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LIVE : LOVE : CODE : LEAD. PM-Zone.org : Kharkiv Community of Project Managers. Thomas Albers Director of Engineering Direct EDI http://www.directedi.com. About me Who I am : How did I get here Success Leadership Vision Building Teams and Products Process and Techniques
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PM-Zone.org : Kharkiv Community of Project Managers Thomas Albers Director of Engineering Direct EDI http://www.directedi.com
About me Who I am : How did I get here SuccessLeadership Vision Building Teams and Products Process and Techniques Managing change Outsourcing Senior Developers Managers / Architects Agenda
I am a work in progress. I make mistakes. I retain the right to retract my argument at any time in exchange for a better position. This is 34.263 years of very personal startup Internet/Saas experience and should not be taken or applied without deep thought and confidence. Sensitive ears warning: I #$%^& CURSE! [American Slang] Disclaimer
THESE ARE THE IDEAS THAT SHAPE MY EXISTENCE PEOPLE DISCIPLINE PASSION ENERGY STRENGTH VISION ALWAYS IMPROVING LOVE FUN DANCING
Born August 1976 • Father is a doctor • Mother was a police officer • Typical American childhood with discipline and people focus. • Blessed with great fortune. History
First programming and built business in 1989 • Medical Billing – Mac – Hypercard • United States Marine Corps. 1994 -1998 • Business Anywhere 1999-2001 • Voltdelta Resources 2001-2005 • MySpace.com 2005-2006 • New Momentum 2006-2009 • AMG-SIU/HMS 2009-2010 • StoryLeaders 2009- • Direct EDI 2010- Resume
DisciplineDiscipline Discipline • Aviation Jet Engine Mechanic • Process • Quality Assurance • Sacrifice • Humility – Confidence – No fear United States Marine Corps.
Management • Application – How To • Product Development • Customers First • Outsourcing • Programming • Travel Business Anywhere
Technology • Technology Transitioning • Integrations • Programming • Localization • Scale - Architecture MySpace.com
Web EDI • EDI Transformations • EDI Integrations • Community Organization Direct EDI
Live a simple life • Reduce complexity • We are ALL in sales • Elegant and Simple Solutions • Customers First • Passion • Love for People • Love for Software • Fall in Love often How I Live
Life : Work : Family • Is there a difference? • Treat everyone the same • Make them your family • Make life fun! • Do not sweat the small stuff! • Find people to do that for you! • Exercise • Healthy body = healthy Mind How I Live
Be Humble • Make amazing memories and use their power! • Carpe Diem • Horace - Seize the Day • And if not now, when? • Mi Vida Loca • My Crazy Life • Live happy, Live Lite, Live Free • A real Agile Life How I Live
Take Control Now • Make lots of small decisions • Start with a Customer • Start with a Vision • A customer has a problem… • Present the problem • LEAD the team to the solution • Do you believe in a “corporate strategy”? • Has it helped somehow in your career? How I Lead
Consensus Building • Push teams to own the problem • Self Organization • Long term planning is a waste of time • Estimates are guesses • Long term guesses compound poor over time • Most Decisions are temporary • Most Decisions should be temporary • Lead through experience • Meetings Suck • Be an example How I Manage
Tuesdays and Thursdays are code only days • Pomodoro Technique • 25 minutes uninterrupted : 5 minute break • Headphones • Hip hop : Drum and Bass : Ambient • Test Driven • Continuous Improvement • Always working Software How I Code
What books/articles influenced you as a professional? • Seven Habits of Highly Effective People • How to win friends and Influence People • From Good to Great • Mythical Man Month • Customer Centric Selling/Solution Selling • Too many programming books to name • People • Jason Fried • Mike Bosworth • Scott Hanselman • Joel Spolsky • Kris Williams • Scott Guthrie Influences
What tools did you use to manage your projects (planning, bug tracking, configuration management etc.)? • How do you communicate complex ideas to the team? • How do you inspire/drive innovation? Software Leadership
What were your last biggest failures and what did you study from them? • When you are the manager is it safe to come to you and say that your tasks is behind the schedule? • What do you usually do in this situation? Failure
How have you positioned engineering within the Organization? • How are teams organized within Engineering? • How is change introduced and controlled within the software development lifecycle? • How do you keep developers motivated throughout the project? • *** throughout the product lifecycle? Process & Techniques
How do you manage change within the application? Managing Change
What are the current trends in US about outsourcing? • Use more outsourcing or less then before? • What are the favorite directions: India, China, Eastern Europe etc.? • What is the most important keys – why did you select specific outsource team? • What are 3 most important things you expect from outsource team (to be cheap, transparent, fast, fit in deadline etc.) Outsourcing
What are the typical ranges for hourly/monthly rates you would expect from Ukrainian teams as a US customer? • How does that compare that to the local rates in US? • Are there any stereotypes about quality of code from Ukraine/Russia? • We often make fun of India code, but are there common complaints about our own code? • When working as a customer with a development team in Ukraine would you prefer to have a PM in Ukraine or in US? Why? Outsourcing
What are the key skills we are looking for in a Software Architect? • Where/how do you find great architects? • How do you interview for architects? Software Architects
Quality Assurance • What about QA people in the USA? • Are they valuable? • What are their preferable skills ?
About me Who I am : How did I get here SuccessLeadership Vision Building Teams and Products Process and Techniques Managing change Outsourcing Senior Developers Managers / Architects Summary
Lead with Passion and Vision Love Software, Family, Business Live and Love the Life you have built Continue to Learn, Always Stay Connected Call to Action
Skype : alberstt Email : tom.albers@directedi.com alberstt@gmail.com LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/albers Stay Connected