Ravi Kollipara

# 3 traps Product Managers should avoid

2023-09-03T23:29:00.000-07:00

Product management is one of the most important aspects of a successful company. His job is to oversee the development of the product from concept to market and ensure that it meets the needs of customers.

However, it is not always easy, and common mistakes by product managers can have a negative impact on the business. In this post I explores the three biggest mistakes product managers make and how to avoid them.

1. The first mistake is not understanding the customer and his sensitivities:

Product managers need a deep understanding of customer needs and want to develop a successful product. He needs to be seinsitive to functional and non fucntional needs ( pride / association / ease of use/ Mood etc) . Without this information, it is difficult to create a product that meets customer expectations. Product managers should try to understand customer needs and wants through direct customer feedback, market research, and other methods.

2. I want all features:

Another mistake is not setting clear goals and objectives: Product managers must have a specific goal for the product and a timeline to achieve it. Without clear goals, it is difficult to measure progress and determine whether the product is meeting the goals set for it. Product managers should also communicate these goals to the team so everyone is on the same page.

3.Balancing perfection to Availability:

The third mistake is not testing the product before release. Testing is essential to ensure a successful product launch. This allows product managers to identify potential problems or weaknesses before the product is released. how ever product managers must thoroughly test the product and make necessary changes before release and should balance how much quality is needed vs customer and market oppurtunity

In conclusion, product management can be hard work, but certain mistakes can be avoided. These mistakes include not understanding the customer, not setting clear goals and not testing the product before release. By avoiding these mistakes, product managers can ensure that their product is successful and meets customer needs.

How Feedback Fuels a Better IT Strategy

2023-08-15T22:06:00.016-07:00

You know your IT strategy is critical to the success of your organization, but how do you know if it's working? The truth is, you can't really tell unless you get feedback. Constant feedback from your teams, executives, and customers is the fuel that powers a better IT strategy.

Without feedback, you're driving blind. You might think everything is running smoothly when in reality there are problems bubbling under the surface that could derail your plans if left unaddressed. Feedback highlights what's working, what's not, and where there are new opportunities to pursue. It shows you where to double down, where to pivot, and where you can simplify.

In the end, the best IT strategies aren't devised in a vacuum or set in stone. They evolve based on a steady stream of insights from the people they impact every single day. So if you want to supercharge your IT strategy, start listening. Ask questions, gather data, and get input at every opportunity. The feedback you uncover just might transform your IT strategy from good to great.

1. The Importance of Feedback for IT Strategy

Feedback is the fuel that powers a better IT strategy. Without input from your users and stakeholders, how do you know what's working and what needs improvement? Making feedback a priority will help ensure your tech initiatives align with business goals and user needs.

a. Gather feedback regularly

Don't just solicit feedback once a year. Set up channels for ongoing input, like online surveys, focus groups, and user testing. Make it easy for people to provide feedback in the way they prefer. The more you listen, the better you'll understand their key pain points and priorities.

b. Analyze and take action

Review the feedback and look for trends. What do people love? What's frustrating them? Identify opportunities to optimize your systems and processes. Even small changes can have a big impact on user experience.

Implement feedback in a transparent way. Let people know how their input is influencing your IT roadmap. When they see you taking their feedback seriously, they'll be more likely to provide thoughtful feedback again in the future.

c. Continuously improve

An effective IT strategy is never done. Keep optimizing based on new feedback and evolving needs. Make feedback a habit and encourage open communication across teams. When IT and stakeholders are aligned, you'll gain agility and the ability to pivot quickly as priorities shift.

Feedback is a gift. Use it to fuel constant improvement of your IT systems and services. Your users and business will thank you.

2. Gathering Feedback From Key Stakeholders

Gathering feedback from the people involved in and affected by your IT strategy is key to improvement.

a. Talk to Key Stakeholders

Speak with executives, managers, and end users across departments. Ask open-ended questions to understand their pain points, needs, and desired tech improvements. Really listen to gain valuable insight into how IT can better support key business functions.

b. Survey Staff

Send out anonymous surveys to capture unfiltered opinions from a wider range of employees. Keep surveys concise but include both multiple choice and open response questions. Ask staff about their level of satisfaction with current systems and tools as well as what’s lacking. Offer incentives for high response rates.

c. Monitor Support Tickets and User Forums

Analyze trends in the issues reported to your IT support team. Look for common complaints, requests, and suggestions. Also, review what employees are discussing on internal user forums or message boards. This can highlight needs and concerns that aren’t being formally reported.

d. Track Software Usage Statistics

See which tools and systems are most and least utilized. This indicates what’s working well and what may need replacement or improvement. Look for opportunities to consolidate or eliminate unused or redundant solutions.

Feedback comes in many forms, so cast a wide net. The insights you gain can shape an IT strategy that truly supports organizational goals and helps employees thrive in their work. With open ears and an open mind, you'll gain valuable guidance for building better tech solutions.

3. Analyzing Feedback Trends to Identify Priorities

Feedback is crucial for improving any strategy, and your IT strategy is no exception. Analyzing trends in the feedback you receive can spotlight priorities to focus on for maximum impact.

a. Look for Common Threads

As feedback comes in from various stakeholders, look for common themes. If several people mention security concerns, outdated software issues, or lack of communication, these may point to underlying problems you need to address. Pay attention to both positive and constructive feedback to get the full picture.

Speak with colleagues and managers to get their take on trends they’re noticing as well. The more input you gather, the clearer your priorities will become. Don’t discount any feedback; even one comment could highlight an area important to a key user group.

b. Track Feedback Over Time

Don’t just look at feedback in the moment—track it over months and years to identify patterns. You may spot cycles of increased frustration with certain systems or seasonal shifts in needs. Long-term tracking also allows you to evaluate the impact of changes you’ve made. Have concerns about security vulnerabilities or software upgrades declined over time? If not, you may need to revisit those issues.

c. Action Plan

Once you’ve spotted key trends and priorities in your feedback, develop a plan to systematically address them. Don’t try to fix everything at once or you’ll quickly become overwhelmed. Start with 2-3 high-impact issues, determine specific solutions, and establish timelines for implementation. Be transparent in communicating your plan to users so they know their feedback is being heard and acted upon.

Continuously gathering, analyzing, and acting on feedback is key to optimizing your IT strategy over the long run. Making it an ongoing priority will ensure you’re investing resources into the areas that really matter to your organization. Users will appreciate your responsiveness, and you’ll build an IT roadmap tailored to true needs and priorities.

4. Turning Feedback Into Concrete IT Strategic Goals

Turning the feedback you receive into concrete goals is key to improving your IT strategy. Listen for common themes and pain points from your internal customers, then develop strategic objectives to address them.

Plan for

For example, if multiple departments report that software rollout and upgrades frequently disrupt their workflows due to inadequate testing, make “improve software testing procedures” an IT strategic goal. This could include:

Conducting more extensive user acceptance testing
Providing additional training for IT staff on new software before launch
Lengthening the pilot program for major upgrades to identify issues

If lack of communication about IT roadmaps and timelines is a frequent complaint, focus on “enhance transparency and stakeholder engagement.” This may mean:

Holding quarterly town halls to share the IT roadmap and gather input
Sending regular newsletters or emails with updates on key initiatives
Meeting with department heads to discuss their needs and concerns

The key is to take feedback and turn it into SMART goals:

Specific

Measurable

Achievable

Relevant

Time-bound

Goals like “improve software testing procedures” and “enhance transparency and stakeholder engagement” meet these criteria. They are specific enough to take action on, progress can be measured, they address key issues, and can be accomplished within a target timeframe.

Using feedback to establish strategic IT goals will help ensure you’re working on the right things to support your organization’s priorities. And achieving those goals will build goodwill, showing that you listen and respond to customers’ needs. Continually gathering input and refining your strategy is the recipe for IT success.

5. Implementing a Feedback-Driven IT Strategy for Continual Improvement

A feedback-driven IT strategy means continually improving based on input from key stakeholders. Their insights can help refine your roadmap to better meet business needs.

a. Gather Feedback

Actively solicit feedback from:

Business unit leaders on how IT can better support their goals and priorities.
End users on their experiences with systems and tools.

-IT team members on obstacles, inefficiencies, and ways to strengthen operations.

You might conduct surveys, focus groups, one-on-one interviews or set up a channel for ongoing comments. The more feedback, the better.

b. Analyze and Prioritize

Review all feedback and look for common themes or significant opportunities. Assess possible solutions or changes against your IT strategy and resources. Prioritize based on potential business impact and feasibility.

Make Improvements

Choose a few high-priority items to implement first. This could mean:

Adjusting your IT roadmap to develop or deploy new capabilities.
Revising service level agreements (SLAs) and key performance indicators (KPIs).
Improving team workflows or updating staff skills through training.
Enhancing existing systems and tools based on user difficulties or dissatisfaction.

Start with small wins to build momentum, then tackle more complex issues. Measure the impact of changes to ensure they achieve the desired results.

c. Repeat the Process

Continuous improvement is key. Issue follow-up surveys and touchpoints to gather fresh feedback and make further optimizations. An ongoing feedback loop will help you gain valuable insights to strengthen your IT strategy over the long run. IT should not operate in a vacuum but work closely with business partners and customers to drive progress. Listening and responding to input is the only way to build a strategy that truly supports organizational goals.

Conclusion

You've learned that feedback is the fuel that powers a successful IT strategy. By listening to your colleagues and stakeholders, understanding their pain points, and incorporating their insights, you build technology solutions that actually meet business needs. Regular reviews of how new tools and processes are working - or not working - allow you to pivot and improve, ensuring you stay on the cutting edge. At the end of the day, the best IT strategy is one built on open communication and a willingness to accept that you don't have all the answers. Stay flexible, keep listening, and your IT department will be driving innovation and enabling company growth for years to come.

Myths of Script less automation

2021-06-28T03:18:00.001-07:00

Before we discuss about Scriptless automation, we want the Automation challenges to be understood in broader view. When testing industry has caught the opensource wave, Selenium supported by Google has gained prominence. Automation with Selenium has provided engineers powerful capabilities with both forward and backwards integration with Unit testing and BDD plugins. How ever the scripts took time to Develop and changes in application needed scripts to be updated.

To decrease amount of time spent in Automation development and maintenance work, the commercial tool vendors have re-oriented their offerings towards ‘Record and Play back’ activities that are easy for Business Analysts to create and move towards “Script less automation”. Tools like Tosca, Accel Q, UI path ( Robotic Process Automation), UFT etc, are successful at various levels. I want to demyth some facts about scrip less automation.

Myths about Script less testing	Reality	POV
There is No script, everyone can create automation	User friendly framework for Naive users. However, Automation needs to grow organically from within your environment integrating Business and Operational logic step by step until it gets to a point where no further scripting is needed	For Hybrid Objects and Lengthy E2E Automation scenarios, you will still need to script few areas. Complex / Hybrid integrations need careful Framework architecture.
Everything can be recorded and Played back	The user will have to depend on recorded scripts that were initially created with test data and not with actual live scenario data.	For Highly Dynamic data, where workflows changes with data inputs, you need to intervene and customize
There will be No Test Maintenance	As more functionality gets added and as more functionality is fine-tuned. The tool will not know what is updated and will identify new changes as bugs and tests will fail.	With no scripts too, you need to know what changed at feature level and at workflow level to make changes to automation.
Changes are not needed for scripts. For region specific workflows, tool will automatically update	As complexity is shifted to configurations, you need thorough understanding of configurations and it will take time to change configurations. Wrong and poor application of configurations can lead to test failure	In traditional scripting, you need to spend considerable time in updating code. However, this is reduced as time is spent on configurations.
Automation architects are not needed	Scripless is in no way implies the absence of scripting. It is an optimized process of creating a testing framework that allows your testers to develop new test cases with reusable scripts.	As business or operational scope expands, need for new components will rise and automation architects are needed to integrate them.

While commercial script less tools can reduce some of the challenges even in scrip less automation testing you still need to develop automation and apply best practices like.

- Modularity
- Have right Structure and create core components
- Identify and segregate Business functions, Data and configurations so maintenance is easy
- Engauge Business users early and frequently in Development.

Complete test approach and tools in QA driven Devops model

2018-07-29T10:38:00.002-07:00

It is indeed quite interesting to implement tetsing stages into CI? CD pipeline for products deployments like Gmail. This obviously needs a team effort between developer- Devops team and Tet team. If you ask most DevOps experts what goes into a Continuous Integration or Continuous Delivery chain, they’ll mention components like CI servers and code repositories. They’re less likely to discuss automated testing tools, despite the fact that automated testing is just as crucial in order to achieve complete CI/CD.
How ever the key to building quality into our software is making sure we can get fast feedback on the impact of changes. And automation testing is most mature way to handle testing for CICD pipeline.
First and foremost you have to design/ segregate tests appropriately
1. Automated: The idea is to automate as early as possible and as much as possible into.
-Unit test, ( API test)
-Component tests
-System tests
- Functional acceptance test
2. Manual Tests:
- Shocase test- non responsive Ui tests
-Usability tests
-Exploratiory/ negative testing
3.Non Funcation tests
- Performance ( with both Automated & manual)
- Security ( with both Automated & manual)
Once we have right tests planned... we create a deployment pipeline (the key pattern in continuous delivery). In the deployment pipeline pattern, every change runs a build that a) creates packages that can be deployed to any environment and b) runs unit tests (and possibly other tasks such as static analysis), giving feedback to developers in the space of a few minutes. Packages that pass this set of tests have more comprehensive automated acceptance tests run against them. Once we have packages that pass all the automated tests, they are available for self-service deployment to other environments for activities such as exploratory testing, usability testing, and ultimately release. Complex products and services may have sophisticated deployment pipelines; a simple, linear pipeline is shown below:
( color coding done to show issues/ pas at each stage)

Stage 1. DELIVERY TEAM-->Checksin code-->VERSION CONTROL-->Trigger-->COMMIT STAGE -->Feedback ( Loop) to DELIVERY TEAM
Stage 2. DELIVERY TEAM-->Checksin code-->VERSION CONTROL-->Trigger-->COMMIT STAGE --> Trigger-->AUTO ACCEPTANCE Test-->issues Feedback ( Loop) to DELIVERY TEAM
Stage 3. DELIVERY TEAM-->Checksin code-->VERSION CONTROL-->Trigger-->COMMIT STAGE --> Trigger-->AUTO ACCEPTANCE Test-->Approval -->MANUAL VALIDATIONS-->issues Feedback ( Loop) to DELIVERY TEAM
Stage 4. DELIVERY TEAM-->Checksin code-->VERSION CONTROL-->Trigger-->COMMIT STAGE --> Trigger-->AUTO ACCEPTANCE Test-->Approval -->MANUAL VALIDATIONS-->Approval-->RELEASE--> Feedback to project team on what value we created.

This way we can go on having additional test stages with as many layers of testing from early code commit starting with Unit tests, .. and so on. we can also have stages for sonar cube, early component wise , Junit tests etc. as well as having component leavel performance test scripts triggered also.
The following are tools I would suggest for the entire cycle. Depending on actual implementation, skill set of resources and technology actually used internal to gmail we can prefer one over the other

1. Planning: Jira, Rally, MPP etc.
2. CI/CD platforms: Jenkins, Travis, Circle CI, GIT Lab etc.
3. Testing:

Unit tests: TestNG, N Unit , J Unit
Static code Analysis: PMD, Sonar Cube
API tests: Jmeter, Postman, SOAP UI, Rest Assured, Red Sharp, Test Complete, Tosca, UFT,
Frameworks: ATDD, BDD, Hybrid, Keyword drivem, Modular
Web browser/ UI based: QTP/UFT, Selenium webdriver, Protratcor, CodedUI, Egg Plant, Quish, test Complete
Performance test: Jmeter, Load runner, Blaze meter
Mobile test: Appium, Eggplant, Ranorex, Solenoid, test complet, UFT

How to move from traditional engagement ( T&M) model to more mature models

2018-07-15T12:06:00.000-07:00

It takes a delicate balance to set up a sourcing partnership that is mutually beneficial to buyers and providers of IT services. Lasting win-win partnerships flourish only when both sides are satisfied. Many organizations are seeking sourcing arrangements that align buyer and provider incentives and foster collaborative co-creation. Riding this wave, managed services agreements using output- and outcome-based commercial pricing constructs are gaining traction as the sourcing paradigm of the future.

In this article I share a two tone approach that I would like to initiate to migrate from T&M model to managed services model.

1. Pre Conditioning the customer

2. Internal assessment and identification of opportunities

Please not that this is not one time activity but a journey, which I will explain each of them detail.

1. Pre conditioning the customer: We cannot mode a traditional customer who approached sourcing as a way to access the right skills at the right price at the right time.

a. Customer connect: You need to really connect with customer decision makers and try to get feed back on current engagement ensure that you act on it.

b. Mind share: Share views and ideas where you as service provider can optimize the resources, and try to understand the Goals and indicative work trends for upcoming qtr/ year. Share the idea of managed services and how it can be beneficial. Give him example of successful managed services is implemented and try to get a buy in to give a proposal to migrate from current T&M model to managed services model.

c. Influence lobbying: If needed connect with additional stake holders to coin the idea and see if there are any apprehensions from their side. Like loosing control on resources etc. rephrase the apprehensions and tell them that you will be coming up with proposal to discuss details and all their apprehensions will be taken care off.

Now that you have a good understanding of clients anticipated work load / goals and there is enough intention to move towards Managed services model and a formal request from client, you need to come up with formal proposal on the same. For doing so I proactively do a through analysis of delivery account.

2. Internal Assessment of delivery : I will do a formal review of delivery and from delivery stand point proactively look at metrics, try to spot trends and areas for improvement, wastage/ rework.

a.Alignment: Ensure that client objectives are well captured and all tasks and deliverable s are aligned to tasks. This will help you identify areas which are duplicate/ redundant or of low priority. See if low priority tasks can be clubbed or avoided.

b. Work with Architects and Business Process SME's: Work with Architects and Process Sme's on the initiative and help need from each one of them to do through internal evaluation.

c.Critical path fine tuning: Identify critical path and the dependencies. As part for project delivery ensure the critical paths and dependencies are fine tuned

c. Resource re fitment /Cross skill : Ensure that resources are cross skilled and each resource works thing end to end cycle and look of outcomes while they work on tasks. If needed ensure you on board new resources/ experts

d.Environment and external vendor management: Ensure the areas identifies to optimize with regards to environments and external vendors how they are currently engaged and kind of SLA's in place how changes are manged

e.Review work metrics: Do a through check of work packets are measured and how they are tagged to goals, what is smallest measure of how and how is it fairing with industry standards. Check the traditional information how the metrics are captured and any clues of wastage / rework.

f.Technology Upgrade/ Automation: With help of SME's see ares where you can on board automation or new technology to replace redundant technology

g.Identify risks and risk mitigation plan: Work with SME's and Architects to come across the anti paced risks and their grading and anticipated mitigation plan form your side.

h. Plan: Chalk out a new plan on areas you would like to re engineer the process, technology and engagement. In terms of new work flows, Day in and Day out of resource work book, Silo charts with various actors, New technology . Time needed for the implementation/ migrations, costs involved. Costs involved could be based on work packets/ tickets based based on complexity and nature of work or it can be out come based or it could just me managed model with FB.

Now that you did delivery revisit come up with proposal to client this could be PPT or work document It should contain

1. Back ground information on Program, Client goals, need for managed services

2. What is currently being delivered and

3. Challenges and Observations from project, metrics

3. Opportunities to improvement in current mode of work.

4. Proposed model in terms of work flow, Technology upgrade as applicable. ( areas that can continue in T&M model and areas which can be taken up for managed services)

5. Silo charts and RACI ( Responsible, Accountable , Consulted and Informed) for various activities.

6. Time lines and Dependencies and how it will e implemented.

7. Anticipated challenges and how risks will be mitigated.

8. Success stories where similar programs were implemented and lessons learned from them.

9.New resource model and Costs-Billing models. ( along with recommended billing model if going for outcome based model)

10. Q&A and next steps. etc

In earlier part of my carrier, I worked on T&M model but for last 8 years the trend is more towards Fixed bid, Managed services, Outcome based model.

the following are sample implemented recently

1. A large Bank based out of Europe and Africa ( Name white labeled intentionally). We were involved in T&M model for last three years. When this account was given to me as part of my port folio, I observed that to a large part their deliverable were clear and well planned. I found that resources were underutilized and there is no innovation. I worked with manager and Architects and SME's and reworked a proposal for managed services where we manage the team and paid of outcomes and quality of work done.

Quarter on quarter the improvement is measure of its a per promised or not and SLA's are met

2. A large Bank based out of Nordics ( Name white labeled for intentionally):

We were involved in Application maintenance and testing, Environment management. Data management and recovery along with Infrastructure management. This account too we did a major revamp and brought engagement it into hybrid engagement that has various new buckets like

a. Based on work packets/ tickets resolved.

b. Some part of engagement to Outcome based

c. Some part as fixed bid, this is more on server maintenance etc.

e. Some part still remained as T&M

3. I also worked on other models like

a. Device-Based- The unit of pricing is “device.” Pricing is applied per device based on device type and service class.

service Catalog Based- The buyer is offered a catalog of services with SLA commitments. Pricing can vary by service.

c. Gain-Share A commercial arrangement in which the client and service provider share the upfront investment requirements and the risks and rewards of their relationship.

more models can be discussed in person

Master Transition in just three steps and Magic Bullets to win it

2018-07-13T23:02:00.001-07:00

As per Linkedin survey across IT, Legal, FM, HR, Finance and Procurement, 46% of the respondents said that they are very likely to Outsource Software Development if their company can realize cost benefits out of it. As more and more projects are transitioned offshore or they scale up at offshore, It’s imminent that these projects are transitioned well and newly on boarded team start productivity as quickly as possible. As shown in below diagram, clients may want to transition/ outsource for variety of reasons, you need to understand the client sensitives and regulations that he may come across as part of solutioning

For customers the paramount of transition success is it should carry no risk or minimal risk and should cost less. While for an outsourcing provider the success is on

Ensuring that transition is smooth
relationships are maintained
value is achieved
Benefits are realized along with establishing new connections and
Improving relationships between client stakeholders and their employees.

Many friends asked me to share a comprehensive plan so I am sharing this

Now that gave you a formal deep drive into how to go about transition, let me discuss three Magic Bullets you need to be aware off and to be included as part of transition.

Automation- Are you automating as much as possible and as fast as possible?
Innovation: What innovation you are bringing on the board.
Process upgrade: Update the workflows/ processes through implementation of tools

Benefits: Are benefits measured at each level? Do you have online transparency through proper dash board?
Quality: How is quality ensured are you failing fast and do you have enough check lists in place
Predictability: Do you have formalize preventive action and corrective action mechanism in place? Have you embraced AI

Regulatory: how are you managing and retaining client data? What mechanisms do you have to ensure that your operations meet compliance requirements

Agile & DevOps handshake for business agility & increased quality

2018-06-28T07:30:00.003-07:00

In this digital world, as per report by McKinsey, around 30 billion objects may be connected through IoT by 2020. The trend is that it will be 1-3 devices per person. The adoption of IOT is very high in Manufacturing, Remote health care , Transportation, Security and bringing other consumer fields which were never thought off or explored earlier. Improving efficiencies and monetization of services for improvement of economies are the core use cases for IOT.

Azure IoT, Cisco IoT Cloud connect, Ge Predix, IBM Blue Mix, RTI, ThingWorx and other platforms are available in market to help organizations quickly migrate their devices to IOT. It is observed that organizations do not onboard all their IOT systems as whole, but will essentially migrate/ integrate their existing devices into the IOT and reuse majority of existing devices.

When varied devices are connected, Administered, Managed and Updated, retired/ Upgraded with additional features, the testing and Business assurance for such system is quite challenging. The agility of business that you launch new features and manage them as quickly as possible and enhance them with minimal disruption makes you to embrace DevOps. Your approach should cover QA involvement in Continuous Development, Continuous Deployments and Continuous testing.

Key Design Considerations for IOT components:

Open ended Architecture, Monolithic Application design
Secured Operations System
Fault tolerance
Secured network/ Communication layer
Asynchronous Data connectivity

Testing considerations to be taken closely by Quality engineering team are:

Testing SME to be involved from early phases of life cycle. Development, Operations and Business people work cohesively
Testing each and Every subcomponent
Testing on simulators and testing on actual devices
Testing across layers in Devices, Network, Communication and Data management etc.
Automation testing at all layers Code, UI, Data and Services
Looped testing covering Unit, Module and Integration testing
Inbuilt focus on Performance and Security testing from component layer
On demand/ automated environment and network provisioning
Overarching automation covering e2e scenarios cutting across devices, environment and networks

Comment here/ write to me to get free ready reckoner check list on IOT testing

How to make stress your friend

2013-09-07T10:31:00.003-07:00

Some truths from recent findings..from Kelly McGonigal

If you are not part of solution then YOU are the PROBLEM- all about managing problem behaviors

2013-04-30T02:41:00.000-07:00

Psychologists working on teams and People in large organizations identified patterns of behavior that create problems in team. They are grouped as

The heroic:
I am surprised as well, because as a Manager, even I too wanted few members to be heroes But problem is they may push themselves too far and create burn out in themselves. Some times they may be demanding others too much. The best way to manage them is give more tasks, ensure that they are behaviorally nice with others. Help them understand that team needs to be balanced and that they should listen to others carefully.

The meritocratic:
They are usually hardworking and are truthful. How ever they lag people skills and don't trust others. Many a times, in-spite of their truthfulness and integrity they will be left out and fall into depression.The best way to manage them is listening to them and helping them understand team dynamics and Powerplays.

The bulldozer:
Bulldozers are great at getting things done .
Bulldozers accomplish their goals at all costs. However, they can intimidate and alienate others in pursuit of goals;They distrust others, and, therefore, others don't trust them. Mentor them by Role plays, team thinking and emotional intelligence topics

The pessimist:
Often we see pessimist all around. Many of these people are very dangerous in the team as they silently pollute other people into low moods. Oftentimes this behavior is rooted to their inbuilt low esteem, failures and anxiety Its very important to deal pessimists separately by calling them out in separate meetings, giving them examples how a task be seen in optimism with examples.
Its very important to let them know that you understand their anxiety and that it is not doing any god by thinking in negative. Reaffirm your trust and support to them and ask them first to stop spreading wrong messages around. Give small doable tasks to them as see that they get succeeded in them and slowly overcoming their own negative mental thoughts.

The rebel:
In Indian context we see rebels very often in team, They defy rules, They defy authority, Very difficult to MANAGE. Still the nicest part with rebels is they could spot areas of improvement.
Managing rebels involve listening them actively, identify and acknowledge if there is a valid point mentioned by them, Bring them past of solution team to the problem.

Try to tap their energy to see that they are working towards problems they mentioned. If done well this will ensure that they are working in right ways. Also have moderator to help them understand their behavioral pattern and how their behavior is impacting the teams and organization.

The YES guys:
Though not so serious , these Yes guys are always there in all cultures, they typically say YES to every work uttered in team.They accept and can stretch themselves to do unmanageable chunks of work. Sometimes they fail doing all that they accept.

Often they lag independent thinking and appreciation. Sit down with them explaining a situations where every thing cannot be done and what happens if they keep saying only YES. Also walk them through varied situations and importance of creating a PERSONALITY .

View here a shot video on tips.

For guys who want to one more version of it.

Executive interviewing

2013-04-30T01:20:00.001-07:00

Asking the right question is at the heart of effective communications and information exchange. By using the right questions in a particular situation, you can improve a whole range of communications skills: for example, you can gather better information and learn more; you can build stronger relationships, manage people more effectively and help others to learn too.

So here are some common questioning techniques, and when (and when not) to use them:
1. Open ended questions- Helps to get lot of information ( others perspective).
2. Close ended questions- Helps to progress when others are not communicative.
3. Funnel questions- Helps to narrow down to thesis.
4. Probing questions- Ex 5 Whys methods etc.
5. Leading question- helps the answered to think in a direction.

** off course always ask some thing RELEVANT.

To help you guys .. pasting here some good videos on the same .......

Here is the video from TEDx

The ABC’s of Timing Your Careers

2012-08-15T05:39:00.000-07:00

One of the top most topics that people is bracket of 3 years and above look for is timing their careers. While enough knowledge is available in how to make an entry into a Industry/ sector, there was almost little knowledge in the ways how you time you career for greater successes. I am sharing the best of the tips and tricks that were shared by few fellow managers and sr management based on their own experience, observation and based on their study.

For best timing of your careers you need to have grab on three core views.

1. Your Current Specialization, Skills- It is almost impossible to time your career without you having a clear understanding of what you are good at? And how best you are in it. Please carry on SWOT analysis of your core skills and rate yourself so that you get a clear understanding of how you stand in your current roles. Develop a calendar goals to improve your skills. If possible have mentor to help you to strategize your skill development and improvement program. Typically you can choose your boss, or friend who is senior to you in your industry. Please choose people who are clean minded, willing to help and not the wicked.

2. Trends In Your Industry- For you to train your guns, you need to follow what are the trends that are happening in your industry. Subscribe to industry journals, network with people to know various trends in your stream locally and internationally. Trends can be understood in two ways An accelerating trend, and Ordinary trend. An accelerating trend is some thing that you cannot ignore, It basically provides you information on what’s happening fast. Align yourself to accelerating trend.

3. Job moves Lateral/Vertical - I have seen few people shifting jobs while a rise in local markets; they have miserably failed on long runs. The best way for you understand when you can move forward can be best understood when you know your current skills, positioning, tends in your industry and how your current company is doing Vs Industry . Don’t change jobs for petty reasons, understand what is in offer in totality and not just the monetary pays. No person will be willing to pay you a huge raise against industry norm with out there being a some kind of trick attached.

Calculate all your options carefully and select a long term strategy than falling for short term gains. I have rarely seen people in Sr Management who successfully grew without a strategy. If you are not clearly able to understand what is in new Offer for long term, stay back with your current employer after all, he is the one who is nourishing you and a reason for what you are now ! Its the best way forward till you get some clarity and re-strategize your career.

Good luck- Ravi Kollipara.

Top Seven Attributes Of Super Leaders

2012-08-14T00:46:00.002-07:00

Leadership is mind set, world over people follow leaders. Leaders are born out of people, while many a times the followers remain follower. But everyone at some point of time NEED to become a LEADER weather it is for your corporation or for state or even within the family. In this article I am going to discuss basic attributes that are truly exhibited by modern leaders.

1. Driven By Need- Leaders are driven by people needs. He understands the needs and the importance of fulfilling it. They give all their best to ensure that the understood need is fulfilled for their people. Unfortunately in few democracies, we have seen leaders falling for their own satisfaction at the expense of peoples.

2. Future Oriented- What lies ahead for a group or a future success of a group actually decides how good a leadership is. All truly successful leaders are futuristic; they look beyond current goals and work in strategy for future . This probably points why a BIG IT firm in India is looking in hay way with its old strategy .

3. Solution Focus- Traditionally all successful leaders are not focused on smaller issues, rather they understand the root cause of the problem and do not fall prey to smaller answers, but work toward greater solution/ Purpose. Gandhiji worked towards realization of Independence for India than on smaller petty issues with British. Its is the bigger solution that Gandhiji inspired people and achieved.

4. Great at Execution- Whether you are a Commander or a group leader in politics, the success of the group rests on its plan, its execution, implementation accuracy and speed. Bill Gates from Micrososft , Steve jobs from Apple, Mukesh Ambani from Reliance Oil are very good examples for the excellence they exhibited in the core project execution. For a modern leader he no longer sits in his lobby and does all the strategy, He moves into forefront of tactical execution and manage the speed of implementations.

5. People Centered- for a person to become a Leader, he first needs to be accepted as a some one superior/ matured to be accepted as a leader . This is the reason almost all leaders are people centered . this also explain why all leaders are supreme commanders but not vice versa.

6. Critical Thinkers- In modern era, leaders are often put with various options to loose focus there by losing its power by pulling the group to various sides. Leaders need to cultivate a habit of critical thinking to evaluate various options and choose the best possible till a need is cherished.

7. Multi Tasking- I have seen many successful CEOs in IT and Businesses exhibit the multi tasking capability slightly differently than what it is understood. They do not Multi task but rather focus on immediate needs and they delegate and manage. One of the best approach is create a tier system and delegate lower tasks and decisions to managers.

TWO lists that managers needs to follow

2012-07-09T00:12:00.003-07:00

( from Harvard Business Review)

I was late for my meeting with the CEO of a technology company and I was emailing him from my iPhone as I walked onto the elevator in his company's office building. I stayed focused on the screen as I rode to the sixth floor. I was still typing with my thumbs when the elevator doors opened and I walked out without looking up. Then I heard a voice behind me, "Wrong floor." I looked back at the man who was holding the door open for me to get back in; it was the CEO, a big smile on his face. He had been in the elevator with me the whole time. "Busted," he said.

The world is moving fast and it's only getting faster. So much technology. So much information. So much to understand, to think about, to react to. A friend of mine recently took a new job as the head of learning and development at a mid-sized investment bank. When she came to work her first day on the job she turned on her computer, logged in with the password they had given her, and found 385 messages already waiting for her.

So we try to speed up to match the pace of the action around us. We stay up until 3 am trying to answer all our emails. We twitter, we facebook, and we link-in. We scan news websites wanting to make sure we stay up to date on the latest updates. And we salivate each time we hear the beep or vibration of a new text message.

But that's a mistake. The speed with which information hurtles towards us is unavoidable (and it's getting worse). But trying to catch it all is counterproductive. The faster the waves come, the more deliberately we need to navigate. Otherwise we'll get tossed around like so many particles of sand, scattered to oblivion. Never before has it been so important to be grounded and intentional and to know what's important.
Never before has it been so important to say "No." No, I'm not going to read that article. No, I'm not going to read that email. No, I'm not going to take that phone call. No, I'm not going to sit through that meeting.
It's hard to do because maybe, just maybe, that next piece of information will be the key to our success. But our success actually hinges on the opposite: on our willingness to risk missing some information. Because trying to focus on it all is a risk in itself. We'll exhaust ourselves. We'll get confused, nervous, and irritable. And we'll miss the CEO standing next to us in the elevator.

A study of car accidents by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute put cameras in cars to see what happens right before an accident. They found that in 80% of crashes the driver was distracted during the three seconds preceding the incident. In other words, they lost focus — dialed their cell phones, changed the station on the radio, took a bite of a sandwich, maybe checked a text — and didn't notice that something changed in the world around them. Then they crashed.

The world is changing fast and if we don't stay focused on the road ahead, resisting the distractions that, while tempting, are, well, distracting, then we increase the chances of a crash.
Now is a good time to pause, prioritize, and focus. Make two lists:

List 1: Your Focus List (the road ahead) What are you trying to achieve? What makes you happy? What's important to you? Design your time around those things. Because time is your one limited resource and no matter how hard you try you can't work 25/8.
List 2: Your Ignore List (the distractions)
To succeed in using your time wisely, you have to ask the equally important but often avoided complementary questions: what are you willing not to achieve? What doesn't make you happy? What's not important to you? What gets in the way?

Some people already have the first list. Very few have the second. But given how easily we get distracted and how many distractions we have these days, the second is more important than ever. The leaders who will continue to thrive in the future know the answers to these questions and each time there's a demand on their attention they ask whether it will further their focus or dilute it.
Which means you shouldn't create these lists once and then put them in a drawer. These two lists are your map for each day. Review them each morning, along with your calendar, and ask: what's the plan for today? Where will I spend my time? How will it further my focus? How might I get distracted? Then find the courage to follow through, make choices, and maybe disappoint a few people.
After the CEO busted me in the elevator, he told me about the meeting he had just come from. It was a gathering of all the finalists, of which he was one, for the title of Entrepreneur of the Year. This was an important meeting for him — as it was for everyone who aspired to the title (the judges were all in attendance) — and before he entered he had made two explicit decisions: 1. To focus on the meeting itself and 2. Not to check his BlackBerry.

What amazed him was that he was the only one not glued to a mobile device. Were all the other CEOs not interested in the title? Were their businesses so dependent on them that they couldn't be away for one hour? Is either of those a smart thing to communicate to the judges?

There was only one thing that was most important in that hour and there was only one CEO whose behavior reflected that importance, who knew where to focus and what to ignore. Whether or not he eventually wins the title, he's already winning the game.

( As reported by Peter Bregman)

All New - Modern Tester’s Dictionary

2012-07-09T00:09:00.002-07:00

I figured it was time for a review of some modern testing terms. Feel free to challenge me if you don’t like my definitions, which are very conversational. I selected terms I find valuable and stayed away from terms I’m bored with (e.g., “Stress Testing”, “Smoke Testing”).

Afterwards, you can tell me what I’m missing. Maybe I’ll update the list. Here we go…

Tester – Never refer to yourself as QA. That’s old school. That’s a sign of an unskilled tester. By now, we know writing software is different than manufacturing cars. We know we don’t have the power to “assure” quality. If your title still has “QA” in it, convince your HR department to change it.

Sapient Tester – A brain-engaged tester. It is generally used to describe a skilled tester who focuses on human “testing” but uses machines for “checking”.

Manual Tester – A brain-dead tester. Manual testers focus on “checking”.

Test (noun) – Something that can reveal new information. Something that takes place in one’s brain. Tests focus on exploration and learning.

Check – An observation, linked to a decision rule, resulting in a bit (e.g., Pass/Fail, True/False, Yes/No). Checks focus on confirmation. A check may be performed by a machine or a human. Repetition of the same check is best left to a machine, lest the tester becomes a “Manual Tester”, which is not cool.

Developer – It takes a tester, business analyst, and programmer to develop software; even if they’re just different hats on the same person. That means if you’re a tester, you’re also a developer.

Programmer – Person on the development team responsible for writing the product code. They write code that ships.

Prog – Short version of “Programmer”.

Test Automation Engineer – This is a Tester who specializes in writing automated checks. This is the best I have so far. But here are the problems I have with it. Test Automation Engineers are also programmers who write code. That means the term “Programmer” is ambiguous. A Test Automation Engineer has the word “Test” in their title when, arguably, a test can’t be automated.

Heuristic - a fallible method for solving a problem or making a decision. Like a rule of thumb. It's fallible though, so use it with care. Why is this term in a tester dictionary? Skilled testers use heuristics to make quick decisions during testing. For example: a tester may use a stopping heuristic to know when to stop a test or which test to execute next. Testers have begun capturing the way they solve problems and creating catchy labels for new heuristics. Said labels allow testers to share ideas with other testers. Example: the 'Just In Time Heuristic' reminds us to add test detail as late as possible, because things will change. Example: the' Jenga Heuristic' reminds us that if we remove too many dependencies from a test, it will easily fall down...instead, try removing one dependency at a time to determine the breaking point.

Test Report – Something a team member or manager may ask a tester for. The team member is asking for a summary of a tester’s findings thus far.

Context Driven Testing – an approach to software testing that values context. Example: when joining a new project, Context Driven testers will ask the team what level of documentation is required, as opposed to just writing a test plan because that is what they have always done. IMO, Context Driven testers are the innovators when it comes to software testing. They are the folks challenging us to think differently and adjust our approaches as the IT industry changes.

Bug – Something that bugs someone who matters.

Issue – It may result in a bug. We don’t have enough information to determine that yet.

Escape – A bug found in production. A bug that has “escaped” the test environment. Counting “escapes” may be more valuable than counting “bugs”.

Follow-on Bug – A bug resulting from a different bug. “we don’t need to log a bug report for BugA because it will go away when BugB gets fixed”.

Safety Language – Skilled testers use it to tell an honest accurate story of their testing and preserve uncertainty. Example: “This appears to meet the requirements to some degree”, “I may be wrong”.

Test Idea – less than 140 characters. Exact steps are not necessary. The essence of a test should be captured. Each test ideas should be unique among their set. The purpose is to plan a test session without spending too much time on details that may change. Test Ideas replace test cases on my team.

Test Case Fragment – see “Test Idea”. I think they are the same thing.

AUT – Application Under Test. The software testers are paid to test.

Showstopper – An annoying label, usually used to define the priority of bugs. It is typically overused and results in making everything equally important.

Velocity, Magnitude, Story Points – Misunderstood measurements of work on agile development teams. Misunderstood because Agile consultants do such a poor job of explaining them. So just use these terms however you want and you will be no worse off than most Agile teams.

Session-Based-Test-Management (SBTM) – A structured approach to Exploratory Testing that helps testers be more accountable. It involves dividing up test work into time-based charters (i.e., missions), documenting your test session live, and reviewing your findings with a team member. The Bach brothers came up with this, I think. Best free SBTM tool, IMO, is Rapid Reporter.

As reported by : Eric Jacobson at Thursday, June 07, 2012 in his p[personal blog

Men and women differences in chemistry

2012-07-08T02:59:00.000-07:00

Hi friends, I am back and want to continue to write on Anger management/ Emotion management. Before you jump in lets try to understand whats happening at chemical level and who are good at what?

Traditionally the following differences are widely accepted and acknowledged., that for

1. MULTI-TASKING
Women - Multiple process.Women's brains designed to concentrate multiple task at a time.
Women can Watch a TV and Talk over phone and cook.
Men - Single Process. Men's brains designed to concentrate only one work at a time. Men can not watch TV and talk over the phone at the same time. they stop the TV while Talking. They can either watch TV or talk over the phone or cook.

2. LANGUAGE
Women can easily learn many languages. But can not find solutions to problems. Men can not easily learn languages, they can easily solve problems. That's why in average a 3 years old girl has three times higher vocabulary than a 3 year old boy.

3. ANALYTICAL SKILLS
Mens brains has a lot of space for handling the analytical process. They can analyze and find the solution for a process and design a map of a building easily. But If a complex map is viewed by women, they can not understand it. Women can not understand the details of a map easily, For them it is just a dump of lines on a paper.

4. CAR DRIVING.
While driving a car, mans analytical spaces are used in his brain. He can drive a car fastly. If he sees an object at long distance, immediately his brain classifies the object (bus or van or car) direction and speed of the object and he drives accordingly. Where woman take a long time to recognize the object direction/ speed. Mans single process mind stops the audio in the car (if any), then concentrates only on driving.

5. LYING
When men lie to women face to face, they get caught easily. Womans super natural brain observes facial expression 70%, body language 20% and words coming from the mouth 10%. Mens brain does not have this. Women easily lie to men face to face.
So guys, do not lie face to face.

6. PROBLEMS SOLVING
If a man have a lot of problems, his brain clearly classifies the problems and puts them in individual rooms in the brain and then finds the solution one by one. You can see many guys looking at the sky for a long time. If a woman has a lot of problems, her brain can not classify the problems. she wants some one to hear that. After telling everything to a person she goes happily to bed. She does not worry about the problems being solved or not.

7. WHAT THEY WANT
Men want status, success, solutions, big process, etc... But Women want relationship, friends, family, etc...

8. UNHAPPINESS
If women are unhappy with their relations, they can not concentrate on their work. If men are unhappy with their work, they can not concentrate on the relations.

9. SPEECH
Women use indirect language in speech. But Men use direct language.

10. HANDLING EMOTION
Women talk a lot without thinking. Men act a lot without thinking.

Suggested further reading : Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus by John Grey.
You can down load it from the following link xa.yimg.com/kq/groups/21230179/1805388939/name/ladies.pdf

Managing a HOT head

2012-01-17T02:48:00.000-08:00

Managing an anger person-

It's never fun to deal with an angry person, whether we're talking about a hothead who's quick to anger or a chronically angry grouse. It particularly difficult to act without an emotion, when you are handling a foolish Head.

On top of that unfortunately, none of the natural reactions that an angry person inspires -- defensiveness, fear, or getting mad yourself -- tend to be productive

I faced hard times in managing the angry person, but my experience thought me few interesting facts which I collected over the time from management books and websites from MSN, Google etc. They made me better equipped and helped me in various situations. I am sharing for benefit of all and these following tips can help you.

1. Let the angry person know you understand that he's upset.

What this sounds like: "I understand that you're really angry right now that I missed our appointment." "Oh, wow, you seem really mad that the doctor's office never called back." "You're mad that I ate that last brownie -- is that it?"

It's important to be specific, to hit home the message to the other person that he or she is truly understood. Don't just say, "I understand what you're saying."

Keep the focus on the other person's emotions. Don't say, "I understand because I've been there, too." The upset person doesn't care; in the heat of the moment, he feels like his experience is unique.

Why it helps: The tactic known as "reflective listening" or "active listening" is a basic building block to all kinds of effective communication, says psychologist Steve Sultanoff, an adjunct professor at Pepperdine University. Especially with someone who's seething with anger, it's not enough for you to realize that he or she is upset (which tends to be pretty obvious). You need to demonstrate that realization to the upset person by saying so.

The effect of simply stating what's behind the anger is like pouring cool water on a fire. "As humans, we have a tendency to feel connected when another person gets us," Sultanoff says. "Repeating back what you're hearing the angry person say is both connecting and calming."

2. Solicit what the angry person wants from you.

What this sounds like: "What is it you want or need right now?" "How can I help you?" "How do you envision the outcome of this in terms of what I could do?"

Why it helps: Most anger develops when the person perceives the world (or situation) as unfair, according to Sultanoff. "Anger is generating energy to get the unfair thing fixed," he says. Sometimes the anger stems from a perceived wrong: You or someone else did (or is perceived as having done) something upsetting -- forgot a birthday, broke a prized possession. Sometimes, though, the anger stems from a bigger sense of being wronged -- the person lost a job, his or her partner left, or he or she has a tough medical diagnosis, for example.

But nobody wants to listen to endless ranting. So cut to the chase by moving the conversation (even if it's mostly one-sided barking, so far) to a more proactive realm. Basically you're saying, in a nice way, "So what do you want me to do about it?"

3. Offer what help you can -- or say clearly what you can't do.

What this sounds like: This can take several forms. You may be able to fill the desire: "Let me see if I can call the doctor for you and find out what the delay is." You may hear that an apology is desired, if you accept some fault for the situation: "I'm sorry, I didn't realize the snack I ate was something you were saving for yourself. Please accept my apology -- I'll buy you a replacement."

Or you may decide that it's not within your power to help. If so, express that clearly: "I wish I could stay longer today to help, but I can't." Or, "I know you're mad about being fired and want your old job back, but I can't do anything about that. It is what it is."

Sometimes it's within your power to help, but you choose not to -- that's setting a boundary, and it's perfectly OK. Express it as a "can't" rather than a "don't want to": "I'm sorry, I wish I could help you with that, but I can't today."

Why it helps: You want to keep moving the situation along in a productive way. After the person expresses what he or she wants, decide what, if anything, you're able do, and say so.

4. Set limits on what you'll tolerate.

What this sounds like: "I can see you're really angry, but you're taking it out on me -- and if you care about me, you'll stop." Note that this works better with strong, close relationships, such as between family members or close friends.

For anyone, it's reasonable to say calmly: "Look, I'm willing to listen, but you have to stop shouting at me." Or, "I can see that you're upset about X. But if you want to talk about it and get my help to resolve it, you have to quit attacking me."

Still being berated or screamed at? It's OK to quit the conversation. And if you feel physically threatened, leave. You always have that power in the conversation.

Why it helps: Some angry people need to vent it out of their system before they'll engage with you, says Ken Robbins, a geriatric psychiatrist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. "Even if the person is overreacting and exhibiting anger that feels out of proportion, don't argue or get drawn into a defensive Ping-Pong match."

While the other party has a right to feel anger (or any other emotion), he or she doesn't have the right to turn it on others in a threatening way.

If the ranting persists, calling the person on it in a non accusatory way can sometimes help him or her snap out of it.

5. Accept that the aggrieved person is probably doing the best he or she can.

What this sounds like: Literally say to yourself something like, "Bob must be having a bad day." Or "Sue misunderstood me, but blowing her top is just the way she copes."

Why it helps: Reframing another person's anger actually changes the way your brain responds to it, according to a new study in the November 2011 issue of the journal Psychological Science. By consciously telling yourself, "It's not my fault he's angry" or "She must be having a bad day," you can actually eliminate the electrical signals associated with the negative emotions that are triggered when we see angry faces, the researchers found.

"You can see this as a kind of race between the emotional information and the reappraisal information in the brain," says Stanford researcher Jens Blechert, who trained subjects to adjust their attitudes before viewing an angry face, then evaluated brain activity. Emotional processing (how we react to anger) moves through the brain through one circuit, but consciously reappraising the situation uses another route and modifies the emotional reaction.

Mustering some empathy for a barking boss or seething family member isn't easy, Pepperdine's Sultanoff says. But doing so helps move you out of the natural gut reaction to being yelled at, which is defensiveness. "When we're defensive, we're taking care of us, not the other person," he says. And that, he adds, can lead to a downward spiral.

Instead, try telling yourself that the angry person is doing the best he or she can, given the situation -- "even when the best they can do is pretty crappy," Sultanoff says.

6. Accept that you're doing the best you can, too.

What this sounds like: "I wish I could have stayed with Jack long enough to fix his computer, but I already stayed an hour and I'm late for the gym. . . . I know that others will be upset when I take care of myself, but I have to. I can't always give and give and give to others; it's OK to give to myself." Or "I wish I could help Jill, but there's nothing I can do about her ex-husband being a jerk. I know I'm a good friend and I'll be there when there's something specific I can solve, but right now all I can do is listen and say, 'Look, I can't do anything to change that.'"

Why it helps: Cutting yourself some slack about how you're dealing with a volcanic personality helps to inoculate yourself against feeling angry or fearful about the interaction.

This inner dialog may sound hokey. But you'd be surprised how effective self-acceptance is. Often what's difficult about disentangling from an angry person is that we try to "fix" their situation even when we can't. That sucks us into the other person's emotional outburst and leaves us angry and frustrated, too, or renders us feeling powerless or afraid.

7. Try humor

What it sounds like: Sultanoff suggests lines like these: "This is beyond my capabilities -- let me consult my other personalities." "I'm sorry I forgot to pick up your prescription -- OMG, you caught me playing with my mental blocks!" "I wish I had a magic wand -- I'd wave it for you and fix everything."

Why it helps: Humor can defuse situations that have grown tense, especially within relationships that are close or playful. "Humor can shift the moment," says Sultanoff, who's the former president of the Association for Applied and Therapeutic Humor. Just be sure not to make fun of the person you're trying to help, he says. Humor is best targeted at yourself or the situation.

My next article will be on "How to handle negative emotions of people from opposite sexes".

Very interesting new testing tool from HP

2012-01-10T02:36:00.001-08:00

Indeed a very exciting Hp tool, for all my folks in software testing. I see that ALM 11.0 together with QTP, other integration's is going to storm the development world.

I see great potential for ALM 11.0 along with Agile accelerator and its ability to integrate Project Management and Multi platform distributed developments teams to very very effectively plan, manage, trace and deliver future applications.

Dealing With Localization- Localization- project development, localization testing

2012-01-09T05:45:00.000-08:00

While organizations started localizing for multiple countries, it had led to emergence of accepting and handling the applications in multiple language dimensions. In this write up, I am presenting some steps which worked well in mutli country project I managed, I hope it will equip you to perform to handle localisations effectively.

Target Locales

First and foremost understand the target locales, countries your customer/ business is targeting. It may not be a bad idea to find out the extensibility of the product to other countries that your business may want to take it in near future. So even the future locales are considered and handled during current validations.

Special Handling

Identify the areas that need special attention. Review the glossary to be localised. **Remember that RTL and countries and LTR countries will need a separate and full-fledged handling independent of each other.

Resourcing

Identify the resources and SME’s who can help and provide you the inputs. Document the time and telephone numbers, when they can be contacted. Take a Secondary owner for each and every stake.

Avoid Pitfalls

Identify and create a Check list of all items that needs localization based on the need before for an example, a Image makes no difference between countries but a currency sign will. SO make a list of countries that need to be accounted and list of countries that do not need attention. Cross check your check list with business owners and country manager, SME’s for each locale separately.

Heuristic Data

Apply heuristic data on the check list to arrive at realistic estimates for development and validations.

Reverse integrate

Try to get as much data as possible . With potential failure in mind, chalk out all possible areas of failure and mitigate the risks

Plan

With a Well-defined check list and come out with detailed project plan. Review your plan with various stake holders from each locale and publish your plan .

Create a detailed validation plan and risk mitigation plan. Involve stake holders and make newer team members as responsible for limited locale.

Execution

Automate as much as possible for different locale. Automation helps you to control the wastage and helps in accelerated lifecycle.

Localization will expand more as businesses are expanding foot hold to other countries gear up will and customise your check list. I hope the points I mentioned here will be handy for your localization assignments. Good luck

How to describe yourself to a Client

2012-01-06T00:26:00.000-08:00

There you are dressed your best and being interviewed for new assignment of your dreams and the dreaded question gets asked, "Describe yourself for me." This question is almost always asked and almost always answered with a resounding uuuuuh… Knowing how to describe yourself in an interview can mean the difference of landing your new assignment or going back to the want ads.

It helps if you come to grips with the fact that this question will be asked and you prepare for it ahead of time, but be careful that you don’t some off sounding like you memorized a script the night before. When getting ready to describe yourself in an interview you should consider the following:

Don’t tell them what they already know: Don’t start out with your name and age, they have that on the application and repeating it sort of makes you sound silly. Instead of saying where you went to school –also on the application- tell the interviewer what you got out of your schooling or who influenced you along the way. Get into any activities or hobbies you have that may not be listed on the application. This is your time to let the interviewer know everything about you that is not on the application already.

Give your strengths AND your weaknesses: First off all when giving your strengths, never come off too cocky. Be proud, but be careful not to toot your own horn too loudly as this can be a major turn-off to the interviewer. Besides giving what your strengths are, also mention your weaknesses, but do it in a way that makes you look good. ‘I have no patience for those that do not want to go the extra mile to help a co-worker,’ or ‘A big fault of mine is that I tend to pay too much attention to detail when it may not be needed.’ Statements such as those show the interviewer that you don’t think you are perfect, but that your faults are good ones to have.

Try to relate how your strengths and accomplishment can bring value to the new assignment or clients business.

Be honest: This is most important of all. If you are not being honest many prospective employers can see right through your bologna and besides, you are who you are. If the job isn’t meant to be, then that is life. Never pretend to be somebody you are not.

Speak clearly and don’t stammer: This goes back to the whole practice thing. If you are constantly stammering or saying ‘uh’ then you give off the impression that you are searching for words to say. This gives a bad vibe off because if you don’t know who you are, then who really does?

Show your conviction.

While there are no magic words to speak that will guarantee you a new assignment, you should be prepared to adequately describe yourself at an interview. Again, you know the question is coming, so you may as well prepare for it.

Tips to make your networks WORK.

2012-01-04T02:17:00.000-08:00

Now a day’s most successful businesses are driven through networks. In this blog, I am trying to list out some tips to ensure that you can improve your networks.

Please note that it’s not the number of people in Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo Im, linkedin etc who it really matter, but the quality of network you maintain that really matters.

When a Top executive switches, the very intangible benefit he carries is his network and ability to influence the future businesses. The more networked an organization is, the more successful, powerful, influential it will be. There are millions of people who believe in networking as one of the best ways to improve their businesses.

To be a successful networker you have to make people show interest in your companionship. Remember - if you want to be interesting, be interested.

1. Attitude :

The first and foremost important factor to decide your success in networking is your attitude. If you are out there for networking to just collect some bunch of cards and thinking it will be a mere waste of time and something you are particularly dreading, you soon will get frustrated about it. Get encouraged with a fact that 75% of US property companies businesses from 2008 to 2010 came from networking activity alone.

Love people. Love to be in a crowd. Love to make more friends. Love to have win-win relationships.

2. First Impression is undoubtedly the Best Impression :

Dress appropriately. If your profession does not require a professional business suite, then smart casual is fine. Dress according to the situation. You may want to dress according to the majority target networking people. Don't be too enthusiastic while wishing and giving a hand shake. A hand shake can tell you what kind of feelings you carry. Have a pleasant smile while wishing and more importantly wish with heart not with mouth.

3. Research :

Research shows your seriousness. Do a little research about the event, the place and more important the profile of the people who will be at the event. Look for synergies with your business. This helps you in not meeting every person and wasting your time and effort. You can smartly network with only the people who can be helpful for you.

If you are not sure of the event or the people who will attend it, you can always ask the person who invited you for the event or the event coordinators.

4. Ask Open Ended Questions :

You have to ask open ended questions most of the times. This gives you more specific answers and hence solves the purpose of networking more. It also creates a better impression about you. To ask more appropriate open ended questions, you have to do research about that particular industry or company or their products/services.

5. Talk Less, Convey More :

Give a clear message. Do not give prolonged explanations in the first meeting itself. Long conversations can make them bore, short and clear talks can create enthusiasm. The goal is to make the other person remember you as person with knowledge, not of words.

6. Be Ready with Elevator Speech :

Elevator Speech is something you have to convey entire message in less than a minute (with in time to reach 6 floors in an elevator). Be prepared. This can really make a great impression if you can clearly tell about your business or company or products/services within a minute.Again, you should not look like hurried or tensed. Practice the elevator speech in front of mirror till you feel comfortable.

To summon up I have seen the following qualities of Successful networking people.

1. Attitude (Self Belief & Passion towards growth, creating Win-Win )

2. Creating & Maintaining Relationships

3. Ability reach out & touch any one

4. Ability to ask proper questions

5. Ability to give and be responsible.

When you have to say NO to your Boss…..Tips

2012-01-02T00:11:00.000-08:00

As we grow in IT , we develop our own individuality and thinking, there will be instances to debate your point with peers and Boss. Saying no to your Boss is quite tricky, our colleagues might have advised against it countless times, every bone in our body might say that you shouldn’t do it and you might try to avoid it with utter sincerity but at some point during your office life, circumstances are such that saying No to your boss becomes absolutely unavoidable.

You might have the most rational explanations for turning down instructions from your boss but unless you put forth your denial in a proper way, it is highly unlikely that you can wriggle out this situation without harming your reputation.

Better take you case and put your point for debate, than denying the instructions later stage denting your repute.

Use the following tips to ensure your rational logic doesn’t make a serious dent in your reputation with the boss:

Present yourself like a Victim! getting most effected

Try to look slightly helpless when putting across your reason or excuse for turning down the boss’s instructions. For these few moments, shed the confidence in your strut. Don’t carry yourself into the boss’ cabin with the usual air of confidence that you exude at work. This is one of the rare situations in a workplace when looking vulnerable is more likely to help. If you can act a bit, it would be of great help. Try to look a bit dejected, as if this moment is a burden on your soul and is weighing you mdown. Try to exude the helplessness associated with a victim. Looking victimized means that any excuse/reason you will put across will seem more convincing.

Choose your moment

Bosses are like any other person at work, i.e. they are likely to have bad days where anything that seems to challenge their authority or sensibilities can lead to an outburst. Thus, be guarded in picking the day and the moment when you confront your boss.

Try not to interfere between meetings or when the boss is busy on the phone or some other work. Try to gauge the boss’ mood. Search for a moment when the boss looks a bit relaxed and doesn’t exude that typical killer looks that he/she is known to carry.

It is better to choose a time which assures that the boss isn't stressed or apprehensive. This includes the period just after a tea break or after a celebration in the office.

Drown your Defiance

You can be extremely polite and respectful even when saying No to somebody and this is particularly applicable when communicating with the boss. Ensure that your choice of words doesn’t border upon starting an argument. It shouldn’t seem like you are defying the boss’ authority.

The aim should be to emerge from this situation with your dignity and reputation intact. So, don’t engage the boss in an argument. Don’t try to present so many reasons that the boss’ decision-making ability is challenged. Stress your reason for saying No in a clear voice not with emotional tone . You can be a bit assertive too but ensure that you choose a low-pitch tone that doesn’t engage any kind of confrontation.

Use your appearance to win sympathy with the Boss

If you have the liberty of planning the moment when you are going to refuse your boss, ensure that you wear dull, sober-colored clothes. It is better to be devoid any party-like accessories that otherwise seem to get you lots of compliments at work. In fact, a one or two-day stubble, is ideal to be worn for this situation, so plan accordingly.

Being prepared can save you the Day

Talk to yourself before your approach the boss. Make yourself understand that this could have implications like the boss getting angered and grilling you or it could be surprisingly, trouble-free. This will help you to cope with the situation in case the boss unleashes a verbal assault on you. Be on your safe zone, Being prepared ensures that such offensiveness will not challenge your tolerance and you won’t lose your anger.

Negotiating at work: Tips

2012-01-01T23:58:00.000-08:00

Like any other skill, negotiation requires learning and practice. The better prepared you are with factual data before heading into a negotiation, the more effective you will be.

In an office, as in a war, negotiation is won much before the first battle is ever fought. But unlike in a war, successful negotiation has both parties walking away as winners. What is negotiation at work? It's the skill of reaching an agreement, be it with the boss and colleagues in office, or clients and vendors outside the organisation. In the first part of this sub-series on negotiation, we deal with the latter.

Like any other skill, negotiation requires learning and practice. The key issues often boil down to reaching an agreement that is mutually beneficial and seeking a working relationship that permits the benefits to flow. The following diagram gives 5 Qtrs of negotiation areas.

This process can be made profitable and enjoyable for all concerned if some basic steps are followed. The first step is the same as for any other process-preparation. The better prepared you are with factual data before heading into a negotiation, the more effective you will be.

Thereafter, the most important requirement is to honestly, logically and accurately identify the real needs and goals. Though the most obviously stated need is money, it can be a proxy for other physical or more refined needs (shelter, reputation, self-esteem). In the case of a vendor/client, people are often simply seeking understanding and attention rather than money.

Once you prioritise the needs of both parties, you can plan towards a mutually advantageous solution, wherein you can give away low-ranked needs in return for high-priority ones. Also, identify the stakeholders whose interests or needs are affected by the outcome of the agreement or negotiation. If you can -list out multiple stakeholders and their various interests, you are probably analysing well. Use the matching needs to come up with multiple solutions that may work.

Carry your analysis into the communication with the negotiating party. The communication process is the second critical step in arriving at an agreement. It is important to realise that the words used, emotions, as well as the non-verbal attitude, will have an impact on people, and, hence, on the outcome. Listen with an open mind, focus on receiving and communicating with maximum clarity, and maintain sufficient emotional distance in order to be successful. Simultaneously, you can continue to receive factual data, with both parties following the give-and-take principle, and building trust gradually. It is important to have persistence and respect for the other person in order to be successful.

Finally, remember that you should care for the outcome, but not too much. You can negotiate well only if you have the ability to walk away from an unfavorable agreement. To build this strength, create a credible alternative to failure. So, a successful salesperson, for instance, can negotiate the best deals on his products if he has a potential back-up customer. You should also factor in the fallback options for the other side. If you do this, it will be clear that the final agreement will necessarily fall between the back-up options of the parties concerned. However, do not exercise your option to walk away; make your final offer and let the other person go first-if need be.

While negotiating with a client/vendor, enter the discussion with a win-win mindset. Understand that both the parties need to walk away with gains. So, if you are looking for a higher price, perhaps your client wants the peace of mind that comes with an extended warranty. If you think of it as a win-lose deal, you stand to lose both the deal and the working relationship. Irrespective of the outcome, do not take words, requests or denials personally.

A lost deal does not mean that you have failed. It simply implies that at that moment, the client could not afford to accept your offer. Do, however, take time to help the client understand what he stands to gain from your offer. Listen carefully to make sure you understand what he really wants.

Also remember never to lose your cool or emotions. Your friends may accept you as you are, but your clients could run scared. Try and be the first to make an offer. It will help anchor the client to your view and the final agreement is more likely to end closer to your proposal. Do not compromise on your ethical standards. Most clients/vendors would be happy to work where they perceive the other person to be fair. While the client has the right to ask and know before paying, both parties are entitled to take time to think through their reactions.

At the end of the day, every interaction with a client/vendor teaches us something new that adds to our negotiation experience. It is a skill that takes years to master. Know that negotiation with clients is often focused on money. Add to it the amorphous nature of relationships and negotiations can become very complex.

Reproduced from www.businesstoday.in

Ravi Kollipara

2011-12-29T00:43:00.000-08:00

SUMMARY:

Dynamic and highly qualified management professional with 12 years’ experience, who offers a unique combination of Operations Management, Account management, Program Management and Strategic Consulting.

Visionary with outstanding success in Service Delivery, Program Management, Software Engineering & QA. Rich experience across domains such as Insurance, Financial (Tax), Portfolio Management, Aviation, HR Management (General) and B2B project execution background.

Lead teams with experience spanning across Europe, US , Canada and Asia.

KEY DIFFERENTIEATORS

Successful PM with focus on business drivers, worked with multiple Business Owners in tactfully mitigating and coordinating various touchy tasks.

Team Player, Worked with globally distributed vendor teams, Certified Green belt Six Sigma, member of PMI, Owner of six sigma Greenbelt group in Yahoo.

Strong knowledge of Project Management (PMI), PRINCE 2, ISO, CMMi Process Models. Introduced many practicable processes to streamline development and delivery.

Ability to energize others through inspiration, alignment, coaching, evaluation, feedback and building self-confidence in them.

SPECIALITIES

Managing Large, Complex, Critical Engagements across teams to completion. People and Relationship Management.

QA – Richly experienced in providing strategic solutions by cutting EDGE Automation, Enterprise testing, ETL testing, Mobile automation & cloud based Testing, Agile Test management etc.

Proven ability to deliver innovative solutions, using the vast expertise in analytical and problem solving capabilities, to meet corporate goals and objectives.

Adept at managing large and diverse teams to deliver high levels of performance.

Connect with ravi kollipara @ http://in.linkedin.com/in/kollipararavi