Our Program at a Glance

  Likeconomics​

Likeonomics is real. Author Rohit Bhargava wrote the definitive book on how being likeable drives business and personal success. But what the heck does that mean. Let’s start with this, would you rather work with a competent jerk or a loveable fool? At some point the competent jerk will end up being too much to deal with and will negatively impact productivity and morale. The loveable fool, well in the end, you will continue to help augment their weak points and utilizes them as best you can. Ultimately this revolves around customer experience, either one to one (individuals in your company to others) or one to many (your company to the world). The core of Likeonomics is in the elements of likeability and the believability dilemma. Likeability has NOTHING to do with being nice. Nice can actually be extremely unlikeable, no one wants to work with, work for or partner with a doormat. There are five essentials of likeability that will be discussed in this session. On top of that, our society is cynical. It doesn’t believe big institutions and likes comfortable, small communities, think small business Saturday. This secondary dilemma of believability impacts customer experience and your image. A SDLC professional must understand the concept of likeonomincs in order to properly plan a strategy that connects with a customer makes them feel part a community. You can have the best web design, the website usability but if your messaging doesn’t connect with the believability dynamics and if you are missing one or more of the five elements of likeability you will get the desired impact.
 

 Standing on the Shoulders of Giants Through Collaboration​

 Ninety percent of organizations claim to be tackling issues so wickedly complex that they need teams to solve them. It is difficult to find anyone that would declare that   collaboration lacks value to an organization as that response would   be deemed unpopular in most organizations today, however what does it mean to “do collaboration”?   Everyone in your organization likely has different ideas about “being collaborative. This means differing expectations and   misunderstandings, resulting in less than optimal   experiences. AND what if collaboration has not been a priority in organizations? You can be a more valuable resource in your organization by improving collaboration.

 Kelley is a trainer and has a rich selection of topics for us to consider. We are currently finalizing a topic with her and will provide an update as soon as we can.

   Data Requirements Made Easy

This presentation will provide an easy technique for categorizing data elements that simplifies your process of identifying, naming, and defining all your data. By categorizing data elements at a high level, you will save your time, assist your stakeholders in clarifying the data portions of their requirements, minimize stakeholder questions, improve the quality of your data requirements, improve both the quality and consistency of your data element names and definitions, assist in standardizing your user interface designs, make your developers happy, and ultimately improve the quality of your organization’s data. Attendees will be provided access to a template for documenting your data requirements based on this presentation. Based on my surveys of more than 500 business analysts from around the country, only about 20% are data focused. This presentation will assist both the 80% that are not data focused, as well as improve the productivity of the 20% that are data focused.
 

 UX,UI & Human Centered Design; What the Big Deal?

Modernization digitization, process automation and reengineering projects all involve inputs and outputs. Too often the project teams focus on the inputs and outputs without considering the people who will use them. This results in confusion, stress, lost productivity and rework as people struggle to get their work done in a system that does not meet their needs. Human centered design (HCD) incorporates the human perspective in all steps of the problem-solving process, often resulting in a solution that both satisfies the business needs and the people who use it. This session will explore and explain the basics of human centered design (HCD) with a focus on tools and techniques you can bring back to your daily work. We will look back at the origins of HCD, understand the current tools and industry leaders, and look forward at some of the industries and careers that are being transformed by this growing movement. Understanding HCD will impact how you look at people, problems and projects.

   Business Architecture: The Gateway to Transforming Into An Agile Tnerprise

Architecture + Agile: Can they really co-exist? While seemingly contradictory opposites, this talk will discuss how business architecture is in fact the gateway to enterprise agility. As organizations increase the pace of delivery, business architecture plays a critical role from strategy through execution to ensure that we are doing the right things most effectively. We will provide an overview of business architecture and then using a case study as a backdrop, we will walk through how business architecture is used to guide agile execution approaches each step of the way. We will also discuss practical steps an organization can take to introduce business architecture into an organization and the agile process, as well as some of the key conditions for success.

 The Agile B.A.

As our projects become more Agile, the BA’s job role changes in significant ways. The traditional Requirements Spec is on its way out, being replaced by User Stories that go thru a less-well-defined lifecycle. The Agile methods don’t mention the BA, but the BA’s skill set can be very important to Agile success. We’ll look at the variety of ways that BA’s integrate into, and provide real value to their Agile project teams.

 To Increase Business Agility, Look to Your Fuzzy Front End

One of the most important outcomes of a successful agile practice is higher speed. But to an agilist, speed doesn’t come from just moving faster. It’s a result of building teams and processes that better map to the reality of how time cycles impact the organization. You’re not just moving faster: you’re moving more accurately. The result is greater speed and more intelligent, adaptive output. We expect these outcomes in agile teams, but the larger goal is to realize them in the organization. Unfortunately, we often reach boundaries in the organization at which agile principles seem to no longer apply, or they translate poorly to outcomes. This is frustrating, but it is also an opportunity for improvement. One of the most immediate suspect areas is in business planning upstream of the development effort. This is where decision makers are constantly assessing risk and benefits, evaluating which needs to push to development, and deciding how and when to commit. This is the fuzzy front end. One problem with the fuzzy front end is that it rarely operates with the type of disciplined, decisive cadence that we embrace in agile development. Proposals and ideas often spend months in the fuzzy front end before value priorities are decided and commitment is achieved. It represents a huge portfolio of potential value that is as far away from delivery as any work can be. Yet it is the very decisions made during this phase of work that frame the work to come. If value decisions and cadence aren’t in alignment with our agile capability, the benefits of agile are compromised right from the start. Fortunately, it is exactly because the fuzzy front end represents the earliest opportunity for an organization’s work to become more agile that it offers such a powerful opportunity for improvement.

  Using Design Thinking to Change Perception

Design Thinking is a human-centered approach to innovative problem solving that integrates the needs of people and the possibilities of technology. It can help change your perception within your organization on how you address problems while working in a deep anthropological state with your customers. Design Thinking can move you away from checklist and analytical styles of thinking and immerse and engage with your customers to gain a deep understanding of their needs. In this presentation, Tim will give a real-world example of how changing your perception can truly change the world. By looking at low cost options for long term solutions, Design Thinking unleashes the creative mindset to converge on the right solution. Tim will review the tenets of Design Thinking, the "By Design" program at TE, and some lessons learned in order for the audience to take away for their own organizations. The goal is to provide an overview of Design Thinking and to demonstrate that it's really about good business analysis skills.

 Relationship Management for Better Collaboration & Communication Skills

 Technology professionals focus on building skills NOT their relationships. This hinders their career growth and success. In Relationship Management for Technical Professionals we learn: How to build strong relationships Understand       relationship management Know how your personality affects your relationships Communicate effectively and proactively Become more resilient to change Create trust in your relationships Pick up a copy and see your career take off!