KPIs and systems. If those words make you cringe, you're not alone. Business intel is critical for decision-making and agency growth, yet many digital shops struggle with KPIs and implementing measurement systems to get a clear view into their businesses. Enter Parakeeto, a product hatched in a Boise tech company, from the frustration that there has to be an easier way. Marcel Petitpas, Co-Founder and CEO at Parakeeto, joins us to talk about his journey from Apple to startup, trial by fire and how mentors and community bring you closer to your dreams.
Digital transformation is the implementation of technology. Partly true. But organizations can’t get ready for better, smarter, different ways of working without putting time and effort into building a culture that's ready for digital transformation. To build the future, organizations need to put a shift in, and hold people accountable for change. Each of us has a personal responsibility to change the way we think and the way we act. Project leadership expert Colin D. Ellis joins us to talk digital transformation, emotional intelligence, mistakes companies make and his go-to karaoke song.
In many organizations, even flat ones, a puzzling phenomenon seems to take place. Some people rise time and time again, not because of superior intellect, expertise, technical skills, work ethic or value delivered, but because of something else. They often enjoy better opportunities, more leniency and a higher level of respect. Why? Because they excel at relationships and social politics. Crystal Richards, Principal and Owner of Mosaic Resource Group, joins us to talk about what social politics are, why they matter and how you can use them to your own advantage.
As digital shops, we're often operating in chaos. We triage the must-haves and the nice-to-haves, cobbling together different business ideas and approaches, and leaving vision, systems and accountability to define another day. As new projects and people come in, small cracks start to show. Then larger and larger ones, until there's no denying the need for a better way of doing things. So what's a business owner or team leader to do?
As a business owner, you may feel alone in the fear, procrastination, doubt and frustration of entrepreneurship, but you’re not. As Dr. Sherry Walling says, entrepreneurs all break in the same ways. The key is acknowledging when you’re not feeling right and finding ways to give your mind and body a rest. Take a moment, breathe and treat yourself to a well-deserved moment of founder zen.
In Blairtopia, time is a thief. Blair Enns, CEO of Win Without Pitching, and author of The Win Without Pitching Manifesto and Pricing Creativity: A Guide to Profit Beyond the Billable Hour, is out to create a more utopian state. One where firms win without pitching, get paid for the value they create and let time go. Tune in for Blair’s take on mastering the value conversation, three levels of financial success for creative and marketing firms and how agencies can leave time behind to change the very nature of their firms.
Race, gender, sexual orientation, diversity, inclusion…These terms can elicit different feelings in different people. Viewed through the lens "diversity is a design process," conversations become softer, more open and accessible. Design for Diversity™ is the brainchild of Boyuan Gao and Jahan Mantin, founders of the New York-based consultancy, Project Inkblot. As they describe it, tech and media are at the critical juncture of humanity right now. As an industry, we need to shake things up, and create human experiences that all people can see themselves in. Tune in to hear how Project Inkblot took shape and how you can solve for diversity with your own team, within your own resources and community assets.
In 2013, about 150 project managers came together in Philadelphia for the inaugural Digital PM Summit. That year, it was all about finding your people, running web projects and keeping clients happy. This year, the Summit agenda runs the full gamut of topics and speakers: Agile, IoT products, PM self-care, what’s next in our careers and more. Brett Harned, Founder of the Digital PM Summit, joins us to talk about the evolution and growth of the community as well as subsequent shifts in programming. Tune in to hear about the 2018 Digital PM Summit in Memphis, and how the community can lift itself up by doing better.
Process. It feels like the answer to so many project woes and a threat to culture and creativity. So how do you go into an existing team with an existing flow and social dynamics and “fix” things? What’s the process process? To start, you observe. That’s what Robert Sfeir, Senior Director of Engineering at Huge, explains as he shares the story of aligning the efforts of a 1,500-person digital agency. Too often people approach process change looking for patterns they know instead of watching to find small tweaks that could make things better. Once a few successes are enjoyed, the team starts to trust that improvements can be made. That’s the spark that gets real change underway.
It’s an idea that several digital client services shops toy with: build and launch a product of your very own. So what do you do when you have the idea, know how to build it and want to give it a go? Craig Bryant, Founder/CEO of We Are Mammoth has been there, lived that. With the help of his team, he’s successfully spun up not one, but two SaaS products. Craig joins us to share insights into We Are Mammoth and the stories behind two products: DoneDone, a simple bug and issue tracker, and Kin, HR software to improve onboarding, engagement and the bottom line. Craig discusses five and 10 years into a product, patience as a critical virtue and how to go with your gut when you’re told to pull the plug.
