SSW Rules to being Software Consultants

Work should be done in order of importance(aka priorities)

At SSW, we always make sure the most important tasks get done first. Hopefully it helps keeping the clients happy and the projects organized.
This is the order which you should work:

1. Urgent emails - emails with "URGENT" in the subject e.g. URGENT - website is down
2. Emails about Timesheets or invoicing issues
3. Your existing clients - project management, development and administration
4. Client work - Ask others if you can help with their client work
5. Prospective clients - project management, answering questions and setting up meetings
6. Quick Important emails to 0 (emails with an important flag < 1 hour and not something that can go into a release plan)
7. Uncompleted "release plans" e.g. for SSW work
8. Important emails to 0
9. Help others get their important emails to 0
10. Ping others to see if they need help completing their "release plan"
11. Now you are ready to make a new "release plan" (then wait for approval)
12. Get your inbox to 0
13. Phew... Done...

Do you prioritize your existing clients over prospective ones?

Your existing clients should always be the first thing on your mind. Any work relating to existing clients should be done before looking into anything else, including prospective client work.

In order to gain a good reputation in the industry, it is vital to make existing clients happy. If you are seen as being more interested in getting new clients than satisfying old ones, not only will you not receive return business, but you may have lost credibility in the industry and the chance of referrals from their contacts.

A good way to think of it is "is the ball in their court?". This means that your client is never waiting for you to do something, and that if there is a bottleneck; it is not on your end.

A good saying pertaining to keeping your existing clients happy is: "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush".

Do you always follow up your clients?

If you have followed the previous rule and the ball is always in their court, you need to make sure that they keep playing.

The best way to do this is to make sure you follow up all communications that require a reply, whenever you feel that a bottleneck is forming.

The best ways to follow up a client can be found in Rules to Better Email

Do you give potential consulting work emails the next highest priority after existing clients?

It is extremely important to demonstrate to potential clients a high level of quality service and attention to their needs; this is why, at SSW, whenever we receive an email from a potential client in relation to possible consulting work, we make sure they receive an answer within 5 minutes of us receiving it. We do this for 2 reasons:

• To show we are keen and give an indication of the level of service they will receive
• To stop them "shopping around"

They will quickly recognize that they will not receive that kind of service anywhere else!

Do you know the difference between a brief proposal and a specification review?

There is often a bit of confusion about what constitutes a proposal and what constitutes a specification review.

Brief proposal - free:

• Information about your company
• A basic overview of what you'll do for them
• The next steps

Specification Review - billed:

• A technical document listing in detail what technologies will be used and how
• Most likely includes initial release plans and ballparks

More

Do you get paid for estimates?

A lot of time in a consultancy can be taken up by producing estimates for clients so they can see a ballpark of what they will be spending. Because this time is not billed, it is easy to end up with rushed and inaccurate estimates, leading to problems later in the project.

A better way to go about it is to spend a little more time, and really get down in detail to what needs to be done. This is called a Specification review and is billable.

More.

For new prospects, do you always meet them to show them an estimate?

The findings of the Spec Review (the Initial Release Plan) should be presented at a meeting with the key decision makers of the project for review and acceptance, generally in the form of a PowerPoint presentation. It is important that all the required people are in a room together to review the Initial Release Plan.

More

For existing clients, do you always call them before sending a quote?

If you have an existing client, who is already impressed with your work, you don't need to go to the trouble of meeting then to show them an estimate. However, you should at least call them. When you're competing for someone's business, what could be worse than losing the work simply because the client either didn't receive your email, or was too busy to read it? For this reason, always call the client before you send a quote. This way, they know you are about to send them something so will look out for it.

Figure: Always call the client to let them know that you are about to send a quote across, then send an "As per our conversation" email.

Do you correctly triage additional item requests?

You will typically receive emails and bug reports from the client during the release. You should not work on any extra features except what is in the release plan. Move only important emails into the current release. More

Do you know the difference between Fixed Price and Hourly?

There are two ways a consultant can bill out to clients:

• Fixed Price
• Hourly

Hourly is the standard mode of operation wherein we do work at a standard rate and bill for however many hours we do. In this mode, an estimate is just that, an educated guess of how much work will be needed.

In some cases, clients require a fixed price. In this case we add a premium to the estimate (in our case 20%) and fix the price at that point. This means that the client pays a premium for the fact that we take on any risk of blowouts. It is important that the scope can not be allowed to vary for a fixed price release, and in the interest of this, we always do fixed price releases at the SSW offices, and not on site.

Do you know the difference between ad-hoc work and project managed work?

SSW performs development work under different management arrangements depending on the what the client requires.

Ad Hoc Work

Work in an ad-hoc basis allows tasks to be done as they are requested without any formal approval process. This is a simple approach but provides little in the way of management or accountability. This may be suitable for small, ongoing work such as application maintenance with longstanding clients.

The ad-hoc work approach should not generally be used for project work where the client wants accountability on project elements such as time, scope, quality and cost. An exception exists where SSW provides resources to work under a non-SSW project manager who has responsibility for the project.

Managed Work

The alternative is to work with a project panager, specification and release plan. In this approach, a method of project management is applied to provide control on the elements of time, scope, quality and cost.

This method is recommended for any work which is substantial and where the client wants a greater degree of control.

The managed approach is SSW's prefer method of work.

Do you know how to be pushy when you need to be?

As a consultant, it is important to realise that all of your time is valuable.

In the situation where you are at a client site and your time is being billed, don't be conciensious and quiet. You need to make sure that there are no bottlenecks slowing you down. Make sure you have everything you need and, if you need to ask a question, keep asking until you get an answer.

Client will always prefer a slight irritation at the time rather than an inflated invoice with no result later on.

Are you persistent when you think something should be done?

You need to be persistent. You should make sure that you don't let good ideas go because you get ONE no, you should put it on a list and bring it up with your boss a few times.

This is a very important concept, just because you get answered no, it does not mean that it is a bad idea, or that it will not benefit the company. You may get the answer 'No' for reasons that you do not know about, such as financial difficulties, or it is to busy at the moment to worry about. You should make these ideas into a list, and remember to bring them up with the boss at a more appropriate time. If you are not satisfied with the result, talk to your boss about your idea, so you understand why they made the decision they did. It is important however to realize that not all ideas are good ideas and you will have to accept that when you get it wrong.

Do you have your mobile phone on vibrate?

If you were talking to someone, trying to come to a conclusion on a topic, when their phone rang; would you want them to answer it? If they were using a loud ring tone, the only way to continue your conversation would be to wait until they had finished or, at least, they would have to get their phone out to hang up. Why should the person who called get preferential treatment and be able to jump the queue? Your mobile phone is a very useful tool. However, it can also be a nuisance. To make sure it doesn't interrupt your daily activities, you should always put it on vibrate.

This has the following advantages and disadvantages:

Advantages:

• You get to only answer the phone when it is convenient for you
• You won't be interrupting conversations with clients, which can be seen as unprofessional
• You don't interrupt people's work with loud ring tones.

Disadvantages:

• If your phone (PDA) is connected to your laptop, you might not notice it ringing
• As above, but if you're away from your computer, you won't hear it from across the office
• Women generally keep their phones in their bags and so won't hear it unless it rings loudly

The following solution should satisfy everyone

• Anyone who keeps their phone in their pocket should have it on vibrate
• Anyone who keeps their phone plugged into their laptop should have it on low volume settings
• All phones should be on vibrate or off while in meetings
• This is a standard (ie best practices) and not a rule to be enforced. This leaves room for exceptions such as slightly deaf people or women

Do you always quote price + GST (Tax)?

Is your price:

• $100 per hour + GST (the $100 being the net amount)
• $110 per hour (the $110 being the total amount)

We say the first one. When providing quotes to prospects/clients, it is always better to display the net value + 10% GST rather than the total.

The reasons for this are:

• It avoids any confusion as to whether GST is included.
• This net amount is the REAL cost to the customer, as they get the tax back (in Australia).
• The net value is lower and appears more attractive to the client.
• The 10% GST charged to the client is not income for your company. In Australia, we collect this 10% on behalf of the Australian Taxation Office.
• The client will receive back this 10% GST from the Australian Tax Office when they do their quarterly BAS/GST Return.

The total fixed price total is $AUD 66,000 - please find quote attached.

Bad Example

The total fixed price total is $AUD 60,000 + GST (10%). Please find quote attached.

Good Example

Note : SSW and other Australian companies do not charge GST to external clients outside of Australia.

Do you know how to turn requests for free work into billable work?

Often clients will call up asking for a short task to be performed. You need to know how to let them know that the time will be charged.

If it was a quick 5 mins I would do it straight away... however I need to do a little investigation... first impression is that it might take me a couple of hours... if that is OK then I would need you to authorize me to go ahead.
Let me know...

Good example

Do you avoid invoicing issues where possible and resolve them quickly when they come up?

The least pleasant part of the consulting industry is dealing with clients who don't want to pay for your services.

It's important that the client is *always made aware* from the beginning what they will and will not be charged for. That way, they will not never receive an invoice they are not expecting and so will be happy to pay them.

If an issue does come up, make sure you come to an agreement quickly and don't let the issue fester as it can lead to a lack of customer satisfaction and people can start digging their heels in, leading to a lot of time wasted on working out whether the client will pay or not.

If someone else needs to be consulted for approval (e.g. the boss) get them on the phone straight away, rather than speaking to them later and then having to organize yet another meeting with the client.

Figure: Use the conference button

Meetings - The way meetings should work

Office meetings often are ineffective, because:

• There is a lot of discussion but no resulting "action items"
• Time is wasted digressing to unrelated topics
• People forget the meeting is on and do not attend
• People turn up late with no notice

To ensure your meetings are productive and successful, you should:

• Create a meeting agenda prior to the meeting. Give each attendee a copy. If the discussion strays from the topic, the agenda will help you keep it on track.
• Send an appointment to all meeting attendees to ensure the meeting appears on their calendar.
• If you are going to be late, contact the organizer or the person in charge of the meeting to let them know that you are running late and what time you will be arriving.
• To improve future meetings, at the end of the meeting, do a quick debrief to see how long the meeitng took, if anything was covered that didn't need to be, etc.

Figure: Bad example - meeting with No Agenda

Figure: Good example - meeting with Agenda

Meetings - Are you hospitable in client meetings at your office?

When a client arrives, your job is to make them feel comfortable and impress them with your professionalism. It is important that clients have a consistent experience in their contact with your company.

• Leaving the client standing at the reception while finishing what you were doing
• Offering them tea, coffee or biscuits (not everyone likes tea/coffee)

Figure: Bad example

• Be dressed appropriately
• Greet them warmly
• Have a firm handshake
• Make eye contact and smile
• Direct them to wait in the boardroom (so they can see all the marketing materials on the walls)
• Notify the project manager/developer who are included in the meeting
• Ask someone to bring couple of glasses of water into the meeting (as everyone drinks water)
• Everyone should:
  • Shows some enthusiasm when meeting with the client
  • Hands over, and collect, business cards

Figure: Good Example - You did some research before the meeting

Meetings - Are you clear about billable time in meetings?

Meetings are an area some clients think will be free, so always mention it.

As stated in SSW's Terms and Conditions:

In an hourly work agreement, the initial meeting with the customer will be conducted by SSW at no cost. Subsequent meetings are considered as specification time and will be charged at the agreed rate. The minimum time chargeable for on-site work is 2 (two) hours per person per visit. The minimum time chargeable for off-site work is 15 (fifteen) minutes per person per request.

In some occasions it may be necessary to compromise by charging for the developer's time but not the project manager's.

Meetings - Do you go to meetings prepared?

Before you attend a meeting you must come prepared with details about the client; meaning no unnecessary questions. By unnecessary, I mean you should already have the answers to these questions. Extensive research is impressive to clients.

So you are talking to a client about their ice cream chain?

How many outlets do you have?
Where is the main outlet?

Figure: Bad examples - you should already know the answers to these questions by use of research tools such as the Internet

I noticed you have x amount of outlets, are you planning to open up more, when and where?
Which of your products contribute most to your gross profit?
How do most of your customers hear about you?
Do you have a customer loyalty program? Is it working?
Where are some of the biggest challenges / opportunities for you at the moment / in the future?

Figure: Good Examples

By asking questions, you show interest as well as initiating conversation - remember to get the customer talking.

Look for points of pain and build on them - if there's no pain it's hard to fix the problem properly.

Meetings - Do you ask clients the two important questions at the beginning of each meeting?

It is essential to clarify the purpose and time of meetings.
When you commence each meeting you should ask the following two questions:

1. What are the points you want to cover in this meeting?
2. How long will this meeting be?

By asking these two questions you define both the client's and your expectations from the meeting; eliminating one of the factors which contribute to time-wastage.

Meetings - Do you exchange names in meetings?

It is important to build a relationship of mutual respect with clients. A natural and simple way of doing this is through exchange of names. You introduce yourself and give them a card and in response they introduce themselves (giving details, including name and position, which you MUST ALWAYS remember).

Meetings - Do you listen more than you talk?

For meetings with clients, aim for a ratio of 70% to 30% - that is, 70% of the time the customer should be talking. Remember the purpose of the meeting is to meet the client's needs. You can still convey your message to your clients by adding to what they have to say, rather than presenting a prepared speech to them.

It's important to ask probing questions and then listen to the answers.

Client: We had a problem in China
You: What was the problem?

Figure: Good Example

Do you manage up?

Managing up is providing your manager with an option to approve, rather than asking a general question.

Is anything going to happen about devs going to Remix 08?

Figure: Bad Example - Nothing to approve

Is anything going to happen about devs going to Remix 08?

I would advise people taking the day in leave but SSW provides the ticket.

Please approve.

Figure: Good Example

Do you chase your manager or does he have to chase you?

Managers (or clients), like all of us, are snowed under with work and won't always remember appointments with you. But keeping a good line of communication open is essential and it's up to you to make it happen. No matter that your weekly meeting gets cancelled, or your boss appears to avoid you for the week, stop and talk to them in the corridor, or pick up the phone and give them an update. If you know you've got issues to discuss (such as looming deadlines), don't wait for the client or your manager to bring it up, take a pro-active approach and schedule a meeting.

As a guideline you shouldn't go more than 2 weeks without talking to your boss. And don't forget all the things you've got to say - have a sub-folder in your Inbox such as "Ask the Boss". Next time when the boss asks "does anyone want to speak to me?", look in that folder.

Do you analyze what happened if you find that you were running 100 miles an hour only to find yourself standing still?

Sometimes we work at 100 miles an hour, but don't get anything done. When this happens, do not ignore it, use this time to send your manager an email titled "100 miles an hour but standing still" and explain why this happened and how it could be avoided in the future.

Do you CC your account manager on emails relating to new work?

Once a project gets underway, it is not uncommon for the lead developer to take over a lot of the project management workload. Since they are the person most in contact with the client, sometimes new work will be organized through them instead of the the AM (Account Manager).

When this is the case, the as per our conversation email should CC the account manager so he is always aware of all work being done.

If an initial meeting is required for the new work, the AM should be in attendance where possible to help continue the relationship.

Are you really helping the corporate objectives?

We know you love your technology but are you helping with the corporate objectives? The best way of doing that is to have a meeting or call with your manager and keeping a word document of the main points to review each month.

Make it tangible and strike through each point when it has been completed.

Do you keep your client informed of progress?

Figure: You are responsible for sending update reports to your clients every Friday

A client will always prefer to be told ahead of time if a release is going to take longer than anticipated. It gives them more control of what is going on. The other opinion is landing them with an oversized invoice with no warning.

For this reason, any developer working on a client project should send an updated release plan to the relevant project manager every Friday so that they can call the client, if needs be, to inform them of what's going on and ask "do you want us to continue?".

$100k estimate. Calling the client when you reach $110k to say you have $20k to go.

Bad Example: Not giving the client enough warning.

$100k estimate. Calling the client when you reach $80k to say you have $40k to go, and does he want to continue?

Good Example: Giving the client a warning ahead of time and asking for permission to continue.

If you're working to a release plan, here is a reminder about sending updates to put up in your office.

Are you responsible with your data?

As a responsible employee, there should be no excuse for ever losing data, especially if it belongs to a client. For this reason, it's important to make sure:

• Your backups are working properly
• You are using source control for any code you develop

If you are working onsite, you can still use TFS remotely and it's important to talk the client into this in order to avoid any possible disasters.

Do you know the first thing to do when you come off client work?

Here are the first things you should do EVERY time you come off client work:

1. Get a reference from the last client
   • It is a good way to check the client is happy
   • If your company is a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, these references can lead to competencies such as Custom Development Solutions and ISV/Software Solution
   • An example of what to say to the client is: "We are a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner and I would like to submit a short description of the project to Microsoft, you will receive an email from Microsoft asking you to approve the reference. How does that sound?"
   • We would also love a testimonial to add to our website. Would you be happy to give a testimonial for the work we've done for you? Can you please email it to me?

2. The next thing to do is to call your last few clients. You should always be in contact with them at least every 6 months
   • Before the call always prepare.
     • Refresh your memory about the company, project and contact before calling (have a look at their website, have a look at their competitors etc.)
     • Check the upcoming events (Check the calendar on the Home Page to see what's coming up)
     • Know the topic of the upcoming user group
     • Draft out some suggestions in an email (don't send yet)
   • Decide on what value-add opportunities you are going to offer them. Some examples:
     • A relevant and useful URL of an article
     • Mention something relevant to their project from a User Group presentation you saw
     • Maybe you can also invite them to a free Tech Breakfast
     • Maybe an upcoming User Group would be useful. It's a good place to have free training, and to build contacts and socialize (lots of IT managers and developers). Email the User Group link
     • Ask them about their website. See if any work needs to be done - Mention the need for maintenance
   • Call and chat to them about the work you did with them. Ask how everything's going, and if the application was successful
     • If yes - great, see what else you can do.
     • If not - then find out why (was it a technical issue, or the app not meeting the business needs) and offer to improve it. You can offer them a free consultation with one of our account managers.
     • Take some notes on what they liked about the solution.
   • Always ask if they know of some other projects we could help them with, or if they know of anybody that may need some software development gurus.
   • Send a follow up email
     • Send an "as per our conversation". Include some of your notes, a thank you for the time, and CC a project manager. If they were interested in a consultation, then ask the project manager to follow up
     • Document the call date, and email subject line & results in the Notes field for the client in your corporate database

Do you fix problems when alerted to them?

When someone brings to your attention that they are not happy with something, do you address the problem and not ignore it? For example, if your boss tells you they are unhappy that you do not have a release plan for the development you are working on, you should create a release plan right away. Do not ignore the problem as it will only escalate, fix it now!

This is especially important if someone has followed you up. Try to get back to them as soon as possible with a response as it shows you care about what they care about.

Do you always state your understanding or what you have already done to investigate a problem?

When you seek advice or help from another, firstly, you need to establish with them:

• Your understanding and,
• Methods you have previously attempted in order to resolve the problem

How do you xxxx?

Figure: Bad Example - By not stating what you have previously attempted to resolve the problem, the person you are seeking advice from may be wasting time if they suggest methods you have already done.

I have searched Google but no luck... How do you xxxx?

Figure: Good Example - The person you are seeking advice from will not suggest for you to do the same methods again and will look for other ways to resolve the issue.

Another rule that closely links to this can be found in RulestoBetterInstantMessenger.aspx

Do you label broken equipment?

When you see something not working like a phone or a powerpoint ?don't ignore it ? sticky a something to it.

Make it so they are referred to this and they answer...
Imagine you see one port of a hub not working ?what do you do?

Do you maintain honesty in your team?

It is extremely important to maintain honesty in a team environment. Nothing breaks down a team like a lack of trust. Remember, honesty starts with the small things.

"Lying is all about intent. When you say something you know isn't true in order to influence others, you're lying. If you say something which isn't true but you didn't know it wasn't true, that's not lying. But if you try to influence others by passing off something you don't know is true as truth, you are lying. Even if it subsequently turns out the thing was true."
Ole Eichhorn More at http://www.w-uh.com/posts/030328-lying.html

Do you reliably deliver your tasks?

Some tasks are either time-critical or you give a promise to do them promptly. It's very important that these tasks are given a high priority.

If you're not going to be able to deliver a task on-time, you should let the appropriate people know right away.

Do you teach & share ideas regularly?

Each team member has their own set of skills. There is no use hiding those skills "under a bushel". If you can at least share one idea a week the teams shared knowledge increases. This has many positive spin-offs, for example, the teams don't become reliant upon one individual, and when your idea is adopted your confidence increases allowing you to make more contributions in the future. Importantly, it's not only management that should contribute this way. Everyone has something to share. William McKnight, the chair of 3M said "It is essential that we have many people with initiative if we are to continue to grow."

As an example, if you have a handy tip, send an email to SSWDevelopers or add it to the KB.

Are you a Standards Watchdog?

See Is everyone in your team a Standards Watchdog?

Do you enter detailed and accurate time sheets?

It is essential that a company keeps a record of how much time its employees are spending on billable and non-billable work. This helps at invoicing time, and to make sure the clients see exactly where their time and money is being spent. One of the primary responsibilities as a developer is to complete timesheets.

Timesheets should be completed at the end the week before you go home on Friday afternoon. That way the project manager is able to send out the invoices on Monday for the previous week's work. It is the project manager's responsibility to ensure that the developers have their timesheets entered at the end of each week.

As full-time employees, you should always enter Monday to Friday (your standard hours), as well as any weekend work. At SSW we use SSW Time PRO! .NET with the following categories, but irrespective of the system you use, all days should be filled in.

• For annual leave, select "Leave" as the project type and "Leave - Annual"
• For public holidays, select "Leave" as the project type and "Leave - Non Working Day (Public Holiday)"
• For sick leave, select "Leave" as the project type and "Leave - Sick"
• For time in lieu, select "Leave" as the project type and "Leave - Time off in lieu"

It is crucial that you are very specific with your timesheets. If you stop doing client work to help someone else (or something unrelated to the client), make sure you write the time you stopped client work on your timesheet. When you resume client work, circle that time, enter the client ID next to the time, and continue working.

For customers from other States, travel time is usually billable and should be recorded separately on the timesheets so that the customer is fully aware of the exact time spent travelling to/from the client site. Travel time within Sydney is not billable to the client and of course you don't ever need to enter timesheets for travel from home to work or from work to home.

Do not group non-client work and client work in the same time slot. If you worked on AB COs web site from 9 to 12, then helped someone out with something else for an hour, do not enter 9am-1pm under AB CO:

Figure: Don't group non-client work with client work we don't want the client being charged for time that was not spent on them

Figure: Separate client work from other work, so that clients only pay for work you actually did for them

That being said, if you do any work that is related to a client that you would not usually bill for (such as going to an initial meeting or travel within Sydney ), you should still enter it under that client - when it comes to invoicing time, this rate will be set to zero, but still show on the invoice, so the client has a record of all the time that was spent on their project.

If using SSW TimePRO .NET, the time you spend on creating estimates should be entered under the Specifications - At SSW timesheet category, which makes it clear that there is work and time involved.

Time sheet entry itself should always be billed to the client unless you spent the whole day working solely for SSW.

Free Lunch

Make sure you finish your timesheets by Friday night. The deadline for submitting timesheets is Monday 9am.If all timesheets are received on time, everyone is rewarded with a free lunch. However, if someone fails to enter their timesheets, they will be put on the "SHAME LIST" and all team members will miss out on the free lunch.

It is your responsibility to get your timesheets in on time.

Of course it has to be said, the Free Lunch doesn't accumulate. It's an 'on the day' reward, so take it or leave it... If you're not in the office you've got 30 days to get the $8.00 Tax Invoice back to accounts for reimbursement.

Efficiency - Do you suggest a better method if you see one?

Most companies have a series of standards for conducting routine tasks. Of course some of these would have been written years ago, and haven't necessarily been updated. If you can think of a better way of doing something, let the appropriate person know and change the standard. Remember, if everyone contributes, everyone benefits.

Efficiency - Do you always try to work in pairs?

There are many good reasons why it's better to work in pairs, e.g. it's more efficient. I'm not talking about classical pair programming, as here at SSW we use our own brand... we do put our developers in pairs, but they each have their own computer.

More

Efficiency - Do you use multiple monitors

Studies have shown that you can get up to a 30% increase in productivity by using more than one monitor when you work.

Providing users with the ability to access more information and images simultaneously, multiple monitor configurations allow for more efficient multi-tasking between applications.

For example, if you were a developer; you could have your references in one monitor and your Visual Studio in another, and directly compare the two without compromising on space or layout.

Efficiency - Do you utilise quiet time in the morning?

It is important to have a specific period in the day to utilise to full potential. For this reason, at SSW, we do the following until 1pm every day:

• Quiet time is until lunch time (usually 1pm)
• You can't interrupt anyone
• Even if you’re near them, still IM 1st and ask to see them when they’re free
• Whisper or talk quietly when you talk
• No non-urgent phone calls (make calls in the afternoon)

Unfortunately, this means that the afternoon becomes a free for all. Although this scenario is not ideal, it at least gives you the morning to get things done.

Do you plan the night before what you are doing the next day?

It's often easy to lose track of what you're doing, especially if you have a busy day full of meetings and rushing around, it can often be easy to sign off and not think about tomorrow until you have to. But what if you're not coming in to the office the next day? You might be booked in to work at a client site first thing in the morning.

For this reason, it's a good idea to end each day by having a quick glance at your calendar. If you're especially busy, it can also be a good idea to have a paper printout of your week so you can look at your appointments in the car or on the move.

Do you notify others about what is happening in the company?

When something happens in your company, always send around an email so that the whole team is kept in the loop. Examples of events that you should send an email around for:

• An update to a company standard or procedure (including a link to it)
• Births and marriages
• Employees who are starting or finishing
• Anything significant that is happening in your life or the life of a loved one

You should really feel free to share any good news you have with everyone. It will make the office feel more like a family and not just a place to turn up to work.

Do you offer specific criticism?

Every day I come across something that could be improved. I believe that, if we're not making improvements, we're going backwards. But I don't make suggestions or criticisms without being specific.

"Do you know our sales process is hopeless, what are you going to do about it?"

Figure: Bad Example - Non specific critisism

When I find a problem, I pinpoint it directly (and recommend a solution):

"The current sales process does not ensure that a prospect is followed up by a phone call within 7 days of an initial meeting. Please modify the process, we will review it with the manager, and then we will email the sales team."

Figure: Good Example - Offering criticism in this way ensures that something will happen to fix the problem.

Of course, perhaps you can see a problem exists, but you may not even be sure how to pinpoint it, or can't think of a good solution. In this instance you should speak to someone who you think may be able to identify a solution, come to an agreement, and then request that action be taken.

When criticism is general, it is impossible to know what to fix.

Do you provide the reason behind the rules rather than blind criticism?

Along time ago BF Skinner, a psychologist, proved through experiments that an animal rewarded for good behavior will learn much more rapidly and retain what it learns far more effectively than an animal punished for bad behavior (Fundamental Techniques in Handling People, Brian Elfstrom). If you criticize your staff:

• You don't make lasting changes
• They will resent you, resulting in lower productivity and employee morale

An example: If one of your responsibilities is to make sure all your developers have signed released plans you can run around with a lot of authority telling them they'd better comply, but at soon as you're not around, they will resent you and not bother about it.

• Ask, "Is there anything I can do to make it easier for you to complete the release plan or make it simpler to produce?"
• Explain that release plans are there to make sure we are working on authorized work
• Explain that release plans make sure we get paid for our work - without them it is hard to track work done on a project

Do you know the nice way to correct someone?

When you notice that someone has done something against our standards, make sure you are tactful in your corrections; especially if the person you are correcting is a client.

Subject: RE: Meeting

Hi Mary,

FYI - an appointment would have been better. See rule #48 in Rules to better Email

Figure: Bad Example

Subject RE: Meeting

Hi Mary,

I noticed you did not send an appointment for this meeting. I hope you don't mind, but I have gone ahead and created one so we don't all have to create one individually.
We have a number of helpful standards like this which you can have a look at in our Rules to better Email if you're interested.

Figure: Good Example

When someone does something wrong, give them a second chance

One of my staff, I wont tell you Edward's last name ;) , offered to help clean up my laptop by backing up my files, reformatting and starting from scratch. For some reason or another, all of my emails and client work were destroyed. Naturally I was upset, but instead of coming down on him like a ton of bricks, I:

1. Went through the steps he took
2. Identified where he did not do what he was supposed to, and
3. Showed him the company standard for backups

By giving him a second chance, I ensured that he and others would not make the same mistake again, without making him feel any worse than he already did.

Do you offer positive feedback to your team?

Receiving positive feedback makes everyone feel good. Forgetting to recognize success means the team has no motivation to succeed.

This is a simple rule - if someone goes beyond the call of duty, you thank them.

Do you follow the sandwich rule?

The sandwich rule approach is an effective way to provide feedback to other team members and clients.

1. Start with positive feedback
2. Give your recommendations for improvement
3. End with some additional positive feedback (you may repeat #1)

This optimistic approach allows you to maintain a healthy relationship with your team members and clients.

Do you have a dress code?

The way you and all members of your team present themselves is a crucial part of creating a good impression for your clients, particularly in their first encounters with you.

One aspect of this is dress code. Dress code is important for two reasons:

• Looking professional and equipped for business. You don't need to go overboard, at SSW we ask our employees to wear a nice shirt (business or polo), trousers, non-white socks and black shoes (no sneakers, joggers or thongs).
• Branding

Everyone wears their SSW shirt to work on Mondays and are encouraged to wear SSW attire whenever they are in a public environment such as a User Group, Tech Breakfast, or seeing clients. When you represent SSW formally (e.g. at a conference stand) wearing SSW attire is mandatory. Of course, feel free to wear your SSW shirt every day of the week!

In addition, we ask our employees to make sure they put their shoes back on if they are going to leave their desk for 2 main reasons:

1. Maintaining a professional look, especially if a client happens to come in unexpectedly
2. Safety.

Making sure your team members care about their personal presentation will assist in how effectively this comes across.

Most of these go without saying, but of course things such as wearing a belt, shaving off your weekend facial growth, doing your hair, using deodorant and having clean teeth and nice breath all help. Particular attention to detail in these matters should be shown when attending clients' premises.

Do you avoid listening to music (Zunes and iPods) while at work?

I love my new Zune and I know others love their iPods, but should we be using them at work? Is there a way to use them effectively at work? I've had the "music debate" with numerous people about using personal music in the workplace.

Regardless of whether it is AC/DC or DotNetRocks, my opinion is, music/podcasts shouldn't be used in the work place because:

• I want my team to work with each other, and I don't mind that they hear other conversations going on. Hopefully if they hear about a problem they can fix quickly, they'll help each other out. Let me give you an example... say Andrew (who is busy working on another project) overhears Marlon say "Cool I found this great code generator, but I can't get past this error". I want Andrew to be able to quickly offer up advice (assuming he knows the answer already) to fix Marlon's problem before an issue develops. In this case he would say "Hey we don't use that code generator, you need to use SSW's standard code generator"
• It's been suggested that multi-tasking lowers your ability to efficiently carry out a task (e.g. doing your task at hand along with listening to tunes) - by as much as 20%!
• It can be anti-social - some people can shelter themselves
• It regularly leads to "oh, I love this song, you should hear it" which subsequently turns into a bigger distraction from work for multiple people

Others have said I am wrong with reasons like:

• "It helps me give you 100% - since the office is noisy I can concentrate and I need to block out a noisy environment".
  Isn't the music just creating an additional noise source?
• "It helps me relax".
  Yes I love hearing a good song, for example, when I hear Robbie Williams' "Better man" it gets me pumped a bit and I guess it has a positive effect on a my state of mind. I am unconvinced it helps me program better.

There is, however, a use for it being "background" music in some scenarios; like when you are doing time consuming mindless stuff like fixing data, building VPCs/VMWares or waiting for long builds.

I've also been into a few offices that use ambient music to subdue their employees. Again, I'm not convinced of this as a method mostly due to the fact that your not likely to be able to attend to everyone's tastes, and you're even more likely to intensify the "oh, I love this song" factor.

Note: Please see our Rules To Better Dead Time for how we like to effectively use audio devices like Zunes and iPods when we're not at work.

Do you ask questions where you're stuck?

I've seen developers sit with their faces to the screen, isolating themselves from the team, trying to solve a problem on their own. If you're stuck on one bug for more than an hour, ask someone to help. No-one gets a medal for solving a problem on their own in 2 days, when it could've been solved by 2 people in a couple of hours.

Do you make sure you get brownie points?

People are not mind readers (unless they are telepathic!), so when you get good feedback from a client, make sure you get the recognition for it. There is nothing wrong with getting brownie points for the work you have done and making sure the boss at the client site and your manager know about it.

To: John Smith - CEO Qwerty Organization CC: Adam Cogan - SSW Manager From: Sophie Belle - SSW Developer Subject: .NET Development Work for Qwerty Organization by SSW John, FYI - see next email. As you can see, I am loved :) Regards, Sophie Belle www.ssw.com.au To: Sophie Belle - SSW Developer From: Amanda Panda - Programmer / Analyst Qwerty Organization Subject: .NET Development Work for Qwerty Organization by SSW Sophie, Thanks for the latest release. It is fantastic! Thank you for all your hard work and commitment to helping implement this solution. Regards, Amanda Panda Programmer / Analyst Qwerty Organization

Figure: Developers, when you get good feedback from anyone at the client's company, forward their comments onto the boss at the client's company and CC your manager.

Do you let your client know when you work overtime and it is not charged?

At times we have to work overtime on a project and the client is not charged for the total hours worked. When this occurs it is important to let the client know. If a client does not know, how can they be grateful? A happy client is achieved in small bite sized steps. Informing the client of overtime that is not charged is just one of those small steps.

Do you give 120% when deadlines are tight?

There are times when you can happily work your standard hours, but there are times when your whole team would appreciate some hard work. This shouldn't be the standard, but extra work at certain times is a given in a professional industry.

Do you go two miles when you're only asked to go one?

This idea is different from the above rules in that it strikes at the heart of our everyday behavior, not just when a crisis is looming. The Lord Jesus said "And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two.". While not everyone chooses to agree with everything He said and did, it's a valid point when it came to creating a positive team environment. If you're willing to help others above and beyond the call of duty a whole ream of benefits flow:

• People begin to share responsibility for work that traditionally is claimed as "not my problem"
• Others will return the favor when you really need it
• The sense of work-place isolation disappears
• Productivity lifts as tasks can be achieved quicker

Do you enjoy your job?

The expectation from me is:

• The #1 is to put your heart into your job and enjoy yourself
• Get your Employee Responsibilities done
• Improve SSW to a better place every week
• Improve yourself to better person every week

If you find yourself not enjoying your job this is not necessarily a bad thing. You should make a commitment to give it a go and try to make it work. When you have decided you are unhappy you should talk to your boss and figure out what is making you unhappy. The fact is that there are some jobs that you are not suited to. It is probably best for everyone that you start to think about moving on and trying something that may make you happier.

The number 1 cause of stress in this industry is caused by impending budgets. The best way to handle this is to give realistic estimates, and imform the clients as soon as it looks like they will be exceeded. A client who has accepted the realities of his project is less scary than working on code that's already over-budget with an impending unknown client reaction.

Do you only do what you think is right?

If someone asks you to do something you believe is unethical please ring them up straight away and discuss the issue.

Speaking - Do you speak in a positive language to clients?

A sentence can be phrased in many ways. It is important to use positive language when speaking to clients. Instead of saying "I will NOT do X until you do Y", you can say "When you do Y, I will be happy to do X".

Bad example: We will need your agreement on the mockup, and as soon as you are happy with it, we will develop it to the agreed mockup. We will not be able to change the mockup once m