I had my first +1 club experience this Saturday. What's +1 club you say? That's exactly what I asked (OK fine, I actually mistook it for something D&D and asked if the club was Vorpal).
The +1 club is a term coined by my friend Julian and it refers to bringing an random friend along to a party as extra. The only rule of being in the club for a guy is that you don't make an ass of the primary invitee. It is an excellent concept because it benefits both the random along with the primary invitee. The primary invitee gets to inject some new blood into conversations and also gets shortlisted to be added as a +1 in other parties whilst the random gets a chance to meet some new friends.
The party was an birthday party for an ex-worker, Dylan, who I never met before. The party was at the Dome club within Crown Hotel in Surry Hills. Considering how very ordinary and pub-like the downstairs is, the upstairs "Dome" component is very trendy. It has a reasonably sized bar area, the crowd is mostly middle aged so there were a lot fewer posers and the surroundings felt sophisticated.
I've never really noticed Julian's abilities at parties before and after Saturday night he is my new hero. He has this remarkable ability to just converse with people and engage them with funny stories or quirky questions. There were many fantastic looking guys and ladies (I'd be interested if I was 30 anyway), who Julian easily chatted to with no pretension or ulterior motive (well that I know about) and I was thinking, I want to be that confident one day! Being able to be witty on demand, to engage multiple people and keep thinking on one's feet is a fantastic skill which I'd love to master one day.
Well it's either all the above, or it could be due to the fact he managed smuggle out some tasty birthday cake from the sealed 'superheroes' 30th party which happened to be running in a function room at the bar.
Enough with the Julian worship; on a side note it is amazing how small a world it is in some ways. I met two other people who used to work for us, AND who also worked with Mr R. And I met someone who worked with someone else whose boss was Cat from work's ex-husband whilst they were in Guildford. Then we met someone who used to work with Jane before she came to work with us. Then again, the Australian IT community is small enough that the degrees of separation are likely to be small.
One habit that I have formed of late is to keep in my personal wiki, a list of people I meet and a few notes about each of them for future reference. When I went to write up those who I met Saturday night I realized by accident I had been a +1 at over 4 different parties in the last two months. I wouldn't have believed it without counting it, but I've been introduced to over 40 new people! Considering how boring my social life is, this is kind of amazing. I envy those who are regularly meeting lots of new people, sort of like Julian. Ahh I think I'm going to stop blogging before this becomes a Julian fan site.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Wednesday, April 09, 2008
What Dead or Alive can teach us about Talent Management Time
I watched the much derided game to movie adaptation Dead or Alive today. And guess what? I really enjoyed it! No, this isn't because I'm a masochist and it's not because I have extremely low standards in my movies. It's not even because I had such low expectations for this movie that I would enjoy 80 minutes of static. It is because I set my expectations of what to expect from this movie accordingly before I watched it. I was told the movie would contain fantastic action sequences, beautiful locales and incredibly sexy women and it delivered on all those accounts.
It is mid-year review at my workplace and everyone has to take some time during their fortnight to document what they did in the last 6 months and how they are in relation to their objectives. This is commonly known as "doing PMP crap", by the majority of people. Note in this post, I will refer to it as talent management, not the "Performance Management Platform" since being of project management persuasion, associating the PM Professional qualification with PMP is just too confusing. It may be obvious why it is called 'PMP crap', but lets elaborate for those not at my work.
Software engineers are a difficult lot to measure and for the most part it is impossible to create any discrete scale of performance. There are those who have done something 'really good' and those who are 'really bad' and there is the bulk of us which make up the 70% who make the business work, but not necessarily make it much better. Regardless of what we write up, it is usually clear which bucket we fall into from the start and hence promotions and salary are generally considered somewhat disconnected from Talent Management system.
And here is the problem. I think people have an expectation that the Talent Management System is about writing up why you deserve more money. This is like saying you watch DoA for a storyline. Yes, there is a storyline, but it won't satisfy you and if you expect it to, then you'll be disappointed. This was my problem for a while. I expected pay rises to get me in line with my graduating peers. Whilst I got great pay rises compared to my colleagues, I'm still significantly below my graduating peers and this was "disappointing"(read infuriating) until I came to epiphany about what the game was about. What you get paid extra in bonus or salary merit is reasonably random, regardless of the tripe they give about 'calibrating' your rank with what is in your talent management write ups.
So what should you be expecting out of Talent Management Time (TMT) about in my opinion? My expectations are for it to be an opportunity to do a personal retrospective and to conduct a marketing exercise.
Imagine if you were told you had company-allotted time every 6 months to spend time thinking about how you went? During this time, your peers and supervisors will also give you feedback on how you went, and how you can become better! Wow! Time flies really quickly when you are working and it's easy to lose track of what you have done unless you sit down and document it. The key to getting better is feedback via introspection and from those around you. Use this time to figure out what you did well, how you provided value to the company and most importantly how you are tracking against your own personal goals (you DO have these right?..right?). So I should EXPECT to get good feedback and I should EXPECT to have time to think about this properly.
The second part of talent management is a marketing exercise from both an internal and external perspective. Internally you are trying to sell yourself for better roles, more recognition and of course, better pay. What people fail to see is that there is an external marketing opportunity here. Every 6 months is a perfect time to update your CV. It is a good time to examine the market to see if recruiters are looking for the talents which you have been using. Using this information, you need to practise selling yourself, even if it is to a mirror. The only person who can market you is... you! And what you are selling is your RIGHT to that sexy new project, that interesting new role or hell maybe even a pay rise (This assumes your company has money...).
So remember to treat talent management accordingly and you will not be disappointed. When end of year comes around, you may be disappointed if the reward doesn't match your efforts, but you've already set expectations, right about TMT? And because you've been updating your CV and examining the market, you're in an excellent position to conduct your exit strategy* if you feel it's appropriate.
So on that note, please excuse me dear friends as I must leave you to go do some Talent Management write ups.
* Quick side note: Exiting is a GOOD thing if you ever feel like you are going nowhere, but you don't necessarily have to exit your current workplace. For example, each time I was on the verge of activating my company exit strategy, I've been offered new interesting roles and I got 'suckered' into yet another year of growth. Remember, new role, new place or new company are all exit strategies and the order of preference is an personal thing.
It is mid-year review at my workplace and everyone has to take some time during their fortnight to document what they did in the last 6 months and how they are in relation to their objectives. This is commonly known as "doing PMP crap", by the majority of people. Note in this post, I will refer to it as talent management, not the "Performance Management Platform" since being of project management persuasion, associating the PM Professional qualification with PMP is just too confusing. It may be obvious why it is called 'PMP crap', but lets elaborate for those not at my work.
Software engineers are a difficult lot to measure and for the most part it is impossible to create any discrete scale of performance. There are those who have done something 'really good' and those who are 'really bad' and there is the bulk of us which make up the 70% who make the business work, but not necessarily make it much better. Regardless of what we write up, it is usually clear which bucket we fall into from the start and hence promotions and salary are generally considered somewhat disconnected from Talent Management system.
And here is the problem. I think people have an expectation that the Talent Management System is about writing up why you deserve more money. This is like saying you watch DoA for a storyline. Yes, there is a storyline, but it won't satisfy you and if you expect it to, then you'll be disappointed. This was my problem for a while. I expected pay rises to get me in line with my graduating peers. Whilst I got great pay rises compared to my colleagues, I'm still significantly below my graduating peers and this was "disappointing"(read infuriating) until I came to epiphany about what the game was about. What you get paid extra in bonus or salary merit is reasonably random, regardless of the tripe they give about 'calibrating' your rank with what is in your talent management write ups.
So what should you be expecting out of Talent Management Time (TMT) about in my opinion? My expectations are for it to be an opportunity to do a personal retrospective and to conduct a marketing exercise.
Imagine if you were told you had company-allotted time every 6 months to spend time thinking about how you went? During this time, your peers and supervisors will also give you feedback on how you went, and how you can become better! Wow! Time flies really quickly when you are working and it's easy to lose track of what you have done unless you sit down and document it. The key to getting better is feedback via introspection and from those around you. Use this time to figure out what you did well, how you provided value to the company and most importantly how you are tracking against your own personal goals (you DO have these right?..right?). So I should EXPECT to get good feedback and I should EXPECT to have time to think about this properly.
The second part of talent management is a marketing exercise from both an internal and external perspective. Internally you are trying to sell yourself for better roles, more recognition and of course, better pay. What people fail to see is that there is an external marketing opportunity here. Every 6 months is a perfect time to update your CV. It is a good time to examine the market to see if recruiters are looking for the talents which you have been using. Using this information, you need to practise selling yourself, even if it is to a mirror. The only person who can market you is... you! And what you are selling is your RIGHT to that sexy new project, that interesting new role or hell maybe even a pay rise (This assumes your company has money...).
So remember to treat talent management accordingly and you will not be disappointed. When end of year comes around, you may be disappointed if the reward doesn't match your efforts, but you've already set expectations, right about TMT? And because you've been updating your CV and examining the market, you're in an excellent position to conduct your exit strategy* if you feel it's appropriate.
So on that note, please excuse me dear friends as I must leave you to go do some Talent Management write ups.
* Quick side note: Exiting is a GOOD thing if you ever feel like you are going nowhere, but you don't necessarily have to exit your current workplace. For example, each time I was on the verge of activating my company exit strategy, I've been offered new interesting roles and I got 'suckered' into yet another year of growth. Remember, new role, new place or new company are all exit strategies and the order of preference is an personal thing.
Sunday, April 06, 2008
My Blog! Now with less categories per serving. Guaranteed!
For those using various news-feed readers might have noticed that a lot of older posts have got reanimated. Relax, its not a zombie-post Armageddon, but rather me going through my entire post collection (admittedly not that large) and creating new tag categories. I wanted to narrow my list of tags to something slightly more manageable. So the new short list at the moment should be on the right hand side and on further study, its reflects a lot about who I am as a person with its focus on love, friends, work and technology.
The main categories are:
The main categories are:
- The.Wonder.Of.Life - Mostly the wonder of MY life that doesn't fit into the below categories
- Fools.In.Love - My various ill-fated yet occasionally successful attempts with the opposite sex.
- With.Friends.Like.This - for all the fun things I get up to with friends.
- Office.Space - related to my office, the work I do and friends I have with the office.
- Techa.licio.us - Related to technology in some way.
- Self-Enlightenment - Usually related to random bits of insight.
- The-Colour-Of-Game - Anything related to my other passion, gaming.
James ShortHoof of Hobbits Alley.
My friends dislike the way I play pre-3rd Edition D&D due to the way I focus my attribute statistics on the class that I'm playing rather than 'role playing' and putting my stats the way I would be as a character. There is a reason for that. Its because I'd be utterly CRAP at EVERYTHING as a D&D character. I like to consider myself a well-rounded person, which could also be interpreted as I'm very average at a lot of things.
My friend Chris linked a site where you fill out 129 questions and it tells you what type of D&D character you are. . Yes this isn't the first, nor the last site that has done this quiz, but I suspect it'll be the same regardless of where I do it. So without further ado, let me introduce you to our friendly neighbourhood mage James ShortHoof of Hobbits Alley.
I Am A: Neutral Good Halfling Wizard/Sorcerer (2nd/1st Level)
Ability Scores:
* Strength-12
* Dexterity-13
* Constitution-14
* Intelligence-14
* Wisdom-13
* Charisma-14
Alignment:
Neutral Good A neutral good character does the best that a good person can do. He is devoted to helping others. He works with kings and magistrates but does not feel beholden to them. Neutral good is the best alignment you can be because it means doing what is good without bias for or against order. However, neutral good can be a dangerous alignment because it advances mediocrity by limiting the actions of the truly capable.
Race:
Halflings are clever, capable and resourceful survivors. They are notoriously curious and show a daring that many larger people can't match. They can be lured by wealth but tend to spend rather than hoard. They prefer practical clothing and would rather wear a comfortable shirt than jewelry. Halflings stand about 3 feet tall and commonly live to see 150.
Primary Class:
Wizards are arcane spellcasters who depend on intensive study to create their magic. To wizards, magic is not a talent but a difficult, rewarding art. When they are prepared for battle, wizards can use their spells to devastating effect. When caught by surprise, they are vulnerable. The wizard's strength is her spells, everything else is secondary. She learns new spells as she experiments and grows in experience, and she can also learn them from other wizards. In addition, over time a wizard learns to manipulate her spells so they go farther, work better, or are improved in some other way. A wizard can call a familiar- a small, magical, animal companion that serves her. With a high Intelligence, wizards are capable of casting very high levels of spells.
Secondary Class:
Sorcerers are arcane spellcasters who manipulate magic energy with imagination and talent rather than studious discipline. They have no books, no mentors, no theories just raw power that they direct at will. Sorcerers know fewer spells than wizards do and acquire them more slowly, but they can cast individual spells more often and have no need to prepare their incantations ahead of time. Also unlike wizards, sorcerers cannot specialize in a school of magic. Since sorcerers gain their powers without undergoing the years of rigorous study that wizards go through, they have more time to learn fighting skills and are proficient with simple weapons. Charisma is very important for sorcerers; the higher their value in this ability, the higher the spell level they can cast.
My friend Chris linked a site where you fill out 129 questions and it tells you what type of D&D character you are. . Yes this isn't the first, nor the last site that has done this quiz, but I suspect it'll be the same regardless of where I do it. So without further ado, let me introduce you to our friendly neighbourhood mage James ShortHoof of Hobbits Alley.
I Am A: Neutral Good Halfling Wizard/Sorcerer (2nd/1st Level)
Ability Scores:
* Strength-12
* Dexterity-13
* Constitution-14
* Intelligence-14
* Wisdom-13
* Charisma-14
Alignment:
Neutral Good A neutral good character does the best that a good person can do. He is devoted to helping others. He works with kings and magistrates but does not feel beholden to them. Neutral good is the best alignment you can be because it means doing what is good without bias for or against order. However, neutral good can be a dangerous alignment because it advances mediocrity by limiting the actions of the truly capable.
Race:
Halflings are clever, capable and resourceful survivors. They are notoriously curious and show a daring that many larger people can't match. They can be lured by wealth but tend to spend rather than hoard. They prefer practical clothing and would rather wear a comfortable shirt than jewelry. Halflings stand about 3 feet tall and commonly live to see 150.
Primary Class:
Wizards are arcane spellcasters who depend on intensive study to create their magic. To wizards, magic is not a talent but a difficult, rewarding art. When they are prepared for battle, wizards can use their spells to devastating effect. When caught by surprise, they are vulnerable. The wizard's strength is her spells, everything else is secondary. She learns new spells as she experiments and grows in experience, and she can also learn them from other wizards. In addition, over time a wizard learns to manipulate her spells so they go farther, work better, or are improved in some other way. A wizard can call a familiar- a small, magical, animal companion that serves her. With a high Intelligence, wizards are capable of casting very high levels of spells.
Secondary Class:
Sorcerers are arcane spellcasters who manipulate magic energy with imagination and talent rather than studious discipline. They have no books, no mentors, no theories just raw power that they direct at will. Sorcerers know fewer spells than wizards do and acquire them more slowly, but they can cast individual spells more often and have no need to prepare their incantations ahead of time. Also unlike wizards, sorcerers cannot specialize in a school of magic. Since sorcerers gain their powers without undergoing the years of rigorous study that wizards go through, they have more time to learn fighting skills and are proficient with simple weapons. Charisma is very important for sorcerers; the higher their value in this ability, the higher the spell level they can cast.
Saturday, April 05, 2008
Need Hot Sexy Singles? Facebook will show you how!
So apparently Facebook reckons I'm a desperate single loser. Why else would it be consistently showing me ads that say "Find hot singles now!" or "Do you want a relationship? Find people at blah" or "Meet Aussie Babes" around the clock whenever I login. Clearly having my relationship status as 'Single' was a big mistake. Now I cannot get rid of these ads!
Maybe I should start a relationship just to get rid of these ads. But who knows what ELSE it might start promoting. Maybe it'll start selecting places to buy expensive diamond rings, and worse yet maybe tell my partner "Get your partner to buy this gold necklace from Tiffanys for only $5k". Is there no end to what Facebook can get upto?
Anyway I did remove the relationship information in my facebook profile and consequently had 10 people ask me, 'oooo how come you're not listed as single anymore?'. It was somewhat depressing telling them that I had simply just removed it to try and rid of ads (which didn't work by the way).
Maybe I should start a relationship just to get rid of these ads. But who knows what ELSE it might start promoting. Maybe it'll start selecting places to buy expensive diamond rings, and worse yet maybe tell my partner "Get your partner to buy this gold necklace from Tiffanys for only $5k". Is there no end to what Facebook can get upto?
Anyway I did remove the relationship information in my facebook profile and consequently had 10 people ask me, 'oooo how come you're not listed as single anymore?'. It was somewhat depressing telling them that I had simply just removed it to try and rid of ads (which didn't work by the way).
Friday, April 04, 2008
You never love study... until its gone.
I'm back! Yes dear readers I've been away for a long time, but I have an good excuse! A new project at work took a large chunk of my time and that's another blog post for this week, but the other thing which took my time was studying for the CAPM exam, which I successfully completed on Monday.
So what is the CAPM all about then? The Certified Associate In Project Management is the light-weight version of the Project Management Professional(PMP) certification. It is designed for those people (like myself) who are keen to get into project management, but don't have the necessary hours to get the real PMP accredition.
The exam was criminally easy and made me slightly annoyed considering the many hours I sunk into self-study for this test. The time spent in understanding the project management processes is not a waste, but the waste is memorising PMI specific things, which aren't reflective of real life.
This has got to partly explain why there has been a lot of criticism about the PMI and how they are milking the certification process for all its worth. The amount of money you have to pay for what they give you is silly and the industry that's spawned around helping you pass the PMP test is easily making millions from this. All of this is true, but the fundamental core of what the course teaches you is still incredibly valuable information for project managers. Like any other certification, the PMP shows two things. One is you have the perseverance to go and get accredited and secondly that you have a solid understanding of the fundamentals. This won't make you a great project manager, but the chances of you being truly AWFUL are minimized and from a manager's point of view, this is tops.
I'm hoping that over time I can start using this information in projects I'm already on and hopefully I can use this certification as leverage into a real project management role either within or outside of Avaya in the next year.
That said, now that I've finished studying, I'm a little lost as to what to do with all this spare time. Anyone got any ideas of what I could do next?
So what is the CAPM all about then? The Certified Associate In Project Management is the light-weight version of the Project Management Professional(PMP) certification. It is designed for those people (like myself) who are keen to get into project management, but don't have the necessary hours to get the real PMP accredition.
The exam was criminally easy and made me slightly annoyed considering the many hours I sunk into self-study for this test. The time spent in understanding the project management processes is not a waste, but the waste is memorising PMI specific things, which aren't reflective of real life.
This has got to partly explain why there has been a lot of criticism about the PMI and how they are milking the certification process for all its worth. The amount of money you have to pay for what they give you is silly and the industry that's spawned around helping you pass the PMP test is easily making millions from this. All of this is true, but the fundamental core of what the course teaches you is still incredibly valuable information for project managers. Like any other certification, the PMP shows two things. One is you have the perseverance to go and get accredited and secondly that you have a solid understanding of the fundamentals. This won't make you a great project manager, but the chances of you being truly AWFUL are minimized and from a manager's point of view, this is tops.
I'm hoping that over time I can start using this information in projects I'm already on and hopefully I can use this certification as leverage into a real project management role either within or outside of Avaya in the next year.
That said, now that I've finished studying, I'm a little lost as to what to do with all this spare time. Anyone got any ideas of what I could do next?
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