Its been well over a year! I had to read the earlier posts myself to remember where i left off.. A lot has happened since of course, like it always does! A change of job as well as location. Time has the ability to make things happen, that you've never expected.
There are multiple reasons an employee chooses to leave a company. In the Indian scenario more often than not it is about the pay. On the other side, for people (like me) who care about the quality of work than the compensation, the reasons range from the boss, to the team, to the actual work, the morale, the product, the company philosophy, work culture and what not..
So this time the reasons have been most of these. Considering this is the first job switch I've done since I started working (after 5.5 years to be precise).
The product I was working on was bought out by another company which is based in another city that is not quite as, so to say, glamorous or conducive to making a home out of, as my place of residence at that time. So, initially when they offered a position at the new company, thought i loved the work and did and the project, i refused purely on these grounds. There was also a sense of losing security (i don't know which) by moving base to some other city altogether.
The project eventually moved out and i was transitioned to another project internally. However, I had this nagging feeling that something was not right. It could be the new product or the team or just the fact that i was not done with the earlier project. There was a lot that was still left to learn. The team dynamics were also conducive. I never really felt like a part of the new team, maybe somewhere cause i didn't take the efforts or maybe cause it just wasn't for me. So i contacted the managers from the older project- the onsite team remained the same. Regardless of which city or what other challenges i would possibly face, and against popular opinion of my close ones to not shift there, i went ahead. The desire to work for the project was way too strong. And so here i am, 8 months down the line and thriving!
The work is as expected but the team is a little more than expected- which is good. There are cultural differences obviously and some team dynamics issues- more about that in a later post, but it is great working here!
Somewhere i wonder if i was a coward to not try newer waters in a different project but then i did have a big change in life- i uprooted myself from a place i've lived all my life in to someplace else which isn't even supposed to be a great place to live in! I'm learning a lot now- at work and outside of it. I struggle at times but i find ways to overcome it. There is no one to molly coddle here, not that there was earlier, but now people have bigger expectation (Given that come with experience now- I'm still grappling with accepting that though, since i still consider myself as a little thing trying to learning as much as possible, haha!).
So the gist of the thing being- Change is important. It is scary to think of, but once you make the decision and take the plunge you will learn to swim! The trigger can be anything as said earlier, if something is nagging you while working- take a step back and introspect- look at it from the outside and then take measure.
When you do decide to embrace the change- Keep the focus on learning, put your head down and work- an advice i was given by my mentor 7 years back, when i was first contemplating a real life job- still holds true! :) Change always brings learning and learning is synonymous to growth.
So thats about the year that has been. More to come along, along the lines of analysis and team dynamics!
Monday, October 10, 2016
Thursday, May 21, 2015
Process, ownership, quality and some ranting
Disclaimer: This thought process and its appearance in words is the outcome a recent experience at the work place where most of the team is new (including me) and the product quite old. Being an analyst carries the risk of being an easy scapegoat like it happens in most of the projects :) And I'm glad that the learning doesn't stop and I've something positive to pick up through all of this! It prompted some introspection and I'm glad that my work ethics, attitude and way of working hasn't been hampered through or because of the few years of experience I carry. Yay more for me. Moving on.. Trying to keep the post small and ranting to the minimum. No offense is intended to any party alive or dead. The content of this post is intended for learning and sharing purposes only.
Process, ownership and quality
The three old timers which get thrown around all the time in all organisations which have some ambition for growth. Problem is just throwing around the words isn't enough. Acting on those is required. However, there is a hope that talking about it might prompt action sometime. But what do we do where teams or individuals are not even considering to think about these pillars of growth and performance? Where adherence to process lacks we can try to imbibe the importance and have some kind of appreciation for process compliance. It is also a scapegoat at times but more often than not it is a driver for quality. Where a process lacks it is easy to play the blame game.
There might've been some processes at some point of time however right now there doesn't seem to be a semblance of those. The concept of decision makers is played around with and is easily usable as a target of being the scapegoat and blame game. This then brings me to the concept of ownership. When working with a product, if targeting for a quality product, the spirit of ownership is utmost important. I would go so far as to say that its more important than any skills. Skills can be learnt. If needed i can learn coding. But if a developer with the most superior coding skills lacks the spirit of ownership it is highly possible that the quality wouldn't match up to the expectations. Soft skills are what make all the difference. People with the right attitude would know that its a team that wins. Never individuals. In order to overcome our own shortcomings and issues blaming someone else is not just unprofessional but it is childish. So is the lack of understanding that communication is important in any kind of set up to ensure a quality product is delivered. Its better to leave our personal issues (perhaps inferiority complexes or egos along with over-smartness) out and not let them hamper our communication and output at work when dealing with the team. Eventually no matter how many blame games people play the ultimate quality of the product and what the customers say is what matters. For me, personally, everything else is just barking dogs. If anything registers for me is the opportunity to improve and learn. Music to the ears is a satisfied customer with no complaints and if to achieve that constant rework is required owing to lack of processes then so be it! Of course developing and adhering to the processes is of importance as stated earlier. But in case of critical deliveries, it should be possible to adopt whatever means are available! If product quality and improvement along with learning and taking the team together with oneself are the priorities then there would definitely be a much better outcome than what we get after harboring negativism about our own team members and playing the blame game. If you are getting paid to work better get that done!
To wrap it up, aside from my minor rant, processes and ownership would drive quality much better than skills alone could. :) views are welcome.
An excerpt on the "onsite- offshore" work set up- challenges and solution to follow! :)
Process, ownership and quality
The three old timers which get thrown around all the time in all organisations which have some ambition for growth. Problem is just throwing around the words isn't enough. Acting on those is required. However, there is a hope that talking about it might prompt action sometime. But what do we do where teams or individuals are not even considering to think about these pillars of growth and performance? Where adherence to process lacks we can try to imbibe the importance and have some kind of appreciation for process compliance. It is also a scapegoat at times but more often than not it is a driver for quality. Where a process lacks it is easy to play the blame game.
There might've been some processes at some point of time however right now there doesn't seem to be a semblance of those. The concept of decision makers is played around with and is easily usable as a target of being the scapegoat and blame game. This then brings me to the concept of ownership. When working with a product, if targeting for a quality product, the spirit of ownership is utmost important. I would go so far as to say that its more important than any skills. Skills can be learnt. If needed i can learn coding. But if a developer with the most superior coding skills lacks the spirit of ownership it is highly possible that the quality wouldn't match up to the expectations. Soft skills are what make all the difference. People with the right attitude would know that its a team that wins. Never individuals. In order to overcome our own shortcomings and issues blaming someone else is not just unprofessional but it is childish. So is the lack of understanding that communication is important in any kind of set up to ensure a quality product is delivered. Its better to leave our personal issues (perhaps inferiority complexes or egos along with over-smartness) out and not let them hamper our communication and output at work when dealing with the team. Eventually no matter how many blame games people play the ultimate quality of the product and what the customers say is what matters. For me, personally, everything else is just barking dogs. If anything registers for me is the opportunity to improve and learn. Music to the ears is a satisfied customer with no complaints and if to achieve that constant rework is required owing to lack of processes then so be it! Of course developing and adhering to the processes is of importance as stated earlier. But in case of critical deliveries, it should be possible to adopt whatever means are available! If product quality and improvement along with learning and taking the team together with oneself are the priorities then there would definitely be a much better outcome than what we get after harboring negativism about our own team members and playing the blame game. If you are getting paid to work better get that done!
To wrap it up, aside from my minor rant, processes and ownership would drive quality much better than skills alone could. :) views are welcome.
An excerpt on the "onsite- offshore" work set up- challenges and solution to follow! :)
Friday, February 6, 2015
How do you make toast?
Ah well! Really? Toast? Well i thought so too, thought curiosity got the better of me and i watched it! Tom Wujec has got it plain and simple.. If you can communicate how you make toast with the least effort then you can solve the greatest of your problems. Coming to think of it Nodes and Connectors are actually the two main and basic aspects of any system. Be it a computer system or human, or any other! You have a node i.e. a noun in a sentence and then you connect it with another using all the other aspects. Connections can be relations and actions or just ways to indicated the next step. Basically its designing made simpler and plainer. It helps eliminate a lot of typical industry clutter and brings out the actual requirements and creative ideas. Sometimes when all else fails going back to basics is what is required cause that is what helps! :)
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Training learning
Been a long time since I rambled about here, having been caught up with a variety of things at work and otherwise coupled with a strange writer's block. So here's a bit about somethings that happened over the past few months.
I got an opportunity to conduct training for a group of customers on our product. Working on this consumer lending product-Summit since 2 and half years with this consumer lending product i've learnt that,like anything that wants to survive does, it keeps changing. Having said that and considering it has been a maintenance project since approximately 30 years now, there have been a great deal of changes customized for a number of customers and then the core release too!
As if that is not enough, there is a vast range of functional areas in Summit. You only just begin to understand what these are and go on to understand how any individual process works in business and in the system, when boom! the entire network of all the interlinked areas blasts in your face.. It is enough to gives nightmares to many-a experienced people.
So there was a lot of preparation involved since this was my first shot at customer training on customer premises, given i would not have any help available in case of a stuck-up. Right from preparing the presentations to mock sessions and the works.
At the end of it I was still a bit nervous and not entirely confident, which mostly happens because of the stage fear, even when there is all that knowledge. So i went on to the first day of training all prepared in the most corporate way possible and yet from inside i felt quite school-girlish (when i would stand before the class for a recitation perhaps?)
There were things that went well and that would've gone much better.. Here are some experiences and learning:
1) Preparation is the key: Areas where i had prepared thoroughly i felt much more confident even when i was asked questions that i didn't have answers to immediately.
Anticipating questions and planning for answering these also goes a long way specially if you are cause in a spot!
2) Planning perfection: There were times when i thought i was going to run out of training material or just finish much earlier than planned, which would be a bummer cause customers were paying for my time.
Thankfully relying on some common sense and thinking on my feet helped here to create some exercises on the spot and keeping them engaged.
3) Effective execution: Presentation skills, clear concise communication are very important. The confidence you exude, your poise, eye contact, everything about your appearance and the way you conduct yourself matters. This does not mean you've to be a beauty contest winner (thought it might help if the audience is full of trolls;)), however being presentable is utmost necessary. Being able to communicating exactly what you want will be clear if you have a feedback mechanism in place. Asking question, keeping a look out for specific reactions from the audience can get you the feedback. Also being able to tweak the method of communication also works wonders!
4) People skills: Do we need to play by the principle that customers are god? Well not quite, but also not by the thought that they are total idiots! Mostly the will tend to have done their homework. Even if in the instance where there are some questions asked which have seemingly obvious logical answers, you can't make them feel they have asked something stupid. Even in the case a question is being repeated, it can be answered in different ways. Patience is the key and making them feel comfortable with the idea of asking questions. But that does not mean you let them sit on your head! You have a presentation to complete after all! :)
Understanding every person in the target audience, and how you will handle them so that they are not let down and neither are you, is important for a successful well communicated presentation.
I think these are the most repeated set of instructions given to any person about to make a presentation/public speaking whatever you want to call it. But till the time we actually experience it in front of customers, where the entire image of your company is at stake, we don't quite understand its importance.. :)
Hoping there will be some more learning in the future! :)
I got an opportunity to conduct training for a group of customers on our product. Working on this consumer lending product-Summit since 2 and half years with this consumer lending product i've learnt that,like anything that wants to survive does, it keeps changing. Having said that and considering it has been a maintenance project since approximately 30 years now, there have been a great deal of changes customized for a number of customers and then the core release too!
As if that is not enough, there is a vast range of functional areas in Summit. You only just begin to understand what these are and go on to understand how any individual process works in business and in the system, when boom! the entire network of all the interlinked areas blasts in your face.. It is enough to gives nightmares to many-a experienced people.
So there was a lot of preparation involved since this was my first shot at customer training on customer premises, given i would not have any help available in case of a stuck-up. Right from preparing the presentations to mock sessions and the works.
At the end of it I was still a bit nervous and not entirely confident, which mostly happens because of the stage fear, even when there is all that knowledge. So i went on to the first day of training all prepared in the most corporate way possible and yet from inside i felt quite school-girlish (when i would stand before the class for a recitation perhaps?)
There were things that went well and that would've gone much better.. Here are some experiences and learning:
1) Preparation is the key: Areas where i had prepared thoroughly i felt much more confident even when i was asked questions that i didn't have answers to immediately.
Anticipating questions and planning for answering these also goes a long way specially if you are cause in a spot!
2) Planning perfection: There were times when i thought i was going to run out of training material or just finish much earlier than planned, which would be a bummer cause customers were paying for my time.
Thankfully relying on some common sense and thinking on my feet helped here to create some exercises on the spot and keeping them engaged.
3) Effective execution: Presentation skills, clear concise communication are very important. The confidence you exude, your poise, eye contact, everything about your appearance and the way you conduct yourself matters. This does not mean you've to be a beauty contest winner (thought it might help if the audience is full of trolls;)), however being presentable is utmost necessary. Being able to communicating exactly what you want will be clear if you have a feedback mechanism in place. Asking question, keeping a look out for specific reactions from the audience can get you the feedback. Also being able to tweak the method of communication also works wonders!
4) People skills: Do we need to play by the principle that customers are god? Well not quite, but also not by the thought that they are total idiots! Mostly the will tend to have done their homework. Even if in the instance where there are some questions asked which have seemingly obvious logical answers, you can't make them feel they have asked something stupid. Even in the case a question is being repeated, it can be answered in different ways. Patience is the key and making them feel comfortable with the idea of asking questions. But that does not mean you let them sit on your head! You have a presentation to complete after all! :)
Understanding every person in the target audience, and how you will handle them so that they are not let down and neither are you, is important for a successful well communicated presentation.
I think these are the most repeated set of instructions given to any person about to make a presentation/public speaking whatever you want to call it. But till the time we actually experience it in front of customers, where the entire image of your company is at stake, we don't quite understand its importance.. :)
Hoping there will be some more learning in the future! :)
Friday, June 1, 2012
Asking and doing
Typically in a product company, we tend to have a suite of products for any particular business line, which usually are termed as individual projects. At times these products are interdependent. (Now here, adding a personal flavor) We could assume a person working on a product is proud of or loves the product that he/she works on. However, at certain stages this person requires to take inputs from the other products. What could a person possibly do at such a juncture? Depending on this understanding of his own product as well as the other product there are a few options for him to choose from:
1) Sort the issue at hand himself
2) Ask for help from a person working on the other product
3) Ask for help from a person working on the same product
4) Find out information and sort the issue himself
What do we find majority of the people doing? Mostly the 2nd and 3rd options.
Agreed that doing this satisfies 2 of the most important aspects essential for the progress of the organisation i.e. saving time and increasing communication. However, if the person opts for the 4th option and gradually progresses towards the 1st then not only will he profit from it, but so will the organisation in terms of having more productive and multi-talented people working for it!
However, for a variety of reasons (unfathomable for me, yet) people shy away from profiting themselves and in turn the organisation.
Could it perhaps be because our definition of profit is linked only to the salary credited in the immediate month? Though business exists for this very reason, if we can move towards personal/intellectual growth money is going to pour in anyway!
And thinking about the no one is going to stop an employee from profiting as the sole goal of business itself is profit!
Perhaps its time to think if we really understand the roots of what we do and where we intend to go!
A bit of philosophy here, but what the heck! ;) we business analysts get some time on our hands to "think" some times ;)
1) Sort the issue at hand himself
2) Ask for help from a person working on the other product
3) Ask for help from a person working on the same product
4) Find out information and sort the issue himself
What do we find majority of the people doing? Mostly the 2nd and 3rd options.
Agreed that doing this satisfies 2 of the most important aspects essential for the progress of the organisation i.e. saving time and increasing communication. However, if the person opts for the 4th option and gradually progresses towards the 1st then not only will he profit from it, but so will the organisation in terms of having more productive and multi-talented people working for it!
However, for a variety of reasons (unfathomable for me, yet) people shy away from profiting themselves and in turn the organisation.
Could it perhaps be because our definition of profit is linked only to the salary credited in the immediate month? Though business exists for this very reason, if we can move towards personal/intellectual growth money is going to pour in anyway!
And thinking about the no one is going to stop an employee from profiting as the sole goal of business itself is profit!
Perhaps its time to think if we really understand the roots of what we do and where we intend to go!
A bit of philosophy here, but what the heck! ;) we business analysts get some time on our hands to "think" some times ;)
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Marketing in business analysis
Being a marketing major (ahem, implies an MBA from some random college) i cannot quite shake it off from the essence of my thinking.
Though business analysis might not seem even remotely connected to marketing in the beginning, I find it very well is (even if this is still a beginning for me).
Marketing, being a horizontal sort of trade is applicable everywhere. So how does it feature in the life of a business analyst?
To begin with lets try and list a few "Jargons" so to say:
1) Communication
2) Research
3) Horizontal
4) Networking
5) Market
6) Domain
7) Product
8) Service
9) Training
10) Estimation
11) Pricing
12) People
So far so good- That's all I could think of for the time being ;) well, in terms of broad themes.
Lets mull over them till the next post, and see which ones stand out as purely marketing ideologies and which are purely business analysis ones :)
Though business analysis might not seem even remotely connected to marketing in the beginning, I find it very well is (even if this is still a beginning for me).
Marketing, being a horizontal sort of trade is applicable everywhere. So how does it feature in the life of a business analyst?
To begin with lets try and list a few "Jargons" so to say:
1) Communication
2) Research
3) Horizontal
4) Networking
5) Market
6) Domain
7) Product
8) Service
9) Training
10) Estimation
11) Pricing
12) People
So far so good- That's all I could think of for the time being ;) well, in terms of broad themes.
Lets mull over them till the next post, and see which ones stand out as purely marketing ideologies and which are purely business analysis ones :)
Monday, April 23, 2012
The hang out..
A beginner's blog to business analysis. Here you will find efficient tried and tested (and passed) techniques of business analysis. Blah blah and some more blah! Well duh, that's what all the blogs do right!
Here, however, as the name suggests the way of doing it might be a wee bit different.. We might even NOT be doing the usual self-help, ready made solutions (which hardly are applicable practically), or anything of that sort.
Here we will just discuss, or hope to discuss experiences. Hanging out with buddies having similar or not quite similar thoughts/perspectives, and sharing random experiences- not too random or maybe very random ;)
The analyst's hangout is an attempt to learn, explore and share all of it and then learn some more.... So here's to an "analytic" journey which will hopefully lead to some learning and fun, fun learning, funny learning.. However you like it ;)
Here, however, as the name suggests the way of doing it might be a wee bit different.. We might even NOT be doing the usual self-help, ready made solutions (which hardly are applicable practically), or anything of that sort.
Here we will just discuss, or hope to discuss experiences. Hanging out with buddies having similar or not quite similar thoughts/perspectives, and sharing random experiences- not too random or maybe very random ;)
The analyst's hangout is an attempt to learn, explore and share all of it and then learn some more.... So here's to an "analytic" journey which will hopefully lead to some learning and fun, fun learning, funny learning.. However you like it ;)