Basic schema for tracking a project

I’m managing a project/program right now and am using the following basic structure for communications to the team:

• Deliverable Name.  What’s the body of work/thing.
• Sub-Team members.  Who all is working on it.  Be semi-descriptive, “Jim and Mary with Joe”
• Status color.  Red, yellow, green, N/A.
• Status notes.  Be clear about the current status of the thing.
• Active assignments.  The things that people need to do with respect to this item in the near-term.  This should include risk mitigations, escalations and everything.  Everything needs to be work / an action.

In the meeting, we review last week’s list, and update it for this week.  It’s a simple process that seems pretty effective.  As new Deliverables appear, I add them.

You can still be an entrepreneur while working with someone else’s idea

Starting your own business is really hard.  I should know, I’ve started a few and failed (and still feel like I’m failing on the other ones I’ve started and am working on!):

• 1994: Tortizza
  • Why started: Dad suggested it was a good idea.  I was 17.
  • Mission: Make pizzas from tortillas, patent the name.
  • Successes: Made some tasty treats, met lawyers
  • Failed because: not interested, didn’t know how to patent.
  • What I learned: That patenting something isn’t a process I want to do.  Expensive, bureaucratic.  I hate bureaucracies (but want to create them!)
• 1996: The Computer Dude
  • Why started: I wanted to make money during the summer and had computer and marketing skills to offer.
  • Mission: Help people use computers.
  • Successes: Made money, met many interesting people and learned about their computing needs/interests, and environments
  • Failed because: Lost interest.  People are crazy.
  • What I learned: Good customer service and marketing skills.
• 1999: TheWesternChannel/CollegeUnderground/Bottlefed
  • Why started: Wanted to have an internet business with friends.  The thing we knew most about was our college and we had a strategy of getting a ton of content and expanding.
  • Mission: Make web sites for things we’re passionate about.
  • Successes: Very popular WWU website in 1999-2001, featured in campus and city newspapers.
  • Failed because: Had no real business model.  Geeked out on technology to much.  Wasn’t mature enough.  Got bored of college topics after college.  Needed real income after graduating from school.
  • What I learned: How to make very cool web products and communities.  Databases, systems.
• 2002: eServices
  • Why started:  Wanted to be able to do work for companies around the area via 1099.
  • Mission: Provide professional services to area firms for high wages (work 1099).
  • Successes: Worked for a former employer for the highest wage to date.
  • Failed because: Didn’t do any marketing.  Got wrapped up in a day-job and went back to school.
  • What I learned: Not much, never really pursued this much.

The following businesses I’ve started and am still (semi-actively) working on:

• 2006: Visualize Everything/PhatLibs
  • Why started: I love words and word games and technology and this to me is like the perfect blend.
  • Mission: Create an online word game that results in the worlds largest and most relevant database of phrases.
  • Successes: Created product.
  • What I’m learning: Launching requires money and time and energy.
• 2007: EfficiTrends LLC
  • Why started: Saw many opportunities in the “green” space.  Really liked the idea of doing green things and being in business but socially responsible/saving the planet.
  • Mission: Provide professional services, sell the value of ‘green’ and social responsibility.
  • Successes: Built brand, created web site, did a little marketing.  Have a framework about which I can speak.
  • What I’m learning: Don’t be idealistic, be realistic.  Sell your basic values, not ideals.
• 2011: AppsJack
  • Why started: Many opportunities in the mobile application development space.  Wanted to create a brand and market position in the space.  Know someone with a great product / process for building apps.
  • Mission: To create custom (mobile) apps for people.  Modern software development.  (And other services via EfficiTrends if necessary).
  • Successes: Created brand, met sales and technology partners, went on sales calls, built paperwork, systems, and legal framework.
  • What I’m learning: Pick the right partners.  Make sure you focus on the overall process and delivery.  Don’t be idealistic (again!).

I guess I have traction from these angles: I’ve done cool things for companies, I’ve been an employee, I’ve driven my salary up to a pretty good level, I’ve gotten grad degrees and a PMP certificate, I’ve joined companies, I’ve volunteered, I’ve built my resume and background, network.

It’d be ideal to me to have my own idea that I’m pursuing but sometimes that’s not in the cards.  Finding partners works both ways.

In order to get some traction given my current situation (employed), I’m going to try to support OTHERS in THEIR businesses.  I already do this as my day job as an employee and consultant, so why not do it also as an entrepreneur?  I don’t have to be the inventor!!! 

By doing so, the benefits are that I get to go further up the food chain (closer to owners), get good experience, have large scope, influence, and responsibility!

Create platforms to get long-term technology adoption

Products are nice but as business owners we can’t hyper-focus on single products.  Products have a shelf life.  People get bored and leave.  We should prepare ourselves for this reality.

Designing our products for migration onto a future product is important.  We need to make roadmaps! 

Making things sticky in one context and fluid in another is key. The product designer must be aware how they are going to:

1. Get the users ON the product and
2. Get the users OFF of the product and onto the next one

By having this two-sided focus, we can start building successful platforms.

Zucchini pie

To try tomorrow:

Zucchini Pie

2 cups zucchini, unpeeled and sliced thinly into half-moon slices
1 small onion, chopped
1 medium tomato, seeded and chopped
2 large eggs, beaten
1/2 cup biscuit mix
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Couple tablespoons of fresh chopped parsley
Salt & freshly gound pepper to taste

Prehat oven to 350°
Mix everything together in the above order. Pour mixture into a 9-inch buttered pie pan (I use a Pyrex pan) and bake 30 - 40 minutes until slightly brown. Serve warm.

The method and the methodology

A method is nice.  You want it.  It’s an answer to a problem or opportunity.  But it’s not enough.

People seeking to establish *the* method; being the expert/boss/authority in an area must also continuously improve their method at scale and for that reason must think of and create the methodology; the business behind the method.

Merriam Webster defines methodology as “a body of methods, rules, and postulates employed by a discipline”.  And they define a discipline as “a field of study”.

Gaining focus in your field of study is critical, and difficult.  Finding your niche, essential.  But once you’ve done this and you’re really great at something, you have to figure out how to sell and market that thing.  This is the methodology part.

Going from one method of excellence to a set of excellent methods (methodology) requires other personalities and skills.  The entrepreneur or artist must bring to bear others into the context of the business.  Customer inputs are also required.

Going from method to methodology is a lifelong process.

Massage the data and the audience

Part of many people’s jobs is to work with data.  For some they have to work with a lot of data frequently.  I am one of those people:  I frequently have to get, clean, and shape data to convince people of things.  It’s a big task but it can be really fun and rewarding!

While normalizing data is important, so is preparing the audience for the change and/or presentation that you are about to make.  Make sure that you think an equal amount about the presentation, points, and people as you do about the beaut of the data!

Distinguishing between work and risks can be difficult

Risk is a context in which we all live.  It is a reality.  Things we don’t want to have happen could happen, and sometimes do.  We have to plan around these things and work to avoid them.  Much of project work and management is to avoid risks from occurring in fact.

Escalating risks to management is frequently required.  The managers need to be prepared for the things that could possibly occur (the impacts).  People don’t like surprises and by sharing what could happen if risks do happen, you are doing well to cover your butt and prepare people.  (I told you so!!)

As the PM, you need to guide change and make things happen.  You are working your butt off to make the good stuff happen and prevent the bad stuff.  But some risks may be occur and by engaging a steering committee to help you avoid risks or prepare for them if they do occur, you’re doing well. 

It’s impossible to do everything as the PM and by including others—and not necessarily asking for help—but telling them that help *could* be needed, you’re doing the best you can.  At least they were informed and prepared for possible realities.  I told you so!!!

Linking to TFS 2010 queries through http://

Sometimes you’ll want to point to a collection of TFS items in the browser.  Here’s how:

1. Locate the query, right click on it and Send to Outlook:

2.  Copy the link in Outlook and party on!

Linking to the ‘new’ form for Work Items in TFS 2010

A customer asked me to create a link from his web site to allow users to create new TFS work items.  Here’s how:

1. Find your TFS web client.
2. Create a new item.

3.  Fill out the form as you’d like it.

4.  Click the ‘Copy Template URL’ button.

5.  Have fun!

The business architect role

Being a CEO is the same as being a business architect in my opinion.  I had coffee with a guy yesterday and he and I were talking about the role of architect in a consulting engagement.  I realized that the consultant architect really isn't the business architect.  What are the roles and responsibilities of the business architect?  The Business architect is responsible for the:

Contracts and legal engagement.  The business architect must care about the contracts and legal agreements.  He must be sure that he's partnering with and delivering the right things to the customer without painting himself into too much of corner with the nature of the contract.  This includes the retention of intellectual property gained and an ability to re-use concepts or the actual product being delivered.

Cash-flow.  Cash is king and the CEO has to be all about it.  Don't bother doing things for free; you're better than that.  Figure out how to finance the operation and who will get paid, when.

Product.  The product itself is where the IT/enterprise architect comes in to help define the right thing/solution for the customer(s).  This is a very critical role and the CEO should be keen on the product's success rather than just that of the project/delivery/cash flow.  If the CEO focuses on long-term value of the product and continuously improves that which is delivered (while getting paid), he will be in a good position.

Partners/Suppliers.  The people with whom the CEO needs to engage in order to be successful are many: advisors, engineers, workers, etc.  It's not easy to own and operate a business...you're eyes have to be on many things and the people with whom you're working are the key and core asset!

Opportunity cost.  To do the project or take the risk/opportunity is the primary goal.  You don't want the risk to be an 'all-in' proposition where you are 100% invested in the thing...but that may be the case.  If it is, make sure you balance your work and life and do things fun.  Don't have a heart attack, for God's sake.

I hope this list gives you a good idea of what's required to run a solutions/software business.  A lot!!

Enterprise workflows and custom applications help us tackle the world's toughest challenges

EfficiTrends has two parts: enterprise workflows and custom apps.  The reason we separate these two things is severalfold: solutions for enterprises have their own specific challenges and require a specific skill-set.  Likewise, creating consumer-ready solution also take a separate skill-set and in particular requires more marketing folks and fewer "business analysts".

We have over 15 years of experience creating custom solutions for enterprises.  Yesterday, the platform of choice for the enterprise was the web; and it still is, but that's changing.  Let me explain.

The disruption of the mobile internet is huge.  SmartPhones literally change everything.  People now expect to get robust services--whatever they may be--on their mobile devices.  Many companies are creating strategies and have offerings to expose corporate data on the phone.  Extended Results (www.extendedresults.com) is an example.

The major difference between the web of yesterday and the mobile web of today is where the users are.  Users used to be--and still are--in browers, but there are new devices now, as we all know; primarily iPhone and Android devices...phones and tablets.  These new devices really do cause a great disruption in the solutions development ecosystem.

In order to combat these bifurcations between enterprise/consumer, phone/tablet, and browser/native, EfficiTrends offers to main services to customers of all sizes: enterprise solutions and consumer solutions.

EfficiTrends Enterprise Workflows use our business analysts, architects, technical project managers, and developers to define and create new solutions within enterprises.  The enterprise has its own challenges and is mainly centered around creating reasonable and useful workflows that allow information to flow from source to source with high data quality and final approval.  These solutions may connect to mobile devices but could also be kept inside the firewall or delivered through the browser.  Examples include ERP implementations, CRM implementations, and custom SharePoint apps to gather data.

EfficiTrends Custom Applications are designed with end users in mind.  These could be SmartPhone apps or browser apps and can also be delivered within the firewall or to employees.  These types of appealing user-interface projects typically require different skillsets: designers and marketing professionals, namely.  The enterprise workflows really are a subset of custom applications.

So there you have it.  In order to combat the complex world of technology and organizational change, EfficiTrends employs two main methods to accomplish the goals of making happy customers: enterprise workflows and custom applications.  Contact us today to learn more!

My GTD/Remember the Milk Lists

A friend asked me what mine are today.  They are:

• Inbox - Comes out of the box, used for active and important things.
• All Tasks - out of the box...rarely use
• Anytime / comms - Emails for phone calls I can make "whenever"
• At home - Things to do while at home
• At the office - Things to do at the office
• Blog Post Ideas - List of blog posts I could write/ideas
• Computer - Tasks requiring a "real" (non SmartPhone computer)
• Costco - Things to buy at Costco
• Drink Ideas - Cocktails
• Email comms - Emails I have to send
• Errands - Errands I have to run
• For Home - Items for the house
• For Trip - Items for an upcoming trip
• For Work - Items needing to bring to / for work
• Fun ideas - Ideas for fun things/events
• Gift ideas - self-explanatory
• Groceries
• Meals - Meal ideas
• Movies - My movie queue that I haven't yet entered into Netflix or Movies app
• Music - Music/bands I want to study/listen to more
• Ongoing projects - Big projects that I keep working on as a reminder
• Places to Visit - We use this as a restaurants list that we want to go to
• Seattle - Things in Seattle
• Shopping - I'm not a shopper, so gift cards I have and larger purchases I need
• Video Games - Video games I'd like to play
• Waiting for - Things that people owe me.  A real favorite!
• Weekday errands - Things that I have to do during the week since the places are closed on the weekend.
• Weekday phone calls - Phone calls I have to make during business hours
• ...Other random and specific project folders
• Sent - A default folder

I hope you can learn from how I use this tool...