productivity Improvement:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    When we measure productivity this way, we have multiple levers available for driving improvement without compromising quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #1: App life cycle analysis<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Group apps in terms of their life stages. Look at the ratio of spends by output type - dev, maint & support. Variations in spend ratio by life stage would help the management identify apps where spend needs to reduced. Optimal ratios for each life stage could be based on industry benchmarks (if such benchmarks exist else figure out internal benchmarks). Nature of the app also could be another factor - mainframe, web, analytics & reports, mobile app, etc. in figuring out these ratios.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Sunset apps that generate low business value<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #2: Increase business value<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Compare business value from current apps with potential initiatives that could generate greater business value. Move spend to the newer development projects<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Implement practices in teams (engineering & product management together) to ensure that higher value requirements are getting prioritized; Focus on reducing risks associated with these higher value items<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #3: Reduce direct cost of people<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Look at the mix of team members; there could be opportunities to reduce the actual cost of salaries - people with lesser qualifications & experience may be good enough; higher cost resources could be shared across teams.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Look for moving spend to locations where cost of people is lower without compromising efficiency<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever<\/em> #4: Invest in automation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Focus on appropriate tools & technologies to automate engineering practices like test automation; build automation; release management, etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Review tool\/technology portfolio and optimize<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #5: Enable & encourage teams to identify, measure & improve on factors that influence productivity (a few examples below):<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Application knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Business domain knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Multi-skilling<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Team level automation (e.g. scripting of repetitive tasks; population of test data)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Waste reduction - re-work in development; Unsuccessful changes; App outage; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Self-organizing teams<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Softer aspects like: conflicts (unhealthy); gender diversity; product vision; Goal-focus; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Inter-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    All of the above 5 levers should influence the productivity index as we had defined earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    define & measure productivity at Sub-BU or BU levels (not at team level) in a way that is meaningful to business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    use macro-level means like app portfolio optimization, automation, focus on business value, etc. to improve productivity in collaboration with business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    enable & encourage teams to improve the underlying factors that influence productivity (not productivity directly)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"IT Productivity \u2013 a point of view","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"productivity-point-view","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11462","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11270,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-11-20 16:24:35","post_date_gmt":"2018-11-20 10:54:35","post_content":"\n
    https:\/\/embeds.audioboom.com\/posts\/7092680-managing-an-agile-transformation-for-success\/embed\/v4?eid=AQAAAJTk81vIOWwA<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Agile transformations, like any other are challenging for most organizations. This episode engages experts from PM Power Consulting J Veeraraaghavan, Vishveshwar Hegde and Anand Natarajan in dialogue, sharing their agile leadership coaching and consulting insights. The dialogue also explores common challenges and approaches to agile transformations for leaders and geographically distributed teams with diverse view points of the experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The case study is given below<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Trailblazers Inc. have decided to embark on an Agile transformation journey with their SVP of Engineering. Mike Simpson, personally kicking off an initiative targeted at improving predictability, reducing cycle time and improving customer responsiveness. Mike wants Neeraj who is the VP of Engineering at their Bangalore development center to drive this initiative with Scrum as the primary approach and complete the transformation within the next one and a half years. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Neeraj approaches you as an Agile coach to help him with defining and implementing a program that will ensure the success of this initiative. <\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To Summarize key aspects from the dialogue:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Define specific objectives for this initiative based on senior leadership directive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use a holistic approach (rather than just training) that considers where the organization and teams are currently with respect to the objectives and specific interventions such as training and coaching targeted at addressing the gaps identified<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ensure senior leadership team at both locations has bought into the initiative and is fully committed to it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use of constructs such as different levels of planning, scrum of scrums, meta scrums etc. for effective cross-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","post_title":"Podcast - Managing an Agile Transformation for Success","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"podcast-managing-agile-transformation-success","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11270","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11144,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:43:04","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:13:04","post_content":"\n
    You joined this team couple of months back. You notice that your manager generally works very long hours on week-days and comes to work on certain week-ends too. You are concerned that you would not get good appraisal if you do not work similar hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Would your concern be valid?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    My response is: Yes - it would be, if you are someone who does not believe in working long hours. Perceptions and concerns like - my appraisal will be impacted - are bound to set in, more so, if you have ambitions of growing into the role of your manager.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The next question is: \u2018Should you succumb to this concern and let it rule you?\u2019. This is where your philosophy comes into play. We talk about this in the blog: <\/span>https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/five-beacons-leadership-journey\/<\/span><\/a>. To quote: \u201cGreat leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Hope this helps you as Scrum Master and Coach in enabling transformation of the teams that you are working with.<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #136 - Resistance to Improvement","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-136-resistance-improvement","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-17 10:15:50","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:45:50","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11665","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11465,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2019-01-28 12:26:41","post_date_gmt":"2019-01-28 06:56:41","post_content":"\n
    Sharma is a metrics-oriented Head of an IT function. Prior to adopting agile, his organization used Function Point (FP) method for measuring software size. Along with the effort data entered by individuals, teams measured productivity factor as FP per person day of effort. This data was used for estimating new project effort as well as the means for setting productivity targets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    After moving to agile, Sharma was at a loss to manage productivity. He instructed the managers in his organization to devise and implement a measure of size that is consistent across the organization. Managers decided to institutionalize a measure similar to FP. What would be impact of such a change?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    It is a fair expectation of managers like Sharma to have the ability to manage productivity. With an absolute measure of size, managers tend to compare productivity across teams and that creates an unhealthy competition. To start with, a fundamental problem teams would have is inconsistent understanding & implementation of the sizing rules. Moreover, measurement of productivity at team level shifts the focus of the team away from maximizing business value. Team\u2019s behaviour would be driven by how their success is measured \u2013 focus on productivity is likely to make teams to do some of these three things: 1. Focus on efficiency instead of throughput. 2. Subconsciously over-rating the complexity of story to inflate size which in turn could influence product owner\u2019s prioritization decisions. 3. Already unreliable effort data entered by individual team members could be influenced by the desire to show greater productivity. All the above are highly undesirable consequences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    That's my view. Would like to hear what you think.<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #133 - Standardization - one size fits all","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-133-standardization-one-size-fits","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:03","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:03","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11465","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11462,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2019-01-28 12:05:47","post_date_gmt":"2019-01-28 06:35:47","post_content":"\n
    Productivity measurement in IT function has been debated and demanded over decades. Having made multiple attempts at solving this puzzle over many years, I have developed a point of view on productivity measurement. You may or may not agree but here it goes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To measure productivity, one needs measures of output and input. Often business users want improvement in throughput without compromising quality. Management expects IT to deliver on that expectation with the same spending ($).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Let us consider measuring Productivity at team level and Business Unit (BU) level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Team Productivity Measurement:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of team output has always been a challenge. In my opinion, scientific size measurements have never worked - either difficult to learn or difficult to apply consistently. FP-like or change-complexity-based measures have failed to deliver. Newer trends like relative sizing of stories are tools for teams to plan & execute better and not a common measure of output. All the above do not make sense to business users. Only one measure of output that would make sense to business users would be number of requirements. Users may be able to attribute business value to each of these requirements - however, at this level of detail, the business value can be used to prioritize but difficult to be considered as weights for summation of output.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of input in terms of actual effort has not been practical and difficult to sustain in spite of having good tools and management dictum. 'Head-count' is difficult to normalize given the varying levels of experience and salaries in team members. Best measure of input in my view is cost to company of the team members given the people-intensive nature of software work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Overall, I would not recommend measurement of productivity at team level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Sub-BU\/BU level productivity measurement<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    There are three types of output (leaving out the infrastructure projects & support) - app development; app maintenance and app support (or production support).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    For each app (or a group of apps) that produce an outcome, business can attach a BV (Business Value in $). The sum of the Business Value could be the business generated by that sub-BU or BU (or indicative of the business generated). Business can be broken by business product. However, mapping a business product to an IT app (or a group of apps) could be tricky but I believe it is possible to do this meaningfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of input is relatively easier at this level. $ spent on each app and broken up based on the output type - dev, maint & support. Again this break-up may not be straightforward in a complex organization but can be done meaningfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Productivity Index for an app (or group of apps) can be (i.e. Output over Input): (BV for app in $) \/ (Maint + Support spend for each app); This approach is in some way like calculating return-on-investment. To me, it is the efficiency with which the spend is generating value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Dev-spend is indicative of future business value. This may have to be projected and most organizations would have made a business case for each development project when it was approved - that data could help. We can then measure Productivity Index for the development work being carried out in the IT organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Productivity Improvement:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    When we measure productivity this way, we have multiple levers available for driving improvement without compromising quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #1: App life cycle analysis<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Group apps in terms of their life stages. Look at the ratio of spends by output type - dev, maint & support. Variations in spend ratio by life stage would help the management identify apps where spend needs to reduced. Optimal ratios for each life stage could be based on industry benchmarks (if such benchmarks exist else figure out internal benchmarks). Nature of the app also could be another factor - mainframe, web, analytics & reports, mobile app, etc. in figuring out these ratios.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Sunset apps that generate low business value<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #2: Increase business value<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Compare business value from current apps with potential initiatives that could generate greater business value. Move spend to the newer development projects<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Implement practices in teams (engineering & product management together) to ensure that higher value requirements are getting prioritized; Focus on reducing risks associated with these higher value items<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #3: Reduce direct cost of people<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Look at the mix of team members; there could be opportunities to reduce the actual cost of salaries - people with lesser qualifications & experience may be good enough; higher cost resources could be shared across teams.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Look for moving spend to locations where cost of people is lower without compromising efficiency<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever<\/em> #4: Invest in automation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Focus on appropriate tools & technologies to automate engineering practices like test automation; build automation; release management, etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Review tool\/technology portfolio and optimize<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #5: Enable & encourage teams to identify, measure & improve on factors that influence productivity (a few examples below):<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Application knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Business domain knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Multi-skilling<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Team level automation (e.g. scripting of repetitive tasks; population of test data)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Waste reduction - re-work in development; Unsuccessful changes; App outage; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Self-organizing teams<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Softer aspects like: conflicts (unhealthy); gender diversity; product vision; Goal-focus; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Inter-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    All of the above 5 levers should influence the productivity index as we had defined earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    define & measure productivity at Sub-BU or BU levels (not at team level) in a way that is meaningful to business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    use macro-level means like app portfolio optimization, automation, focus on business value, etc. to improve productivity in collaboration with business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    enable & encourage teams to improve the underlying factors that influence productivity (not productivity directly)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"IT Productivity \u2013 a point of view","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"productivity-point-view","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11462","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11270,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-11-20 16:24:35","post_date_gmt":"2018-11-20 10:54:35","post_content":"\n
    https:\/\/embeds.audioboom.com\/posts\/7092680-managing-an-agile-transformation-for-success\/embed\/v4?eid=AQAAAJTk81vIOWwA<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Agile transformations, like any other are challenging for most organizations. This episode engages experts from PM Power Consulting J Veeraraaghavan, Vishveshwar Hegde and Anand Natarajan in dialogue, sharing their agile leadership coaching and consulting insights. The dialogue also explores common challenges and approaches to agile transformations for leaders and geographically distributed teams with diverse view points of the experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The case study is given below<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Trailblazers Inc. have decided to embark on an Agile transformation journey with their SVP of Engineering. Mike Simpson, personally kicking off an initiative targeted at improving predictability, reducing cycle time and improving customer responsiveness. Mike wants Neeraj who is the VP of Engineering at their Bangalore development center to drive this initiative with Scrum as the primary approach and complete the transformation within the next one and a half years. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Neeraj approaches you as an Agile coach to help him with defining and implementing a program that will ensure the success of this initiative. <\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To Summarize key aspects from the dialogue:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Define specific objectives for this initiative based on senior leadership directive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use a holistic approach (rather than just training) that considers where the organization and teams are currently with respect to the objectives and specific interventions such as training and coaching targeted at addressing the gaps identified<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ensure senior leadership team at both locations has bought into the initiative and is fully committed to it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use of constructs such as different levels of planning, scrum of scrums, meta scrums etc. for effective cross-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","post_title":"Podcast - Managing an Agile Transformation for Success","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"podcast-managing-agile-transformation-success","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11270","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11144,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:43:04","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:13:04","post_content":"\n
    You joined this team couple of months back. You notice that your manager generally works very long hours on week-days and comes to work on certain week-ends too. You are concerned that you would not get good appraisal if you do not work similar hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Would your concern be valid?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    My response is: Yes - it would be, if you are someone who does not believe in working long hours. Perceptions and concerns like - my appraisal will be impacted - are bound to set in, more so, if you have ambitions of growing into the role of your manager.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The next question is: \u2018Should you succumb to this concern and let it rule you?\u2019. This is where your philosophy comes into play. We talk about this in the blog: <\/span>https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/five-beacons-leadership-journey\/<\/span><\/a>. To quote: \u201cGreat leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Let us look at the Self-orientation \u2013 the denominator. There was definitely a significant difference in Ram\u2019s mindset with the two teams. With the first team, his entire focus was on getting the team to perform & improve and he was proud of team\u2019s achievements. With the second team, he was in a hurry to prove himself. His own self-interest in promotion diluted his intensity to serve the team. Often teams sense this and do not respond very well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Hope this helps you as Scrum Master and Coach in enabling transformation of the teams that you are working with.<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #136 - Resistance to Improvement","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-136-resistance-improvement","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-17 10:15:50","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:45:50","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11665","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11465,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2019-01-28 12:26:41","post_date_gmt":"2019-01-28 06:56:41","post_content":"\n
    Sharma is a metrics-oriented Head of an IT function. Prior to adopting agile, his organization used Function Point (FP) method for measuring software size. Along with the effort data entered by individuals, teams measured productivity factor as FP per person day of effort. This data was used for estimating new project effort as well as the means for setting productivity targets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    After moving to agile, Sharma was at a loss to manage productivity. He instructed the managers in his organization to devise and implement a measure of size that is consistent across the organization. Managers decided to institutionalize a measure similar to FP. What would be impact of such a change?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    It is a fair expectation of managers like Sharma to have the ability to manage productivity. With an absolute measure of size, managers tend to compare productivity across teams and that creates an unhealthy competition. To start with, a fundamental problem teams would have is inconsistent understanding & implementation of the sizing rules. Moreover, measurement of productivity at team level shifts the focus of the team away from maximizing business value. Team\u2019s behaviour would be driven by how their success is measured \u2013 focus on productivity is likely to make teams to do some of these three things: 1. Focus on efficiency instead of throughput. 2. Subconsciously over-rating the complexity of story to inflate size which in turn could influence product owner\u2019s prioritization decisions. 3. Already unreliable effort data entered by individual team members could be influenced by the desire to show greater productivity. All the above are highly undesirable consequences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    That's my view. Would like to hear what you think.<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #133 - Standardization - one size fits all","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-133-standardization-one-size-fits","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:03","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:03","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11465","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11462,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2019-01-28 12:05:47","post_date_gmt":"2019-01-28 06:35:47","post_content":"\n
    Productivity measurement in IT function has been debated and demanded over decades. Having made multiple attempts at solving this puzzle over many years, I have developed a point of view on productivity measurement. You may or may not agree but here it goes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To measure productivity, one needs measures of output and input. Often business users want improvement in throughput without compromising quality. Management expects IT to deliver on that expectation with the same spending ($).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Let us consider measuring Productivity at team level and Business Unit (BU) level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Team Productivity Measurement:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of team output has always been a challenge. In my opinion, scientific size measurements have never worked - either difficult to learn or difficult to apply consistently. FP-like or change-complexity-based measures have failed to deliver. Newer trends like relative sizing of stories are tools for teams to plan & execute better and not a common measure of output. All the above do not make sense to business users. Only one measure of output that would make sense to business users would be number of requirements. Users may be able to attribute business value to each of these requirements - however, at this level of detail, the business value can be used to prioritize but difficult to be considered as weights for summation of output.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of input in terms of actual effort has not been practical and difficult to sustain in spite of having good tools and management dictum. 'Head-count' is difficult to normalize given the varying levels of experience and salaries in team members. Best measure of input in my view is cost to company of the team members given the people-intensive nature of software work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Overall, I would not recommend measurement of productivity at team level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Sub-BU\/BU level productivity measurement<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    There are three types of output (leaving out the infrastructure projects & support) - app development; app maintenance and app support (or production support).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    For each app (or a group of apps) that produce an outcome, business can attach a BV (Business Value in $). The sum of the Business Value could be the business generated by that sub-BU or BU (or indicative of the business generated). Business can be broken by business product. However, mapping a business product to an IT app (or a group of apps) could be tricky but I believe it is possible to do this meaningfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of input is relatively easier at this level. $ spent on each app and broken up based on the output type - dev, maint & support. Again this break-up may not be straightforward in a complex organization but can be done meaningfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Productivity Index for an app (or group of apps) can be (i.e. Output over Input): (BV for app in $) \/ (Maint + Support spend for each app); This approach is in some way like calculating return-on-investment. To me, it is the efficiency with which the spend is generating value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Dev-spend is indicative of future business value. This may have to be projected and most organizations would have made a business case for each development project when it was approved - that data could help. We can then measure Productivity Index for the development work being carried out in the IT organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Productivity Improvement:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    When we measure productivity this way, we have multiple levers available for driving improvement without compromising quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #1: App life cycle analysis<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Group apps in terms of their life stages. Look at the ratio of spends by output type - dev, maint & support. Variations in spend ratio by life stage would help the management identify apps where spend needs to reduced. Optimal ratios for each life stage could be based on industry benchmarks (if such benchmarks exist else figure out internal benchmarks). Nature of the app also could be another factor - mainframe, web, analytics & reports, mobile app, etc. in figuring out these ratios.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Sunset apps that generate low business value<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #2: Increase business value<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Compare business value from current apps with potential initiatives that could generate greater business value. Move spend to the newer development projects<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Implement practices in teams (engineering & product management together) to ensure that higher value requirements are getting prioritized; Focus on reducing risks associated with these higher value items<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #3: Reduce direct cost of people<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Look at the mix of team members; there could be opportunities to reduce the actual cost of salaries - people with lesser qualifications & experience may be good enough; higher cost resources could be shared across teams.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Look for moving spend to locations where cost of people is lower without compromising efficiency<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever<\/em> #4: Invest in automation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Focus on appropriate tools & technologies to automate engineering practices like test automation; build automation; release management, etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Review tool\/technology portfolio and optimize<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #5: Enable & encourage teams to identify, measure & improve on factors that influence productivity (a few examples below):<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Application knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Business domain knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Multi-skilling<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Team level automation (e.g. scripting of repetitive tasks; population of test data)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Waste reduction - re-work in development; Unsuccessful changes; App outage; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Self-organizing teams<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Softer aspects like: conflicts (unhealthy); gender diversity; product vision; Goal-focus; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Inter-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    All of the above 5 levers should influence the productivity index as we had defined earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    define & measure productivity at Sub-BU or BU levels (not at team level) in a way that is meaningful to business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    use macro-level means like app portfolio optimization, automation, focus on business value, etc. to improve productivity in collaboration with business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    enable & encourage teams to improve the underlying factors that influence productivity (not productivity directly)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"IT Productivity \u2013 a point of view","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"productivity-point-view","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11462","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11270,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-11-20 16:24:35","post_date_gmt":"2018-11-20 10:54:35","post_content":"\n
    https:\/\/embeds.audioboom.com\/posts\/7092680-managing-an-agile-transformation-for-success\/embed\/v4?eid=AQAAAJTk81vIOWwA<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Agile transformations, like any other are challenging for most organizations. This episode engages experts from PM Power Consulting J Veeraraaghavan, Vishveshwar Hegde and Anand Natarajan in dialogue, sharing their agile leadership coaching and consulting insights. The dialogue also explores common challenges and approaches to agile transformations for leaders and geographically distributed teams with diverse view points of the experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The case study is given below<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Trailblazers Inc. have decided to embark on an Agile transformation journey with their SVP of Engineering. Mike Simpson, personally kicking off an initiative targeted at improving predictability, reducing cycle time and improving customer responsiveness. Mike wants Neeraj who is the VP of Engineering at their Bangalore development center to drive this initiative with Scrum as the primary approach and complete the transformation within the next one and a half years. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Neeraj approaches you as an Agile coach to help him with defining and implementing a program that will ensure the success of this initiative. <\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To Summarize key aspects from the dialogue:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Define specific objectives for this initiative based on senior leadership directive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use a holistic approach (rather than just training) that considers where the organization and teams are currently with respect to the objectives and specific interventions such as training and coaching targeted at addressing the gaps identified<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ensure senior leadership team at both locations has bought into the initiative and is fully committed to it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use of constructs such as different levels of planning, scrum of scrums, meta scrums etc. for effective cross-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","post_title":"Podcast - Managing an Agile Transformation for Success","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"podcast-managing-agile-transformation-success","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11270","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11144,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:43:04","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:13:04","post_content":"\n
    You joined this team couple of months back. You notice that your manager generally works very long hours on week-days and comes to work on certain week-ends too. You are concerned that you would not get good appraisal if you do not work similar hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Would your concern be valid?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    My response is: Yes - it would be, if you are someone who does not believe in working long hours. Perceptions and concerns like - my appraisal will be impacted - are bound to set in, more so, if you have ambitions of growing into the role of your manager.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The next question is: \u2018Should you succumb to this concern and let it rule you?\u2019. This is where your philosophy comes into play. We talk about this in the blog: <\/span>https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/five-beacons-leadership-journey\/<\/span><\/a>. To quote: \u201cGreat leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    When Ram joined the second team as Scrum Master, he had Credibility (experience and coach certification) and Reliability (he had proven himself in the earlier team). Intimacy might have been an issue. While he wanted to help the team, he may have jumped into an assessment mode too soon. \u2018Assessment\u2019 often alienates the team from the assessor when it is done before team starts trusting the coach. Team might not have been comfortable exposing the skeletons in the closet to an \u2018assessor\u2019. Ram would not have had this problem with the first team because he was already a part of the team before the agile journey started. Ram would have been better off giving the team some time to trust him \u2013 time to clarify his intentions, observe the dynamics in the team, build relationships with key people \u2013 before launching a comprehensive assessment exercise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Let us look at the Self-orientation \u2013 the denominator. There was definitely a significant difference in Ram\u2019s mindset with the two teams. With the first team, his entire focus was on getting the team to perform & improve and he was proud of team\u2019s achievements. With the second team, he was in a hurry to prove himself. His own self-interest in promotion diluted his intensity to serve the team. Often teams sense this and do not respond very well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Hope this helps you as Scrum Master and Coach in enabling transformation of the teams that you are working with.<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #136 - Resistance to Improvement","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-136-resistance-improvement","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-17 10:15:50","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:45:50","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11665","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11465,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2019-01-28 12:26:41","post_date_gmt":"2019-01-28 06:56:41","post_content":"\n
    Sharma is a metrics-oriented Head of an IT function. Prior to adopting agile, his organization used Function Point (FP) method for measuring software size. Along with the effort data entered by individuals, teams measured productivity factor as FP per person day of effort. This data was used for estimating new project effort as well as the means for setting productivity targets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    After moving to agile, Sharma was at a loss to manage productivity. He instructed the managers in his organization to devise and implement a measure of size that is consistent across the organization. Managers decided to institutionalize a measure similar to FP. What would be impact of such a change?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    It is a fair expectation of managers like Sharma to have the ability to manage productivity. With an absolute measure of size, managers tend to compare productivity across teams and that creates an unhealthy competition. To start with, a fundamental problem teams would have is inconsistent understanding & implementation of the sizing rules. Moreover, measurement of productivity at team level shifts the focus of the team away from maximizing business value. Team\u2019s behaviour would be driven by how their success is measured \u2013 focus on productivity is likely to make teams to do some of these three things: 1. Focus on efficiency instead of throughput. 2. Subconsciously over-rating the complexity of story to inflate size which in turn could influence product owner\u2019s prioritization decisions. 3. Already unreliable effort data entered by individual team members could be influenced by the desire to show greater productivity. All the above are highly undesirable consequences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    That's my view. Would like to hear what you think.<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #133 - Standardization - one size fits all","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-133-standardization-one-size-fits","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:03","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:03","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11465","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11462,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2019-01-28 12:05:47","post_date_gmt":"2019-01-28 06:35:47","post_content":"\n
    Productivity measurement in IT function has been debated and demanded over decades. Having made multiple attempts at solving this puzzle over many years, I have developed a point of view on productivity measurement. You may or may not agree but here it goes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To measure productivity, one needs measures of output and input. Often business users want improvement in throughput without compromising quality. Management expects IT to deliver on that expectation with the same spending ($).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Let us consider measuring Productivity at team level and Business Unit (BU) level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Team Productivity Measurement:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of team output has always been a challenge. In my opinion, scientific size measurements have never worked - either difficult to learn or difficult to apply consistently. FP-like or change-complexity-based measures have failed to deliver. Newer trends like relative sizing of stories are tools for teams to plan & execute better and not a common measure of output. All the above do not make sense to business users. Only one measure of output that would make sense to business users would be number of requirements. Users may be able to attribute business value to each of these requirements - however, at this level of detail, the business value can be used to prioritize but difficult to be considered as weights for summation of output.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of input in terms of actual effort has not been practical and difficult to sustain in spite of having good tools and management dictum. 'Head-count' is difficult to normalize given the varying levels of experience and salaries in team members. Best measure of input in my view is cost to company of the team members given the people-intensive nature of software work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Overall, I would not recommend measurement of productivity at team level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Sub-BU\/BU level productivity measurement<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    There are three types of output (leaving out the infrastructure projects & support) - app development; app maintenance and app support (or production support).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    For each app (or a group of apps) that produce an outcome, business can attach a BV (Business Value in $). The sum of the Business Value could be the business generated by that sub-BU or BU (or indicative of the business generated). Business can be broken by business product. However, mapping a business product to an IT app (or a group of apps) could be tricky but I believe it is possible to do this meaningfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of input is relatively easier at this level. $ spent on each app and broken up based on the output type - dev, maint & support. Again this break-up may not be straightforward in a complex organization but can be done meaningfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Productivity Index for an app (or group of apps) can be (i.e. Output over Input): (BV for app in $) \/ (Maint + Support spend for each app); This approach is in some way like calculating return-on-investment. To me, it is the efficiency with which the spend is generating value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Dev-spend is indicative of future business value. This may have to be projected and most organizations would have made a business case for each development project when it was approved - that data could help. We can then measure Productivity Index for the development work being carried out in the IT organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Productivity Improvement:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    When we measure productivity this way, we have multiple levers available for driving improvement without compromising quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #1: App life cycle analysis<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Group apps in terms of their life stages. Look at the ratio of spends by output type - dev, maint & support. Variations in spend ratio by life stage would help the management identify apps where spend needs to reduced. Optimal ratios for each life stage could be based on industry benchmarks (if such benchmarks exist else figure out internal benchmarks). Nature of the app also could be another factor - mainframe, web, analytics & reports, mobile app, etc. in figuring out these ratios.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Sunset apps that generate low business value<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #2: Increase business value<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Compare business value from current apps with potential initiatives that could generate greater business value. Move spend to the newer development projects<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Implement practices in teams (engineering & product management together) to ensure that higher value requirements are getting prioritized; Focus on reducing risks associated with these higher value items<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #3: Reduce direct cost of people<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Look at the mix of team members; there could be opportunities to reduce the actual cost of salaries - people with lesser qualifications & experience may be good enough; higher cost resources could be shared across teams.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Look for moving spend to locations where cost of people is lower without compromising efficiency<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever<\/em> #4: Invest in automation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Focus on appropriate tools & technologies to automate engineering practices like test automation; build automation; release management, etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Review tool\/technology portfolio and optimize<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #5: Enable & encourage teams to identify, measure & improve on factors that influence productivity (a few examples below):<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Application knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Business domain knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Multi-skilling<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Team level automation (e.g. scripting of repetitive tasks; population of test data)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Waste reduction - re-work in development; Unsuccessful changes; App outage; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Self-organizing teams<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Softer aspects like: conflicts (unhealthy); gender diversity; product vision; Goal-focus; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Inter-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    All of the above 5 levers should influence the productivity index as we had defined earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    define & measure productivity at Sub-BU or BU levels (not at team level) in a way that is meaningful to business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    use macro-level means like app portfolio optimization, automation, focus on business value, etc. to improve productivity in collaboration with business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    enable & encourage teams to improve the underlying factors that influence productivity (not productivity directly)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"IT Productivity \u2013 a point of view","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"productivity-point-view","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11462","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11270,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-11-20 16:24:35","post_date_gmt":"2018-11-20 10:54:35","post_content":"\n
    https:\/\/embeds.audioboom.com\/posts\/7092680-managing-an-agile-transformation-for-success\/embed\/v4?eid=AQAAAJTk81vIOWwA<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Agile transformations, like any other are challenging for most organizations. This episode engages experts from PM Power Consulting J Veeraraaghavan, Vishveshwar Hegde and Anand Natarajan in dialogue, sharing their agile leadership coaching and consulting insights. The dialogue also explores common challenges and approaches to agile transformations for leaders and geographically distributed teams with diverse view points of the experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The case study is given below<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Trailblazers Inc. have decided to embark on an Agile transformation journey with their SVP of Engineering. Mike Simpson, personally kicking off an initiative targeted at improving predictability, reducing cycle time and improving customer responsiveness. Mike wants Neeraj who is the VP of Engineering at their Bangalore development center to drive this initiative with Scrum as the primary approach and complete the transformation within the next one and a half years. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Neeraj approaches you as an Agile coach to help him with defining and implementing a program that will ensure the success of this initiative. <\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To Summarize key aspects from the dialogue:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Define specific objectives for this initiative based on senior leadership directive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use a holistic approach (rather than just training) that considers where the organization and teams are currently with respect to the objectives and specific interventions such as training and coaching targeted at addressing the gaps identified<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ensure senior leadership team at both locations has bought into the initiative and is fully committed to it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use of constructs such as different levels of planning, scrum of scrums, meta scrums etc. for effective cross-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","post_title":"Podcast - Managing an Agile Transformation for Success","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"podcast-managing-agile-transformation-success","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11270","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11144,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:43:04","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:13:04","post_content":"\n
    You joined this team couple of months back. You notice that your manager generally works very long hours on week-days and comes to work on certain week-ends too. You are concerned that you would not get good appraisal if you do not work similar hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Would your concern be valid?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    My response is: Yes - it would be, if you are someone who does not believe in working long hours. Perceptions and concerns like - my appraisal will be impacted - are bound to set in, more so, if you have ambitions of growing into the role of your manager.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The next question is: \u2018Should you succumb to this concern and let it rule you?\u2019. This is where your philosophy comes into play. We talk about this in the blog: <\/span>https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/five-beacons-leadership-journey\/<\/span><\/a>. To quote: \u201cGreat leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    When Ram joined the second team as Scrum Master, he had Credibility (experience and coach certification) and Reliability (he had proven himself in the earlier team). Intimacy might have been an issue. While he wanted to help the team, he may have jumped into an assessment mode too soon. \u2018Assessment\u2019 often alienates the team from the assessor when it is done before team starts trusting the coach. Team might not have been comfortable exposing the skeletons in the closet to an \u2018assessor\u2019. Ram would not have had this problem with the first team because he was already a part of the team before the agile journey started. Ram would have been better off giving the team some time to trust him \u2013 time to clarify his intentions, observe the dynamics in the team, build relationships with key people \u2013 before launching a comprehensive assessment exercise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Let us look at the Self-orientation \u2013 the denominator. There was definitely a significant difference in Ram\u2019s mindset with the two teams. With the first team, his entire focus was on getting the team to perform & improve and he was proud of team\u2019s achievements. With the second team, he was in a hurry to prove himself. His own self-interest in promotion diluted his intensity to serve the team. Often teams sense this and do not respond very well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Hope this helps you as Scrum Master and Coach in enabling transformation of the teams that you are working with.<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #136 - Resistance to Improvement","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-136-resistance-improvement","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-17 10:15:50","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:45:50","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11665","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11465,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2019-01-28 12:26:41","post_date_gmt":"2019-01-28 06:56:41","post_content":"\n
    Sharma is a metrics-oriented Head of an IT function. Prior to adopting agile, his organization used Function Point (FP) method for measuring software size. Along with the effort data entered by individuals, teams measured productivity factor as FP per person day of effort. This data was used for estimating new project effort as well as the means for setting productivity targets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    After moving to agile, Sharma was at a loss to manage productivity. He instructed the managers in his organization to devise and implement a measure of size that is consistent across the organization. Managers decided to institutionalize a measure similar to FP. What would be impact of such a change?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    It is a fair expectation of managers like Sharma to have the ability to manage productivity. With an absolute measure of size, managers tend to compare productivity across teams and that creates an unhealthy competition. To start with, a fundamental problem teams would have is inconsistent understanding & implementation of the sizing rules. Moreover, measurement of productivity at team level shifts the focus of the team away from maximizing business value. Team\u2019s behaviour would be driven by how their success is measured \u2013 focus on productivity is likely to make teams to do some of these three things: 1. Focus on efficiency instead of throughput. 2. Subconsciously over-rating the complexity of story to inflate size which in turn could influence product owner\u2019s prioritization decisions. 3. Already unreliable effort data entered by individual team members could be influenced by the desire to show greater productivity. All the above are highly undesirable consequences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    That's my view. Would like to hear what you think.<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #133 - Standardization - one size fits all","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-133-standardization-one-size-fits","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:03","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:03","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11465","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11462,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2019-01-28 12:05:47","post_date_gmt":"2019-01-28 06:35:47","post_content":"\n
    Productivity measurement in IT function has been debated and demanded over decades. Having made multiple attempts at solving this puzzle over many years, I have developed a point of view on productivity measurement. You may or may not agree but here it goes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To measure productivity, one needs measures of output and input. Often business users want improvement in throughput without compromising quality. Management expects IT to deliver on that expectation with the same spending ($).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Let us consider measuring Productivity at team level and Business Unit (BU) level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Team Productivity Measurement:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of team output has always been a challenge. In my opinion, scientific size measurements have never worked - either difficult to learn or difficult to apply consistently. FP-like or change-complexity-based measures have failed to deliver. Newer trends like relative sizing of stories are tools for teams to plan & execute better and not a common measure of output. All the above do not make sense to business users. Only one measure of output that would make sense to business users would be number of requirements. Users may be able to attribute business value to each of these requirements - however, at this level of detail, the business value can be used to prioritize but difficult to be considered as weights for summation of output.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of input in terms of actual effort has not been practical and difficult to sustain in spite of having good tools and management dictum. 'Head-count' is difficult to normalize given the varying levels of experience and salaries in team members. Best measure of input in my view is cost to company of the team members given the people-intensive nature of software work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Overall, I would not recommend measurement of productivity at team level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Sub-BU\/BU level productivity measurement<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    There are three types of output (leaving out the infrastructure projects & support) - app development; app maintenance and app support (or production support).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    For each app (or a group of apps) that produce an outcome, business can attach a BV (Business Value in $). The sum of the Business Value could be the business generated by that sub-BU or BU (or indicative of the business generated). Business can be broken by business product. However, mapping a business product to an IT app (or a group of apps) could be tricky but I believe it is possible to do this meaningfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of input is relatively easier at this level. $ spent on each app and broken up based on the output type - dev, maint & support. Again this break-up may not be straightforward in a complex organization but can be done meaningfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Productivity Index for an app (or group of apps) can be (i.e. Output over Input): (BV for app in $) \/ (Maint + Support spend for each app); This approach is in some way like calculating return-on-investment. To me, it is the efficiency with which the spend is generating value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Dev-spend is indicative of future business value. This may have to be projected and most organizations would have made a business case for each development project when it was approved - that data could help. We can then measure Productivity Index for the development work being carried out in the IT organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Productivity Improvement:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    When we measure productivity this way, we have multiple levers available for driving improvement without compromising quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #1: App life cycle analysis<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Group apps in terms of their life stages. Look at the ratio of spends by output type - dev, maint & support. Variations in spend ratio by life stage would help the management identify apps where spend needs to reduced. Optimal ratios for each life stage could be based on industry benchmarks (if such benchmarks exist else figure out internal benchmarks). Nature of the app also could be another factor - mainframe, web, analytics & reports, mobile app, etc. in figuring out these ratios.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Sunset apps that generate low business value<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #2: Increase business value<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Compare business value from current apps with potential initiatives that could generate greater business value. Move spend to the newer development projects<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Implement practices in teams (engineering & product management together) to ensure that higher value requirements are getting prioritized; Focus on reducing risks associated with these higher value items<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #3: Reduce direct cost of people<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Look at the mix of team members; there could be opportunities to reduce the actual cost of salaries - people with lesser qualifications & experience may be good enough; higher cost resources could be shared across teams.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Look for moving spend to locations where cost of people is lower without compromising efficiency<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever<\/em> #4: Invest in automation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Focus on appropriate tools & technologies to automate engineering practices like test automation; build automation; release management, etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Review tool\/technology portfolio and optimize<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #5: Enable & encourage teams to identify, measure & improve on factors that influence productivity (a few examples below):<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Application knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Business domain knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Multi-skilling<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Team level automation (e.g. scripting of repetitive tasks; population of test data)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Waste reduction - re-work in development; Unsuccessful changes; App outage; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Self-organizing teams<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Softer aspects like: conflicts (unhealthy); gender diversity; product vision; Goal-focus; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Inter-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    All of the above 5 levers should influence the productivity index as we had defined earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    define & measure productivity at Sub-BU or BU levels (not at team level) in a way that is meaningful to business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    use macro-level means like app portfolio optimization, automation, focus on business value, etc. to improve productivity in collaboration with business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    enable & encourage teams to improve the underlying factors that influence productivity (not productivity directly)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"IT Productivity \u2013 a point of view","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"productivity-point-view","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11462","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11270,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-11-20 16:24:35","post_date_gmt":"2018-11-20 10:54:35","post_content":"\n
    https:\/\/embeds.audioboom.com\/posts\/7092680-managing-an-agile-transformation-for-success\/embed\/v4?eid=AQAAAJTk81vIOWwA<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Agile transformations, like any other are challenging for most organizations. This episode engages experts from PM Power Consulting J Veeraraaghavan, Vishveshwar Hegde and Anand Natarajan in dialogue, sharing their agile leadership coaching and consulting insights. The dialogue also explores common challenges and approaches to agile transformations for leaders and geographically distributed teams with diverse view points of the experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The case study is given below<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Trailblazers Inc. have decided to embark on an Agile transformation journey with their SVP of Engineering. Mike Simpson, personally kicking off an initiative targeted at improving predictability, reducing cycle time and improving customer responsiveness. Mike wants Neeraj who is the VP of Engineering at their Bangalore development center to drive this initiative with Scrum as the primary approach and complete the transformation within the next one and a half years. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Neeraj approaches you as an Agile coach to help him with defining and implementing a program that will ensure the success of this initiative. <\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To Summarize key aspects from the dialogue:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Define specific objectives for this initiative based on senior leadership directive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use a holistic approach (rather than just training) that considers where the organization and teams are currently with respect to the objectives and specific interventions such as training and coaching targeted at addressing the gaps identified<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ensure senior leadership team at both locations has bought into the initiative and is fully committed to it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use of constructs such as different levels of planning, scrum of scrums, meta scrums etc. for effective cross-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","post_title":"Podcast - Managing an Agile Transformation for Success","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"podcast-managing-agile-transformation-success","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11270","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11144,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:43:04","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:13:04","post_content":"\n
    You joined this team couple of months back. You notice that your manager generally works very long hours on week-days and comes to work on certain week-ends too. You are concerned that you would not get good appraisal if you do not work similar hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Would your concern be valid?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    My response is: Yes - it would be, if you are someone who does not believe in working long hours. Perceptions and concerns like - my appraisal will be impacted - are bound to set in, more so, if you have ambitions of growing into the role of your manager.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The next question is: \u2018Should you succumb to this concern and let it rule you?\u2019. This is where your philosophy comes into play. We talk about this in the blog: <\/span>https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/five-beacons-leadership-journey\/<\/span><\/a>. To quote: \u201cGreat leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Let us use the Trust Equation to help us analyse the situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    When Ram joined the second team as Scrum Master, he had Credibility (experience and coach certification) and Reliability (he had proven himself in the earlier team). Intimacy might have been an issue. While he wanted to help the team, he may have jumped into an assessment mode too soon. \u2018Assessment\u2019 often alienates the team from the assessor when it is done before team starts trusting the coach. Team might not have been comfortable exposing the skeletons in the closet to an \u2018assessor\u2019. Ram would not have had this problem with the first team because he was already a part of the team before the agile journey started. Ram would have been better off giving the team some time to trust him \u2013 time to clarify his intentions, observe the dynamics in the team, build relationships with key people \u2013 before launching a comprehensive assessment exercise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Let us look at the Self-orientation \u2013 the denominator. There was definitely a significant difference in Ram\u2019s mindset with the two teams. With the first team, his entire focus was on getting the team to perform & improve and he was proud of team\u2019s achievements. With the second team, he was in a hurry to prove himself. His own self-interest in promotion diluted his intensity to serve the team. Often teams sense this and do not respond very well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Hope this helps you as Scrum Master and Coach in enabling transformation of the teams that you are working with.<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #136 - Resistance to Improvement","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-136-resistance-improvement","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-17 10:15:50","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:45:50","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11665","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11465,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2019-01-28 12:26:41","post_date_gmt":"2019-01-28 06:56:41","post_content":"\n
    Sharma is a metrics-oriented Head of an IT function. Prior to adopting agile, his organization used Function Point (FP) method for measuring software size. Along with the effort data entered by individuals, teams measured productivity factor as FP per person day of effort. This data was used for estimating new project effort as well as the means for setting productivity targets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    After moving to agile, Sharma was at a loss to manage productivity. He instructed the managers in his organization to devise and implement a measure of size that is consistent across the organization. Managers decided to institutionalize a measure similar to FP. What would be impact of such a change?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    It is a fair expectation of managers like Sharma to have the ability to manage productivity. With an absolute measure of size, managers tend to compare productivity across teams and that creates an unhealthy competition. To start with, a fundamental problem teams would have is inconsistent understanding & implementation of the sizing rules. Moreover, measurement of productivity at team level shifts the focus of the team away from maximizing business value. Team\u2019s behaviour would be driven by how their success is measured \u2013 focus on productivity is likely to make teams to do some of these three things: 1. Focus on efficiency instead of throughput. 2. Subconsciously over-rating the complexity of story to inflate size which in turn could influence product owner\u2019s prioritization decisions. 3. Already unreliable effort data entered by individual team members could be influenced by the desire to show greater productivity. All the above are highly undesirable consequences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    That's my view. Would like to hear what you think.<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #133 - Standardization - one size fits all","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-133-standardization-one-size-fits","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:03","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:03","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11465","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11462,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2019-01-28 12:05:47","post_date_gmt":"2019-01-28 06:35:47","post_content":"\n
    Productivity measurement in IT function has been debated and demanded over decades. Having made multiple attempts at solving this puzzle over many years, I have developed a point of view on productivity measurement. You may or may not agree but here it goes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To measure productivity, one needs measures of output and input. Often business users want improvement in throughput without compromising quality. Management expects IT to deliver on that expectation with the same spending ($).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Let us consider measuring Productivity at team level and Business Unit (BU) level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Team Productivity Measurement:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of team output has always been a challenge. In my opinion, scientific size measurements have never worked - either difficult to learn or difficult to apply consistently. FP-like or change-complexity-based measures have failed to deliver. Newer trends like relative sizing of stories are tools for teams to plan & execute better and not a common measure of output. All the above do not make sense to business users. Only one measure of output that would make sense to business users would be number of requirements. Users may be able to attribute business value to each of these requirements - however, at this level of detail, the business value can be used to prioritize but difficult to be considered as weights for summation of output.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of input in terms of actual effort has not been practical and difficult to sustain in spite of having good tools and management dictum. 'Head-count' is difficult to normalize given the varying levels of experience and salaries in team members. Best measure of input in my view is cost to company of the team members given the people-intensive nature of software work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Overall, I would not recommend measurement of productivity at team level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Sub-BU\/BU level productivity measurement<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    There are three types of output (leaving out the infrastructure projects & support) - app development; app maintenance and app support (or production support).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    For each app (or a group of apps) that produce an outcome, business can attach a BV (Business Value in $). The sum of the Business Value could be the business generated by that sub-BU or BU (or indicative of the business generated). Business can be broken by business product. However, mapping a business product to an IT app (or a group of apps) could be tricky but I believe it is possible to do this meaningfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of input is relatively easier at this level. $ spent on each app and broken up based on the output type - dev, maint & support. Again this break-up may not be straightforward in a complex organization but can be done meaningfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Productivity Index for an app (or group of apps) can be (i.e. Output over Input): (BV for app in $) \/ (Maint + Support spend for each app); This approach is in some way like calculating return-on-investment. To me, it is the efficiency with which the spend is generating value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Dev-spend is indicative of future business value. This may have to be projected and most organizations would have made a business case for each development project when it was approved - that data could help. We can then measure Productivity Index for the development work being carried out in the IT organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Productivity Improvement:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    When we measure productivity this way, we have multiple levers available for driving improvement without compromising quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #1: App life cycle analysis<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Group apps in terms of their life stages. Look at the ratio of spends by output type - dev, maint & support. Variations in spend ratio by life stage would help the management identify apps where spend needs to reduced. Optimal ratios for each life stage could be based on industry benchmarks (if such benchmarks exist else figure out internal benchmarks). Nature of the app also could be another factor - mainframe, web, analytics & reports, mobile app, etc. in figuring out these ratios.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Sunset apps that generate low business value<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #2: Increase business value<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Compare business value from current apps with potential initiatives that could generate greater business value. Move spend to the newer development projects<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Implement practices in teams (engineering & product management together) to ensure that higher value requirements are getting prioritized; Focus on reducing risks associated with these higher value items<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #3: Reduce direct cost of people<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Look at the mix of team members; there could be opportunities to reduce the actual cost of salaries - people with lesser qualifications & experience may be good enough; higher cost resources could be shared across teams.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Look for moving spend to locations where cost of people is lower without compromising efficiency<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever<\/em> #4: Invest in automation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Focus on appropriate tools & technologies to automate engineering practices like test automation; build automation; release management, etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Review tool\/technology portfolio and optimize<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #5: Enable & encourage teams to identify, measure & improve on factors that influence productivity (a few examples below):<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Application knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Business domain knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Multi-skilling<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Team level automation (e.g. scripting of repetitive tasks; population of test data)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Waste reduction - re-work in development; Unsuccessful changes; App outage; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Self-organizing teams<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Softer aspects like: conflicts (unhealthy); gender diversity; product vision; Goal-focus; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Inter-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    All of the above 5 levers should influence the productivity index as we had defined earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    define & measure productivity at Sub-BU or BU levels (not at team level) in a way that is meaningful to business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    use macro-level means like app portfolio optimization, automation, focus on business value, etc. to improve productivity in collaboration with business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    enable & encourage teams to improve the underlying factors that influence productivity (not productivity directly)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"IT Productivity \u2013 a point of view","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"productivity-point-view","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11462","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11270,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-11-20 16:24:35","post_date_gmt":"2018-11-20 10:54:35","post_content":"\n
    https:\/\/embeds.audioboom.com\/posts\/7092680-managing-an-agile-transformation-for-success\/embed\/v4?eid=AQAAAJTk81vIOWwA<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Agile transformations, like any other are challenging for most organizations. This episode engages experts from PM Power Consulting J Veeraraaghavan, Vishveshwar Hegde and Anand Natarajan in dialogue, sharing their agile leadership coaching and consulting insights. The dialogue also explores common challenges and approaches to agile transformations for leaders and geographically distributed teams with diverse view points of the experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The case study is given below<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Trailblazers Inc. have decided to embark on an Agile transformation journey with their SVP of Engineering. Mike Simpson, personally kicking off an initiative targeted at improving predictability, reducing cycle time and improving customer responsiveness. Mike wants Neeraj who is the VP of Engineering at their Bangalore development center to drive this initiative with Scrum as the primary approach and complete the transformation within the next one and a half years. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Neeraj approaches you as an Agile coach to help him with defining and implementing a program that will ensure the success of this initiative. <\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To Summarize key aspects from the dialogue:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Define specific objectives for this initiative based on senior leadership directive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use a holistic approach (rather than just training) that considers where the organization and teams are currently with respect to the objectives and specific interventions such as training and coaching targeted at addressing the gaps identified<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ensure senior leadership team at both locations has bought into the initiative and is fully committed to it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use of constructs such as different levels of planning, scrum of scrums, meta scrums etc. for effective cross-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","post_title":"Podcast - Managing an Agile Transformation for Success","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"podcast-managing-agile-transformation-success","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11270","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11144,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:43:04","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:13:04","post_content":"\n
    You joined this team couple of months back. You notice that your manager generally works very long hours on week-days and comes to work on certain week-ends too. You are concerned that you would not get good appraisal if you do not work similar hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Would your concern be valid?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    My response is: Yes - it would be, if you are someone who does not believe in working long hours. Perceptions and concerns like - my appraisal will be impacted - are bound to set in, more so, if you have ambitions of growing into the role of your manager.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The next question is: \u2018Should you succumb to this concern and let it rule you?\u2019. This is where your philosophy comes into play. We talk about this in the blog: <\/span>https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/five-beacons-leadership-journey\/<\/span><\/a>. To quote: \u201cGreat leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    There could be many reasons why Ram was not effective in coaching the second team. It is difficult to identify all the reasons given the limited context in the CHOW. There is one major reason that stands out based on our experience \u2013 that has to do with trust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Let us use the Trust Equation to help us analyse the situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    When Ram joined the second team as Scrum Master, he had Credibility (experience and coach certification) and Reliability (he had proven himself in the earlier team). Intimacy might have been an issue. While he wanted to help the team, he may have jumped into an assessment mode too soon. \u2018Assessment\u2019 often alienates the team from the assessor when it is done before team starts trusting the coach. Team might not have been comfortable exposing the skeletons in the closet to an \u2018assessor\u2019. Ram would not have had this problem with the first team because he was already a part of the team before the agile journey started. Ram would have been better off giving the team some time to trust him \u2013 time to clarify his intentions, observe the dynamics in the team, build relationships with key people \u2013 before launching a comprehensive assessment exercise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Let us look at the Self-orientation \u2013 the denominator. There was definitely a significant difference in Ram\u2019s mindset with the two teams. With the first team, his entire focus was on getting the team to perform & improve and he was proud of team\u2019s achievements. With the second team, he was in a hurry to prove himself. His own self-interest in promotion diluted his intensity to serve the team. Often teams sense this and do not respond very well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Hope this helps you as Scrum Master and Coach in enabling transformation of the teams that you are working with.<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #136 - Resistance to Improvement","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-136-resistance-improvement","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-17 10:15:50","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:45:50","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11665","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11465,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2019-01-28 12:26:41","post_date_gmt":"2019-01-28 06:56:41","post_content":"\n
    Sharma is a metrics-oriented Head of an IT function. Prior to adopting agile, his organization used Function Point (FP) method for measuring software size. Along with the effort data entered by individuals, teams measured productivity factor as FP per person day of effort. This data was used for estimating new project effort as well as the means for setting productivity targets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    After moving to agile, Sharma was at a loss to manage productivity. He instructed the managers in his organization to devise and implement a measure of size that is consistent across the organization. Managers decided to institutionalize a measure similar to FP. What would be impact of such a change?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    It is a fair expectation of managers like Sharma to have the ability to manage productivity. With an absolute measure of size, managers tend to compare productivity across teams and that creates an unhealthy competition. To start with, a fundamental problem teams would have is inconsistent understanding & implementation of the sizing rules. Moreover, measurement of productivity at team level shifts the focus of the team away from maximizing business value. Team\u2019s behaviour would be driven by how their success is measured \u2013 focus on productivity is likely to make teams to do some of these three things: 1. Focus on efficiency instead of throughput. 2. Subconsciously over-rating the complexity of story to inflate size which in turn could influence product owner\u2019s prioritization decisions. 3. Already unreliable effort data entered by individual team members could be influenced by the desire to show greater productivity. All the above are highly undesirable consequences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    That's my view. Would like to hear what you think.<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #133 - Standardization - one size fits all","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-133-standardization-one-size-fits","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:03","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:03","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11465","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11462,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2019-01-28 12:05:47","post_date_gmt":"2019-01-28 06:35:47","post_content":"\n
    Productivity measurement in IT function has been debated and demanded over decades. Having made multiple attempts at solving this puzzle over many years, I have developed a point of view on productivity measurement. You may or may not agree but here it goes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To measure productivity, one needs measures of output and input. Often business users want improvement in throughput without compromising quality. Management expects IT to deliver on that expectation with the same spending ($).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Let us consider measuring Productivity at team level and Business Unit (BU) level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Team Productivity Measurement:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of team output has always been a challenge. In my opinion, scientific size measurements have never worked - either difficult to learn or difficult to apply consistently. FP-like or change-complexity-based measures have failed to deliver. Newer trends like relative sizing of stories are tools for teams to plan & execute better and not a common measure of output. All the above do not make sense to business users. Only one measure of output that would make sense to business users would be number of requirements. Users may be able to attribute business value to each of these requirements - however, at this level of detail, the business value can be used to prioritize but difficult to be considered as weights for summation of output.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of input in terms of actual effort has not been practical and difficult to sustain in spite of having good tools and management dictum. 'Head-count' is difficult to normalize given the varying levels of experience and salaries in team members. Best measure of input in my view is cost to company of the team members given the people-intensive nature of software work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Overall, I would not recommend measurement of productivity at team level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Sub-BU\/BU level productivity measurement<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    There are three types of output (leaving out the infrastructure projects & support) - app development; app maintenance and app support (or production support).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    For each app (or a group of apps) that produce an outcome, business can attach a BV (Business Value in $). The sum of the Business Value could be the business generated by that sub-BU or BU (or indicative of the business generated). Business can be broken by business product. However, mapping a business product to an IT app (or a group of apps) could be tricky but I believe it is possible to do this meaningfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of input is relatively easier at this level. $ spent on each app and broken up based on the output type - dev, maint & support. Again this break-up may not be straightforward in a complex organization but can be done meaningfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Productivity Index for an app (or group of apps) can be (i.e. Output over Input): (BV for app in $) \/ (Maint + Support spend for each app); This approach is in some way like calculating return-on-investment. To me, it is the efficiency with which the spend is generating value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Dev-spend is indicative of future business value. This may have to be projected and most organizations would have made a business case for each development project when it was approved - that data could help. We can then measure Productivity Index for the development work being carried out in the IT organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Productivity Improvement:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    When we measure productivity this way, we have multiple levers available for driving improvement without compromising quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #1: App life cycle analysis<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Group apps in terms of their life stages. Look at the ratio of spends by output type - dev, maint & support. Variations in spend ratio by life stage would help the management identify apps where spend needs to reduced. Optimal ratios for each life stage could be based on industry benchmarks (if such benchmarks exist else figure out internal benchmarks). Nature of the app also could be another factor - mainframe, web, analytics & reports, mobile app, etc. in figuring out these ratios.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Sunset apps that generate low business value<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #2: Increase business value<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Compare business value from current apps with potential initiatives that could generate greater business value. Move spend to the newer development projects<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Implement practices in teams (engineering & product management together) to ensure that higher value requirements are getting prioritized; Focus on reducing risks associated with these higher value items<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #3: Reduce direct cost of people<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Look at the mix of team members; there could be opportunities to reduce the actual cost of salaries - people with lesser qualifications & experience may be good enough; higher cost resources could be shared across teams.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Look for moving spend to locations where cost of people is lower without compromising efficiency<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever<\/em> #4: Invest in automation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Focus on appropriate tools & technologies to automate engineering practices like test automation; build automation; release management, etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Review tool\/technology portfolio and optimize<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #5: Enable & encourage teams to identify, measure & improve on factors that influence productivity (a few examples below):<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Application knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Business domain knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Multi-skilling<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Team level automation (e.g. scripting of repetitive tasks; population of test data)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Waste reduction - re-work in development; Unsuccessful changes; App outage; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Self-organizing teams<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Softer aspects like: conflicts (unhealthy); gender diversity; product vision; Goal-focus; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Inter-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    All of the above 5 levers should influence the productivity index as we had defined earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    define & measure productivity at Sub-BU or BU levels (not at team level) in a way that is meaningful to business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    use macro-level means like app portfolio optimization, automation, focus on business value, etc. to improve productivity in collaboration with business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    enable & encourage teams to improve the underlying factors that influence productivity (not productivity directly)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"IT Productivity \u2013 a point of view","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"productivity-point-view","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11462","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11270,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-11-20 16:24:35","post_date_gmt":"2018-11-20 10:54:35","post_content":"\n
    https:\/\/embeds.audioboom.com\/posts\/7092680-managing-an-agile-transformation-for-success\/embed\/v4?eid=AQAAAJTk81vIOWwA<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Agile transformations, like any other are challenging for most organizations. This episode engages experts from PM Power Consulting J Veeraraaghavan, Vishveshwar Hegde and Anand Natarajan in dialogue, sharing their agile leadership coaching and consulting insights. The dialogue also explores common challenges and approaches to agile transformations for leaders and geographically distributed teams with diverse view points of the experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The case study is given below<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Trailblazers Inc. have decided to embark on an Agile transformation journey with their SVP of Engineering. Mike Simpson, personally kicking off an initiative targeted at improving predictability, reducing cycle time and improving customer responsiveness. Mike wants Neeraj who is the VP of Engineering at their Bangalore development center to drive this initiative with Scrum as the primary approach and complete the transformation within the next one and a half years. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Neeraj approaches you as an Agile coach to help him with defining and implementing a program that will ensure the success of this initiative. <\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To Summarize key aspects from the dialogue:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Define specific objectives for this initiative based on senior leadership directive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use a holistic approach (rather than just training) that considers where the organization and teams are currently with respect to the objectives and specific interventions such as training and coaching targeted at addressing the gaps identified<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ensure senior leadership team at both locations has bought into the initiative and is fully committed to it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use of constructs such as different levels of planning, scrum of scrums, meta scrums etc. for effective cross-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","post_title":"Podcast - Managing an Agile Transformation for Success","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"podcast-managing-agile-transformation-success","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11270","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11144,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:43:04","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:13:04","post_content":"\n
    You joined this team couple of months back. You notice that your manager generally works very long hours on week-days and comes to work on certain week-ends too. You are concerned that you would not get good appraisal if you do not work similar hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Would your concern be valid?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    My response is: Yes - it would be, if you are someone who does not believe in working long hours. Perceptions and concerns like - my appraisal will be impacted - are bound to set in, more so, if you have ambitions of growing into the role of your manager.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The next question is: \u2018Should you succumb to this concern and let it rule you?\u2019. This is where your philosophy comes into play. We talk about this in the blog: <\/span>https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/five-beacons-leadership-journey\/<\/span><\/a>. To quote: \u201cGreat leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    There could be many reasons why Ram was not effective in coaching the second team. It is difficult to identify all the reasons given the limited context in the CHOW. There is one major reason that stands out based on our experience \u2013 that has to do with trust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Let us use the Trust Equation to help us analyse the situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    When Ram joined the second team as Scrum Master, he had Credibility (experience and coach certification) and Reliability (he had proven himself in the earlier team). Intimacy might have been an issue. While he wanted to help the team, he may have jumped into an assessment mode too soon. \u2018Assessment\u2019 often alienates the team from the assessor when it is done before team starts trusting the coach. Team might not have been comfortable exposing the skeletons in the closet to an \u2018assessor\u2019. Ram would not have had this problem with the first team because he was already a part of the team before the agile journey started. Ram would have been better off giving the team some time to trust him \u2013 time to clarify his intentions, observe the dynamics in the team, build relationships with key people \u2013 before launching a comprehensive assessment exercise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Let us look at the Self-orientation \u2013 the denominator. There was definitely a significant difference in Ram\u2019s mindset with the two teams. With the first team, his entire focus was on getting the team to perform & improve and he was proud of team\u2019s achievements. With the second team, he was in a hurry to prove himself. His own self-interest in promotion diluted his intensity to serve the team. Often teams sense this and do not respond very well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Hope this helps you as Scrum Master and Coach in enabling transformation of the teams that you are working with.<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #136 - Resistance to Improvement","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-136-resistance-improvement","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-17 10:15:50","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:45:50","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11665","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11465,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2019-01-28 12:26:41","post_date_gmt":"2019-01-28 06:56:41","post_content":"\n
    Sharma is a metrics-oriented Head of an IT function. Prior to adopting agile, his organization used Function Point (FP) method for measuring software size. Along with the effort data entered by individuals, teams measured productivity factor as FP per person day of effort. This data was used for estimating new project effort as well as the means for setting productivity targets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    After moving to agile, Sharma was at a loss to manage productivity. He instructed the managers in his organization to devise and implement a measure of size that is consistent across the organization. Managers decided to institutionalize a measure similar to FP. What would be impact of such a change?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    It is a fair expectation of managers like Sharma to have the ability to manage productivity. With an absolute measure of size, managers tend to compare productivity across teams and that creates an unhealthy competition. To start with, a fundamental problem teams would have is inconsistent understanding & implementation of the sizing rules. Moreover, measurement of productivity at team level shifts the focus of the team away from maximizing business value. Team\u2019s behaviour would be driven by how their success is measured \u2013 focus on productivity is likely to make teams to do some of these three things: 1. Focus on efficiency instead of throughput. 2. Subconsciously over-rating the complexity of story to inflate size which in turn could influence product owner\u2019s prioritization decisions. 3. Already unreliable effort data entered by individual team members could be influenced by the desire to show greater productivity. All the above are highly undesirable consequences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    That's my view. Would like to hear what you think.<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #133 - Standardization - one size fits all","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-133-standardization-one-size-fits","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:03","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:03","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11465","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11462,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2019-01-28 12:05:47","post_date_gmt":"2019-01-28 06:35:47","post_content":"\n
    Productivity measurement in IT function has been debated and demanded over decades. Having made multiple attempts at solving this puzzle over many years, I have developed a point of view on productivity measurement. You may or may not agree but here it goes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To measure productivity, one needs measures of output and input. Often business users want improvement in throughput without compromising quality. Management expects IT to deliver on that expectation with the same spending ($).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Let us consider measuring Productivity at team level and Business Unit (BU) level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Team Productivity Measurement:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of team output has always been a challenge. In my opinion, scientific size measurements have never worked - either difficult to learn or difficult to apply consistently. FP-like or change-complexity-based measures have failed to deliver. Newer trends like relative sizing of stories are tools for teams to plan & execute better and not a common measure of output. All the above do not make sense to business users. Only one measure of output that would make sense to business users would be number of requirements. Users may be able to attribute business value to each of these requirements - however, at this level of detail, the business value can be used to prioritize but difficult to be considered as weights for summation of output.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of input in terms of actual effort has not been practical and difficult to sustain in spite of having good tools and management dictum. 'Head-count' is difficult to normalize given the varying levels of experience and salaries in team members. Best measure of input in my view is cost to company of the team members given the people-intensive nature of software work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Overall, I would not recommend measurement of productivity at team level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Sub-BU\/BU level productivity measurement<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    There are three types of output (leaving out the infrastructure projects & support) - app development; app maintenance and app support (or production support).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    For each app (or a group of apps) that produce an outcome, business can attach a BV (Business Value in $). The sum of the Business Value could be the business generated by that sub-BU or BU (or indicative of the business generated). Business can be broken by business product. However, mapping a business product to an IT app (or a group of apps) could be tricky but I believe it is possible to do this meaningfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of input is relatively easier at this level. $ spent on each app and broken up based on the output type - dev, maint & support. Again this break-up may not be straightforward in a complex organization but can be done meaningfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Productivity Index for an app (or group of apps) can be (i.e. Output over Input): (BV for app in $) \/ (Maint + Support spend for each app); This approach is in some way like calculating return-on-investment. To me, it is the efficiency with which the spend is generating value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Dev-spend is indicative of future business value. This may have to be projected and most organizations would have made a business case for each development project when it was approved - that data could help. We can then measure Productivity Index for the development work being carried out in the IT organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Productivity Improvement:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    When we measure productivity this way, we have multiple levers available for driving improvement without compromising quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #1: App life cycle analysis<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Group apps in terms of their life stages. Look at the ratio of spends by output type - dev, maint & support. Variations in spend ratio by life stage would help the management identify apps where spend needs to reduced. Optimal ratios for each life stage could be based on industry benchmarks (if such benchmarks exist else figure out internal benchmarks). Nature of the app also could be another factor - mainframe, web, analytics & reports, mobile app, etc. in figuring out these ratios.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Sunset apps that generate low business value<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #2: Increase business value<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Compare business value from current apps with potential initiatives that could generate greater business value. Move spend to the newer development projects<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Implement practices in teams (engineering & product management together) to ensure that higher value requirements are getting prioritized; Focus on reducing risks associated with these higher value items<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #3: Reduce direct cost of people<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Look at the mix of team members; there could be opportunities to reduce the actual cost of salaries - people with lesser qualifications & experience may be good enough; higher cost resources could be shared across teams.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Look for moving spend to locations where cost of people is lower without compromising efficiency<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever<\/em> #4: Invest in automation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Focus on appropriate tools & technologies to automate engineering practices like test automation; build automation; release management, etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Review tool\/technology portfolio and optimize<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #5: Enable & encourage teams to identify, measure & improve on factors that influence productivity (a few examples below):<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Application knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Business domain knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Multi-skilling<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Team level automation (e.g. scripting of repetitive tasks; population of test data)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Waste reduction - re-work in development; Unsuccessful changes; App outage; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Self-organizing teams<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Softer aspects like: conflicts (unhealthy); gender diversity; product vision; Goal-focus; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Inter-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    All of the above 5 levers should influence the productivity index as we had defined earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    define & measure productivity at Sub-BU or BU levels (not at team level) in a way that is meaningful to business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    use macro-level means like app portfolio optimization, automation, focus on business value, etc. to improve productivity in collaboration with business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    enable & encourage teams to improve the underlying factors that influence productivity (not productivity directly)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"IT Productivity \u2013 a point of view","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"productivity-point-view","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11462","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11270,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-11-20 16:24:35","post_date_gmt":"2018-11-20 10:54:35","post_content":"\n
    https:\/\/embeds.audioboom.com\/posts\/7092680-managing-an-agile-transformation-for-success\/embed\/v4?eid=AQAAAJTk81vIOWwA<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Agile transformations, like any other are challenging for most organizations. This episode engages experts from PM Power Consulting J Veeraraaghavan, Vishveshwar Hegde and Anand Natarajan in dialogue, sharing their agile leadership coaching and consulting insights. The dialogue also explores common challenges and approaches to agile transformations for leaders and geographically distributed teams with diverse view points of the experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The case study is given below<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Trailblazers Inc. have decided to embark on an Agile transformation journey with their SVP of Engineering. Mike Simpson, personally kicking off an initiative targeted at improving predictability, reducing cycle time and improving customer responsiveness. Mike wants Neeraj who is the VP of Engineering at their Bangalore development center to drive this initiative with Scrum as the primary approach and complete the transformation within the next one and a half years. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Neeraj approaches you as an Agile coach to help him with defining and implementing a program that will ensure the success of this initiative. <\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To Summarize key aspects from the dialogue:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Define specific objectives for this initiative based on senior leadership directive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use a holistic approach (rather than just training) that considers where the organization and teams are currently with respect to the objectives and specific interventions such as training and coaching targeted at addressing the gaps identified<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ensure senior leadership team at both locations has bought into the initiative and is fully committed to it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use of constructs such as different levels of planning, scrum of scrums, meta scrums etc. for effective cross-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","post_title":"Podcast - Managing an Agile Transformation for Success","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"podcast-managing-agile-transformation-success","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11270","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11144,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:43:04","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:13:04","post_content":"\n
    You joined this team couple of months back. You notice that your manager generally works very long hours on week-days and comes to work on certain week-ends too. You are concerned that you would not get good appraisal if you do not work similar hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Would your concern be valid?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    My response is: Yes - it would be, if you are someone who does not believe in working long hours. Perceptions and concerns like - my appraisal will be impacted - are bound to set in, more so, if you have ambitions of growing into the role of your manager.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The next question is: \u2018Should you succumb to this concern and let it rule you?\u2019. This is where your philosophy comes into play. We talk about this in the blog: <\/span>https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/five-beacons-leadership-journey\/<\/span><\/a>. To quote: \u201cGreat leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    One quarter passed by and Ram was getting frustrated by the \u201cculture\u201d in the second team. What do you think could be the major reasons for the second team\u2019s \u201cresistance? If you were Ram, would you have done anything differently?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    There could be many reasons why Ram was not effective in coaching the second team. It is difficult to identify all the reasons given the limited context in the CHOW. There is one major reason that stands out based on our experience \u2013 that has to do with trust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Let us use the Trust Equation to help us analyse the situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    When Ram joined the second team as Scrum Master, he had Credibility (experience and coach certification) and Reliability (he had proven himself in the earlier team). Intimacy might have been an issue. While he wanted to help the team, he may have jumped into an assessment mode too soon. \u2018Assessment\u2019 often alienates the team from the assessor when it is done before team starts trusting the coach. Team might not have been comfortable exposing the skeletons in the closet to an \u2018assessor\u2019. Ram would not have had this problem with the first team because he was already a part of the team before the agile journey started. Ram would have been better off giving the team some time to trust him \u2013 time to clarify his intentions, observe the dynamics in the team, build relationships with key people \u2013 before launching a comprehensive assessment exercise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Let us look at the Self-orientation \u2013 the denominator. There was definitely a significant difference in Ram\u2019s mindset with the two teams. With the first team, his entire focus was on getting the team to perform & improve and he was proud of team\u2019s achievements. With the second team, he was in a hurry to prove himself. His own self-interest in promotion diluted his intensity to serve the team. Often teams sense this and do not respond very well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Hope this helps you as Scrum Master and Coach in enabling transformation of the teams that you are working with.<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #136 - Resistance to Improvement","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-136-resistance-improvement","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-17 10:15:50","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:45:50","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11665","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11465,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2019-01-28 12:26:41","post_date_gmt":"2019-01-28 06:56:41","post_content":"\n
    Sharma is a metrics-oriented Head of an IT function. Prior to adopting agile, his organization used Function Point (FP) method for measuring software size. Along with the effort data entered by individuals, teams measured productivity factor as FP per person day of effort. This data was used for estimating new project effort as well as the means for setting productivity targets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    After moving to agile, Sharma was at a loss to manage productivity. He instructed the managers in his organization to devise and implement a measure of size that is consistent across the organization. Managers decided to institutionalize a measure similar to FP. What would be impact of such a change?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    It is a fair expectation of managers like Sharma to have the ability to manage productivity. With an absolute measure of size, managers tend to compare productivity across teams and that creates an unhealthy competition. To start with, a fundamental problem teams would have is inconsistent understanding & implementation of the sizing rules. Moreover, measurement of productivity at team level shifts the focus of the team away from maximizing business value. Team\u2019s behaviour would be driven by how their success is measured \u2013 focus on productivity is likely to make teams to do some of these three things: 1. Focus on efficiency instead of throughput. 2. Subconsciously over-rating the complexity of story to inflate size which in turn could influence product owner\u2019s prioritization decisions. 3. Already unreliable effort data entered by individual team members could be influenced by the desire to show greater productivity. All the above are highly undesirable consequences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    That's my view. Would like to hear what you think.<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #133 - Standardization - one size fits all","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-133-standardization-one-size-fits","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:03","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:03","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11465","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11462,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2019-01-28 12:05:47","post_date_gmt":"2019-01-28 06:35:47","post_content":"\n
    Productivity measurement in IT function has been debated and demanded over decades. Having made multiple attempts at solving this puzzle over many years, I have developed a point of view on productivity measurement. You may or may not agree but here it goes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To measure productivity, one needs measures of output and input. Often business users want improvement in throughput without compromising quality. Management expects IT to deliver on that expectation with the same spending ($).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Let us consider measuring Productivity at team level and Business Unit (BU) level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Team Productivity Measurement:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of team output has always been a challenge. In my opinion, scientific size measurements have never worked - either difficult to learn or difficult to apply consistently. FP-like or change-complexity-based measures have failed to deliver. Newer trends like relative sizing of stories are tools for teams to plan & execute better and not a common measure of output. All the above do not make sense to business users. Only one measure of output that would make sense to business users would be number of requirements. Users may be able to attribute business value to each of these requirements - however, at this level of detail, the business value can be used to prioritize but difficult to be considered as weights for summation of output.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of input in terms of actual effort has not been practical and difficult to sustain in spite of having good tools and management dictum. 'Head-count' is difficult to normalize given the varying levels of experience and salaries in team members. Best measure of input in my view is cost to company of the team members given the people-intensive nature of software work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Overall, I would not recommend measurement of productivity at team level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Sub-BU\/BU level productivity measurement<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    There are three types of output (leaving out the infrastructure projects & support) - app development; app maintenance and app support (or production support).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    For each app (or a group of apps) that produce an outcome, business can attach a BV (Business Value in $). The sum of the Business Value could be the business generated by that sub-BU or BU (or indicative of the business generated). Business can be broken by business product. However, mapping a business product to an IT app (or a group of apps) could be tricky but I believe it is possible to do this meaningfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of input is relatively easier at this level. $ spent on each app and broken up based on the output type - dev, maint & support. Again this break-up may not be straightforward in a complex organization but can be done meaningfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Productivity Index for an app (or group of apps) can be (i.e. Output over Input): (BV for app in $) \/ (Maint + Support spend for each app); This approach is in some way like calculating return-on-investment. To me, it is the efficiency with which the spend is generating value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Dev-spend is indicative of future business value. This may have to be projected and most organizations would have made a business case for each development project when it was approved - that data could help. We can then measure Productivity Index for the development work being carried out in the IT organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Productivity Improvement:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    When we measure productivity this way, we have multiple levers available for driving improvement without compromising quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #1: App life cycle analysis<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Group apps in terms of their life stages. Look at the ratio of spends by output type - dev, maint & support. Variations in spend ratio by life stage would help the management identify apps where spend needs to reduced. Optimal ratios for each life stage could be based on industry benchmarks (if such benchmarks exist else figure out internal benchmarks). Nature of the app also could be another factor - mainframe, web, analytics & reports, mobile app, etc. in figuring out these ratios.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Sunset apps that generate low business value<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #2: Increase business value<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Compare business value from current apps with potential initiatives that could generate greater business value. Move spend to the newer development projects<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Implement practices in teams (engineering & product management together) to ensure that higher value requirements are getting prioritized; Focus on reducing risks associated with these higher value items<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #3: Reduce direct cost of people<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Look at the mix of team members; there could be opportunities to reduce the actual cost of salaries - people with lesser qualifications & experience may be good enough; higher cost resources could be shared across teams.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Look for moving spend to locations where cost of people is lower without compromising efficiency<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever<\/em> #4: Invest in automation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Focus on appropriate tools & technologies to automate engineering practices like test automation; build automation; release management, etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Review tool\/technology portfolio and optimize<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #5: Enable & encourage teams to identify, measure & improve on factors that influence productivity (a few examples below):<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Application knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Business domain knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Multi-skilling<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Team level automation (e.g. scripting of repetitive tasks; population of test data)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Waste reduction - re-work in development; Unsuccessful changes; App outage; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Self-organizing teams<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Softer aspects like: conflicts (unhealthy); gender diversity; product vision; Goal-focus; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Inter-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    All of the above 5 levers should influence the productivity index as we had defined earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    define & measure productivity at Sub-BU or BU levels (not at team level) in a way that is meaningful to business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    use macro-level means like app portfolio optimization, automation, focus on business value, etc. to improve productivity in collaboration with business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    enable & encourage teams to improve the underlying factors that influence productivity (not productivity directly)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"IT Productivity \u2013 a point of view","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"productivity-point-view","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11462","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11270,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-11-20 16:24:35","post_date_gmt":"2018-11-20 10:54:35","post_content":"\n
    https:\/\/embeds.audioboom.com\/posts\/7092680-managing-an-agile-transformation-for-success\/embed\/v4?eid=AQAAAJTk81vIOWwA<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Agile transformations, like any other are challenging for most organizations. This episode engages experts from PM Power Consulting J Veeraraaghavan, Vishveshwar Hegde and Anand Natarajan in dialogue, sharing their agile leadership coaching and consulting insights. The dialogue also explores common challenges and approaches to agile transformations for leaders and geographically distributed teams with diverse view points of the experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The case study is given below<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Trailblazers Inc. have decided to embark on an Agile transformation journey with their SVP of Engineering. Mike Simpson, personally kicking off an initiative targeted at improving predictability, reducing cycle time and improving customer responsiveness. Mike wants Neeraj who is the VP of Engineering at their Bangalore development center to drive this initiative with Scrum as the primary approach and complete the transformation within the next one and a half years. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Neeraj approaches you as an Agile coach to help him with defining and implementing a program that will ensure the success of this initiative. <\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To Summarize key aspects from the dialogue:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Define specific objectives for this initiative based on senior leadership directive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use a holistic approach (rather than just training) that considers where the organization and teams are currently with respect to the objectives and specific interventions such as training and coaching targeted at addressing the gaps identified<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ensure senior leadership team at both locations has bought into the initiative and is fully committed to it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use of constructs such as different levels of planning, scrum of scrums, meta scrums etc. for effective cross-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","post_title":"Podcast - Managing an Agile Transformation for Success","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"podcast-managing-agile-transformation-success","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11270","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11144,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:43:04","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:13:04","post_content":"\n
    You joined this team couple of months back. You notice that your manager generally works very long hours on week-days and comes to work on certain week-ends too. You are concerned that you would not get good appraisal if you do not work similar hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Would your concern be valid?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    My response is: Yes - it would be, if you are someone who does not believe in working long hours. Perceptions and concerns like - my appraisal will be impacted - are bound to set in, more so, if you have ambitions of growing into the role of your manager.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The next question is: \u2018Should you succumb to this concern and let it rule you?\u2019. This is where your philosophy comes into play. We talk about this in the blog: <\/span>https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/five-beacons-leadership-journey\/<\/span><\/a>. To quote: \u201cGreat leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Management recognized Ram\u2019s performance and supported him in getting certified externally as an Agile Coach. He was given the additional responsibility to coach a critical feature team which was struggling to meet its sprint commitments consistently. Ram saw this as a career opportunity and he knew that his performance could pave the way for a promotion. He decided to act fast and thought it would be good to baseline the current state of agile in the second team. He also felt such an assessment would help the team to get a comprehensive picture of the areas of improvement quickly. Although Ram felt he did all the same things as he did in his first team, he found that the second team was not responding to his approach. Team would go through the motions of assessment, retrospectives and improvement actions. However, there was hardly any improvement in predictability and the team came up with good technical reasons for the slippages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    One quarter passed by and Ram was getting frustrated by the \u201cculture\u201d in the second team. What do you think could be the major reasons for the second team\u2019s \u201cresistance? If you were Ram, would you have done anything differently?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    There could be many reasons why Ram was not effective in coaching the second team. It is difficult to identify all the reasons given the limited context in the CHOW. There is one major reason that stands out based on our experience \u2013 that has to do with trust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Let us use the Trust Equation to help us analyse the situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    When Ram joined the second team as Scrum Master, he had Credibility (experience and coach certification) and Reliability (he had proven himself in the earlier team). Intimacy might have been an issue. While he wanted to help the team, he may have jumped into an assessment mode too soon. \u2018Assessment\u2019 often alienates the team from the assessor when it is done before team starts trusting the coach. Team might not have been comfortable exposing the skeletons in the closet to an \u2018assessor\u2019. Ram would not have had this problem with the first team because he was already a part of the team before the agile journey started. Ram would have been better off giving the team some time to trust him \u2013 time to clarify his intentions, observe the dynamics in the team, build relationships with key people \u2013 before launching a comprehensive assessment exercise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Let us look at the Self-orientation \u2013 the denominator. There was definitely a significant difference in Ram\u2019s mindset with the two teams. With the first team, his entire focus was on getting the team to perform & improve and he was proud of team\u2019s achievements. With the second team, he was in a hurry to prove himself. His own self-interest in promotion diluted his intensity to serve the team. Often teams sense this and do not respond very well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Hope this helps you as Scrum Master and Coach in enabling transformation of the teams that you are working with.<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #136 - Resistance to Improvement","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-136-resistance-improvement","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-17 10:15:50","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:45:50","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11665","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11465,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2019-01-28 12:26:41","post_date_gmt":"2019-01-28 06:56:41","post_content":"\n
    Sharma is a metrics-oriented Head of an IT function. Prior to adopting agile, his organization used Function Point (FP) method for measuring software size. Along with the effort data entered by individuals, teams measured productivity factor as FP per person day of effort. This data was used for estimating new project effort as well as the means for setting productivity targets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    After moving to agile, Sharma was at a loss to manage productivity. He instructed the managers in his organization to devise and implement a measure of size that is consistent across the organization. Managers decided to institutionalize a measure similar to FP. What would be impact of such a change?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    It is a fair expectation of managers like Sharma to have the ability to manage productivity. With an absolute measure of size, managers tend to compare productivity across teams and that creates an unhealthy competition. To start with, a fundamental problem teams would have is inconsistent understanding & implementation of the sizing rules. Moreover, measurement of productivity at team level shifts the focus of the team away from maximizing business value. Team\u2019s behaviour would be driven by how their success is measured \u2013 focus on productivity is likely to make teams to do some of these three things: 1. Focus on efficiency instead of throughput. 2. Subconsciously over-rating the complexity of story to inflate size which in turn could influence product owner\u2019s prioritization decisions. 3. Already unreliable effort data entered by individual team members could be influenced by the desire to show greater productivity. All the above are highly undesirable consequences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    That's my view. Would like to hear what you think.<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #133 - Standardization - one size fits all","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-133-standardization-one-size-fits","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:03","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:03","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11465","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11462,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2019-01-28 12:05:47","post_date_gmt":"2019-01-28 06:35:47","post_content":"\n
    Productivity measurement in IT function has been debated and demanded over decades. Having made multiple attempts at solving this puzzle over many years, I have developed a point of view on productivity measurement. You may or may not agree but here it goes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To measure productivity, one needs measures of output and input. Often business users want improvement in throughput without compromising quality. Management expects IT to deliver on that expectation with the same spending ($).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Let us consider measuring Productivity at team level and Business Unit (BU) level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Team Productivity Measurement:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of team output has always been a challenge. In my opinion, scientific size measurements have never worked - either difficult to learn or difficult to apply consistently. FP-like or change-complexity-based measures have failed to deliver. Newer trends like relative sizing of stories are tools for teams to plan & execute better and not a common measure of output. All the above do not make sense to business users. Only one measure of output that would make sense to business users would be number of requirements. Users may be able to attribute business value to each of these requirements - however, at this level of detail, the business value can be used to prioritize but difficult to be considered as weights for summation of output.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of input in terms of actual effort has not been practical and difficult to sustain in spite of having good tools and management dictum. 'Head-count' is difficult to normalize given the varying levels of experience and salaries in team members. Best measure of input in my view is cost to company of the team members given the people-intensive nature of software work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Overall, I would not recommend measurement of productivity at team level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Sub-BU\/BU level productivity measurement<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    There are three types of output (leaving out the infrastructure projects & support) - app development; app maintenance and app support (or production support).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    For each app (or a group of apps) that produce an outcome, business can attach a BV (Business Value in $). The sum of the Business Value could be the business generated by that sub-BU or BU (or indicative of the business generated). Business can be broken by business product. However, mapping a business product to an IT app (or a group of apps) could be tricky but I believe it is possible to do this meaningfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of input is relatively easier at this level. $ spent on each app and broken up based on the output type - dev, maint & support. Again this break-up may not be straightforward in a complex organization but can be done meaningfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Productivity Index for an app (or group of apps) can be (i.e. Output over Input): (BV for app in $) \/ (Maint + Support spend for each app); This approach is in some way like calculating return-on-investment. To me, it is the efficiency with which the spend is generating value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Dev-spend is indicative of future business value. This may have to be projected and most organizations would have made a business case for each development project when it was approved - that data could help. We can then measure Productivity Index for the development work being carried out in the IT organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Productivity Improvement:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    When we measure productivity this way, we have multiple levers available for driving improvement without compromising quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #1: App life cycle analysis<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Group apps in terms of their life stages. Look at the ratio of spends by output type - dev, maint & support. Variations in spend ratio by life stage would help the management identify apps where spend needs to reduced. Optimal ratios for each life stage could be based on industry benchmarks (if such benchmarks exist else figure out internal benchmarks). Nature of the app also could be another factor - mainframe, web, analytics & reports, mobile app, etc. in figuring out these ratios.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Sunset apps that generate low business value<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #2: Increase business value<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Compare business value from current apps with potential initiatives that could generate greater business value. Move spend to the newer development projects<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Implement practices in teams (engineering & product management together) to ensure that higher value requirements are getting prioritized; Focus on reducing risks associated with these higher value items<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #3: Reduce direct cost of people<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Look at the mix of team members; there could be opportunities to reduce the actual cost of salaries - people with lesser qualifications & experience may be good enough; higher cost resources could be shared across teams.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Look for moving spend to locations where cost of people is lower without compromising efficiency<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever<\/em> #4: Invest in automation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Focus on appropriate tools & technologies to automate engineering practices like test automation; build automation; release management, etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Review tool\/technology portfolio and optimize<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #5: Enable & encourage teams to identify, measure & improve on factors that influence productivity (a few examples below):<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Application knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Business domain knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Multi-skilling<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Team level automation (e.g. scripting of repetitive tasks; population of test data)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Waste reduction - re-work in development; Unsuccessful changes; App outage; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Self-organizing teams<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Softer aspects like: conflicts (unhealthy); gender diversity; product vision; Goal-focus; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Inter-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    All of the above 5 levers should influence the productivity index as we had defined earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    define & measure productivity at Sub-BU or BU levels (not at team level) in a way that is meaningful to business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    use macro-level means like app portfolio optimization, automation, focus on business value, etc. to improve productivity in collaboration with business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    enable & encourage teams to improve the underlying factors that influence productivity (not productivity directly)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"IT Productivity \u2013 a point of view","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"productivity-point-view","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11462","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11270,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-11-20 16:24:35","post_date_gmt":"2018-11-20 10:54:35","post_content":"\n
    https:\/\/embeds.audioboom.com\/posts\/7092680-managing-an-agile-transformation-for-success\/embed\/v4?eid=AQAAAJTk81vIOWwA<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Agile transformations, like any other are challenging for most organizations. This episode engages experts from PM Power Consulting J Veeraraaghavan, Vishveshwar Hegde and Anand Natarajan in dialogue, sharing their agile leadership coaching and consulting insights. The dialogue also explores common challenges and approaches to agile transformations for leaders and geographically distributed teams with diverse view points of the experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The case study is given below<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Trailblazers Inc. have decided to embark on an Agile transformation journey with their SVP of Engineering. Mike Simpson, personally kicking off an initiative targeted at improving predictability, reducing cycle time and improving customer responsiveness. Mike wants Neeraj who is the VP of Engineering at their Bangalore development center to drive this initiative with Scrum as the primary approach and complete the transformation within the next one and a half years. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Neeraj approaches you as an Agile coach to help him with defining and implementing a program that will ensure the success of this initiative. <\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To Summarize key aspects from the dialogue:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Define specific objectives for this initiative based on senior leadership directive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use a holistic approach (rather than just training) that considers where the organization and teams are currently with respect to the objectives and specific interventions such as training and coaching targeted at addressing the gaps identified<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ensure senior leadership team at both locations has bought into the initiative and is fully committed to it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use of constructs such as different levels of planning, scrum of scrums, meta scrums etc. for effective cross-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","post_title":"Podcast - Managing an Agile Transformation for Success","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"podcast-managing-agile-transformation-success","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11270","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11144,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:43:04","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:13:04","post_content":"\n
    You joined this team couple of months back. You notice that your manager generally works very long hours on week-days and comes to work on certain week-ends too. You are concerned that you would not get good appraisal if you do not work similar hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Would your concern be valid?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    My response is: Yes - it would be, if you are someone who does not believe in working long hours. Perceptions and concerns like - my appraisal will be impacted - are bound to set in, more so, if you have ambitions of growing into the role of your manager.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The next question is: \u2018Should you succumb to this concern and let it rule you?\u2019. This is where your philosophy comes into play. We talk about this in the blog: <\/span>https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/five-beacons-leadership-journey\/<\/span><\/a>. To quote: \u201cGreat leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Ram, a Test Lead, had been working for eTravel for the last three years. eTravel has a cloud-based product for frequent business travellers. When his organization decided to adopt agile practices two years ago, he chose to take on the Scrum Master role. The feature team, that he was part of as SM, had the services of an external coach for the first six months. Over the last 1.5 years after the exit of the external coach, Ram had proven to be an effective Scrum Master and an internal coach. Not only was he able to facilitate practice adoption in spirit but also to coach the team to improve predictability and velocity. He guided the team to assess the strength of its own agile practices and improve outcomes. He was very proud of his team\u2019s achievements and was happy with his career move from Test Lead to Scrum Master role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Management recognized Ram\u2019s performance and supported him in getting certified externally as an Agile Coach. He was given the additional responsibility to coach a critical feature team which was struggling to meet its sprint commitments consistently. Ram saw this as a career opportunity and he knew that his performance could pave the way for a promotion. He decided to act fast and thought it would be good to baseline the current state of agile in the second team. He also felt such an assessment would help the team to get a comprehensive picture of the areas of improvement quickly. Although Ram felt he did all the same things as he did in his first team, he found that the second team was not responding to his approach. Team would go through the motions of assessment, retrospectives and improvement actions. However, there was hardly any improvement in predictability and the team came up with good technical reasons for the slippages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    One quarter passed by and Ram was getting frustrated by the \u201cculture\u201d in the second team. What do you think could be the major reasons for the second team\u2019s \u201cresistance? If you were Ram, would you have done anything differently?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    There could be many reasons why Ram was not effective in coaching the second team. It is difficult to identify all the reasons given the limited context in the CHOW. There is one major reason that stands out based on our experience \u2013 that has to do with trust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Let us use the Trust Equation to help us analyse the situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    When Ram joined the second team as Scrum Master, he had Credibility (experience and coach certification) and Reliability (he had proven himself in the earlier team). Intimacy might have been an issue. While he wanted to help the team, he may have jumped into an assessment mode too soon. \u2018Assessment\u2019 often alienates the team from the assessor when it is done before team starts trusting the coach. Team might not have been comfortable exposing the skeletons in the closet to an \u2018assessor\u2019. Ram would not have had this problem with the first team because he was already a part of the team before the agile journey started. Ram would have been better off giving the team some time to trust him \u2013 time to clarify his intentions, observe the dynamics in the team, build relationships with key people \u2013 before launching a comprehensive assessment exercise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Let us look at the Self-orientation \u2013 the denominator. There was definitely a significant difference in Ram\u2019s mindset with the two teams. With the first team, his entire focus was on getting the team to perform & improve and he was proud of team\u2019s achievements. With the second team, he was in a hurry to prove himself. His own self-interest in promotion diluted his intensity to serve the team. Often teams sense this and do not respond very well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Hope this helps you as Scrum Master and Coach in enabling transformation of the teams that you are working with.<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #136 - Resistance to Improvement","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-136-resistance-improvement","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-17 10:15:50","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:45:50","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11665","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11465,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2019-01-28 12:26:41","post_date_gmt":"2019-01-28 06:56:41","post_content":"\n
    Sharma is a metrics-oriented Head of an IT function. Prior to adopting agile, his organization used Function Point (FP) method for measuring software size. Along with the effort data entered by individuals, teams measured productivity factor as FP per person day of effort. This data was used for estimating new project effort as well as the means for setting productivity targets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    After moving to agile, Sharma was at a loss to manage productivity. He instructed the managers in his organization to devise and implement a measure of size that is consistent across the organization. Managers decided to institutionalize a measure similar to FP. What would be impact of such a change?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    It is a fair expectation of managers like Sharma to have the ability to manage productivity. With an absolute measure of size, managers tend to compare productivity across teams and that creates an unhealthy competition. To start with, a fundamental problem teams would have is inconsistent understanding & implementation of the sizing rules. Moreover, measurement of productivity at team level shifts the focus of the team away from maximizing business value. Team\u2019s behaviour would be driven by how their success is measured \u2013 focus on productivity is likely to make teams to do some of these three things: 1. Focus on efficiency instead of throughput. 2. Subconsciously over-rating the complexity of story to inflate size which in turn could influence product owner\u2019s prioritization decisions. 3. Already unreliable effort data entered by individual team members could be influenced by the desire to show greater productivity. All the above are highly undesirable consequences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    That's my view. Would like to hear what you think.<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #133 - Standardization - one size fits all","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-133-standardization-one-size-fits","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:03","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:03","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11465","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11462,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2019-01-28 12:05:47","post_date_gmt":"2019-01-28 06:35:47","post_content":"\n
    Productivity measurement in IT function has been debated and demanded over decades. Having made multiple attempts at solving this puzzle over many years, I have developed a point of view on productivity measurement. You may or may not agree but here it goes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To measure productivity, one needs measures of output and input. Often business users want improvement in throughput without compromising quality. Management expects IT to deliver on that expectation with the same spending ($).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Let us consider measuring Productivity at team level and Business Unit (BU) level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Team Productivity Measurement:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of team output has always been a challenge. In my opinion, scientific size measurements have never worked - either difficult to learn or difficult to apply consistently. FP-like or change-complexity-based measures have failed to deliver. Newer trends like relative sizing of stories are tools for teams to plan & execute better and not a common measure of output. All the above do not make sense to business users. Only one measure of output that would make sense to business users would be number of requirements. Users may be able to attribute business value to each of these requirements - however, at this level of detail, the business value can be used to prioritize but difficult to be considered as weights for summation of output.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of input in terms of actual effort has not been practical and difficult to sustain in spite of having good tools and management dictum. 'Head-count' is difficult to normalize given the varying levels of experience and salaries in team members. Best measure of input in my view is cost to company of the team members given the people-intensive nature of software work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Overall, I would not recommend measurement of productivity at team level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Sub-BU\/BU level productivity measurement<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    There are three types of output (leaving out the infrastructure projects & support) - app development; app maintenance and app support (or production support).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    For each app (or a group of apps) that produce an outcome, business can attach a BV (Business Value in $). The sum of the Business Value could be the business generated by that sub-BU or BU (or indicative of the business generated). Business can be broken by business product. However, mapping a business product to an IT app (or a group of apps) could be tricky but I believe it is possible to do this meaningfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of input is relatively easier at this level. $ spent on each app and broken up based on the output type - dev, maint & support. Again this break-up may not be straightforward in a complex organization but can be done meaningfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Productivity Index for an app (or group of apps) can be (i.e. Output over Input): (BV for app in $) \/ (Maint + Support spend for each app); This approach is in some way like calculating return-on-investment. To me, it is the efficiency with which the spend is generating value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Dev-spend is indicative of future business value. This may have to be projected and most organizations would have made a business case for each development project when it was approved - that data could help. We can then measure Productivity Index for the development work being carried out in the IT organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Productivity Improvement:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    When we measure productivity this way, we have multiple levers available for driving improvement without compromising quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #1: App life cycle analysis<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Group apps in terms of their life stages. Look at the ratio of spends by output type - dev, maint & support. Variations in spend ratio by life stage would help the management identify apps where spend needs to reduced. Optimal ratios for each life stage could be based on industry benchmarks (if such benchmarks exist else figure out internal benchmarks). Nature of the app also could be another factor - mainframe, web, analytics & reports, mobile app, etc. in figuring out these ratios.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Sunset apps that generate low business value<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #2: Increase business value<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Compare business value from current apps with potential initiatives that could generate greater business value. Move spend to the newer development projects<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Implement practices in teams (engineering & product management together) to ensure that higher value requirements are getting prioritized; Focus on reducing risks associated with these higher value items<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #3: Reduce direct cost of people<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Look at the mix of team members; there could be opportunities to reduce the actual cost of salaries - people with lesser qualifications & experience may be good enough; higher cost resources could be shared across teams.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Look for moving spend to locations where cost of people is lower without compromising efficiency<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever<\/em> #4: Invest in automation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Focus on appropriate tools & technologies to automate engineering practices like test automation; build automation; release management, etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Review tool\/technology portfolio and optimize<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #5: Enable & encourage teams to identify, measure & improve on factors that influence productivity (a few examples below):<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Application knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Business domain knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Multi-skilling<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Team level automation (e.g. scripting of repetitive tasks; population of test data)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Waste reduction - re-work in development; Unsuccessful changes; App outage; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Self-organizing teams<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Softer aspects like: conflicts (unhealthy); gender diversity; product vision; Goal-focus; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Inter-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    All of the above 5 levers should influence the productivity index as we had defined earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    define & measure productivity at Sub-BU or BU levels (not at team level) in a way that is meaningful to business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    use macro-level means like app portfolio optimization, automation, focus on business value, etc. to improve productivity in collaboration with business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    enable & encourage teams to improve the underlying factors that influence productivity (not productivity directly)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"IT Productivity \u2013 a point of view","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"productivity-point-view","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11462","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11270,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-11-20 16:24:35","post_date_gmt":"2018-11-20 10:54:35","post_content":"\n
    https:\/\/embeds.audioboom.com\/posts\/7092680-managing-an-agile-transformation-for-success\/embed\/v4?eid=AQAAAJTk81vIOWwA<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Agile transformations, like any other are challenging for most organizations. This episode engages experts from PM Power Consulting J Veeraraaghavan, Vishveshwar Hegde and Anand Natarajan in dialogue, sharing their agile leadership coaching and consulting insights. The dialogue also explores common challenges and approaches to agile transformations for leaders and geographically distributed teams with diverse view points of the experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The case study is given below<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Trailblazers Inc. have decided to embark on an Agile transformation journey with their SVP of Engineering. Mike Simpson, personally kicking off an initiative targeted at improving predictability, reducing cycle time and improving customer responsiveness. Mike wants Neeraj who is the VP of Engineering at their Bangalore development center to drive this initiative with Scrum as the primary approach and complete the transformation within the next one and a half years. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Neeraj approaches you as an Agile coach to help him with defining and implementing a program that will ensure the success of this initiative. <\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To Summarize key aspects from the dialogue:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Define specific objectives for this initiative based on senior leadership directive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use a holistic approach (rather than just training) that considers where the organization and teams are currently with respect to the objectives and specific interventions such as training and coaching targeted at addressing the gaps identified<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ensure senior leadership team at both locations has bought into the initiative and is fully committed to it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use of constructs such as different levels of planning, scrum of scrums, meta scrums etc. for effective cross-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","post_title":"Podcast - Managing an Agile Transformation for Success","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"podcast-managing-agile-transformation-success","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11270","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11144,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:43:04","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:13:04","post_content":"\n
    You joined this team couple of months back. You notice that your manager generally works very long hours on week-days and comes to work on certain week-ends too. You are concerned that you would not get good appraisal if you do not work similar hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Would your concern be valid?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    My response is: Yes - it would be, if you are someone who does not believe in working long hours. Perceptions and concerns like - my appraisal will be impacted - are bound to set in, more so, if you have ambitions of growing into the role of your manager.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The next question is: \u2018Should you succumb to this concern and let it rule you?\u2019. This is where your philosophy comes into play. We talk about this in the blog: <\/span>https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/five-beacons-leadership-journey\/<\/span><\/a>. To quote: \u201cGreat leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    AN<\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Simplicity \u2013 the art of maximizing the amount of work not done \u2013 is essential!","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"simplicity-the-art-of-maximizing-the-amount-of-work-not-done-is-essential","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:19:03","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:19:03","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=12828","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"2","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11665,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2019-02-18 21:24:31","post_date_gmt":"2019-02-18 15:54:31","post_content":"\n
    Ram, a Test Lead, had been working for eTravel for the last three years. eTravel has a cloud-based product for frequent business travellers. When his organization decided to adopt agile practices two years ago, he chose to take on the Scrum Master role. The feature team, that he was part of as SM, had the services of an external coach for the first six months. Over the last 1.5 years after the exit of the external coach, Ram had proven to be an effective Scrum Master and an internal coach. Not only was he able to facilitate practice adoption in spirit but also to coach the team to improve predictability and velocity. He guided the team to assess the strength of its own agile practices and improve outcomes. He was very proud of his team\u2019s achievements and was happy with his career move from Test Lead to Scrum Master role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Management recognized Ram\u2019s performance and supported him in getting certified externally as an Agile Coach. He was given the additional responsibility to coach a critical feature team which was struggling to meet its sprint commitments consistently. Ram saw this as a career opportunity and he knew that his performance could pave the way for a promotion. He decided to act fast and thought it would be good to baseline the current state of agile in the second team. He also felt such an assessment would help the team to get a comprehensive picture of the areas of improvement quickly. Although Ram felt he did all the same things as he did in his first team, he found that the second team was not responding to his approach. Team would go through the motions of assessment, retrospectives and improvement actions. However, there was hardly any improvement in predictability and the team came up with good technical reasons for the slippages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    One quarter passed by and Ram was getting frustrated by the \u201cculture\u201d in the second team. What do you think could be the major reasons for the second team\u2019s \u201cresistance? If you were Ram, would you have done anything differently?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    There could be many reasons why Ram was not effective in coaching the second team. It is difficult to identify all the reasons given the limited context in the CHOW. There is one major reason that stands out based on our experience \u2013 that has to do with trust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Let us use the Trust Equation to help us analyse the situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    When Ram joined the second team as Scrum Master, he had Credibility (experience and coach certification) and Reliability (he had proven himself in the earlier team). Intimacy might have been an issue. While he wanted to help the team, he may have jumped into an assessment mode too soon. \u2018Assessment\u2019 often alienates the team from the assessor when it is done before team starts trusting the coach. Team might not have been comfortable exposing the skeletons in the closet to an \u2018assessor\u2019. Ram would not have had this problem with the first team because he was already a part of the team before the agile journey started. Ram would have been better off giving the team some time to trust him \u2013 time to clarify his intentions, observe the dynamics in the team, build relationships with key people \u2013 before launching a comprehensive assessment exercise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Let us look at the Self-orientation \u2013 the denominator. There was definitely a significant difference in Ram\u2019s mindset with the two teams. With the first team, his entire focus was on getting the team to perform & improve and he was proud of team\u2019s achievements. With the second team, he was in a hurry to prove himself. His own self-interest in promotion diluted his intensity to serve the team. Often teams sense this and do not respond very well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Hope this helps you as Scrum Master and Coach in enabling transformation of the teams that you are working with.<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #136 - Resistance to Improvement","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-136-resistance-improvement","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-17 10:15:50","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:45:50","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11665","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11465,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2019-01-28 12:26:41","post_date_gmt":"2019-01-28 06:56:41","post_content":"\n
    Sharma is a metrics-oriented Head of an IT function. Prior to adopting agile, his organization used Function Point (FP) method for measuring software size. Along with the effort data entered by individuals, teams measured productivity factor as FP per person day of effort. This data was used for estimating new project effort as well as the means for setting productivity targets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    After moving to agile, Sharma was at a loss to manage productivity. He instructed the managers in his organization to devise and implement a measure of size that is consistent across the organization. Managers decided to institutionalize a measure similar to FP. What would be impact of such a change?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    It is a fair expectation of managers like Sharma to have the ability to manage productivity. With an absolute measure of size, managers tend to compare productivity across teams and that creates an unhealthy competition. To start with, a fundamental problem teams would have is inconsistent understanding & implementation of the sizing rules. Moreover, measurement of productivity at team level shifts the focus of the team away from maximizing business value. Team\u2019s behaviour would be driven by how their success is measured \u2013 focus on productivity is likely to make teams to do some of these three things: 1. Focus on efficiency instead of throughput. 2. Subconsciously over-rating the complexity of story to inflate size which in turn could influence product owner\u2019s prioritization decisions. 3. Already unreliable effort data entered by individual team members could be influenced by the desire to show greater productivity. All the above are highly undesirable consequences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    That's my view. Would like to hear what you think.<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #133 - Standardization - one size fits all","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-133-standardization-one-size-fits","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:03","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:03","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11465","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11462,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2019-01-28 12:05:47","post_date_gmt":"2019-01-28 06:35:47","post_content":"\n
    Productivity measurement in IT function has been debated and demanded over decades. Having made multiple attempts at solving this puzzle over many years, I have developed a point of view on productivity measurement. You may or may not agree but here it goes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To measure productivity, one needs measures of output and input. Often business users want improvement in throughput without compromising quality. Management expects IT to deliver on that expectation with the same spending ($).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Let us consider measuring Productivity at team level and Business Unit (BU) level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Team Productivity Measurement:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of team output has always been a challenge. In my opinion, scientific size measurements have never worked - either difficult to learn or difficult to apply consistently. FP-like or change-complexity-based measures have failed to deliver. Newer trends like relative sizing of stories are tools for teams to plan & execute better and not a common measure of output. All the above do not make sense to business users. Only one measure of output that would make sense to business users would be number of requirements. Users may be able to attribute business value to each of these requirements - however, at this level of detail, the business value can be used to prioritize but difficult to be considered as weights for summation of output.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of input in terms of actual effort has not been practical and difficult to sustain in spite of having good tools and management dictum. 'Head-count' is difficult to normalize given the varying levels of experience and salaries in team members. Best measure of input in my view is cost to company of the team members given the people-intensive nature of software work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Overall, I would not recommend measurement of productivity at team level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Sub-BU\/BU level productivity measurement<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    There are three types of output (leaving out the infrastructure projects & support) - app development; app maintenance and app support (or production support).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    For each app (or a group of apps) that produce an outcome, business can attach a BV (Business Value in $). The sum of the Business Value could be the business generated by that sub-BU or BU (or indicative of the business generated). Business can be broken by business product. However, mapping a business product to an IT app (or a group of apps) could be tricky but I believe it is possible to do this meaningfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of input is relatively easier at this level. $ spent on each app and broken up based on the output type - dev, maint & support. Again this break-up may not be straightforward in a complex organization but can be done meaningfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Productivity Index for an app (or group of apps) can be (i.e. Output over Input): (BV for app in $) \/ (Maint + Support spend for each app); This approach is in some way like calculating return-on-investment. To me, it is the efficiency with which the spend is generating value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Dev-spend is indicative of future business value. This may have to be projected and most organizations would have made a business case for each development project when it was approved - that data could help. We can then measure Productivity Index for the development work being carried out in the IT organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Productivity Improvement:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    When we measure productivity this way, we have multiple levers available for driving improvement without compromising quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #1: App life cycle analysis<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Group apps in terms of their life stages. Look at the ratio of spends by output type - dev, maint & support. Variations in spend ratio by life stage would help the management identify apps where spend needs to reduced. Optimal ratios for each life stage could be based on industry benchmarks (if such benchmarks exist else figure out internal benchmarks). Nature of the app also could be another factor - mainframe, web, analytics & reports, mobile app, etc. in figuring out these ratios.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Sunset apps that generate low business value<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #2: Increase business value<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Compare business value from current apps with potential initiatives that could generate greater business value. Move spend to the newer development projects<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Implement practices in teams (engineering & product management together) to ensure that higher value requirements are getting prioritized; Focus on reducing risks associated with these higher value items<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #3: Reduce direct cost of people<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Look at the mix of team members; there could be opportunities to reduce the actual cost of salaries - people with lesser qualifications & experience may be good enough; higher cost resources could be shared across teams.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Look for moving spend to locations where cost of people is lower without compromising efficiency<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever<\/em> #4: Invest in automation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Focus on appropriate tools & technologies to automate engineering practices like test automation; build automation; release management, etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Review tool\/technology portfolio and optimize<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #5: Enable & encourage teams to identify, measure & improve on factors that influence productivity (a few examples below):<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Application knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Business domain knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Multi-skilling<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Team level automation (e.g. scripting of repetitive tasks; population of test data)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Waste reduction - re-work in development; Unsuccessful changes; App outage; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Self-organizing teams<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Softer aspects like: conflicts (unhealthy); gender diversity; product vision; Goal-focus; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Inter-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    All of the above 5 levers should influence the productivity index as we had defined earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    define & measure productivity at Sub-BU or BU levels (not at team level) in a way that is meaningful to business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    use macro-level means like app portfolio optimization, automation, focus on business value, etc. to improve productivity in collaboration with business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    enable & encourage teams to improve the underlying factors that influence productivity (not productivity directly)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"IT Productivity \u2013 a point of view","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"productivity-point-view","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11462","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11270,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-11-20 16:24:35","post_date_gmt":"2018-11-20 10:54:35","post_content":"\n
    https:\/\/embeds.audioboom.com\/posts\/7092680-managing-an-agile-transformation-for-success\/embed\/v4?eid=AQAAAJTk81vIOWwA<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Agile transformations, like any other are challenging for most organizations. This episode engages experts from PM Power Consulting J Veeraraaghavan, Vishveshwar Hegde and Anand Natarajan in dialogue, sharing their agile leadership coaching and consulting insights. The dialogue also explores common challenges and approaches to agile transformations for leaders and geographically distributed teams with diverse view points of the experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The case study is given below<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Trailblazers Inc. have decided to embark on an Agile transformation journey with their SVP of Engineering. Mike Simpson, personally kicking off an initiative targeted at improving predictability, reducing cycle time and improving customer responsiveness. Mike wants Neeraj who is the VP of Engineering at their Bangalore development center to drive this initiative with Scrum as the primary approach and complete the transformation within the next one and a half years. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Neeraj approaches you as an Agile coach to help him with defining and implementing a program that will ensure the success of this initiative. <\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To Summarize key aspects from the dialogue:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Define specific objectives for this initiative based on senior leadership directive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use a holistic approach (rather than just training) that considers where the organization and teams are currently with respect to the objectives and specific interventions such as training and coaching targeted at addressing the gaps identified<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ensure senior leadership team at both locations has bought into the initiative and is fully committed to it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use of constructs such as different levels of planning, scrum of scrums, meta scrums etc. for effective cross-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","post_title":"Podcast - Managing an Agile Transformation for Success","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"podcast-managing-agile-transformation-success","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11270","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11144,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:43:04","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:13:04","post_content":"\n
    You joined this team couple of months back. You notice that your manager generally works very long hours on week-days and comes to work on certain week-ends too. You are concerned that you would not get good appraisal if you do not work similar hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Would your concern be valid?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    My response is: Yes - it would be, if you are someone who does not believe in working long hours. Perceptions and concerns like - my appraisal will be impacted - are bound to set in, more so, if you have ambitions of growing into the role of your manager.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The next question is: \u2018Should you succumb to this concern and let it rule you?\u2019. This is where your philosophy comes into play. We talk about this in the blog: <\/span>https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/five-beacons-leadership-journey\/<\/span><\/a>. To quote: \u201cGreat leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Similarly this Principle can be applied to many other kinds of work that we do as coaches and the same applies to a Scrum Master or a Product Owner or team members as well. I look forward to your experiences and valuable suggestions on this blog.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    AN<\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Simplicity \u2013 the art of maximizing the amount of work not done \u2013 is essential!","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"simplicity-the-art-of-maximizing-the-amount-of-work-not-done-is-essential","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:19:03","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:19:03","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=12828","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"2","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11665,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2019-02-18 21:24:31","post_date_gmt":"2019-02-18 15:54:31","post_content":"\n
    Ram, a Test Lead, had been working for eTravel for the last three years. eTravel has a cloud-based product for frequent business travellers. When his organization decided to adopt agile practices two years ago, he chose to take on the Scrum Master role. The feature team, that he was part of as SM, had the services of an external coach for the first six months. Over the last 1.5 years after the exit of the external coach, Ram had proven to be an effective Scrum Master and an internal coach. Not only was he able to facilitate practice adoption in spirit but also to coach the team to improve predictability and velocity. He guided the team to assess the strength of its own agile practices and improve outcomes. He was very proud of his team\u2019s achievements and was happy with his career move from Test Lead to Scrum Master role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Management recognized Ram\u2019s performance and supported him in getting certified externally as an Agile Coach. He was given the additional responsibility to coach a critical feature team which was struggling to meet its sprint commitments consistently. Ram saw this as a career opportunity and he knew that his performance could pave the way for a promotion. He decided to act fast and thought it would be good to baseline the current state of agile in the second team. He also felt such an assessment would help the team to get a comprehensive picture of the areas of improvement quickly. Although Ram felt he did all the same things as he did in his first team, he found that the second team was not responding to his approach. Team would go through the motions of assessment, retrospectives and improvement actions. However, there was hardly any improvement in predictability and the team came up with good technical reasons for the slippages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    One quarter passed by and Ram was getting frustrated by the \u201cculture\u201d in the second team. What do you think could be the major reasons for the second team\u2019s \u201cresistance? If you were Ram, would you have done anything differently?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    There could be many reasons why Ram was not effective in coaching the second team. It is difficult to identify all the reasons given the limited context in the CHOW. There is one major reason that stands out based on our experience \u2013 that has to do with trust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Let us use the Trust Equation to help us analyse the situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    When Ram joined the second team as Scrum Master, he had Credibility (experience and coach certification) and Reliability (he had proven himself in the earlier team). Intimacy might have been an issue. While he wanted to help the team, he may have jumped into an assessment mode too soon. \u2018Assessment\u2019 often alienates the team from the assessor when it is done before team starts trusting the coach. Team might not have been comfortable exposing the skeletons in the closet to an \u2018assessor\u2019. Ram would not have had this problem with the first team because he was already a part of the team before the agile journey started. Ram would have been better off giving the team some time to trust him \u2013 time to clarify his intentions, observe the dynamics in the team, build relationships with key people \u2013 before launching a comprehensive assessment exercise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Let us look at the Self-orientation \u2013 the denominator. There was definitely a significant difference in Ram\u2019s mindset with the two teams. With the first team, his entire focus was on getting the team to perform & improve and he was proud of team\u2019s achievements. With the second team, he was in a hurry to prove himself. His own self-interest in promotion diluted his intensity to serve the team. Often teams sense this and do not respond very well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Hope this helps you as Scrum Master and Coach in enabling transformation of the teams that you are working with.<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #136 - Resistance to Improvement","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-136-resistance-improvement","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-17 10:15:50","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:45:50","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11665","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11465,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2019-01-28 12:26:41","post_date_gmt":"2019-01-28 06:56:41","post_content":"\n
    Sharma is a metrics-oriented Head of an IT function. Prior to adopting agile, his organization used Function Point (FP) method for measuring software size. Along with the effort data entered by individuals, teams measured productivity factor as FP per person day of effort. This data was used for estimating new project effort as well as the means for setting productivity targets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    After moving to agile, Sharma was at a loss to manage productivity. He instructed the managers in his organization to devise and implement a measure of size that is consistent across the organization. Managers decided to institutionalize a measure similar to FP. What would be impact of such a change?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    It is a fair expectation of managers like Sharma to have the ability to manage productivity. With an absolute measure of size, managers tend to compare productivity across teams and that creates an unhealthy competition. To start with, a fundamental problem teams would have is inconsistent understanding & implementation of the sizing rules. Moreover, measurement of productivity at team level shifts the focus of the team away from maximizing business value. Team\u2019s behaviour would be driven by how their success is measured \u2013 focus on productivity is likely to make teams to do some of these three things: 1. Focus on efficiency instead of throughput. 2. Subconsciously over-rating the complexity of story to inflate size which in turn could influence product owner\u2019s prioritization decisions. 3. Already unreliable effort data entered by individual team members could be influenced by the desire to show greater productivity. All the above are highly undesirable consequences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    That's my view. Would like to hear what you think.<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #133 - Standardization - one size fits all","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-133-standardization-one-size-fits","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:03","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:03","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11465","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11462,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2019-01-28 12:05:47","post_date_gmt":"2019-01-28 06:35:47","post_content":"\n
    Productivity measurement in IT function has been debated and demanded over decades. Having made multiple attempts at solving this puzzle over many years, I have developed a point of view on productivity measurement. You may or may not agree but here it goes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To measure productivity, one needs measures of output and input. Often business users want improvement in throughput without compromising quality. Management expects IT to deliver on that expectation with the same spending ($).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Let us consider measuring Productivity at team level and Business Unit (BU) level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Team Productivity Measurement:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of team output has always been a challenge. In my opinion, scientific size measurements have never worked - either difficult to learn or difficult to apply consistently. FP-like or change-complexity-based measures have failed to deliver. Newer trends like relative sizing of stories are tools for teams to plan & execute better and not a common measure of output. All the above do not make sense to business users. Only one measure of output that would make sense to business users would be number of requirements. Users may be able to attribute business value to each of these requirements - however, at this level of detail, the business value can be used to prioritize but difficult to be considered as weights for summation of output.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of input in terms of actual effort has not been practical and difficult to sustain in spite of having good tools and management dictum. 'Head-count' is difficult to normalize given the varying levels of experience and salaries in team members. Best measure of input in my view is cost to company of the team members given the people-intensive nature of software work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Overall, I would not recommend measurement of productivity at team level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Sub-BU\/BU level productivity measurement<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    There are three types of output (leaving out the infrastructure projects & support) - app development; app maintenance and app support (or production support).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    For each app (or a group of apps) that produce an outcome, business can attach a BV (Business Value in $). The sum of the Business Value could be the business generated by that sub-BU or BU (or indicative of the business generated). Business can be broken by business product. However, mapping a business product to an IT app (or a group of apps) could be tricky but I believe it is possible to do this meaningfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of input is relatively easier at this level. $ spent on each app and broken up based on the output type - dev, maint & support. Again this break-up may not be straightforward in a complex organization but can be done meaningfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Productivity Index for an app (or group of apps) can be (i.e. Output over Input): (BV for app in $) \/ (Maint + Support spend for each app); This approach is in some way like calculating return-on-investment. To me, it is the efficiency with which the spend is generating value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Dev-spend is indicative of future business value. This may have to be projected and most organizations would have made a business case for each development project when it was approved - that data could help. We can then measure Productivity Index for the development work being carried out in the IT organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Productivity Improvement:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    When we measure productivity this way, we have multiple levers available for driving improvement without compromising quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #1: App life cycle analysis<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Group apps in terms of their life stages. Look at the ratio of spends by output type - dev, maint & support. Variations in spend ratio by life stage would help the management identify apps where spend needs to reduced. Optimal ratios for each life stage could be based on industry benchmarks (if such benchmarks exist else figure out internal benchmarks). Nature of the app also could be another factor - mainframe, web, analytics & reports, mobile app, etc. in figuring out these ratios.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Sunset apps that generate low business value<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #2: Increase business value<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Compare business value from current apps with potential initiatives that could generate greater business value. Move spend to the newer development projects<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Implement practices in teams (engineering & product management together) to ensure that higher value requirements are getting prioritized; Focus on reducing risks associated with these higher value items<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #3: Reduce direct cost of people<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Look at the mix of team members; there could be opportunities to reduce the actual cost of salaries - people with lesser qualifications & experience may be good enough; higher cost resources could be shared across teams.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Look for moving spend to locations where cost of people is lower without compromising efficiency<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever<\/em> #4: Invest in automation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Focus on appropriate tools & technologies to automate engineering practices like test automation; build automation; release management, etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Review tool\/technology portfolio and optimize<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #5: Enable & encourage teams to identify, measure & improve on factors that influence productivity (a few examples below):<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Application knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Business domain knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Multi-skilling<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Team level automation (e.g. scripting of repetitive tasks; population of test data)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Waste reduction - re-work in development; Unsuccessful changes; App outage; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Self-organizing teams<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Softer aspects like: conflicts (unhealthy); gender diversity; product vision; Goal-focus; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Inter-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    All of the above 5 levers should influence the productivity index as we had defined earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    define & measure productivity at Sub-BU or BU levels (not at team level) in a way that is meaningful to business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    use macro-level means like app portfolio optimization, automation, focus on business value, etc. to improve productivity in collaboration with business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    enable & encourage teams to improve the underlying factors that influence productivity (not productivity directly)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"IT Productivity \u2013 a point of view","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"productivity-point-view","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11462","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11270,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-11-20 16:24:35","post_date_gmt":"2018-11-20 10:54:35","post_content":"\n
    https:\/\/embeds.audioboom.com\/posts\/7092680-managing-an-agile-transformation-for-success\/embed\/v4?eid=AQAAAJTk81vIOWwA<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Agile transformations, like any other are challenging for most organizations. This episode engages experts from PM Power Consulting J Veeraraaghavan, Vishveshwar Hegde and Anand Natarajan in dialogue, sharing their agile leadership coaching and consulting insights. The dialogue also explores common challenges and approaches to agile transformations for leaders and geographically distributed teams with diverse view points of the experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The case study is given below<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Trailblazers Inc. have decided to embark on an Agile transformation journey with their SVP of Engineering. Mike Simpson, personally kicking off an initiative targeted at improving predictability, reducing cycle time and improving customer responsiveness. Mike wants Neeraj who is the VP of Engineering at their Bangalore development center to drive this initiative with Scrum as the primary approach and complete the transformation within the next one and a half years. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Neeraj approaches you as an Agile coach to help him with defining and implementing a program that will ensure the success of this initiative. <\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To Summarize key aspects from the dialogue:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Define specific objectives for this initiative based on senior leadership directive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use a holistic approach (rather than just training) that considers where the organization and teams are currently with respect to the objectives and specific interventions such as training and coaching targeted at addressing the gaps identified<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ensure senior leadership team at both locations has bought into the initiative and is fully committed to it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use of constructs such as different levels of planning, scrum of scrums, meta scrums etc. for effective cross-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","post_title":"Podcast - Managing an Agile Transformation for Success","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"podcast-managing-agile-transformation-success","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11270","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11144,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:43:04","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:13:04","post_content":"\n
    You joined this team couple of months back. You notice that your manager generally works very long hours on week-days and comes to work on certain week-ends too. You are concerned that you would not get good appraisal if you do not work similar hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Would your concern be valid?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    My response is: Yes - it would be, if you are someone who does not believe in working long hours. Perceptions and concerns like - my appraisal will be impacted - are bound to set in, more so, if you have ambitions of growing into the role of your manager.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The next question is: \u2018Should you succumb to this concern and let it rule you?\u2019. This is where your philosophy comes into play. We talk about this in the blog: <\/span>https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/five-beacons-leadership-journey\/<\/span><\/a>. To quote: \u201cGreat leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Improving collaboration in a team is again\nwork that cannot be so easily fragmented. Maybe initially focus on few fun\nactivities per month and then introduce activities that are a bit more serious\nand so on. I have actually tried this in a few teams and found it works very\nwell. The catch here is that a coach should be with the team for a longer\nperiod of time. \u2018Amount\u2019 of work in this case can be arrived at using duration\nof sessions, complexity of activities, fun part in the activities and so on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Similarly this Principle can be applied to many other kinds of work that we do as coaches and the same applies to a Scrum Master or a Product Owner or team members as well. I look forward to your experiences and valuable suggestions on this blog.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    AN<\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Simplicity \u2013 the art of maximizing the amount of work not done \u2013 is essential!","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"simplicity-the-art-of-maximizing-the-amount-of-work-not-done-is-essential","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:19:03","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:19:03","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=12828","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"2","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11665,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2019-02-18 21:24:31","post_date_gmt":"2019-02-18 15:54:31","post_content":"\n
    Ram, a Test Lead, had been working for eTravel for the last three years. eTravel has a cloud-based product for frequent business travellers. When his organization decided to adopt agile practices two years ago, he chose to take on the Scrum Master role. The feature team, that he was part of as SM, had the services of an external coach for the first six months. Over the last 1.5 years after the exit of the external coach, Ram had proven to be an effective Scrum Master and an internal coach. Not only was he able to facilitate practice adoption in spirit but also to coach the team to improve predictability and velocity. He guided the team to assess the strength of its own agile practices and improve outcomes. He was very proud of his team\u2019s achievements and was happy with his career move from Test Lead to Scrum Master role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Management recognized Ram\u2019s performance and supported him in getting certified externally as an Agile Coach. He was given the additional responsibility to coach a critical feature team which was struggling to meet its sprint commitments consistently. Ram saw this as a career opportunity and he knew that his performance could pave the way for a promotion. He decided to act fast and thought it would be good to baseline the current state of agile in the second team. He also felt such an assessment would help the team to get a comprehensive picture of the areas of improvement quickly. Although Ram felt he did all the same things as he did in his first team, he found that the second team was not responding to his approach. Team would go through the motions of assessment, retrospectives and improvement actions. However, there was hardly any improvement in predictability and the team came up with good technical reasons for the slippages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    One quarter passed by and Ram was getting frustrated by the \u201cculture\u201d in the second team. What do you think could be the major reasons for the second team\u2019s \u201cresistance? If you were Ram, would you have done anything differently?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    There could be many reasons why Ram was not effective in coaching the second team. It is difficult to identify all the reasons given the limited context in the CHOW. There is one major reason that stands out based on our experience \u2013 that has to do with trust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Let us use the Trust Equation to help us analyse the situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    When Ram joined the second team as Scrum Master, he had Credibility (experience and coach certification) and Reliability (he had proven himself in the earlier team). Intimacy might have been an issue. While he wanted to help the team, he may have jumped into an assessment mode too soon. \u2018Assessment\u2019 often alienates the team from the assessor when it is done before team starts trusting the coach. Team might not have been comfortable exposing the skeletons in the closet to an \u2018assessor\u2019. Ram would not have had this problem with the first team because he was already a part of the team before the agile journey started. Ram would have been better off giving the team some time to trust him \u2013 time to clarify his intentions, observe the dynamics in the team, build relationships with key people \u2013 before launching a comprehensive assessment exercise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Let us look at the Self-orientation \u2013 the denominator. There was definitely a significant difference in Ram\u2019s mindset with the two teams. With the first team, his entire focus was on getting the team to perform & improve and he was proud of team\u2019s achievements. With the second team, he was in a hurry to prove himself. His own self-interest in promotion diluted his intensity to serve the team. Often teams sense this and do not respond very well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Hope this helps you as Scrum Master and Coach in enabling transformation of the teams that you are working with.<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #136 - Resistance to Improvement","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-136-resistance-improvement","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-17 10:15:50","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:45:50","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11665","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11465,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2019-01-28 12:26:41","post_date_gmt":"2019-01-28 06:56:41","post_content":"\n
    Sharma is a metrics-oriented Head of an IT function. Prior to adopting agile, his organization used Function Point (FP) method for measuring software size. Along with the effort data entered by individuals, teams measured productivity factor as FP per person day of effort. This data was used for estimating new project effort as well as the means for setting productivity targets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    After moving to agile, Sharma was at a loss to manage productivity. He instructed the managers in his organization to devise and implement a measure of size that is consistent across the organization. Managers decided to institutionalize a measure similar to FP. What would be impact of such a change?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    It is a fair expectation of managers like Sharma to have the ability to manage productivity. With an absolute measure of size, managers tend to compare productivity across teams and that creates an unhealthy competition. To start with, a fundamental problem teams would have is inconsistent understanding & implementation of the sizing rules. Moreover, measurement of productivity at team level shifts the focus of the team away from maximizing business value. Team\u2019s behaviour would be driven by how their success is measured \u2013 focus on productivity is likely to make teams to do some of these three things: 1. Focus on efficiency instead of throughput. 2. Subconsciously over-rating the complexity of story to inflate size which in turn could influence product owner\u2019s prioritization decisions. 3. Already unreliable effort data entered by individual team members could be influenced by the desire to show greater productivity. All the above are highly undesirable consequences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    That's my view. Would like to hear what you think.<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #133 - Standardization - one size fits all","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-133-standardization-one-size-fits","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:03","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:03","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11465","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11462,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2019-01-28 12:05:47","post_date_gmt":"2019-01-28 06:35:47","post_content":"\n
    Productivity measurement in IT function has been debated and demanded over decades. Having made multiple attempts at solving this puzzle over many years, I have developed a point of view on productivity measurement. You may or may not agree but here it goes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To measure productivity, one needs measures of output and input. Often business users want improvement in throughput without compromising quality. Management expects IT to deliver on that expectation with the same spending ($).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Let us consider measuring Productivity at team level and Business Unit (BU) level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Team Productivity Measurement:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of team output has always been a challenge. In my opinion, scientific size measurements have never worked - either difficult to learn or difficult to apply consistently. FP-like or change-complexity-based measures have failed to deliver. Newer trends like relative sizing of stories are tools for teams to plan & execute better and not a common measure of output. All the above do not make sense to business users. Only one measure of output that would make sense to business users would be number of requirements. Users may be able to attribute business value to each of these requirements - however, at this level of detail, the business value can be used to prioritize but difficult to be considered as weights for summation of output.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of input in terms of actual effort has not been practical and difficult to sustain in spite of having good tools and management dictum. 'Head-count' is difficult to normalize given the varying levels of experience and salaries in team members. Best measure of input in my view is cost to company of the team members given the people-intensive nature of software work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Overall, I would not recommend measurement of productivity at team level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Sub-BU\/BU level productivity measurement<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    There are three types of output (leaving out the infrastructure projects & support) - app development; app maintenance and app support (or production support).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    For each app (or a group of apps) that produce an outcome, business can attach a BV (Business Value in $). The sum of the Business Value could be the business generated by that sub-BU or BU (or indicative of the business generated). Business can be broken by business product. However, mapping a business product to an IT app (or a group of apps) could be tricky but I believe it is possible to do this meaningfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of input is relatively easier at this level. $ spent on each app and broken up based on the output type - dev, maint & support. Again this break-up may not be straightforward in a complex organization but can be done meaningfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Productivity Index for an app (or group of apps) can be (i.e. Output over Input): (BV for app in $) \/ (Maint + Support spend for each app); This approach is in some way like calculating return-on-investment. To me, it is the efficiency with which the spend is generating value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Dev-spend is indicative of future business value. This may have to be projected and most organizations would have made a business case for each development project when it was approved - that data could help. We can then measure Productivity Index for the development work being carried out in the IT organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Productivity Improvement:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    When we measure productivity this way, we have multiple levers available for driving improvement without compromising quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #1: App life cycle analysis<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Group apps in terms of their life stages. Look at the ratio of spends by output type - dev, maint & support. Variations in spend ratio by life stage would help the management identify apps where spend needs to reduced. Optimal ratios for each life stage could be based on industry benchmarks (if such benchmarks exist else figure out internal benchmarks). Nature of the app also could be another factor - mainframe, web, analytics & reports, mobile app, etc. in figuring out these ratios.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Sunset apps that generate low business value<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #2: Increase business value<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Compare business value from current apps with potential initiatives that could generate greater business value. Move spend to the newer development projects<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Implement practices in teams (engineering & product management together) to ensure that higher value requirements are getting prioritized; Focus on reducing risks associated with these higher value items<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #3: Reduce direct cost of people<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Look at the mix of team members; there could be opportunities to reduce the actual cost of salaries - people with lesser qualifications & experience may be good enough; higher cost resources could be shared across teams.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Look for moving spend to locations where cost of people is lower without compromising efficiency<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever<\/em> #4: Invest in automation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Focus on appropriate tools & technologies to automate engineering practices like test automation; build automation; release management, etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Review tool\/technology portfolio and optimize<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #5: Enable & encourage teams to identify, measure & improve on factors that influence productivity (a few examples below):<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Application knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Business domain knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Multi-skilling<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Team level automation (e.g. scripting of repetitive tasks; population of test data)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Waste reduction - re-work in development; Unsuccessful changes; App outage; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Self-organizing teams<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Softer aspects like: conflicts (unhealthy); gender diversity; product vision; Goal-focus; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Inter-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    All of the above 5 levers should influence the productivity index as we had defined earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    define & measure productivity at Sub-BU or BU levels (not at team level) in a way that is meaningful to business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    use macro-level means like app portfolio optimization, automation, focus on business value, etc. to improve productivity in collaboration with business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    enable & encourage teams to improve the underlying factors that influence productivity (not productivity directly)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"IT Productivity \u2013 a point of view","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"productivity-point-view","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11462","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11270,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-11-20 16:24:35","post_date_gmt":"2018-11-20 10:54:35","post_content":"\n
    https:\/\/embeds.audioboom.com\/posts\/7092680-managing-an-agile-transformation-for-success\/embed\/v4?eid=AQAAAJTk81vIOWwA<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Agile transformations, like any other are challenging for most organizations. This episode engages experts from PM Power Consulting J Veeraraaghavan, Vishveshwar Hegde and Anand Natarajan in dialogue, sharing their agile leadership coaching and consulting insights. The dialogue also explores common challenges and approaches to agile transformations for leaders and geographically distributed teams with diverse view points of the experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The case study is given below<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Trailblazers Inc. have decided to embark on an Agile transformation journey with their SVP of Engineering. Mike Simpson, personally kicking off an initiative targeted at improving predictability, reducing cycle time and improving customer responsiveness. Mike wants Neeraj who is the VP of Engineering at their Bangalore development center to drive this initiative with Scrum as the primary approach and complete the transformation within the next one and a half years. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Neeraj approaches you as an Agile coach to help him with defining and implementing a program that will ensure the success of this initiative. <\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To Summarize key aspects from the dialogue:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Define specific objectives for this initiative based on senior leadership directive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use a holistic approach (rather than just training) that considers where the organization and teams are currently with respect to the objectives and specific interventions such as training and coaching targeted at addressing the gaps identified<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ensure senior leadership team at both locations has bought into the initiative and is fully committed to it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use of constructs such as different levels of planning, scrum of scrums, meta scrums etc. for effective cross-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","post_title":"Podcast - Managing an Agile Transformation for Success","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"podcast-managing-agile-transformation-success","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11270","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11144,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:43:04","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:13:04","post_content":"\n
    You joined this team couple of months back. You notice that your manager generally works very long hours on week-days and comes to work on certain week-ends too. You are concerned that you would not get good appraisal if you do not work similar hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Would your concern be valid?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    My response is: Yes - it would be, if you are someone who does not believe in working long hours. Perceptions and concerns like - my appraisal will be impacted - are bound to set in, more so, if you have ambitions of growing into the role of your manager.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The next question is: \u2018Should you succumb to this concern and let it rule you?\u2019. This is where your philosophy comes into play. We talk about this in the blog: <\/span>https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/five-beacons-leadership-journey\/<\/span><\/a>. To quote: \u201cGreat leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
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    \n
    First focus on making the team understand\nthe ceremonies and start using them then focus on time boxing the ceremonies.\nThere again pick couple of them and then work on the rest. And then pick\nvisibility or collaboration and all these are long term activities and breaking\nthem and picking simple small steps at a time would make it easier for teams to\nadopt as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Improving collaboration in a team is again\nwork that cannot be so easily fragmented. Maybe initially focus on few fun\nactivities per month and then introduce activities that are a bit more serious\nand so on. I have actually tried this in a few teams and found it works very\nwell. The catch here is that a coach should be with the team for a longer\nperiod of time. \u2018Amount\u2019 of work in this case can be arrived at using duration\nof sessions, complexity of activities, fun part in the activities and so on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Similarly this Principle can be applied to many other kinds of work that we do as coaches and the same applies to a Scrum Master or a Product Owner or team members as well. I look forward to your experiences and valuable suggestions on this blog.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    AN<\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Simplicity \u2013 the art of maximizing the amount of work not done \u2013 is essential!","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"simplicity-the-art-of-maximizing-the-amount-of-work-not-done-is-essential","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:19:03","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:19:03","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=12828","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"2","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11665,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2019-02-18 21:24:31","post_date_gmt":"2019-02-18 15:54:31","post_content":"\n
    Ram, a Test Lead, had been working for eTravel for the last three years. eTravel has a cloud-based product for frequent business travellers. When his organization decided to adopt agile practices two years ago, he chose to take on the Scrum Master role. The feature team, that he was part of as SM, had the services of an external coach for the first six months. Over the last 1.5 years after the exit of the external coach, Ram had proven to be an effective Scrum Master and an internal coach. Not only was he able to facilitate practice adoption in spirit but also to coach the team to improve predictability and velocity. He guided the team to assess the strength of its own agile practices and improve outcomes. He was very proud of his team\u2019s achievements and was happy with his career move from Test Lead to Scrum Master role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Management recognized Ram\u2019s performance and supported him in getting certified externally as an Agile Coach. He was given the additional responsibility to coach a critical feature team which was struggling to meet its sprint commitments consistently. Ram saw this as a career opportunity and he knew that his performance could pave the way for a promotion. He decided to act fast and thought it would be good to baseline the current state of agile in the second team. He also felt such an assessment would help the team to get a comprehensive picture of the areas of improvement quickly. Although Ram felt he did all the same things as he did in his first team, he found that the second team was not responding to his approach. Team would go through the motions of assessment, retrospectives and improvement actions. However, there was hardly any improvement in predictability and the team came up with good technical reasons for the slippages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    One quarter passed by and Ram was getting frustrated by the \u201cculture\u201d in the second team. What do you think could be the major reasons for the second team\u2019s \u201cresistance? If you were Ram, would you have done anything differently?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    There could be many reasons why Ram was not effective in coaching the second team. It is difficult to identify all the reasons given the limited context in the CHOW. There is one major reason that stands out based on our experience \u2013 that has to do with trust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Let us use the Trust Equation to help us analyse the situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    When Ram joined the second team as Scrum Master, he had Credibility (experience and coach certification) and Reliability (he had proven himself in the earlier team). Intimacy might have been an issue. While he wanted to help the team, he may have jumped into an assessment mode too soon. \u2018Assessment\u2019 often alienates the team from the assessor when it is done before team starts trusting the coach. Team might not have been comfortable exposing the skeletons in the closet to an \u2018assessor\u2019. Ram would not have had this problem with the first team because he was already a part of the team before the agile journey started. Ram would have been better off giving the team some time to trust him \u2013 time to clarify his intentions, observe the dynamics in the team, build relationships with key people \u2013 before launching a comprehensive assessment exercise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Let us look at the Self-orientation \u2013 the denominator. There was definitely a significant difference in Ram\u2019s mindset with the two teams. With the first team, his entire focus was on getting the team to perform & improve and he was proud of team\u2019s achievements. With the second team, he was in a hurry to prove himself. His own self-interest in promotion diluted his intensity to serve the team. Often teams sense this and do not respond very well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Hope this helps you as Scrum Master and Coach in enabling transformation of the teams that you are working with.<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #136 - Resistance to Improvement","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-136-resistance-improvement","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-17 10:15:50","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:45:50","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11665","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11465,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2019-01-28 12:26:41","post_date_gmt":"2019-01-28 06:56:41","post_content":"\n
    Sharma is a metrics-oriented Head of an IT function. Prior to adopting agile, his organization used Function Point (FP) method for measuring software size. Along with the effort data entered by individuals, teams measured productivity factor as FP per person day of effort. This data was used for estimating new project effort as well as the means for setting productivity targets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    After moving to agile, Sharma was at a loss to manage productivity. He instructed the managers in his organization to devise and implement a measure of size that is consistent across the organization. Managers decided to institutionalize a measure similar to FP. What would be impact of such a change?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    It is a fair expectation of managers like Sharma to have the ability to manage productivity. With an absolute measure of size, managers tend to compare productivity across teams and that creates an unhealthy competition. To start with, a fundamental problem teams would have is inconsistent understanding & implementation of the sizing rules. Moreover, measurement of productivity at team level shifts the focus of the team away from maximizing business value. Team\u2019s behaviour would be driven by how their success is measured \u2013 focus on productivity is likely to make teams to do some of these three things: 1. Focus on efficiency instead of throughput. 2. Subconsciously over-rating the complexity of story to inflate size which in turn could influence product owner\u2019s prioritization decisions. 3. Already unreliable effort data entered by individual team members could be influenced by the desire to show greater productivity. All the above are highly undesirable consequences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    That's my view. Would like to hear what you think.<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #133 - Standardization - one size fits all","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-133-standardization-one-size-fits","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:03","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:03","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11465","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11462,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2019-01-28 12:05:47","post_date_gmt":"2019-01-28 06:35:47","post_content":"\n
    Productivity measurement in IT function has been debated and demanded over decades. Having made multiple attempts at solving this puzzle over many years, I have developed a point of view on productivity measurement. You may or may not agree but here it goes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To measure productivity, one needs measures of output and input. Often business users want improvement in throughput without compromising quality. Management expects IT to deliver on that expectation with the same spending ($).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Let us consider measuring Productivity at team level and Business Unit (BU) level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Team Productivity Measurement:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of team output has always been a challenge. In my opinion, scientific size measurements have never worked - either difficult to learn or difficult to apply consistently. FP-like or change-complexity-based measures have failed to deliver. Newer trends like relative sizing of stories are tools for teams to plan & execute better and not a common measure of output. All the above do not make sense to business users. Only one measure of output that would make sense to business users would be number of requirements. Users may be able to attribute business value to each of these requirements - however, at this level of detail, the business value can be used to prioritize but difficult to be considered as weights for summation of output.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of input in terms of actual effort has not been practical and difficult to sustain in spite of having good tools and management dictum. 'Head-count' is difficult to normalize given the varying levels of experience and salaries in team members. Best measure of input in my view is cost to company of the team members given the people-intensive nature of software work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Overall, I would not recommend measurement of productivity at team level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Sub-BU\/BU level productivity measurement<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    There are three types of output (leaving out the infrastructure projects & support) - app development; app maintenance and app support (or production support).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    For each app (or a group of apps) that produce an outcome, business can attach a BV (Business Value in $). The sum of the Business Value could be the business generated by that sub-BU or BU (or indicative of the business generated). Business can be broken by business product. However, mapping a business product to an IT app (or a group of apps) could be tricky but I believe it is possible to do this meaningfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of input is relatively easier at this level. $ spent on each app and broken up based on the output type - dev, maint & support. Again this break-up may not be straightforward in a complex organization but can be done meaningfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Productivity Index for an app (or group of apps) can be (i.e. Output over Input): (BV for app in $) \/ (Maint + Support spend for each app); This approach is in some way like calculating return-on-investment. To me, it is the efficiency with which the spend is generating value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Dev-spend is indicative of future business value. This may have to be projected and most organizations would have made a business case for each development project when it was approved - that data could help. We can then measure Productivity Index for the development work being carried out in the IT organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Productivity Improvement:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    When we measure productivity this way, we have multiple levers available for driving improvement without compromising quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #1: App life cycle analysis<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Group apps in terms of their life stages. Look at the ratio of spends by output type - dev, maint & support. Variations in spend ratio by life stage would help the management identify apps where spend needs to reduced. Optimal ratios for each life stage could be based on industry benchmarks (if such benchmarks exist else figure out internal benchmarks). Nature of the app also could be another factor - mainframe, web, analytics & reports, mobile app, etc. in figuring out these ratios.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Sunset apps that generate low business value<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #2: Increase business value<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Compare business value from current apps with potential initiatives that could generate greater business value. Move spend to the newer development projects<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Implement practices in teams (engineering & product management together) to ensure that higher value requirements are getting prioritized; Focus on reducing risks associated with these higher value items<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #3: Reduce direct cost of people<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Look at the mix of team members; there could be opportunities to reduce the actual cost of salaries - people with lesser qualifications & experience may be good enough; higher cost resources could be shared across teams.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Look for moving spend to locations where cost of people is lower without compromising efficiency<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever<\/em> #4: Invest in automation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Focus on appropriate tools & technologies to automate engineering practices like test automation; build automation; release management, etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Review tool\/technology portfolio and optimize<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #5: Enable & encourage teams to identify, measure & improve on factors that influence productivity (a few examples below):<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Application knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Business domain knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Multi-skilling<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Team level automation (e.g. scripting of repetitive tasks; population of test data)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Waste reduction - re-work in development; Unsuccessful changes; App outage; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Self-organizing teams<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Softer aspects like: conflicts (unhealthy); gender diversity; product vision; Goal-focus; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Inter-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    All of the above 5 levers should influence the productivity index as we had defined earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    define & measure productivity at Sub-BU or BU levels (not at team level) in a way that is meaningful to business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    use macro-level means like app portfolio optimization, automation, focus on business value, etc. to improve productivity in collaboration with business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    enable & encourage teams to improve the underlying factors that influence productivity (not productivity directly)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"IT Productivity \u2013 a point of view","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"productivity-point-view","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11462","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11270,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-11-20 16:24:35","post_date_gmt":"2018-11-20 10:54:35","post_content":"\n
    https:\/\/embeds.audioboom.com\/posts\/7092680-managing-an-agile-transformation-for-success\/embed\/v4?eid=AQAAAJTk81vIOWwA<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Agile transformations, like any other are challenging for most organizations. This episode engages experts from PM Power Consulting J Veeraraaghavan, Vishveshwar Hegde and Anand Natarajan in dialogue, sharing their agile leadership coaching and consulting insights. The dialogue also explores common challenges and approaches to agile transformations for leaders and geographically distributed teams with diverse view points of the experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The case study is given below<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Trailblazers Inc. have decided to embark on an Agile transformation journey with their SVP of Engineering. Mike Simpson, personally kicking off an initiative targeted at improving predictability, reducing cycle time and improving customer responsiveness. Mike wants Neeraj who is the VP of Engineering at their Bangalore development center to drive this initiative with Scrum as the primary approach and complete the transformation within the next one and a half years. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Neeraj approaches you as an Agile coach to help him with defining and implementing a program that will ensure the success of this initiative. <\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To Summarize key aspects from the dialogue:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Define specific objectives for this initiative based on senior leadership directive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use a holistic approach (rather than just training) that considers where the organization and teams are currently with respect to the objectives and specific interventions such as training and coaching targeted at addressing the gaps identified<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ensure senior leadership team at both locations has bought into the initiative and is fully committed to it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use of constructs such as different levels of planning, scrum of scrums, meta scrums etc. for effective cross-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","post_title":"Podcast - Managing an Agile Transformation for Success","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"podcast-managing-agile-transformation-success","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11270","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11144,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:43:04","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:13:04","post_content":"\n
    You joined this team couple of months back. You notice that your manager generally works very long hours on week-days and comes to work on certain week-ends too. You are concerned that you would not get good appraisal if you do not work similar hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Would your concern be valid?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    My response is: Yes - it would be, if you are someone who does not believe in working long hours. Perceptions and concerns like - my appraisal will be impacted - are bound to set in, more so, if you have ambitions of growing into the role of your manager.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The next question is: \u2018Should you succumb to this concern and let it rule you?\u2019. This is where your philosophy comes into play. We talk about this in the blog: <\/span>https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/five-beacons-leadership-journey\/<\/span><\/a>. To quote: \u201cGreat leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    For eg. while coaching teams that are new\nto Agile, the principle of simplicity can be applied as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    First focus on making the team understand\nthe ceremonies and start using them then focus on time boxing the ceremonies.\nThere again pick couple of them and then work on the rest. And then pick\nvisibility or collaboration and all these are long term activities and breaking\nthem and picking simple small steps at a time would make it easier for teams to\nadopt as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Improving collaboration in a team is again\nwork that cannot be so easily fragmented. Maybe initially focus on few fun\nactivities per month and then introduce activities that are a bit more serious\nand so on. I have actually tried this in a few teams and found it works very\nwell. The catch here is that a coach should be with the team for a longer\nperiod of time. \u2018Amount\u2019 of work in this case can be arrived at using duration\nof sessions, complexity of activities, fun part in the activities and so on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Similarly this Principle can be applied to many other kinds of work that we do as coaches and the same applies to a Scrum Master or a Product Owner or team members as well. I look forward to your experiences and valuable suggestions on this blog.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    AN<\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Simplicity \u2013 the art of maximizing the amount of work not done \u2013 is essential!","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"simplicity-the-art-of-maximizing-the-amount-of-work-not-done-is-essential","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:19:03","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:19:03","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=12828","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"2","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11665,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2019-02-18 21:24:31","post_date_gmt":"2019-02-18 15:54:31","post_content":"\n
    Ram, a Test Lead, had been working for eTravel for the last three years. eTravel has a cloud-based product for frequent business travellers. When his organization decided to adopt agile practices two years ago, he chose to take on the Scrum Master role. The feature team, that he was part of as SM, had the services of an external coach for the first six months. Over the last 1.5 years after the exit of the external coach, Ram had proven to be an effective Scrum Master and an internal coach. Not only was he able to facilitate practice adoption in spirit but also to coach the team to improve predictability and velocity. He guided the team to assess the strength of its own agile practices and improve outcomes. He was very proud of his team\u2019s achievements and was happy with his career move from Test Lead to Scrum Master role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Management recognized Ram\u2019s performance and supported him in getting certified externally as an Agile Coach. He was given the additional responsibility to coach a critical feature team which was struggling to meet its sprint commitments consistently. Ram saw this as a career opportunity and he knew that his performance could pave the way for a promotion. He decided to act fast and thought it would be good to baseline the current state of agile in the second team. He also felt such an assessment would help the team to get a comprehensive picture of the areas of improvement quickly. Although Ram felt he did all the same things as he did in his first team, he found that the second team was not responding to his approach. Team would go through the motions of assessment, retrospectives and improvement actions. However, there was hardly any improvement in predictability and the team came up with good technical reasons for the slippages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    One quarter passed by and Ram was getting frustrated by the \u201cculture\u201d in the second team. What do you think could be the major reasons for the second team\u2019s \u201cresistance? If you were Ram, would you have done anything differently?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    There could be many reasons why Ram was not effective in coaching the second team. It is difficult to identify all the reasons given the limited context in the CHOW. There is one major reason that stands out based on our experience \u2013 that has to do with trust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Let us use the Trust Equation to help us analyse the situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    When Ram joined the second team as Scrum Master, he had Credibility (experience and coach certification) and Reliability (he had proven himself in the earlier team). Intimacy might have been an issue. While he wanted to help the team, he may have jumped into an assessment mode too soon. \u2018Assessment\u2019 often alienates the team from the assessor when it is done before team starts trusting the coach. Team might not have been comfortable exposing the skeletons in the closet to an \u2018assessor\u2019. Ram would not have had this problem with the first team because he was already a part of the team before the agile journey started. Ram would have been better off giving the team some time to trust him \u2013 time to clarify his intentions, observe the dynamics in the team, build relationships with key people \u2013 before launching a comprehensive assessment exercise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Let us look at the Self-orientation \u2013 the denominator. There was definitely a significant difference in Ram\u2019s mindset with the two teams. With the first team, his entire focus was on getting the team to perform & improve and he was proud of team\u2019s achievements. With the second team, he was in a hurry to prove himself. His own self-interest in promotion diluted his intensity to serve the team. Often teams sense this and do not respond very well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Hope this helps you as Scrum Master and Coach in enabling transformation of the teams that you are working with.<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #136 - Resistance to Improvement","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-136-resistance-improvement","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-17 10:15:50","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:45:50","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11665","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11465,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2019-01-28 12:26:41","post_date_gmt":"2019-01-28 06:56:41","post_content":"\n
    Sharma is a metrics-oriented Head of an IT function. Prior to adopting agile, his organization used Function Point (FP) method for measuring software size. Along with the effort data entered by individuals, teams measured productivity factor as FP per person day of effort. This data was used for estimating new project effort as well as the means for setting productivity targets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    After moving to agile, Sharma was at a loss to manage productivity. He instructed the managers in his organization to devise and implement a measure of size that is consistent across the organization. Managers decided to institutionalize a measure similar to FP. What would be impact of such a change?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    It is a fair expectation of managers like Sharma to have the ability to manage productivity. With an absolute measure of size, managers tend to compare productivity across teams and that creates an unhealthy competition. To start with, a fundamental problem teams would have is inconsistent understanding & implementation of the sizing rules. Moreover, measurement of productivity at team level shifts the focus of the team away from maximizing business value. Team\u2019s behaviour would be driven by how their success is measured \u2013 focus on productivity is likely to make teams to do some of these three things: 1. Focus on efficiency instead of throughput. 2. Subconsciously over-rating the complexity of story to inflate size which in turn could influence product owner\u2019s prioritization decisions. 3. Already unreliable effort data entered by individual team members could be influenced by the desire to show greater productivity. All the above are highly undesirable consequences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    That's my view. Would like to hear what you think.<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #133 - Standardization - one size fits all","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-133-standardization-one-size-fits","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:03","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:03","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11465","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11462,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2019-01-28 12:05:47","post_date_gmt":"2019-01-28 06:35:47","post_content":"\n
    Productivity measurement in IT function has been debated and demanded over decades. Having made multiple attempts at solving this puzzle over many years, I have developed a point of view on productivity measurement. You may or may not agree but here it goes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To measure productivity, one needs measures of output and input. Often business users want improvement in throughput without compromising quality. Management expects IT to deliver on that expectation with the same spending ($).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Let us consider measuring Productivity at team level and Business Unit (BU) level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Team Productivity Measurement:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of team output has always been a challenge. In my opinion, scientific size measurements have never worked - either difficult to learn or difficult to apply consistently. FP-like or change-complexity-based measures have failed to deliver. Newer trends like relative sizing of stories are tools for teams to plan & execute better and not a common measure of output. All the above do not make sense to business users. Only one measure of output that would make sense to business users would be number of requirements. Users may be able to attribute business value to each of these requirements - however, at this level of detail, the business value can be used to prioritize but difficult to be considered as weights for summation of output.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of input in terms of actual effort has not been practical and difficult to sustain in spite of having good tools and management dictum. 'Head-count' is difficult to normalize given the varying levels of experience and salaries in team members. Best measure of input in my view is cost to company of the team members given the people-intensive nature of software work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Overall, I would not recommend measurement of productivity at team level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Sub-BU\/BU level productivity measurement<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    There are three types of output (leaving out the infrastructure projects & support) - app development; app maintenance and app support (or production support).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    For each app (or a group of apps) that produce an outcome, business can attach a BV (Business Value in $). The sum of the Business Value could be the business generated by that sub-BU or BU (or indicative of the business generated). Business can be broken by business product. However, mapping a business product to an IT app (or a group of apps) could be tricky but I believe it is possible to do this meaningfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of input is relatively easier at this level. $ spent on each app and broken up based on the output type - dev, maint & support. Again this break-up may not be straightforward in a complex organization but can be done meaningfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Productivity Index for an app (or group of apps) can be (i.e. Output over Input): (BV for app in $) \/ (Maint + Support spend for each app); This approach is in some way like calculating return-on-investment. To me, it is the efficiency with which the spend is generating value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Dev-spend is indicative of future business value. This may have to be projected and most organizations would have made a business case for each development project when it was approved - that data could help. We can then measure Productivity Index for the development work being carried out in the IT organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Productivity Improvement:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    When we measure productivity this way, we have multiple levers available for driving improvement without compromising quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #1: App life cycle analysis<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Group apps in terms of their life stages. Look at the ratio of spends by output type - dev, maint & support. Variations in spend ratio by life stage would help the management identify apps where spend needs to reduced. Optimal ratios for each life stage could be based on industry benchmarks (if such benchmarks exist else figure out internal benchmarks). Nature of the app also could be another factor - mainframe, web, analytics & reports, mobile app, etc. in figuring out these ratios.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Sunset apps that generate low business value<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #2: Increase business value<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Compare business value from current apps with potential initiatives that could generate greater business value. Move spend to the newer development projects<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Implement practices in teams (engineering & product management together) to ensure that higher value requirements are getting prioritized; Focus on reducing risks associated with these higher value items<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #3: Reduce direct cost of people<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Look at the mix of team members; there could be opportunities to reduce the actual cost of salaries - people with lesser qualifications & experience may be good enough; higher cost resources could be shared across teams.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Look for moving spend to locations where cost of people is lower without compromising efficiency<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever<\/em> #4: Invest in automation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Focus on appropriate tools & technologies to automate engineering practices like test automation; build automation; release management, etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Review tool\/technology portfolio and optimize<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #5: Enable & encourage teams to identify, measure & improve on factors that influence productivity (a few examples below):<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Application knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Business domain knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Multi-skilling<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Team level automation (e.g. scripting of repetitive tasks; population of test data)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Waste reduction - re-work in development; Unsuccessful changes; App outage; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Self-organizing teams<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Softer aspects like: conflicts (unhealthy); gender diversity; product vision; Goal-focus; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Inter-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    All of the above 5 levers should influence the productivity index as we had defined earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    define & measure productivity at Sub-BU or BU levels (not at team level) in a way that is meaningful to business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    use macro-level means like app portfolio optimization, automation, focus on business value, etc. to improve productivity in collaboration with business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    enable & encourage teams to improve the underlying factors that influence productivity (not productivity directly)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"IT Productivity \u2013 a point of view","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"productivity-point-view","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11462","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11270,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-11-20 16:24:35","post_date_gmt":"2018-11-20 10:54:35","post_content":"\n
    https:\/\/embeds.audioboom.com\/posts\/7092680-managing-an-agile-transformation-for-success\/embed\/v4?eid=AQAAAJTk81vIOWwA<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Agile transformations, like any other are challenging for most organizations. This episode engages experts from PM Power Consulting J Veeraraaghavan, Vishveshwar Hegde and Anand Natarajan in dialogue, sharing their agile leadership coaching and consulting insights. The dialogue also explores common challenges and approaches to agile transformations for leaders and geographically distributed teams with diverse view points of the experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The case study is given below<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Trailblazers Inc. have decided to embark on an Agile transformation journey with their SVP of Engineering. Mike Simpson, personally kicking off an initiative targeted at improving predictability, reducing cycle time and improving customer responsiveness. Mike wants Neeraj who is the VP of Engineering at their Bangalore development center to drive this initiative with Scrum as the primary approach and complete the transformation within the next one and a half years. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Neeraj approaches you as an Agile coach to help him with defining and implementing a program that will ensure the success of this initiative. <\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To Summarize key aspects from the dialogue:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Define specific objectives for this initiative based on senior leadership directive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use a holistic approach (rather than just training) that considers where the organization and teams are currently with respect to the objectives and specific interventions such as training and coaching targeted at addressing the gaps identified<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ensure senior leadership team at both locations has bought into the initiative and is fully committed to it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use of constructs such as different levels of planning, scrum of scrums, meta scrums etc. for effective cross-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","post_title":"Podcast - Managing an Agile Transformation for Success","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"podcast-managing-agile-transformation-success","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11270","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11144,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:43:04","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:13:04","post_content":"\n
    You joined this team couple of months back. You notice that your manager generally works very long hours on week-days and comes to work on certain week-ends too. You are concerned that you would not get good appraisal if you do not work similar hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Would your concern be valid?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    My response is: Yes - it would be, if you are someone who does not believe in working long hours. Perceptions and concerns like - my appraisal will be impacted - are bound to set in, more so, if you have ambitions of growing into the role of your manager.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The next question is: \u2018Should you succumb to this concern and let it rule you?\u2019. This is where your philosophy comes into play. We talk about this in the blog: <\/span>https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/five-beacons-leadership-journey\/<\/span><\/a>. To quote: \u201cGreat leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    I have tried to use this Principle in some\naspects and have also coached few others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    For eg. while coaching teams that are new\nto Agile, the principle of simplicity can be applied as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    First focus on making the team understand\nthe ceremonies and start using them then focus on time boxing the ceremonies.\nThere again pick couple of them and then work on the rest. And then pick\nvisibility or collaboration and all these are long term activities and breaking\nthem and picking simple small steps at a time would make it easier for teams to\nadopt as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Improving collaboration in a team is again\nwork that cannot be so easily fragmented. Maybe initially focus on few fun\nactivities per month and then introduce activities that are a bit more serious\nand so on. I have actually tried this in a few teams and found it works very\nwell. The catch here is that a coach should be with the team for a longer\nperiod of time. \u2018Amount\u2019 of work in this case can be arrived at using duration\nof sessions, complexity of activities, fun part in the activities and so on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Similarly this Principle can be applied to many other kinds of work that we do as coaches and the same applies to a Scrum Master or a Product Owner or team members as well. I look forward to your experiences and valuable suggestions on this blog.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    AN<\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Simplicity \u2013 the art of maximizing the amount of work not done \u2013 is essential!","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"simplicity-the-art-of-maximizing-the-amount-of-work-not-done-is-essential","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:19:03","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:19:03","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=12828","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"2","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11665,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2019-02-18 21:24:31","post_date_gmt":"2019-02-18 15:54:31","post_content":"\n
    Ram, a Test Lead, had been working for eTravel for the last three years. eTravel has a cloud-based product for frequent business travellers. When his organization decided to adopt agile practices two years ago, he chose to take on the Scrum Master role. The feature team, that he was part of as SM, had the services of an external coach for the first six months. Over the last 1.5 years after the exit of the external coach, Ram had proven to be an effective Scrum Master and an internal coach. Not only was he able to facilitate practice adoption in spirit but also to coach the team to improve predictability and velocity. He guided the team to assess the strength of its own agile practices and improve outcomes. He was very proud of his team\u2019s achievements and was happy with his career move from Test Lead to Scrum Master role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Management recognized Ram\u2019s performance and supported him in getting certified externally as an Agile Coach. He was given the additional responsibility to coach a critical feature team which was struggling to meet its sprint commitments consistently. Ram saw this as a career opportunity and he knew that his performance could pave the way for a promotion. He decided to act fast and thought it would be good to baseline the current state of agile in the second team. He also felt such an assessment would help the team to get a comprehensive picture of the areas of improvement quickly. Although Ram felt he did all the same things as he did in his first team, he found that the second team was not responding to his approach. Team would go through the motions of assessment, retrospectives and improvement actions. However, there was hardly any improvement in predictability and the team came up with good technical reasons for the slippages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    One quarter passed by and Ram was getting frustrated by the \u201cculture\u201d in the second team. What do you think could be the major reasons for the second team\u2019s \u201cresistance? If you were Ram, would you have done anything differently?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    There could be many reasons why Ram was not effective in coaching the second team. It is difficult to identify all the reasons given the limited context in the CHOW. There is one major reason that stands out based on our experience \u2013 that has to do with trust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Let us use the Trust Equation to help us analyse the situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    When Ram joined the second team as Scrum Master, he had Credibility (experience and coach certification) and Reliability (he had proven himself in the earlier team). Intimacy might have been an issue. While he wanted to help the team, he may have jumped into an assessment mode too soon. \u2018Assessment\u2019 often alienates the team from the assessor when it is done before team starts trusting the coach. Team might not have been comfortable exposing the skeletons in the closet to an \u2018assessor\u2019. Ram would not have had this problem with the first team because he was already a part of the team before the agile journey started. Ram would have been better off giving the team some time to trust him \u2013 time to clarify his intentions, observe the dynamics in the team, build relationships with key people \u2013 before launching a comprehensive assessment exercise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Let us look at the Self-orientation \u2013 the denominator. There was definitely a significant difference in Ram\u2019s mindset with the two teams. With the first team, his entire focus was on getting the team to perform & improve and he was proud of team\u2019s achievements. With the second team, he was in a hurry to prove himself. His own self-interest in promotion diluted his intensity to serve the team. Often teams sense this and do not respond very well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Hope this helps you as Scrum Master and Coach in enabling transformation of the teams that you are working with.<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #136 - Resistance to Improvement","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-136-resistance-improvement","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-17 10:15:50","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:45:50","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11665","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11465,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2019-01-28 12:26:41","post_date_gmt":"2019-01-28 06:56:41","post_content":"\n
    Sharma is a metrics-oriented Head of an IT function. Prior to adopting agile, his organization used Function Point (FP) method for measuring software size. Along with the effort data entered by individuals, teams measured productivity factor as FP per person day of effort. This data was used for estimating new project effort as well as the means for setting productivity targets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    After moving to agile, Sharma was at a loss to manage productivity. He instructed the managers in his organization to devise and implement a measure of size that is consistent across the organization. Managers decided to institutionalize a measure similar to FP. What would be impact of such a change?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    It is a fair expectation of managers like Sharma to have the ability to manage productivity. With an absolute measure of size, managers tend to compare productivity across teams and that creates an unhealthy competition. To start with, a fundamental problem teams would have is inconsistent understanding & implementation of the sizing rules. Moreover, measurement of productivity at team level shifts the focus of the team away from maximizing business value. Team\u2019s behaviour would be driven by how their success is measured \u2013 focus on productivity is likely to make teams to do some of these three things: 1. Focus on efficiency instead of throughput. 2. Subconsciously over-rating the complexity of story to inflate size which in turn could influence product owner\u2019s prioritization decisions. 3. Already unreliable effort data entered by individual team members could be influenced by the desire to show greater productivity. All the above are highly undesirable consequences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    That's my view. Would like to hear what you think.<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #133 - Standardization - one size fits all","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-133-standardization-one-size-fits","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:03","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:03","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11465","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11462,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2019-01-28 12:05:47","post_date_gmt":"2019-01-28 06:35:47","post_content":"\n
    Productivity measurement in IT function has been debated and demanded over decades. Having made multiple attempts at solving this puzzle over many years, I have developed a point of view on productivity measurement. You may or may not agree but here it goes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To measure productivity, one needs measures of output and input. Often business users want improvement in throughput without compromising quality. Management expects IT to deliver on that expectation with the same spending ($).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Let us consider measuring Productivity at team level and Business Unit (BU) level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Team Productivity Measurement:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of team output has always been a challenge. In my opinion, scientific size measurements have never worked - either difficult to learn or difficult to apply consistently. FP-like or change-complexity-based measures have failed to deliver. Newer trends like relative sizing of stories are tools for teams to plan & execute better and not a common measure of output. All the above do not make sense to business users. Only one measure of output that would make sense to business users would be number of requirements. Users may be able to attribute business value to each of these requirements - however, at this level of detail, the business value can be used to prioritize but difficult to be considered as weights for summation of output.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of input in terms of actual effort has not been practical and difficult to sustain in spite of having good tools and management dictum. 'Head-count' is difficult to normalize given the varying levels of experience and salaries in team members. Best measure of input in my view is cost to company of the team members given the people-intensive nature of software work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Overall, I would not recommend measurement of productivity at team level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Sub-BU\/BU level productivity measurement<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    There are three types of output (leaving out the infrastructure projects & support) - app development; app maintenance and app support (or production support).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    For each app (or a group of apps) that produce an outcome, business can attach a BV (Business Value in $). The sum of the Business Value could be the business generated by that sub-BU or BU (or indicative of the business generated). Business can be broken by business product. However, mapping a business product to an IT app (or a group of apps) could be tricky but I believe it is possible to do this meaningfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of input is relatively easier at this level. $ spent on each app and broken up based on the output type - dev, maint & support. Again this break-up may not be straightforward in a complex organization but can be done meaningfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Productivity Index for an app (or group of apps) can be (i.e. Output over Input): (BV for app in $) \/ (Maint + Support spend for each app); This approach is in some way like calculating return-on-investment. To me, it is the efficiency with which the spend is generating value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Dev-spend is indicative of future business value. This may have to be projected and most organizations would have made a business case for each development project when it was approved - that data could help. We can then measure Productivity Index for the development work being carried out in the IT organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Productivity Improvement:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    When we measure productivity this way, we have multiple levers available for driving improvement without compromising quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #1: App life cycle analysis<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Group apps in terms of their life stages. Look at the ratio of spends by output type - dev, maint & support. Variations in spend ratio by life stage would help the management identify apps where spend needs to reduced. Optimal ratios for each life stage could be based on industry benchmarks (if such benchmarks exist else figure out internal benchmarks). Nature of the app also could be another factor - mainframe, web, analytics & reports, mobile app, etc. in figuring out these ratios.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Sunset apps that generate low business value<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #2: Increase business value<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Compare business value from current apps with potential initiatives that could generate greater business value. Move spend to the newer development projects<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Implement practices in teams (engineering & product management together) to ensure that higher value requirements are getting prioritized; Focus on reducing risks associated with these higher value items<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #3: Reduce direct cost of people<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Look at the mix of team members; there could be opportunities to reduce the actual cost of salaries - people with lesser qualifications & experience may be good enough; higher cost resources could be shared across teams.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Look for moving spend to locations where cost of people is lower without compromising efficiency<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever<\/em> #4: Invest in automation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Focus on appropriate tools & technologies to automate engineering practices like test automation; build automation; release management, etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Review tool\/technology portfolio and optimize<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #5: Enable & encourage teams to identify, measure & improve on factors that influence productivity (a few examples below):<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Application knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Business domain knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Multi-skilling<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Team level automation (e.g. scripting of repetitive tasks; population of test data)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Waste reduction - re-work in development; Unsuccessful changes; App outage; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Self-organizing teams<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Softer aspects like: conflicts (unhealthy); gender diversity; product vision; Goal-focus; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Inter-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    All of the above 5 levers should influence the productivity index as we had defined earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    define & measure productivity at Sub-BU or BU levels (not at team level) in a way that is meaningful to business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    use macro-level means like app portfolio optimization, automation, focus on business value, etc. to improve productivity in collaboration with business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    enable & encourage teams to improve the underlying factors that influence productivity (not productivity directly)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"IT Productivity \u2013 a point of view","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"productivity-point-view","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11462","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11270,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-11-20 16:24:35","post_date_gmt":"2018-11-20 10:54:35","post_content":"\n
    https:\/\/embeds.audioboom.com\/posts\/7092680-managing-an-agile-transformation-for-success\/embed\/v4?eid=AQAAAJTk81vIOWwA<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Agile transformations, like any other are challenging for most organizations. This episode engages experts from PM Power Consulting J Veeraraaghavan, Vishveshwar Hegde and Anand Natarajan in dialogue, sharing their agile leadership coaching and consulting insights. The dialogue also explores common challenges and approaches to agile transformations for leaders and geographically distributed teams with diverse view points of the experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The case study is given below<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Trailblazers Inc. have decided to embark on an Agile transformation journey with their SVP of Engineering. Mike Simpson, personally kicking off an initiative targeted at improving predictability, reducing cycle time and improving customer responsiveness. Mike wants Neeraj who is the VP of Engineering at their Bangalore development center to drive this initiative with Scrum as the primary approach and complete the transformation within the next one and a half years. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Neeraj approaches you as an Agile coach to help him with defining and implementing a program that will ensure the success of this initiative. <\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To Summarize key aspects from the dialogue:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Define specific objectives for this initiative based on senior leadership directive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use a holistic approach (rather than just training) that considers where the organization and teams are currently with respect to the objectives and specific interventions such as training and coaching targeted at addressing the gaps identified<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ensure senior leadership team at both locations has bought into the initiative and is fully committed to it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use of constructs such as different levels of planning, scrum of scrums, meta scrums etc. for effective cross-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","post_title":"Podcast - Managing an Agile Transformation for Success","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"podcast-managing-agile-transformation-success","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11270","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11144,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:43:04","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:13:04","post_content":"\n
    You joined this team couple of months back. You notice that your manager generally works very long hours on week-days and comes to work on certain week-ends too. You are concerned that you would not get good appraisal if you do not work similar hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Would your concern be valid?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    My response is: Yes - it would be, if you are someone who does not believe in working long hours. Perceptions and concerns like - my appraisal will be impacted - are bound to set in, more so, if you have ambitions of growing into the role of your manager.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The next question is: \u2018Should you succumb to this concern and let it rule you?\u2019. This is where your philosophy comes into play. We talk about this in the blog: <\/span>https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/five-beacons-leadership-journey\/<\/span><\/a>. To quote: \u201cGreat leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    And not all work may be measurable. So how\ndo I know the \u2018amount of work\u2019 on hand? And some of them can be never ending \u2013\nsay self-organization, commitment and so on. As a coach if I am working on\nimproving the commitment of a team or the way they do estimations or applying\nINVEST to stories \u2013 all these are long term activities and one cannot say I am\ndone with this and let me move on to the next. So identifying \u2018work not done\u2019\nitself is a challenging task if one needs to maximize it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I have tried to use this Principle in some\naspects and have also coached few others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    For eg. while coaching teams that are new\nto Agile, the principle of simplicity can be applied as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    First focus on making the team understand\nthe ceremonies and start using them then focus on time boxing the ceremonies.\nThere again pick couple of them and then work on the rest. And then pick\nvisibility or collaboration and all these are long term activities and breaking\nthem and picking simple small steps at a time would make it easier for teams to\nadopt as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Improving collaboration in a team is again\nwork that cannot be so easily fragmented. Maybe initially focus on few fun\nactivities per month and then introduce activities that are a bit more serious\nand so on. I have actually tried this in a few teams and found it works very\nwell. The catch here is that a coach should be with the team for a longer\nperiod of time. \u2018Amount\u2019 of work in this case can be arrived at using duration\nof sessions, complexity of activities, fun part in the activities and so on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Similarly this Principle can be applied to many other kinds of work that we do as coaches and the same applies to a Scrum Master or a Product Owner or team members as well. I look forward to your experiences and valuable suggestions on this blog.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    AN<\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Simplicity \u2013 the art of maximizing the amount of work not done \u2013 is essential!","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"simplicity-the-art-of-maximizing-the-amount-of-work-not-done-is-essential","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:19:03","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:19:03","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=12828","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"2","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11665,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2019-02-18 21:24:31","post_date_gmt":"2019-02-18 15:54:31","post_content":"\n
    Ram, a Test Lead, had been working for eTravel for the last three years. eTravel has a cloud-based product for frequent business travellers. When his organization decided to adopt agile practices two years ago, he chose to take on the Scrum Master role. The feature team, that he was part of as SM, had the services of an external coach for the first six months. Over the last 1.5 years after the exit of the external coach, Ram had proven to be an effective Scrum Master and an internal coach. Not only was he able to facilitate practice adoption in spirit but also to coach the team to improve predictability and velocity. He guided the team to assess the strength of its own agile practices and improve outcomes. He was very proud of his team\u2019s achievements and was happy with his career move from Test Lead to Scrum Master role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Management recognized Ram\u2019s performance and supported him in getting certified externally as an Agile Coach. He was given the additional responsibility to coach a critical feature team which was struggling to meet its sprint commitments consistently. Ram saw this as a career opportunity and he knew that his performance could pave the way for a promotion. He decided to act fast and thought it would be good to baseline the current state of agile in the second team. He also felt such an assessment would help the team to get a comprehensive picture of the areas of improvement quickly. Although Ram felt he did all the same things as he did in his first team, he found that the second team was not responding to his approach. Team would go through the motions of assessment, retrospectives and improvement actions. However, there was hardly any improvement in predictability and the team came up with good technical reasons for the slippages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    One quarter passed by and Ram was getting frustrated by the \u201cculture\u201d in the second team. What do you think could be the major reasons for the second team\u2019s \u201cresistance? If you were Ram, would you have done anything differently?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    There could be many reasons why Ram was not effective in coaching the second team. It is difficult to identify all the reasons given the limited context in the CHOW. There is one major reason that stands out based on our experience \u2013 that has to do with trust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Let us use the Trust Equation to help us analyse the situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    When Ram joined the second team as Scrum Master, he had Credibility (experience and coach certification) and Reliability (he had proven himself in the earlier team). Intimacy might have been an issue. While he wanted to help the team, he may have jumped into an assessment mode too soon. \u2018Assessment\u2019 often alienates the team from the assessor when it is done before team starts trusting the coach. Team might not have been comfortable exposing the skeletons in the closet to an \u2018assessor\u2019. Ram would not have had this problem with the first team because he was already a part of the team before the agile journey started. Ram would have been better off giving the team some time to trust him \u2013 time to clarify his intentions, observe the dynamics in the team, build relationships with key people \u2013 before launching a comprehensive assessment exercise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Let us look at the Self-orientation \u2013 the denominator. There was definitely a significant difference in Ram\u2019s mindset with the two teams. With the first team, his entire focus was on getting the team to perform & improve and he was proud of team\u2019s achievements. With the second team, he was in a hurry to prove himself. His own self-interest in promotion diluted his intensity to serve the team. Often teams sense this and do not respond very well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Hope this helps you as Scrum Master and Coach in enabling transformation of the teams that you are working with.<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #136 - Resistance to Improvement","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-136-resistance-improvement","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-17 10:15:50","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:45:50","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11665","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11465,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2019-01-28 12:26:41","post_date_gmt":"2019-01-28 06:56:41","post_content":"\n
    Sharma is a metrics-oriented Head of an IT function. Prior to adopting agile, his organization used Function Point (FP) method for measuring software size. Along with the effort data entered by individuals, teams measured productivity factor as FP per person day of effort. This data was used for estimating new project effort as well as the means for setting productivity targets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    After moving to agile, Sharma was at a loss to manage productivity. He instructed the managers in his organization to devise and implement a measure of size that is consistent across the organization. Managers decided to institutionalize a measure similar to FP. What would be impact of such a change?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    It is a fair expectation of managers like Sharma to have the ability to manage productivity. With an absolute measure of size, managers tend to compare productivity across teams and that creates an unhealthy competition. To start with, a fundamental problem teams would have is inconsistent understanding & implementation of the sizing rules. Moreover, measurement of productivity at team level shifts the focus of the team away from maximizing business value. Team\u2019s behaviour would be driven by how their success is measured \u2013 focus on productivity is likely to make teams to do some of these three things: 1. Focus on efficiency instead of throughput. 2. Subconsciously over-rating the complexity of story to inflate size which in turn could influence product owner\u2019s prioritization decisions. 3. Already unreliable effort data entered by individual team members could be influenced by the desire to show greater productivity. All the above are highly undesirable consequences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    That's my view. Would like to hear what you think.<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #133 - Standardization - one size fits all","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-133-standardization-one-size-fits","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:03","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:03","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11465","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11462,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2019-01-28 12:05:47","post_date_gmt":"2019-01-28 06:35:47","post_content":"\n
    Productivity measurement in IT function has been debated and demanded over decades. Having made multiple attempts at solving this puzzle over many years, I have developed a point of view on productivity measurement. You may or may not agree but here it goes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To measure productivity, one needs measures of output and input. Often business users want improvement in throughput without compromising quality. Management expects IT to deliver on that expectation with the same spending ($).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Let us consider measuring Productivity at team level and Business Unit (BU) level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Team Productivity Measurement:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of team output has always been a challenge. In my opinion, scientific size measurements have never worked - either difficult to learn or difficult to apply consistently. FP-like or change-complexity-based measures have failed to deliver. Newer trends like relative sizing of stories are tools for teams to plan & execute better and not a common measure of output. All the above do not make sense to business users. Only one measure of output that would make sense to business users would be number of requirements. Users may be able to attribute business value to each of these requirements - however, at this level of detail, the business value can be used to prioritize but difficult to be considered as weights for summation of output.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of input in terms of actual effort has not been practical and difficult to sustain in spite of having good tools and management dictum. 'Head-count' is difficult to normalize given the varying levels of experience and salaries in team members. Best measure of input in my view is cost to company of the team members given the people-intensive nature of software work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Overall, I would not recommend measurement of productivity at team level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Sub-BU\/BU level productivity measurement<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    There are three types of output (leaving out the infrastructure projects & support) - app development; app maintenance and app support (or production support).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    For each app (or a group of apps) that produce an outcome, business can attach a BV (Business Value in $). The sum of the Business Value could be the business generated by that sub-BU or BU (or indicative of the business generated). Business can be broken by business product. However, mapping a business product to an IT app (or a group of apps) could be tricky but I believe it is possible to do this meaningfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of input is relatively easier at this level. $ spent on each app and broken up based on the output type - dev, maint & support. Again this break-up may not be straightforward in a complex organization but can be done meaningfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Productivity Index for an app (or group of apps) can be (i.e. Output over Input): (BV for app in $) \/ (Maint + Support spend for each app); This approach is in some way like calculating return-on-investment. To me, it is the efficiency with which the spend is generating value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Dev-spend is indicative of future business value. This may have to be projected and most organizations would have made a business case for each development project when it was approved - that data could help. We can then measure Productivity Index for the development work being carried out in the IT organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Productivity Improvement:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    When we measure productivity this way, we have multiple levers available for driving improvement without compromising quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #1: App life cycle analysis<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Group apps in terms of their life stages. Look at the ratio of spends by output type - dev, maint & support. Variations in spend ratio by life stage would help the management identify apps where spend needs to reduced. Optimal ratios for each life stage could be based on industry benchmarks (if such benchmarks exist else figure out internal benchmarks). Nature of the app also could be another factor - mainframe, web, analytics & reports, mobile app, etc. in figuring out these ratios.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Sunset apps that generate low business value<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #2: Increase business value<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Compare business value from current apps with potential initiatives that could generate greater business value. Move spend to the newer development projects<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Implement practices in teams (engineering & product management together) to ensure that higher value requirements are getting prioritized; Focus on reducing risks associated with these higher value items<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #3: Reduce direct cost of people<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Look at the mix of team members; there could be opportunities to reduce the actual cost of salaries - people with lesser qualifications & experience may be good enough; higher cost resources could be shared across teams.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Look for moving spend to locations where cost of people is lower without compromising efficiency<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever<\/em> #4: Invest in automation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Focus on appropriate tools & technologies to automate engineering practices like test automation; build automation; release management, etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Review tool\/technology portfolio and optimize<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #5: Enable & encourage teams to identify, measure & improve on factors that influence productivity (a few examples below):<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Application knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Business domain knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Multi-skilling<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Team level automation (e.g. scripting of repetitive tasks; population of test data)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Waste reduction - re-work in development; Unsuccessful changes; App outage; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Self-organizing teams<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Softer aspects like: conflicts (unhealthy); gender diversity; product vision; Goal-focus; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Inter-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    All of the above 5 levers should influence the productivity index as we had defined earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    define & measure productivity at Sub-BU or BU levels (not at team level) in a way that is meaningful to business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    use macro-level means like app portfolio optimization, automation, focus on business value, etc. to improve productivity in collaboration with business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    enable & encourage teams to improve the underlying factors that influence productivity (not productivity directly)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"IT Productivity \u2013 a point of view","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"productivity-point-view","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11462","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11270,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-11-20 16:24:35","post_date_gmt":"2018-11-20 10:54:35","post_content":"\n
    https:\/\/embeds.audioboom.com\/posts\/7092680-managing-an-agile-transformation-for-success\/embed\/v4?eid=AQAAAJTk81vIOWwA<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Agile transformations, like any other are challenging for most organizations. This episode engages experts from PM Power Consulting J Veeraraaghavan, Vishveshwar Hegde and Anand Natarajan in dialogue, sharing their agile leadership coaching and consulting insights. The dialogue also explores common challenges and approaches to agile transformations for leaders and geographically distributed teams with diverse view points of the experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The case study is given below<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Trailblazers Inc. have decided to embark on an Agile transformation journey with their SVP of Engineering. Mike Simpson, personally kicking off an initiative targeted at improving predictability, reducing cycle time and improving customer responsiveness. Mike wants Neeraj who is the VP of Engineering at their Bangalore development center to drive this initiative with Scrum as the primary approach and complete the transformation within the next one and a half years. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Neeraj approaches you as an Agile coach to help him with defining and implementing a program that will ensure the success of this initiative. <\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To Summarize key aspects from the dialogue:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Define specific objectives for this initiative based on senior leadership directive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use a holistic approach (rather than just training) that considers where the organization and teams are currently with respect to the objectives and specific interventions such as training and coaching targeted at addressing the gaps identified<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ensure senior leadership team at both locations has bought into the initiative and is fully committed to it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use of constructs such as different levels of planning, scrum of scrums, meta scrums etc. for effective cross-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","post_title":"Podcast - Managing an Agile Transformation for Success","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"podcast-managing-agile-transformation-success","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11270","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11144,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:43:04","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:13:04","post_content":"\n
    You joined this team couple of months back. You notice that your manager generally works very long hours on week-days and comes to work on certain week-ends too. You are concerned that you would not get good appraisal if you do not work similar hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Would your concern be valid?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    My response is: Yes - it would be, if you are someone who does not believe in working long hours. Perceptions and concerns like - my appraisal will be impacted - are bound to set in, more so, if you have ambitions of growing into the role of your manager.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The next question is: \u2018Should you succumb to this concern and let it rule you?\u2019. This is where your philosophy comes into play. We talk about this in the blog: <\/span>https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/five-beacons-leadership-journey\/<\/span><\/a>. To quote: \u201cGreat leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    I tried to ponder upon this and thought of\nfew instances where I myself had difficulty managing my time and work and\nthought why not try this Principle! I found it really makes a lot of sense.\nSome times we feel that as coaches this Principle applies to only requirements\nof a product and keep focusing on teams\u2019 work in terms of requirements. But\nthat is not all there is to this Principle. It can be applied to almost any\nwork that one does. And work can be: stories being developed, bugs being fixed,\nenablers, impediments being solved, improvement opportunities being worked on\nand so on. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
    And not all work may be measurable. So how\ndo I know the \u2018amount of work\u2019 on hand? And some of them can be never ending \u2013\nsay self-organization, commitment and so on. As a coach if I am working on\nimproving the commitment of a team or the way they do estimations or applying\nINVEST to stories \u2013 all these are long term activities and one cannot say I am\ndone with this and let me move on to the next. So identifying \u2018work not done\u2019\nitself is a challenging task if one needs to maximize it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I have tried to use this Principle in some\naspects and have also coached few others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    For eg. while coaching teams that are new\nto Agile, the principle of simplicity can be applied as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    First focus on making the team understand\nthe ceremonies and start using them then focus on time boxing the ceremonies.\nThere again pick couple of them and then work on the rest. And then pick\nvisibility or collaboration and all these are long term activities and breaking\nthem and picking simple small steps at a time would make it easier for teams to\nadopt as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Improving collaboration in a team is again\nwork that cannot be so easily fragmented. Maybe initially focus on few fun\nactivities per month and then introduce activities that are a bit more serious\nand so on. I have actually tried this in a few teams and found it works very\nwell. The catch here is that a coach should be with the team for a longer\nperiod of time. \u2018Amount\u2019 of work in this case can be arrived at using duration\nof sessions, complexity of activities, fun part in the activities and so on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Similarly this Principle can be applied to many other kinds of work that we do as coaches and the same applies to a Scrum Master or a Product Owner or team members as well. I look forward to your experiences and valuable suggestions on this blog.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    AN<\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Simplicity \u2013 the art of maximizing the amount of work not done \u2013 is essential!","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"simplicity-the-art-of-maximizing-the-amount-of-work-not-done-is-essential","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:19:03","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:19:03","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=12828","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"2","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11665,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2019-02-18 21:24:31","post_date_gmt":"2019-02-18 15:54:31","post_content":"\n
    Ram, a Test Lead, had been working for eTravel for the last three years. eTravel has a cloud-based product for frequent business travellers. When his organization decided to adopt agile practices two years ago, he chose to take on the Scrum Master role. The feature team, that he was part of as SM, had the services of an external coach for the first six months. Over the last 1.5 years after the exit of the external coach, Ram had proven to be an effective Scrum Master and an internal coach. Not only was he able to facilitate practice adoption in spirit but also to coach the team to improve predictability and velocity. He guided the team to assess the strength of its own agile practices and improve outcomes. He was very proud of his team\u2019s achievements and was happy with his career move from Test Lead to Scrum Master role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Management recognized Ram\u2019s performance and supported him in getting certified externally as an Agile Coach. He was given the additional responsibility to coach a critical feature team which was struggling to meet its sprint commitments consistently. Ram saw this as a career opportunity and he knew that his performance could pave the way for a promotion. He decided to act fast and thought it would be good to baseline the current state of agile in the second team. He also felt such an assessment would help the team to get a comprehensive picture of the areas of improvement quickly. Although Ram felt he did all the same things as he did in his first team, he found that the second team was not responding to his approach. Team would go through the motions of assessment, retrospectives and improvement actions. However, there was hardly any improvement in predictability and the team came up with good technical reasons for the slippages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    One quarter passed by and Ram was getting frustrated by the \u201cculture\u201d in the second team. What do you think could be the major reasons for the second team\u2019s \u201cresistance? If you were Ram, would you have done anything differently?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    There could be many reasons why Ram was not effective in coaching the second team. It is difficult to identify all the reasons given the limited context in the CHOW. There is one major reason that stands out based on our experience \u2013 that has to do with trust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Let us use the Trust Equation to help us analyse the situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    When Ram joined the second team as Scrum Master, he had Credibility (experience and coach certification) and Reliability (he had proven himself in the earlier team). Intimacy might have been an issue. While he wanted to help the team, he may have jumped into an assessment mode too soon. \u2018Assessment\u2019 often alienates the team from the assessor when it is done before team starts trusting the coach. Team might not have been comfortable exposing the skeletons in the closet to an \u2018assessor\u2019. Ram would not have had this problem with the first team because he was already a part of the team before the agile journey started. Ram would have been better off giving the team some time to trust him \u2013 time to clarify his intentions, observe the dynamics in the team, build relationships with key people \u2013 before launching a comprehensive assessment exercise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Let us look at the Self-orientation \u2013 the denominator. There was definitely a significant difference in Ram\u2019s mindset with the two teams. With the first team, his entire focus was on getting the team to perform & improve and he was proud of team\u2019s achievements. With the second team, he was in a hurry to prove himself. His own self-interest in promotion diluted his intensity to serve the team. Often teams sense this and do not respond very well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Hope this helps you as Scrum Master and Coach in enabling transformation of the teams that you are working with.<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #136 - Resistance to Improvement","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-136-resistance-improvement","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-17 10:15:50","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:45:50","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11665","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11465,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2019-01-28 12:26:41","post_date_gmt":"2019-01-28 06:56:41","post_content":"\n
    Sharma is a metrics-oriented Head of an IT function. Prior to adopting agile, his organization used Function Point (FP) method for measuring software size. Along with the effort data entered by individuals, teams measured productivity factor as FP per person day of effort. This data was used for estimating new project effort as well as the means for setting productivity targets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    After moving to agile, Sharma was at a loss to manage productivity. He instructed the managers in his organization to devise and implement a measure of size that is consistent across the organization. Managers decided to institutionalize a measure similar to FP. What would be impact of such a change?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    It is a fair expectation of managers like Sharma to have the ability to manage productivity. With an absolute measure of size, managers tend to compare productivity across teams and that creates an unhealthy competition. To start with, a fundamental problem teams would have is inconsistent understanding & implementation of the sizing rules. Moreover, measurement of productivity at team level shifts the focus of the team away from maximizing business value. Team\u2019s behaviour would be driven by how their success is measured \u2013 focus on productivity is likely to make teams to do some of these three things: 1. Focus on efficiency instead of throughput. 2. Subconsciously over-rating the complexity of story to inflate size which in turn could influence product owner\u2019s prioritization decisions. 3. Already unreliable effort data entered by individual team members could be influenced by the desire to show greater productivity. All the above are highly undesirable consequences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    That's my view. Would like to hear what you think.<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #133 - Standardization - one size fits all","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-133-standardization-one-size-fits","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:03","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:03","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11465","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11462,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2019-01-28 12:05:47","post_date_gmt":"2019-01-28 06:35:47","post_content":"\n
    Productivity measurement in IT function has been debated and demanded over decades. Having made multiple attempts at solving this puzzle over many years, I have developed a point of view on productivity measurement. You may or may not agree but here it goes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To measure productivity, one needs measures of output and input. Often business users want improvement in throughput without compromising quality. Management expects IT to deliver on that expectation with the same spending ($).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Let us consider measuring Productivity at team level and Business Unit (BU) level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Team Productivity Measurement:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of team output has always been a challenge. In my opinion, scientific size measurements have never worked - either difficult to learn or difficult to apply consistently. FP-like or change-complexity-based measures have failed to deliver. Newer trends like relative sizing of stories are tools for teams to plan & execute better and not a common measure of output. All the above do not make sense to business users. Only one measure of output that would make sense to business users would be number of requirements. Users may be able to attribute business value to each of these requirements - however, at this level of detail, the business value can be used to prioritize but difficult to be considered as weights for summation of output.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of input in terms of actual effort has not been practical and difficult to sustain in spite of having good tools and management dictum. 'Head-count' is difficult to normalize given the varying levels of experience and salaries in team members. Best measure of input in my view is cost to company of the team members given the people-intensive nature of software work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Overall, I would not recommend measurement of productivity at team level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Sub-BU\/BU level productivity measurement<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    There are three types of output (leaving out the infrastructure projects & support) - app development; app maintenance and app support (or production support).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    For each app (or a group of apps) that produce an outcome, business can attach a BV (Business Value in $). The sum of the Business Value could be the business generated by that sub-BU or BU (or indicative of the business generated). Business can be broken by business product. However, mapping a business product to an IT app (or a group of apps) could be tricky but I believe it is possible to do this meaningfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of input is relatively easier at this level. $ spent on each app and broken up based on the output type - dev, maint & support. Again this break-up may not be straightforward in a complex organization but can be done meaningfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Productivity Index for an app (or group of apps) can be (i.e. Output over Input): (BV for app in $) \/ (Maint + Support spend for each app); This approach is in some way like calculating return-on-investment. To me, it is the efficiency with which the spend is generating value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Dev-spend is indicative of future business value. This may have to be projected and most organizations would have made a business case for each development project when it was approved - that data could help. We can then measure Productivity Index for the development work being carried out in the IT organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Productivity Improvement:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    When we measure productivity this way, we have multiple levers available for driving improvement without compromising quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #1: App life cycle analysis<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Group apps in terms of their life stages. Look at the ratio of spends by output type - dev, maint & support. Variations in spend ratio by life stage would help the management identify apps where spend needs to reduced. Optimal ratios for each life stage could be based on industry benchmarks (if such benchmarks exist else figure out internal benchmarks). Nature of the app also could be another factor - mainframe, web, analytics & reports, mobile app, etc. in figuring out these ratios.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Sunset apps that generate low business value<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #2: Increase business value<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Compare business value from current apps with potential initiatives that could generate greater business value. Move spend to the newer development projects<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Implement practices in teams (engineering & product management together) to ensure that higher value requirements are getting prioritized; Focus on reducing risks associated with these higher value items<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #3: Reduce direct cost of people<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Look at the mix of team members; there could be opportunities to reduce the actual cost of salaries - people with lesser qualifications & experience may be good enough; higher cost resources could be shared across teams.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Look for moving spend to locations where cost of people is lower without compromising efficiency<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever<\/em> #4: Invest in automation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Focus on appropriate tools & technologies to automate engineering practices like test automation; build automation; release management, etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Review tool\/technology portfolio and optimize<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #5: Enable & encourage teams to identify, measure & improve on factors that influence productivity (a few examples below):<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Application knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Business domain knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Multi-skilling<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Team level automation (e.g. scripting of repetitive tasks; population of test data)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Waste reduction - re-work in development; Unsuccessful changes; App outage; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Self-organizing teams<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Softer aspects like: conflicts (unhealthy); gender diversity; product vision; Goal-focus; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Inter-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    All of the above 5 levers should influence the productivity index as we had defined earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    define & measure productivity at Sub-BU or BU levels (not at team level) in a way that is meaningful to business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    use macro-level means like app portfolio optimization, automation, focus on business value, etc. to improve productivity in collaboration with business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    enable & encourage teams to improve the underlying factors that influence productivity (not productivity directly)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"IT Productivity \u2013 a point of view","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"productivity-point-view","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11462","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11270,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-11-20 16:24:35","post_date_gmt":"2018-11-20 10:54:35","post_content":"\n
    https:\/\/embeds.audioboom.com\/posts\/7092680-managing-an-agile-transformation-for-success\/embed\/v4?eid=AQAAAJTk81vIOWwA<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Agile transformations, like any other are challenging for most organizations. This episode engages experts from PM Power Consulting J Veeraraaghavan, Vishveshwar Hegde and Anand Natarajan in dialogue, sharing their agile leadership coaching and consulting insights. The dialogue also explores common challenges and approaches to agile transformations for leaders and geographically distributed teams with diverse view points of the experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The case study is given below<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Trailblazers Inc. have decided to embark on an Agile transformation journey with their SVP of Engineering. Mike Simpson, personally kicking off an initiative targeted at improving predictability, reducing cycle time and improving customer responsiveness. Mike wants Neeraj who is the VP of Engineering at their Bangalore development center to drive this initiative with Scrum as the primary approach and complete the transformation within the next one and a half years. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Neeraj approaches you as an Agile coach to help him with defining and implementing a program that will ensure the success of this initiative. <\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To Summarize key aspects from the dialogue:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Define specific objectives for this initiative based on senior leadership directive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use a holistic approach (rather than just training) that considers where the organization and teams are currently with respect to the objectives and specific interventions such as training and coaching targeted at addressing the gaps identified<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ensure senior leadership team at both locations has bought into the initiative and is fully committed to it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use of constructs such as different levels of planning, scrum of scrums, meta scrums etc. for effective cross-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","post_title":"Podcast - Managing an Agile Transformation for Success","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"podcast-managing-agile-transformation-success","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11270","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11144,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:43:04","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:13:04","post_content":"\n
    You joined this team couple of months back. You notice that your manager generally works very long hours on week-days and comes to work on certain week-ends too. You are concerned that you would not get good appraisal if you do not work similar hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Would your concern be valid?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    My response is: Yes - it would be, if you are someone who does not believe in working long hours. Perceptions and concerns like - my appraisal will be impacted - are bound to set in, more so, if you have ambitions of growing into the role of your manager.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The next question is: \u2018Should you succumb to this concern and let it rule you?\u2019. This is where your philosophy comes into play. We talk about this in the blog: <\/span>https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/five-beacons-leadership-journey\/<\/span><\/a>. To quote: \u201cGreat leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    First of all it states \u2018work\u2019 and does not\nspecify \u2018stories\u2019 or \u2018requirements\u2019 which a team is supposed to work on. Work\nis a very generic term and can be applied to anything that one is doing.\nSecondly it states \u2018amount of work\u2019 which means there has to be some estimate\nof work available. So it is not work that is not sized. And the next word is\n\u2018maximizing\u2019 \u2013 which means it is not a definite limit or number but kind of\nrelative to the work itself. Finally it is an art and not science!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I tried to ponder upon this and thought of\nfew instances where I myself had difficulty managing my time and work and\nthought why not try this Principle! I found it really makes a lot of sense.\nSome times we feel that as coaches this Principle applies to only requirements\nof a product and keep focusing on teams\u2019 work in terms of requirements. But\nthat is not all there is to this Principle. It can be applied to almost any\nwork that one does. And work can be: stories being developed, bugs being fixed,\nenablers, impediments being solved, improvement opportunities being worked on\nand so on. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
    And not all work may be measurable. So how\ndo I know the \u2018amount of work\u2019 on hand? And some of them can be never ending \u2013\nsay self-organization, commitment and so on. As a coach if I am working on\nimproving the commitment of a team or the way they do estimations or applying\nINVEST to stories \u2013 all these are long term activities and one cannot say I am\ndone with this and let me move on to the next. So identifying \u2018work not done\u2019\nitself is a challenging task if one needs to maximize it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I have tried to use this Principle in some\naspects and have also coached few others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    For eg. while coaching teams that are new\nto Agile, the principle of simplicity can be applied as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    First focus on making the team understand\nthe ceremonies and start using them then focus on time boxing the ceremonies.\nThere again pick couple of them and then work on the rest. And then pick\nvisibility or collaboration and all these are long term activities and breaking\nthem and picking simple small steps at a time would make it easier for teams to\nadopt as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Improving collaboration in a team is again\nwork that cannot be so easily fragmented. Maybe initially focus on few fun\nactivities per month and then introduce activities that are a bit more serious\nand so on. I have actually tried this in a few teams and found it works very\nwell. The catch here is that a coach should be with the team for a longer\nperiod of time. \u2018Amount\u2019 of work in this case can be arrived at using duration\nof sessions, complexity of activities, fun part in the activities and so on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Similarly this Principle can be applied to many other kinds of work that we do as coaches and the same applies to a Scrum Master or a Product Owner or team members as well. I look forward to your experiences and valuable suggestions on this blog.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    AN<\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Simplicity \u2013 the art of maximizing the amount of work not done \u2013 is essential!","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"simplicity-the-art-of-maximizing-the-amount-of-work-not-done-is-essential","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:19:03","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:19:03","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=12828","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"2","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11665,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2019-02-18 21:24:31","post_date_gmt":"2019-02-18 15:54:31","post_content":"\n
    Ram, a Test Lead, had been working for eTravel for the last three years. eTravel has a cloud-based product for frequent business travellers. When his organization decided to adopt agile practices two years ago, he chose to take on the Scrum Master role. The feature team, that he was part of as SM, had the services of an external coach for the first six months. Over the last 1.5 years after the exit of the external coach, Ram had proven to be an effective Scrum Master and an internal coach. Not only was he able to facilitate practice adoption in spirit but also to coach the team to improve predictability and velocity. He guided the team to assess the strength of its own agile practices and improve outcomes. He was very proud of his team\u2019s achievements and was happy with his career move from Test Lead to Scrum Master role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Management recognized Ram\u2019s performance and supported him in getting certified externally as an Agile Coach. He was given the additional responsibility to coach a critical feature team which was struggling to meet its sprint commitments consistently. Ram saw this as a career opportunity and he knew that his performance could pave the way for a promotion. He decided to act fast and thought it would be good to baseline the current state of agile in the second team. He also felt such an assessment would help the team to get a comprehensive picture of the areas of improvement quickly. Although Ram felt he did all the same things as he did in his first team, he found that the second team was not responding to his approach. Team would go through the motions of assessment, retrospectives and improvement actions. However, there was hardly any improvement in predictability and the team came up with good technical reasons for the slippages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    One quarter passed by and Ram was getting frustrated by the \u201cculture\u201d in the second team. What do you think could be the major reasons for the second team\u2019s \u201cresistance? If you were Ram, would you have done anything differently?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    There could be many reasons why Ram was not effective in coaching the second team. It is difficult to identify all the reasons given the limited context in the CHOW. There is one major reason that stands out based on our experience \u2013 that has to do with trust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Let us use the Trust Equation to help us analyse the situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    When Ram joined the second team as Scrum Master, he had Credibility (experience and coach certification) and Reliability (he had proven himself in the earlier team). Intimacy might have been an issue. While he wanted to help the team, he may have jumped into an assessment mode too soon. \u2018Assessment\u2019 often alienates the team from the assessor when it is done before team starts trusting the coach. Team might not have been comfortable exposing the skeletons in the closet to an \u2018assessor\u2019. Ram would not have had this problem with the first team because he was already a part of the team before the agile journey started. Ram would have been better off giving the team some time to trust him \u2013 time to clarify his intentions, observe the dynamics in the team, build relationships with key people \u2013 before launching a comprehensive assessment exercise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Let us look at the Self-orientation \u2013 the denominator. There was definitely a significant difference in Ram\u2019s mindset with the two teams. With the first team, his entire focus was on getting the team to perform & improve and he was proud of team\u2019s achievements. With the second team, he was in a hurry to prove himself. His own self-interest in promotion diluted his intensity to serve the team. Often teams sense this and do not respond very well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Hope this helps you as Scrum Master and Coach in enabling transformation of the teams that you are working with.<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #136 - Resistance to Improvement","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-136-resistance-improvement","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-17 10:15:50","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:45:50","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11665","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11465,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2019-01-28 12:26:41","post_date_gmt":"2019-01-28 06:56:41","post_content":"\n
    Sharma is a metrics-oriented Head of an IT function. Prior to adopting agile, his organization used Function Point (FP) method for measuring software size. Along with the effort data entered by individuals, teams measured productivity factor as FP per person day of effort. This data was used for estimating new project effort as well as the means for setting productivity targets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    After moving to agile, Sharma was at a loss to manage productivity. He instructed the managers in his organization to devise and implement a measure of size that is consistent across the organization. Managers decided to institutionalize a measure similar to FP. What would be impact of such a change?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    It is a fair expectation of managers like Sharma to have the ability to manage productivity. With an absolute measure of size, managers tend to compare productivity across teams and that creates an unhealthy competition. To start with, a fundamental problem teams would have is inconsistent understanding & implementation of the sizing rules. Moreover, measurement of productivity at team level shifts the focus of the team away from maximizing business value. Team\u2019s behaviour would be driven by how their success is measured \u2013 focus on productivity is likely to make teams to do some of these three things: 1. Focus on efficiency instead of throughput. 2. Subconsciously over-rating the complexity of story to inflate size which in turn could influence product owner\u2019s prioritization decisions. 3. Already unreliable effort data entered by individual team members could be influenced by the desire to show greater productivity. All the above are highly undesirable consequences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    That's my view. Would like to hear what you think.<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #133 - Standardization - one size fits all","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-133-standardization-one-size-fits","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:03","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:03","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11465","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11462,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2019-01-28 12:05:47","post_date_gmt":"2019-01-28 06:35:47","post_content":"\n
    Productivity measurement in IT function has been debated and demanded over decades. Having made multiple attempts at solving this puzzle over many years, I have developed a point of view on productivity measurement. You may or may not agree but here it goes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To measure productivity, one needs measures of output and input. Often business users want improvement in throughput without compromising quality. Management expects IT to deliver on that expectation with the same spending ($).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Let us consider measuring Productivity at team level and Business Unit (BU) level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Team Productivity Measurement:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of team output has always been a challenge. In my opinion, scientific size measurements have never worked - either difficult to learn or difficult to apply consistently. FP-like or change-complexity-based measures have failed to deliver. Newer trends like relative sizing of stories are tools for teams to plan & execute better and not a common measure of output. All the above do not make sense to business users. Only one measure of output that would make sense to business users would be number of requirements. Users may be able to attribute business value to each of these requirements - however, at this level of detail, the business value can be used to prioritize but difficult to be considered as weights for summation of output.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of input in terms of actual effort has not been practical and difficult to sustain in spite of having good tools and management dictum. 'Head-count' is difficult to normalize given the varying levels of experience and salaries in team members. Best measure of input in my view is cost to company of the team members given the people-intensive nature of software work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Overall, I would not recommend measurement of productivity at team level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Sub-BU\/BU level productivity measurement<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    There are three types of output (leaving out the infrastructure projects & support) - app development; app maintenance and app support (or production support).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    For each app (or a group of apps) that produce an outcome, business can attach a BV (Business Value in $). The sum of the Business Value could be the business generated by that sub-BU or BU (or indicative of the business generated). Business can be broken by business product. However, mapping a business product to an IT app (or a group of apps) could be tricky but I believe it is possible to do this meaningfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of input is relatively easier at this level. $ spent on each app and broken up based on the output type - dev, maint & support. Again this break-up may not be straightforward in a complex organization but can be done meaningfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Productivity Index for an app (or group of apps) can be (i.e. Output over Input): (BV for app in $) \/ (Maint + Support spend for each app); This approach is in some way like calculating return-on-investment. To me, it is the efficiency with which the spend is generating value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Dev-spend is indicative of future business value. This may have to be projected and most organizations would have made a business case for each development project when it was approved - that data could help. We can then measure Productivity Index for the development work being carried out in the IT organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Productivity Improvement:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    When we measure productivity this way, we have multiple levers available for driving improvement without compromising quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #1: App life cycle analysis<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Group apps in terms of their life stages. Look at the ratio of spends by output type - dev, maint & support. Variations in spend ratio by life stage would help the management identify apps where spend needs to reduced. Optimal ratios for each life stage could be based on industry benchmarks (if such benchmarks exist else figure out internal benchmarks). Nature of the app also could be another factor - mainframe, web, analytics & reports, mobile app, etc. in figuring out these ratios.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Sunset apps that generate low business value<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #2: Increase business value<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Compare business value from current apps with potential initiatives that could generate greater business value. Move spend to the newer development projects<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Implement practices in teams (engineering & product management together) to ensure that higher value requirements are getting prioritized; Focus on reducing risks associated with these higher value items<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #3: Reduce direct cost of people<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Look at the mix of team members; there could be opportunities to reduce the actual cost of salaries - people with lesser qualifications & experience may be good enough; higher cost resources could be shared across teams.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Look for moving spend to locations where cost of people is lower without compromising efficiency<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever<\/em> #4: Invest in automation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Focus on appropriate tools & technologies to automate engineering practices like test automation; build automation; release management, etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Review tool\/technology portfolio and optimize<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #5: Enable & encourage teams to identify, measure & improve on factors that influence productivity (a few examples below):<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Application knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Business domain knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Multi-skilling<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Team level automation (e.g. scripting of repetitive tasks; population of test data)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Waste reduction - re-work in development; Unsuccessful changes; App outage; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Self-organizing teams<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Softer aspects like: conflicts (unhealthy); gender diversity; product vision; Goal-focus; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Inter-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    All of the above 5 levers should influence the productivity index as we had defined earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    define & measure productivity at Sub-BU or BU levels (not at team level) in a way that is meaningful to business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    use macro-level means like app portfolio optimization, automation, focus on business value, etc. to improve productivity in collaboration with business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    enable & encourage teams to improve the underlying factors that influence productivity (not productivity directly)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"IT Productivity \u2013 a point of view","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"productivity-point-view","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11462","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11270,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-11-20 16:24:35","post_date_gmt":"2018-11-20 10:54:35","post_content":"\n
    https:\/\/embeds.audioboom.com\/posts\/7092680-managing-an-agile-transformation-for-success\/embed\/v4?eid=AQAAAJTk81vIOWwA<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Agile transformations, like any other are challenging for most organizations. This episode engages experts from PM Power Consulting J Veeraraaghavan, Vishveshwar Hegde and Anand Natarajan in dialogue, sharing their agile leadership coaching and consulting insights. The dialogue also explores common challenges and approaches to agile transformations for leaders and geographically distributed teams with diverse view points of the experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The case study is given below<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Trailblazers Inc. have decided to embark on an Agile transformation journey with their SVP of Engineering. Mike Simpson, personally kicking off an initiative targeted at improving predictability, reducing cycle time and improving customer responsiveness. Mike wants Neeraj who is the VP of Engineering at their Bangalore development center to drive this initiative with Scrum as the primary approach and complete the transformation within the next one and a half years. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Neeraj approaches you as an Agile coach to help him with defining and implementing a program that will ensure the success of this initiative. <\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To Summarize key aspects from the dialogue:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Define specific objectives for this initiative based on senior leadership directive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use a holistic approach (rather than just training) that considers where the organization and teams are currently with respect to the objectives and specific interventions such as training and coaching targeted at addressing the gaps identified<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ensure senior leadership team at both locations has bought into the initiative and is fully committed to it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use of constructs such as different levels of planning, scrum of scrums, meta scrums etc. for effective cross-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","post_title":"Podcast - Managing an Agile Transformation for Success","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"podcast-managing-agile-transformation-success","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11270","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11144,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:43:04","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:13:04","post_content":"\n
    You joined this team couple of months back. You notice that your manager generally works very long hours on week-days and comes to work on certain week-ends too. You are concerned that you would not get good appraisal if you do not work similar hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Would your concern be valid?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    My response is: Yes - it would be, if you are someone who does not believe in working long hours. Perceptions and concerns like - my appraisal will be impacted - are bound to set in, more so, if you have ambitions of growing into the role of your manager.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The next question is: \u2018Should you succumb to this concern and let it rule you?\u2019. This is where your philosophy comes into play. We talk about this in the blog: <\/span>https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/five-beacons-leadership-journey\/<\/span><\/a>. To quote: \u201cGreat leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
    Page 4 of 6 Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
    
    \n
    Agile has twelve Principles and the tenth\none I find as probably the most profound. I have seen many teams struggling to\nunderstand this Principle. This Principle has some very generic words and some\nwords which suggest certain aspects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    First of all it states \u2018work\u2019 and does not\nspecify \u2018stories\u2019 or \u2018requirements\u2019 which a team is supposed to work on. Work\nis a very generic term and can be applied to anything that one is doing.\nSecondly it states \u2018amount of work\u2019 which means there has to be some estimate\nof work available. So it is not work that is not sized. And the next word is\n\u2018maximizing\u2019 \u2013 which means it is not a definite limit or number but kind of\nrelative to the work itself. Finally it is an art and not science!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I tried to ponder upon this and thought of\nfew instances where I myself had difficulty managing my time and work and\nthought why not try this Principle! I found it really makes a lot of sense.\nSome times we feel that as coaches this Principle applies to only requirements\nof a product and keep focusing on teams\u2019 work in terms of requirements. But\nthat is not all there is to this Principle. It can be applied to almost any\nwork that one does. And work can be: stories being developed, bugs being fixed,\nenablers, impediments being solved, improvement opportunities being worked on\nand so on. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
    And not all work may be measurable. So how\ndo I know the \u2018amount of work\u2019 on hand? And some of them can be never ending \u2013\nsay self-organization, commitment and so on. As a coach if I am working on\nimproving the commitment of a team or the way they do estimations or applying\nINVEST to stories \u2013 all these are long term activities and one cannot say I am\ndone with this and let me move on to the next. So identifying \u2018work not done\u2019\nitself is a challenging task if one needs to maximize it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I have tried to use this Principle in some\naspects and have also coached few others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    For eg. while coaching teams that are new\nto Agile, the principle of simplicity can be applied as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    First focus on making the team understand\nthe ceremonies and start using them then focus on time boxing the ceremonies.\nThere again pick couple of them and then work on the rest. And then pick\nvisibility or collaboration and all these are long term activities and breaking\nthem and picking simple small steps at a time would make it easier for teams to\nadopt as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Improving collaboration in a team is again\nwork that cannot be so easily fragmented. Maybe initially focus on few fun\nactivities per month and then introduce activities that are a bit more serious\nand so on. I have actually tried this in a few teams and found it works very\nwell. The catch here is that a coach should be with the team for a longer\nperiod of time. \u2018Amount\u2019 of work in this case can be arrived at using duration\nof sessions, complexity of activities, fun part in the activities and so on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Similarly this Principle can be applied to many other kinds of work that we do as coaches and the same applies to a Scrum Master or a Product Owner or team members as well. I look forward to your experiences and valuable suggestions on this blog.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    AN<\/a><\/p>\n","post_title":"Simplicity \u2013 the art of maximizing the amount of work not done \u2013 is essential!","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"simplicity-the-art-of-maximizing-the-amount-of-work-not-done-is-essential","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:19:03","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:19:03","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=12828","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"2","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11665,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2019-02-18 21:24:31","post_date_gmt":"2019-02-18 15:54:31","post_content":"\n
    Ram, a Test Lead, had been working for eTravel for the last three years. eTravel has a cloud-based product for frequent business travellers. When his organization decided to adopt agile practices two years ago, he chose to take on the Scrum Master role. The feature team, that he was part of as SM, had the services of an external coach for the first six months. Over the last 1.5 years after the exit of the external coach, Ram had proven to be an effective Scrum Master and an internal coach. Not only was he able to facilitate practice adoption in spirit but also to coach the team to improve predictability and velocity. He guided the team to assess the strength of its own agile practices and improve outcomes. He was very proud of his team\u2019s achievements and was happy with his career move from Test Lead to Scrum Master role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Management recognized Ram\u2019s performance and supported him in getting certified externally as an Agile Coach. He was given the additional responsibility to coach a critical feature team which was struggling to meet its sprint commitments consistently. Ram saw this as a career opportunity and he knew that his performance could pave the way for a promotion. He decided to act fast and thought it would be good to baseline the current state of agile in the second team. He also felt such an assessment would help the team to get a comprehensive picture of the areas of improvement quickly. Although Ram felt he did all the same things as he did in his first team, he found that the second team was not responding to his approach. Team would go through the motions of assessment, retrospectives and improvement actions. However, there was hardly any improvement in predictability and the team came up with good technical reasons for the slippages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    One quarter passed by and Ram was getting frustrated by the \u201cculture\u201d in the second team. What do you think could be the major reasons for the second team\u2019s \u201cresistance? If you were Ram, would you have done anything differently?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    There could be many reasons why Ram was not effective in coaching the second team. It is difficult to identify all the reasons given the limited context in the CHOW. There is one major reason that stands out based on our experience \u2013 that has to do with trust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Let us use the Trust Equation to help us analyse the situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    When Ram joined the second team as Scrum Master, he had Credibility (experience and coach certification) and Reliability (he had proven himself in the earlier team). Intimacy might have been an issue. While he wanted to help the team, he may have jumped into an assessment mode too soon. \u2018Assessment\u2019 often alienates the team from the assessor when it is done before team starts trusting the coach. Team might not have been comfortable exposing the skeletons in the closet to an \u2018assessor\u2019. Ram would not have had this problem with the first team because he was already a part of the team before the agile journey started. Ram would have been better off giving the team some time to trust him \u2013 time to clarify his intentions, observe the dynamics in the team, build relationships with key people \u2013 before launching a comprehensive assessment exercise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Let us look at the Self-orientation \u2013 the denominator. There was definitely a significant difference in Ram\u2019s mindset with the two teams. With the first team, his entire focus was on getting the team to perform & improve and he was proud of team\u2019s achievements. With the second team, he was in a hurry to prove himself. His own self-interest in promotion diluted his intensity to serve the team. Often teams sense this and do not respond very well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Hope this helps you as Scrum Master and Coach in enabling transformation of the teams that you are working with.<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #136 - Resistance to Improvement","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-136-resistance-improvement","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-09-17 10:15:50","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:45:50","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11665","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11465,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2019-01-28 12:26:41","post_date_gmt":"2019-01-28 06:56:41","post_content":"\n
    Sharma is a metrics-oriented Head of an IT function. Prior to adopting agile, his organization used Function Point (FP) method for measuring software size. Along with the effort data entered by individuals, teams measured productivity factor as FP per person day of effort. This data was used for estimating new project effort as well as the means for setting productivity targets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    After moving to agile, Sharma was at a loss to manage productivity. He instructed the managers in his organization to devise and implement a measure of size that is consistent across the organization. Managers decided to institutionalize a measure similar to FP. What would be impact of such a change?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    It is a fair expectation of managers like Sharma to have the ability to manage productivity. With an absolute measure of size, managers tend to compare productivity across teams and that creates an unhealthy competition. To start with, a fundamental problem teams would have is inconsistent understanding & implementation of the sizing rules. Moreover, measurement of productivity at team level shifts the focus of the team away from maximizing business value. Team\u2019s behaviour would be driven by how their success is measured \u2013 focus on productivity is likely to make teams to do some of these three things: 1. Focus on efficiency instead of throughput. 2. Subconsciously over-rating the complexity of story to inflate size which in turn could influence product owner\u2019s prioritization decisions. 3. Already unreliable effort data entered by individual team members could be influenced by the desire to show greater productivity. All the above are highly undesirable consequences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    That's my view. Would like to hear what you think.<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #133 - Standardization - one size fits all","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-133-standardization-one-size-fits","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:03","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:03","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11465","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11462,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2019-01-28 12:05:47","post_date_gmt":"2019-01-28 06:35:47","post_content":"\n
    Productivity measurement in IT function has been debated and demanded over decades. Having made multiple attempts at solving this puzzle over many years, I have developed a point of view on productivity measurement. You may or may not agree but here it goes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To measure productivity, one needs measures of output and input. Often business users want improvement in throughput without compromising quality. Management expects IT to deliver on that expectation with the same spending ($).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Let us consider measuring Productivity at team level and Business Unit (BU) level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Team Productivity Measurement:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of team output has always been a challenge. In my opinion, scientific size measurements have never worked - either difficult to learn or difficult to apply consistently. FP-like or change-complexity-based measures have failed to deliver. Newer trends like relative sizing of stories are tools for teams to plan & execute better and not a common measure of output. All the above do not make sense to business users. Only one measure of output that would make sense to business users would be number of requirements. Users may be able to attribute business value to each of these requirements - however, at this level of detail, the business value can be used to prioritize but difficult to be considered as weights for summation of output.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of input in terms of actual effort has not been practical and difficult to sustain in spite of having good tools and management dictum. 'Head-count' is difficult to normalize given the varying levels of experience and salaries in team members. Best measure of input in my view is cost to company of the team members given the people-intensive nature of software work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Overall, I would not recommend measurement of productivity at team level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Sub-BU\/BU level productivity measurement<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    There are three types of output (leaving out the infrastructure projects & support) - app development; app maintenance and app support (or production support).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    For each app (or a group of apps) that produce an outcome, business can attach a BV (Business Value in $). The sum of the Business Value could be the business generated by that sub-BU or BU (or indicative of the business generated). Business can be broken by business product. However, mapping a business product to an IT app (or a group of apps) could be tricky but I believe it is possible to do this meaningfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Measurement of input is relatively easier at this level. $ spent on each app and broken up based on the output type - dev, maint & support. Again this break-up may not be straightforward in a complex organization but can be done meaningfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Productivity Index for an app (or group of apps) can be (i.e. Output over Input): (BV for app in $) \/ (Maint + Support spend for each app); This approach is in some way like calculating return-on-investment. To me, it is the efficiency with which the spend is generating value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Dev-spend is indicative of future business value. This may have to be projected and most organizations would have made a business case for each development project when it was approved - that data could help. We can then measure Productivity Index for the development work being carried out in the IT organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Productivity Improvement:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    When we measure productivity this way, we have multiple levers available for driving improvement without compromising quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #1: App life cycle analysis<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Group apps in terms of their life stages. Look at the ratio of spends by output type - dev, maint & support. Variations in spend ratio by life stage would help the management identify apps where spend needs to reduced. Optimal ratios for each life stage could be based on industry benchmarks (if such benchmarks exist else figure out internal benchmarks). Nature of the app also could be another factor - mainframe, web, analytics & reports, mobile app, etc. in figuring out these ratios.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Sunset apps that generate low business value<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #2: Increase business value<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Compare business value from current apps with potential initiatives that could generate greater business value. Move spend to the newer development projects<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Implement practices in teams (engineering & product management together) to ensure that higher value requirements are getting prioritized; Focus on reducing risks associated with these higher value items<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #3: Reduce direct cost of people<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Look at the mix of team members; there could be opportunities to reduce the actual cost of salaries - people with lesser qualifications & experience may be good enough; higher cost resources could be shared across teams.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Look for moving spend to locations where cost of people is lower without compromising efficiency<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever<\/em> #4: Invest in automation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Focus on appropriate tools & technologies to automate engineering practices like test automation; build automation; release management, etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Review tool\/technology portfolio and optimize<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Improvement Lever #5: Enable & encourage teams to identify, measure & improve on factors that influence productivity (a few examples below):<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Application knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Business domain knowledge<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Multi-skilling<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Team level automation (e.g. scripting of repetitive tasks; population of test data)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Waste reduction - re-work in development; Unsuccessful changes; App outage; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Self-organizing teams<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Softer aspects like: conflicts (unhealthy); gender diversity; product vision; Goal-focus; etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Inter-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    All of the above 5 levers should influence the productivity index as we had defined earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    define & measure productivity at Sub-BU or BU levels (not at team level) in a way that is meaningful to business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    use macro-level means like app portfolio optimization, automation, focus on business value, etc. to improve productivity in collaboration with business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    enable & encourage teams to improve the underlying factors that influence productivity (not productivity directly)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"IT Productivity \u2013 a point of view","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"productivity-point-view","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:21:41","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11462","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11270,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-11-20 16:24:35","post_date_gmt":"2018-11-20 10:54:35","post_content":"\n
    https:\/\/embeds.audioboom.com\/posts\/7092680-managing-an-agile-transformation-for-success\/embed\/v4?eid=AQAAAJTk81vIOWwA<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Agile transformations, like any other are challenging for most organizations. This episode engages experts from PM Power Consulting J Veeraraaghavan, Vishveshwar Hegde and Anand Natarajan in dialogue, sharing their agile leadership coaching and consulting insights. The dialogue also explores common challenges and approaches to agile transformations for leaders and geographically distributed teams with diverse view points of the experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The case study is given below<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Trailblazers Inc. have decided to embark on an Agile transformation journey with their SVP of Engineering. Mike Simpson, personally kicking off an initiative targeted at improving predictability, reducing cycle time and improving customer responsiveness. Mike wants Neeraj who is the VP of Engineering at their Bangalore development center to drive this initiative with Scrum as the primary approach and complete the transformation within the next one and a half years. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Neeraj approaches you as an Agile coach to help him with defining and implementing a program that will ensure the success of this initiative. <\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    To Summarize key aspects from the dialogue:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Define specific objectives for this initiative based on senior leadership directive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use a holistic approach (rather than just training) that considers where the organization and teams are currently with respect to the objectives and specific interventions such as training and coaching targeted at addressing the gaps identified<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ensure senior leadership team at both locations has bought into the initiative and is fully committed to it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Use of constructs such as different levels of planning, scrum of scrums, meta scrums etc. for effective cross-team collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","post_title":"Podcast - Managing an Agile Transformation for Success","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"podcast-managing-agile-transformation-success","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:27:38","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11270","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11144,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:43:04","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:13:04","post_content":"\n
    You joined this team couple of months back. You notice that your manager generally works very long hours on week-days and comes to work on certain week-ends too. You are concerned that you would not get good appraisal if you do not work similar hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Would your concern be valid?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    My response is: Yes - it would be, if you are someone who does not believe in working long hours. Perceptions and concerns like - my appraisal will be impacted - are bound to set in, more so, if you have ambitions of growing into the role of your manager.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The next question is: \u2018Should you succumb to this concern and let it rule you?\u2019. This is where your philosophy comes into play. We talk about this in the blog: <\/span>https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/five-beacons-leadership-journey\/<\/span><\/a>. To quote: \u201cGreat leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Q2: \u2018Would you say that your manager\u2019s family life is in doldrums? He is married and has two young children.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Obviously, this is too much speculation, but I have seen people do it. My opinion on this: people do it to rationalize their own behavior. They do not want to work long hours but need to justify their behavior in the face of the Manager\u2019s example. It is perfectly possible that the manager is doing it with the support of his family and to realize his professional goals.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Instead of speculating on your Manager\u2019s family life, you need to ask yourself a different set of questions: \u2018What kind of hours do I need to work to achieve my own professional goals at this stage? How would it affect my family? How long do I have to stretch? Have I discussed my professional ambitions with my family? Do I genuinely have their support? What is my vision for my family life? How do I support my spouse\u2019s vision?\u2019. Answers to these questions will help one introspect and take leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW #120 - Workacholic Manager","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-120-workacholic-manager","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11144","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":11138,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-09-25 00:37:24","post_date_gmt":"2018-09-24 19:07:24","post_content":"\n
    Adolf Hitler would feature in most lists of leaders of all time, but I would not want to fashion my leadership journey around him, would you? The intent of this post is not to identify the right leader to emulate but define a few guiding lights. Based on my experience and my observation of a few leaders that I have been associated with, I have come up five beacons that could guide us in our journey. Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #1: Unified Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Leadership is typically associated with one\u2019s career or profession. Over the years, I have learnt that one has to take leadership in all facets of one\u2019s life \u2013 Professional, Family, Health, Societal, and Spiritual. Success in one area influences the other. Focused effort in any one area demands support from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Unified Vision for one\u2019s life will help the leader achieve coherence & balance across all the areas over a period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #2: Vision to Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u201cA leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn\u2019t go by yourself\u201d \u2013 Joel Barker. \u2018Place\u2019 is the Leader\u2019s Vision \u2013 an image of the future. Strategy tells you how to get there. Action gets you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Many take \u2018Action\u2019 but that does not guarantee that they will realize their vision. Clarity, Focus, Intensity, Courage and Persistence differentiate those who will get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #3: Take people along<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Inspiring people is very much a significant part of leadership. Connecting with people (not just communicating) and building trust are the foundations on which relationships are built. Relationship is the glue that will hold the group together when the ride gets rough. Leaders with influence not only have well-honed people skills but also become the kind of person people want to be influenced by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    While skills are important, \u2018seeing people as people and caring for them\u2019 (- Arbinger Institute) is the master key to taking them along with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #4: Who you are<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Level of leadership that you reach will be limited by the kind of person you are. Your values & personal qualities like courage, integrity, humility & persistence will take you to great heights of leadership and also prevent you from falling down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders have a personal philosophy that acts as a guidance system \u2013 helps them set their sails (- Jim Rohn); Personal philosophy helps to ensure that your behaviour is consistent with who you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Wisdom happens when you take action and learn from that experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Beacon #5: Personal Change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \u2018Personal Change\u2019 is the toughest internal battle for leaders \u2013 but this is the lever that will help them scale newer heights. It requires awareness of what\u2019s going on around you and self-awareness of what\u2019s going on inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Great leaders are humble \u2013 confident but humble; They are willing to learn from others and take guidance from mentors\/coaches\/gurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    I also found that a sense of gratefulness is vital to help you navigate difficult times. Tough situations can feel like a bottomless pit but I found that gratitude often gave me a floor to stand on and catch my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In a nutshell\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Remember these are beacons and not steps in your leadership journey. Leadership is a performing art according to Robert Joss. You cannot just read books or observe people and become a leader. You need to practice and learn from experience; To practice, one needs opportunity; Opportunity comes from seeking and taking responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    We will elaborate on each of the beacons in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Five beacons for your leadership journey","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"five-beacons-leadership-journey","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:28:37","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=11138","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10581,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:43:37","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:13:37","post_content":"\n
    You are a program manager with an IT Service Provider handling a project for a U.S. based client. The client uses three different telecom service providers and pays large bills every month \u2013 for a few hundred thousand calls that cost them millions of dollars. Your client negotiates customized tariff plans with each of the telecom service providers (vendors) and keeps reviewing them periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Along with the summary of the bill, your client receives detailed call data records in the form of electronic data files from the telecom service providers. Client suspects that the telecom service providers are over-charging. The project is about reconciling the call data with the actual bill amount to identify anomalies in the billing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Call data files from the telecom service providers would be imported into your application every month for a billing reconciliation run. Current tariff plan structure for each telecom service provider will also be stored in your application. The application would use the call data and the tariff plan to calculate the expected bill amount and compare with the bill from the telecom service provider. The application could potentially save the client a few hundred thousand dollars each month. Armed with the reconciliation analysis, your client will be able to take their telecom vendors to task and claim refund with penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The six-month project follows agile approach and is in its first sprint. Customer had provided a sample soft copy of the call data files and tariff plans during the proposal stage. Customer has also committed to provide access to their test server pre-release \u2013 this test server has close to production volume data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are some of the uncertainties? What are some actions that you would take to tackle them? What kind of resistance do you anticipate in addressing these uncertainties?<\/p>\n","post_title":"CHOW # 105 - Uncertainty to Certainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-105-uncertainty-certainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:29:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10581","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":10573,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-06-04 10:35:49","post_date_gmt":"2018-06-04 05:05:49","post_content":"\n
    In one of my earlier blogs, I had written about some of the thoughts that plague a manager\u2019s mind (refer https:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/<\/a>). Top of the list was about the ability to make commitments and deliver on them in the face of uncertainty. I thought I will delve into that challenge a bit more and see how managers can handle the uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In today\u2019s digital age projects, uncertainty is the norm. Even the customer does not seem to know the requirements; and you are building the software on the shifting sands of today\u2019s technology; not to mention the pressure to deliver faster! So, what\u2019s the true challenge? It is in your mind first \u2013 it plays tricks on you! See the following graph that I call Uncertainty-Ownership paradox:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is human nature though, isn\u2019t it? It is difficult to take ownership when uncertainty levels are high. Here is the paradox \u2013 you need high sense of ownership when uncertainty is high and you do not need as much ownership when uncertainty is relatively low! Just the opposite of human nature! What it takes is genuine leadership from the manager to have the desired level of ownership in spite of the uncertainty \u2013 it comes down to being aware of one\u2019s thoughts & emotions and having the courage to take ownership!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    $\"\"$ <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Three things happen when you take \u2018Total Ownership\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    You are energized \u2013 Feeling of ownership is the source of energy in the face of uncertainty. Keyword is \u2018feeling\u2019 more than just \u2018thinking\u2019 about ownership logically!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visible Ownership will inspire your team to step up \u2013 you cannot achieve much all by yourself! All fibres in your body need to radiate ownership for team to sense!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Demonstrated Ownership will persuade your Management & Customer to help you handle the uncertainties.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    A practical question arises after one chooses the mindset of total ownership \u2013 what do I DO? Here is an effective approach that I have seen managers take to tackle uncertainty in agile projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Firstly,<\/strong> identify the sources of uncertainty. Uncertainty in digital age projects could be in some of the following forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Ambiguous\/Complex Requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Dependencies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    External interfaces<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Assumptions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    New technology<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Secondly<\/strong>, locate the time in the project lifecycle when these uncertainties will resolve themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Thirdly<\/strong>, proactively find ways to bring them forward in the timeline. This is where the manager needs to uses his leadership skills to influence customer, team, management, internal & external suppliers to enable resolving these as soon as possible. Examples: Need to bring forward the time when real-life test data will be available to enable valid tests sooner; Need to get higher capacity servers sooner to enable testing for higher volumes to validate architecture; Need to invest in an external consultant to enable faster and better adoption of new technology; Need to influence another team\u2019s timeline to get the component that you need to integrate; Need to get the right kind of users to the sprint review for acceptance of ambiguous requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    In summary, manager with ownership takes action \u2013 necessary to tackle uncertainties sooner! Such managers do not take \u2018not possible\u2019 for an answer! They are persistent. Action would then improve team\u2019s belief, stakeholders\u2019 belief and manager\u2019s own belief!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    How have you tackled uncertainty in your projects? Any specific strategies? Would be happy to hear from you.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Facing uncertainty","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"facing-uncertainty","to_ping":"","pinged":"\nhttps:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/blog\/thoughts-plague-managers-mind\/","post_modified":"2024-09-17 09:40:10","post_modified_gmt":"2024-09-17 04:10:10","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=10573","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":9838,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2018-02-12 11:26:50","post_date_gmt":"2018-02-12 05:56:50","post_content":"\n
    Nipun Sehgal was the designated QnC (IT Service Provider) Program Manager for the engagement with Spot-On Power Solutions (SOPS) to develop their next generation Analytics solution. A key assumption in the QnC proposal was the re-use of artefacts from the earlier project undertaken by SOPS which had not succeeded. After QnC won the project bid, Nipun and his team were putting together the plan for the engagement. Nipun felt it was high time that he validated the re-use assumption. In general, he felt he needed the active ongoing support and high-quality inputs from people in SOPS who were knowledgeable about the past project. In Nipun\u2019s view, the right person to start with was the SOPS Chief Architect (Brian Johnson) who had been actively involved in that project. Nipun felt that Brian could be extremely valuable in many aspects of the QnC engagement such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Initial training to the QnC project team on the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Defining the re-use approach & ongoing validation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Refreshing the data of the past few months in the data mart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Visiting QnC at Bangalore for review of progress especially in the Analytics area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Reviewing deliverables from QnC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Ongoing support for answering technical queries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Nipun got in touch with Brian over mail and set up a video call in the following week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Prior to the call, Nipun contacted people in the QnC bidding team who had interacted with Brian Johnson and gathered the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    Brian was a long-timer in SOPS IT \u2013 having grown in the organization from an intern to Chief Architect in 15 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Now in his early forties, Brian was considered a bit of a loner. Nevertheless, he was highly respected for his technical acumen and knowledge of the various SOPS applications in production<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Brian\u2019s role in the earlier project was as an architect, working with the team from Headstart (including a Project Manager). Headstart was a staff augmentation service provider who had worked with SOPS for several years). The Headstart team was able to create a pretty decent data mart primarily because of Brian\u2019s knowledge of relevant data sources in the existing application portfolio. However, the cycles of data mart tuning - prediction model improvements were not good enough to attain the 90% prediction accuracy target at the given time<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    David Brennan (Director, Solutions) of QnC had interacted briefly with Brian while on a visit to SOPS. At that time, Brian had made a comment that it was unfortunate that the earlier project was called off after six months when it was quite close to success \u2013 another month or two was all that was needed to improve the prediction accuracy from 60% to 90%, he had said<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Exercise:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    If you were Nipun, how would you prepare for the forthcoming video call with Brian \u2013 think about 1. Your mindset, 2. Objectives for the call, 3. How you would open the call, 4. What questions would you ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Suggested Solution:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Meeting Preparation \u2013 Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    1. Mindset<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Brian is a \u2018failure\u2019 and \u2018victim\u2019; he will be defensive & uninvolved<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Brian\u2019s inputs cannot be trusted \u2013 he may be trying to redeem himself<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Brian is a professional, mature and objective; he will be willing collaborate and contribute to make the project a success<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: \u2018Expect\u2019 collaboration \u2013 remember \u201cYou will not get what you deserve, but will get what you expect\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    2. Objectives<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Validate the assumption in the call \u2013 will just be an opinion<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Get Brian to agree to exactly the list of activities you have identified<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    Get buy-in from Brian to agree on adequate contributions that will help validate the assumption and contribute to the program\u2019s success in a collaborative way<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    3. Opening<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Jump into stating your objectives straight away without connecting<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DON'T: Give an impression that you are going to get him to do something<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Connect again!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Then, state your \u2018objective for the call\u2019 and seek collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    4. Questions<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    DON'T: Make statements \u2013 does not help in an influencing situation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to understand Brian\u2019s position<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that create \u2018fertility conditions\u2019 that will help meet your objectives e.g. forward-thinking questions<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions to help you learn \u2013 you may be mistaken<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    DO: Ask questions that seek how Brian can help<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","post_title":"CHOW #90- Critical conversation","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"chow-90-critical-conversation","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-24 11:35:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/pm-powerconsulting.com\/?p=9838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":4},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"epic_block_11"};
    
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Simplicity – the art of maximizing the amount of work not done – is essential!

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IT Productivity – a point of view

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CHOW #120 – Workacholic Manager

Five beacons for your leadership journey

CHOW # 105 – Uncertainty to Certainty

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