Behavioural competencies

• Analytics
• Independent
• Determined
• Professional
• Studious
• Imaginative

Email practices

When working as a consultant it is crucial to adapt good email practices. These include:

• No spelling mistakes.
• No grammar mistakes.
• No abbreviations such as (ASAP).
• Keep it as short and to the point as possible.
• Address the receiver correctly
• Sign off professionally on the email.

Meetings

In order to have effective meetings it is important to:

• selective invitees
• goals/objectives
• agenda
• Holding preliminary meetings

Keeping control

• timeboxing
• scope creep/ cover the point with trello
• making decisions
• minutes/ROD

Best practices for a consultant

• Dedicated space
• dress appropriately
• have a routine
• tools to be keep focused
• good internet
• be kind to yourself

Prioritisation

Making sure the deadlines are organised according to the time available to do it. Importance vs Urgency: Urgency is something which is given the highest priority, and importance is something which is important but doesn’t need to be done immediately.

Time management

• Time boxing – Allocating a specified amount of time to perform a certain task. Measuring and recording – spending time
• 2 minute rule – Spending a maximum of 2 minutes of any given task.
• Pareto principle – This rule is one of the most helpful concepts for life and time management

Task management

The process of managing a task diaries lifecycle. Planning, tracking and reporting

• Ubiquitous capture – The method of capturing information. For example, To do lists, Trelo board note taking.

• Granularity of tasks – The actions you would take to complete the task, the priority is set from the top to bottom of the list. More time is spent on the actions of the beginning of the list.

Communication 1

Effective communication in the workplace is essential. You should be able to get your point across clearly and concisely. You MUST be aware of other people’s technical ability when speaking with them. If they are not tech savy it is important to communicate in a way that they will understand. Communication principles: Beginning of the message defines the outcome, Delivery affects the message, Communication is a two way street, The real message is the message received not the message intended

Rapport

Building rapport with your co workers is essential within the workplace. It will help in:

• Developing mutual trust and friendship
• Establish a good interpersonal relationship

Communication barriers

Their can be many barriers that may affect communication. These are:

• Cultural
• Physical
• Geographical
• Organisational
• Personal

4 levels of listening

There are 4 levels of listening. In order to be a better communicator, it is essential to try to always be using deep listening. The 4 stages are as follows:

1. Cosmetic
2. Conversational
3. Active
4. Deep

Why we listen?

1. When listening to somebody they are more likely to listen to you
2. Helps to connect with other people, and in turn builds rapport
3. Listening helps in getting to the end goal of “yes”
4. Rather than spotlight being on you it is on them

How we listen?

1. Genuine listening needs to be practised.
2. Listen for what is not being said.

Why is it so hard to listen?

1. In todays world there are so many distractions, especially in our minds
2. Having a clear mind can improve the ability to listen
3. You MUST listen to yourself first.

Active listening

Active listening can be split into 2 subtopics these are stated below:

Non-verbal listening

• Smiling – Smiling at the person talking to you
• Eye contact – making eye contact with the person talking to you.
• Posture – Sitting with correct posture. NOT slouched over.
• Mirroring – Mirroring the speakers body language.
• Distraction – Not becoming distracted and staying focused on the speaker.

###Verbal listening

• Positive reinforcement – Using phrases such as “yeah” or “ok” to let the speaker know you are following
• Remembering – Remembering certain things such as the speakers name or previous things discussed.
• Questioning – Asking questions to the speaker about certain things they may have said
• Reflection – reflecting on anything that the speaker may have said. Reflecting on the discussion.

Questioning

• Open questions – Questions that allow you to expand on whatever is being asked. No definitive answer.
• Closed questions – Questions that have a definitive answer such as a yes or no question

Communication 2

Objective: Understanding situations and reacting appropriately.

Causes of conflict

• Miscommunication
• Different goals or priorities
• Stress
• Resource limitations
• Personality clash
• Styles of thinking and working
• Difference in values, beliefs and opinions

Nullifiers – value harmony, build positive relationships, don’t want to hurt feelings, stabilise team dynamics

Seekers – eager to engage in disagreements, directness, honesty, loss of patience in others, doesn’t mind destabilising teams

Handling situations

Take time to understand the situation. Listen to their view before reacting. Don’t respond with a definitive standpoint too quickly Know your audience. Are they a know it all? Or are they close minded? Knowing this should change the way that you deal with them Ask other for their perspective. Gain viewpoints from outside of the bubble. Compromise find a resolution that may satisfy both parties. Its fine to capitulate, it’s not a battle.

Tips on handling situations

• Stay calm
• Listen – understand their perspective, don’t assume
• Treat them with respect
• Don’t push blame
• Take responsibility – you may be wrong
• Adjust body language/tone of voice to best suit the situation

Neuro-linguistic programming

NLP is the practice of understanding how people organise their thinking, feeling, language and behaviour to produce the results they do. NLP is also used for personal development and for success in business A key element of NLP is that we form our unique internal mental maps of the world as a product of the way we filter and perceive information absorbed through our five senses from the world around us Shape your reality using these techniques. “learning the language of your own mind”

How is NLP Beneficial

• Think more clearly
• Communicate more effectively with others
• Manage your thoughts, moods and behaviour effectively
• Medical benefits

NLP in the workplace

• Problems are usually internal – work experiences are related to the individual rather than the workplace
• Studying language patterns to tailor communication methods – Building workplace relationships, influencing the way other people think.
• Managing emotions – control your reaction towards negative events, stress, anger.

Cognitive biases

The mind is an operating system. It has multiple processes always running in the background. It can’t always work perfectly. There are hidden flaws, backdoors and hacks that people can use to access our minds and subsequently our ways of working.

Exploiting bias in the workplace

• Reactance – by telling people they are able to say no will make them more likely to say yes.
• Reciprocity – be the first to give: the feeling of obligation to give when you receive. Personalised and unexpected
• Door in the face – forcing people to refuse a large request increases the likelihood of agreeing to a second, smaller request.
• Likability – give compliments and build cooperation
• The bystander effect – people look to others to determine their own actions

Actions within the workplace

• Don’t stereotype
• Be open to ideas outside of your existing beliefs
• Stay level headed and treat people with respect
• It isn’t personal, the way people act in pressured environments isn’t often a true representation of themselves.
• Create an environment that thrives on reciprocity.

Interview skills

Why should you care?

• First impressions to their employer

• Good interview questions

• What project would I be working on?

• How many people on the team?

• What roles make up the team and how would you want me to fit into that?

• What can I expect to do in my day to day role?

• How would I be onboarded to understand the systems you use?

• What tech stack do you have?

• Major challenges with the team?

• What kind of social/team building activities do you do here?

STAR

• Situation – set the scene
• Task – describe the purpose
• Action – Explain what you did
• Result – Share the outcome
• Always show passion – Have energy, show pride in what you do.
• Typical questions – TMAY, Strengths/weaknesses, off the wall, why are you interested in this role/career, technical knowledge.
• Stories – Rehearse 4-5 broad stories, STAR method

Elevator pitch is practical for many reasons

• Shows you know what you’re talking about
• Makes meeting people less awkward
• Makes you confident

Power words

• Successfully
• Energized
• Enthusiastic
• Interested
• Love
• Motivated
• Priority
• Win

Example of introducing myself

After successfully completing my degree voluntarily attended the Finnish military where I spent one year in the urban warfare regiment. The thought of going out of my comfort zone and into a completely different culture motivated me to not only improve my physical fitness, but also to brush up on my language skills and communication. After returning to London I worked in the construction I was employed in the construction industry for around 6 months. The long physical hours motivated me to pursue a different career path, I wanted to find something that I was interested in and something that I had a passion for. After conducting research into different suitable career paths I came across Sparta global. The thought of becoming a dev ops engineer inspired me as It required little to no coding experience. Upon joining the course my passion for tech has been energised. So far on this course I have touched on things like PyCharm, git and git hub. we have also delved into coding languages such as python where I wish to continue to grow my knowledge and expand my knowledge.

Things not to say

• What are the benefits
• How much holiday is there?
• What are the working hours?
• What type of progression can I expect?
• I don’t want to move
• This role is not for me
• I rather be in another role
• Always be positive

Presentation skills

Objectives:

• List the qualities of a good presenter
• Know how to structure presentations
• Using PowerPoint to build presentations
• Deliver a presentation
• Prepare for grading presentation.

CMADE

• Confidence – knowledge of the subject, preparation, planning and rehearsal
• Manner – Voice, appearance, movement
• Attitude – Appropriate, helpful
• Diligence – attention to detail, aim for perfection
• Enthusiasm- everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler

Structuring a presentation

• Introduction and background
• Outline
• Sections – lead-in, content (rule of 3), summary/review
• Conclusion
• Any questions
• Summary

If your presenting

• Understand your audience
• Keep it simple (KISS)
• Your slides are an aid, not your end product.
• Use notes
• Use diagrams/images

Project environment

Objectives

• Understaand the difference between BAU and project work.
• Have a clear understanding of a project lifecycle and the use of models

Project vs BAU

• Projects have a specific time frame in which they must be completed. They are unique.
• BAU (Business as usual) is just the day to day tasks of a company. Always on-going.

Product lifecycle

1. Initiation
2. Planning
3. Executing
4. Monitor and controlling
5. Closing

Triple constraints

• Time
• Quality
• Cost

The POPIT model aka the Holistic triangle

• People
• Organisation
• Process
• Information technology
• Technology

What are the benefits of a project being managed well?

Focusing on the skills related to the task Good time management so that the project can be completed on time. Ensuring that your 3 constraints are met. Meeting the deadline.

###Software development lifecycle

The project life cycle encompasses all the activities of the project, while the systems development lifecycle focuses

Agile development cycle

Agile environments include

• Plan > Do > Check
• Design > code > test
• Iteration

Each sub project can be tested separately and then all merged together once all features are working. SCRUM is the framework Agile is the methodology

Waterfall method

1. System requirements
2. Software requirements
3. Analysis
4. Program design
5. Coding
6. Testing
7. Operations

V model methodology

• Verification and validation

Using pseudo code to help communicate the code to people who may not understand. Scaffolding before writing your code. Management plans and SDLCs

What is a example of a DevOps role in agile?

Sitting in the middle between coders and upper management. Integrating all departments to make sure the project runs smoothly

Planning

Network diagrams provide a visual representation of the project workflow With the addition of time duration of each task, this can then be used to identify critical paths. While easier to read than Gantt, network diagrams are less detailed. Gantt charts display activities in a time frame. Each activity has a start date, duration, and end date. Gantt allows readers to see how activities relate to one another

A planning technique – Network diagrams

How to create a well thought out plan

1. Task breakdown
2. Estimation of durations (and cost)
3. Understand logic dependencies
4. Create network diagram
5. Gantt chart

Network diagrams allow us to see logical order of our activities and define our critical paths

The network diagram allows us to see the logcal order of our activities and to define a critital path. Critical path is the longest path.

Take the maximum one into account

The end nodes earliest start and latest start should always be the same. When working out the latest start work from right to left. Latest start of predecessor = latest start on present node – duration of predecessor Calculating latest start. Current node latest start – the predecessor’s duration

It is the longest path through the network-gives you a logical estimate on project length A critical path will be the one with zero free float.

Project environment

Attributes of mature teams

• Co-located – Working with different time zones
• Cross functional roles – DevOps is an example of cross functional teams
• Self-organising
• Accountable and empowered – success related to teams’ success
• Test and learn feedback loops

Common roles within a team

• BA- Business analyst
• PM- Project manager
• UX – User experience
• QA – Quality assurance
• DEV – developer

Projects are difficult

• Create a positive atmosphere
• Manage conflict intelligently
• Have open and clear communication
• Respect all of your peers
• Become trustworthy

Business cases

Important to carry out before a project to look at things such as potential risks. Its ok to continue a project that may have negative ROI in year 1 and 2 but a positive ROI in year 3. Prediction of the project Return on investment (ROI) Why is it so important to identify ROI

Risk

Any potential factors that may have a negative or positive effect on a project Why is it so important to identify risk early in any project? It is important to identify risks early on in a project so that if they do occur you are well prepared to handle these situations. In order to minimise or eliminate any risks.

Some sources of risk

• Technology
• Team
• Scope
• Business
• Economy
• Competition

Dealing with risk

• Avoidance
• Transfer
• Reduce
• Accept
• Exploit – hanging project scope to achieve beneficial outcome
• Share – Using third party companies to help cover risk factors such as security
• Enhance – upgrading current systems
• Ignore

Stake holders

Who are the stakeholders?

Anyone who can have an impact, positive or negative can potentially be a stakeholder. Stakeholders power/influence is important for example CEO has high power and customers have high importance.

Stakeholder attitudes

• Champions – Always fight
• Supporter - Supporters
• Neutral – No negative or positive
• Critic – People are critical
• Opponent - Competitors
• Blocker – Anybody that may be blocking a specific project.

Planning

Planning is the key to success in terms of project management Planning involves setting out a roadmap for the project by creating the following plans:

• Project plan
• Resource plan
• Financial plan
• Quality plan
• Acceptance plan
• Communications plan

If you fail to plan, you plan to fail