Jai's Blog: July 2017

Referred Link - https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/7-ways-creating-sustaining-agile-product-roadmap-ellen-gottesdiener

Product Roadmaps Are Necessary for Product Success

A product roadmap visually depicts how your product will evolve over time to realize your product vision and achieve continual value for your customers and business. (I define the term product to refer to a software application, system, device, service, or a combination that provides value to customers and business partners).

A product roadmap should be designed to adapt continually, guide decisions, and promote action.

Product roadmaps done well serve to align and motivate a variety of internal and external stakeholders to act as product partners to achieve shared outcomes, assist in obtaining funding and other resources, promote customer loyalty, and steer what to include (and what not to include) in your product backlog.

A product roadmap illustrates how you intend to solve customer problems or leverage customer opportunities. Roadmaps need to be continually revised based on ongoing learning and validation, market and customer conditions, and organizational capacity. The roadmap clearly identifies the “why” behind all product development.

Your product roadmap is a decision-making framework that shields against reactive product development such as one-off features promised by sales, HIPPO (highest paid person’s opinion), responding to one-off customer complaints, and reducing a list of low-value bugs.

Most importantly, your product roadmap becomes a communications and collaboration tool, rallying everyone toward shared outcomes.

Why Most Product Roadmaps Fail

But, product roadmaps can have a bad reputation.

A product roadmap fails when it is perceived as both a contract and commitment between product development and the rest of the organization. As time and market conditions change, product roadmaps that are inflexible could easily become irrelevant. A static roadmap fails to incorporate ongoing learning and real market events.

Product roadmaps that don’t work may also appear to be disconnected to the product vision or desired outcomes. I’ve seen roadmaps that display a list of stories or features in a Gantt chart format with no context showing the significance of features or who they serve.

Bad roadmaps can also occur when the process to create the roadmap is flawed. This can happen when it was created in a vacuum by a product person eliciting information based on one-on-one conversations. What is worse is that these conversations usually don’t include the collaborative voices of customers, internal product partners, and product delivery teams.

The Ingredients of a Successful Product Roadmap

Creating a flexible product roadmap—an agile product roadmap—is the answer. A good agile product roadmap provides context for the product backlog—your tactical tool for eventually achieving goals identified in the product roadmap. There are seven ways to make your product roadmap agile:

1. No specific dates. Contrary to popular thought, don’t lock in scheduled milestones but identify time horizons. I like to use Big-View (longer term, a year or more), Pre-View (based on your release cadence, be it a month or more), and Now-View (next sprint or iteration). Since scheduled dates are a guess and rarely achieved, stick with broad time horizons specified by a beginning and ending date range. This invites flexibility.

2. Specify outcome-based metrics. Identify measureable outcomes to achieve for each time horizon. Define them as either objectives key results (OKRs), key performance indicators (KPIs), planning language using precise scale and meter parameters (Planguage), or simple measurable objectives. Regardless what you use, be sure the outcomes are testable.

3. Nix the features. Resist the urge to list a bunch of small features or stories on your roadmap. Features and stories evolve as you iterate through discovery and delivery. Keep your roadmap strategic and avoid tactics. Leave your backlog as the place to manage ongoing product options.

4. Use strategic themes. A theme anchors what you will deliver to a common, unifying purpose. A theme is usually represented as a short phrase that captures the essence of the core user behavior, product capability, competitive advantage, technical improvement, parity imperative, or problem for a specific time horizon.

Themes such as performance improvement, platform expansion, or registration self-service communicates intent and avoids locking you into specific features or stories. Themes gives you the flexibility to revise the how—the specific features or stories needed to deliver the theme and desired outcomes—based on capacity and feedback.

Themes can also serve as a decision-making filter for tactical planning sessions. “Does this story (or features or epic) that we are considering for the next sprint (or release) align to the theme?” If it does, prioritize. If not, don’t invest in it.

5. Your roadmapping process is collaborative. It’s about the roadmapping, not the roadmap. The process requires engagement and involvement with product partners. That means customers (real users and choosers), technology partners (e.g. engineers, developers, testers, architects), and business partners (colleagues from sales, marketing, customer service, all departments involves from launch to support) are engaged in collaborative conversations, workshops, reviews, and feedback on the roadmap.

Roadmapping shouldn’t be a one-time only event. Plan on this taking place over and over again.

6. Make it visible, visual, and accessible. Part of the purpose of a product roadmap is to communicate and obtain agreement for action. That means that multiple diverse stakeholders align themselves to contribute toward achieving common goals and outcomes.

Use hallway walls to make product roadmaps available to everyone to see (barring confidentiality issues), even as it is being developed.

Furthermore, make your roadmaps compact and visually interesting by using visual clues such as colors for icons themes or product areas. This invites people to explore the roadmap, ask questions, challenge, and engage.

7. Link everything to the “why?” (vision, goals, objectives). The first and final test for roadmap greatness is that it provides a coherent path toward your product vision and the outcomes you seek.

Receive the Benefits of Agile Product Roadmaps

Agile product roadmaps continually guide your product toward successful outcomes. Use these seven tips to help make your product roadmap a strategic tool you can use to guide day-to-day action, act collaboratively, and deliver shared product outcomes.

Referred Link - https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/five-tips-more-productive-work-while-managing-chronic-dr-anita-gupta

Living with chronic pain can be tough, but it’s even more challenging for patients while they try to be productive at work. As a physician anesthesiologist who works with a broad range of chronic pain patients, I understand how difficult it is to transition back to a high-paced, high functioning job environment while still living with constant pain. Although a lot of work, it can be done with some time, patience and a committed partnership between physician and patient.

There are some basic tips patients need to know to successfully transition back to full productivity at their jobs while living with chronic pain. General health recommendations should always come from your own physician first, so please consult with him or her before implementing these tips.

1. Take regular breaks and stay hydrated. Living with chronic pain at work can be taxing, and taking regular breaks ensures that the body stays in motion while giving muscles time to move. This also prevents muscles from tightening and causing pain. Additionally, hydration plays a key role in keeping normal equilibrium and prevents dehydration, especially during warmer seasons.

2. Have standing meetings and consider implementing standing desks. If you absolutely must have a meeting, increasing evidence shows that standing desks/meetings may result in increased group attention and improved group performance. Using a standing desk in your office may also prevent pain resulting from sitting too long in a seated position. If you have chronic lower back or neck pain, this option is worth considering.

3. Have self-imposed deadlines and stick to them. Stress often increases levels of pain, so staying on track with top-level projects will help manage both your stress and pain levels. Not only will this help you become more focused and productive, but it will also prevent long-term pain.

4. Take exercise breaks. This is a very important part of dealing with pain at work. I usually guide my patients on what exercises to do at work and how exactly to do them. This helps patients de-stress, re-focus and get back on track. The exercises should be simple but relaxing enough to get back on schedule, such as a 15-minute walk outside or simple stretches at your desk.

5. Keep your workspace clear and clean. A cluttered desk is a symptom of a cluttered mind, and clearing both will keep you organized, decrease your stress levels and help you finish your work more efficiently. As mentioned above, lower stress levels often correlate with lower pain levels, so this is crucial if you have chronic pain.

These tips will help you focus on work, but more importantly, they will also help you focus on you and your health. If you are interested in exploring other ways to manage your pain, I recommend discussing your options with a physician anesthesiologist to determine what will work best for you.

Referred Link - https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/oh-my-i-really-cant-control-everything-haydn-thomas

As project mangers we typically like to be in control. However, the reality of the situation is we certainly can not control everything. We can plan to our hearts content – but rarely does a project get executed and delivered exactly as we had planned. In this article we will explore how to handle situations that surface that are completely out of our control. Items we never dreamed to put into our Risk Management plan – or if we did - they were low priority risks and we didn’t document a risk mitigation approach. So how should we handle situations when the carpet has suddenly been pulled from underneath you and your project team members? Let’s explore four techniques to address this not-so-fun situation.

Let’s say your project is moving along just fine – not perfect – but it is well within the PMO guidelines for schedule, cost, and risk tolerances. You and your team are preparing for the next major milestone and - suddenly – the senior management team decides to put your project on “hold” because “there’s something else happening” at the executive level. You can’t bring on additional resources as planned, but you can proceed in a limited fashion with existing resources. This means you can’t work on all components of the end product because you need unique labor skilled resources to complete the product. So – how should the svelte project manager handle this situation?

1) Let’s first deal with your project team members

Ensure you communicate to your team immediately what is going on. You want them to get the news from you – not through the grapevine. They will have LOTS of questions for which you likely will not have a lot of answers. For instance – why can’t we bring on the resources as planned? When can we bring the resources on board? Does our end date get extended out? The team will likely be very frustrated with senior management actions and morale can drop significantly. If the team had been working very hard to achieve a milestone – and then management “changes the rules” and suddenly say that specific milestone is on-hold – it will deflate the team.

In this scenario – I tell the team “as much as I can” because I’ve been told the full story should not be shared with project team members until final decisions have been made at the senior management level. Be very careful in how you communicate the senior management actions to the project team. You don’t want to “throw darts” at the senior management team – instead you want to explain what is going on, why, and what the next known steps are. And then ask team members what their questions are, recommendations and ideas they have if appropriate, concerns they have, and if there’s anything else they need from you. Ensure they understand this is not a reflection of the team’s performance and thank them for working as hard as they did to achieve task completions on time with a high level of quality. They need to understand you (and senior management) do appreciate the work they have done and due to other strategic events – your project is being impacted by something out of their control.

At this point try to listen very carefully to team member reactions. Some will fall in the “who cares ‘category and will just go with the flow. Others will be extremely frustrated and won’t be focused on work activities for the near term weeks until they get a chance to “process” the situation and get re-grounded again. You’ll need to work carefully with team members that are frustrated (likely one-on-one) to talk specifically about their concerns and their emotions to determine how to best help them overcome the situation.

2) Get the team back on track emotionally

To address this issue you have to start with YOURSELF first. You need to mentally get back in the game and focus on what you CAN do as opposed what you’re not being allowed to do or what is out of your control. It’s ok to allow yourself some “detox” time – but ultimately you’ll need to move on – so your team can do the same. Once you do this – then you can get your team back on track as well.

Create a revised WBS if needed, re-do your risks, and even create revised milestone dates. You need to re-level set the plan which will enable you to re-level set your expectations too. Once you have new realistic goals to achieve – you can give the team something to focus on. Ensure you reflect on the great accomplishments the team has achieved – and be ready to move forward with the revised plan and approach.

3) Ultimately - you’ll need to let go of things you can’t control or change

This is one of those times where “letting go” is definitely in your best interest. Once you have clearly communicated to senior management the negative impact their actions are having on your project (explain the impact in terms of scope, schedule, costs and/or risks) along with your recommendations – all you can do at that point is march toward the revised plan that has been created. If you continue to hold on to the past – it will simply frustrate you – and bring the team down as well.

Even if you don’t like the revised approach to the project you’ll need to support it “publicly” which can be very difficult to do – but is essential for your project’s success. As a project manager, there are indeed some things out of our control and once we realize and accept this we can then proceed with what IS in our control which is our mindset!! Write down (for your own purposes) what is out of your control for a given project to ensure you clearly understand the things you can’t change and/or control. If you begin to get stressed about something on your “not in my control list” then let it go immediately, delegate it to someone who has the authority to address it and move on!

4) Communicate – Communicate – Communicate

When in doubt – communicate to your team what is going on and always be honest. Remember as the project manager you’re likely getting information on a daily basis – sometimes minute by minute during times like this – but your team meeting may be weekly. So in the interim – send out email updates to the team as “news breaks” so they hear it from you first – always asking them to call you if they have specific questions or concerns. Call team members one-on-one more often to touch base with them and see how they are doing. If a team member asks you a question that you can not answer without divulging confidential information senior management has shared with you – let the team member know you can’t answer their specific question right now – but when you can - you will answer their question at that time. If they need an answer because something is impacting their job – it’s your responsibility to provide them an answer (with management approval) or provide them an alternative solution to the given situation so they can move forward.

If necessary, schedule a brief 15-minute team meeting to update everyone mid-week with current project updates (especially if you want to verbally explain what is going on vs. risk communications via email which could cause some misunderstandings).

Projects rarely go as planned – that we are used to. But when things happen that are ‘bigger than us’ and beyond our control we need to take a different approach to handle the situation effectively. Items that fall into this category include: sponsorship changes initiated by senior management, company reorganization, company merger/buyouts, outsourcing, department level funding cuts, and change in corporation strategic objectives.

Remember the overall steps include:

Working with your team members in a timely fashion and frequently to communicate the situation at hand
Get yourself back on track – and then the project team with a revised project approach and direction
Let go of things beyond your control – focus on what you CAN control
Communicate changes as they surface to ensure everyone continues to be appropriately informed

Following these steps will provide you the capabilities to move you and your team forward – even in very difficult times.

Referred Link - https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-introduce-yourself-effectively-when-networking-jim-schibler

When you’re at a networking event, and someone asks “What do you do?”, do you feel uncomfortable? As you try to describe your role and your work, do you ever get the feeling that you really aren’t connecting with the person you’re meeting? Have you ever wondered why some people seem to be so good at engaging strangers effectively, and why it’s a challenge for you?

If you’re responding “yes” or even “sometimes” to the above questions, you’ve got plenty of company. Relatively few people are naturally good at establishing connections with strangers, but the good news is that anyone can learn simple techniques to get good at doing so.

Preparing yourself to answer the “What Do You Do?” question concisely, confidently, and with a clear purpose is one of the most important things you can do to to make your networking more effective. Whether you’re seeking a new job, someone to hire, a restaurant recommendation, or something else, a well-prepared self-introduction can establish rapport, communicate your value, and provide you with access to resources and assistance that you need for success.

A Typical Response, and Why It Is Not Effective

When asked “What do you do?”, most people reflexively state their job title, their employer, and sometimes the number of years they’ve done the job. There are problems with this:

People interpret the meaning of a job title and the value of a particular employer based on their own knowledge, experience, and biases, and may end up with a distorted impression that deviates far from your reality.
No value is conveyed by a job title alone. Some job titles may imply high status or worthwhile work, but what a person actually does is far more important than what the role is called.
If you’ve done the job a long time, you may be perceived as stuck in it.

This kind of response is even less effective when an unemployed person uses it: “I was a program manager at Lockheed for 26 years”. In addition to the problems above, consider the other thoughts that likely flash through the mind of the listener:

You’re no longer working at Lockheed (or perhaps anywhere)
You’re late in your career
You stayed with one employer for a very long time (can be perceived as resistance to change, risk aversion, not valuable enough to be recruited elsewhere, etc.)
Your learning probably slowed down years ago
Your employer didn’t value you enough to retain you

Wow! That’s a lot of negative stuff that certainly doesn’t help you build rapport. Also, leading with your job title and your employer can be risky: the listener may already have negative opinions about your job title and/or your employer, whether that opinion is based on facts or mere perceptions.

The Key to a Successful Self-Introduction: Convey Value Quickly

To effectively engage a person you’re meeting, you need to capture interest, and the best way to do that is to quickly convey value. You can pique interest with a provocative remark (“I get paid to destroy things”), or an unexpected juxtaposition (“I dig high-tech ditches”), but you need to quickly communicate how what you do for a living creates value for others. The most effective self-introductions are general enough to be used with anyone, specific enough to position you as unique, and good at creating a personal, emotional connection to the story you’re telling.

A Simple Framework for an Effective Self-Introduction (“Personal Pitch”)

With a little preparation and practice, anyone can deliver a self-introduction that captures interest of most people. I recommend a 60-90 second introduction based on a simple 3-part framework:

PRESENT: State what you do that creates value.
PAST: Cite an impressive achievement you accomplished.
FUTURE: Outline what you want, and ask for input.

What you say about the past is very important for conveying your value, but you don’t want to spend much of your limited time there. Keep your emphasis on the present and the future, and people will tend to perceive you as current and forward-looking.

Let’s unpack each of these three parts a little more.

PRESENT: What I do that creates value

Rather than stating your job title, figure out the essence of what you do, for whom you do it, and the value that it brings. Instead of saying “I’m an attorney”, say “I keep companies out of trouble by guiding them safely through the complexities of international licensing laws.” Use the present tense, even if you’re between jobs; you want to convey that this is what you do. Look for an outcome that anyone can appreciate, and try to develop a ‘hook’ that gets attention and makes you memorable. The best ‘hooks’ create a personal, emotional connection to the story.

PAST: An accomplishment that proves my value

This brief reference to the past contains a proof statement that drives home the value of what you do. It typically starts with “For example, at [employer], I…”, and ends with an impressive accomplishment. Focus on a brief, concrete example with significant positive outcome, and quantitate whenever feasible (money, people, time, etc.). “For example, at Cisco, I put together a team of 5 people that increased profit margins by 7% and yielded annual savings of $980 million by negotiating better deals with our second-tier suppliers.”

Watch your audience carefully; if your proof statement is effective, you’ll get a visible reaction (“Wow”, “That’s impressive”, eyebrows raised, etc.). The reaction is typically unconscious – it’s triggered automatically by the impact of what you’ve just said. That’s the moment you know that value has been recognized, and that’s the time to move on to your future.

FUTURE: What I’m now seeking

This is, for you, the most important part of your self-introduction, and yet many people fail to follow through with it. Here, your goal is to capitalize on the goodwill you just established by conveying value, and use it to get what you need from your networking contacts. You’re going to make a request. For it to be effective, you need to be clear about what you want, and you need to ask in a way that does not allow your question to be easily dismissed.

The basic format for this part is a statement or two that paints a picture of what you want, followed by open-ended questions (ones that can’t be answered Yes or No). “What I’m looking for now is a sales role in construction equipment or supplies. Which companies come to mind? If you were me, how would you go about finding other companies like that? Who do you know in the construction industry?”

Your contacts will probably have to think for a moment; allow them a little time to do so. If it becomes clear that they just aren’t going to come up with anything, try stimulating some additional ideas by asking additional open questions, or mentioning some of the targets or resources you’re already considering. Most often, people will come up with a couple of suggestions, contacts, or ideas to help you. Thank them for their efforts, and be sure to reciprocate by asking how you can help them.

Phrasing your questions in an open-ended form is extremely important. If you ask “Do you know anyone working at GE?”, the answer can be a simple “No”, and the conversation falls flat. If you instead ask “Who do you know who works at GE?” or “How could I get introduced to people working at GE?”, you keep the conversation flowing, and you can steer it to where you need to go next. To make sure you’re asking open-ended questions, avoid starting with “Do” or “Can”, and instead start with words like “Who”, “What”, “Where”, “When”, “Why”, “How”, and “Which”.

Examples of Effective Personal Pitches

Let’s see how the framework works when applied to various situations:

1. Our “Lockheed Lifer” (mentioned earlier in this article)

“I lead teams that get payloads up into orbit safely, reliably, and at lowest cost. For example, at Lockheed, I led the team that placed the GPS satellites that your phone or car navigation system use to tell you where you are and how to get where you want to go." [Wow, cool!] "Currently, I’m looking for an opportunity to lead another engineering team that’s doing challenging work, not necessarily in the aerospace realm. What kinds of interesting projects have you heard about that I should check into?"

2. Electronics tester

“I keep your electronic equipment from going up in flames. I verify that it complies with regulations for electrical safety, for radio-frequency compliance (so that it doesn’t interfere with cell phones or navigation on a plane), and for environmental responsibility (so your grandkids will inherit a better world). At Toshiba, I cut the time required for certification from 8 weeks down to 4, so we got product out to market a month earlier." [Huh! That’s impressive.] “I just moved to the area to work for a smaller, US-based company, and I’m trying to find a good real estate agent. Who would you or your friends recommend?”

3. Molecular biologist

“I modify micro-organisms to produce useful products. An algal strain I developed produced a cooking oil with better properties than olive oil, and another strain produced a biodiesel fuel that powered two unmodified Volkswagen cars for a year with no issues.” [Wow, cool!] “My company is looking for investors. Who do you know who might be interested? Where could I go to meet potential investors?”

4. Horizontal driller

“I dig high-tech ditches. You know how you feel when they bring out the backhoes, dig up your street to lay cable, and slap some asphalt on top? I do the job a better way. I punch a small hole at each end of the street, drill horizontally between them, and get the cables pulled below without messing up the nice surface of your street." [Wow, that’s cool.] "I’m certified on the Ditch Witch horizontal driller and I’ve got my Class A license, and I’d like to live up in the Sacramento area. I’m talking with AT&T and ComCast already; who else might be laying cables?”

5. HR benefits manager

“I balance the needs of employees and companies by structuring benefits packages that satisfy employees while keeping costs under control. When Western Digital bought SanDisk, I reconciled the differences between their benefit plans, and when PayPal split off from EBay, I customized the new plans to fit each company’s needs. [Huh – you’ve done some big projects with name-brand companies!] I’d like to transition into a consulting role that won’t require me to fight through commute traffic each day, since I live 30 miles away. Who do you know who works as a consultant? How could I learn more about the pros and cons of consulting?"

Develop and Practice Your Own Personal Pitch!

Any job can be made interesting if you can uncover the underlying, relatable value of the work you do. You may not find it easy to deliver your pitch at first, but it will get easier and more natural with practice.

Clearly, being ready with a good personal pitch can turn networking from an awkward and uncomfortable experience into a productive and even enjoyable activity. To keep it productive, you must remember to finish with a clear request, and to reciprocate by finding out what you’ll do for the person you’re meeting.

The benefits of developing a good pitch go beyond networking, though. As you discover the value you offer that makes people react positively, you’ll feel better about yourself and your work, and you’ll get more confident about asking for information that will help you move forward.

That same value that gets people to react should help you identify your core value proposition, and guide you in the development of a compelling summary for your résumé and LinkedIn profile.

A good personal pitch is also an excellent way to handle one of the most common questions asked at the start of interviews: “Tell me about yourself.” You’re not being asked for a full biography; you’re being asked to summarize why you’re there. If you respond with a concise encapsulation of your value, a brief and compelling proof statement, and a clear picture of what you what and how that fits, your interviewer will be impressed and pleased.

Getting Beyond Discomfort

Some people I’ve coached have felt uncomfortable with the concept of the personal pitch; they feel that talking about accomplishments is bragging, or trying to sell people something that’s not of interest to them.

It’s important to remember that people you meet at networking events want to know something about you (after all, they asked!), and they don’t want to be bored. There’s nothing wrong about answering their question in a way that keeps them interested and engaged, as long as you’re telling the truth. In fact, if you develop a good pitch, you’ll be doing them a favor, because you won’t be putting them in the awkward position of having to find a way to break away from you before a meaningful connection is made.

Another way to get past discomfort is to be the first to ask. Learn about the people you’re meeting, and offer them things that could help them: information, contacts, content, feedback, etc. This positions you as a giver rather than a hard-selling taker, and will make people more inclined to connect with you. It also gives you information you can use to fine-tune your personal pitch for the current situation. And finally, there’s nothing wrong with letting people develop some curiosity about you, which will get them to eventually ask “So what do you do?”

Now you know how to respond.