Weekend Illusions: Relaxation vs. Reality in an IT Professional’s Life Introduction Weekends often conjure idyllic visions of unwinding—lounging on the couch with coffee in hand, binge-watching our favorite series, or leisurely scrolling through social media. For IT professionals, who spend weekdays firefighting escalations, managing projects, and aligning deliverables, the idea of a serene weekend is especially appealing. Yet, for many of us, reality plays out quite differently. Instead of recharging, weekends become a race against time—a juggling act to squeeze in personal errands, family commitments, and moments of self-care, all while checking emails to avoid Monday chaos. Here's a glimpse into the stark contrast between the perception and reality of weekends for IT professionals. The Perception: A Relaxing Escape For colleagues and friends outside IT, our weekends seem enviable: Morning zen : A quiet coffee on the balcony, basking in a rare pause. Uninterrupted hobb...

Job Hunting vs. Online Dating: The IT Project Manager's Love-Hate Parallel They say life imitates art, but in this case, life imitates swiping right. Job hunting and online dating aren’t just similar—they’re practically twins separated at birth. And if you’ve ever tried either while working in the IT industry, you know the stakes are high, the stress is real, and the rejection? Oh, it stings just the same. Let’s break this down, IT-style, and decode why searching for a job feels like setting up a dating profile while debugging an old legacy system. 1. The Profile: Resume vs. Dating Bio Your LinkedIn profile is basically your Tinder for jobs . You carefully curate your experiences: "Skilled in stakeholder management" = I’m great with people. "Experience with Agile methodologies" = I’m flexible and know how to adapt. "Fluent in Java" = I have nerdy superpowers. Meanwhile, your dating profile says, "Loves long walks on the beach and Game ...

Embracing Cognitive Diversity in IT Project Management: A Key to Success In today’s fast-paced IT environment, the success of any project goes far beyond technical prowess or adherence to timelines; it hinges on the diverse minds that shape the solutions. As an IT Project Manager, I've learned that tapping into cognitive diversity is one of the most powerful ways to drive meaningful, innovative outcomes in any project. Understanding Cognitive Diversity Cognitive diversity is more than just a buzzword; it’s about bringing together people with varied approaches to thinking, problem-solving, and decision-making. Each individual’s background, experiences, and thought processes add unique value to a project. In an IT setting, this might mean combining the precision of a software developer with the strategic insights of a business analyst, or blending the creative vision of a UX designer with the analytical rigor of a data scientist. When managing a project, I see my role as not only ass...

 The Power of Teamwork: Insights from Project Management and Culinary Support in Esports In the dynamic world of Esports, success hinges not only on the players’ skills but also on the collaborative efforts of the entire support team. A recent video titled "The Power of Teamwork" underscores the significance of collaboration, communication, and shared goals—principles that resonate deeply within project management. This blog explores these themes while highlighting the vital role of supporting chefs in fostering a family-like atmosphere for T1 team members. Key Themes from the Video 1. Collaboration is Key The video illustrates how effective teamwork leads to innovative solutions. In project management, fostering a collaborative environment among team members is crucial for brainstorming and problem-solving. Similarly, T1’s chefs, led by Head Chef Kim “Alex” Jae-hyeong, work closely with players to understand their needs and preferences, ensuring that every meal contributes t...

Overworking and Toxic Workplace culture i is costing too many lives.  Life as it is ...  A friend of mine shared a post recently with great sadness, that highlighted the recent passing of 2 people in India, due to workplace stress and toxic workplace practices. Reading more into this topic, unfortunately I don't believe this is an issue that is isolated to India. The misalignment of corporate rhetoric and actual practices is unfortunately a reality. Leaders need to do more to promote better work practices, as well as to also set the example for aligning the expectations. Too many times the junior team members are looking at the seniors and trying to match their working styles which includes working more hours, just because they feel that that is the norm, and they will lose out if they don't do the same. Even when taking medical leave or any personal time out, practices like putting your mobile number in your out of office message, and asking people to contact you, I believe ...

  Having recently had the privilege to be able to volunteer for the whole period of the George Town Festival for the first time, I had the opportunity to get a new perspective on the event.   One insight was on communications. In particular for the event locations. It should never be assumed that the event location is sufficient for the event attendees to find the location. This was particularly true for one location which is in a prominent landmark in Penang.  There were 3 distinct routes to get to the auditorium, where the event was going to be taking place. However, some of the options were time sensitive, so depending on what time the show was taking place, the route options may not be available at that time. Normal signage was lacking, so we had to supplement the signage with our posters, which were on the small side. These needed additional creative additions and combinations to be visible. Signage by themselves were still not enough, as the team found during t...

  Video from LiveNOW from FOX YouTube Channel Follow up on my earlier post on the PM perspective of the assassination attempt on Donald Trump, today we will review my PM perspective compared that which has been generated by AI. Using Recall to extract the summary of the video above, and pasting the summary to chatGPT , we got the following version, when asking AI to translate it to more familiar Project Management IT terminology: Risk Identification and Monitoring : Loss of visibility on a critical risk after initial identification. Ineffective real-time risk assessment. Project Planning and Execution : Potential shortcuts in project planning and stakeholder coordination. Failure to secure critical components or areas of the project environment. Inadequate adjustments to project plans based on stakeholder feedback. Governance and Communication : Unclear roles and responsibilities during the project. Insufficient training and coordination with external stakeholders. Incident R...

Video from Youtube LiveNOW from FOX channel Been viewing with interest over the last few days, on the shocking assassination attempt on the previous President, and upcoming Presidential nominee, Donald Trump. As with all such events, there has been a lot of discussions on the postmortem from many sources on where the gaps were. These are a few lessons and take aways, from a project management perspective, and my personal experience. You are only as good as your current project. No really cares on the 100's of events that went smoothly previously without any issues, when something breaks and processes fail. No matter how well you plan, once the event starts, expect the unexpected, as anything can happen. No planning will be perfectly executed. Interlocks and communications are critical to project success. Communications with resources outside your direct control, has to be more precise, and confirmation that the correct message and assignments need to be acknowledged and confirmed. ...

Recently my car door latch broke, and I discovered how much leverage it actually provides.  After several attempts trying to open the door from within the car... I reached an inspiration to wind down my window and just open the door using the outside latch.  So, a few similarities to handling this situation and with project management. When something breaks, our first reaction is to try and resolve the problem from the same side of the situation. The thing that breaks, will most likely provide great leverage to the process. The solution may need us to look outside of the "normal" process flow, and look for a solution from a different angle. The immediate solution may not be pretty, but if the immediate problem is solved, which is to get out of the car in this example, then it does the job. What do you think? #pmandre Contact and PM me  

I remember when I was studying in the UK, how "Are you mental?!" was a phrase used to inquire about a person's sanity, when they said or did something ridiculous, outlandish or totally out of the ordinary. Over the years I noted that there was greater emphasis on physical fitness, but not so much on mental fitness or training. This is a sorely neglected area, and it is so crucial not to be neglected. In my viewpoint, everything we do is more mental than physical. As a project manager, planning starts with a thought. Before anything is typed on your computer, your brain is already processing, tasks, resources, contingencies and so on.  The need to train your mental side to be strong, and able to process all the tasks that you need to keep track of, will definitely contribute to be able to handle the role better. This is true for all roles in general. Few suggestions on things that have helped me that may work for you: Put all events you need to track including personal one...

  Having been in a project management role for some time, focusing on release planning and execution, I seem to automatically analyze the planning behind every event I attend. You could call it an occupational hazard. Last weekend, while attending a Dance Day event at a local mall, I found it peculiar that the event was situated in the middle of the main ground floor corridor. Although this provided a good, layered viewing deck for the upper floors, it seemed counterproductive to block the flow of people entering the mall. Considering the heavy downpour the night before, I suspected that this was their contingency plan to host the event indoors, due to the risk of further rain. Typically, their events are held in two main spaces: one outside and another in the main atrium. It was curious that they didn't hold it in the main atrium, which seemed like the most logical location. Even if another event was scheduled for that space, the layout suggested that it wouldn't have been too...