Back to School and Moving Beyond “Reading, Writing and Arithmetic” for success in today's global economy

With “Back to School” advertising in full swing, and August upon us, that can only mean one thing. Another school year is on the horizon.

It used to be that young people went to school, mastered the basics and moved on to college or technical school and then to a career. Not anymore.

The basics are no longer enough. Today's students must have at least a basic understanding of how things work on in today's global economy. They need it to understand the oil crisis, economic challenges facing our state and what it will take to be successful in the ever-changing global marketplace.

Automation Alley's Global Trade Mission program is a perfect example of the experience and knowledge students are gaining today that will make them that much more prepared for the world. My company, Lighthouse Consulting Partners, had the opportunity to work with several very bright students this past year in the Global Trade Mission program.

The Global Trade Mission (GTM) was launched as a county-specific answer to questions raised in 1998 by President Bill Clinton’s Export Council, where leading CEOs lamented regarding a lack of American high school students’ understanding of exporting and the current trade environment. As a result of those conversations, the Secretary of Commerce, in collaboration with business, trade and government leaders, developed the Virtual Trade Mission (VTM), a simulated trade mission focusing on the Big Emerging Markets (BEMs).

Approximately 100-150 students from across Southeast Michigan school districts were placed in teams of four and assumed Corporate Roles to help guide their research and are issued a Trade Challenge: to research, develop, and market a product for consumers in another country. These Challenge Teams develop and present their business plan to an Evaluator Panel for constructive feedback. Students who return to subsequent GTM events work to further their knowledge as Trade Analysts who assist and evaluate the Challenge Teams.

As a volunteer Business Coach, my staff and I worked side-by-side with students in developing their market plan. The Trade Challenges are the simulated business ventures that students complete at the GTM event. Challenges are developed in collaboration with regional trade, industry, and business experts to reflect the up-to-the-moment global business environment.

We were amazed at we saw and learned by the students we worked with. Not only were the kids happy to hear what we had to share, but they also demonstrated the kind of "thinking outside the box" that future employers will look for in top notch candidates.

Lighthouse Consulting Partners was proud to be a part of Automation Alley's tenth annual Global Trade Mission program. I encourage companies in the area to get involved in 2009 and students; tell your teachers you want to be part of the Global Trade Mission program in 2009.

That knowledge is "must have" for Michigan kids.

See us on the web at www.lighthouseconsultingpartners.com. We recently launched a new website. To learn more about the Global Trade Mission Program, contact Automation Alley at (248) 457-3215 or gtm@automationalley.com.

Undue Influence

As project managers and/or business analysts, we often find ourselves in a most uncomfortable position, that of trying to influence people over whom we have no official authority.

I remember back to my college days. As an undergrad, I majored in Marketing and Management. Many years have passed, but the one cardinal rule we were instructed to never break was “Never make anyone responsible for something over which they have no authority”. Now I look at the professions I have chosen only to find that this rule gets broken every day in corporate America. We always hang the PM or the BA out to dry when things go awry, in spite of the fact they had no authority to make anyone do anything differently.

So, since formal authority isn’t an option, we have to revert back to good old influence. It is a second best choice, but often it is all we’ve got. The next question is “Where can I get it?” The answer might surprise you, because there are lots of places.

I recently did some training for sales people who often face the same predicament that we do…trying to get someone to take an action that we want them to take. We’re all trying to sell, whether it be an idea or a product. This training called, Certified Sales Professional, referred to eight different ways we can influence people. I admit the overlap among the eight exists, but that does not detract from the power inherent in this knowledge.

Without further ado, here are the eight:

1. Consistency – people like it in their lives because we inherently don’t like change. Comfort is a good thing!
2. Authority – we all wish we had that.
3. Rapport – we like to deal with people with whom we have this...makes it a lot more fun.
4. Reason – we respond well when things make sense to us.
5. Reciprocity – we’re all a little guilty when someone gives us something and we don’t offer anything to them
6. Efficiency – people almost always enjoy finding the easy way to do things.
7. Social Evidence – it’s always fun to either keep up with or pass the Joneses.
8. Scarcity – if it is the only game in town, I want it.

The moral of the story is easy. Since we don’t have the formal authority to get folks to do as we say, then we are going to have to work hard to figure out one or many ways we can influence them to achieve the same results. As a PM or BA, what can you do to influence your peers. Try thinking about it from this perspective.

Did I say easy??

---- Mary Repetto, Partner at Lighthouse Consulting Partners, www.lighthouseconsultingpartners.com

IIBA Endorses Lighthouse Consulting Partners

We've been endorsed!

We recently received certification as an Endorsed Education Provider through the International Institute of Business Analysis (IIAB).

With this endorsement, several Lighthouse training program offerings meet criteria and requirements that are in alignment with the Business Analysis Body of Knowledge -- a collection of knowledge within the profession of Business Analysis that reflects current generally accepted practices. In addition, Lighthouse meets additional criteria in terms of course content, instruction criteria, and a process by which course participants can evaluate instructor performance, content and course quality.

"This endorsement is a dependable performance benchmark for our clients as it is based on a standard, internationally recognized business practice," noted Michelle Pallas, Managing Partner of Lighthouse Consulting Partners. "Organizations across a wide range of industries realize that Business Analysis is vital to the completion of their mission-critical business projects. As an endorsed education provider, our clients will gain value from training programs based on standards and practices for this industry.

About The International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA) -- The IIBA is the internationally recognized professional association serving the growing field of Business Analysis. The organization maintains standards for the practice of business analysis and for the certification of its practitioners in the following areas: requirements management, systems analysis, business analysis, requirements analysis, project management, and consulting. www.theiiba.org

About Lighthouse Consulting Partners -- Lighthouse Consulting Partners is a global provider of training solutions for organizations collaborating in a virtual environment and across geographical boundaries. The company’s programs and services help technical and operations departments manage relationships with internal customers, distributed and offshore resources, and vendor partners. Services range from hands-on coaching and consulting to best practice based workshops, specifically tailored so organizations in a range of industries can better translate business needs into valuable solutions. www.lighthouseconsultingpartners.com

Is There an Upside to Outsourcing?

Companies of all sizes, most notably IT developers and other technology organizations, find outsourcing as a way to cut costs, leverage expertise from a diverse talent pool and quickly gain competitive advantage. That’s a definite upside.

In fact, outsourcing has been considered by some in the IT industry as “the magical key to successful growth”.

What’s the Downside?
Outsourcing is not without controversy, especially in our region’s manufacturing arena, considering that relocation of operations overseas has proven to negatively impact regional employment and economic health.

The impact of outsourcing is played out in the political arena, with past legislation introduced by the Michigan Senate designed to discourage business outsourcing.

The Technology Sector
For technology providers, though, today’s companies are challenged to work “virtually” with the dramatic expansion of human capital disbursed through offshore operations, distributed teams, and remote locations.

It has been my professional mission to provide insight, education, and a feel for best practice techniques to prepare organizations for this virtual world.
Global companies with offshore operations face a unique set of complexity, risk, and communications challenges. The management of offshore and vendor relationships poses a unique set of challenges and the key is to develop and execute a realistic plan to manage these operations.

Top Considerations
Here are some of the top considerations to maximize that upside to outsourcing:
§ Lock the process down before outsourcing: Many times a customer will expect the service provider to ‘fix’ a broken process. This is a costly mistake. Make sure the process is efficient and internal roles are clear before beginning the transition to one or more vendors.
§ Identify the touch points: Detailing expectations surrounding the documents being exchanged between you and the outsourced vendors will clarify the work being performed by the service provider. Do not leave to chance the point where formal hand off of documents is transacted. Define the touch point and train the person in communications techniques that promote healthy vendor relations.
§ Implement a vendor governance system: Design measurement tracking and reporting that ties into a well structured communications plan. Set a tone for vendor performance. Hold the vendor to the contract and resist the urge to let some things slip because of a desire to avoid conflict.
§ Give help to succeed. Workforce environments are rapidly changing and the playing field is unrecognizable. Expect people to be uncomfortable with the outsourced relationship, especially if they are new to vendor management and working virtually. Many times the vendor is struggling internally with process and service quality issues. Help for both the vendor and the customer come from providing role clarity, enforcing standards and developing relationship skills.

----Michelle Pallas, Managing Partner at Lighthouse Consulting Partners, www.lighthouseconsultingpartners.com

“Make it Real” with a Usage Narrative

Usage Narratives aren’t really use cases – at least that is what I have been told by several Use Case authors. But they do have several of the Use Case benefits: They are from the user perspective, they show a scenario, they can uncover additional requirements, and they have a “happy path”. But I found them to be most useful in making technical team members put themselves in the shoes of the user: no technical terms, no “user” or “system” but real names of people and applications. So let me give you an example of a usage narrative describing the process of using my brand new iPhone to access the internet through Safari (true story).

…Gina was working extremely hard in her home office [my business partners may question the reality of this] when her 92 year old father walked in. Peter had an urgent need to find out where a particular bank was and their hours because the newspaper advertised they had the best CD rates for his retirement fund. Gina tried to get online quickly, but had problems with her new PC. She saw her iPhone charging by the PC and check out if she could connect that way. She touched her menu button and immediately the Safari icon showed up on the bottom of her desktop. When she touched the “Safari” icon it took her to the last search she did – checking a flight schedule while at the airport the other day. She touched the multi-page icon and then “New Page” to start a new search for her father. She realized that she could turn the iPhone so it could be more easily read in landscape (she didn’t have her reading glasses). Gina touched the search bar and it went to keyboard view. She quickly entered the banks name and touched the search engine icon on the bottom right corner. Success! She found the link to the bank and wrote down the information for her father…

Now if we were really using this usage narrative, what questions might it trigger to help uncover requirements? How might this help in understanding the various types of users? How might this usage narrative provide the reasons for using various product features? How about asking about response times (what does immediately mean)? How about thinking about the what-ifs – what if she timed out while waiting for the search and it went back to her password screen? Could it be used to show the current feature or the new and enhanced one?

So give it try. Next time you create a Use Case, “make it real” with a Usage Narrative. For more information, check out the book “Writing Effective Use Cases” by Alistair Cockburn.

----Eugenia (Gina) Schwalm, Managing Partner at Lighthouse Consulting Partners, www.lighthouseconsultingpartners.com

Manage your distributed team expectations – Remember, they are also stakeholders

We have all been there. Which side of this conversation were you on? Consider that moment when someone’s voice changes over the phone or there is that silence at an unusual time signaling your senses that this person is angry as they describe why they are upset. They say you are 2 days late on delivery and that is UNACCEPTABLE! You barely have a chance to say anything when they tell you it needs to be turned around right away. Fear of an outburst of emotions being around the corner you say you will try without giving any explanation. The last project you were on you could be up to 2 weeks late without any concerns since quality was the emphasis and was what was measured. Why is this project so different? Well, it is the first time I have to deal with someone across the ocean.

When teams are brought together, there are the typical cultural differences that can hinder communications. But for projects with teams distributed across time zones in various countries across the world, differences becomes magnified. One way to lessen the impact is to consider setting up a project climate that provides the team the boundaries to build their own project culture. A Project Orientation Package (POP) or Team Orientation Package (TOP) can help provide that. It provides boundaries for the team and sets expectations that can be clearly documented in the project management plan or documented in a standalone document. It should describe how we as a team will communicate, escalate, schedule meetings, access information, use collaboration tools, identify what to save or throw away, what is confidential or what can be shared, communicate information about each team member, information about each location, holidays, etc. But best of all, it tells each team member when they might get into trouble. No one likes the conversation above – especially if they really thought they were doing a good job and didn’t see it coming. Clearly define what is important for this project or team. What are our guiding principles? How can we help each other out? Do we know how late is too late, how much money spent is too much, how much change it too much. How much am I empowered to handle on my own and when do I escalate? Every culture or team member experience may put a different emphasis and threshold on the project factors (time, cost, scope, quality). Remember, you have to manage stakeholder expectations – and your team members are stakeholders too!

----Eugenia (Gina) Schwalm, Managing Partner at Lighthouse Consulting Partners, www.lighthouseconsultingpartners.com

Gathering Requirements and Negotiations: Process Similarities?

I was just putting a presentation together for the Michigan Council of Women in Technology (MCWT), www.mcwt.org , called “Negotiations for Amateurs”. As I was putting the presentation together, brushing up on my negotiations knowledge and recollecting my experiences I made this interesting connection. I am sure others probably have also, but I thought I would throw this out there to find out.

Negotiations has always been a key skill for business analysts. Requirement priorities – negotiate. More time needed for analysis – negotiate. Package requirements into releases – negotiate. I think you get the point. But as I reviewed the formal steps of negotiations and the key to making negotiations work, I seemed to find similarities between the steps in the negotiation process and those in gathering requirements. As I stress to my requirement workshop participants – focus on the why – the business reason or the need. Do not jump to solutions. But in negotiations the tendency is also to jump to solutions or to just state your position. The key to effective negotiations is that you also have to get to the why – the interests. If you don’t get to the interests then you are not giving much value to what you are negotiating for or giving each of you a chance for that win/win.

So learning negotiations can help a business analyst in many ways! You may want to check out the book “The Negotiation Fieldbook” by Grande Lum. Short read with some nice examples.

----Eugenia (Gina) Schwalm, Managing Partner at Lighthouse Consulting Partners, www.lighthouseconsultingpartners.com