Utilisation targets. The necessary KPI for a consultant. Yes? Or No? The dark side of having targets. Sales targets, for…
Having a great team to work with is amazing. Which is why flying solo can be a bit tough sometimes…
Walking into a lion’s den. That’s what it feels like sometimes, if you’re a solo consultant, managing and implementing a…
As a consultant, you’ll be expected to communicate well. Such as in your verbal face-to-face/zoom interactions, presentation, documentation, emails, writing…
“Are you saying I am going to get 3 weeks of FREE training, and you’re going to get me a…
No catch. I’m offering 3 weeks worth of absolutely FREE Consulting Masterclass training, covering: – Consulting Engagement & Delivery –…
Writing solid requirements is an artform. Whether it’s a biblical tome of a Business Requirements Document (a la Waterfall), or…
Executing the process design and requirement gathering workshops remotely is much more challenging than doing it face to face. A…
What do you do when you’ve been engaged on a new consulting project, and you can see that the client’s…
Communication is _so_ important. It’s not just knowing the language. It’s the study of nuance and context. It’s the study…
In small or medium sized Consulting Partners, there may not be luxury (and budget) for a PM to help manage…
Role models are so important because they help you set a benchmark. I think what makes me a good PM…
When you’re in the midst of “go-live”, the long hours, the blood, sweat and tears will be all worth it…
Detail or Big Picture? Ideally both. The ability to focus on the roots and the trees, and the biodiversity around…
Nothing annoys a Project Manager more than a team member who is unreliable. It peeves me. I operate on honesty…
Meetings need not be an hour, or half an hour. I can have a very to-the-point meeting in 10 minutes,…
The other reason why Agile approach are not suitable for Consulting Projects is because most companies underestimate the amount of…
There is a fine balance between stretching yourself so you can grow, and taking on so much that you become…
Life is a marathon.Software Projects are like (non-Agile) sprints. In Life – there will be up and downs on the…
Worklife balance shouldn’t really be the focus of the young. When you’re young and inexperienced – in the new world…
What’s an opinion worth? Not much, unless you’ve been asked for one. Not much, unless you’re a stakeholder. Not much,…
“You’ve got two grads on your new team. Remember not to work them too hard. Treat them with kid gloves.…
Drama = Excitement. I think a lot of people believe that. That’s why I see friends courting drama in their…
I think I am most excited about the start of a project, where we get to shape it and prime…
What do you do when a remote team member is AWOL for ages, takes _days_ to respond to emails, misses…
All my interactions with offshore team in India have been outstanding. Every. Single. One. In all the companies I’ve worked…
On the topic of managing expectations, I think that agile came about because waterfall was so rubbish at that. You…
I don’t think I can ever find happy, if I lost my child. I cannot think of anything worst, as…
Getting expectations right is the key to happiness. Why do you want to join a Tier 1 Salesforce partner and…
I’ve been ruminating about ‘standards’ and ‘goals’ and I think the main difference is in the phrasing.* Standards is the…
Discussion in my comments have made me think a bit more about the definition of personal “Standards.” It is the…
The results that you see in life is dependent on: 1. Luck – the randomness of life, and the only…
1. I compare. What I’ve achieved, and what I _should_ have achieved. 2. I can be disciplined about what I…
Is having high standards for yourself a good or bad thing? Chinese families always have high standards for their children.…
Writing about the 5 response types: (1) Instructive, (2) Questioning, (3) Judgemental, (4) Supportive and (5) Empathic, made me reflect…
25 years. 1/4 century. That’s how long I’ve been in software consulting. Boy, that makes me feel old. On the…
“The Happiness of your Life depends on the quality of your thoughts.” Marcus Aurelius was the last of the Five…
Circle of Influence. Manage what you _can_ control. Mitigate, accept, or avoid what you can’t. If at all possible. I…
I was listening to Tim Ferriss’ interview with Elizabeth Gilbert (who wrote Eat, Pray, Love), who both spoke about a…
You can’t plan life like you can plan a project. Software development projects like Microsoft CE or Salesforce or SAP……
Conflict still happen in business, even if you have contract that govern the engagement. Heavy weight contracts prescribe so much…
Conflict occurs when expectations are not aligned. “What I think I am getting is not what you think you are…
How to consistently and repeatedly reduce the possibility of a project being undersold in a fast-paced sales cycle? Estimating correctly…
Something that make my heart skip a beat when I get an email: Well written subject line! I get a…
Husband tells me I’ve had a “fun-ectomy”. I take things too seriously. Especially now, when life is ‘on-pause’. Enjoy. Chill.…
It is winter right now. Metaphorically. The smug ants who are riding it out in their cozy houses, with full…
Hiring experienced contractors as internal project teams can be a good idea, especially if you haven’t got any internal capabilities.…
Someone asked me why I was following people on Twitter that I disagree with, in the areas of ethics, morality,…
One of the big lessons about the current #coronavirus situation that has so changes so drastically daily – in terms…
BAU – Business As Usual. It’s tough to resume BAU with such a seismic incident affecting every element of life,…
I was at this one client site up north, where the employees had mouth-watering exquisite lunches served up by a…
Part of being an effective Project Manager is being comfortable with change, with the unknown. It’s being able to look…
I’ve known Project Managers who are just paper shufflers, finger pointers, gantt chart fillers, and milestone update naggers. They provide…
There are quite a few people I know (myself included) who would welcome self-isolation and social distancing. In addition to…
I think that it takes a lot more skills to work in a small consulting partner than a bigger one.…
Working remotely due to the current situation will sure hit the agile projecta, who rely so much on co-located scrum…
There’s a difference between working in a larger consultancy and a smaller one. In one, you’re probably dedicated to a…
The project RAID log is like a family puppy. It’s not something you let your dad look after, and only…
The consulting life is like normal life, just playing at x2 speed. Or more. That means a roller coaster of…
The thing about being a great ‘anything’ is that.. it generates very little noise. Be really sub-par, and you will…
Sunk costs and resistance to change. “We built that MS Access database to hold customer data when we started 28…
I think I have had an exceptionally lucky life. I started in my IT in 1995, in Malaysia. So I…
I run inductions for new hires for a Tier 1 Consulting Company, and was discussing with a Programme Director the…
I’ve been focusing on the importance of leadership qualities in a project manager to help ensure project success. In fact,…
I believe that the job of a Project Manager is a lot more than ‘Managing a Project to timescales and…
I was listening to John Travolta talk about Bean Exchange on Tom Bilyeu’s podcast today. If you craft exquisite cups,…
Was running an errand with ninja #2 in the rain this morning, and we passed a homeless man, drenched in…
Our experiences shape who we are, and how we see the world. “Emotion and cognition, undefined and unexplored, drive every…
“Don’t rock the boat.” I strive to create a safe space for people to be around me. No judgement, no…
“I have better things in life to focus on instead of blow-drying my hair – three kids, school run, work,…
It’s been two weeks since the tragic high profile helicopter crash stunned the world. The news has moved on. But…
Feast and famine. Ups and downs. Winters and summers. I believe that the Consulting career prepares you for real life.…
A Salesforce Developer asked me the other day about my thoughts on what he should do next – careerwise. He…
When you are young, Time is your ‘cheapest’ currency. Use it to amass: – experience – skills: hard and soft…
Follow your passion is a meaningless statement when you don’t know what your passion is. But how do you find…
A working mum can’t have it all. Children used to be raised by a village and I’m about 10,500km away…
For a Consulting Partner, selecting a methodology is like swiping on Tinder. If you don’t know what makes for a…
“You shouldn’t be scared of hard work.” Difficult, messy, complicated, stressful work. Discomfort is the zone where growth happens. I…
Consultancy project teams are assembled based on availability, capability, and rate. As a client, you might be promised “the best,…
“Wait, your sales team promised xyz. What you’re saying now is not what I am expecting.” If you hear this…
“Who cares? Especially if I am making so much money?” I wrote a post the other day, about the reasons…
Death feels final but its not. I was at a cremation for the beloved father of a close friend. Memories…
“I will still be here if I’m learning, earning and having fun.” A bit of a gutsy answer to interview…
“Has anyone died?” “No. No one died. Let’s keep a perspective on things.” When the challenges in a “character-building” project…