End your meetings thoughtfully!

Do you complain about meetings being a waste of time since nothing useful comes out of them? Or about conversations that aren’t producing any results. Wondered why? On my train journey from London to Cambridge today, I was watching a video on ending the meetings the right way by Paul Axtrell published by Harvard Business Review 2015. Paul mentions that closure is one of the most important parts of a meeting design without which things can be left unclarified, unchallenged and/or uncommitted. It is a vital skill to deliberately close a meeting/conversation.

According to Deborah Tannen “Each person’s life is lived as a series of conversations” and meetings are a series of conversations too. In these conversations, we get an opportunity to clarify issues, set or get direction, and move forward with our objectives. Changing the conversation can alter our experience of life. Conversation matters and every conversation can be enhanced, ultimately creating impact. According to Paul, here are some of the points that are important for us to remember.

1. Meetings are a competitive advantage for every organization that masters them
2. If you call a meeting, you are responsible for the time and talent in the room. Treat them with respect
3. Even if you don’t organize a meeting, own the meetings you attend. You will see different things and participate differently

So what does each conversation require? Here are my notes from the video:

1. Setup – what and why – so that everyone knows the context, how to participate and understands the intended outcome. Think about

•    What does this group need to talk about?
•     What is the topic we need to talk about?
•     What is the best way to have the conversation?

2. Process – path to conduct the conversation. Steps to consider are

•     Here’s what I would like to do
•     What thoughts or questions do you have?
•     Is this clear? Does it make sense?
•     Is it worth doing?
•     Is there anything in the way of your supporting this?
•     Is there anything missing that would help?
•     If we address these items, will you align?

3. Closure – deliberately ensure that the group is aligned and ready to leave the conversation with awareness of the value created. If you feel like you are going through the same conversation with a group over and over again without any action, it is due to the improper closure. 5 steps to wrapping up each conversation

• Completion – Check whether everything has been said or asked? Else, you may have people repeating the same topic at different points of time or leaving the meeting misaligned/unclear.
• Alignment – Check whether everyone is OK with this decision? If someone isn’t OK you have to find out the reasons why and try to get him or her on board.
• Commitment – Commonly missed step about checking for next steps i.e. who is going to do what and by when. If missed nothing seems to move to action. Getting firm, clear commitments is the primary way to ensure progress between meetings.
• Value – Stating what you are taking away from the conversation. This can validate both the conversation and the individuals in it.
• Acknowledgment – Is there anyone who contributed to the conversation in a way that we need to acknowledge?

I know how I want my meetings to end from now. I am definitely going to start with spending the next couple of weeks on closing my meetings thoughtfully.

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PANCAKE anyone?

Have you heard about PANCAKE retrospective format? The name has nothing to do with pancakes. It is just an easy way to remember an agenda of retrospective categories. PANCAKE stands for Puzzles, Appreciations, News, Challenges, Aspirations, Knowledge, and Endorsements. I had learned about this format from Lynda.com rather than some of the well-known retrospective books or websites. I shared a customized version of PANCAKE format at this month’s Cambridge Agile Exchange meetup, an evening of practical examples to keep retrospectives fresh, engaging and effective.

I was very worried about how my demo is going to turn out since I had a lot of open questions about the participating teams. All thanks to the enthusiasm of the participants, I was quite pleased with the outcome.

 

PANCAKE with one of the participating teams

 

Here is a summary of the format and about how to use it:

WHAT:

The format can be useful as a way to start conversations within the team. It is a great way to inspire and direct the team without controlling the conversation or the agenda. PANCAKE stands for

• Puzzles or a source of confusion faced by the team. An example here would be “What are the reasons for the team not to collaborate with the stakeholders?”
• Appreciation of a team member which can sometimes be a flip side of a challenge.
• News relevant to the team. A news item might be something like, “My understanding is that we’re having a new product owner. Has anybody else heard that?” This type of shared understanding is very useful in planning out the team’s process.
• Challenges faced by the team
• Aspirations – hopes and wishes for the team which can be tied to action items. The team might want to create an action item called “Let us make our backlogs visible for collaboration”.
• Knowledge  – a byproduct of the whole discussion such as news, challenges, or what puzzles them. As a facilitator, asking the team, “What did we just learn?”
• Endorsements – This is about getting the entire team to agree and prioritize the new action items so that they have a shared understanding of how to address these new challenges.

It’s not important for the team to spend equal time on each letter or even follow the order of letters.

It can work well to start off with Appreciation and News followed by Puzzles, Challenges, Aspirations and wrap up with Knowledge and Endorsements.

This format is especially useful for newer teams since it gives a little bit more direction.

HOW:

Make the team sit/stand in a circle. Begin by one person appreciating someone to their neighbor. Always make sure that the team spends at least some time calling out people they appreciate. This does two things. First, it makes the meeting more enjoyable. Second, the appreciation is often the flip side of some challenge. The neighbor checks whether flipping the appreciation can show a challenge. Collect any items for puzzles, challenges if any. If a solution to the problem comes out of the discussion put a note in the knowledge section.

You might hear something like, “I really appreciate that the product owner made time to answer my questions yesterday.” So the question that arises is why doesn’t this happen all the time? The neighbor then appreciates someone to his/her neighbor. Go around at least once, so that everybody is heard!

Continue circle of questions kind of format discussing any News relevant to the team. If the team has more to add in Puzzles, Challenges and Aspirations sections, spend some time discussing that next.

Later, let the team discuss what they have learned from their discussion to add in items to the Knowledge section. Keep loads of time for Endorsements since it would be good for the team members to persuade each other and have everyone prioritize and agree to the action items they would want to work together.

TRY PANCAKE

This format can be applied to both distributed and co-located teams. If you happen to use this format, please do drop a comment below about your experience.

 

Docker cheat sheet

In my previous post, I had mentioned that I would share my Docker cheat sheet. So here it is as promised – Docker cheat sheet

NOTE: The cheat sheet is for beginners in Docker 🙂

Getting started with Docker

Early this year I learned about Docker and fell in love with this cool technology.  It is so helpful to quickly create a contained and controlled environment, share an identical environment with team members, bug reporting, testing etc. I will provide some pointers on the following for someone interested in getting started with their Docker journey.

• Docker Basics
• Docker container vs. VM
• Installing Docker
• Hands-on experience with Docker

Docker Basics

I have not tried managing Linux containers myself without the help of Docker but when I read about it, I felt that it wasn’t a simple process; specialized Linux knowledge was required.  Docker can be a handy tool for managing Linux containers easily.

So what are containers? Containers are lightweight isolated sections of operating system in which the application service resides.

And how does one create a Docker container? To create a Docker container, we need a Docker image.  Images are a pre-packaged set of instructions that can be used to build and run containers.

Where does one get a Docker image? You can either get it from the Docker Hub or create your own using a Dockerfile. A Dockerfile is a specially formatted text file containing a list of instructions that will result in a Docker image that can be used to make a Docker container. It makes the process of creating customized Docker containers less manual.

Docker container vs. VM

So is Docker container just a Virtual Machine (VM)? No.

VMs are not application delivery platforms. They are mainly for infrastructure delivery. We can compare VM to a house and Docker container to a shared flat. VMs get their own set of resources, they are much more isolated and are considered heavy w.r.t setup due to the number of resources they require.

On the other hand, Docker containers are considered lightweight since they require fewer resources. They share the common infrastructure of the host such as kernel, network, memory etc. If you want full isolation with guaranteed resources, use a VM rather than a Docker container.

From https://www.docker.com/what-container

 

 

Installing Docker

The simplest way to install Docker is to download one of the official Docker applications – https://docs.docker.com/engine/installation/

Hands-on experience with Docker

To get hands-on experience with Docker, I highly recommend making use of the resources at http://training.play-with-docker.com/

Next up …

In my next blog post, I will provide a cheat sheet for commonly using Docker commands. So long for now 🙂

 

What I like to see in a great project manager

Have you thought about what makes a great project manager? There are plenty of blog posts about this out there. But I wanted to jot down some of my thoughts on what I like to see in a great project manager

• to check how my thoughts about this change over time on a later date
• and to hear what others like to see in a great project manager

Ability to lead teams

Since people like to be led rather than be managed, knowing how to lead teams and manage projects is an important skill.

Constant learners

Becoming good at something such as project management doesn’t happen overnight. It comes with experience – both successes and failures – in order to learn how to deliver consistently well. Learning from others mistakes is very important since you can’t afford to make all the mistakes yourself. As a constant learner, I have seen good leaders learning about how to better themselves, their teams and find different ways of improving their interpersonal skills.

Being conscious and aware

Great project managers, I find are conscious and aware of themselves and others. They are always trying to set their team for success. They can recognize when someone in the team needs support or providing insufficient information. They are conscious and aware of their plan and their team members’ estimates.

Develop and maintain good relationships

Good project managers show enthusiasm about their projects which can have a snowball effect and help teams achieve beyond expectations. They just don’t get the job done but also make people feel good about themselves too. They are good at nurturing relationships, both inside and outside of the teams.

Ability to collaborate and communicate effectively

Good project managers rarely sit at their desks since they are busy interacting/collaborating with stakeholders. This is all within boundaries – otherwise, things don’t get done.

They identify the people who will be impacted by the changes to a project and will involve them during key stages. They communicate proactively at all levels and respond promptly. Since they are clear about their goals and responsibilities, the information they are trying to give others or getting the information they need from others can be articulated very well by them.  They can negotiate and use persuasion skills when necessary.

Decisive and resolute

Taking in a lot of data and making decisions is not easy. But good project managers make decisions promptly and appropriately. They get things done by being resolute.

Delegate appropriately

Without being a bottleneck, great project managers delegate effectively.

What do you like to see in a great project manager?

Now you know what are some of the traits I like to see in a great project manager.

I am interested to hear your thoughts about what you like to see in a great project manager. Please drop a comment below 🙂

7 questions for your coaching toolbox

Coaching is a skill every manager and leader should have. A few months ago I had read the book “The Coaching Habit – Say less, ask more & change the way you lead forever” by Michael Bungay Stanier. The book is a very easy read and offers a list of 7 powerful and thoughtful questions that are important to help the coaches

• in taming the advice giving monster present within themselves.
• help the coachees discover what they can do and how to do it.
• discover and learn from the coaching process about their and coachees’ capabilities they may not have been aware of before the coaching session.

Some useful reminders and takeaways from the book for me were:

Coaching someone is not just for the coachee’s benefit. Coaching

• can break the over-dependence on the coach by helping coachee become self-sufficient.
• helps in directing the time, energy and resources of the coach’s team to solve challenges that make a difference

The 7 questions from the book are:

Question 1: “What’s on your mind?”

This is a kickstart question which invites people to talk about things that matter the most to them. The conversation can then be focussed using a 3P model i.e. to find whether the problem is centred around

• people (issues with team members/other depts. etc)
• project (challenges around actual content)
• patterns (own habits coming in the way)

Question 2: “And what else?”

Michael refers to this as a magical question since it helps in creating more insight with seemingly less effort. This question helps you in uncovering more information from the coachee, gives you time and restrains you from jumping in and giving advice immediately. This can be the simplest way to stay lazy, stay curious and tame the advice monster within yourself.

Example questions to deepen understanding and encourage participation from the coachee to share additional concerns:

• What else is on your mind?
• What else is challenging in this project?
• What else is important right now?

Question 3: “What’s the real challenge here for you?”

Instead of offering advice or solutions by asking questions such as ‘Have you considered…?’, ‘What about ..?’ this focus question can be asked.

As managers/leaders, one of the roles is to have answers but we need to try and slow down on this role. Michael says that this question gets you focused on solving the real problem, not just the first problem.

Question 4: “What do you want?”

This is the Foundation Question and is the basis for an adult relationship with those you work with.

Many people find this question difficult to answer but asking this question can help in getting into a deeper conversation quickly, for example, “This is what I want. What do you want?” This is also a powerful way to break the illusion that both parties to the conversation know what the other party wants.

Question 5: “How can I help?”

Instead of assuming that you know what the other person wants from you, ask this question. By asking this question you can get a clear request on what the other person wants or needs help with.

Michael calls this the lazy question since you are making yourself more useful to those you manage by working less hard i.e. by not working on tasks where you assumed that help was required.

Question 6: “If you’re saying yes to this, what are you saying no to?”

Many people feel compelled to say a “yes” to every request. This strategic question is a wonderful question to ask such people. If you’re someone who feels compelled to say “yes” to every request watch this video by Michael.

Question 7: “What was most useful for you?”

This is the closer question which makes people reflect on the conversation which can reinforce learning and development. Without the reflection process

• the value in the conversation may not be identified
• you may not get any feedback on the coaching process

Conclusion

All in all, Michael has provided simple and yet powerful questions for speed coaching that can be applied on a regular basis. Definitely a must-read book for all leaders.

 

 

Getting started with Ansible

Whether you are a sysadmin looking for a better way to automate deployment of a software or a tester looking to automate installation tests, a configuration management tool such as Ansible is worth exploring!

I have been recently exploring whether to use Ansible Playbooks or Docker containers or both for installation testing. In this blog post, I will give an overview on installing and configuring Ansible on CentOS 7.

Before getting started let me acquaint you with some terminology and concepts that I will use in the later sections of this blog post:

Term	Meaning
Playbook	The configuration management scripts of Ansible are called playbooks. It uses YAML syntax, a simple data serialization language and hence easy to read and write.
Controller machine	The machine where Ansible is installed

I found the setup required for managing a server with Ansible to be quite simple and there is detailed documentation available too.

Installing Ansible

Make sure that the CentOS 7 EPEL repository is installed:

sudo yum install epel-release

Once the repository is installed, install Ansible with yum:

sudo yum install ansible

Configuring Ansible Hosts

Before the controller machine starts communicating to other machines, “hosts” file needs to be made aware of which servers the Ansible needs to keep track of.

Open the file as root:

sudo vi /etc/ansible/hosts

The syntax looks something like this:

[group_name]
alias ansible_ssh_host=your_server_ip

Where,

• group_name = one word tag to refer to any servers listed under it
• alias = name to refer to the server that the controller machine would talk to

Example hosts file

[servers]
Centos7VM ansible_ssh_host=10.255.255.255

Create a file with the same name as group_name in /etc/ansible/group_vars/ to tell Ansible as which user it should connect to the “servers” group.

sudo mkdir /etc/ansible/group_vars

sudo vi /etc/ansible/group_vars/servers

In “servers” file add the following lines

– – –
ansible_ssh_user: root

If you do not already have an SSH key pair (which consists of a public and private key) for the user used by Ansible to connect to the “servers” group, you need to generate one.

On the controller machine as the user, generate a new key pair, by entering the following command:

ssh-keygen

Assuming you are root, you will see output that looks like the following:

Generating public/private rsa key pair.
Enter file in which to save the key (/root/.ssh/id_rsa):

You can either accept the file name and path or enter a new name. Next, you will be prompted for a passphrase to secure the key with and you can either enter a passphrase or leave the passphrase blank.

After generating an SSH key pair, copy your public key to your host server by running the ssh-copy-id script and providing your password when prompted

ssh-copy-id <ansible_ssh_user>@<ansible_ssh_host>

Your public key would be now added to the remote user’s .ssh/authorized_keys file.

Tip:

Make sure that the user used by the Ansible on the controller machine to connect to remote hosts exists on the remote system. Otherwise a connection attempt will result in a connection error.

Check whether Ansible has connection to its hosts

You can issue a command of the following syntax

ansible -m ping X

Where, X = single host, group_name or all

Example:

• ansible -m ping Centos7VM
• ansible -m ping servers
• ansible -m ping all

Further reading

For creating a basic Ansible playbook and explore further, see the official intro to Playbooks.

Have fun with Ansible!