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:)
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| 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
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
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
Stay safe everyone....
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.
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| 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.
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| 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
Lifestyle| Good reads, my plans during lockdown and view from my terrace
I hope you are doing well.
I have been in home for almost 2 months now, stepped out only once a week to walk in terrace and get back again in the space that now serves as both office and home.
I have always felt I worked better a home- lesser distractions, more deep work and control over my time. In the last 2 months, work and life has finally met each other and thats heres to stay for next couple of more months.
I have been handling it okay except for the occasional outburst because my kid is also stuck at home like so many others for 2 moths now. Sometimes handling everything is tough.
Yet I am grateful that my problems seems so small right now. So, I am doing what I always thought I will do- take up more because I am at home :)
So, I have been reading few more books than I usually do (last 2 Kindle downloads have been Year without Pants- get your free kindle download And Motivation Hacker). I have signed up for e-courses in Udemy and Skillshare. I am utilising that big elephant in the room (read...treadmill). I started another blog focussed on motivation and creativity like I could belch out more content because I wasn't stepping out of home. And of course the YouTube channel for which I have high hopes :)
Managing it all hasn't been easy and if I may say so myself being an introvert locked down in home should be fabulous, however in this case its been a chaos of too many things fighting for my attention.
So today I have reserved some time for myself so get my act together, re-evaluate my time management and look at things I can do weekly vs what I can do monthly. How has it been for you?
Wanted to stop by and check on you and here are few things I read most recently. If you like them feel free to continue reading....
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| View from my terrace |
I have always felt I worked better a home- lesser distractions, more deep work and control over my time. In the last 2 months, work and life has finally met each other and thats heres to stay for next couple of more months.
I have been handling it okay except for the occasional outburst because my kid is also stuck at home like so many others for 2 moths now. Sometimes handling everything is tough.
Yet I am grateful that my problems seems so small right now. So, I am doing what I always thought I will do- take up more because I am at home :)
So, I have been reading few more books than I usually do (last 2 Kindle downloads have been Year without Pants- get your free kindle download And Motivation Hacker). I have signed up for e-courses in Udemy and Skillshare. I am utilising that big elephant in the room (read...treadmill). I started another blog focussed on motivation and creativity like I could belch out more content because I wasn't stepping out of home. And of course the YouTube channel for which I have high hopes :)
Managing it all hasn't been easy and if I may say so myself being an introvert locked down in home should be fabulous, however in this case its been a chaos of too many things fighting for my attention.
So today I have reserved some time for myself so get my act together, re-evaluate my time management and look at things I can do weekly vs what I can do monthly. How has it been for you?
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| Evenings |
Read something interesting or found a way to make your life more inserting during this lockdown period, feel free to share and let me know.
Till next one, stay safe and stay home.
(Pic courtesy: Soma B)
Lifestyle| 5 Positive Changes during Lockdown
I hope you are all safe and at home.
These are difficult times and yes we have the time now to look back to review our own system. I have been doing exactly that and have made some changes to my lifestyle I never thought I would be able to do and waking up at 6am is one of those.
All the links that I mention in the video have been included in the description box of the video.
For more tips on how to work from home, check out this article.
If you would like to explore more about Notion, click here. I find it extremely useful, simple and I use the free version.
Stay safe everyone and stay at home.
These are difficult times and yes we have the time now to look back to review our own system. I have been doing exactly that and have made some changes to my lifestyle I never thought I would be able to do and waking up at 6am is one of those.
All the links that I mention in the video have been included in the description box of the video.
For more tips on how to work from home, check out this article.
If you would like to explore more about Notion, click here. I find it extremely useful, simple and I use the free version.
Stay safe everyone and stay at home.
Agile| Why Agile helps you work with millennials better?
This article was first published in Projectmanagement.com. Click here to view the article.
(Pic Courtesy: Pexel)
56 million. That’s the estimated number of millennials currently working or seeking work—making individuals born between 1980 and 2000 the largest generation in the U.S. labor force, according to the Pew Research Center.
And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
By 2025, millennials will comprise 75 percent of the global workforce. Companies like Accenture have already reported that millennials represent over two-thirds of the company’s entire employee base.
As of late, agile has been sparking more and more conversations—about how it has worked wonderfully well for some organizations and failed for others.
If you look at the profiles of the organizations or teams reporting their project progress, their successes and failures often point to the workforce and, of course, company culture. For many startups and young organizations, where the workforce is mostly millennial, agile seems to be accepted more easily. I know this personally because I have seen companies—small companies that are very open and motivated to make it work—with huge support from management make it successful.
I believe that agile works better for teams of millennials simply because the approach focuses on many of the same qualities that are among the core values of millennials.
Let’s look at some of them:
Empowerment: Agile is all about empowering individuals. From holding team ceremonies to the team structure, it’s all about interacting as a group, coming together every day and making decisions as a unit. Nearly 50 percent of millennials believe leadership signifies the empowerment of others, according to a Workplacetrends.com survey. They also seem to value traits of humility, openness and continual learning, promoting the importance of recognizing both strengths and weaknesses.
Transparency: Transparency, another pillar of agile, is easier said than done. Millennials believe in looking at the bigger picture of their organizations and teams. They want to participate in that shared vision. There are companies that have transparent salaries, are candid about their roadmaps and quickly own their mistakes. This leads to teams that are transparent among themselves about what’s going to work and what’s not going to work.
Visibility: Visibility is also critical, because it impacts how teams distribute work. It fosters quicker decision-making and more effective resource management. Unless the value is explained and showcased in clear terms, it’s natural that certain tasks will seem like a boring chore. This means the role of mentors and leaders is of high importance in how the team is trained and how team members communicate.
Trust: Trust in the team, leadership, and, yes, estimation. If you look at the root cause analysis of why it doesn’t click with some teams, there’s a larger story to tell. It could be people who prefer to work in silos or a lack of trust. By pivoting, you can probably get the team to rethink their estimation based on asking the right questions or pairing up team members so the experienced ones can help their juniors. You can mentor the team to get things done quicker. It’s all about how you communicate without damaging team morale.
Acknowledgement: Communication is an art, and millennials use all forms of communication to get things done. Smaller teams, as used in scrum, also mean better communication, faster decisions and acknowledgement. Millennials thrive on acknowledgement more than anything. They need to know their work matters.
Perspective: Learning and having a growth mindset is essential to adopting any new process. That’s why the way you approach the team about change or how you handle and mentor the team is so important. Don’t introduce every change on day one, and don’t blame those changes on agile. Give everyone the time to doubt, adapt and see it for themselves. Meanwhile, be with them, give them the right information and take the journey with them. There’s nothing more apt than using the Goldilocks rule in this scenario.
Motivation: Give them a challenge with a difficulty level that slowly scales up and allows them to feel accomplished. Telling them to run a marathon when they have never walked a mile before is not only foolish, but a huge demotivator.
Gratification: Millennials also look for immediate gratification. There’s a talk by the author Simon Sinek in which he mentions that millennials are used to having everything immediately: You want a phone? You can order it online and get it delivered in a day or two. You want a shoe? You have so many shops and online stores to choose from. Unsurprisingly, millennials in the workforce also crave immediate feedback and want to feel confident at work without waiting until they hit the six-month mark. They want to be happy, get things done faster and work for something they truly believe in.
True agility is also a test of how the organization forms itself. If you really want the team to have the right dynamics and bonding, appraisals should put more weight in team performance than individual performance. For extrinsic motivators, this will have a great impact.
As it also turns out, at companies where managers show sincere interest in millennials as people, the organization sees an 8x improvement in agility and a 7x increase in innovation, according to a Great Place to Work survey. Now that’s something to think about.
