Top Hacks when on the move, Pt 2

Oct 13, 2015 | | 0 comments |
This post is more about the products I use/carry with me that serve more than one purpose. I have figured the best way to keep your sanity when you are travelling way too often is to keep things around you that you are familiar with. Since I also want to travel light, I emphasize on the things I absolutely need and use on a regular basis to carry with me.

  • Sunglass- Apart from the obvious because I am anyways carrying it, it’s a great way to sleep in flights specially when taking morning flights. 
  • YouTube offline- I download videos I want to watch in offline mode using the app, and use the time in airports watching what I want. I do carry a power bank with me most of the times.
  • Utility box- it’s an old sun-glass box, which is packed with my travel essentials like a pen, pen drive, phone cleaner, a lip balm, band aid and ear phones. It’s compact and easy to travel with.
  • Aloe Vera- I carry it for its multipurpose use. You can use it on your sensitive skin, as well as for sun burns and mild cuts.
  • Ziplocs- instead of carrying small pouches, stuff it in Ziploc’s, lesser space and easy to see. Discard when done whether to carry snacks, makeup or
  • Powder- This works as a great dry shampoo and I carry my son’s regular Johnson and Johnson travel size powder with me.
  • Personal touch- carry your own shampoo and moisturizer in travel size bottles. Clips and safety pins. To ensure I don’t lose them, I put them in empty tic tac containers, keep them in socks or use a hair band to keep them together.

Whats your travel secret? 

Pic courtesy: google images 

Top 15 Efficiency Hacks When on Move- Pt 1

Sep 22, 2015 | | 0 comments |

If you have been reading the blog you know that I have been travelling every week for the last 5 months. I split my time between 2 cities and I am constantly on the move. Juggling travelling with my life honestly hasn't been easy. Here's couple of things I have been using/trying out to keep me going:

1. Travel light- Over the months I have learned to pack light and keep pieces that multitask and stick to basics and not overload with items I will barely use.
2. Laptop free- I sometimes travel without laptop. I just copy the essential folders in the pen drive or upload in Google Drive and access it from my home laptop. Meanwhile I use my time in the airport to take some time off and read instead of mindless browsing.
3. Happiness- I am my happiest when my life is organized and there;s meaning to what I do.  So, I carry my red diary which I just write happy thoughts in. I will write in it after work when I return to my apartment in Mumbai. I sometimes will just read through it while sipping my cup of peach tea.
4. Clutter free- I recently got a purse organizer, which allows me to pack things that can be easily found. it saves me time and irritation. 
5. Health- I installed the Pacer app in my phone, while its just a pedometer; I enjoy seeing the steps I cover on a regular basis. Highest number of steps I take is mostly Monday's and Wednesdays. I also recently got a hand blender that is easy to carry so I can whip up smoothies or juices.
6. Music- I have 3 different apps that I use in my phone for music, my latest installed one is Saavn. At night when I am on my own, I will just put it on and continue working or reading. 
7. Communication- I keep 2 cell phones to ensure I am always connected  and mostly do all transactions via apps. I also use Skypewhatsapp and viber on a regular basis.
8. Cabs- I use Ola on a regular basis and it has mostly been a positive experience. 
9. Relax- when I am not browsing through blogs listed in my blog, I go through lifestyle blogs. current fav is Chalkboard
10. Mindful- I try to keep a schedule when away from Home that allows me to feel much more sane. I have always had problem disconnecting from work; these days I will do one thing that triggers the mindlessness. 
11. Make myself @Home- It isn't easy to live month after month out of suitcase, so I always have books, magazines and sometimes even candles with me. My current ones are from Ikea.
12. Tea time- I carry my own tea and coffee in office as well as while travelling. My current favorites- Peach tea, Green tea and Earl Breakfast Tea. Coffee is always Nescafe instant.
13. Grocery- From Diapers to grocery to household items; I use apps to keep things going and get them delivered at home at my convenient time whereever I or my family needs them. Current favorites:
  • amazon
  • flipkart
  • bigbasket
  • ola store
  • peppertap

14. Trick of the trade- I carry a sample size perfume dispenser, which I can always refill and carry even on flights. 
15. To write- I started using Zenpen. Simple and less of distraction. 

What do you do when travelling for work or pleasure? 

Interview with Mark Woeppel

We are glad to bring you an insightful interview with Mark Woeppel , founder and president of Pinnacle Strategies, an international management consulting firm working to improve operations performance in project management and processes. He frequently writes on the subject of execution performance, having written three books and many other publications. With extensive experience in oil & gas, consumer products, IT, many manufacturing industries, Mark is a highly sought after subject matter expert in project management, operations management, performance management, and continuous improvement.

His latest book Visual Project Management brings out interesting concepts that definitely encourages you to think differently. Here's his interview:

The book brings out the realistic problems that everyone encounters like visibility issues in managing a project/portfolio, end goal for team members, lack of communication etc is all related to the way project management used to work. If you look at the problem statements, most of them can be covered if you implement Agile. What do you think?

Indeed, the Agile method can be used to achieve the Basic Collaboration level of execution maturity, and it can do it well. This is just the beginning. There are other problems. For many projects, with longer wavelengths, hitting delivery dates reliably is a problem. Synchronizing remote teams is a challenge. Integration of subcontractors’ projects into the main project is always problematic. Managing capacity, probabilistic planning and systematically breaking bottlenecks are not part of the typical tools set for Agile. And that’s what I see in Agile. Tools. Rules. Plenty of “what” to do, but not much on “why” should we do that. Visual Project Management goes beyond Agile.

What I’ve laid out in the book is a methodology and set of principles that support any project environment. The examples that I’ve used and proposed have has several things in common with Agile, but those are just the means to the end. I’m not in love with the tool, but I am serious about achieving the outcomes: increased velocity, improved productivity, delivering projects on time. Visual Project Management builds on those best practices and integrates the best practices so that any team can understand the cause and effect of project team behaviors to results and pick the methodology that supports them.

Where did the concept of the book come from?

Visual Project Management is the distillation of best practice in project management, employing Lean principles, the Theory of Constraints, and putting the project management body of knowledge to work.

We started with the most difficult activity of creating probabilistic project plans for some very large projects, then putting them into execution. We had mixed results in adoption, even though the projects we used them on were successful. As agents of transformation, we were frustrated, looking for a better way. In the meantime, we were using visual workflows in some of our other Theory of Constraints/Lean process improvement projects and having good success. So we thought we would try them on a sophisticated project. The results were spectacular. We were able, with some very simple tools, to engage all of our stakeholders, from senior managers, to resource managers, to subcontractors to drive better results in the entire portfolio.

We wanted to understand “why” it worked, so over the course of the next 4 years and many different kinds of projects, we developed and tested the principles and tactics to take the execution process from ad-hoc to fully integrated. We now know the specific behaviors that precede project success. Some of them are well known, some are not.

Please tell us what is Viewpoint framework?

ViewPoint is what we have named the visual project management process using the Project Execution Maturity Model (PEMM). It uses the visualization of the project delivery process as a springboard to drive team behaviors: to collaborate and effectively manage projects to deliver on time. ViewPoint treats project execution as a process, with principles and practices to create repeatable, scalable results.

Typically, project management process improvements are built around the sequence of how projects are accomplished: get an idea, form a team, make a plan, execute the project, and then execute the project manager.

ViewPoint reverses that - focusing on project execution first.

ViewPoint emphasizes global results over the entire portfolio or business to makes all projects (although it has been used to manage a single project) under management visible, allowing for strategic management of the bottlenecks that block project process.

Rather than taking the team away from their work to do planning activity, ViewPoint focuses on getting the work done – emphasizing project execution processes and behavior and improving the team’s effectiveness. This then allows the team to engage more with the tasks to be accomplished (rather than sit in meetings to talk about the work that hasn’t been done).

You talk about a lot of Models in the book that you believe will help the projects be delivered the way they should be- what according to you is the main focus that every project manager should look into?

Well, “should” is a bit strong. What I’m looking for is “effectively”. On time, on budget, within scope. Everyone’s good at the latter, the former, not so much.

Most managers believe the planning phase is the most important part of the project, so they invest a great deal in the skills, processes and practices around project planning. There’s an entire industry devoted to helping you plan better. We’ve done quite a bit of research into what works and what doesn’t work in project management, and despite millions in investments, projects are consistently late and over budget. You can see the report here.

I have personally gone the plan-execute-success route; it’s long, arduous and delivers mixed results. Emphasizing the PEMM and the principles embodied in them, has given our team and our clients excellent results time and again. You must have a model for execution – a framework. Without it, a plan has limited value; improving the plan is a waste of time. Besides, what plan is ever perfect? None of them. Who can stop in the middle of a project to do a re-plan? Almost no one. You have be able to live with “good enough”, because we live in an imperfect world.

What managers should be looking at is establishing the behaviors and feedback mechanisms that will allow them to respond to reality – Murphy lives! - while still delivering what’s required. This is the beauty of the PEMM. It lives in the real world.

What difference according to you visualizing project management will achieve?

What it does is make a big difference in how projects are delivered and how the team experiences the project process. At the business end of things, projects are delivered in a LOT less time and at lower costs.

For the project team, there is a greater sense of accomplishment and enjoyment of the process. It’s not frustrating. There are no more “battles” to fight, even though there are still problems to solve. They feel like they are making a real difference, because ViewPoint Visual Project Management removes the obstacles to getting the work done so they can make a difference.

For the leaders and owners of the projects, they have greater understanding of where they are during the life of the project. They can rapidly understand the risks and obstacles so they can engage the right people and resources to meet their projects’ objectives. Their job is easier, too.

To summarize, the difference is in the people: customers, team members, owners all get what they want. Without a fight.

Thank you Mark.

You can find more in his website by clicking here.

Is Holacracy the new Agile?

Jul 29, 2015 | 0 comments |
Zappos adopted Holacracy and things almost went viral.

"Research shows that every time the size of a city doubles, innovation or productivity per resident increases by 15 percent. But when companies get bigger, innovation or productivity per employee generally goes down. So we're trying to figure out how to structure Zappos more like a city, and less like a bureaucratic corporation.” – Tony Hsieh

Holacracy is a new way of working and this is how it works.

It’s about clarity and stripping of power and creating a system that enables and distributes the power of decision making. Self-management in one word. While I read the book that I bought last week and then come up with the review; I thought it’s only fair that I at least share it with you guys.

Some interesting reads related to it:          


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)