May You Live in Interesting Times

The exponential rate of change and response to the virus, or lack thereof on some fronts, has created an environment of fear, uncertainty, and doubt. Over the past few weeks, I’ve had many socially-distanced discussions on measures to keep business moving forward and employees informed. Here’s a re-cap.

  • If you don’t have a plan that addresses all aspects of the organization, from classifying top customers by risk level to cash flow projections to potential opportunities in the current environment (think acquisitions of competitors, hiring from distressed industries like travel, or targeting industries going up in the current environment like mortgage brokers), do so.
  • When you have a plan, communicate it with the organization. We’re all overwhelmed with the 24/7 news cycle. People are craving answers and direction.
  • If there are actions you’re considering down the road when some triggering event happens, do it now. From employees on the bubble who need to be humanely let go or the customer whose account is overdue and needs a call, act. Don’t wait.
  • There are tons of articles on how to effectively work-from-home along with how to live well, find some and share with your crew.
  • With teams working remotely and social distancing, remember we are social creatures. Encourage teams to be connected throughout the day with Microsoft Team, Skype, or other platforms.
  • Encourage employees to work through this together. For example, in our company weekly newsletter, we have a new section. In this section, everyone is free to contribute thoughts around dealing with the current situation. Ideas range from tips on staying healthy to Audible’s free offering for kids under 18 to using Target curbside pickup and Amazon Fresh to get household essentials without human interaction.

Stay safe and if I can help you, please let me know.

standardMarch 23Tom SalonekLeadership

Executive Brief: Machine Learning, What You Need to Know Now

This Executive Brief highlights some prominent industries effectively using machine learning today, along with some guidelines for evaluating the potential usefulness of machine learning in your organization. Specifically, this Brief covers specific examples where machine learning is categorizing people or things, predicting likely outcomes, identifying new patterns, and detecting unexpected behaviors.

View the Executive Brief, Machine Learning, What You Need to Know Now.

standardJanuary 21Tom SalonekIT

Executive Brief: Finding and Retaining Stellar IT Employees

Retaining great employees also helps your bottom line. A study by the Center for American Progress found that “very highly paid jobs and those at the senior or executive levels tend to have disproportionately high turnover costs as a percentage of salary (up to 213 percent!).”1 Replacing highly paid people is expensive, not to mention the negative impact of turnover on production, training and employee morale.

How big of an issue is employee retention in the IT industry? Based on LinkedIn member data from 2017, there is a worldwide turnover rate of 10.9 percent; the tech sector (software, not hardware) showing the most volatility with 13.2 percent turnover rate.

What does this look like on a day-to-day basis in your IT workplace? Committed employees:  

  • Care deeply
  • Understand company goals
  • Support and embody company values
  • Feel challenged by their work
  • Use a broad range of skills
  • Practice autonomous problem solving and decision making
  • Take responsibility for whole processes
  • Receive clear and consistent feedback

To learn practical, implementable ideas for each of the above to up your game in hiring and retaining, read our Executive Brief: Finding and Retaining Stellar IT Employees.

standardNovember 21Tom SalonekIT

Executive Brief: The Pillars of Software Development Success

A study by PricewaterhouseCoopers, which reviewed 10,640 projects from 200 companies in 30 countries, found that only 2.5 percent of the companies successfully completed 100 percent of their projects. Another more recent study was slightly more upbeat, but far from great news. We’re referring to a 2017 report by the Project Management Institute (PMI), which found that 14 percent of IT projects fail and of the projects that didn’t fail outright:

31 percent didn’t meet their goals

43 percent exceeded the budget

49 percent were late

Intertech works with hundreds of companies every year on a wide range of software development projects. We’ve learned a lot about how to avoid these predictable project roadblocks. This Intertech Executive Brief shares our best thinking, and the thinking of recognized software development experts, to help you avoid these issues – as well as “bonus success tips” for your next software development project.

Click here to read Executive Brief: The Pillars of Software Development Success

standardNovember 14Tom SalonekIT