Secrets of the MALE shopper

The Metrosexual
The Maturiteen
The Dad
The Retrosexual

I gotta fell into the second categroy and may move to the third soon.

What Matters Most

Something on Corporate Values & Social Responsibility

Read it on the moring train, note down some takeaways here:

What key issues a company must address to become a socially responsible.

1. Start with Values, First you have to develop and build consensus and understanding around a clear set of values and operating principles. This should be in the hearts and minds of every employee.
2. Second, Commit from the top of the company.
3. Move to a more formal process of determining what structure, benchmarks, and measurements are needed to evaluate your progress toward achieving a set of goals based on your values.
4. Next, you need to think about how changes will happan operationally- who is responsible for what, where are the conflicts, challenges, roadblocks etc.

Turning Around Runaway Information Technoloy Projects

I came across this article on the train ride to the J Class on a Friday. Note down some takeaways here.

Recommedations with my translation 'N comments
1:Develop a recovery plan - External Consultant
2:Manage the scope - Cut features
3:Re-evaluate the project leadership - The required skill set, Strong leadership, people-management & comm skills. Sometimes it's really hard to find a qualified candidate.
4:Re-estimate the biz case and consider cancellation - Triage, as Microsoft guys may call.
5:Re-plan the project using proper and proven estimating methods. - This is Shit! Check it out:http://www.joelonsoftware.com/items/2006/11/10b.html
6:Manage Users' expectations - Don't Try this!! You may break the contract and lose a lot of money
7:Formulate an open communication plan - Tell everybody that we've screwed the job.
8:Break the remainder of project into small portions - This is hard! And this is tipically something said by someone who has never debugged, or some really lucky guys who have never met a bug in their whole life.
9:Deal with the people issues of the project team
- Lack of required skillsets: The famous silver bullet. Do you ask your programmers-to-be write code during an interview?
-Dismissal of members: Spec & clear comment lines
10: Incorporate corrective practices in the development process -
Be Cautious! Adapting new methodologies may even further slow you project down.
But it's good and essential to do Postmortem!

Reading Notes on Stealth Marketing

How to reach Consumers Surreptitously

Stealth Marketing represents the latest in a long line of marketers' attempts to get their brands noticed in a crowded marketplace by flying below the consumers' radar.

The initial msg can be conveyed in certain ways: physical; verbally; virtually or virally.

3 reasons bring Stealth Marketing to the table:

1. The growing criticism of the general advertising industry
2. Marketers are finding it more and more difficult to track down potential customers because audiences are more and more fragmented.
3. Other technological threats to traditional TV. eg. Video Gaming, IPTV.

Types of stealth Marketing

• Viral Marketing : "word of mouth" via a digital Platform
• Brand pushers are hired novice actors and actresses who approach unsuspecting people in real-life situations by personally slipping commercial messages in trendy bars, music stores, and tourist hot spots.
• celebrity marketing. Hire well known celebrities and let them unintentionally slip out information in public ocassions. Then major TV network becomes marketing platforms.
• bait-and-tease marketing
• marketing in video games
• marketing in pop and rap music

Let your team members feel hornored of Being a team member!

Some leadership skills can shine in daily routines.

Regular 1:1 Between Project Manager & Team Member
Regular Team Meeting (Staff Meeting & Biz Update Meeting)
Effective Meeting
Every Meeting got to have a pre-defined meeting agenda.
Meeting Attendence Must be on-time.Meeting Gate Keeper. Facilitator. Meeting Organizer.

Constructive Confrontation-Challenge Your Teammate to the edge

Team Building Activities
Regular Team Building Activities that focuses on binding the team members together. Not just simply entertainment!
eg. Voluntary work

Welcome Party
This could be a good ice-breaker for new comers. And you'll be able to have a snap-shot of a person's character during the welcome party.

Farewell Party

Lunch Meeting

Buddies
Assign a buddy for a new team member. A buddy could be a peer of the new team member or the new team member's mgr. This could accelerate the integration process of the new player.

Alumni Events
Regular Alumni Events could be a good chance for the team veterans to share experience with current team members and this is also a good chance for people to develop inter-personal relationship and buildup network. Alumni could also bring more resources for the benefit of future development of the team.

Internal Neural Network

External Portal Website (such as www.emlab.net)

Team Branding
A team must have a name. Through team branding, all of the team members can easily identify him/herself to be a team member. T-shirts with the team name on, name band printed in the team's template etc. Just keep it simple and identifiable.