High-Tech Yuga

When your team executing the plan and working on the deliverables, we are keeping constant look out for the potential problem or change requested by customer. When we find a problem, we can't simply make as change because it's expensive. We need to find how it affects below constraints: A change control board (CRB) is a group of people, usually including the Project Manager, Architect, Business Analyst, Technical lead and Subject Matter Experts. Any time a change goes through integrated change control, the CCB decides whether or not it should be made. After they approve the change you should change the plan and send to the team to implement. Steps followed in CRB: What are the documents needs to be updated/reviewed by PM based on CRB approval? Change request document Project document  Project management plan Change log MoM User Story

  Continuous improvement process is an ongoing effort to improve products, services, or processes. 4 Stages of Continuous improvement  Few continuous improvement implemented: Site navigation. Site speed.  Product Copy and Product Images. Seeking Reviews. Applying multiple coupon code for elite customers. As a manager we get opportunity to add continuous improvement during every release we make. Refer my previous article  Are you delivering value to the Customer and Organization?  

 Problem Solving is one of the key personalities of the project manager or the any individuals. Problem Solving: Problem solving is the powerful human activity, computers are the tools in problem solving but it is human who solves the problem. The ability of the problem solving comes from doing it and need to pull many information and solutions to solve the problem. Problem solving is the combination of experience, knowledge, process and art. Problem Solving Process: Process is the series of logical steps that followed to produce an optimum solution. Time and Resources are the two constraints for the problem solving. The given problem needs to be solved with in specific time with available resources. Skills required for solving the problem: • Knowledge • Motivation • Experience • Communication Skills • Learning Skills • Group Skills Type of Problems: 1. Knowledge Problems - When a person encounters a situation that he doesn’t understand 2. Troubleshooting Problems -When equipment o...

Artificial superintelligence (ASI) is a software-based system with intellectual powers beyond those of humans across an almost comprehensive range of categories and fields of endeavor. Humans won't be able to control a super intelligent AI, according to a study. A Max-Planck Institute study suggests humans couldn't prevent an AI from making its own choices. The researchers used Alan Turing's "halting problem" to test their theory. A superintelligence is a hypothetical agent that possesses intelligence far surpassing that of the brightest and most gifted human minds. Our society is moving increasingly towards a reliance on artificial intelligence — from AI-run interactive job interviews to creating music and even memes, AI is already very much part of everyday life. "A superintelligence poses a fundamentally different problem than those typically studied under the banner of 'robot ethics'," said the researchers.

General AI is a type of intelligence which could perform any intellectual task with efficiency like a human . The idea behind the general AI to make such a system which could be smarter and think like a human by its own. Currently, there is no such system exist which could come under general AI and can perform any task as perfect as a human. The worldwide researchers are now focused on developing machines with General AI. As systems with general AI are still under research , and it will take lots of efforts and time to develop such systems. This AI will be coming like you have seen robots in  The Matrix or The Terminator movies. In theory, an artificial general intelligence could carry out any task a human could, and likely many that a human couldn't.  Over time these intelligences would be able to take over every role performed by humans. 

Artificial narrow intelligence is called as ANI or narrow AI. ANI refers to a computer's ability to perform a single task extremely well , such as crawling a webpage or playing chess.  AI = The technology to simulate human behavior in machines through a set of algorithms Narrow = Implementing the concept of AI but with a narrow range of abilities Different types of Narrow AI: Reactive AI: It is the basic version, having no memory or data storage capabilities. It emulates the human mind’s behavior and responds to different interpretations without any prior experience. Example: 1) Spam filters 2) Netflix recommendation engine Limited Memory AI: It is more advanced, having great memory and data storage capabilities enabling machines to interpret precisely using statistical data. Most of the AI is the Limited Memory AI, enabling machines to use a large amount of data especially in the domains of Deep Learning to give results with utmost accuracy. Example: 1) Self driving car 2) Apple...

 MVP patterns that can serve as early milestones for your product. 1) Promotional MVP 2) Mining MVP 3) Landing Page 4) Single feature MVP 5) Wizard of Oz MVP

Steve Blank said You’re selling the vision and delivering the minimum feature set to visionaries, not everyone. The MVP is called minimum, as you should spend as little time and effort to create it as possible.  But this does not mean that it has to be quick and dirty.  But try to keep it as small as possible to accelerate learning and avoid the possibility of wasting time and money, as your idea may turn out to be wrong! You need to validate 2 kinds of hypotheses before you start MVP. 1) Technical Are you capable from technical point of view? if not there is no product. 2) Market Is market ready to accept an buy the product?  if not there is no product. Above 2 hypotheses should be validated in your Product Backlog. Few inspiring MVP are: Amazon (launched Amazon B2C, Prime, alexa, echo, etc..)  Dropbox (Starting out as a demo video MVP, Dropbox explained the benefits of storing data in one place. The feedback from users helped the then-startup receive the funds.) Fa...

Tracking project revenue in Scrum helps project manager to monitor and forecast the project. As a manager you will be closely working with Sales team and Finance team for creating SOW. You should have the job level rate card for the project as below and calculate the Blended Rate ($/hr). In this revenue calculation we are running project in Scrum and using JIRA tool.  Blended Rate = average of all above Rate. Please note down below formula for find the project running in positive revenue or running in negative revenue. Planned Cost = Planned Hours*Blended Rate Planned Margin = (Planned Revenue-Planned Cost)/Planned Revenue*100 Actual Cost = Actual Hours*Blended Rate Planned Margin = (Planned Revenue-Planned Cost)/Planned Revenue*100 Actual Margin = (Planned Revenue-Actual Cost)/Planned Revenue*100 Delta = Actual Margin - Planned Margin When Delta is Positive value the project running with Positive margin and when Delta value is negative the project running with Negative Margin...

Delivering value to the Customer and Organization: Ask below question to your self to find the answer. When we are delivering Product or Service? Are we delivering value?  To whom we are delivering value? What value we are delivering? When we are delivering value? All  the above questions are answered in two context, one is customer happiness and organization's ROI ($) . All companies ultimately come down to one element i.e.: MONEY . When customers are happy, good culture, process followed for the quality and timely delivery of the product or service will make (and save) us more money. As a Manager we are in the business for generating money for the customer and improving customer satisfaction. Both are relevant and connected. The actual value will be delivered during every release (scrum), as mentioned in the below chart. As a (Project/Product/Program) manager we need to work on below activities: Creating roadmap Business cases Analyzing the industry and competition Product ...

A project management office (PMO) is a team or department that sets and maintains standards for project management throughout an organization and in charge of creating procedures and best practices that will help operations.  PMO helps you learn from the past projects, they will give you the templates and guideline you need make sure your project takes right approach. There are three ways PMO helps you. Supportive: provides all the templates for the project: BRD Project initiation check list Planning, Execution, Close out check list Go-Live check list MoM check list Project Proposal document etc.. Controlling: PMO's that control the way project management is done in a project (company) will analyze below and share report. Resource utilization (Productive resources, non-billable resources, Bench time resources) Enhancements status report Aging report Project schedule variance Project Effort deviation Project Cost deviation Directive: PMO's that take directive approach actually ...

 Cloud Service Models (IaaS,PaaS,SaaS): IaaS: Infrastructure as a service ( IaaS ) is a type of cloud computing service that offers  essential compute (hardware) storage networking resources on demand middleware (ex: Linux) OS IaaS provides services on a pay-as-you-go basis. Example for IaaS is EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud) service provided by AWS. AWS EC2 provides, processers, storages, networking, operating system. PaaS: Platform as a service ( PaaS ) is a complete development and deployment environment in the cloud, with resources that enable you to deliver everything from simple cloud-based apps to sophisticated, cloud-enabled enterprise applications. Example for PaaS is AWS Elastic Beanstalk provided by AWS, for deploying applications which orchestrates various AWS services, including EC2. AWS Elastic Beanstalk is an easy-to-use service for deploying and scaling web applications and services developed with Java, .NET, PHP, Node.js, Python, Ruby, Go, and Docker on fam...

Public, Private and Hybrid clouds: Public Cloud: Public clouds are the most common type of cloud computing deployment. The cloud resources (like servers and storage) are owned and operated by a third-party cloud service provider. Computing in which service provider makes all resources public over the internet. It is connected to the public Internet.  In a public cloud, you share the same hardware, storage and network devices with other organisations. Advantages: Low cost No maintenance Scalability Low Failure rate Disadvantages: Data security and privacy Loss of control Lack of options Lack of customization Private Cloud: A private cloud consists of cloud computing resources used exclusively by one business or organisation.  Physically located at your organisation’s on-site datacenter or it can be hosted by a third-party service provider. Ability to provide dedicated resources.  Advantages: High security High performance Easy customization Compliance Better Control Disadv...

Cloud computing is the on-demand availability of computer system resources, especially data storage (cloud storage) and computing power , without direct active management by the user. Large clouds often have functions distributed over multiple locations , each location being a data center. Cloud computing relies on sharing of resources to achieve coherence and economies of scale, typically using a "pay-as-you-go" model which can help in reducing capital expenses but may also lead to unexpected operating expenses for unaware users. Cloud computing delivers: Servers Storage Database Networking Software Analytics Benefits of Cloud computing:

CSAT is short for Customer Satisfaction , which is a commonly-used key performance indicator used to track how satisfied customers are with your organization's products and/or services. Respondents use the following 1 to 5 scale: 1. Very unsatisfied 2. Unsatisfied 3. Neutral 4. Satisfied 5. Very satisfied Formula to find CSAT: % of satisfied customers = (Number of satisfied customers (4 and 5) / Number of survey responses) x 100 as per the above chart, 6 customers provided 4&5 score and remaining 4 customers provided less than 4.  % of satisfied customers = 6 / 10) x 100 = 60% Follow below tools to measure and improve customer satisfaction and management: 1) Stakeholder register 2) Power and Interest grid sheet 3) Stakeholder management plan 4) Stakeholder communication requirement plan ESAT is short for Employee satisfaction or job satisfaction is, quite simply, how content or satisfied employees are with their jobs. Employee satisfaction is typically measured using an empl...

Java and Project Manager are like bread and jam. We can’t separate both. Java Technical project manager helps the team in design, troubleshooting and deployment the code. We need to develop our skills on below: OOP stands for Object-Oriented Programming. Classes and objects are the two main aspects of object-oriented programming.       Core Java: Core Java starts with Class/Objects, Class Attributes, Class Methods, Constructors, Modifiers (public, private, default, protected), Encapsulation(getter/setter), package, Inheritance (Subclass and Superclass), Polymorphism, Interface, Exceptions and much more. Multithreading: Multithreading in Java is a process of executing two or more threads simultaneously to maximum utilization of CPU. Multithreaded applications execute two or more threads run concurrently. Hence, it is also known as Concurrency in Java. Each thread runs parallel to each other. Multiple threads don’t allocate separate memory area, hence they...

 We will mentor and motivate development team in Agile way: There are 5 core agile principles are: 1) Commitment: Let the team commit to delivering the work in a sprint 2) Focus: We will track the tasks we perform that don't directly contribute to our deliverables and we will work to minimize them. 3) Openness: Learn to say "NO" to taking more work and finally fail to deliver 5) Respect: We will show up for all meetings on time and be prepared to present and participate. There are 4 additional values are: Humility, Truth, Honesty and Simplicity: Everyone involved with your project has equal value and therefore should be treated with respect.  Trusting each other involves lot more than mere interaction and collaboration It needs individuals to be honest, open-minded, truthful and ready to listen to the others' perspectives. Dalai Lama Said: “If you are honest, truthful, and transparent, people trust you. If people trust you, you have no grounds for fear, suspicion or ...

 SAFe (Scaled agile framework) is based on ten immutable, underlying Lean-Agile principles. These tenets and economic concepts inspire and inform the roles and practices of SAFe. 1 – Take an economic view: Fundamental understanding of the economics of the building system Strategy for incremental value delivery Risk CoD (Cost of Delay) Costs (manufacturing, operational, and development costs) Operate within the context of an approved budget 2 – Apply systems thinking Understanding complex system Addressing the challenges in the workplace and the marketplace requirement Apply thinking on system under development and the organization that builds the system 3 – Assume variability; preserve options Single design-and-requirements option is wrong choice for the future Future adjustments take too long and can lead to lot of design change. In SAFe Agile, maintain multiple requirements and design options for a longer period in the development cycle 4 – Build incrementally with fast...

Followers of the Scrum method of project management will typically start their day with a " stand-up meeting ". In short, this is a quick daily meeting (30 minutes or less) where the participants share the answers to the three questions with each other: • What did I accomplish yesterday?  • What will I do today?  • What obstacles are impeding my progress?  Some people are talkative and tend to wander off into Story Telling .  Some people want to engage in Problem Solving immediately after hearing a problem. Meetings that take too long tend to have low energy and participants not directly related to a long discussion will tend to be distracted. These are the minimum number of questions that satisfy the goals of daily stand-ups. Other topics of discussion (e.g., design discussions, gossip, etc.) should be deferred until after the meeting.  Here are few tips for running a smooth daily meeting:  • Everyone should literally stand-up and no one should sit down ...

People working together can sustain the enthusiasm and lend support needed to complete the project. Teams succeed when members have: ·         Commitment to common objectives; ·         Defined roles and responsibilities; ·         Effective decision systems, communication and work procedures; ·         Good personal relationships. T.E.A.M = Together Everyone Achieves More. Stages in Team Building: ·         Forming o   People are still trying to figure out their roles in the group; they tend to work independently, but are trying to get along with each other. ·         Storming o    As the team learns more about the project, members form opinions about how the work should be done. o   This can lead to temper flare-ups in the beginning, when people disagree about how to approach the project. ·    ...

The budget of the project calculated mostly based on the effort. In agile projects the budget can be calculated based on story point also. The project manger needs to have clear input on the velocity of the team to calculate the budget. Project Budget = Cost per Story Point * Total Story Points Cost per story point = Cost of resources based on the effort spent / Story points per week Assume you have team size of 8 with the rate of 80$ per hour. The total working hours spent by person per week is 40 hours. Total cost per week = 8 (team size) * 80 (rate in $) * 40 (hours/week) = 25,600$ Assume based on the velocity, you team able to complete 16 user stories. Cost per story point = 25,600 (Cost of resources based on the effort spent) / 16 (Story points per week)                                    =  1,600 $ Assume you have 500 story points planned for the project. Project Budget = 1,600 $ * 500 =...

Some organization already adapted to remotely working and team spread across multiple geography region. They can easily adapt to the covid-19 situation However, for some organizations, project management in times of Covid-19 pandemic can appear as a real challenge. When team is involved in big projects, portfolio and programs.  keys to successful remote project management: 1) Clear communication & collaboration 2) Data centralization 3) Efficient monitoring 1) Clear communication & collaboration : Build virtual team (simple video conferencing tool like Zoom, Skype, or even Google Hangouts) Conduct proper status update meeting, avoid sending 1000’s of e-mails. Constant communication -  as a Project Manager, you’ll easily be able to identify and solve issues, which will enable you to meet your deadlines and deliver on time. 2) Data Centralization : One of the biggest problems that our clients face is missing or unreliable data. With the current lockdown context, organiza...

Digital product engineering services include different phases from inception to the end of life cycle of a product. Let’s understand different phases of product development: Conceptualization This is the initial stage of product development that involves ideation and documentation. Though a concept may seem exciting in the beginning, it may not always be convincing. You need to seek expert advice for the best ideas matching your business requirements. Design Once the concept is finalized, you need to convert the idea into a product. Any changes or improvements in this phase can be covered easily. Development Development or assembling of the product is the next step for product engineering. Pay a lot of attention and add the required features for your product. Implement the right features and functionalities to manage and optimize the costs. Testing A well-developed product may need to undergo stringent quality checks to ensure that it is free from bugs and flaws. Every entrepreneur ne...