Deming's 14 points

I have read Deming's 14 points more than once, but every time I read I think it's so important to know that I wanted to include it right in the blog.

So, the 14 points you should know:
  • Create constancy of purpose towards improvement
  • Adopt the new philosophy
  • Cease dependency on inspection
  • End the practice of awarding business on the basis of price tags
  • Improve constantly and forever
  • Institute training on the job
  • Institute leadership
  • Drive out fear
  • Break down barriers between staff areas
  • Eliminate slogans, exhortations, and targets for the work force
  • Eliminate management by objectives
  • Remove barriers to pride of workmanship
  • Institute education and self-improvement
  • The transformation is everyone’s job
To get into the details and know it better, read here.

Stress Management - how are you dealing with it?

Mar 5, 2010 | | 0 comments |
If you are a Project Manager, chances are you are stressed most of the time or have had situations which are very stressful.

If you haven't had one, you are lucky, however taking some of the precautions can ensure that you will stay healthy always.


Interview with Pawel Brodzinski

Mar 1, 2010 | | 0 comments |
Pawel Brodzinski is a seasoned manager working in software industry whom most us know because we read his blog about software project management at Software Project Management more then often. With more than 1693 readers subscribing to his post (wow!), this is one site you should visit and bookmark.

While Pawel is passionate about building great teams, fixing broken projects and building quality software he seems grounded and ready to help- read the interview and you will know what I mean. To know more follow him on Twitter

• How did you get into to project management?
I went through a number of different roles in software projects and entering project management was a natural consequence for me. Having experience is software development and design, quality assurance, customer support and team management leading projects was just another step and not the last one as it appeared. I would say I try to focus on people (teams) and software respectively; project management is just a part of my story.

A funny thing is I had ‘project manager’ printed on my business card for a few months only, even though I keep leading different projects all the time. But that’s exactly how I look at the subject – it is very broad.

• Any incident you can share with us.
I guess I could tell tons of success stories and at least as many failure stories. I could mention a few projects which taught me the most. But the thing which completely changed the way I look at project management and software development was me changing a job for the first time. I had a very good track record at my first job where I got invaluable experience and I decided to move on. I joined the company where my goal was to clean up technical department (software development, quality assurance and project management) with a head full of recipes ready to apply. After all I knew it how it should work from my previous job.

None of these recipes were right. The company I joined was completely different. It was smaller: we were counted in tens, not in thousands. There were few big customers instead of thousands small and medium ones. And it was other industry than before. We worked on custom projects mainly, not on from-the-shelf products. Company’s financial situation was significantly worse. Top management had different priorities. Virtually every single thing was different. Why recipes should be the same then?

The thing I learned is there’s no silver bullet, especially when it comes to such a broad subject as project management. Every situation is different and the best solution will vary depending on your specific situation. It is impossible to find a cure until you exactly know what disease you fight with.

• Beyond the urge to learn what do you think is crucial quality to become a project manager?
Being a good organizer, especially in terms of self-organization. Good communication and interpersonal skills. High determination to make things done. That’s shortened version of the list of qualities a good project manager should possess I wrote some time ago.

Don’t treat it as the only way to become a project manager. Actually a lot of people choosing this role don’t suit it very much and that’s fine. Depending on a workplace a different character would work better.

• Tell us something about your blog, why did you start blogging?
Starting Software Project Management was a bit of an experiment for me. I generally like to write and I believed I have some valuable insight to share but at the same time I wasn't sure whether anyone would follow or how long I’d enjoy running the blog. I guess I can call it a success since the blog will soon be 4 year old, I earned decent readership and still have a lot of fun with it.

Subjects I write about aren't limited to project management since, as I've mentioned before, project management is only a part of what I do. I’m always open for a good discussion and I wish there were more comments on Software Project Management. I guess I should become more controversial but unfortunately that’s not my style.

• You talk about helping people often– how do you plan to do it?
Well, I write a blog, isn't that enough? OK, just kidding. I try to be active on a couple of forums, AskAboutProjects being my favorite recently. By the way I recommend it for everyone trying to find answer for project management related question. I always help people who contact me via email, Twitter or blog which sometimes results in pretty interesting discussions. I speak on relevant events from time to time, Agile Central Europe being the nearest one. I have a couple other ideas focused mainly on region where I live but at the moment they are still under development.

I believe help starts with small things. If you write a post which is liked or triggers hot discussion it helps. If you answer a question on forum which solves someone’s problem it helps too. If it is followed up with email discussion you help even more. If you answer some questions from students of local university it helps. If you draw audience attention with your presentation during an event it sure helps. Even if none of these things cost you much, and good presentation cost heck lot of work, they stack up. That’s how I look at it.

• Tell us something about you that we don’t know
I am a naive person. I wish people were more honest in business and much more often than not my straightforward approach ends up with worse deals than I could have got. It is also easy to impress me when I meet new people. I could tell a lot of stories about people who I thought were great when we met for the first time but later I completely changed my opinion about them and usually regretted I hadn't been more careful in the first place. I guess I just gave you a recipe to milk me in business.

Thank you Pawel for taking the time to do this.



Coffee Break Series 1

I did it finally.

As you can see the Coffee Break Series is in a functional mode, though I admit it could have been done better.

I hope this video (actually audio file) explains why you should have a mentor (yes, I have one!).



Direct link to YouTube here

To know more about why I decided to start the series, click here

If you are curious, I finally found this software for free that allows me to record the audio and I do the rest through Windows Movie Maker and upload in YouTube.

Recording the Coffee Break Series.

Feb 26, 2010 | 2 comments |
Who said it would be easy?

Really, I do weired things in the blog to push myself a little more. So, I announced the Coffee Break Series and its time to post one. Now, am struggling trying out various softwares where I can upload audio files only, so I don't have to get dressed at 11.47pm to record the video.

Didn't work, one problem after the other. So, I give myself sometime and will try it out on the weekend.

Meanwhile, while I try to work out my own promise- have a good weekend everyone!

New Graduates/newbies- news ways to find jobs

Feb 22, 2010 | | 4 comments |
I somehow get in touch with new graduates all the time- all looking for jobs.

Yep and it is hard in this economy to get one. However, I have always thought there are also new ways to find one at the same time.

I've always tried to help my friends or sometimes even strangers and the fact that I run for blog for newbies I should probably know something about it.

Infact, I have a volunteer since last month- I read Tim Ferris'- 4 hour work week and read all about delegating work to free up some of your time and I thought why not? I can try it out but instead of hiring people or outsourcing the work- I told my friends that I was looking for some help. By next day I had a handful of resumes in my inbox.

I narrowed it down to a potential marketing PhD candidate for next year and we both learn something out of it by working together. She volunteers 10 hours/week with me (remotely done, she is from Oklahoma) and she learns what it took me 3 years to figure out. She is gaining some experience hopefully while I look forward to get some fresh ideas from her.

So, for all of you who are looking to find a job, watch the video and get going. You can still get the experience you want to include in your resumes and yes- plan for it ahead of time.

The best thing that can happen with technology and social media is connecting and approaching these people is not difficult- you have open access to them and you can stay in one continent and volunteer for something in another.


Google Voice- why you should use it? Pt 1

Feb 19, 2010 | | 1 comments |
It saves you time.

It’s cool.

You can use it for strangers without having to give your real phone number.


It’s a winner and I like it more than I like Google Buzz. I personally don’t like dialing in to listen to my voicemails, I’d rather read texts or emails. If the phone call was really important I’d take it anyways. Since, it wasn’t or you called me at the wrong time I let it go to my voicemail.

Google Voice will transcribe the voicemail for you and send it as text to your phone and email (Gmail id you use to subscribe to it). I love it- since I can play back the message if I want to or just read the text.


It’s available only in US (at least for now).

The error in transcription obviously happens if the language used is not English.

There are 2 ways you can use Google Voice - one with your existing number (the one I use) and the other with a new number. It’s available by invite only and that’s why they are so many people who are unaware that it has launched. The first time I read about it, I requested an invite over twitter. I got it through a connection and friend of mine over LinkedIn because my twitter is connected to LinkedIn- so anything I tweets is my status update for LinkedIn. I almost forgot about it till I got the invite!

To know more about Google Voice, click
here

To request an invite
here , unless you already have the invite through a friend.

To read, how Google Voice helps you as a PM or a blogger, come back next week!

(Pic Courtesy)

Are you happy at work?

Do you love what you do- your job or do you maintain it to pay the bills? How to be happy at work is what Karl Staib specializes in.

So, I ask him- what needs to be done to be happy and here are some great tips from him. Enjoy the interview.

How can work make you happy or can it? Most people I meet keep their jobs, so they have the money to do they like to do.

I believe work can make us happy. We need external elements to understand what excites us. For example I may love filming videos in my mind, but when it actually comes down to the preparation and execution I need to actually do it. The imagination is fluid, but actually doing the work is a whole different game. Our actions create results. It's these results that help us measure our development.

We need to do work that excites us. It's this work that we can connect with and also helps us bring value to other people.

Money is really far down on the list of things that make people happy at work. Relationships bring us the most happiness. When we share an experience we create bonds that support our development.

So, even if someone is not happy right now- what can they do to be happy?

I'm glad you asked this question. Happiness is really a state of mind. It's amazing how some people can connect to their work and others can't. I really believe it depends on the person's ability to reflect on the positive, make adjustments, and try new angles (finding a way to be creative at work) that help us build our happiness. It comes down to believing in what we do.

My favorite tool is a gratitude journal. Whenever I feel sad I write three things that I've enjoyed about my day. By refocusing my mind back on the positive I'm creating new synapses that build my emotional strength. Now it's become such a habit that I do it automatically, helping boost my mood, so I can do great work.

When you start your job and you are the newbie in the office and you don't have the best projects- how should you train your mind to be happy?

This is where happiness is overrated. We want a job to be perfect. We start our new job and we get the crap work. This is normal. We can't run the company in just 6 months. We need to find ways to develop ourselves at work while at the same time being so helpful that managers and co-workers notice you.

My suggestion would be to think of every task as a way to work on your emotions. If you are getting frustrated with the work use the "5 Whys" method. By asking yourself why 5 times you'll get to the root of the problem. 99% of the time the root cause will be your lack of emotional development.

What does happiness mean for you?

Happiness is helping business create an environment that loves its employees so much that they are dedicated to make their employees happy. Also hugging my son, going for a walk with my wife, and throwing the tennis ball for my obsessed dog. You should see how happy my dog is when chasing her ball; it just makes me laugh out loud.

Happy employees are productive employees- what should employers do to keep their employees happy?

Where do I start? Employers need to give their people the freedom to create great work. They also need to show appreciation for the hard work their people do and celebrate it as much as they can. They should also be given career and personal counseling. When you understand an employee's motivation it's easy to encourage great work out of them.

Relationships are the glue to work happiness. Most people leave a company because their manager is a terrible leader and/or they don't have any friends at work. Companies need to help their employees create better relationships that focus on employee's needs too.

Thank you Karl and hearing from you was certainly helpful.

If you want to know more, look up his site here or follow him on twitter


The 4 Hours Work Week by Tim Ferris- why you should read it?

Feb 14, 2010 | | 0 comments |
Ever thought you need that push to get over the conflicting emotions? The strength even when you sleep, the dream to free up some of your time to go travelling or sit in your backyard and sip bubbly, create something of your own that is bigger than yourself- this is the read for you.

The book is focused and will not waste your time- will get your attention to the point where you cannot put it down unless you have read the whole thing. As much as the title suggests like its some magic scam like pill where you delegate all your work, not work and have long vacations- not true.

The 396 page book, talks about a concept, tells you how to implement it, gives you links to resources like websites, companies etc and then quotes people who have used the concept. Overall- I think it will make you think like never before.

The books is for everyone, if you are busy professional, starting your own business , stay at home mom- everyone will find something special here.

And if you are project manager- you will wow’d by all the statistics and charts, the logic behind his thinking; if you are not- don’t be mortified – this book is all text and has sparse use of flow charts. I think after you finish reading you will take in what you have read and create something of your own out of the whole experience of simply reading the book.

A must read and I have to say- I’m using some of the ideas from the book and it works! Adding this book to my library and among my favorite reads.

So, happy reading!