1 APEX Thursday Deep Dive Soft Skills Dietmar Aust Opal-Consulting, Köln www.opal-consulting.de
2 Soft Skills … Really? KEY for productivity!
No. 1 lacking skill 3 Effective Communication
Lacking soft skills => High RISK 4 You TRULY understand the importance of soft skills ... When you meet a person ... who doesn‘t have any
Lacking soft skills => High RISK 5
The Golden Rule of Business 6
7 Trust is Key How to build that?
8 #1 Don‘t make any assumptions you will be wrong!
Get feedback early and often 9 • Prototyping with APEX is easy and fast • Reduce risk in the first few iterations (2-4 weeks per iteration) • => Guided Prototyping! • Mainly „report+forms“ through wizards ... then fix what is „broken“ from usuability perspective
10 #2 Manage Expectations
11 #3 Be diligent and double-check your work
12 #4 Keep your promises => Plan accordingly!
#4 Keep your promises => Plan accordingly! 13 • We are overly optimistic, it always takes longer than anticipated • ½ / 2 / 3 rule: – Half the tasks – Twice the time (duration) – Three times the cost • PI – rule of estimation ... * 3.14
14 #5 The golden rule of lateness
#5 The golden rule of lateness 15 • Missing a deadline or milestone • Communicate early and in a proportionate timeframe Running late Communication before deadline 5 min 5 min 1 hr 1 hr 4 weeks 1 day
16 #6 Don‘t wing meetings => Come prepared!
Prepare Meeting Minutes in Advance! 17
18 #7 Take 100% responsibility
OWN your mistakes and suggest solutions 19 • I did something wrong? • Communicate openly ... admit the mistake ... • Don‘t try to cover it up • Make suggestions to fix it • => The result : TRUST
20 #8 Don‘t take things personally!
21 #9 Email 1,2,3 => Then CALL Find the right means
22 Most points are simple and obvious Common Sense != Common Practice
23 Change is the end result of all true learning ~ Leo Buscaglia
baby steps count! Getting Started 24 Focus! Don‘t chase two rabbits at the same time Chase 10 rabbits one after the other
Getting Started 25 Read books, take courses
Something to think about ... 26 • Whether you want to make a lot of money or not ... all of us spend a huge amount of time at work. • 16 waking hours • 8 work + 1 break + 1 travel => 10 hours • 62,5% of your waking hours is spent on work. • => it is CRAZY not to improve that • Just getting 1% better every day/week/month will have a HUGE impact 20/30/40yrs down the road
The Rules 27 1. Don‘t make assumptions 2. Manage Expectations 3. Be diligent and double-check your work 4. Keep your promises – plan accordingly 5. The golden rule of lateness 6. Don‘t wing meetings – come prepared 7. Take 100% responsibility 8. Don‘t take things personally 9. Email 1,2,3 => then CALL
Questions? 28 Email / Website Opal Consulting dietmar.aust@opal-consulting.de Zum Tilmeshof 11 www.opal-consulting.de 50859 Köln Germany
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