Most organisations have websites and some have an e-commerce presence where they sell their products online. In addition, there are many consulting agencies providing these type of web services to customers. Regardless whether you are doing projects in the e-commerce space for your own organisation or for customers, you need to have a solid understanding of Online Marketing terms to be of better service to your customers.
Below you will find an Infographic explaining the common Online Marketing concepts, an excellent resource for future reference.
With compliments from Wrike, a project management and time tracking software.
Project management is changing every year as new approaches stem from the new ideas and technologies. Staying on top of your game is becoming harder for Project Professionals without keeping up to speed with the latest technological developments.
Many companies are looking for new ways to improve their development cycles. The technology trends of 2019 can help you make the right decisions about investments, team building, and reorganization. Here’s a collection of viral trends that may make a difference for your business strategy this year.
#1 Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning
This trend has been on the lists for the past several years, and is still here in 2019. The potential of these new technologies is so huge, each industry is discovering its abilities in regards to project management solutions.
AI can help your project management capabilities by making predictions about the tasks completed within certain periods of time, the resources used to get the projects done, and automation of numerous tasks thus optimizing the process, and much more.
In fact, all of the above is just the beginning. As AI and Machine Learning are taking over the tasks we used to designate dozens of people for, project financing is possibly having a bright future.
#2 In the Clouds
Internal or on-site servers are becoming outdated at the speed of light. Cloud is the trend, and it’s not going anywhere. More and more companies are switching to using project management systems in the cloud. In 2019, anyone who hasn’t done that is likely to feel the pressure and experience profit reduction.
The only industries which may avoid cloud project management solutions, may be those with extreme secrecy factors. Most companies will soon realize how much faster and cheaper the cloud-based systems are for their needs. And SaaS companies will need to focus on more targeted SEO solutions.
When it comes to cross-company interactions, a cloud is a must-have. The work can be done without providing another company access to the internal solutions. In 2018, the number of cloud project management systems has already exceeded the local systems’ demand. In 2019, the difference will become more obvious.
#3 Advanced Data Analytics and Presentation
In 2019, data analytics requires an upgraded approach with project professional being on the lookout for tools, which can help them analyze data and present it in the right manner to executive management.
While such project management software as Trello and Asana are helping managers present the data and organize the work process, they don’t connect the presentation layer to the real data. In 2019, we can expect a rise of data-rich presentation layers since the need for data and its analytics is growing within the project management context.
#4 Better Information Gathering
Information gathering tools are expected to be top of the list of technologies employed by project professionals. The specific type of accurate market research acquired in a short timeframe can put the company ahead of the competition (with the right analytics, of course).
Cloud-based software which tracks the team progress and allows interactions isn’t enough anymore. In 2019, we’ll be looking at technology constantly updating and adapting itself to the market’s changes. Data is always changing. It’s important to track the changes and avoid outdated and ineffective information.
#5 More Workflow Automation Tools
With AI and Machine Learning helping the teams optimize the workflow, the desire for automation processes is on the rise. Workflow automation tools are expected to be in high demand in 2019. Freeing team members from the routine tasks is vital for project management needs since it’s becoming harder to find the right staff.
The demand for project managers will likely exceed the “supply”, thus making automation tools a necessary solution. Older and experienced project managers are retiring while new employees are lacking experience. When looking for workflow automation software, it’s highly important to check if it’s adaptable to market changes.
#6 Going Virtual
With the rise in cloud systems, virtual collaboration is slowly becoming more predominant than physical communication. Online team software systems are expected to suit the requirements of the virtual team and work processes. With that the need for physical offices will decline.
The software designed for connecting team members from all over the world is in high demand. Skype for video conferencing is likely to stay in the past. Many enterprises will be investing in customized teamwork software to simplify the collaboration while cutting many unnecessary costs, such as office rent.
#7 Mixing Agile and Traditional Project Management
Cloud-based project management is becoming easier to access. Many businesses are adopting an Agile development framework. Research has shown that the Agile method improves employee communication, allowing the teams to inspect and adapt to changes faster and easier. Agile has a high ROI for small and medium-sized teams.
In 2019, enterprises are likely to adopt Agile faster than small businesses. With the appearance of workflow automation software, Agile is becoming more useful for teams of different sizes.
Modern technologies will help companies adopt hybrid PM methods (mixing Agile and Traditional approaches) to complete projects depending on the context.
Final Thoughts
Some of the most common reasons why many projects fail, are poor time management, lack of resources, the project complexity, and absence of specialists. The new technologies are helping project managers solve the majority of the above-mentioned problems.
If you manage to stay ahead of the trends and improve your project management skills while keeping the ever-changing industry demands in mind, you are likely to succeed in 2019.
If you’re still deciding on the best project management software to use, visit this All Project Management Reviews site.
About the Author:
Josh Harisson has 10 years of experience in IT industry as a web developer and cloud computing expert researching extensively for techendo.com. He frequently writes about IT and branding efforts. In his free time, you will often find him taking a walk, or playing video games.
This article explores two major trends that we observe and attempts to understand what impact these trends will have on the skills of project management practitioners in order to position ourselves better for the future.
“We are looking at a future in project management where the definition of success is determined by the creation of business value. There will be continuous scope changes and customer involvement will be mandatory.” says Dr Harold Kerzner, Executive Director for Project Management for the International Institute for Learning. “Project staffing is now all about capacity planning and resource management. The metrics of the future will have to track tangible as well as intangible elements.”
Future of Project Management
According to Dr Harold Kerzner, business metrics will include:
Business profitability
Portfolio health
Portfolio benefits realization
Portfolio value achieved
Portfolio selection and mix
Resource availability
Capacity utilization
Strategic alignment
Business performance
Major Trends
Let’s look at the major trends impacting businesses today and what it means to the future of jobs.
Trend 1: Customer Experience
By 2020 customer experience will become the key brand differentiator above price and products and customers are willing to pay more for a better customer experience.
Trend 2: Digitization
Digitisation
Digitization refers to things like Automation and Artificial Intelligence, the capability to move work offshore and the demands of the customer changing in frequency and complexity.
The impact of digitization to our workforce will mean huge reduction in jobs and big changes in skillsets. More than half of school children in primary school today will work in jobs that don’t exist yet.
The World Economic Forum is forecasting that 75% of businesses will become fully digital by 2020. According to McKinsey, organisations are responding by retraining, hiring and doing a mix between the two.
Impact on the Future of Jobs
The Future of Jobs Report by the World Economic Forum states that the industries which can expect the biggest disruptions, include:
Financial Services and Investors
Infrastructure
Mobility
Information & Communication Technology
Professional Services
Energy
Consumer
Health
Media, Entertainment and Information
The skills that are in decline can be summarized as:
Project Management administrative and tactical skills
Data collection and data analysis
Predictable work and repetitive tasks
By 2020 skills will need to transition to:
Complex problem solving
Critical thinking
Creativity
People management
Coordinating with others
Emotional Intelligence
Judgement and decision making
Service orientation
Negotiation
Cognitive flexibility
Future Project Management Skills
For the past few years the Project Management Institute’s (PMI) emphasis on skills has changed to include a combination of technical, leadership, and strategic and business management expertise. The definition of each skill can be explained as follow.
Technical project management: Knowledge, skills and behaviors related to specific domains of Project, Program and Portfolio Management.
Leadership: Knowledge, skills and behaviors specific to leadership-oriented, cross-cutting skills that help an organization achieve its business goals.
Strategic and business management: Knowledge of and expertise in the industry or organization that enhances performance and better delivers business outcomes.
The Strategic Execution Framework
Stanford University has developed a White Paper called The Strategic Execution Framework to help companies stay on track, aligning projects with key initiatives to achieve desired outcomes. It is based on the concept that the building blocks for strategic execution are projects, put in place alongside regular operations to achieve specific goals.
The framework consists of six domains easily remembered by the mnemonic: INVEST
The domains include:
Ideationis your company’s understanding of what it is and how it appears in the world, expressed through its purpose, identi ty and long-range intention.
Nature creates the conditions for strategic execution. It embodies the culture and structure within which, you operate.
Visionincludes the goals, metrics and strategy that form the foundation for your business.
Engagement connects the enterprise strategy to IT project portfolio investments and clearly demonstrates that your company is funding the right IT projects to further its strategy.
Synthesisis where engagement meets execution, ensuring you’re successfully executing IT projects and programs in alignment with the IT portfolio as well as the enterprise’s overarching strategies.
Transitionis the ultimate measure of success, where you move the results of IT project-based work into the mainstream of operations.
Each of the domains presents opportunities for improvement. The framework helps you identify disconnects and barriers to successful strategic execution and it provides a common language and way of understanding how businesses successfully execute, innovate, change, and grow. You can assess your organization within this context and make necessary adjustments to create a foundation for balanced strategic execution.
Skills Gap in the Digital Era
A Price Waterhouse Coopers Report, based on a survey among 1300 CEO’s, indicated problem solving as the most sought after skill, then leadership, adaptability, creativity and innovation, STEM skills, risk management and digital skills.
Considering the survey results, the skills that Project Professionals seemingly need to develop the most are:
business acumen
leadership skills
versatility
technology skills
executive communications
application of emotional intelligence attributes.
Continuous Learning
Considering how much growth and development is required to close the skills gaps, there are many ways to learn. You can learn by doing (on the job, stretch assignments), learn from others (mentors, shadowing) and finally formal learning, like a degree.
Also refer to this excellent research article by Louise Worsley called: Be a Project Management Professional Learner, providing a break-down of The Future Work Skills 2020 Report.
PM Skills Development Action Plan
Here are some recommendations for you in 2019 to position yourself as a Project Professional in 2020 and beyond.
Develop an action plan
Keep reading to stay on top of industry trends
Grow others around you
Take every opportunity to demonstrate leadership
Be aware of culture as an enabler for project success
The future skillset needs for Project and Program Management by John Daly, a PMI Organisational Agility Conference 2018 presentation
Future of Project Management by Harold Kerzner
The Future of Jobs Report by the World Economic Forum, Forrester, Gartner, Accenture, Hay Group, 2020 Workforce
Customers 2020: A Progress Report by Walker Customer Experience Consulting, 2017
White Paper: The Strategic Execution Framework by Stanford University, developed by IPS Learning, LLC and Raymond Levitt and used in the Stanford Advanced Project Management Program.
Every project manager knows that clarity is paramount for project management. The more the team understands their roles, tasks, and the project as a whole, the higher the chances of success. But many project management tools available are either based off Gantt charts, or Kanban boards – and neither of those are an all-in-one package. Gantt charts sacrifice clarity, and agility. Kanban boards sacrifice timeline planning and project visualization. Proggio is the first tool that gives you something better – the Projectmap.
The Projectmap is exactly that – a map of your project, that can be understood at a glance by anybody. Instant clarity – show someone a Projectmap, and immediately they know exactly what the project is about, who’s doing what, when, and even how.
Visual Project Management Software
Proggio project management softwarewas founded in 2016 and built around the success principles of leadership, team dynamics, communication, collaboration and momentum.
Proggio boasts customers like Sodastream, McKinsey, Decathlon, and Verifone and its online project management software is a favourite for teams of all sizes, and sectors – from non-profits like World Anti Doping Agency to biotech leaders like MySugr to industry titans like SK Telecom, everyone loves Proggio due to the clarity it provides.
The Team as the Focal Point of the Project
Proggio makes a small change in its approach to project management, with a world of a difference. Project management tools are task-based. Your typical Gantt chart lists tasks along the left hand side of the chart. Kanban card sorting systems are built by task. Proggio puts the team heart and center in your project planning and management – in today’s business environment, it isn’t just about what there is to do, it is increasingly important to know who is doing it.
With “flow to work,” SAFe, and agile teams, being able to plan around the team, rather than the tasks, is a tremendous asset. A timeline of tasks is inefficient – but a timeline OF tasks can be a revolution!
Real Time Project Management Tool
Proggio is designed with the project team in mind. A fully featured, cloud-based, online project management tool, Proggio can be used by your team whether they are in the same room or on 7 different continents. All work is seen in real time, shared in real time, and updated in real time. When Kevin finishes the webinar? You’ll see it updated on your Projectmap. When Gina marks her task as “done”, you’ll see that on the Projectmap, too.
Every team member, and every view in Proggio, is actually the same data set – each person on the project is actually interacting with the project, itself. Always.
Features and Ease of Use
The interface is clean, modern, and straightforward – the buttons are where you intuitively expect them to be. Within days, you can be using Proggio as if you’ve used it for years.
Proggio comes with some exceptional features that makes it special!
Plan vs Actual:Every project has delays, or schedule changes. How do you track them? With a Gantt chart, tracking even a few changes becomes a Herculean task. With Proggio, it literally takes just a few clicks.
All you need to do is set a reference point, and whenever you want to track changes, a click of the mouse will bring up your reference point saved in the Projectmap to compare to the current plan. You can set multiple reference points! Tracking your plan vs. actual project has never been simpler.
Print Project Plan: Ever try printing a Gantt chart? It will take reams of paper, or you’ll have to shrink it to a size where it’s illegible. Thanks to the Projectmap, you can easily generate screenshots of your project plan that you can share with anybody. There’s a handy “screenshot” button at the bottom of your Projectmap interface, and you can use it anytime.
JIRA Integration:Proggio boasts a full integration with JIRA, which when used properly will end the software development silo and increase visibility across the organization. JIRA Project management doesn’t have to be a contradiction!
The JIRA Listener tool lets you pull data from JIRA into activity boxes on the Projectmap – you can track progress in JIRA without ever entering the platform! If you’re using Proggio for enterprise-wide planning and collaboration, you no longer need to silo software development teams and run after them for progress reports.
Finally a Task Management Tool Serving the Team
We all know the hidden inefficiency in project management tools: the data within is only as good as the data your team puts in. And guess what? Most of the time, your team hates your project management tool and don’t want to spend additional time on it.
Think about the features you love in your project management software: budget tracking? Your team doesn’t care about that. Gantt chart? Your team doesn’t look at those, and doesn’t understand them to begin with. Resource loading? Is that a tool for the team, or for you?
Your team spends their day looking at the task management interface of the program, and that is the reason they hate most project management tools. They’re being asked to use a tool that was not designed with them in mind, and offers them nothing in their work.
Proggio, however, was designed with the team in mind. The task management tools are built to make the team’s life easier, starting with multiple task management views customizable by each team member. The Projectmap is designed to impart clarity to the entire project team. The collaboration tools are built to give the project momentum towards successful delivery. Proggio is all about the team – and the team can tell.
Subscription and Pricing
Proggio offers three subscription plans:
Starter:Perfect for small teams, the starter package is only $8 per user per month when billed annually. This package allows 3 ongoing projects and comes with 200MB of storage. There is a minimum of 3 users for this account.
Business:The business plan is only $15 per user per month when billed annually, and allows for 25 ongoing projects, 5 viewers, and 5GB of storage. There is a minimum of 3 users for this account.
Enterprise:The Enterprise plan is unlimited – unlimited projects, unlimited storage, and unlimited viewers. Pricing is available upon request.
The purpose of this article is to help Project Professionals better understand the meaning of Cognitive Computing and how it’s disrupting business today.
CC describes technology platforms that, broadly speaking, are based on the scientific disciplines of artificial intelligence and signal processing. These platforms encompass machine learning , reasoning , natural language processing , speech recognition and vision (object recognition), human–computer interaction , dialog and narrative generation, among others
Wikipedia definition of Cognitive Computing (CC)
Cognitive computing makes it possible to process data much faster than humans according to research done by Ohio University. If you allow cognitive computing to transform your business, there are certain principles to adhere to, factors to consider for adoption and ways to integrate it into business.
Principles
Humans and computers are now interacting. In business, robots could help professionals as follows:
identify and avoid bias,
make well-informed decisions,
increase the speed and consistency of decision-making.
According to IBM, Artificial Intelligence (AI) should serve a distinct purpose. This purpose, whether it’s used in systems, products, or services, must always be under human control as AI exists to assist humans, not replace them.
A layer of transparency is required. For AI to work, business leaders need to trust the results. This means there must always be clear answers to AI usage, the data the AI handles, and AI is protecting the data and its insights.
Worker skills need to be enhanced. AI doesn’t work without humans, so business leaders need to support them by ensuring workers have proper training to work with AI in a safe, secure, and efficient manner.
Businesses using cognitive computing will likely have to create or be subject to various policies. This can be viewed as an extension of policies around data and privacy, which are continually evolving. In this case, proactively preparing policies could help combat fear, uncertainty, and doubt.
Adoption
IBM offers some ideas for adopting Cognitive Computing.
Develop a cognitive strategy to determine where AI should fit among products, services, processes, and operations.
Construct a foundation of useable and reliable data and analysis.
Another key strategical component is the use and proper configuration of cloud services.
Businesses must fine-tune their IT systems for cognitive workloads.
Finally, business must make sure the cognitive computing system is secure.
Steps to Integration
An integration approach needs to consider a few things.
Businesses must firstly determine what opportunities exist to create more engaging and personalized customer experiences.
They must also pinpoint specific data that can help them meet objectives but isn’t being leveraged.
Then calculate the cost of their organization relating to non-evidence-based decisions.
They also need to determine the benefits gained by detecting hidden data patterns.
Finally, they need to figure out their organizational expertise skill gap.
Below you will find an Infographic that provides a good summary of Cognitive Computing.
When you think of best practice, it can be defined as the most efficient (least amount of effort) and effective (best results) way of accomplishing a task, based on repeatable procedures that have proven themselves over time for large numbers of people. Wikipedia defines best practice as a technique, method, process, activity, incentive, or reward that is believed to be more effective at delivering a particular outcome than any other technique, method, process, etc. when applied to a particular condition or circumstance.
Naturally, in the domain of Project Managementmany standard practices have evolved into best practices over time. It is after all about developing and following a standard way of doing things!
In the Infographic below, you will find a reminder of 10 PM best practices that will help you be more successful on all your projects in a consistent and predictable way, with compliments from Wrike project management softwares.
There are many examples of failed projects all over the world. Like the St. Helena airport, built on a island in the vast open Atlantic Ocean, known for it’s volcanic mountain rising 2600 feet above the sea. The reason for the airport’s opening being postponed indefinitely: “too windy for planes to land” (Source: International Project Leadership Academy). They failed to address the risks or to listen to the advice of experts.
Another project disaster and one of the most expensive scandals in modern history in September 2015, the admission that Volkswagen cheated government emission testing. The engineers intentionally designed and installed a so called “defeat device” into the engine’s control computer. The defeat device was programmed to detect when the car was undergoing emissions testing in order to adhere to the testing limits for clean-air standards. The technology needed to comply with the government regulations was available, but was decided against due to high costs and to protect profit margins.
On a smaller scale project disasters happen quite often, even on IT projects, for example when a record number of high defects are logged during a testing phase leading to re-design and expensive re-development work to the point where committed deadlines are missed or almost missed.
In following good Project Risk Management practice, you will always plan risk management upfront, identify all the risks, perform proper risk analysis (qualitative, quantitative), plan risk responses including assigning risks to owners and then control the risks rigorously throughout the project.
Below you will find a good approach for handling crisis on projects in the Infographic brought to you by Wrike free task management tools.
Let us know in the comments what project management crisis you have come across and how it was handled.
This is the story of a project manager, Heinrich Kruger who worked on a complex set of projects in a business startup environment in the short-term insurance industry, within a large corporate.
The projects consisted of a mix of IT and operational initiatives in a business environment typical to that of start-ups i.e. lots of ambiguity and very little structure. Within the business there was no context of any formal project methodology and the stakeholders had to be nurtured with regards to good project governance in order to become more self-sustained over time.
Dedicated Team
It worked well to have a dedicated core project team consisting of a Project Manager, a Change Manager and a Business Change Manager. They had shared values and the same vision and understanding of the business need. The business could not be expected to adopt good, but unfamiliar project practices overnight. They needed constant support through-out, as well as after the project went live.
It was required for this team to take ownership and responsibility. In a start-up environment, the business is often immature as far as projects are concerned. People often don’t know what is expected of them and don’t know anything about following a project based, structured approach to get things done. You will rather find a lot of “survival” behaviour and “just getting things done”.
The project leaders had to educate the business gradually whilst at the same time being part of that start-up process and culture – this take time. It would be different working with with a group of people who were used to starting new businesses and in the process, have established specific ways to work, especially in that kind of environment. Instead the team found that they had to take ownership of processes, tasks and structures that would normally no be expected from a project team.
Immature Project Environment
Trying to establish new ways of work in a business environment that was largely immature in terms of project implementations. The project team had to do more support (spoon feeding so to speak) and some-times taking on responsibilities that would normally be expected from the business.
External dependencies
There were dependencies on other external projects which impacted the planned timelines of some of the projects. The business had to compete with other corporate business units and their respective projects with its demand on shared services suppliers and as such did not always get the audience needed to reach project and strategic goals according to desired timelines. A separate Project Board with the corporate executive was setup in order to create the necessary visibility of the business’ needs. Furthermore, external project environments also had no reference point for understanding the unique culture and the speed with which new initiatives had to be implemented in this environment.
Failure to reach project goals would ultimately mean a failed business case with the potential to impact roughly 200 employees. It would put the business in a position to seriously revisit and reconsider its strategic goals and approach.
Separate Project Board
Where insurmountable challenges were encountered, the businesses pivoted around its strengths and pushed forward with workarounds, even when it meant loss of efficiency for a time. This meant bypassing systems that weren’t ready and setup of an executive Project Board who would help to prioritise the business’s requirements in the greater corporate environment.
It also meant building an alliance with other business units who had a special interest in seeing the business’ initiatives succeed. Lastly, to gain greater awareness in the corporate environment and motivate prioritization of its own needs, the business promoted its initiatives in such a way that the implementation thereof would hold value for other business units, not necessarily being direct stakeholders, also. It achieved this by positioning itself as an incubation hub to the rest of the organization – this proved quite successful.
Lessons Learned
If an environment is different from what you as a PM is used to, learn to take ownership and responsibility and don’t be disappointed when you have to do more than your job description.
Innovate and try to find workarounds. It won’t help to wait for dependencies and challenges to go away. This means actively monitoring and managing all risks on the project.
Although the business is in startup mode, it will gradually mature into a project based organization provided the PM and his core team gently but assertively pushes the business into a more planned, structured approach to new project implementations.
Key Takeaway
Success Stories Shared
In future projects, the PM will follow a more determined approach to the planning phase. He will ensure to introduce more structure upfront and move out of “survival mode” sooner, and work according to more realistic, planned (with all required stakeholders) outcomes and timelines.
Heinrich Kruger has been working in project based environments throughout his career with experience primarily in the Fintech industry but also Internet business like MWEB. Apart from project management, he has also worked as programmer, business analyst and business architect.
Although this Infographic, developed by School of Education, American University, has facts that are US based, it is quite applicable to any developed and in some cases developing, countries.
When technology meets education there are 5 emerging trends. They are:
#1 Learning Management Systems (LMS) which is often used by training institutions and even Corporates, for distance learning.
#2 Gamification where algorithms are deployed to build educational games.
#3 Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) where tech-driven information is overlaid onto an existing environment.
#4 Coding and robotics which have been introduced at schools at a rapid pace
#5 The development of the smart classroom where technology is used to create a personalised learning experience for students
It’s about drawing a different frame around a set of circumstances that seem to block us in our daily lives, and seeing new pathways come into view. It’s about finding the right framework so that extraordinary accomplishment becomes an everyday experience. Ultimately, it describes a new practice for bringing possibility to life in an intellectual, but entertaining way.
My favourite parts of the book were the interesting stories about music and orchestras from the conductor who is also the writer, which beautifully illustrate his points. For the purpose of this article I want to share a poem and a story, but I would recommend reading the book as well.
A poem
The words of Marianne Williamson:
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate,
Our deepest feat is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous –
actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people
won’t feel insecure around you.
We were born to make manifest the glory of God within us.
It is not just in some of us: it is in everyone
And as we let our own light shine,
we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.”
Frameworks for creating possibility are illustrated throughout the book by means of stories. I particularly liked this story about Truth and Reconciliation because it took place in my country, South Africa.
Under the leadership of the Nelson Mandela government, The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was formed as a framework for the possibility of the integration of all aspects of society, with Archbishop Desmond Tutu as its chairman. The TRC offered amnesty to individuals who were prepared to tell the whole truth publicly and could prove that their violent deeds had been politically motivated.
The vision of the TRC: “a need for understanding, but not for vengeance, a need for reparation but not for retaliation, a need for Ubuntu (brotherhood) but not for victimization.” The Truth Commission served as a framework for possibility because the more truth was revealed, the more connection and deeper understanding emerged. It became a framework for the possibility of social transformation.
Mandela believed that the TRC helped to move away from the past to concentrate on the present and the future. It left the society free to take the next step.
New Paradigm
After reading the book, I found myself looking at work problems differently, especially with project challenges and teams having difficulty to always cooperate smoothly. The frameworks in the book provide various lenses through which to look for alternative solutions to problems. Of course this can be applied to personal problems as well. I would encourage you to read it and find out for yourself.
It is estimated that by 2020, we will be creating 1.7 megabytes of information for every single person on the planet–every second of every day. It’s hard to wrap your mind around numbers this big, but the data influx continues to grow. Fortunately, we now have the tools to actually use a lot of this big data. Companies of all sizes are now collecting and analyzing these large datasets to find insights that help to improve everything from decision-making to streamlining organizational processes.
Although we typically think of big data as a purely logical aspect of business operations, proper analysis isn’t just about the algorithms and asking the right questions. It also requires knowledge of psychology and emotions. Why? Because the customer behavior big data collects is a direct reflection of what humans do. A data scientist may not be able to make sense of these patterns and pull out relevant insights—but a psychologist will.
Past behavior typically gives psychologists a good idea of what future behavior will look like. Customers with certain behaviors are more likely to exhibit seemingly unrelated behavior. For instance, you wouldn’t think that a credit score might affect someone’s likelihood of getting into a car accident, but these are just the kinds of links that psychologists can pull out of large datasets during analysis. Psychologists have made some other surprising discoveries based on big data as well. For example, Google’s Project Oxygen discovered that technical ability was actually the least important skill for effective managers—counterintuitive at a tech company.
It’s early days for psychologists on the analytics team. Many small and medium-sized businesses simply don’t have the budget to hire someone else to look over their data—data scientists are in demand and command high salaries. However, large Fortune 500 companies are beginning to see the value in having someone with a background in human behavior. Big data has enormous potential for return on investment, however. The healthcare industry could save up to $300 billion a year, and retailers could increase operating margins by up to 60%. With that kind of potential, it’s no wonder that large companies are starting to put more resources into their big data departments and hiring psychologists.
“My best successes came on the heels of failures.” -Barbara Corcoran
I like this quote from Barbara Corcoran, Founder of The Corcoran Group, New York’s largest real estate company. Barbara is an expert in the art of leading a team to success and in how to build a successful business. It’s a big statement admitting to failure as well as success.
In the Project Management industry many women have the opportunity to take the lead on projects and in most instances they excel in this role. They care about their team members and derive satisfaction from leading a team to successful delivery.
But how do women become successful as leaders? If you look around, you will find women who are successful leaders in every industry, from government to business, entertainment, and sports. Fortunately, there are leadership skills commonly found among women in leadership positions, and they can be developed.
According to Susan C. Foster, an Executive Coach and author of ‘It’s Not Rocket Science: Leading, Inspiring, and Motivating Your Team to be Their Best’ there are 7 leadership skills that stand out.
#1 Effective Communications
The ability to communicate effectively is arguably the most important skill for a successful leader and it’s not limited to speaking, but also include listening, writing and being able to read and use nonverbal language.
Many women are naturally good communicators, making polishing this skill easier as long as it’s done deliberately.
#2 Strategic Vision
Successful women leaders are able to influence other leaders and effect organizational change.
Women need to trust their own voices and learn to ‘Lean in’ more by sitting at boardroom tables with decision makers and executives, as per Sheryl Sandberg’s book by the same name. They can excel at uniting teams behind a common vision.
#3 Creativity and Innovation
Today’s business environment is all about uncertainty and competition. Successful women leaders bring creativity and innovation to the challenges by bringing diversity, different working styles, and viewpoints to their teams.
#4 Emotional Intelligence
Emotional intelligence is the ability to understand and manage our own emotions, and those of the people around us. Some key elements are self-awareness, motivation, empathy and social skills.
Although many emotional intelligent skills are part of how women are made up especially when also being mothers, these skills need to be consciously developed and practiced.
#5 Critical Thinking and Problem solving
Critical thinking to solve problems means asking vital questions around a problem, gathering and assessing relevant information, and coming to a well-reasoned conclusion. Successful women leaders think open-mindedly about their assumptions and possible consequences.
Women who are always running around wearing many different hats, have to make time for thinking and for being reflective so that better solutions to problems can be found.
#6 Confidence
Leadership is about having the confidence to make decisions based on a reasonable amount of data and then doing what you think is right.
While women may not necessarily be brought up to be overly confident, this is critical if you want to succeed in leadership positions – you need to have faith in your own ability to make good decisions.
#7 Trustworthiness
Successful women leaders are trustworthy, first and foremost. When you establish a climate of trust, your team commits to goals, communications improve, and ideas flow more freely.
Building good relationships cannot be overestimated, as the trust fostered in such relationships is what allows teams to excel and work better together.
Resources for women in the business world– The information from Zen Business.com goes in-depth on females who have changed the entrepreneur world, how to go about starting a business, writing business plans, Business finances and many other resources.
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I like this quote from Barbara Corcoran, Founder of The Corcoran Group, New York’s largest real estate company. Barbara is an expert in the art of leading a team to success and in how to build a successful business. It’s a big statement admitting to failure as well as success.