Rants, events, and trying to settle in

The last few weeks have been exhausting. For those of you who don’t know, I moved to India and there has been nothing but continuous running around trying to set up the new place and make it a home.

I couldn’t write for so many days, didn’t know what to write about and nothing seemed to fit in. Yesterday, I cut my own bangs/fringes- an impulsive decision which turned out pretty ok.

For the last one month, I have read, thought and socialized with people I know and people I don’t know; attended week long Indian weddings and while its nice to play dress up- couple of days later all I want is to sleep at home.

I haven't tweeted in like a century and most of my plans are behind schedule because I couldn’t say "no" to events, friends and to myself.

So, now  it’s "no" to everything- no more parties, no more weddings, no more entertaining friends at dinner with 7 course Indian menu.

I call it quits.

It's time to get back to what I like doing the most- project management.While I'm working on a couple of personal projects, it’s hard to explain to people why I blog. I don’t make any money out of it- I just keep on working at it. More time, more energy, more ideas- all gets poured into it including some from my pocket to keep the site running.

So, while I have few more guest posts to write and more things to do- I hope things will turn normal, boring and in schedule very soon.

Here are some of the reads to keep you busy till then:

• top 15 system thinking books
• Women PM's- less pay and more maternity pay 
• debugging fun
• Adventures

A Project Manager Outside Office

A hard core project manager is allowed to have weekends like any other normal beings.

I went around looking for a new book case and fell in love with the mango ice cream! Kareem here realized how life at home can be for a generally overworked stressed out PM.

So do PM’s enjoy their life outside work relatively more than in stressed out battered cubicle? 

If you need a more functional office, read up and have a great week! 

(Pic Courtesy: E. Harrin's tweet)

Virtual Project Manager

With virtual workers increasing everyday, it’s a no more a myth how you can be productive, free and still earn good money.

If Tim Ferris turned the concept into a complete rage, with technological advances its not considered weird anymore if you are constantly on the move with your gadgets.

So, are you the kind of project manager who wants to be a virtual nomad? Do you have the right personality  to fit into the virtual worker mode?

With teams being spread all over the world these days, we are so tuned to working different hours   and within different cultures that being virtual doesn’t seem very bad an idea.

“We’re also seeing a spike for project management – up 70% for this skill set. If I’m hiring a team of remote workers, I’d like to be in control, but have someone to manage the project. Lots of start-ups are hiring teams of developers all managed by a single resource” -Source

Here’s the toolset you might need if you decide to make the switch:
•Laptop
•Skype – for all communication
•A Blackberry/i-phone/windows phone to stay connected
•An external hard drive
•A virtual back up system
•Google docs for online file sharing

If you have always wanted the fun, flexibility, freedom, escape the cubicle and didn’t want to take the risk to start your own business, being a virtual nomad is as close as you can get with a steady salary slip.

Want to see a company that works completely virtually, click here.

(Pic Courtesy)

Happy V-Day!

Happy Valentine’s Day!


If today’s all about heart, the Children’s Cardiomyopathy Foundation couldn't be left far behind. 


CCF is a national, non-profit organization focused on pediatric cardiomyopathy, a chronic disease of the heart muscle. CCF is dedicated to accelerating the search for cures while improving diagnosis, treatment, and quality of life for children affected by cardiomyopathy.


What they do is amazing- they have successfully created a platform where parents, medical practitioners and friends and relatives can all come together and share and learn from each others experience. 


I have seen the emails- the pain, the troubles, the sleepless nights that the parents share and find strength in each other- its touching and sad to see the children go through so much when we adults take our lives and our “hearts” for granted. 


CCF was founded by Eddie Yu & Lisa Yue, parents who lost two young children to cardiomyopathy, CCF has grown over the years and is managed by a small staff and guided by a medical advisory board.  Today, CCF reaches out to more than 2,000 physicians and 1,500 families worldwide. 


Lisa Yue whom I have known for couple of years now and met in New York City is true to the cause as is her staff. 


The site is a center of knowledge about the disease from the medical glossary  to dealing with a losing child. 


So, to honor the cause- Ill be putting up the CCF logo on the side bar and if you wish, you can visit and support their cause: 
•Making  a donation
•Shopping   
•Volunteering your time and skills  


(Disclosure: SIPM receives no monetary gain by putting up this post, this is not an affiliate link)


As a special giveaway this V-Day, @Samadaidane is giving away 1 ticket to the PM Telesummit- all you have to do is tweet about the event and include my twitter id @Soma_b, so I can track it down. One lucky winner will be chosen and announced on Feb 28.

Top Trends for BAs for 2011

ESI has announced the top ten trends for Business Analysts for 2011.

Since Project managers and business analyst work hand in hand, this information might be useful to both.

•Business architecture will be the primary focus for business analysts
•Business analysis will guide the surge in cloud computing
•Requirements management and development will lead in delivering smart business perspective
•BPMN (Business process modeling notation) will solidify its reputations as the industry standard
•Agile success will go to those willing to break with tradition
•BAs will be recognized as critical to change management to avoid troubled projects.
•Resurgence of Centers of Excellence
•Requirements management and development will be essential to regaining market share
•Requirements management and development will continue to struggle to define itself
•Requirements management and development will require better balanced competencies

You can also see a series of youtube videos done by Glenn Brûlé, CBAP, CSM, Executive Director of Global Client Solutions at ESI International

If you were wondering how BAs use project management terminology at work, click here  for details.

If you are a BA and want to make the switch to Project Management, here are the sites you might want to consider for a taste:

• PM Prepcast 
• PM Student 
• Stepping into Project Management  

Here’s a new Project Management Telesummit coming up and you can find details here.