Alexandra Levit's Water Cooler Wisdom

Are You Proficient in These Marketable Skills?

Want to be marketable? Consider sharpening these in-demand competencies.

Computerworld’s 2016 Forecast study has identified the hottest skills for IT professionals. The top five include IT architecture (42 percent of IT hiring managers seek this skill), application development (40 percent), project management (39 percent), big data (36 percent), and business intelligence/analytics (34 percent). And business intelligence and app development rank #2 and #4 in the list of the most difficult skills to find. Let’s look at how current or would-be IT professionals can up their game in these areas.

IT Architecture

Learning how software and systems are built has never been easier. In a blog for Robert Half Technology, Jerry Clinesmith advised prospective architects to read and write as much code as possible. Through open source, you can find projects you’re interested in and study the code. “Look at how things are broken into classes, access patterns, and think through the overall structure of the project,” he said.

In terms of creating code from scratch, the only way to get better is through practice. “Take a single idea and rewrite it using different styles, languages, and techniques,” said Clinesmith. “Write it once using classes, another in a purely functional manner, etc. You’ll learn what works best and how to solve problems in different ways.”

Keep your knowledge of front-end, back-end, distributed systems, and storage fresh, and don’t forget to pow wow with other architects. “Attend local user groups and conferences, talk to other developers about what they’re working on,” suggested Clinesmith.

Application Development

No one will tell you that a degree in computer science or software engineering isn’t useful to acquire app dev skills. But it’s not absolutely necessary either. There are now a variety of courses and certifications available – online and offline – for different aspects of development. Mobile apps, obviously, are stratospheric at the moment and a great space to be in.

As with IT architecture, the best way to prove that you’re marketable as an application developer is to actually build something. Before you can, though, you’ll need a solid understanding of user interface design, multiple programming languages, and the business reasons companies build apps in the first place.

Once you’ve started a project, JavaWorld writer Andrew Oliver recommended writing your own documentation. “I can’t tell you how many times I’ve worked on a project, only to be pulled into an executive meeting because I wrote a document or presentation they saw and understood. What most managers want to know is: who can drive this to completion and won’t BS me about how it’s going?” You want to get accustomed to writing this way so that you’ll appeal to the people who make hiring decisions.

For the rest, check out QuickBase's Fast Track blog.

Millennial Views on Digital Transformation

In 2016, millennial IT professionals aren’t working in back offices. Increasingly, they are finding themselves in the CIO role. I chatted with IDC’s Christopher Chute, who is vice president of the SMB Cloud and Mobility Practice, about his recent studyassessing how millennial CIOs are investing in digital transformation. Here’s a recap of our conversation.

Chris, what does digital transformation mean to millennial CIOs? Cloud and mobile-enabled workplaces, or something else?

That’s a big part of it. Millennial-aged midmarket CIOs interpret the digital transformation (DX) end-state as a cloud and mobile-first workplace revolving around modernized endpoints or devices, Internet of Things enablement, and a streamlined back office that outsources functions like printing. Basically, they want to IT-ify all of their business processes where it makes sense.

What were the biggest “AH HAs?” Anything you weren’t expecting?

Across every spending priority, executive-level millennials are adopting cloud-based technologies more rapidly than baby boomer and Gen X CIOs. This generation is having a profound impact on the transition from client server to SaaS (software-as-a-service) on millions of individual devices including notebooks and phablets. However, millennial CIOs are at the helm of mature IT infrastructures in which onsite and cloud systems are both supported – a hybrid approach. Millennial CIOs are prioritizing Windows 10 alongside mobile computing, and for now, they are erring on the side of keeping critical data on in-house servers while moving applications to the cloud.

It was surprising to us that millennials had moved into these CIO roles so quickly. When thinking about their customers, IT suppliers really need to factor in the age dimension.

How are millennial CIOs saving their organizations money with the hybrid approach?

Millennials are ahead of the market curve because they’ve moved the back office into the cloud. Instead of the organization hiring more people, IT buys a set of cloud services that makes existing office managers in HR and finance more productive. Millennial CIOs are also vigilant about auditing the existing infrastructure to see what onsite capabilities are really needed.

For the rest of the interview, have a look at QuickBase's Fast Track blog.

For Greater Productivity, Try 52/17

Over five years ago, I wrote one of my first posts for the Fast Track blog. The article was about how I was able to hold down four paid jobs in addition to raising a toddler. Fast forward to today, when I am working on at least a dozen paid jobs and am responsible for an additional child. I’m still using the same system, and it’s still working.

One of the things I mentioned in the article is how I leave two hours per day for last minute tasks, essentially only scheduling enough productive work for six hours. During the remaining time, I manage administrative tasks, networking calls and gatherings, media interviews, research, and yes – downtime.

Introducing 52/17

Julia Gifford is a self-proclaimed Canadian born tech-enthusiast who currently works for the Draugiem Group. Gifford published an article on TheMuse.com detailing her company’s research study on employee work flow. Using time-tracking and productivity app DeskTime, Draugiem looked at the habits of the most productive employees and pinpointed the work style leading to an incredible ability to get things done.

What’s the strategy? It turns out I wasn’t so far off in my approach to six hours of productive work and two hours of non-productive work or breaks. Draugiem found that the most productive 10 percent of DeskTime users work for 52 minutes without stopping, break for 17 minutes, and then get back to the task at hand. They repeat this technique every hour.

If this sounds familiar, you might have heard of a similar approach called the Pomodoro Method. Cited by Gifford, the Pomodoro Technique is a time management method that uses a timer to break down work into intervals of focus and rest. These intervals are called “pomodoros” (or “tomatoes” in Italian), after those tomato-shaped kitchen timers.

Pomodoros are separated by short breaks for distractions, daydreaming, snacking, etc. It works by choosing a task to work on exclusively for 25 minutes, setting a timer, working on the task until the timer rings, and then taking a five minute break. After going through this cycle four times, you take a longer (about 15 minutes) break.

The Magic of the Creative Sprint

Why do methods like 52/17 and Pomodoro work so well? How can people who don’t even work a full day accomplish so much more than those who clock way more hours? Gifford wrote that the reason the top 10 percent of productive employees are able to get the most done during a comparatively short period of time is that every interval of working time is treated as a sprint. During the 52 minutes, they work with intense purpose, and then during the 17 minutes, they remove themselves completely from the task so that they can be fully focused and ready for the next sprint.

Human beings, apparently, are actually built to sprint. The body is not meant to sit for eight hours straight, so breaks on-the-hourimprove both productivity and health. The brain doesn’t love focusing for long periods either, and according to Gifford, concentration is like a muscle that needs to rest. Even if you’re a conscientious employee and love your work, doing it for hours on end will inevitably result in boredom and flagging attention. Psychologically and physically, being overworked is worse than being underworked.

For the rest of the piece, check out QuickBase's Fast Track blog.

New Job Preparedness Study Emphasizes the Importance of Integrity and Adaptability

The Career Advisory Board that I established by DeVry University recently released the fifth annual Job Preparedness Indicator survey. This year’s findings indicate hiring managers are receptive to candidates changing careers, especially if their previous experience can be applied to the new position; but above all else, integrity is the No. 1 trait that candidates should possess.

Our annual research surveys 500 hiring managers in the U.S. to identify gaps between job candidate attributes and the applicant traits for which hiring managers are seeking. These gaps are identified by assessing desirable skills that are least common among entry-level, mid-level, and senior-level candidates. Here are some of our key takeaways:

Do your research, especially for a career change

• Hiring managers are increasingly more willing to consider candidates changing industries, with 38 percent stating they were very likely to consider a career changer with the right skills. Eagerness to learn is an asset, as more than half of respondents want to hire people who show willingness to gain the right experience and further develop their skills.
• The top concerns cited in the survey about career changing candidates included a lack of industry experience and an inability to assimilate into the organizational culture. However, 60 percent of hiring managers noted that these candidates can improve their chances of serious consideration for employment by devising a concise and sensible explanation for the change.

Attitude is everything

• Interestingly, for the fifth consecutive year, hiring managers say attitude outranks skill – especially when it comes to personal ethics. This year, however, integrity was ranked the No. 1 most important trait for a jobseeker to possess at any level.
• Candidates should keep in mind that hiring managers are naturally skeptical. Job seekers should be prepared to share examples of themselves being authentic and transparent in the workplace.

Adaptability is key

• In today’s business environment, change and evolution are constant. Hiring managers want to see candidates demonstrate adaptability and flexibility to changing situations.
• Job seekers need to articulate how they have adapted to change, with positive outcomes resulting because of their adaptive nature.

Make a good impression

• Technology allows hiring managers and candidates to connect virtually; however, face-to-face interviews remains as the preferred interview method – meaning job candidates need to know how to make a connection and hone their interpersonal skills for in-person interviews.
• As 46 percent of hiring managers surveyed cited strong interviewing skills as an important trait, candidates need to engage the interviewer in the conversation and not just answer their questions.

For full study results, head over to CareerAdvisoryBoard.org.

 

Is Deep Learning the Future of AI?

Artificial intelligence has been in the news a lot lately, specifically related to machines’ ability to deep learn, or more closely mimic the actions of a human brain. In the near future, will a computer’s algorithms be able to do the project manager’s job as well as you can?

It started in 2011. Stanford professor Andrew Ng holed up at the Google X Lab at the company’s Silicon Valley headquarters and initiated a project dubbed “Google Brain.”

Google Brain encompassed a connected network of 16,000 computers programmed to mimic aspects of human brain activity by looking for recurring patterns on the Internet. In a period of three days, the Brain had successfully trained itself to recognize a cat based on 10 million digital images taken from YouTube videos.

Google Brain was an example of an artificial neural network, designed after the densely interconnected neurons of the human brain. Possessing about a million simulated neurons and a billion simulated connections, Google Brain was ten times larger than any deep neural network before it, and in the last few years, Ng has made networks that are ten times larger than the original Brain.

The Google Brain and its subsequent neural networks represent what many consider to be the new frontier of artificial intelligence – deep learning. Deep learning trains computers to recognize patterns in data and then classify and categorize them as a human brain could do instantaneously. At present, deep learning in the form of image and speech recognition is used in applications such as Facebook’s tagging feature and the iPhone’s Siri. AI experts are already working on computational linguistics applications that will allow machines to easily decipher the variety of human languages – both spoken and written.

Machines may elbow their way in…

The maturation of deep learning along with machines’ ability to perform more complex algorithms will be a powerful combination. Within the next five years, we could see computers undertaking the following project management functions:

• Defining the scope of a project
• Aligning with other business areas
• Analyzing risks
• Developing project schedules, timelines, and budgets
• Assigning tasks to the appropriate resources
• Implementing software and other technical components
• Documenting project progress
• Assessing project outcomes

For more about AI and deep learning, review the rest of the post at QuickBase's Fast Track blog.

Salary Trends for Project Managers and the Like

PMI’s 2015 Earning Power survey reveals that current project management compensation varies widely.

The Project Management Institute’s 2015 Earning Power report, which is based on a survey of more than 26,000 respondents in 34 countries, detailed 12-month salary trends among 15 demographic variables and shares important insights on roles ranging from entry-level project managers to senior executives.

Overall, most participants (72 percent) reported that their total compensation (including salary, bonus and other forms of compensation) increased over the 12 months prior to completing the salary survey, with over one-fourth (27 percent) of respondents reporting increases of at least 5 percent over that time period.

The median annualized salary recorded in this survey, across all countries, roles and experience levels was $81,000 (USD). Approximately 75 percent of respondents earned at least $53,689 (USD), and the upper 25 percent earned at least $110,000 (USD). However, median salary varied greatly depending on a number of key demographic factors including the following:

• Country of employment
• Number of years of experience in project management
• PMP® Certification Status
• Position
• Average size of projects managed, including average project budget and average project team size

Country of Employment

The median salary for someone in the project management profession varied widely from country to country. The country with the highest median salary ($130,000) was Switzerland, whereas the country with the lowest median salary was Egypt ($19,602).

Industries

Project managers in the pharmaceutical, agricultural, mining, consultation, aerospace, engineering, utility, government and IT industries were among the highest paid.

Experience

Although the total number of years of work experience did not appear to impact salary, the stronger correlation was with the number of years a person had worked within the project management profession. The most dramatic increase was seen in Singapore. The median salary ranged from $47,657 for those just starting out in the project management field to $131,972 for those who had been in the field for 20 years or more. This represented an increase of 177 percent from low to high experience in the field.

The difference in median salary was not nearly as striking in China, for example. For those with less than three years’ experience, the median salary was $21,073 compared with $29,178 for those practicing project management for 20 years or more.

Certification

The majority of participants in this study earned the PMP® certification.  Those with the certification were paid more than those without in virtually all of the countries. The largest differential was noted in South Africa where PMP holders had a median salary 47 percent higher than those without the certification.

In nearly all countries, median salary steadily increased with PMP tenure. In Taiwan and Saudi Arabia, the median salary of those who had been certified for 10 or more years was more than double those who had been certified for 5 years or fewer.

For the rest of the piece, check out QuickBase's Fast Track blog.

Why Spreadsheets Are Yesterday's News

On a recent Gartner webinar, research analyst Teresa Jones explained how the PPM solution market now offers dozens of effective tools to replace the ubiquitous spreadsheet.

In 1979, spreadsheets changed the world. VisiCalc (for “visible calculator”) was the first spreadsheet computer program for personal computers, originally released for the Apple II. According to Wikipedia, it’s often considered the application that turned the microcomputer from a hobby for computer enthusiasts into a serious business tool. VisiCalc sold over 700,000 copies in six years, and as many as 1 million copies over its history.

Over three decades later, the spreadsheet remains prevalent as a valued tool in the project manager’s toolbox even though its widespread use leads to as many problems as it solves. Due to duplicated information, arguments about whose data is most accurate and the challenges of distributed teams, fit-for-purpose tools are growing in appeal.

Jones offered guidance on some of the options available to project managers, and started with a bit of education on the PPM market itself.

Welcome to the PPM Age

Project Portfolio Management (PPM) is the centralized management of the processes, methods, and technologies used by project managers and project management offices (PMOs) to analyze and collectively manage current or proposed projects based on numerous key characteristics.

Within this discipline, however, you need to know exactly what you’re working on in order to identify the right tool. For example, Jones defined a “project” as a temporary endeavor designed to achieve a particular business outcome, a “portfolio” as a group of projects that are related in some way, and a “program” as a group of projects within a portfolio (CRM, etc.).

Selecting the Right PPM Solution

Before undertaking the selection process, it’s key to understand that PPM tools aren’t perfect. Jones cites several challenges, including that some tools can’t report the most useful information, and others are too complex or not complex enough. Some have inefficient cost models, while others have poor usability.

Given that there is no Holy Grail that will be all things to all organizations, PPM software selection begins with gaining a comprehensive understanding of your company’s requirements. Who in your organization will use the tool, and what do they need the tool to do? Jones said that PPM solutions provide a combination of actual work activities and reporting, but features differ.

A program manager, for instance, may need a tool with more strategic analysis capabilities, while a project manager will likely need a central dashboard. Usually, as the level of manager interaction with a tool goes up, the number of employees accessing the tool goes down.

For guiding questions on how to select the right post-spreadsheet tool, visit the QuickBase Fast Track blog.

Can IT Be All Things to All People?

It’s not easy to be an IT department in 2016, but is bimodal IT the answer? That depends on who you ask.

Just when enterprises were starting to figure out their IT infrastructures, along came a slew of connected digital technologies including cloud and mobile computing, big data, and agile development. Before, it was acceptable for constituents to wait a long time for IT to solve a problem. Suddenly, it wasn’t – and IT began to stress out big time. Their digital systems were moving much faster than their traditional ones, and the natives were getting restless.

What is Bimodal IT Anyway?

IT research firm Gartner recently came to the rescue with a potential solution called bimodal IT. Bimodal IT, according to Gartner, is the practice of managing two separate, coherent modes of IT delivery – one focused on stability (traditional IT services) and the other on agility (digital IT services). Mode 1 is traditional and sequential, emphasizing safety and accuracy. Mode 2 is exploratory and nonlinear, emphasizing agility and speed.

Argument For Bimodal IT

Peter Sondergaard, head of research for Gartner, had this to say about Gartner’s rationale: “CIOs need to respond to the cataclysmic technology shift within their own organizations. The IT organization can’t turn into a digital startup overnight and, besides, there’s a raft of business-critical responsibilities that it simply can’t (and absolutely should not) divest.”

“Bimodal IT allows the IT organization to respond to the digital divide within their organizations by operating in two modes that are comprehensive and coherent, but deeply different, while exploiting the benefits of both,” he added.

Bimodal IT is also, according to Gartner, a solution for the insidious and growing phenomenon known as shadow IT. If you haven’t heard the term, it’s essentially when individuals or teams in an enterprise do their own thing without the IT department’s official involvement or investment. This, said Gartner, results in integration and security problems.

Gartner has obviously hit on something here. In a survey done by the firm, 45 percent of CIOs currently have a second fast mode of operation. By 2017, Gartner predicts that 75 percent of IT organizations will have a bimodal capability.

For the argument against, check out QuickBase's Fast Track blog.