Quality time

I am unable to maintain a healthy work-life balance or I am unable to give quality time to my family. Do you also feel like wise?

I guess such sentences are used as effective marketing tool, to indirectly indicate that Organization should take a note that I am working relentlessly,  almost 7*24 OR to demonstrate some kind of crib or frustration.
Could there be any thing more to it...or can something be done about it?

In search of quality time

The first step is to look around and identify people who don't seem to have any complaints about finding quality time.

We see many people around who are career oriented and perform extremely well at work, at the same time they attend various social and family functions.

They manage to go for a vacation and even fulfill their hobbies like trekking, or playing some instrument or they even participate in competitions/sports etc.

There are many ladies who manage their kids & husband, house hold activities, social activities PLUS are on top of their career - Hats off to them.

One would always invariably find that

1. Such people appear ever green or ever fresh.
2. Such people are very enthusiastic about what they do. They hardly appear to be drained unless off course they are not keeping well.
3. Such people are open to adjust - meaning open to bend/curtail their routine.
4. Such people can set and adjust their priorities - meaning can balance their time, relationship very well.
5. Such people use the available tools in hand - always keen to find ways / alternatives.
6. Such people respect other people's time. When at fault, they are open to say "sorry" or "thank you" and they mean it.

There is an old trick used by many "To show I am very busy or very important I make other people wait v/s In trying to juggle other things sometimes other people might need to wait BUT I make up by providing 100% justice to the time given - when I give they get my 130%"

 
Quality has to be something special, precious, very near & dear, something I wont like to miss or something I ensure I wont miss.
But I believe the real challenge is to find time, in first place.

Simple tricks to find FREE time

Like the pond accumulates every drop of rain water one need to start accumulating free time, stich it together to get a BIG time slot.

Here is the simplest example I think many of us miss or ignore.
There are various occasions when we have a holiday on a Thursday or Tuesday.

There are two ways to look at it...
the simpler option is simply swipe Thursday with Friday or Monday with Tuesday. In software industry this is pretty much possible.

Now we get 3 consecutive days off which can be utilized the way one wants.

There is a much better option, by simply putting couple of hours more between Monday to Wednesday, the team can pretty much opt to take Friday as off. In simple words whatever is the target for Friday achieve it on Wednesday. This is a perfect WIN-WIN-WIN situation.

• From organization perspective they like deliverable to happen, and target being met.
• From client perspective they love to see the deliverable coming to them ahead of time. This also gives them more time to evaluate the deliverable and thus get more time for UAT.
• Finally we get 4 consecutive days off

Likewise one could find plenty of opportunities during the entire day to accumulate time.

The easiest one is to plan for the targets a day in advance. One only needs to be realistic while planning the targets and must also consider the unforeseen aspects of his/her job.

Finally, do you often end up doing crisis management, meaning when you start doing things they are already in URGENT state?
Well I guess some thing needs to change, though the change is small, the result would be dramatic.

Work today for tomorrow and Think today for day after!

Hmmm, Now we have ALL the time in this world - MAKE IT COUNT! 

It's your LIFE

Life is nothing but an equation

A summation of relief and pain, sorrows and joy

Making the most of it is a better choice

But offcourse one can decide otherwise

 

Everyone has got their own calculating style

Some make 2+2 as four while others make five

Some are crazy for a big fat sum

So they start depending on others saving their own

A few like to sacrifice themselves to achieve a piece of cake

Some think it is duty of others to sacrifice for his own sake

Everyone has got desire to win

Some ct accordingly while others act committing sin

 

Since we only get one chance to make the choice

Set the parameters of our equation right

If we can keep it simple and neat

In the end you will find – “Life is very sweet”

"Team Work" WORKS

It is amazing to see how some teams flourish, in spite of having their difference of opinions and individual priorities including their own strengths and weaknesses. They somehow manage to keep their organization/project objectives in tact, and invariably manage to pull themselves out from any dire situation, thus keep their customer happy (most of the times). They are NOT top brass candidates, neither do they possess any extra ordinary skills, but are just simple people. YET they manage to pull some of the most difficult situations/projects, on regular basis, with no real fuss or ‘007’ like stunts. All the intellects watching them can get a feeling of "SHIT" management or "FLUKE" management!

To all aspiring guns, this is what "TEAM WORK" can help achieve or how "SHIT" delivery can be guaranteed on regular basis. "TEAM WORK" is one of the most difficult topics to discuss, just like guaranteed "SHIT" delivery, but here is a naive attempt.
BTW before decent readers boycott, "SHIT" == "Some How In Time"

Let us begin with this simple example…

Consider that a group of people take lunch together. In Indian context where food is oily / spicy, this is more relevant. All the members bring their lunch boxes full of spicy food.

Scenario I
They share their lunch with others, talk about different things – bottom line they enjoy their lunch together. After their lunch they leave.
FOR OUTSIDER: There is substantial spill-over on the table. Quite a messy table one would say!

Scenario II
One of them (say Mr. Z) suddenly realizes the spill-over and starts bringing paper napkins. He starts keeping his lunch box on the same. All of them share their lunch with others after their lunch they leave.
FOR OUTSIDER: The table now has one portion of it clean but there is still substantial spill-over. Still, quite a messy table one would say!

Scenario III
Mr. Z realizes that he brings more paper napkins than he needs, so he gives some of it to the members sitting around him. Now few of the members start keeping their lunch boxes on the paper napkins. After their lunch they leave.
FOR OUTSIDER: The table now has few portions of it clean but there are still some patches of spill-over. A bit messy table one would say!

Scenario IV
Mr. Z realizes the benefit of the paper napkins. So he starts bringing sufficient paper napkins that would help all the members on the table. All of them now use the paper napkins, while they enjoy their lunch together. After their lunch they leave.
FOR OUTSIDER: The table now has no or very little spill-over. A clean table one would say!


NOW, take a pause.
Just imagine the "table" as the "project" and
the people enjoying lunch as team members of the project and
"OUTSIDER" as the client.
This is how client actually looks at the project – they see at it, as a whole, not in bits and pieces.
Anyways moving forward…

Subsequent scenarios
There could be various subsequent scenarios

1. For instance Mr. Z can go on vacation, rest of the members assemble for lunch. Does any of the other members realize his absence and try to fill in Mr. Z shoes, meaning bring paper napkins and distribute it to all?
2. Does any of the other members get inspired by Mr. Z and also start bringing paper napkins?
3. Do other members bring paper napkins only for themselves or also carry a few extra, just in case?
4. Eventually does it happen that invariably most of the members bring sufficient paper napkins, so even if someone forgets or remains absent they have sufficient to cover the table?

Does, keeping a "CLEAN TABLE" at the end of the lunch session becomes a habit, a mission?
If YES, this is what we call as "TEAM WORK" else it becomes "FLUKE" or "HEROISM" or "007 STUNT".


Finally, I believe, "TEAM WORK" is 100% ART, there is no formula or logic, but for the entire magic to work one can use different scientific methods, as catalyst. Here are some of the key points about "TEAM WORK"

1. It is more like a partnership where understanding is mutual and actions are mutually beneficial.
2. It is more "GIVE" than "TAKE". This is again mutual, and not the same as always and only "TAKE" or always and only "GIVE". To be precise it is "symbiotic" than "parasitic" relation.
3. It is more about adapting to a situation than circumventing or giving up.
4. Every member thrives NOT to be on critical path or get out of it ASAP - this does not mean they avoid taking tasks on critical path.
5. You would rarely hear the members say "I did what I was told" but would always hear "We did what was expected to be done, at that moment".

That's it and That's That - SIMPLE!
So are you part of your team, or not - as yet?

Here are some more closing thoughts...ENJOY!

Stop trying - Start doing

People who fail to achieve goals almost always signal their intent to delay or fail by using deceptive little words like "I will try..." or "I need to see…" or "We really need to look into it…". In English language there are not many more deceptive words than the above, both to the person who says them and the person who hears them.

In many ways "trying" is same as "pretending to succeed". People who use the above words actually give themselves permission to delay or fail. No matter what happens, they can always claim that they "tried" or they "never got the time". They don't realize or simply ignore that by doing such things they are only fooling themselves.

People who really and truly achieve goals/target never say "I will try." A wise guru once said "Do, or do not. There is no 'try'." AND this is how it is actually DONE!

Recently, in our organization an initiative is taken where every week an individual would come forward and speak about any technical topic of his/her choice. Believe me this is LOT tougher than it sounds, especially for juniors and even seniors do fumble and shy away. I was having a discussion with one of the junior member after his session about how the session was and what all he went through.

Here is how he DID IT - I just correlated it with our business world!


GOAL/TARGET IDENTIFICATION
He suggested that it was very difficult for him to actually identify the topic he would choose to speak. He did spend quite some time and finally zoomed in on one topic – "Design Patterns".

In business world, luckily most of the times the requirements would be present. However understanding the requirements happens to be the key, until and unless you do not understand what needs to be done, what would anyone do! It is also very important to understand ‘why’ it is desired – what are the global level objectives it is going to solve.


PREPARATION
He told me that he had to do lot of preparation to devise the presentation. He searched on the internet, he prepared notes then he filtered the notes to finally derive the content of the presentation.

In business world also one needs lot of preparation we call it the design phase. You basically derive various options and finally choose the right rather the most apt option, the same also helps you derive the DB design (tables) etc.


REHEARSAL
Once he finalized the content of presentation, then he did several rehearsals. He altered the speech several times before he started feeling good about the same. He also told that initially he had to refer to the content but later he could rehearse the whole presentation without the help of the content/notes.

In business world, is this not how you do the development and unit testing phase? Initially you refer to the design and run through several times to ensure that all the scenarios are covered. You also perform unit testing to ensure that what you have is as per the initial goal/target.


GRAND REHEARSAL
If the occasion is large and important then you also invite some of the friends/audience and perform in front of them. They also enact as audience and provide suggestions and also raise few queries. This basically helps you to go back and iron-out the aspects missed, and also fine tune some aspects.

In business world, now you exactly know that this is the QA and UAT phase. You present the release to the QA people so that they can review and provide feedback and suggestions – what we call as bugs/defects or enhancements.


ACTUAL SHOW
Well this is straight forward and in business world called as client release or production release. If the audience is not satisfied or feel bored then the show is called as "FLOP". However you get applause if the presentation goes well, and if you are able to answer audience queries to their satisfaction. Sometimes you can also be critically acclaimed. This is similar to meeting end client expectations, if we do that then it is a JOB WELL DONE! If the job is really liked and appreciated then you get a "Once more" what we call as "Repeat business".
SIMPLE!


As you can see, "Doing" is lot easier than "Trying" or "Pretending".
So let us stop trying and start doing!

Estimation - A piece of cake

Do you feel "Estimations –You have never done before or you are not aware"? Well the feeling is so very not correct. I think we have been doing estimations since childhood or since we were young. Surprised or hard to believe – Continue reading.

Let me get straight in to the subject. Do you remember your college exam days? What do you think you did for preparing for the exams? Right from syllabus gathering, to allocating time for each subject and finally altering the schedule or even sneaking for a movie, to gather-back your nerve. All these activities were only possible based on the estimates you derived at each stage.
Let us investigate a bit more in detail and try to correlate with business world.

Planning estimate (GUESSTIMATES): As the exam dates are announced we used to start gathering the syllabus and notes for each subject. Based on the difficulty of the subject (I felt most of the subjects as difficult) and the syllabus I would guess the time I might need to prepare. 
Well this is guesstimate, a rough approximation of cost or time within a reasonable range of values, prepared for information purposes only. It is also called ball park estimate.


Budget estimate (TSHIRT SIZING): Since I use to bunk most of the lectures it was more prominent exercise for me, and I remember that I would spend atleast a week or two to gather all the notes, relevant material. Once I had the information I would again try to judge based on my awareness for each subject for each chapter/lesson, thus derieve the difficulty level. Now with this enlightenment I would be in a position to calculate slightly more accurate time I might need to spend for each subject.
Well I completed t-shirt sizing; an approximation based on well-defined (but preliminary) data and established ground rules.


Firm estimates (ESTIMATES): Now I would try to browse through the various lessons for each subject. I would speak to the seniors or other members and try to understand from exam perspective what is important, what is likely to come and what is not. Based on the gathered information and my comfort, now I would try to figure out what are the lessons that I am going to omit or skip,  which lessons I would attempt if time permits and which lessons are important,carry more weightage in the exams, and thus cannot be skipped. Now I have exactly decided what all I am going to focus on and thus I have a better understanding of time I might need to knock out each subject.
Well this is firm estimates, a figure based on solid data for committing myself to or entering into a binding contract.

Finally I used to prioritize and decide on the sequence or order of subjects I would prepare, when to start which lesson or even chose the best time (late night or early morning). I would also decide which subject or lessons should be completed in group and which should be tackled alone. Well my estimates are ready and I am all set for the EXECUTION PHASE!


Apart from the above there is one more type of estimation namely the High and Low estimates or Best and Worst case estimates. This is especially used for budgeting purposes or when we have to provide some range of approximation. This is like saying 'I will reach the destination in 15 to 20 minutes', typically giving the best case and worst case scenario. Such methods are often used in product or solution estimation or where external factors/dependencies are involved or for R&D related actvities where the time for achieving the end result cannot be predicted accurately.


In business world: Effort estimates are the basis for project budgeting and planning. Poor budgeting and planning often has dramatic consequences and we have got our lessons, seen turbulent or surprisng end (exam) results, right from college days. When budgets and plans are too pessimistic, business opportunities can be lost, while over-optimism may be followed by significant losses.

So estimates are nothing but a tentative evaluation or rough calculation, of cost, quantity, time or size on the basis of available information. It is a statement of the approximate cost of work to be done, such as a project or car repairs. A judgment based on one's impressions; an opinion.

In software world there are different techniques used to derive estimates namely LOC (Lines of code) or FP (Function point) analysis. Some buffering techniques are also used known as risk mitigation. There may be other variations used to try to bring in more accuracy.
Well these are just techniques, the basics still remains the same which we know since childhood.
So start enjoying your piece of cake!

If you still have doubts/question/queries feel free to revert back.

Brainstorm - Bring ideas to reality

Many of us might have participated in quite a few brainstorming sessions.

How many of us understand why we are part of such sessions? How many of us ‘understand the essence’ of such sessions? How many of us actually enjoy such sessions? Oh you think you have never been called for any of such sessions before, No worries!

Being able to participate, truly, in brainstorming is about promoting oneself from ‘DAY DREAMERS’ or ‘JUST DOERS’ to ‘THINKERS AND DOERS’.
In software world it is,moving up the value chain, promoting oneself from ‘PROFESSIONALS’ to ‘INTELLIGENT PROFESSIONALS’.

Interested...continue to read!

What is brainstorming all about?
Brainstorming is dreaming up, thinking, suggesting, coming up with, and finally devising.
In simplest terms it is ‘giving shape’ to an abstract idea, or ‘giving shape’ to not so well defined problem or requirement.

It is a process of evaluating and confirming if the ‘idea or notion’ could be brought into reality. In many ways it is an exercise to bring focus and to seek commitment from key participants.
The process involves in evaluating the ‘idea or notion’ as viable (makes sense or no), if viable how it could be made possible, identify what all constraints needs to be tackled, what could be the best approach, what are the key aspects that needs to be resolved for each of the approaches etc. 
In short it is about ‘how best the idea could be brought to reality, if at all’.

For instance say there is a holiday on some Friday, which gives 3 days off.

FIRST THE IDEA - Can we go somewhere hiking, trekking, site seeing or simply can we make use of this opportunity in some collective, constructive or fun activity? It is very important that someone is able to see this as an opportunity which can be leveraged.

IDEA PRESENTATION - The idea is then thrown in front of some ‘subject matter experts’ or enthusiastic people. If the idea is appreciated or acknowledged then it will be taken forward by some of the enthusiasts.This is the first but most crucial step where success about the idea is envisioned.

IDEA CONCEPTUALIZATION - Then the enthusiasts do some research and try to come up with suggestions, probable alternatives - these alternatives, options are discussed between enthusiasts as and when they can catch each other. The best part is no one speaks about 'who will do what' but things are just done to the best ability of every individual!

CONCEPT FORMULATION - A few options are shortlisted and a more focused research is initiated, which includes for each option, identification of associated challenges and corresponding mitigation alternatives, probable logistic, commute, stay, food options and expected range of per person cost. This is about time when the concept is also presented to a larger audience, just to get a feel of the overall number who could finally join. There is another set of discussions where a final destination is identified, all the associated challenges are taken care or mitigation plan is discussed, along with the entire logistics plan, plus quite accurate projections on cost. By this time the people from larger audience also revert back and confirm their participation.

CONCEPT FINALIZATION - Now everything is in consensus and the key members believe that the idea could be brought to reality. The target is identified, how to reach the target is also known, all associated challenges are mitigated or have a mitigation plan, rough number of people, along with approximate cost is also known. In simple words now the abstract idea has ‘a definite shape’, the objective has a definite focus and members are committed or committed members have been identified. This entire process from 'The IDEA to CONCEPT FINALIZATION' is what is called as brainstorming.

EXECUTION PLAN - Now the ‘What and How’ has been broadly agreed upon so what remains is ‘who all, who, and when’.This is what we call as execution planning and subsequently the actual execution follows – concept realization!

Since our topic is brainstorming let us quickly conclude some key aspects regarding brainstorming in business world.

Why or when am I called in brainstorming session?

• Frst and foremost your seniors believe that you are a subject matter expert in some desired areas.
• Your senior believes that you would contribute in your area and thus help reassure that idea could be converted to reality. 
• Your seniors believe that within your areas you would help identify the challenges and also come up with possible mitigation for those challenges.
• In short your senior believes that you are or can be a ‘THINK TANK’ who can help provide ‘A definite shape’ to the idea.
• The biggest question however is 'Do you believe?'

Prerequisites of brainstorming
Well the prerequisites are quite simple, the objectives or idea needs to be spelled out clearly – ‘We have 3 days off can we make use of this opportunity in a constructive and meaningful way’. The important aspect is actually to understand the idea. Individual people need to start dreaming, thinking and coming up with suggestions, in many ways acknowledging the idea and commiting oneself to the cause.

The actual process

• It is definitely not a process where seniors or someone would help you understand the exact requirements – BUT it is a process of deriving or coming up with possible requirements itself by suggesting your thoughts on what makes sense and what does not, what would be apt to meet the objective.
• It is about discovering various challenges ‘POC’ and working on the same to help make the belief stronger or to derive alternative approaches – anything or to find ways to make it happen.
• These sessions are not by any means ‘status meetings’ where everyone would come to provide status and then expect the seniors to give next set of tasks.
• Actually it is a cohesive group of enthusiast (no senior or junior) who likes to give shape to the idea. So it is not a story of 4 blind people and the elephant BUT it is about few people who see a possibility and wants to work towards it so that others including themselves can believe what they had envisioned and thus everyone could enjoy the same.

Finally it is an opportunity to try, experiment, think, enrich and enhance yourself. It is not always about agreeing to all the points, but also about identifying things which we agree to disagree (ATD) – ATD just means that some more thinking is desired from the participants to either come up with more solid rational or to look out for better alternatives.
One cannot call a discussion as brainstorming until there are differences of opinion – the fun is how to resolve those and make the entire exercise as productive rather than counter productive – this is in ‘true sense’ what is called as collective wisdom.

Making the most of the opportunity could be a better choice BUT off course you can decide otherwise!!

LEAD TO LAST

There is a lot of quest amongst

    to reach the destination FAR most

There is this killing instinct to succeed

    everyone wants to take control, everyone wants to LEAD

Leading is not a simple task

    it is neither an act of a dumb mock

It is not the thorne which the superiors proclaim

    or any damn fool can claim

It is not the game of promoting his likes

    so that he can enjoy things of his choice

But it is about stating the things that are RIGHT

    inspite of making his position TIGHT

People do follow but for obligation

    it is mere fear of superiors position

Leaders do feel that people show respect

    but they know well how quickly does this fade

It is the game that should be played without EGO

    but most of the times that is where leaders GO

One who becomes crisis for others to cherish his boon

    he will perish from the heart very soon!!