Do you switch off your work persona when you get home?
It’s a bit hard sometimes.
Those of us with more ‘assertive-type’ roles will find it difficult, as we probably think about work during our “off” hours too.
Regardless, #LinkedIn network, its a Sunday, and I hope that the 🌞 is out where you are.
Take off the work hat
Slap on the sun screen
Drug up on anti-histamines
Enjoy some family or some ‘me’ time.
That’s what I’m going to try to do.
*ah choo!*
If the pollen doesn’t get me first! 🤧
Happy Sunday everyone!
Where does my offering sit in the Elements of Value?
Aligned to Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs, I mapped my Delivery Masterclass for Salesforce Partners (DMSP) and identified the elements that is the most important to my target customers – the #SalesforcePartners in the ecosystem.
1. Connects the new hires with others who are on the same journey.
2. Quality – DMSP teaches that quality needs to be rooted in the standards of delivery, both on a personal and professional level.
3. Having high quality consultants who can elicit clear requirements, will reduce the risk of project taking a legal turn if things go wrong.
4. Well trained consultants will do things right the first time, reducing cost of re-work and write-offs due to mistakes
5. Well trained consultants can be billable much quicker, impacting directly to the revenue
6. Well trained consultants will save time as their experienced mentors and guides will not have to begin from scratch
7. Resourcing new talent into new projects will become effortless as they will quickly be able to hit the ground running.
8. (This is important!) The new consultants will feel confident when taking on projects, as they will be equipped with knowledge to handle complex situations
9. When everyone in the company gets into the groove – consulting life can be incredibly fun
10. Motivation will not become a problem when all the elements are aligned
11. Finally, loyalty, the feeling of belonging to the company will ensure that the team can only grow from strength to strength.
Once the functional needs are met (green circles), the emotional and life changing elements will come.
That is my goal for the DMSP.
Lesson 12: Marketing Seminar.
This is my learning journey, and I am accountable for the results.
If you’re a #SalesforcePartner in my network, I would love some feedback, and would like to know if having an external company level up your consulting team would hit the points below.
I am offering a tray of 🍩 for genuine feedback and comments 😁
Hayfever is killing me but nothing is going to dampen my glorious weekend!
I’ve just finished the last day of my delivery Masterclass course yesterday, and everyone who had attended on the #payitforward ticket due to being unemployed… is now employed!!
Whoooop Whooooop!!
What an AMAZING feeling!
What’s really lovely is that we had a great mix of cohort – the new hires (and not-so-new) from #Salesforce Partners, and the #payitforward group who were very new to the ecosystem.
I’ve been blown away by how much support the group has given each other, in terms of doing the assignments, the practical skills and role plays, and just general help.
That’s the way things should be.
How do you turn a group of people into a team?
You create an environment that is
– supportive
– friendly
– respectful
– kind, and
– safe
All my training cohort have been great, and I know some who have continued to stay in touch long after the course has finished.
The sun is out, and so are the flowers and bees (and pollen!) But my heart is singing and I cannot stop smiling.
My eyes and nose are streaming, and I sneeze non-stop, but I’m having a fantastic weekend and now you know why!
Here’s wishing that you have a fantastic weekend too!
😎🌞🌈
In Consulting, there is an expectation of competency.
The job is fast paced, and everyone’s expected to pull their sleeves up and get their job done.
Sometimes though, we get someone green – but that’s ok.
As long as we know that, and we can provide them support so that they can learn and progress – it’s ok.
What’s *not* ok, is when #Salesforce Partners, through lack of long term planning, hire inexperienced people and expect them to be at a certain level.
I had this young man come on my Delivery Masterclass, who had just got her admin cert with zero experience land a job with a Partner.
Only to be billed out as a Senior Consultant.
And expected not to let on that fact to the client.
He was so stressed.
That’s so wrong on so many levels.
If you want your team to grow and bond, and become a high performing consulting powerhouse – you need to get the basics right.
Support, develop and mentor.
Provide safe environment and create a culture of trust.
I talk to Julie Palmer on my podcast, dropping on Monday 14/6 – and I hope you’ll listen in. As a fellow Project Manager, we face the same issues, and it was such an enjoyable conversation.
It’s late at night when I think of our callers, even when I’m not on duty.
The #Samaritans hours of need are between 10pm to 6am GMT.
That is when the phone lines are busiest, as our callers try to reach a listening volunteer.
There are many reasons why this is the case, and I end up doing a lot of my reflecting on the whys and wherefores of human nature at this time of the night.
By sitting with my callers, I’ve experienced a whole range of human emotions through the stories they tell of their lives, the hardships they’ve endured, and sometimes, the shining spirit that comes through.
There is something achingly exquisite about the human condition which is also, at the same time heart wrenchingly, breath takingly fragile.
I think about those who have been brave enough to pick up the phone.
To talk to us.
To unburden their soul.
I am glad for my Samaritans family.
If you or anyone you know is struggling, please reach out.
Call us free phone from the UK on 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org
Don’t get discouraged if you are out on hold.
Just be patient and you will be connected to someone who wants to talk to you.
We are here for you.
You don’t have to be alone. 🌹
There are loads of things that are fun.
– Holidays
– Dates
– Cheat meals
– Gaming nights
And there are some things that are *not* fun.
– Doing taxes
– Filling expenses
– Having difficult conversations
– Dieting
– Working out
There of the *not* fun things are necessary to grow (not taxes though).
Learning new things.
Learning hard things.
Facing a challenge.
Pushing yourself to do something uncomfortable.
You can stay where you are, in that comfortable place.
Or you can push, and grow.
Discover the edges of your capability, and stretch yourself a bit more.
That’s how you find the sweet spot where flow happens.
I’ve dedicated my life to finding my sweet spot.
And it’s not where the 🍩 was before it disappeared into my 👄
“Here’s what I want – go forth and build.”
Consulting engagements doesn’t really work that way.
When clients engage a Consulting Partner to roll out a new system such as #Salesforce or #MicrosoftDynamics CE, they often don’t realise how much effort they will need to put into the process in order to make it work.
They first have to
– appoint an internal Salesforce/CE champion, and
– put together an internal project team
And then, collectively, alongside their Partner, they will have to assist in gathering and validating requirements, respond to design decisions and help shape the solution by testing and providing feedback.
Having a hands-off approach will create an ever widening chasm in ‘expectations’ between the client and Consulting Partner: i.e. what you expect you’re getting vs what your Partner is expecting to deliver for you.
Roll your sleeves up, and get your hands dirty.
Get into the weeds if necessary.
You’ll be glad you did.
When you want to build something exceptional with the help of the experts, it pays to pay attention.
And do the work.
Deprivation is optional*, but sweat is not.
*Although 🍩 are never optional!
#OnThePeiroll
(Refreshed post from 2/1/20)
“OK, let’s sit with this problem, together.”
How powerful is this statement?
It says
You’re not alone.
I’m here.
I’m listening.
Talk to me.
I won’t judge you.
I’ll sit with you while we figure this thing out.
I’m no anthropologist or sociologist.
Or a psychologist or anything like that.
But when I listen to our callers on my listening shifts with Samaritans, I know deep down, that we are social animals.
The thing that kills us inside, before our last breath or the last beat of our heart…
Is loneliness.
Loneliness kills.
To not feel connected
Or loved
Or wanted by someone else
Is suffering.
It doesn’t matter if
I’m rich
I’ve got yachts and helicopters
Or followers and subscribers
Or more money than a corrupt Malaysian politician.
Without people, without real human connections
I’d be dead inside.
Reach out.
Make those connections.
Or reconnect with old friends and family members.
I believe that the true meaning of life is to touch someone’s soul, and to be touched in return.
Let me sit with you, right now.
I’m here.
🌹
#OnThePeiroll
#ActiveListening
#Samaritans
I have my own style that is unique to me.
But like all competent Project Managers, I have a job to do – to deliver against the contract.
I had a great time talking to Julie Palmer – a fellow #Salesforce Project Manager who has worked in both end-user environments and with a Partner.
Many times, I’ve found myself nodding vigorously at the camera (luckily you can’t see it on the video!) – there were so many things that we saw eye to eye!
What she says is true though.
The key thing is to
– deliver quality
– closing projects successfully
Every. Single. Time.
Bring your unique style to the table. 😎
Life’s too short to be a fuddy duddy.
Just make sure you do a good job.
Or no Donuts for you.
Come listen in on my #podcast conversation with her, dropping next Monday 14/6.
How do you talk to yourself?
What kind of questions do you ask yourself?
Are you kind?
Are you brusque?
Are you inquisitive?
Are you judgemental?
If you were in a car accident, would your thoughts be the bystanders, filming it on the phone for posterity while muttering, “Serves her right. What a dumbass thing to do.”
Or would they rush over and show compassion and care?
Are you a failure?
Or are you just learning from mistakes so that you can grow?
Are you accepting of the status quo?
Or do you challenge it?
I think about thinking a lot.
Anyone who knows me, knows that I love asking questions.
The wrong questions, while they do not exist in the material plane – have potential to be very lethal.
Almost anyone who have had suicidal feelings will have very dark thoughts.
“Why should I live another day when I am a failure?”
“Why should anyone love me when I’m so unworthy?”
The right questions can open up possibilities.
I’m not saying that you can change life circumstances just by changing the questions that you ask yourself.
I’m saying that the questions you ask yourself has the power to change your outlook, and could make you more resourceful.
That, alone, can change the outcome.
Now, if only that cute dude was actually any good at math 😆
#OnThePeiroll
#PowerOfQuestions
