Thursday, April 24, 2014

Springtime for Interns

Leveraging interns is one of the cheapest ways for your organization to get work done and possibly find a new full-time employee in the process. And for interns, it can provide great opportunities to explore different areas of business. With summer around the corner a fresh crop of recent graduates can offer many options to choose from. Creating effective process to make the most of an employer-intern relationship has benefits on both sides of the desk.

Define Objectives
What deliverables do you expect to see at the end of the internship? Are your expectations realistic? Skill sets and effort levels can vary among interns, and so can their work availability. Sometimes you will have to adjust your objectives as you go, but having a set of initial requirements prepared will allow you to focus on finding the right intern for the job and setting the right expectancies from a get go

While it may seem safer to set conservative goals, the opportunity for interns to take on more challenging projects can open up better learning opportunities and bring greater rewards for both parties.

Create a Structure
Structure relates to the projects the intern will undertake or participate in as well as specific work processes and associated mutual expectations. With regard to the first, depending on the time the intern is available, the internship can be structured as a series of smaller projects that may or may not roll into one major deliverable. This way the intern will not only have a chance to complete a number of different assignments, but will also get feedback for each one and a sense of accomplishment in the process. And, should the internship be interrupted, you will still have some work completed. Setting the work schedule and leveraging collaborative project management tools (many of which are available for free) for structuring work activities will help ensure that you remain on the same page without having to keep a constant check on your intern.

Don’t Forget the Human Factor
That being said, don’t relegate the intern to the “temporary employee corner”. Be there for him when he has questions. Introduce him to everyone and try to make him feel like a genuine member of the team. That will make your intern much more confident about approaching colleagues for help.

Remember, whether this is your intern’s first experience in the workplace or not – make sure it’s a fun one! Invite interns to the company outing, and let them chime in with a few suggestions of their own – they might just know the coolest place in town!

What are some of the most effective practices you use for managing your interns?

Rachel, Dan, & Dmitry

Monday, April 21, 2014

Bored at Work? Maybe the Lack of Purpose is to Blame?

Courtesy Dreamstime.com
Great article by Aaron Hurst: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/20/opinion/sunday/being-good-isnt-the-only-way-to-go.html?_r=0 highlights the phenomenon of the growing numbers of volunteers. Some of the root causes could extend beyond just doing "good" to having an opportunity to do something meaningful or purposeful at work. What's interesting, while the work itself (even for a non-profit organization) could be serving the greater good, it too can be boring & unsatisfying. Hurst talks about revisiting the design of the work activities to better meet employees' personal needs and objectives.

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Can CIOs retain their relevance in the new operating landscape?

"CIOs to Become In-House Brokers -- and That's a Good Thing" by Tom Kaneshige makes a good case for how it can be done. Kaneshige sees CIOs becoming true technology leaders, embracing the new cloud technologies instead of entrenching in the legacy apps maintenance grind.

Friday, April 11, 2014

Validating Your Brilliant Idea

Courtesy Graphicstock.com
As we mentioned in one of our earlier posts, having a brilliant idea is nice but it won't necessarily get you anywhere. For one thing, it's very unlikely that it's new. According to statistics, 149 other people around the world have exactly the same idea at exactly the same point in time (not always the same 149, obviously). And the chances are that a handful of them are attempting to implement it as we speak.

But, out of that handful, how many have actually taken the time to understand questions like: what problem is this idea going to solve? Whose lives are going to be changed if the idea is realized? And why should anybody care?

When that brilliant thought hits you, the first thing to do is validate it. This can be done in several ways. One of the most popular is to create several different landing pages that give a tempting glimpse of the idea with the aim of arousing your visitors' curiosity—prompting them to ask for more information. After that you can run an AdWords campaign for a few days or weeks to drive visitors to your landing pages. There are a number of resources that allow you to set everything up in a few hours. This approach relies on people actively searching online for specific terms relevant to your idea. By the number of searches, clicks, and visitor contact info you can gauge interest levels for whichever product or service you had in mind.

Be aware though that, as with almost everything, this approach has its disadvantages—not the least of which is driving visitors to a non-existing offering. Sometimes the idea is so innovative that people might not be able to properly verbalize their need or identify their problem. To use a familiar analogy: it's a bit like trying to explain the advantages of a smartphone to people who've never owned one. "Why do I need it," they ask, "I can check my emails on my computer… my old flip phone is perfect for phone calls." When it comes to ground-breaking ideas, this method fails big time … and equally provides little insight into the approaches most likely served by existing products. Finally, this sort of validation provides the sort of yes/no answers that don't allow you to change or evolve your thinking in response to feedback from your audience.

As a better alternative to validate your idea, nothing beats reaching out in person or by phone to interview relevant portions of your network. When you're engaged in active dialogue you get a much better understanding of your audience's needs, as well as whether and how your idea can help to address them. As you continue gathering feedback, your idea will become that much more specific, nuanced, relevant and actionable, to the point where it may bear only a vague resemblance to the original. But this way you've gained valuable insight, and maybe a handful of like-minded individuals who are simply dying for YOU to take the next step.

What are some of the other ways to validate ideas?

Rachel, Dan & Dmitry

Friday, April 4, 2014

How Do You Find a Perfect Chief Technology Officer?

Courtesy sxc.hu
If you're building a technology company, there is one person, alongside the CEO, who can make or break your organization. That person is the Chief Technology Officer. The CTO will ultimately be responsible for transforming the CEO's vision into reality and executing on the company vision.

That's not an easy job. The CTO must combine a keen insight into the company mission with a high level of cross-functional knowledge in order to provide a catalyst that can transform the vision into digital format. Great communication and leadership skills are essential in a person who is charged with securing, motivating, and managing the talent that will execute on that vision. Finally, the CTO must act as a bridge leveraging technology developments occurring outside the organization to create value on the inside. Few possess the talent to drive both, but the CTO who can drive innovation will ultimately be able to evolve technology solutions to meet client needs.

If you have a small team and limited access to resources, your technology co-founder will probably have to wear a lot of different hats as you grow and diversify your technology team to include software engineers, quality analysts, technical writers, development leads, usability experts, deployment, security, and others.

It is important to realize that technology co-founders don't always make great CTOs. It is therefore crucial to communicate closely and openly to make an objective assessment and identify the possible skill/experience gaps that might prevent your company from executing on the technology front. If you find that bringing in outside talent will increase the likelihood of success, it is important— when planning your next step—to consider the resources available and the timing of your decision in the context of your company goals. Don't get hanged up on the term. A CTO can play different rules depending on your business environment. There is nothing to say that COO or CIO cannot adopt areas of responsibility typically thought of as CTO domain.

Finding the Perfect CTO

Track record: Look for someone with experience leading a technology organization. Do they have a technology background? Are they an effective leader? Are they naturally inclined to keep abreast of evolving trends in technology?

Does it matter whether or not they've ever been an actual CTO? Not necessarily. If they possess the drive  and have the necessary background and personality traits they can become successful technology leaders in your organization. No one is a born CTO.

Domain knowledge: not a must, but experience in your space helps to reduce the learning curve and make the CTO more effective faster. It's also possible that someone from a different industry could bring valuable insights to enrich your vision.

Do they speak your language? Can you communicate effectively beyond buzzwords and technology hype to reach the value you're trying to create? If you choose to share your vision during the interview process, is the candidate able to understand it and critique it intelligently (apart from telling you that it's awesome)? Would they be willing to embrace it and work tirelessly to make it a reality?

As with any executive position, it is crucial to be as thorough as possible (link to blog posting) during the interview process.

What are the characteristics of a perfect CTO?

Rachel, Dmitry, Dan