Hello and I am here.

 I never realized it had been a year since I posted here.

My life updates have been mostly about work and I may have been doing this for too long. There's no team behind it, no editor, and no brainstorming sessions- mostly been me running this since 2008 along with a full-time job and a family.          

So, since we are just on time to start this weekend, I thought we could relook at the couple of articles I have posted in the community.

So, here are a few articles listed below that I have been writing and didn't share:

1.  Triads in Agile: The Path to Efficient Decision Making

2.  Quiet Quitting: How Agile can help combat that            

3. 3 Common Complaints in Scrum Team

Let me know if you get a chance to read through these articles.

(Pic courtesy: Pexel)

Bye 2021

Thank you for sticking around if you are seeing this. Grateful for this year even with its up and downs and I know I haven't been a lot here, but my heart is always here. 

As I wrap up this year, here's my new years resolution video below. Thanks again everyone, stay safe and take care. 

10 Effective Productivity Lessons

 Its September already and if you are constantly trying to figure out how to get more done, these top 10 lessons from the productivity guru Ali Abdaal might be just for you.

Stay safe and take care.

Interview with Yasmina Khelifi| Project Manager

Hello, todays interview is with Yasmina Khelifi. 

Yasmina Khelifi, PMP, PMI- ACP, PMI-PBA is an experienced project manager in the telecom industry. Along with her 20-year career, she sharpened her global leadership skills, delivering projects with major manufacturers and SIM makers. Yasmina strives for building collaborative bridges between people to make international projects successful. She relies on three pillars: her project management skills, the languages she speaks, and her passion for sharing knowledge.

French-native, she can speak German, English, Spanish, Italian, Japanese and she is learning Arabic. Yasmina loves sharing her knowledge and experiences at work, volunteers at PMI, blogs at projectmanagement.com, and PM Network Magazine. She is also the host and co-founder of the podcast Global Leaders Talk with Yasmina Khelifi to help people in becoming better international leaders.

Yasmina please tell us how did you get into project management and why were you interested?

As a telecom engineer, I began my career, by testing new value-added services at a French telecom operator. After a few years and with the sponsorship of my manager, I applied to a project manager position. It took me courage because I didn’t have strong self-confidence.  Becoming a project manager was a life changing decision. I loved it from the beginning: the variety of activities, being able to organize, to build human relationships, to improve the processes, to create new things. Since then, I’ve managed numerous international projects.

In the process, you also have a blog and a podcast, tell us about it?

During the lockdown, I decided to invest my time in an online self-paced course by Dorie Clark on how to become a recognized expert. As part of the course, I have access to an amazing Facebook community where many people have their websites and portfolio. It gave me the energy to develop mine: I wanted to have one place to share my experiences and ideas. During the lockdown, I've also discovered podcasts and thought: "why not try it out?” I was curious to know how it worked and to share my knowledge about international leadership.

In investing your time in trying to build a community with all of these, what has been your experience so far?

You’re right it takes time and effort. My main aim is to spread knowledge as I didn't have specific guidance when I began to work. If it turns out into a lively community, that would be great. So far, It has been an invaluable opportunity to meet global leaders, learn from them, and share their stories. I haven't met personally most people I’ve interviewed so far. I think my knowledge of project management helps me a lot: I explain the project, set the expectations, communicate the final product for go nogo, and define a communication plan in social media.

Beyond the nitty-gritty tasks, I’ve met incredibly generous people with their time and experiences, and I’m looking forward to sharing more stories from global leaders.

Do you have any suggestions for the new project managers getting into this domain?

I will focus on three points.

First, get the confidence to leap into project management: you’ll get the skills for life, useful in any job. Project Management isn't linked to technical jobs. As soon as you work in a team (and who doesn't?) you’ll need to define the roles, functionalities of the products, expectations, planning, and draw on lessons learned.

Second, don’t hesitate to ask people for help and advice. Sometimes we think we will see as incompetent by asking but that’s a way to move forward.

Third, take part in training about project management but also about leadership. Devise your learning strategy. Be a lifelong learner!

Where can the readers find you?

This is where you can find my blogs and podcasts. I have a monthly newsletter about global leadership and also write here. As for social media you can find me in twitter @YasminaKhelifi7 and LinkedIn

Thank You Yasmina.

If you are a Newbie, Read This

If you really want to show your work, show the vulnerability that comes with it.  I get it you are a newbie and welcome to SIPM. 

I think the biggest fear is that of being judged of failure, lesser experience and shaky confidence. You can fake it till you make it, however you won’t know how it is unless you go out there, do your work and put it out. There’s just one way to get it done and get done with your fear, go through the fire.

If you are a project manager and starting out, don’t feel intimidated by all the experience available over the web in blogs and other platforms. Everyone started like you. So, share your insights and its okay to take time to feel like you have found your zone.

When I started this blog years ago, I had just started out facing the same problem. Everything I read was out of my league and I couldn’t find a space where I would feel comfortable and easier to learn for someone brand new. So, I started my blog, for myself really to talk about my fears and journal my experience so I would remember it.

My first post is here (haha) and it’s been ages since then. What you don’t know is putting that out without any expectation actually helped me connect with people over the web, a lot of them project managers who helped me out without even knowing me personally. It helped me network, get invited for seminars, start a community to give back (You!), get job interviews and interviewer had read my blog (talk about having an advantage), opportunities to speak, finding mentors over twitter, publishing e-books and writing for popular platforms. 

So, there are only advantages and if no one takes interest in your work its okay too. Being yourself and finding your voice is important because you don’t need to clone yourself. If no one reads or notices that’s okay because you will have found clarity of thoughts, a diary to look back on and a practice that will allow to expand and grow.

So, mentioning yourself as a newbie isn’t a bad thing, it shows you open to learning, life and new skillsets.

So, whether you are starting out or struggling it's okay to bring it out, to ask for help and to show your work!

What do you think?

How to Set Yourself Up for a Productive Day

If you are the kind of person, who wants to get more done and are struggling to stay consistent, this might be right for you. 

In this video, I talk about 3 ways you can trick yourself to check off the lists and yes, it's all in the mindset.

If you do like, don't forget to subscribe.

Thanks for watching.

 

Book Review| Show your Work

I am an introvert and have like many always struggled showing my work. 

I dreamt hidden behind the curtains of my apartment's floor to ceiling windows and wanted to get the courage to one day tell everyone about my ideas. I was shy like many to speak up or show my work. So, when I was in school I had warmed up to the idea to write for a newspaper. Back then you had to mail them and one day out of nowhere it was published. That's how I started- showing my work.

That didn't take away from the awkwardness of thinking that if I wanted to show my work it would always be talking amidst people and selling them my pitch. Later, slowly I would send poems, articles mailed to be published in some coffee table books and journals.

Later when I had mustered the courage standing in front of the mirror holding the record button of my walkman practising speaking to a crowd I realised you could now blog. Thankfully that helped me start writing. I had a personal blog way back in college and then wrote another lifestyle blog and finally this one that you are reading today. Showing your work can be powerful, with so many platforms available now you can choose the one that makes you comfortable. I finally mustered up the courage also to start speaking up- opened my YouTube channel.

I wish I read this book before and that's why today we will talk about this book with the hope that if you are still fumbling and thinking whether you are good enough to showcase your work- you need to read this.

The Book- Show Your Work

Author- Austin Kleon

Price: 603 INR Kindle and 916  INRfor paperback (I have the Kindle version) 

Who Should read it- Anyone who wants to put their work in the public domain and needs a little bit of push.

"It's not enough to be good. In order to be found, you have to findable"

Put your work out there- You need to decide to put your work out there, whether it's through words, pics or videos. Kleon thinks that people will find you (yeah I am waiting for that too and thank you for reading my blog).You don't have to be a genius, rich or mater- you can start as an amateur.

Learn in front of others- The best way to get started on the path of sharing your work is to make a commitment to start learning in front of others. I think the biggest fear is that of being called a failure when you put yourself out without being an expert. I know it well enough especially when taking up a new role or a new platform. I think more successful you are in one one part of life, more fearful you are putting yourself out in another. 

Read Obituaries- To be aware that we are all going to die one day might help us treat our days as something to share our work. I recently heard it's also one of the good ways to find out what your goals are or who you want to be. thinking what will be written in your gravestone after you are long gone, is what brings back clarity on what we should be doing more of.

Think process not products- What used to matter before was just the product.  No one knew what happened behind the scenes in creating it. However now with social media available an artist /author/ideator doesn't have to work in secrecy behind the scenes anymore and can choose to talk about the process if he/she chooses to. By putting things out there consistently, anyone can actually form a relationship with customers who can now read/see the person behind the products. 

Become a documentarian of what you do- how can you show your work even when you have nothing to show? documenting your life can have its advantages because now you can get it done even with just a phone. You can choose to share when you are ready now that you have enough content ready

Share something small everyday- in early stages share what inspires you, middle stage share your process and as an expert share about how your project/products are doing.

"That's all any of us are: amateurs. We don't live long enough to be anything else" . - Charlie Chaplin

Turn your flow into Stock- Stock is best made by collecting, organizing and expanding upon your flow.

Tell good stories- Human being like to know where things came from, how they made it and who made them. always keep your audience in mind when telling one.

Shut up and Listen- if you are only pointing to your own stuff online, you are doing it wrong. you have to be a connector. if you want to get, you have to give.

Learn to take a punch- when you put your work out there, you have to be ready for the good, bad and the ugly. trick is to not care what everybody thinks of you but what the right people think of you.

"I come pre hated. Take your best shot" - Cyndi lauper

Pay it forward- Be as generous as you can but selfish enough to get your work done.

Reading this book again, opened me up to getting back to my work and start hitting the "publish" button again. Let me know if you read this book. 

(Pic courtesy: Google images)

Getting More done| Time Management

 If you woke up every morning and could see the amount of work you get done everyday, you would pat yourself everyday. 

Getting more done always doesn't mean waking up at 5am, it can still be managed with these 3 simple tips depending on the kind of work you do and the style you prefer. 

1. Prioritization

2. Time Blocking

3. Visual Boards

More in the video below:

Which one is your choice of time management?

Locked up: The New Age of Collaboration amidst WFH

Lot of people I knew over the years, looked down upon work from home. Being at work meant more engagement, interest, collaboration. So, why work from home?

Today we are redefining what collaboration means locked up in our homes. An estimated 16 million U.S. knowledge workers started working remotely due to Covid-19 as of March 27, 2020 

The same group who once scorned the ability to work from home now talked about how surprised they were being able to work from their own home and numbers started trickling in of greater productivity, more efficiency and everyone happier because of finally being able to get rid of the commute, spend quality time with family and some even working on their newly found hobbies. 

Ninety-four percent of 800 employers surveyed by Mercer, an HR and workplace benefits consulting firm, said that productivity was the same as or higher than it was before the pandemic, even with their employees working remotely 

Has this era of pandemic broken the traditional idea of work and collaboration? Has this led to taking a modern approach of being able to collaborate remotely bringing in the flexibility of being able to work from anywhere globally. Has this opened up the global market for the talent pool? Does this encourage a lot more women to come back to work or continue with work?

Forbes mentioned “The fastest growth in remote work has been in computer-related occupations, with business, financial, and management occupations also experiencing rapid growth in teleworking” 

I know this first hand, I have friends who have moved to other cities or travelled back to their home states rented apartments and are working from there for months now. All of them mostly working in IT. The Facebook groups of home stays are flourishing with a steady growth of members everyday which only can vouch for the fact that everyone is enjoying the newly found freedom of being able to connect remotely.

These changes have steadied few things:

1. The market has changed for good- remote working is here to stay. With all myths of remote working being debunked, more and more companies are opening up to the  option of continuing with remote work. It might be one of the positive changes left behind by this deadly pandemic.
2. Improved communication skills will be required- flexibility and remote working will mean better and more communication skills to gap the loopholes created by not being able to meet face to face. Building teams and camaraderie over zoom calls might reveal new skill sets everyone needs to bridge the gap of real face to face conversations. Team connects will just not be for a stand ups or town halls, it can simply be a break with colleagues or used to welcome a new team member.
3. Self-motivation is essential and so are the tools- working on your own schedule and on your own might also need more willpower and self-motivation to get things done on time. This is more challenging with kids at home for the longer run with online from home schools. To be able to get deep work done that require more attention might need setting up rules and boundaries even at home. Tools that allow team to collaborate and work together will likely be more in use.

So, does this mean more remote project management positions openings up? While sites like Upwork who have always flourished on remote work model has 1,223 Project Manager positions tagged and open to hire right now, Fiverr has project managers ready to set up collaboration software for teams amongst other things from Monday dot com to Trello.

Change at any level as it turns out is not easy and this concept of locked up collaboration seems to be just a start to slowly settle down as a  mainstream way of working.

What do you think?

(Pic courtesy: Pexel)

Rethinking Agile as Bold, Kind and Human

 This post was first published  in Projectmanagement.com. Click here to read. 

Agile has become ubiquitous in project management, with teams using it to spark out-of-the-box thinking and drive countless projects across the finish line. Yet almost as quickly as the approach popped up, companies and project leaders began to oversell it—and what seemed to be a radical way of thinking has become mired in repetition and monotony.  

Agile was about being open and transparent, and people having the utmost importance in the process. Now, if you ask anyone about agile, it’s all about the three questions: What have you completed since the last meeting? What do you plan to complete by the next meeting? What’s getting in your way? There’s also the fear of being constantly monitored and the fact your performance is measured by your team’s velocity. 

Breaking out of this mold can prove difficult—who has the time? But with much of the world working from home, now might be the best chance to rethink agile as bold, kind and human. 

Let’s look at how that might work.

Agile is bold: Challenge the process. Question what’s right for your team and be open to experiment. To get everyone engaged, encourage team members to ask questions. And try incorporating at least one fun icebreaker in each team stand up to get people to open up and spark discussion. 

Agile is kind: Just because the data seems all over the place or you don’t achieve a desired project outcome, the team is not always wrong. Look for insights, do anonymous retrospectives, dig deeper and listen more. Avoid making assumptions. Instead, remain empathetic and open as you talk through challenges and navigate team members to arrive at a solution. 

Agile is human: Agile won’t work if the team can’t work together and it’s up to leaders to foster a sense of camaraderie. One way to build this spirit of collaboration and rapport is through simple exercises, like using a sticky note or sharable spreadsheet where team members anonymously write one thing they’re good at or that they’re proud of outside of work. Then allow other team members to guess that person’s identity. This isn’t about who wins, but it gets the entire team to communicate in a low-stakes environment.  

What are the biggest challenges your team has come across with agile—and how have you overcome them?

(Pic courtesy: Pexel)

Book Review- Digital Project Practice (managing Innovation and Change)| Giveaway

If 2021 has reading more books in your mind, you can start with this one that questions the status quo. Digital Project Practice (Managing Innovations and Change) , edited by Tobias Endress is a  collection of articles spread across 3 categories - Methods and Practices, Tools and Techniques and Culture, Soft Skill and Human resources. To check the book out please click here.

Giveaway details at the end of the post.

An advantage of having independent chapters in a book means you can start with any chapter that interests you. If you are thinking how do I know which chapter to start first start with, all of them come with a summary at the end of chapter. I found it rather interesting to see the topics that were covered  and perhaps the background of the authors from various countries and regions and profiles that make an interesting mix to not only read the book but have multiple takeaways to rethink the way you operate.

The book was written with the purpose to share the  business experience and prepare a book that introduces the methods, but also covers the practical aspect, critically acclaimed existing approaches and practices, and shows the limitations. This means the book touches on appropriate methods as well as social aspects. The social factor is actually one of the running themes in the book. I experienced in many projects that managing the human aspect can be at least as demanding as mastering the technological challenges in complex environments. It felt it might be a good idea to bring together the perspectives and experiences from various professionals with an international background and contrasting ideas in one book. 

The chapter by the editor Tobias Endress called “Ideas and Requirements for Digital Innovation” is a great place to start. Practical and yet the chapter nudges you into thinking why the initial process of ideation is ignored in so many organizations and teams and the problems it later leads to. From multiple product owners to introducing design thinking as a complementary process for Agile he writes in details how it can be of help. I have definitely seen companies who do something similar and the author cites Salesforce and their use of design thinking to bring out innovation.

He also steps into the creative area and talks why brainstorming just isn’t enough. I think the same way about brainstorming that the best idea accepted is usually from the one person who competes and wins to speak in a limited period of time (perhaps mostly extroverts). Now that might not always be the best idea and you see that’s what I like about this book that it brings up topics and issues that are humane. It’s just not technicalities and KPI and charts and graphs to track the work, it’s what really works in real scenarios where the human factor is of the utmost importance.

The author mentions: I wanted to emphasise the importance of the start phase of the project. Agile methods like SCRUM or XP seemingly support the ‘quick start’ of any project. However, even when the methods aim to provide rapid results and feedback through fast deliveries it is my experience that it’s difficult to deliver a project in time and quality when you “sprint” too often in the wrong direction. I’m convinced that it saves time and money and possibly quite some headache when the objective is well thought through in the beginning. This does not mean that it is set in stone and may not be refined during the project phase, but good preparation might significantly reduce the frictions during the following phases. The practices highlighted in our book aim is reducing frictions in the first place.

I have to say, though this book initially comes across as just theories stringed together, sooner than later it turns out to be an interesting study. It definitely is for those who have spent a few years working and is well aware of the general business and process that’s being used in small or big firms. Also for newbies who want to start with the right mindset. If you are trying to think differently or look at another perspective- this book has your name written on it.

In many projects and conversation with fellow project professionals I heard statements like “yes, we use agile methods, but not like in the textbook”. This inspired the idea to prepare a book that covers not only methods but the practical application in real-world projects. I also wanted to raise awareness beyond plain software development aspects. Complex change and innovation projects require a wide range of different skills and usually involve many stakeholders. For example HR or legal teams are highly relevant, but often neglected in agile frameworks. I asked experts from my professional network if they want to contribute to such a book project and if they want to share their insights and experiences. I’m very happy with the responses and that we managed to cover so many different aspects of the business. I think it is interesting getting some insights through the perspectives from project professionals with different background. Changing perspective can help for "reflection in action".

Another chapter that might interest a lot of people specially during these time is of Time Management written by Gunter Jeschke. His concept of "bore out" amongst others are interesting where he sees the need for anyone to cut off immediately and look for another position in order to be more efficient with their time. Time management in this chapter doesn’t limit itself to personal and work time management but continues to talk about time management in projects and how to get it done well even when resources are on leave and are leaving.

If you are a hiring manager or often involved with hiring people in your team, Dr. Bernd Thommes chapter on Talent Challenges talks you through of finding the right talent and keeping them. While we all know everyone wants to belong and contribute to something bigger  the hiring manager needs to translate the company objectives into something tangible that hired employees can see as something they can contribute.

In being a book that covers all topics, I was intrigued and surprised by this one by Elena Dinman in the chapter Team and project Management Values, she talks about how in Belarus intrinsic motivation within teams is cultivated. She gives deeper insights into team motivation and a sense of belonging. What I also found very interesting is the “horizontal management” structure  she mentions which encourages any new joiner in the team to go through all the roles within the team and then start on his/her immediate role. This is a take home for any team or individuals who often complaint about team motivation and not having the right cross functionality. The focus is on flexibility and cross functionality. In creating a system to trust human values, she focuses on burnouts, emotions and even how meditation or business yoga brings the team together.

So, what will you like about the book? It’s definitely the different perspectives and attention to details and how each one if their own specialised domain/expertise handle it. 

As the editor also kindly points out The various chapters make it very clear that there are different aspects and not one single answers. However, there are tools and techniques which may help a lot to increase the performance and also the perception of project success. The various chapters cover specific aspects of project business and provide you with the personal opinion of the respective author. I hope that this input enables and encourages the reader to reflect upon the methods in the own organization.

This has definitely been a good read and if you want to check the book out, don't forget to participate in the giveaway. 

All you need to do is join the SIPM facebook community and you can read the full interview with the Editor Tobias Endress. In the comments section of this interview about the book mention why would you like to read this book. On Feb 25, I will announce the winner  and ship you the hard copy of the book (This is for India only). 

If you would like to buy the book, links here.

You have got mail :)

 Hi You,

Just popping by to say hello. 

I know I haven't written in a while and I am guilty in a way to keep you waiting.

I have been writing here for so long that it should come naturally to me. Some days I am not sure what to write, I have more ideas than I can count swimming in my little head. Yet, I write in my head every night :)

I am like you (or not), I tend to procrastinate. I wait and wait a bit more to clarify my ideas and then its just too late to write.

 

When I started this blog in 2008, I didnt think about anything at all. I just wrote. I didn't think anyone would read this blog, I didn't know if I should even let anyone know. So, in a way I was free. I wrote because it was for me. My learnings, my mistakes, my way of just keeping a simple journal.

So, when I suddenly freeze and stop writing, I am reminding myself I should remember the why. Why I started this blog, this community. I may not be a newbie by definition anymore, yet we are all learning everyday (at least I hope to). 

I hope you have been doing well this year  and getting to do things at your pace. 

Sending you good vibes and warm wishes,

Soma.

Happy New Year 2021

Wishing a very Happy New Year to the SIPM community. 

Stay safe and best wishes

 

(Pic courtesy: Pexel)

One Thing to Do Before Ending This Year 2020

 Ending one year is always continuing on the hope for the next one. 

I hope you are  as ready and wrapping up this year already. The last few days has been about retrospecting this year and getting ready for the next. In trying to do so, theres one thing that I thought had to be done to ensure a good end to this year. 

Get your fav drink and snacks and let me know if you agree to this.

Thank you for all the support and being here. I will see you in 2021. Till then stay safe and take care....

Hello

 Its been a while since I posted here. 

November has been a month of celebrations. Dussehra, Diwali and wrapping up the month with Thanksgiving coming up soon. 

Even amid the chaos and not being able to be with friends and family, festivals still have been a highlight. A little glimpse of hope and rest with a day off. I hope you had the same. 

Working from home and then managing work and family, balancing it out with blogs and Youtube hasn't been easy. However this year I plan to not take me for the guilt ride which I usually do. 

I did take a few days off randomly in November just to take it slow, organize my life and do a digital detox.  I posted a video on it and you can watch it below. If you are more of a reader, link is here.

Stay safe and see you soon. 

Agile| 6 Ways to Keep Agile Teams on Track

This was first published on projectmanagement.com

Agile teams are being tested. The world has changed, and many teams—no matter what their structure was prior to the pandemic—are working from home, on top of dealing with increased COVID-19 challenges. While the demand for deliverables and work continues, the roles, responsibilities and efficiency of agile teams come into question. 

An agile team can, in most cases, work around the uncertainty and still get things done. To keep your agile teams moving forward, implement these six strategies:

1. Focus on the planning.

Yes, everything is subject to change, but planning is essential. This exercise (release planning, grooming or sprint planning) allows team members to understand the upcoming work and ask the right questions on time. Additionally, it’s a great way to train team members to provide estimates after going through the requirements in detail. This allows for better planning, wonderful execution and timely delivery instead of spillovers. Teams can use a variety of platforms available online to get the training done. Tools aren’t as important as the interaction itself. 

2. Track team health.

Working from Home

I always think the organic way to look at team health is through the consumption of buffer percentage. It is simple because during planning, your team assigns hours to tasks and you get the total hours you will need to complete the user stories. You also know the team’s total capacity (availability of the team during the sprint). Create a team buffer of about 10 percent and then plan for the sprint.

If during the course of the sprint your team consumes the buffer and still has spillover, you can increase the buffer. Track the consumption of the buffer percentage and determine if the team is estimating correctly, and if they are clear about the user stories. Buffers can let you know the team’s performance and, with it, the trend of the team’s deliverables. 

3. Prioritize retrospectives.

Teams must have a growth mindset, and nothing is better for fostering one than the ingrained cultural habit of retrospectives in agile teams. There are creative ways of conducting retrospectives during these times, even if they require workarounds. For example, perhaps instead of just focusing on the work and aligned data, retrospectives can include personal challenges as well. This not only allows the team to gather and feel seen and heard, it also allows teams to evolve and see if there are ways to reduce personal challenges. 

4. Encourage leadership.

Leadership shouldn’t be limited to just a coach or the leadership team. In fact, team members should be trained to make decisions when it comes to work or conflict management. I have always found that when the team lead or management encourages an open mindset for teams, teams take up challenges or new learnings because of the support they receive. These teams always perform better in the long run. 

5. Determine the happiness index.

Apart from other team data, there should be an insight that allows you to understand how a team is doing emotionally. In a 2013 Harvard Business Review article, Rosabeth Moss Kanter explains that a happy team can better handle complex problems. Finding the happiness index is one of the most revelatory exercises you can do with a team. Simply ask everyone to rate their happiness working with the team on a scale of 1 to 5 and why. Keep it anonymous so people share honestly, and you will be surprised what comes out. These are all hints that can lead you to identify unresolved conflicts, build retention and discover serious issues. 

6. Take action.

Many of us have good intentions. But unless there are actions that follow, trust falls apart. Be careful in committing too much and always follow up, whether it involves actions required from the last retrospective or something that has come to your attention.

What are some ways you keep your agile team on track? 

(Pic courtesy: Pexel.com)

General| Good Reads

I hope most of you are still working from home whenever possible and are safe. 

It has been almost more than 4 months for me working at home and given the situation doing okay. 

Here are some good reads that I have been reading, to be honest the list was compiled a while ago and then I didn't post. Life took over.......so today over a cup of Darjeeling tea and early morning wake up call here it is:)

Reading

5 work mistakes I made in my first job

https://thefinancialdiet.com/5-embarrassing-work-mistakes-i-made-in-my-first-job-after-college/

Learning during the time you spend at home- the PM Tribe

https://www.girlsguidetopm.com/thepmtribe-a-community-with-a-difference

Youngest women to row across Atlantic 

https://www.fitnessmagazine.com/mind-body/inspiration/katie-spotz-youngest-woman-row-across-atlantic-alone/

 

Books I have loved

https://tim.blog/2020/04/13/matt-mullenweg-book-recommendations/

 

101 ways to live a positive life

https://www.powerofpositivity.com/101-ways-to-live-a-simple-life/

 

3 keys to engaged and productive teams

https://www.forbes.com/sites/rajshreeagarwal/2020/04/14/three-keys-to-engaged-productive-telework-teams/#3b3f8f775b02

 

Staying with your parents and baking is the new hobby

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/25/asia/new-zealand-coronavirus-lockdown-parents-intl-hnk/index.html

 

Wellness blogs to follow in 2020

https://www.purdueglobal.edu/blog/student-life/valuable-health-wellness-blogs/

 

Is the office dead

https://marker.medium.com/the-office-is-dead-16be89f25d01

 

Getting fired over Zoom

https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2020/05/fired-zoom-layoffs-coronavirus/611509/

 

The Hardway is the way way

https://www.scotthyoung.com/blog/2020/05/11/hard-is-easy/

 

Dealing with boredom

https://zenhabits.net/uggh/

Stay safe everyone....

(Photo by Nubia Navarro (nubikini) from Pexels)

Lifestyle| Managing Stress- 4 ways

The world is going through trying times during this pandemic and we all are adapting to it in our own way.

For a lot of us the work location has changed from office to home, however there are still deliverables happening, teams working together via video calls and other collaborative platforms and yes everyone handling more than ever.

 And with all of this there’s stress and there’s no denying that.

Stress during these trying times

Work life balance is probably being truly tested with schools going online and kids at home. As if handling work from home continuously for the last 3 months or more wasn’t enough, there’s kids to be handled who haven’t been outside in a while, haven’t met their friends and energy is at all time high.

Self care could be written over and over during these times, frankly there’s barely enough time to even think about it. In times like these, here are four simple ways to put your mental and physical health first.

Identify Your Triggers

We all are different and unique in our own ways, so is our stress triggers. This is the key to not only handle stress well but even for your own personal growth. Understanding, identifying and working with these triggers can be a life saver where there’s enough to handle already. Tonight get yourself into the comfy nook and take 5 minutes to think about situations when you got mad or irritated and why. Or you can also hop over to Web MD to learn more on the common triggers.

Search For Shortcuts

In times like this, efficiency is the key. Getting things done correctly and in the right timeframe can mean getting rid of re-works. Just because your home is your new office, doesn’t mean you need to be glued to your laptop 24/7.  Ensuring you have the right set up for your home office is essential and so are the required software. Whether an employee or a freelancer look at multiple options in the market right now and templafy could be one of them. To know more  visit templafy.com. I know I personally use templates as much as possible whether its for office/team reports to designing social media posts. It's all about finding time for life and getting done as much as possible with the right help.

Delegate

Delegation is an art. We all think we can do it better than another. At some point in our career we need to delegate like a freelancer building her business, an individual contributor becoming a manager, a small business owner suddenly scaling up- we need to trust someone, train someone and empower someone else to get the work done. This can mean less pressure and stress on you and more time for you to work on essentials and strategies.

 

Try out of the box activities that you can do at home as tress busters

Invest In Out of the Box Activities

Picking up a new hobby is one of those natural stress busters. They not only take out of the work stress, they allow you to get into the zone of things you love doing. Simple things like pottery, taking off for think weeks (take off from work and plan it at home), going for runs or gardening are some easy ways to relax and also give yourself the deserving break. I recently watched a YouTube video where the video creator talks about taking off  from his work and the city to get his perspective back and really doing nothing on those vacation days. Well travelling might not be a possibility right now, simply doing nothing at home or learning a new skill can work perfectly too.

How has it been for you recently? Is it more stressful or have you figured a way around it?

(Pic courtesy: Pexel.com)

This is a partnered post.

Lifestyle|Finding your next best read

“I do believe something very magical can happen when you read a good book”.  J K Rowling

If you are looking for a good read, more than often you are looking for what’s next? 

Books are often selected based on what you like to read (same genre), recommendation of your friends (same kind of people) or influencers you follow (same taste). 

Have you thought of your mindset? Why you read the books you like? Have you tried a new genre? Do you think you usually choose a book based on what you are thinking? For you it can be the mood/environment you are currently in or what you want to be (professionally, transformations or a person). 

Here are some simple ways to find out your next read:

1. Amazon or kindle suggests your next read/buy based on your reading preference, browse them if possible read a sample and then buy.

2. Good reads are a great way to read up some sample and reviews. 

3. If you prefer classics, this list might be a great option to look at 

4. Join a book club- Start one or join any. This might bring you different opinions and books that might help you find the next read of genre. 

5.  Whichbook is a great way to look at different parameters that you enjoy reading and then suggested reads are provided. Try it 

What have you been reading? You can find details about my last two kindle downloads here. 

(Pic courtesy: Pexel.com and Canva.com)