Month: April 2022

THE PAIN POINTS SHOULD GUIDE YOU, NOT THE SPARKLE OF A SHINY PENNY

Posted on by Marketing

by Jeff Fourman and Leezan Omerbell

 

Ideas are abundant. Ideas that evolve into prototypes are rare. Prototypes that become essential tools for clients are even more scarce. And if you want to talk unicorns, then build a product that becomes essential for your clients. Hopefully, your team can gain insight from CountryIntel’s lessons learned, which we compiled while applying a lean approach to creating viable products for our government client base.

Budget: When assessing the budget for product development, it is common practice to simply “go big” and request a large price tag. While this type of proposal might be accepted, the request for a large amount is often unappetizing. From experience, we discovered it is easier to pilot products with a smaller, more reasonable budget when building lean. Then you can focus on the key pain points that your prototype addresses. This approach keeps your team focused on a lean solution that can deploy rapidly with effective results and an undeniable proof of concept. With this approach, your client reaps the benefits sooner and with a greater return on investment. They will also be more likely to continue to invest in the solution with iterative enhancements to rapidly address the most problematic pain points.

Prototype: It is tempting to present a finished and highly polished product which you think is “just right” for your clients. But operating under such assumptions can present challenges. Initially developing too far down the technology roadmap for your solution is risky. You may not incorporate all the client’s feedback necessary to guide you down the right path, and you may end up wasting valuable time and funding on a solution that only partially meets the client’s needs, paints you into a corner, and creates problems of its own. If the client wants something that only partially meets their needs, they could simply buy a Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) solution and overpay for features they will never use or that require unwieldy workarounds to operationalize. Remember, the pain points should guide you, not the sparkle of a shiny penny.

Do not gamble with your budget and assume you know all your client’s wants and needs from the start of a development road map. Gamble long enough and you are certain to lose. Then you will have to backtrack, make costly adjustments, and potentially need to restart completely if you do find yourself surrounded by wet paint. Again, when building, keep the prototype lean and minimal at first, and keep open lines of communication with the client so honest feedback can be collected. And do not be afraid to ask, “What stinks about this prototype?”  They will tell you, and it could keep you from having to start over if there is a nagging nuisance which they are afraid to tell you about in early prototyping.

Maximize end-user feedback loop: The purpose of building a lean prototype is to provide the client and end-users the opportunity to assess the product and provide feedback and recommendations. Optimizing the end-user feedback loop enables you to make these changes and provide the client with a viable product that suits their specific needs. This also helps justify a budget to further enhance the prototype into a more robust operating product. Ultimately, this approach increases client confidence and trust that what they are paying for is exactly what they need.

 

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MY VIRTUAL LEARNING EXPERIENCE

Posted on by Marketing

by Lillian Dickman

 

Growing up, I was a typical student in a traditional learning environment. I sat at a desk in a physical school building, learning from a teacher in a classroom full of other students. This was my norm until my third year of college in 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic turned the educational world upside down. The sudden shift from traditional schooling to a virtual environment posed a learning curve for many students, including myself. Amidst the chaos, I adapted and found positivity in this new world of eLearning. As a recent college graduate, here are my lessons learned and key takeaways from the virtual learning experience:

Easily Connect with Others: With eLearning, we connected with course instructors and students without physically meeting. Courses were able to be conducted through virtual meetings where it did not matter where people were located. This made it easier for students to be able to meet with others to get work done from the comfort of home. We could also reach instructors through online chatting at any time rather than scheduling time to visit in-person during specific office hours. Although virtual environments will never quite replace in-person experiences, I learned that it is possible to still connect when physically distant.

Learn Self-Paced: Online courses can be self-paced, and they are designed to be more flexible with your time. In the traditional classroom setting, all students must try to work and follow along at the same pace. Because everyone has different learning styles and schedules, eLearning accommodates for all these variances. Students can either fly through lessons or take more time to digest it. I was an involved and active student on campus, so it was helpful to have the flexibility to progress in certain online classes on my own time. Instead of needing to run across campus to make it to class, I could review class content, re-watch lectures, and complete coursework when I was ready to. Although I had never been able to take courses on my own time prior to COVID-19, the self-paced learning was beneficial because I was able to tailor my course completion timeline to my learning style as well as gain a sense of independence in my education.

Embrace Change: If 2020 taught us anything, it was to be adaptable. While everything was shutting down, we became more open to change around us. After being suddenly sent home from school in the spring of 2020, spending my last year of college constantly battling a pandemic was not how I expected my college years to end. It was a rollercoaster of change or, as many have described it, “unprecedented times,” with no way of knowing what the future held. Despite this, I am grateful that modern technology was still able to bring some normalcy to the world. Universities and schools began offering eLearning services to be able to continue to provide an education to students. Students then embraced this new way of learning as a way of bringing a little consistency back into our lives. Although there was an adjustment period of learning the ins and outs of how remote courses operated, I was able to find positivity and embrace change.

Prepare for Remote Work Environment: Not only were schools pushed to virtual environments, but workplaces were as well. Employees also had to go through the same learning curve with working a job from home. Instead of having people visit your desk to speak with you, coworkers ping you in Microsoft Teams Chat. Rather than sitting in a big conference room for a meeting, you sit on a Zoom call while someone shares their screen for a presentation. COVID-era students were able to prepare for this new way of working by learning the technology and software used to support remote environments while in school. As a student during the pandemic, I regularly used Zoom and Microsoft Teams as my main resources for connecting with teachers and classmates. Young professionals and recent graduates have the upper hand in having the best understanding of these online tools compared to older employees who did not have the same opportunity to study in these virtual spaces while in school. Learning things as simple as how to create and join virtual meetings or knowing how to turn the mute button on and off are things that seem intuitive but still require some training.

Since graduating from college in 2021, I have started my career in a remote environment that still heavily relies on these technologies. I am thankful I had a solid foundation of how to use these tools prior to starting my full-time position. Learning how to efficiently work from home is a skillset that has taught me the significance of both independence and time management. Overall, my biggest takeaway is that technology is an incredibly powerful and crucial tool for not only the academic world but also the corporate world.

CountryIntel Online Distance Learning Solutions: Country Intelligence Group has specific expertise in remote learning services. From curriculum design and development, eLearning, training delivery in all modes, and training/education program management, our team can craft the perfect solution for your needs. CountryIntel can help your organization easily connect with others through eLearning platforms, regardless of physical distance. I have learned through my experience with remote education that no matter how course content is delivered, students are still able to be trained and educated at the same level of excellence. Embrace the changes in today’s cutting-edge course delivery and partner with Country Intelligence Group for optimal results.

 

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