Se afișează postările cu eticheta Sunday article. Afișați toate postările
Se afișează postările cu eticheta Sunday article. Afișați toate postările

miercuri, 4 septembrie 2013

Diplome versus cunostinte

1 comment
Ministrul muncii, Mariana Campeanu, recomanda de curand tinerilor sa renunte la colectia de diplome si sa se orienteze spre un loc de munca. Sigur, nu interesul tinerilor pentru studiu e problema, ci concentrarea pe dobandirea diplomei in detrimentul cunostintelor. Unul dintre putinele lucruri intelepte pe care le-am auzit in ultima vreme venind dinspre guvern.
Nu uitati ca Romania are cei mai putini studenti la suta de mii de locuitori, aproape la jumatate fata de Polonia si cu o treime mai putin decat Bulgaria: 2020 fata de 4080, respectiv 3045. In sine, numarul de studenti trebuie sa creasca. Totul este sa nu fie pe modelul fabricilor de diplome de la universitatile private, care nasc mai putini competenti, dar toti cu diploma. Nu incape discutie, si la facultatile de stat sunt probleme, dar presiunea pe profit e mai mica.
Iar diplomele cu valoare sunt mai greu de obtinut (s-o tineti tot asa, domni profesori), prin urmare mai putin atractive pentru universitatile particulare. Nu voi uita relatarea unei discutii cu responsabilii unor universitati private care au fost invitati sa deschida o sectie legata de meseria de programator. Lucru evitat imediat, sub pretextul lipsei de interes al studentilor si a investitiilor. Daca despre investitie, nimeni nu poate spune ca nu trebuie sa fie una mai serioasa (trebuie calculatoare, echipamente si licente), despre interes nu cred ca e minim, uitandu-ma la lipsa de someri din industria IT. Dar IT se poate face si fara diploma, doar cu cunostint si  nu e nevoie, ca in sistemul bugetar de prezentarea unei diplome (neaparat pe hartie lucioasa, dar cu relevanta unei hartii igienice). Iar studiile de drept, economie si asistenta sociala pot fi facute la fara frecventa, cu diploma expediata frumos prin curier rapid.
Deci, dragii mei, studiati de dragul competentelor si nu de dragul diplomelor.
Imagine preluata de la http://complextm.blogspot.de/2010/08/diploma-degeaba.html 

Read More...

sâmbătă, 10 noiembrie 2012

Dupa Code Camp

5 comments
Azi am prezentat la CodeCamp. Iasi. Hotel Ramada. Sala Tokyo.
Aia in care incap de obicei 20 de persoane. La prezentarea Oanei Feidi au fost probabil 60. Eu cred ca am avut vreo 45-50. Destul incat sa nu fie aer si sa iasa o atmosfera incendiara...

Am vorbit despre cum sa ingrijesti o cariera pentru a creste mare si frumoasa.
Aici puteti vedea prezentarea in format prezi.


>
Hint: folositi  full screen (butonul din dreapta jos) pentru a vizualiza corect informatiile.

La inceputul celor 30 de minute, am inteles ca a fost nevoie sa fie o informatie utila, dar si o prezentare memorabila. Ei, a fost?

Read More...

duminică, 24 iunie 2012

Cele 21 de idei pentru cariera : IDEEA #6 : Oportunitati de dezvoltare

Leave a Comment
Dupa 2009, pentru romani a devenit mai relevant sa faca economii. Forbes publica in ianuarie 2012 un articol care mentiona ca “Numărul românilor dispuşi să pună bani deoparte înainte de a se împrumuta s-a dublat în ultimul an”. “Pe de altă parte, 75% dintre intervievaţi sunt stresaţi de ideea de credit şi cam tot în aceeaşi proporţie „resping dorinţe imediate care implică costuri mari”, adică ceea ce mai demult rezolvau prin credite rapide.”
In cariera am observat un trend similar. Nu e la aceeasi magnitudine, dar “job-hopperi” sunt mai putini. Deschideri agresive de companii, de asemenea. Imi aduc aminte de Banca Millenium, una din ultimele banci care si-a creat o retea de sucursale. Cum au facut? Bineinteles ca au recrutat de la concurenta si au avut mai putin timp sa isi creeze intern un sistem de cariere care sa propulseze oameni in pozitii cheie. Este o presupunere, bineinteles, dar imi aduc aminte ca in 2007-2008 erau foarte activi in recrutare, probabil ofereau si pachete salariale interesante pentru cei care doreau un pic mai mult.
Intre timp, bancile au devenit un jucator normal pe piata muncii, iar fluctuatia de personal s-a domolit. Au fost probabil si ceva disponibilizari punctuale, targeturile au fost mai greu de atins, iar salariile mari mai greu de facut. Am aflat de cineva care a renuntat la un job in banca pentru a preda la liceu. In fine, e momentul pentru o concluzie: trendul este ca un job sa fie pastrat pentru ceva mai mult timp, iar o miscare de cariera este considerata si din alte perspective decat salariul lunar.
In 2006, am avut o discutie cu seful meu de pe atunci, un neamt nascut in Romania si care a facut cariera in Germania, despre modul de raportare al romanilor la salariu: “Cu romanii nu poti discuta despre venitul annual!”, imi spunea el atunci. In momentul in care trendul pietei era sa alergi dupa cel mai bun salariu, nu puteai gandi la mai mult de unul sau doi ani. Si atunci pachetul annual nu mai era relevant.
In plus, oportunitatile de dezvoltare personala erau si mai putin luate in considerare. Nu exista o intelepciune a comunitatii care sa arate ca e mai bine sa poti acumula si altceva decat o minima constructie financiara. Criza, care nu s-a sfarsit, ci a devenit un mod de viata, a schimbat putin perspectiva.
Siguranta jobului, o perspectiva de dezvoltare multianuala, un set de practici in favoarea personalului au inceput sa fie parte din criteriile in alegerea unui job.
Ce idei as urmari eu cand imi aleg urmatorul job?


Toate cele de mai sus sunt relevante ca si oportunitati de dezvoltare. Unele favorizeaza accesul la invatare (care pentru mine este esential pentru o cariera de 35-40 de ani), altele favorizeaza dezvoltarea in plan financiar (o plata mai buna, un pachet de beneficii mai interesant), iar altele pur si simplu favorizeaza dezvoltarea in plan strict personal (familie, hobby). Nu am pretentia ca am alcatuit o lista exhaustiva. E doar ce as face acum pentru o analiza, in cazul in care mi-as dori o schimbare. Cei care ma cunosc stiu ca am schimbat cateva joburi deja, am fost pus in fata unor alegeri de tipul "mai multi bani vs mai mult apropiere de familie". Ideile sunt relevante pentru mine, dar nu cred ca sunt asa de unic incat sa nu puteti sa le folositi.

Sa nu uit, as vrea sa mai dezvolt 7 propozitii pe subiectul invatare: daca reusiti sa va imaginati un plan de cariera, ori daca aveti un vis (ideea numarul #1), atunci nu uitati sa legati miscarile pe care le faceti de acel vis. E foarte usor sa fiti momiti de catre o noua firma care apare pe piata si plateste 45% in plus fata de cat castigati pe moment. Si va lasa fix in acelasi punct in calatoria voastra si dupa urmatorii 4 ani. Ori va propune o schimbare dramatica in cariera (de exemplu, ati inceput sa faceti un job de manager de 6-9 luni, va place si primiti o oferta pentru o pozitie de expert). Deci, evaluati daca urmatoarea miscare in cariera va aduce experienta relevanta pentru cariera pe care v-ati propus-o.
Investitiile in educatie si accessul la tehnologie sunt egal importante in alegerile voastre. Cursurile sunt scumpe si e foarte util sa aveti un partener in investitiile respective. Un angajator care investeste in educatia voastra formala si informala va poate aduce un plus financiar important in momentul in care va aflati la un punct de cotitura, sa zicem ceva in jurul a 45 de ani, cu aproape 20 de ani de experienta. In acel moment, "scoala" prin care ati trecut va poate aduce cele cateva puncte in plus pe care le visati pentru a obtine un job mai bun. De asemenea, programele de training va pot deschide ochii asupra unor oportunitati pe care nu le-ati intui altfel.

Ganditi-va. Analizati. Decideti!
Totul pentru a fi in poza de mai jos :
image
Copyright: picsquare.com
Read More...

sâmbătă, 12 mai 2012

[Team velocity 4] Exit points

Leave a Comment
Copyright:http://enrichmentjournal.ag.org

A key factor in designing the team according to Highway Theory.



A well designed highway has the quality that you have a smooth exit, well signaled with kilometers ahead, for an easy transition. A well designed team has the quality that there is a smooth development of the team, as well as the smooth leave of a member. There is no wonder that some team member choose to leave for  various reasons. There are sophisticated reasons behind, that are hard to grasp, as well as easy to understand ones like "My wife wants to move to another city" or "I need to change the city, my kids go to college and I want to be close to them". It's hard to cope to objective reasons, even harder to cope with subjective ones. 

Doesn't matter now. The change will happen and it's always about how smooth the transition will be. As a manager, you will be measured according to this. As a team member, you will suffer the consequences, good or worse. The art of designing a smooth exit stays at manager, the art of implementation stays in the team.

For the knowledge workers, a critical aspect is to have a comprehensive knowledge transfer. Corporations are selling their know-how and pay the employees even to distribute their know-how within the organization. This is not a coincidence. The people are the keepers of the know-how, but it cannot be only one to have the knowledge. You need small communities, little circular relationships where people learn one from another. Thus, the knowledge transfer can be done continuously, having in mind the win-win principle. Putting two great guys and one novice in the community, you can stimulate the experienced ones to work together, as well as to foster the development of the beginner.
The other principle to have in mind is that knowledge is overlapping. The knowledge is nowadays like a niche. I am the expert in X or Y. This is not fun for the team member. Sorry to disappoint you again, the professional life cycle is about 40 years. The expertise is useful for about 15 to 20 years. Afterwards, the technology will change, maybe the niche will disappear, therefore it's highly appreciated when the team offers the opportunity to slightly extend your expertise. On one hand, the manager has the famous back-up solutions. On the other one, the employee intrinsic value on the market is increased. Everyone has something to win.
The overlapping of skills is not done by accident or just based on the interest of the team members. This shall be based on skill inventory for the team and the team's replacement strategy. In both cases, it's a little bit about strategy. To have the team skill inventory you need to understand almost perfectly the needs of the business and !!! the future of the business. You need some years to build the needed skills for the knowledge workers. You need some days to loose a key person. It is highly dependent on you the impact such a change (resignation, promotion) is having on your business. We will speak more about skills inventory, how this can be transformed in a powerful tool. But I will not speak about the future of your business. This is your job to understand and to deploy a meaningful replacement strategy. Overlapping knowledge, distributing tasks in such a way that you can share the work of the guy who leaves the team could be the secret of a smooth exit point.

The most powerful team is that where people feel free to remain. This should be no coincidence. When the team members can choose at any moment to leave or stay (and THEY STAY), this should be the best motivation strategy you ever imagined. Any exit point they will encounter will be skipped.

Stay tuned for the next ideas about exit points:
Communication of changes,, trusting in the people leaving the team, preparation of the future collaboration.


Read also

Team velocity [1] - the idea
Team velocity [2] - the relation between the mission of the team and its velocity
Team velocity [3] - The entry points on the highway
Team velocity [5] - The signs


Read More...

duminică, 6 mai 2012

Adapt or die

Leave a Comment
Professional life changed dramatically compared to 50 years ago. It changed even compared to 15 years ago. As I like to say, change is the only constant of our life.
One says that having a great competency in a niche it ensures you a good income and a quiet life. I am a fan of this idea. The only thing I could add is that a niche is not lasting more than a period, being that 10, 15 or 25 years. Sorry to disappoint you! You have a a professional life of about 40 to 45 years, with some good chances to continue at small scale after retirement.

Therefore, it is very likely to make some changes over the years. The changes might not be sophisticated or outside of your original education, but there will be changes.
Let's take marketing for an example. Marketing is a sound profession, with millions of practitioners all over the world. It started as we know it today in '70s and it evolved in the 45 years in various formats. According to wikipedia, it started with Relationship marketing / Relationship management and evolved continously, with at least 4 different approaches up to Social Media Marketing and all nice tricks all bloggers should know. As long social media has not been mainstream, one could live happily with the old mix of techniques. Nowadays, if you are targeting a good job you must take this news into consideration. According to a latest study by Michael Stelzner, Founder of Social Media Examiner, about 83% dintre marketers consider social media as highly important for their business.  Looking back in 2002, while I have been student at Computer Science, the biggest step forward in social media has been instant messaging via Yahoo and sharing a mood. Now this is already obsolete and Facebook is already a classical. Enough about it, I think I made my point with marketing ;-).

Let's take another example. It is called education. According to a study of US Department of Education, the number of enrolled students increased from round about 3 millions in the 50's to more than 15 millions in the early 90's. That is three times more. Even more, the ratio female vs. male changed dramatically, to supra-unitary one in the late 90's. The structure of jobs is very much different now, with lots of the jobs in manufacturing from US and western  countries shifted to BRIC or CIVETS countries. Education industry has to supply now a supplementary set of skills, some even not completely identified. In EU, there are defined programs for Lifelong Learning. According to EU official site, Launched in 2000, Grundtvig aims to provide adults with more ways to improve their knowledge and skills, facilitate their personal development and boost their employment prospects. It also helps to tackle problems associated with Europe’s ageing population.  States recognized that education provided at the age of 20 is not enough to secure a decent employment perspective.

Changes are more often and they are driven by a higher competition for resources and food. We are now 7 billions and the expectation is that this number will grow to 8.9 billion in 2050, increasing therefore by 47 per cent (study of UN). The main drivers of increase will be less developed areas. My assumption is that this will happen as the will be more available, therefore the natural increase of population will remain not penalized by diseases and starvation. Even more,
 
With a perspective of only 2 percent population increase in developed countries, a population active now significantly higher than the next generation and a long lasting crisis, the people of today will face an enormous challenge: how to cope with the change of perspective they grown with. Our parents had a rather predictable life, they retired around 58 with a nice pension and they could think about other things. In 10 to 20 years, it will become usual to retire around 65, nevertheless with a perspective of living at least 75 in average in Europe.

Adaption to new technologies, approaches and working style is the key to a successful professional life and a great work-life balance.
Plan to study each year something new.
Read news, understand the industry trends or get a career coach to guide you.
Invest some of your earnings in the personal development.
Look for a job that secures the access to new technologies or personal development programs.
Photo by Novelo

Add any other ingredient. Be prepared for changes!
Read More...

luni, 16 aprilie 2012

Interviu cu invingatorii - video

Leave a Comment


Articolul de duminica asta este un video cu cei care au participat cu succes la concursul de Freescale. Voi incerca interviuri similare cu castigatorii de la Hard&Soft SUCEAVA, in mai 2012.

PS: este mult mai greu sa publici un video, decat o postare scrisa. In urmatoarele 60 minute, va aparea si video-ul, de indata ce YouTube isi termina procesarea
Read More...

duminică, 1 aprilie 2012

Programatori, suntem niste rasfatati!

1 comment
[Update 17 Apr 2012] Am gasit articolul lui Joel Etheread, care sumarizeaza mai multe puncte de vedere care il sustin pe Ionel Condor.

[Update 2 Apr 2012] Dupa comentariul lui Ionel, am schimbat titlul. Mi se pare mult mai relevant acu. Si am trecut la persoana intai plural. Asa suntem noi, programatorii. In definitiv, titlul initial al blogului a fost despreprogramatori.blogspot.com

Ieri, dupa cum ati citit unii dintre voi deja, am participat la Open Agile Iasi. Unul dintre speakeri, Ionel Condor, a spus la un moment dat ca programatorii sunt rasfatati.
Corect, suntem niste rasfatati. Avem intotdeauna de ales intre 2-3 optiuni de job, suntem valorizati in companiile lor noastre, li  ni se vorbeste frumos si li ni se ofera posibilitati de dezvoltare personala. Toate bune si in regula pana aici.
Problemele pot aparea, asa cum au aparut pentru agentii imobiliari, atunci cand se opreste cresterea. Cine e pregatit sa creasca si pe vremuri in care industria nu creste? Cine poate sa se reinventeze atunci cand tehnologia in care este specialist nu se mai cauta in aceeasi masura? Cine poate sa lucreze, la 45 de ani, avand acelasi entuziasm ca si la 30?
Cumva, ma pot gandi la copiii cu parinti bogati, care au de toate in adolescenta si tinerete, iar apoi sunt nevoiti sa infrunte consecintele unui faliment. Nu toti revin la pozitia anterioara....
Read More...

duminică, 25 martie 2012

Ce te face unic in ochii celorlalti

Leave a Comment
Fiecare dintre noi este recunoscut pentru ceva anume. Unii sunt faimosi pentru ca spun bancuri bune, altii pentru ca au succes la femei, altele pentru ca au barbatii la degetul mic. Stiu pe cineva care e cunoscut pentru ca are un networking eficient.

In viata profesionala, este la fel. E important sa ai un diferentiator care sa te propulseze in fata atunci cand esti in fata unei alegeri, cand cineva ar vrea sa iti ofere un job, o oportunitate de colaborare.
Am avut mai multe momente in viata mea profesionala cand am considerat ca am avut noroc. De la o vreme, am inceput sa cred ca norocul a fost ajutat de anumite caracteristic personale. Fiecare dintre cei care citesc articolul acesta poate sa gaseasca in experienta personala o situatie in care a avut de castigat sau de pierdut in mod aproape inexplicabil. Parerea mea este ca majoritatea acestor situatiii au fost hotarate de efectul personal, cel care scoate un om din multime, care face diferenta in momente hotaratoare.

Am citit de curand un articol pe Harvard Business Review care sugereaza ca nu are rost sa te concentrezi pe imbunatatirea aspectelor in care nu excelezi, ci mai degraba sa lucrezi la ceea ce ai deja bun sau foarte bun. Intr-o lume in continua transforamare ("adapt or die"), cei care au una sau mai multe competente la care sunt in fata majoritatii, vor gasi nisa care sa ii plateasca. O marca personala aduce cu sine o piata personala. Intrebarea care trebuie pusa in acest context este "Piata personala are destui clienti platitori care sa imi asigure nevoile?". Daca raspunsul la aceasta din urma intrebare este afirmativ, atunci veniturile vor fi probabil multumitoare, iar satisfactia personala rezonabila.

Ce se intampla cand se schimba cerintele pietei? In aceste momente, marca personala nu este de ajuns. Structura cererii se schimba, poate fi cazul in care nisa ta devine mainstream, iar tu devii un star. Sau. cazul opus, cererea se apropie de zero, iar tu trebuie sa te reprofilezi rapid.
Un lucru pe care l-as recomanda oricui este sa fie atent la cerintele pietei si sa urmareasca persoane cu un pic de viziune. Daca ar fi sa dau un exemplu, ar fi blogul Balonului Imobiliar. Aici au fost postate pareri despre o posibila criza, ce probleme incumba o crestere accelerata a unui sector si asa mai departe. Daca as fi fost agent imobiliar, as fi urmarit cu atentie ce poate urma si mi-as fi pus ceva bani deoparte. In plus, as fi incercat sa inteleg care ar fi competentele cerute pentru urmatoarea perioada si m-as fi specializat (spun asta cu mintea de acum) pe gasirea de chiriasi in loc de vanzarea de terenuri. Marca mea personala ar fi suferit un pic de schimbare in competente, dar as fi fost cunoscut mai apoi ca un tip usor adaptabil la situatii dificile.

Deci, pentru a fi cautat, e util sa fii perceput drept unic.
Scrie care sunt cele 3 lucruri pe care crezi ca le apreciaza ceilalti la tine. Mai apoi, incearca sa discuti cu 2-3 persoane de incredere despre presupunerile tale. Daca acestea se confirma, mergi mai departe si verifica acestea cu cel putin 3-4 persoane care nu te cunosc foarte bine. Mai departe, daca obtii si alte confirmari, lucreaza pe subiectele respective.
In schimb, daca ceea ce presupui tu este diferit de felul in care esti perceput, pregateste-te sa investighezi mai in detaliu ce se intampla. Despre asta, intr-o alta duminica.
Read More...

duminică, 11 martie 2012

Doua tabere sau o echipa?

Leave a Comment
[ARTICOLUL DE DUMINICA]


E de acum un truism faptul ca "seful" si "subordonatul" se plaseaza psihic in tabere opuse. E mult de povestit despre cauzele acestei confruntari perpetue si nu e timpul, nici locul sa aprofundez respectivele cauze.
Dar as vrea sa scriu despre consecinte si alternative la aceasta stare de fapt. Exista efecte vizibile si altele mai putin vizibile, dar ambele categorii fac viata noastra mai complicata.

De exemplu, cel mai vizibil efect este lipsa de incredere in seful direct, respectiv in cel care iti raporteaza. In momentul in care nu am incredere in seful meu, imi voi petrece o multime de ore analizand deciziile lui, construind alternative si sunt mai putin concentrat la obiectivul meu. Sa nu ma intelegeti gresit, unul dintre principiile mele este "challenge everything", drept pentru care eu cred ca seful nu are dreptate pentru ca este sef. Doar ca e bine sa aiba de cele mai multe ori dreptate, altfel sa vina altul in locul lui. Prin urmare, daca alegerea persoanei in functia respectiva este potrivita, imi place sa am incredere in deciziile lui si sa ma pot concentra pe bucatica mea de treaba. In sens invers, imi place sa am incredere in cei din echipa mea. Imi place sa le spun ce avem de facut si sa stiu ca lucrurile se vor face asa cum am stabilit impreuna. Imi place sa stiu ca cei care sunt in echipa fac cea mai buna treaba de care sunt in stare si nu trebuie controlati pentru a obtine rezultatul asta. Daca nu exista incredere, seful se ocupa cu controlul in loc sa se ocupe cu deciziile. Se ocupa cu verificarea muncii, in loc sa isi faca treaba lui. Si asa mai departe...

Pasul urmator, mai putin vizibil, dar mai distructiv, este implementarea teoriei conspiratiei. Obiectivul sefului este sa ne sape initiativele, sa nu ne dea ce ni se cuvin si sa ne plateasca cat mai prost. Or fi si din astia, dar atunci mai bine schimbati locul de munca. Toate cele scrise mai sus, ca si consecinte se impletesc cu lipsa de implicare in ceea ce este de facut zi de zi, lucru care scade dramatic productivitatea angajatilor. Din moment ce seful are ca obiectiv sa ma șunteze,  eu de ce m-aș agita prea mult?

In alta situatie, lipsa de incredere in sef da nastere comportamentului de tip daca eram eu in locul lui sau al ei... Oricare ar fi decizia sau planul de implementat, nu are efectul scontat. Fiecare pas este supra-analizat si implementarea lasa de dorit, ca oricum idiotul habar nu are ce e facut. Aș putea să continui, cred ca vă inchipuiți cam ce mai urmează. E interesant să observ că există diferențe majore de comportament când unii dintre aceste persoane sunt promovate într-un rol similar.


In schimb, am observat ca noile paradigme de management - determinate de viteza de schimbare a pietelor si a cresterii numarului lucratorilor de tip knowledge-worker (conform lui Peter Drucker) -spre crearea unei singure tabere. Eu cred ca sunt cateva motive simple care întăresc această tendință. Primul este că oamenii educati își pun mai multe intrebări si răspund mai greu la strategii de tip pentru că așa am zis eu. Ei isi doresc să participe la decizii, să fie intrebați care e părerea lor in legătură cu schimbările majore din viața companiei si a echipei din care fac parte. Pe de altă parte, companiile au nevoie ca angajatii să ia decizii pe care să și le asume mai apoi. Aprobările pe subiecte majore sunt importante, dar pe subiecte de zi cu zi aprobările șefului incurcă organizația. Specialiștii tehnici trebuie sa ia decizii de implementare pe care cei din vânzări nu are rost sa le verifice.

Organizațiile se aplatizează din acelasi motiv, pentru a creste eficienta. Prin urmare, responsabilitatile se impart mai multora.
Rolul sefului nu mai este de a conduce, in acceptiunea clasică, ci mai degrabă de a facilita progresul echipei. Robert K. Greenleaf a descris tipul acesta de management ca Servant Leader, bazat pe ideea ca A good leader must first be a good servant (un lider bun trebuie mai intai sa fie un servitor bun). Si asta pentru că o asemenea poziţie este importantă pentru ceea ce produce pentru alţii, nu doar pentru a da ordine si a fi autoritar. Gândind in modul acesta, e mult mai uşor să se unească cele 2 tabere, iar diferenţele de concept se aplatizează. Larry Spears enumera caracteristicile principale ale unui asemenea tip de leadership: capacitatea de a asculta, empatie, puterea de a vindeca relatii, probleme etc., constientizare, persuasiune, conceptualizare, viziune, constientizare, sustinere pentru ceilalti, angajament personal pentru a-i forma pe cei din jur si o dorinta naturală de a crea o comunitate in jurul său.

In software e foarte la modă să fii agile. Să împlinești nevoile clientului cât mai ușor, sa lucrezi in echipă si să iți asumi responsabilităti pentru client si pentru organizație.modele participative. Rolul de SCRUM master nu mai este sinonim cu cel de project manager, dată fiind teoria pe care se bazează acest concept. Oamenii isi aleg ce taskuri pot să facă, discută impreuna despre cum se poate ajunge la termenul si continutul de livrare, iar SCRUM masterul este cel care are rolul de a elimina obstacolele.
Alegerile oamenilor din echipe devin alegeri informate. In momentul in care există un angajament natural (in engleză, genuine commitment ) pentru a obtine succes in echipă, seful si subordonatii nu se mai agata de titluri, ci lucrează impreună. Conflictele sunt constructive, pe idei punctuale si nu generează consum nervos inutil.

Una dintre ideile vehiculate tot mai mult in anii din urmă este conceptul "manager as a coach".Managerul facilitează constientizarea, identificarea alternativelor si alegerea actiunilor, nu isi asuma decizia pentru orice pas si sustine subordonatul in dezvoltarea personală.

In final, diferenţa dintre un lider si un manager nu e majoră, dar se concretizează in cati colegi ar urma managerul atunci cand functia formală ar dispărea.


Surse pentru imagini: http://www.triplepundit.com, http://blog.commlabindia.com/
Read More...

sâmbătă, 25 februarie 2012

11 intrebari pentru alegerea meseriei

Leave a Comment
[ARTICOLUL de DUMINICA]

McKinsey a publicat un articol despre neadaptarea lucratorilor la piata muncii.Il puteti citi aici
 Ideea de baza pe care o publica ei si o resimt eu (ma simt important cand rezonez cu cate o idee globala) este ca in orice recesiune apar joburi care nu se pot ocupa din lipsa calificarilor. Pe de alta parte, exista milioane de someri care nu isi pot gasi un job care sa le asigure existenta.
Trecem de la o secolul vitezei la secolul informatiei. De la Mass Production, la Mass Customization.
Prioritatile si  cererile de la un job se schimba in mod constant. E necesara experienta, in aceeasi masura in care e necesara adaptabilitatea.

Voi lista mai jos cateva intrebari utile pentru a va alege o meserie. Inteleg prin meserie un tip de ocupatie pe care sunteti gata sa il faceti macar 10 ani.

 1. Vreau sa raman in zona in care m-am nascut?
 2. Imi place sa invat?
 3. Am un vis pe care sa il implinesc?
 4. Am un model in viata? (Englezii il numesc role model)
 5. Vreau sa am independenta a deciziilor?
 6. Imi plac mult banii?
 7. Exista joburi destule in domeniul pe care mi l-am ales?
 8.Vreau notorietate?
 9. Am vreun prieten/cunostinta/ruda care sa imi explice cum e, de fapt, ce imi doresc eu?
10. Dau vina pe stat, de obicei, atunci cand nu merge ceva?
11. Cu ce esti diferit de ceilalti?

In martie-aprilie 2012, voi incepe o serie de prelegeri publice si gratuite pe aceeasi tema: alegerea unei meserii, obtinerea unui job relevant. In 2 saptamani voi anunta prima locatie si data prelegerii. Ramaneti pe aproape!
Read More...

duminică, 19 februarie 2012

Team velocity [3] - the entry points

Leave a Comment
Teams are for the members what are highways for the cars. It makes no sense to have highways unless there are cars to use it. There are different types of cars, different age and different journeys to take on the highway. There are as well different types of human beings, with different skills and interests, they have a huge range of interests and career perspectives.

I am speaking now about entry points and exit points. When designing a team, a manager should consider, besides others, two main aspects : how to integrate a new team member and how to cope with the leave of an experienced one. This things are critical in order to cope well with the change.

I will call entry points the way a new team member is introduced in the team. There are a few things to consider in order to enable the team member to act.
First, you need to choose a profile compatible with the values of the team. A little chemistry has to exist in order to have good start. Team members have to share the values and, ideally, to find common interests. The professional interactions are easier when people like each other, discuss about subject they are interested outside of business hours. Sharing same values makes less probable to have conflicts based on principles and the organizational culture is better adopted.
Having compatibility ensured, the manager should take care that the introduction is as smooth and fast as possible. The initial training phase has to be careful planned, disseminating the right amount of information, in a professional manner. No matter the seniority, there are information that has to be digested, methods to be adopted. Also, there is a good practice to increase gradually the complexity of the tasks. Assigning very complex tasks, from day 1, makes the saying "swim or die" really concrete and one might loose valuable team members that simply don't cope well with such environment. People do need success stories to be motivated and enjoy their time when do not need to overcome an initial failure.

Smooth interactions between team members improve performance. This is another important topic to consider when introducing a new team member. You should facilitate interactions: organize team meetings, some lunch or dinner together. Moderate dialogues, be there for the newbies and your effort will be rewarded soon.

Last , but not least, keep things in order. Good habits are to be shared. Information is replicable by anyone in the team and discipline is a value that should be shared by every team.

A good entry point on the highway ensures that you can speed up without other constraint than the power of the engine. A good entry point in a team ensures that each team member can live his career up to his maximum potential.



Read also:
                 Team velocity [1] - the idea
                 Team velocity [2] - the relation between the mission of the team and its velocity
Read More...

duminică, 12 februarie 2012

tools for tests

Leave a Comment
Test is fun, just think for a second.
I proud my self to be an software developer, much more than an manager. I had hard times to think about me as a tester. I know quite a lot of people who dis-consider this activity. I understand them well, as I like a lot how one colleague who systematically try to avoid running documented tests.
Best colleagues I had in the university hated to make tests for others. This is also ok.

But the most efficient software developers I met had a great method to test their work. And this is crucial to deliver from the first time a great result.
Countries like India, Romania, Vietnam and many others (I hope) deliver a lot of test activities. A quarter of these are worthless logs to match the demands for SPICE, CMMI, internal and external audits. One of the reasons is that the test activities do not look for bugs outside of code.
One says that the tailor measures even 7 times, before he cuts once.
Evaluate your toolchain and check whether you are ready to cut, that is to write your tests for developing your software.
I reckon a few criteria in this respect, whether the toolchain meets your needs for productivity.
How much training you need before starting to use the tool chain?
I hate the tools which I cannot use in basic form in maximum two days. If the toolchain is too complicated, than the creativity and knowledge work is concentrated in avoiding the traps of the tool instead of improving the product. It is a decision of the manager, who has a great impact in productivity.
One could say that sophisticated tools are more powerful. Yes, indeed. Might be. But I dont have the time to master such a tool in today's ever-changing environment.

How much out of total time of development is spent in setting up the mocks, stubs, in one word - to create the test environment?
 I don't know many software developers who enjoy setting up tools and scripts. These guys you can find in other IT areas, but not in development. On the other hand, it is highly expensive not to automatize this step and use the skills of developers in setting up the environment. If the tool is requiring this setup every time, than is not the right tool.
It is not necessary to be a sophisticated tool in order to meet your needs. Remember, all ingenious is simple (Thanks, Andrey for the saying).

I see as very productive tools like JUnit, CppUnit, Cute. I've also worked with RTR from IBM, a little bit of Tessy, as accredited tools. I have tried in my team some solutions based on Ruby, XML, C++ and my conclusion is that the best way is the one with less investment. Don't try to save the world. Save your team's time instead.

Is it possible to re-run the test cases in one year from now, with minimum effort?
Re-use is the buzz word these days. I would love to reuse the tests, not only the code.


Who can maintain the environment?
Do I need specialist to make things working? Do I have to pay a company to make this special setup?
This is a question to be answered for projects lasting more than 6 months.

What do I need?
It is often the case when engineers give up to their geek impulse and adopt a fancy and expensive tool, without the need of its power. It's like buying a BMW 745d for commuting to next city, when you earn 30% of its value in one year.
Having a good tool, without a big investment is the biggest benefit.

How confident am I in the test approach?
All customers will speak highly about you when you deliver just minor patches, instead of big design updates. Testing is one key aspect to care about when you plan a new product.

Please comment these thoughts and add your approach.
Read More...

duminică, 5 februarie 2012

Team velocity [2] - the mission influences the velocity of the team

Leave a Comment
 As we have spoke last week, I come again to this subject of team velocity.
This week, more about the relation between the team's mission and velocity of the team members.

You may know that each team suppose to have a mission,  a reason to exist. Some teams are designed to generate new products. Some to run extended projects. Others to do average jobs. Depending on this mission, my opinion is that teams have already different velocities. A team to deliver constantly innovation will certainly have a higher velocity than the one responsible to maintain a plant.
Each team can ensure a broader on limited development path for its team members, without being a better or worse team. A better team is the one who can ensure a great development for a team member, without the need to change roles to often. The team itself can be organized in a way that knowledge is constantly exchanged, new challenges are introduced gradually and experiences are created in order to deliver better the results expected.
Let's take one example: John Smith is an excellent developer, mastering Linux kernel development. The team of John is a small team of 7, working for various platforms. Now, it is introduced Android and there is another good developer (Peter Horn) who has some experience already in porting Android. Of course, Android is based on Linux. What option does it have the team manager? One would be to put Peter in charge and give him some support from a junior developer. Another one to put John in the same position. I would put both in this task and give them complementary tasks. This way, John can increase his experience in Android and avoid some of the traps of porting *nix operating systems. On the other hand, Peter has a fairly good partner and could deliver fast, learn something new and satisfy one of the experts' needs: belonging to an exclusive group.

Team manager has the duty to adjust the velocity of each team member, in order to cope with continuous changes in the business development. Some team members may complain in certain situations and might be the need to change this speed. Other times, the velocity of the team might hinder the individual development. If there is a great talent, some alternatives has to be provided. For the normal persons, it has to be assessed if there is the need for backup immediately or the risk of fluctuation is limited. Discussing often with the team members about their perceived development needs is decreasing the demotivation and gives the manager the opportunity to cope with fluctuation risk. Additionally, he can make internal changes to optimize the results and facilitate the thrive of team members.

Senior team members, even they might be high on the development scale, still expect a progress. The challenge is to find this way.
Some of them look for new challenges in the technical field, other need to make a change to a managerial position, others would like to take more responsibility for an internal research project. There are many items that are perceived as progress and this are regarded differently by each of the team members. The more you can understand what moves ahead the team member, more you can adjust the setup of the team.

Managers have also to communicate their expectations and intentions in the setup of the team. The colleagues have the chance to choose if this enough for them or they need to make a change. They are still committed to the team, but they are showing their unhappiness. Might be contradictory, nevertheless the results are timely delivered and the transition to other team is made smoothly.

The adjustment of roles cannot be easily done. It's always a challenge.
Please remember an older post about choosing to be the "boss", if you think is to complicated.
Read More...

duminică, 22 ianuarie 2012

Necesitatea metodelor in dezvoltarea de software

1 comment

Unul dintre hobby-urile mele este sa gatesc (nu, blogul ala nu e al meu). Fac asta din cand in cand, nu destul de des sa pot sa va invit la masa, dar destul incat sa repet retetele de cateva ori.

Inainte de Anul Nou obisnuiesc sa fac cornulete impreuna cu fiul meu. El se distreaza, eu ma bucur de o companie grozava in timp ce imi practic una dintre pasiuni. Zis si facut! Doar ca am observat ca nu imi ies bine cornulete in ceea ce priveste forma. Nu seamana neam cu cele facute de o patiserie sau cele pe care le pot gasi in magazin. La gust sunt bune, dar nu ma descurc sa le fac la fel de bune ca mama.
M-am intrebat ce imi lipseste ca sa am succes. In principiu, sa fii barbat si sa gatesti iti ofera ceva prilej de conversatie cu prietenii, o mancare pe gustul tau (daca reusesti sa te descurci pana acolo) si un pic de apreciere din partea doamnelor (vedem ce putem face cu asta mai tarziu). Dar eu imi doresc in continuare sa imi iasa beton cornuletele.

Intre doua pahare de bere (de!, barbatii au si alte pasiuni in afara de gatit), am inceput sa analizez ce nu merge. Am descoperit ca nu aveam un design prea bun. Foaia de aluat avea o forma neregulata, iar grosimea nu era uniforma. Nici implementarea nu era prea uniforma. Adica taiam bucati mai mici sau mai mari, cornuletele aveau volume diverse si aratau foarte eterogen.  Si ma gandeam cat de important ar fi fost sa am o metoda de a le face foarte asemanatoare. De fapt, sa pot prezice cum vor arata si cat vor fi de mari sau de mici.

Apoi, din deformatie profesionala, mi-am dat seama ca un anume fel de a face lucrurile (a se citi metode) ajuta in predictibilitatea rezultatului. Bineinteles, exista doua componente in a face prajituri. Gustul si aspectul. Gustul este influentat de oameni in mod diferit, dar forma poate fi usor reprodusa. In mod normal, prajiturile gustoase, dar cu un aspect neregulat nu au aceeasi vandabilitate ca si cele foarte aspectuoase.

In consecinta, am tras o concluzie pentru mine: o organizatie care isi defineste metode de dezvoltare pe baza experientelor anterioare isi maximizeaza sansele de a produce software de calitate. Motivul principal este ca oamenii pot pune la lucru creativitatea si inovatia, pe fondul unei performante constante asigurate de o metoda. In final, un proces de dezvoltare, fie el clasic sau agile arata maturitatea unei organizatii si sustine performanta. Altfel, produsele vor fi inegale, la fel ca si cornuletele mele.

Mai jos am adaugat si o caricatura celebra referitoare la dezvoltarea de produse software.
Read More...

miercuri, 18 ianuarie 2012

Idei din sport pentru managementul echipelor

Leave a Comment


Articolul de fata a fost inspirat de intalnirea, dupa mai mult de 15 ani cu antrenorul de handbal care mi-a marcat copilaria. Intalnirea a fost prilejuita de un eveniment de business, o sesiune de training unde domnul Petru Ghervan a vorbit despre experienta sa in managentul echipelor (a condus diverse echipe la toate grupele de varsta in ultimii 20 de ani), leadership, sport si importanta lui. Organizata sub forma unei serii de intrebari si raspunsuri, discutia de mai bine de o ora si jumatate a avut in sala ceva mai mult de 20 de manageri si a fost foarte interesanta.

Am aflat, de exemplu, ca mai mult de 75% din rata de succes in sport este conditionata de talentul innascut. Prin urmare, este cruciala etapa de selectie si felul in care sunt purtate primele antrenamente. Ca o paralela, in managementul echipelor, este esential modul in care sunt selectati membrii echipelor la interviu, printr-o selectie corecta a skill-urilor celor angati maximizandu-se potentialul de performanta al echipei. Aceasta idee este importanta mai ales in echipele cu mai multe pozitii de junior, unde nu se poate urmari in principiu un CV de succes, realizari in proiecte, ci mai degraba potential si potrivirea abilitatilor personale cu pozitia curenta.

Cam acestea despre intrarea in echipa, sa trecem la ce este important pentru functionarea echipei. In sport, dar nu numai. Lucrurile importante sunt delimitate si de asa numitele conditii limitatoare (in engleza, boundary conditions): buget, istorie, socios, factori de decizie.  Echipele normale nu se pot forma dupa modelul Real Madrid, unde nu exista probleme de buget, nu au un singur decident atotputenic (cum e acum cazul celor de la Manchester City) si asa mai departe. De obicei, performanta si raportul performanta - cost este dat de stabilitatea echipei de management, conceptul de training si felul in care sunt promovati cei care intra in echipa. Din nou o comparatie cu echipele, mai ales cele tehnice. De obicei, nu pot fi concentrati in aceeasi echipa doar cei mai buni, resursele aflate la dispozitie nu sunt nelimitate (nu pot fi oferite cele mai mari salarii, nu avem tot timpul din lume pentru a efectua recrutarea) si cu siguranta nu exista doar un singur factor de decizie pentru a fi convins de justetea deciziilor. Depinde de managerul echipei sa identifice, sa decida cum va integra un nou membru al echipei, cum va acoperi golurile de cunostinte, cum va desena traseul profesional spre urmatoarea pozitie, pentru a avea intotdeauna lucrurile sub control. Alftel, poate ajunge usor la situatia in care s-a aflat Steaua Bucuresti in perioada 2007-2011 : mai mult de 100 de jucatori in patru ani si doar un singur trofeu castigat in decurs de 6 ani. Cu toate acestea, bugetul cheltuit nu a fost de neglijat.

Integrarea corecta si usoara este sustinuta de o cultura incluziva, unde greselile sunt permise atunci cand sunt comise cu cele mai bune intentii. Hiper-competitivitatea distruge spiritul de echipa si nu exista o predictie clara daca poate creste performanta.

Am mai discutat si despre stiluri de joc. Barcelona joaca tiki-taka, alte echipe au un stil mai atletic. Echipa de handbal de la Suceava abordeaza un tip de joc rapid, bazat pe mult efort si atitudine in joc. Acest stil nu se potriveste sau nu este iubit de toti jucatorii, iar unii dintre cei care au jucat in aceasta echipa au preferat o alta echipa, cu un stil de joc diferit.  Mai mult, aceasta echipa nu a fost una de staruri. Doar portarul era mai cunoscut, jucand in echipa nationala. Efortul fizic si atitudinea in joc sunt lucrurile de baza in joc si le asigura constant succesul. In aceasta combinatie, antrenorul este starul echipei, dupa cum am mai scris intr-un post anterior.
Si continuand paralela, e posibil ca anumiti membri ai echipei sa fie excelenti atunci cand sunt evaluati ca nefacand parte din nici o echipa. Dar in echipa voastra sa nu se potriveasca. Managerul este responsabil sa realizeze daca se intampla asta si sa reactioneze. Oamenii isi dezvolta noi capabilitati, invata lucruri noi si chiar adopta moduri noi de a face lucrurile. Asta se intampla numai cand ii cunosti foarte bine si poti facilita asta. O intelegere foarte buna a nevoilor si dorintelor celor din echipa dau sanssa managerului de a reactiona bine in situatii complicate, de a oferi motivatiile corecte si a avea o echipa loiala.

Jocul primeste - da inapoi  este influentat in sport si de managementul contractelor. Cum sunt prelungite contractele, cat de mare este marirea salariului si asa mai departe. Cand sa lasi un jucator liber de contract sau cand sa il acorzi transferul. De ce un individ excelent nu mai este parte dintr-o echipa performanta.
E la fel si cu celelalte echipe. Toti membrii echipei ar trebui sa se dezvolte, Acest lucru aduce beneficii imediate in performanta echipei, insa poate avea un efect de bumerang atunci cand o crestere sustinuta motiveaza o promovare in afara echipei. Luati asta in considerare si pregatiti o strategie de promovare si inlocuire. Sustineti performanta si oferiti-i colegului informatiile necesare pentru a fi promovat. Lucrati in a-l pregati pentru mutare, daca simtiti ca are nevoie. Construiti o relatie pentru a primi si oferi informatii, in acelasi timp cu atingerea obiectivelor.

Echipele sunt asemanatoare, fie ca sunt echipe de sportivi sau de business.

Alte articole pe aceeasi tema:

In romana

programator si fotbalist

Din nou despre sport si echipe


In engleza:

Software Developer and Football Player

Sports in business management

 

Read More...

duminică, 15 ianuarie 2012

Sport and personal development

1 comment
Personal development is a trendy topic these years. I put my two cents with this post. There are multiple authors, lots of wisdom and many things to choose from.
I learned during the years that being part of a sports team in your youth brings a lot of advantages that I could not find summarized elsewhere.
Health
First of all (no news, just old wisdom), you are a healthier person. Usually, having the training before 16 years gives more power, better muscles, better stamina that supports you during the complete lifetime. I expect that blood pressure, fat suppose to be in lower levels, not to mention the daily food habits.
The health I consider to be just the surface. On top of this you learn a lot of soft skills that can make you stand out of the crowd.
Self discipline
Sports without discipline is nothing. All coaches will push to have the discipline implemented in their teams. Performance is most of the times built on discipline. Even when speaking about average Joe, that could not made the step to great performance, he was trained to respect a certain schedule, to work hard and push his limits.
Team work
My article is basically triggered by the sports where you play with the ball. I cannot imagine a great team where you are allowed to play by yourself. Messi is a greater star in the team working environment imagined by Barcelona. Individuals are melted in the teamwork vessel, without melting their personality. Having this soft skill trained in your youth, you are better able to integrate in bigger teams, support others and defeat the hipercompetitivity deamon.
Decision making
Coming back to ball playing, you need to make decisions in quarters of seconds. Of course, you are not all the time in this position, there are certain tactics to be played, but the decisions are made on the field. Even tactics are chosen on the field, depending on your opponent's play. In training, you learn a lot about how to behave on the field (schemes, tricks). This is a resemblance to long term strategy. You have prepared several scenarios and you play by them, doing less preparation during the game.

The sportsmen have a limited time to make their career. Usually, they end up their career by the age of 35. This is the age when most of the managers starts their star period, when the senior engineers become seniors and so on. Of course, a good career planning for sportsmen starts at the age of 15 or earlier, when others don't care too much about what they suppose to do. Being exposed early enough to this small game, makes people think a little bit in advance about the career choices they have to do. It's not much, it might be even not noticed, but it develops a certain internal paradigm and people act according to behaviors that cannot be explained.
I encourage everyone to do some sports in the youth. It might be of greater value for personal life than you might imagine.

Read More...

joi, 22 decembrie 2011

The highway to success

Leave a Comment
Teams are built in various environments. These environment matters as long as you build a project team. But you can control how the team integrates in the environment. I will speak about some items that are important in order to keep a certain group working like a team. Team have to refresh themselves, to adjust the progress and the results.
Let's characterize a team with the equation of a highway. I don't know all, but I consider the following items as important:

Team velocity - speed of progressing inside the team as average
Team map (where are the entry points and where are the exit points)
Entry points (how do you integrate a new team member)
Exit points (how team members leave your team)
Team acceleration (how quick you can increase the performance in short time for short term)

These are a few items I will speak about in 2012.

Stay tuned`!
Read More...

duminică, 11 decembrie 2011

Sports in business management

Leave a Comment
As I wrote some days ago, I had the pleasure to meet my former coach during a business event.
He was invited to speak about sports, about the management of the handball teams he managed during last 20 years, leadership and so on. This has been organized like a Q&A session, having about 25 managers in the room.
I learned that in sports round about 75% of the success is conditioned about the inborn skills. Therefore, it is very important how it is made selection and the first training sessions. As a parallel, in team management, having the right guys on-board since the beginning, we maximize the chances of a successful team. This is particularly true for junior positions, where there is no successful track of achievements to be presented during an interview

Having this entry point secured, we discussed about what is important for a team (in sports, but not only). This is given by some boundary conditions (budget, history, "socios", other stake holders). We are not always in the position of Real Madrid, where budget is not an issue, we are not in the position of Manchester City (having one all mighty owner) and so on. Usually, the performance and ration performance vs cost is given by stability in management, concepts of training and promotion in the first team. I am making again a comparison with technical teams. You cannot get the ultimately best persons in the team, resources you can spend are limited and you don't have a single stakeholder to convince. Therefore, it is up to you, the team manager, to identify how to integrate a new team member, how to cover the gaps in terms of knowledge, to imagine a path to next level, in order to keep things under control. Otherwise, you might reach the situation of  Steaua Bucharest, who had more than 100 players in 4 years and only one trophy won in 6 years.

Usually, this is supported by an inclusive team culture, where mistakes are allowed if they were done based on good will. Hiper competition is ruining the team spirit and there is no prediction to indicate the level of performance for next level.


The other thing we spoke about, somehow related to culture is the style of playing. Barcelona is playing tiki-taka, other teams play more athletic styles. This team my coach spoke about is using a speedy type of playing, based on a lot of effort and very bold attitude. This concept does not fit to everyone, so there were players who wanted a transfer to a team which they felt more convenient. In addition, only the goal keeper has been a little star. The rest of the play is based on team effort and they are successful together. Actually, as wrote in another post, the coach has been the star.

To continue the parallel, you might get excellent employees in your team that simply don't fit. This is up to you to realize and react. People develop other skills, learn new topics and might even adhere to new ways of doing things. But this happens only when you know all very good. A good understanding of their needs and wishes gives you the chance to quickly react in turmoils, motivate them with right incentives and have a loyal team.

This giving and receiving game is also influenced, in sports, by the contract management. How soon the contract is extended, how is the salary increased or not. When a certain player is simply let to move to another team. Why excellent individuals are not allowed to be part of the team.

It's the same with the rest of the teams. All the team members are supposed to grow. This is an immediate benefit, but comes with the boomerang effect that a sustained growth will make him be promoted outside of your team. Think about this and prepare a replacement strategy. Give him the information that you are working to allow him move up, if the case. Build an open relationship, so you are able to get information and give targets in the same time.

About fluctuation, performance and team management, in the next Sunday article : Highway to performance.
PS:  I am giving lots of examples from the sports which use the ball, as these is easier to understand.
Read More...

joi, 2 iunie 2011

Din nou despre sport si echipe

Leave a Comment


Talent.
&
Echipa.
&
Stiluri de joc.
&
Motivatie.
=
REZULTATE.

Din nou, o postare in formatul caracteristic.
Nu poti sa disconsideri, in orice afacere te-ai afla, influenta majora a talentului in rezultatele unei echipe. Am auzit si chiar am aplicat, din pacate, formule simpliste in care un om poate fi inlocuit de alt om in orice pozitie a echipei. Sau, ca doua proiecte sunt similare.

In opinia mea, orice echipa incepe macar cu un talent care se extrage din multimea oamenilor. Orice proiect de succes, orice idee trebuie sustinuta de o suma de talente care este egala sau mai mare decat 1.
Managementul talentului reprezinta o suita intreaga de teorii. Cum sa il atragi (de ce sa intre un om deosebit in echipa ta?), cum sa il dezvolti (fiecare talent, chiar si cele mai mari, trebuie slefuite), cum sa il motivezi (de ce sa imi pun tot talentul in echipa ta?) si cum sa il tii conectat la echipa respectiva (este talentat, deci e foarte posibil sa fie destui care sa il remarce si sa incerce sa il coopteze in echipa lor). Nu am citit destul pentru a teoretiza, dar cred ca orice afacere (mai mica sau mai mare) trebuie sa aiba grija de talentele pe care le atrage. Acum voi face si paralela cu sportul. Un tip talentat poate fi baza unei echipe de succes. Voi da un exemplu fumat, dar sugestiv: Gheorghe Hagi. A fost baza echipei din 1994. Pare sa fi fost un succes.

Dar un tip talentat nu este de ajuns. Este necesara o echipa in jurul lui. O echipa unita, care sa lucreze in aceeasi directie. Ce s-ar intampla daca echipa din jurul lui nu ar sustine talentul respectiv? Probabil ce s-a intamplat la Dinamo anul trecut (in 2010-2011). O echipa care l-a continut pe unul din cei mai buni jucatori din campionat (Torje), care a avut unul din cele mai bune atacuri, nu a reusit sa incheie mai sus de locul 6. Indeajuns de prost pentru a fi catalogat ca un esec. In schimb, Otelul Galati, o echipa fara vedete deosebite in teren, cu doua talente in zona management (Marius Stan) si antrenorat (Dorinel Munteanu) a reusit, contrar tuturor asteptarilor, sa devina campioana. Echipa conteaza. Echipa acopera imperfectiunile fiecaruia. Echipa ajuta sa mergi mai departe cand esti obosit, sau demotivat sau nu stii ce sa faci.

Nu exista o reteta a echipei. Conteaza cine este in echipa. O sa numesc asta stiluri de joc. Exista echipe formate in jurul unui singur om, care se prabusesc atunci cand acesta nu mai are energia de a duce echipa mai departe. Exista echipe ce sunt formate si raman pe loc. Performeaza foarte bine, au rezultate. Dar ii gasesti in acelasi format si peste 3 ani. Asta inseamna ca roluri si performanta. Exista echipe in care oamenii se completeaza si se dezvolta unii pe altii. Echipele acestea apar ca un fractal. Acestea dezvolta interior motivatia de a progresa.

Motivatia poate face de multe ori diferenta intre o echipa medie si o echipa extraordinara. Daca fiecare membru stie de ce face ceea ce face si ca impreuna gasesc o motivatie de a realiza un proiect sau business, atunci e o echipa de vis. Managerul unei asemenea echipe nu are nevoie sa verifice in detaliu. Nu ii este frica si nu are nevoie sa isi acopere spatele. Motivatia este acolo. Oamenii au succes si intra in cercul vicios pozitiv. Produc REZULTATE la rand.

Am citit de curand despre succesul Barcelonei cu LaMasia. The Economist a publicat un articol despre successul lor. Este tradus si in romana de Money Express. Ei vorbesc despre ideea de echipa si modul in care acest lucru este educat de la cea mai frageda varsta.

Enjoy!
Read More...