An evening in Mumbai

Jul 20, 2015 | 0 comments |
I almost fell asleep at 6.30pm on the couch.

I am back from work and today like all Monday’s I have had a morning flight to Mumbai, went to work and back at the temporary accommodation here.

So, just doing random things and thought will share it with you.

Here are the books/magazines I have been recently reading:
  • The Willpower Instinct – Kelly McGonigal
  • Scrum- The Art of doing Twice the Work in Half the Time – Jeff Sutherland
  • Holacracy- The Revolution Management System that Abolishes Hierarchy-Brian J. Robertson
  • Visual Project Management –Mark J. Woeppel
  • The EQ Edge -Emotional Intelligence and Your Success by Steven J Stein and Howard E Book
  • Vogue (magazine)
  • The Project Managers Guide to Mastering Agile- Charles G. Cobb
Sites I am browsing right now:
3 links I read today (about Agile Governance):
I also started an Instagram account recently to randomly click and keep what I am doing throughout the day. From airport clicks to the book I am reading to a peek inside my handbag. To follow me, click here .

(Pic Courtesy- Soma B Instagram)

Free Cultural Intelligence Training by Participating in Research Study

My friend Samad needs your help and participation for his project. It would be great if you have some time to partcipate, you can also send it along to your friends and colleagues. The deadline is till end of this month.
Research Overview:
  • Researcher: Samad Aidane
  • University: Middlesex University (U.K)
  • Degree: Master of Science in Neuroscience of Leadership
  • Research Topic: Investigate the effectiveness of intercultural competence training  
What is the context for this study?
This research study is the final deliverable for completing my Master of Science degree in Neuroscience of Leadership through Middlesex University (U.K).
The study will explore a practical issue that many organizations are facing today: how to help their employees be effective in intercultural collaboration. Through a training intervention, the study will investigate the effectiveness of an intercultural competence training program aimed at enhancing cultural intelligence among IT professionals.
What is the aim of this study?
Integrating insights from multidisciplinary research, the workshop will provide participants with an understanding of how culture shapes the way we make decisions, solve problems, and collaborate with others in a multicultural teams.
The findings from this study will contribute to the existing body of research on best practices for how organizations plan, design, and implement effective intercultural competence training for IT professionals.
Who will participate in the study?
The target audiences of this study are organizations who are interested in improving collaboration in the context of multicultural teams involved in IT projects. Participants are Information Technology Professionals (project managers, business analysts, software developers and testers, as well as other IT roles) or other Subject Matter experts who work over 50% of their time on IT projects and are currently working on projects or teams that include members from multiple cultures.
What commitments are expected from participants?
Participants will be expected to perform 4 main activities:
  1. Read and sign a Research Study Consent Form (5 Minutes)
  2. Complete a pre-assessment questionnaire (10 Minutes)
  3. Attend a live online training workshop (4 hours)
  4. Complete post-assessment questionnaire four weeks after the training workshop (10 minutes)
The study will require no more than 4.5 hours of participant’s time, over a period of four weeks.
When will the training workshop take place?
The training workshop will take place the week of July 6th. Other workshop dates in July may be added if needed. The exact date and time of the workshop will be coordinated with participants. The study will end four weeks after the training workshop, with participants completing the post-assessment questionnaire.
What is the benefit to your organization?
The benefit to your organization is that participants will:
  • Learn to recognize cultural barriers to making decisions, solving problems, and collaborating with others in a multicultural teams.
  • Gain a better understanding of the essential skills for leading and working in multicultural teams.
  • Gain practical tips, techniques, and strategies on how to develop a culturally intelligent communication style to effectively lead and work in multicultural projects and teams.
A whitepaper summarizing the findings and recommendation from the study will be provided to each participant and their organization.
Are there any costs involved for participants?
All training in this study will be provided to participant at no cost to your organization
What about confidentiality?
All data collected in the research will be made anonymous and held confidentially. Only summary results will be presented in the final report.
When is the deadline to sign up to participate in the study? 
The deadline to sign up to participate in the study is June 15, 2015.
How many participants from my organization can take part in the study?
As many as 50 participants can join the study.
I am interested. What’s the next step?
Send an email to samadaidane@gmail.com and the researcher will be in touch about the next step.

Waterfall to Agile

Jun 9, 2015 | | 0 comments |
Working in Agile and don't know what to expect? Helping teams self organize but too much push back? 

This e-book is a great resource, read how the experts are doing it around the world one organization at a time.

You can find me on slide 19 and 20. 


From the road and in between

May 24, 2015 | | 0 comments |
I have been trying to post and as is evident haven't been able to.

As a consultant I travel every week to another city (flight time 2 hours) and am back on the weekend. that has pretty much taken a toll on me and my time management skills. I have tried posting from airports, in between the crazy busy week  and sometimes on the weekend.

Reality is, I mostly blank out in airports and at 5am in the morning I don't feel like working on the blog. I am not a morning person at all. During the week the focus is more on the training's, work, reports, meetings and endless hours streamlined to keep things functional. Weekends is mostly mommy duty- Rio is 9 months old now and like all working moms I try to be with him when I can, as much as I can.

So, yes the blog has suffered in the process. However, I have been reading some good stuff and am sure will share it over here.

I hope in the busy schedule that you have, you get the time to sit down and relax and keep an hour for yourself. I honestly suffered with it, constantly travelling and working in deadlines. So, I am trying to force myself to relax sometimes, like I napped this weekend, didn't open my laptop until now, played with Rio and was  just happy to be home.

I hope like all pro bloggers I learn to write from airports, take mental notes while on elevators and can keep the blog going and make it look very easy.

Oh and before I forget in case you would like to help a fellow PM and one of my favorite people Samad on his research project and get a free cross cultural training, click here . 

(Pic courtesy: google images)