Maintaining an Agreeable Attitude During a Pandemic

Reasons Why We Are Sad
I often hear folks having various expectations of themselves and how they should be during this time. How they and others should act. How lucky we are if we are so lucky and why haven’t I done more with that luck.

Grief and Fear
Although it is easy to forget we are in a worldwide pandemic, the fact of the matter is, that the stress, along with any other stress is taxing and can impact us in different ways depending on our experiences and how we are predisposed.

Whether we have been impacted by our own health, the health of our family/friends, or are ‘doom scrolling' on our phone: viewing the news, the stress, fear, and grief impact each of us. Parents worry for their children, adult children fear for their elderly relatives, and everyone fears for the economy.

These feelings are perfectly normal under these circumstances.

Shelter In Place
Shelter-in-place and fear of contagions can cause anxiety that can come off as social anxiety. Although the experts recommend the 6-feet distancing attempting to enforce or anger at the lack of adherence may seem justified, and in turn, may be considered as a reason for entitlement. These beliefs based on science or lack of belief in science can create tension within the individual and among the population.

Tensions
Tensions created by the impacts of the pandemic, if not challenged and dealt with, can create pressures in other aspects of our lives. Those of us lucky enough to have the capabilities to work from home May feel confined and the essential workers who work tirelessly day in and day out feel pressure and fear that is not confined to their health alone.

For those of us who are parents, our children can also feel the pressure and relay it into their lives.

In addition to these parenting questions are the added question about their development, education, and future.

Schooling Alternatives
Parents want nothing more than to give their children the chance for the best potential future. Society has trained the generations to believe in a certain model of education, therefore the changes may be unsettling.

Masks
The fact of the matter is, that we live in a new world. The faster we can accept this, the easier things will become. It has been mentioned over again that masks are the best way to protect ourselves and others from this deadly virus. Resistance is understandable as there is change involved. It seems as though the days of shaving and make-up are not needed as we are mostly covered anyway. During the summer, in the hot weather, it seems especially daunting. 

Having little ones it can get very difficult to have them wear masks, especially for long periods of time. 

How can we get around this?

Masks do not have to be surgical looking all the time. There are a lot of fun options that can be used to cover the boring masks and be used to accessorize just the same. 

Children can pick their own masks and feel empowered about the masks they choose. I allow a few masks for each of them so they can pick one for the day. If they like a certain design, I will get that option for them in order to have them feel that it is a fun addition and not a burden. 

Donating masks to friends, family, and the needy is a great way to gift someone and also ensure that they are wearing masks regularly as well. Mask shaming is real, but not necessary. By gifting a mask rather than shaming we sent a loving message and further the health of the public.

KIT - Keeping In Touch

It is really easy to lose touch during these trying times. Maintaining regular gatherings by any means you are comfortable with is essential for social beings to continue to live healthy lives. Stay happy. Have light conversations. Check in often and with many folks on a regular basis. Understanding how people prefer to communicate and working with them helps everyone involved to maintain connections that secure happiness and emotional health.

Becoming the Best You During a Pandemic

How different things must have been during the 1912 pandemic.  Now with the internet, data-powered cell phones, offices, video-conferencing platforms, and the good'ol will-to-survive - there is a lot of opportunity during a shelter in place to rebuild and become one's best self.

I want to take a moment to acknowledge those who have been so heavily impacted during these times.  My thoughts grow heavy for those who have been battling and struggling to meet basic needs, down to taking a breath.  There are many resources to help contribute to the families impacted and the essential workers who are putting their lives on the line to help the population come through on the other side as a population.

There is no doubt that the pandemic has impacted all of us at varying levels.  Change causes stress whether it is visible or not.  Stress causes behavioral changes and can lead to depression, anger, anxiety, and a sense of loss.  These are all normal and valid feelings.  There is nothing wrong in acknowledging that this unexpected change is causing behavioral changes as well.

How then, do we survive and eventually thrive in order to rise from the ashes of the current circumstances?  I have mentioned a few ways of taking care of oneself in my blurb about helping children learn to cope.  These methods can just as easily be used to parent oneself and learn to cope as well as build mastery.  Here are a few of them.

EFT - Emotional Freedom Therapy
Emotional Freedom Therapy or "tapping" utilizes a series of acupressure points and brings the tapper back into the body - away from racing thoughts

Exercise
Physical-distanced outdoor exercise has many benefits including outdoor fresh air, increasing the heart rate, and a chance to say hello.  Being kind to everyone on the trail and focusing on beauty will help maximize this experience.  Children often love to stop and stare.  I remind myself its OK to stand around as well.  I keep a time limit instead of a goal on how many miles I want to complete when I have my children with me.  In those cases, it is more about the view than the milestones.

Choosing A Passion and: 
Joining virtual groups that meet regularly or even social media groups that post regularly
Researching online virtual groups that meet regularly can help with providing a feeling of socializing in a healthy way.  Including the children can provide a human element.

Studying Ideas on Social media
Sometimes if I cannot sleep and I want to craft but physically crafting is not possible I sometimes browse ideas on Pinterest, decorating websites, and other social media platforms in order to appease my creativity for the moment.  More times than not I find myself remembering that craft and perhaps doing it later.

Same with cooking.  I rarely cooked before pandemic times, but as with most during this time I have definitely perfected a few dishes.  Watching fun, fast-paced cooking videos, especially before bed, somehow are really motivating.  Most of the time I take that pearl and save it for later.

DIY videos
Do-it-yourself projects or DIYs can be a refreshing break. The idea of people taking simple inexpensive or old items and turning them into something amazing and new is inspiring.  Taking it easy and not pressuring myself, I find that I eventually come around to doing 10% of the DIYs I have seen.

Creating a vision board
A friend of mine initiated a group vision board party and I was blown away.  I never thought about using Pinterest in order to create a vision board, let alone create one with friends and then have a "show-and-tell" session upon completion.

With that said, I still love traditional vision boards.  Something about a board, some pictures of what I want, and some inspirational words really work.  Posting one on the wall can be powerful.

Utilizing Cleaning therapy
Cleaning one room a day or even a section of a room can create a sense of accomplishment.  Having two children under 5 and constantly feeling underwater if I have a few moments to clean just a corner it works.  Many times my kids are suddenly interested in that very corner I am cleaning which is OK too!  I let my babies discover that part of the room and work on a different part of the house.

Starting an online degree
Especially as a mom I do find if I get one free moment I am fidgeting looking for something to do.  Also, as a mom, going back to school online is a break in comparison with chasing two children around.  How about going "back to school" for that certification you've always had your eye on or that bachelor's you never finished?

Doing One Fun Thing With Your Child Each Day That He/She Enjoys
There is a small window where we are in our children's world.  That window grows small fast.  I am so tired so much of the time but even if I am lying down, I hold a Barbie doll in my hand and play with my kids from my pillow.  I bring current events into the play and we end up talking about things through the toys.

There is so much more I could say on this topic but the point is, that there is a solution to the stress that comes along with shelter-in-place and working from home.  Always being pleasant and working on ones self can actually result in a lot of extra energy and willingness to try new things.

Importance of Benchmarking Performance

We use electronics.  They light up, whir, hiss, swipe, load, clock cycles, and produce values based on input values.

In one of my earlier entries, I spoke about the different types of Technical Marketing and what they entail, and the importance of each type including what information and insight they offer.  One of the types I mentioned included performance benchmarking.  What is performance benchmarking, what does it entail, and why is it necessary?

These are all really basic questions for someone who wouldn't necessarily know about benchmarking, what it is, and the importance behind it.  It may even perhaps, sound foreign.  What does it have to do with measurements and data, and how can it be used in Marketing Claims?

First, let's talk a little bit about what benchmarking is and what its purpose is.  Benchmarks are a measurement tool (usually consisting of several workloads) focusing on and meant to measure a specific key product indicator under specific circumstances across platforms.  Platforms include technology from different vendors, specifications, and hardware/software/firmware setup.  Benchmarks are owned by consortiums, independent from but possibly in loose partnerships with vendors, designers, and manufacturers of the very platforms they measure.  This allows a chance for a fair measurement across these platforms.

Quantifying real-world use cases
Benchmarks provide an opportunity to quantify the performance in web browsing, raw compute, compute in MS Windows, Android-based workloads, and Graphics-intense workloads.

These quantifications are used to provide comparisons and values to support claims.

Substantiating Claims
In releasing a product, hardware, or platform for either consumer use, gaming, or productivity, it is easy to say ‘our new product is great.’  Supporting that claim with numbers consumers trust adds an extra element.

In addition to utilizing the data to create claims, how does one know that claim is valid?  The same benchmark used to measure can be used by a third party to validate whether or not that number is accurate and understand the confirmation used to achieve that performance data.  For example, in attaining a compute performance score using Spec CPU INT Rate using a standard memory configuration to see what the data is to determine if a higher memory size may have been used to boost the performance numbers, etc. the configuration information would presumably be presented in detail reports.  However, in a quick claim, it may be in small print or in a caveat included somewhere else.

Challenging Claims
A competitor can also use benchmarks to support data to challenge claims.  If one hardware designer claims their architecture is the best.  A competitor has an opportunity to challenge that claim and back up the challenge using a credible benchmark.

Finding hidden performance facts
Many benchmarks are available for platforms supporting different Operating systems.  Using
benchmarks that are valid for that use case but not initially considered can provide additional insight on performance.

An example would be using wanting to use a Benchmark on Chromebook but realizing that a lot of productivity is web-based also and adding a Web-heavy benchmark as a supplement as well.

Making clear, valid points
I mentioned earlier that benchmarks are a way to quantify performance claims.  Utilizing data from benchmarks takes the subjectivity out of the equation somewhat and provides a more objective basis for making performance claims.

Backing each marketing and performance claim can be a way to provide short-term and long-term credibility.  This is a great way to build and maintain trust with the customer.

Child Coping/Meditation

The topic of keeping children calm and focused is always relevant, but now as working parents, it is likely in our hands more often than usual.  My children have a lot of energy to spare as I am sure most of yours do as well and parents of young children and toddlers especially understand the new normal has definitely added a certain level of complication to working from home.

I see funny memes on the internet with lizards stuck to Kristen Bell’s head representing the reality of taking video conferencing meetings from home.  It makes me laugh (otherwise I might cry) at the relevance of this image.

It is a challenge, no doubt.  I do not pretend there is an easy fix.  Children need love and support.  Being home with parents who are usually working must be so exciting for them.

Routines help.  It’s true that routinely provides a sense of safety and part of that safety can come from the teaching self-soothing.  This is why I practice various types of meditation with my children on a regular basis.

Children as Empathetic Whirlpools
Children, like most people, are impacted by outside forces.  Emotions can change in an instant from playful to angry.  My four-year-old will hide under the table if I pick up her sister first.  I consider toddlerville emotional boot camp (mostly for the parents).  For me, remaining calm and even throughout my children’s emotions helps me stay grounded and gives me a chance to teach them to guide through their feelings in a healthy and productive way as well.

Pure Feelings
In addition to being in a world where everything is as large as the fourth world in Super Mario Brothers 3, children are dealing with literal, physical, and neurological growing pains.  Neurons that never fired before are suddenly beginning to fire.  New connections are being made.  The body is growing and stretching at a rate that the bones are constantly in flux and in motion.  Ouch!  These kids deserve a medal!  It’s no wonder their feelings are as pure as their love.

The Importance of Learning to Cope Young
Ninety percent of the brain is developed by age five.  Sixty percent in the first six months of life including the more primitive parts of the brain that steer flight, fight, and freeze.  Imagine if, during this tender time, children learn ways to soothe themselves and navigate through intense emotions in order to not only endure changes but also take control of their actions and ultimately reach their goals.  Learning to cope with emotions can help people maintain motivation, increase grit, overcome failure and help a person achieve what they need to keep moving forward.

Children of Working parents
As working parents, our limited time with our children can be considered a disadvantage.  The fact of the matter is, however, children will likely be facing circumstances where they are encouraged to work cooperatively in teams and establish relationships.  Having a support team full of loving adults and consistent children can help children come to their parents for help where needed.  Keeping a close relationship with other caretakers allows parents an opportunity to fill gaps at home and work with children from an objective outside perspective.

Exercise and Activity
Fresh air is important for everyone.  Sun rays provide vitamin D that the body needs decreases depression and set the biological clock to allow children to have a healthy slumber during the correct hours.

I like to mix up my exercise routines with my children: yoga one day, and bike riding the next.  A hike here, a playground (when safe) there.  Mixing up the routine allows for a fresh day but the same physical exertion.

Projects
I like to keep projects around the house that the kids can easily do and keep busy with for five minutes to an hour if they are really interested.  They call the shots.  The nice thing about having them with me, is I get to see what sparks their interest and work with that.  I can also use the fun activity as a reward for less-desired activities.

Coloring books, painting with water, mini canvas painting, blocks, and Lego blocks, are some handy ones that are easy to guide them towards.  I have two of a similar age so I will encourage them to play simple board games with each other as well.

ST(R)EAM (Science, technology, reading, engineering, art, mathematics) activities include:

• Sorting pom-poms by color in respective cups using a tweezer
• Building with blocks that have numbers of units
• Using number matching puzzles and having them match numbers and the numeric symbol
• Using their chemistry set to create secondary colors or make colorful, simple chemical reactions
• Painting with brushes or finger painting
• Building with Playdoh and colored pasta
• Cooking

Meditation

There are three types of meditation I use in sequence.  

1. Heavy, fast breathing tires their minds and allows a chance to focus.  
2. Physical/mental scan through a guided meditation.
3. Visualization technique that includes pruning of being nice to siblings and other peers, listening to caretakers, and using manners

There are also some great sleep meditations for toddlers available on YouTube.  My kids like the world of Moshi.

EFT
Finally, Emotional Freedom Tapping therapy is one of my favorite easy techniques to get mindful, quickly.  Plus it’s really fun to watch toddlers tap.  Using pressure points, lightly, repeatedly tapping from the eyebrows, temples, cheekbones, chin, collar bone, shoulders, triceps, lap, sides of the shins, etc, allows one to quickly ground.  Children love to mimic so this is a perfect calming version of ‘Simon says.’

Teaching children methods to soothe and stay focus not only sets them up for success in the future, but both child and parent will also find they are building a better attachment and bond with each other.

The New Normal - Living in a World Through a Time of Pandemic

Ways the World has Changed
On March 9th, I began to get concerned about the state of things.  I was reading more and more about a certain rising issue that would be called a Pandemic about a week later and I grew concerned for my health and the health of my family.

The storm seemed to continue brewing and to take precautions I discussed options of working from home with my manager.

My request soon became a company-wide suggestion, a recommendation, and finally, a requirement.  I was now working from home full-time.  People had laughed at my caution, perhaps suggesting I was taking this too seriously, but a mom has a strong will to survive and protect her cubs.

The balance was a challenge at first, my children were at risk in the beginning and I had to scramble for care so that I could maintain a working schedule that allowed me to continue to be available.  Fears crept, but there was no space for that.  I have too much at stake and even more on my plate.

Now what?

Information was key.  Information without inundation.  I do not have time to worry about what will happen next but on the same token I want to know what I am dealing with so I can protect myself and assist the vulnerable members of my family from my toddlers to the elderly.

"Flatten the Curve" the experts kept saying.  It took me a while to understand what that meant, but after having been a mom for almost half a decade and seeing kids pass colds along like it was a hacki-sak, I knew that physical distancing made the odds better for me and my family.

Now, the experts are saying that it could be working and that San Francisco Bay Area Cases are promising but that the worst is not over.

How then, do we respond to such a worldwide change?

People's Response
I have seen people react in different ways.  Most with compassion and availability.  Others with different responses, but understandably so.  Questioning the circumstance is valid.  Making sense of things is what we do as emotional beings and this pandemic is no different.

The temptation to point fingers could come naturally.  Finding reasons to be grateful can seem like a reach, especially for some who have lost a family member or a colleague.

My hope is, no matter what the response, that there is someone to listen to, be available, and support.  If not, perhaps taking the opportunity to support others may provide solace.  What can we do?

Organizations and corporations have provided immediate support to protect their population and allowing access to work and connect remotely.

Protecting and Producing for Ourselves and Others
I have seen charts and graphs that show how physical distancing can save lives.  Whether or not the time distancing was wasted is a question that uses energy that can be conserved for other things.  Whether or not it is easy to admit a time like this is taxing on everyone.

Even my young children who do not know how to ask the questions express their frustration by being fussy, not eating, expressing boredom, asking about extended family, and yearning to watch videos.  Their physical health is number one including mental health.  More details about helping children cope will be published in a later blog including:

• Having a routine
• Introducing Meditation and Spiritual Practice
• Have them list their "Thank yous"
• Reminding them gently to use their manners by using manners with them
• Ensuring physical comfort
• Making everyday activities fun and special

Pressing upon the point of social distancing, doing everything that can be done to stay home is essential.  It would be helpful to lean on grocery delivery, however as time goes on, finding delivery slots with grocery delivery services becomes increasingly challenging.  Some helpful directions may include:

Being flexible.  I have two young daughters who still depend on milk for both comfort and nutrition. Luckily, boxed milk is a good alternative to fresh milk.  Mixing it for children can help them make the transition and be flexible between each kind.  This makes it easier to stay home for a few weeks at a time when grocery delivery is not available.

Getting as many frozen things as possible and freezing the rest.  Freezing vegetables, and meats, and purchasing frozen foods can both make eating at home easier and help assuring that food is available for longer.

Often times fruit and vegetables do not taste the same - getting creative and making a smoothie, or placing vegetables in dishes with sauce can help mitigate this change.

Interchanging non-perishables such as rice and pasta can help.

What about the elderly?  If shopping for the elderly and providing for them, protecting one's self is essential.  Better to be overly cautious and wear a mask and gloves than to take a risk or illicit unnecessarily anxiety over the possibility of risking exposure.

Emotions
It is easy to forget that the world has changed.  Even with requirements to work from home, for some who may work from home regularly, essentially little to nothing has changed.  For those who are used to going to the office, it can become very easy to quickly get used to the new schedule as people are resilient and able to adjust for the most part.

There is one aspect that can easily be neglected, and that is the perspective of the emotional response of self and others.  These responses may look different for each person based on background, workload, circumstance, coping background, etc.

Being Supportive and Accepting Support
A few ways to provide support were mentioned above.  Supporting children and aiding them in coping.  Helping folks at risk and with pre-existing conditions.

This also goes along with protecting self and others.  Be cautious while driving.  Using an extra sense to read the room, the road, and the people around.  This is a time more than ever that being conscious of the emotions of others can act as a method of survival and certainly a method of thriving during this difficult time.

Governor Newsom of California has provided resources for residents to reach out and not feel alone.  He has even suggested reaching out to vulnerable populations and checking in with them.

Emotional responses can look like compassion, sadness, and vulnerability, but they can also look like anger, negging, gas-lighting, and bullying.  It is important to maintain boundaries and be available as capability allows.

Being conscious of one's own emotions is crucial and self-care is more important than ever during times that cause an increased amount of stress.

Signs of Burnout
Stress has been briefly mentioned and change of circumstances may easily be part of the adjustment as regulations are consistently changing.

As a mother of two young children, I can attest to the challenge of balancing caring for children at home and even finding child care during this time, mitigating the risk, and ensuring a level of balance and ability to work.

Working from home may also not allow for the same rigid routine as being in the office and having office hours may allow.  With video conferencing, retrieving emails on the smartphone, and having a majority of the office productivity suite on the phone as well means that it is easier to smudge the lines and have work and family time impede on each other.  It is valid to feel a level of stress from multi-tasking and want to provide a sense of normalcy for children, especially while schools are closed.

It is important to know what to ask for help and have contingency plans when possible.  At the very least, recognizing burnout can reduce further stress from not understanding what is happening.

Signs of burnout can include but are not limited to:

• Feelings of being overwhelmed
• Fatigue
• Anxiety around the events
• A feeling of "dropping the ball"
• Skipping meals
• Poor eating habits
• Not enjoying meals
• Memory issues
• Spacing out

Luckily, a lot of medical resources include phone appointments, advice nurses, and other distant services.  Utilizing these can be the difference between burnout and carrying on, even if it is not at the top-level of productivity that is desired.

Productivity
I have seen and heard many suggestions and examples of different levels of productivity during this time.  New craft efforts, increased career-related efforts, planning a vacation, homeschooling children, and learning to cook new things.  These are all excellent ways to spend the quarantine time.  Sharing these accomplishments is even better: inspiring and fun to share.

Planning a vacation or getaway for after the restrictions are lifted can provide a sense of excitement and something to look forward to.  It allows an opportunity to look visualize a level of new normal, especially for those who love to travel or those with young children who are asking about going somewhere else.  Vacations are excellent bonding opportunities for families.  Planning vacations and visualizing those vacations have an extremely similar cognitive impact.  Essentially planning a visualizing a vacation is a mini-vacation in itself.

It is also OK to learn about oneself during this time.  Starting a meditation practice, readying philosophy, and being available for oneself can be just as productive as tangible projects and planning.  Doing research on health that perhaps is not completely urgent.  Figuring out if there are any vitamins or supplements that may increase health vibrancy.  Self-care is a very productive endeavor.  Finding healthy ways to feel good and build mastery even in small ways can help build self-esteem.  Being in a place of gratitude during a time like this is not intuitive, but being thankful for what is available is possible.  Making a list, having a thank-you party with the kids, and acting from a place of gratitude is a slow but ample way to get into a healthy mindset.

Dismissing toxicity within self and others and not taking things too personally can also help during this time.  Staying in the now and learning to be mindful through each moment not only helps navigate a crisis but is excellent practice in general as modern philosophers such as Ekhart Tolle suggests.  The concepts are also deep and can be fun to think about.

How do we work from home if it is not something we are used to?  Going into this knowing it does not have to be, nor will it be perfect.  It is OK to mourn what was.  A perfectly orchestrated ergonomic setup, office decorations, and real-life connections with colleagues, these are all valid things to process.

• Having a designated area for working can help provide a mindset of productivity.  
• Having a daily routine can also help to train ourselves to be productive at certain times.  Taking breaks, being regular, and eating lunch are all just as important now as any other time.
• Checking the calendar the night before and the morning of.  This provides a sense of security in knowing what is coming and what can be prioritized.
• Keeping in touch regularly and effectively.  Communication is more important than ever,  Asking questions, being available, and providing resources if a question has the one answering stumped.

These are, needless to say, unprecedented times.  Self-care is the cornerstone of coping, supporting, being productive, and adjusting to this new world that seems to have changed overnight.  Heads are floating just above the water and everyone has been impacted.  In a time as technologically advanced as this information and resources are at the fingertips of those who reach them.

Schedule or Process? What to Prioritize

The million-dollar question to every Program Manager comes down to schedule versus (_fill in the blank_).  Be the reasonable budget, resource, priority, quality, or relevance, the constant struggle of the PM is keeping a schedule without sacrificing too much from the project itself.

I have seen varied examples in the industry: new product introduction life cycles lasting up to three years (risking the loss of technology advancement in the market) and very aggressive tear-down life cycles that sacrifice quality and accuracy (quite possibly acting as a catalyst to this company's slow demise).

For the purpose of this piece, I want to chat about an experience where I prioritized process over schedule, review some of my reasons behind it and share what I have found.

Projects executed prior to any process improvement, require the process to be revisited but there may not be any tracking information to recreate the process.  This becomes an issue for quality assurance and recall purposes.  It is also difficult to know at what point of the process the issue occurred.  This makes it difficult to immediately implement improvements for current and future projects in the pipeline.

Even the imperial dynasty in China kept records with a type of part number in order to be able to track who owned what part of a weapon or statue.  That person faced capital punishment in the case of a defective failure.  Quality control and responsibility ensured high-quality work.  The same is true in the present, although with a different set of consequences.

Another issue with maintaining the same process time after time or even not having any process at all is the amount of patch-up work required to maintain such a broken system.  If I don’t have a streamlined process to release even the most simple document, I place that document at risk of missing a step, missing an approval, or missing an improvement needed to graduate to the next revision.  I have experienced a higher than normal yield loss in an engineering build due to the wrong revision of a specification being released to a contract manufacturer.  Upon tracking this I ensured there was a dual-approval process moving forward to ensure the release of this specification was not left up to one poor busy electrical engineer but reviewed by a team of qualified contributors.

Where then, does that place us with prioritizing process over schedule and vice versa?  Ultimately the purpose of implementing process improvements is to streamline and improve the schedule.  Therefore, if implementing improvements is pushing out the schedule it may defeat the purpose.  I recommend implementing the improvements in increments similar to Agile methodology in software.  Starting with an initial list of improvements and re-evaluating helps to determine the pain points to prioritize.

Some items that are easy wins in implementing from the get-go include: labeling documents and builds labeling revisions, and numerical versions.  Other easy wins are adding feature call-outs, versions, and consistent key product indicators.

Periodic team check-ins are also an easy win.  These open sessions can be used as an opportunity for the team to share their accomplishments, collaborate on ideas, and utilize as a forum to cultivate solutions for any pain points or issues along the way.  The ROI on the check-ins should be very high with minimal time used.  Having working groups divided up into sections to address the needs of specific sub-teams or individuals is another efficient way to ensure the best use of time.

In the end, it is possible to implement improvements in increments to support the schedule and the process.  This reduces disruption and allows the team to maintain the backing of executive management.

Creating a Zen Workplace

Needless to say, work can be stressful as can live.

Luckily, motherhood is likely more stressful.  I say luckily because, in comparison to screaming children, cooking, cleaning, laundry, pulling siblings apart, picking up toys, stepping on the same toys that were just picked up, etc, etc, etc...work can seem like a breeze.

I’m a mom.  The spa is like a distant dream at times.  On the same note: self-care is essential.  Working mothers fitting self-care into their day are not only doing themselves a favor but also doing their families, colleagues, friends, and family a favor.

A physician’s assistant and an occupational therapist suggested that I make my workspace a spa.  Why not?  I work at a desk in a community area that is mostly quiet and I have the opportunity to do so with minimal money spent.  Here are some ways I turn my office time into spa time: thanks to a few added aesthetics and resources.

Minimalist Work-space
I have a small desk with no drawer space.  This is the best thing that has ever happened to me.  All those things I used to waste space with are gone.  I take all my notes on my smartphone.  I rely exclusively on my electronics of collateral, I PDF and email all my collaboration and I keep as little as possible on my desk.  Even then I feel I might have more on my desk than I actually need.

My desk includes a pencil holder with a few pens, a sharpie, and a highlighter.  The highlighter is overkill in my humble opinion.

I push all my wires behind the desk.  My headphones are hung from an existing metallic arm holding up one of my expanded monitors and I still have a little room for my coffee cup and my morning fruit choice.

Decorations 
In the beginning, I had a lot of little nick back decorations back in the ancient days of cubes.  I even had a live beta to keep me company.

One live object is ok: a plant or a small fish in a small simple fish bowl is ok.  I recommend a single succulent for a plant choice.

One art project per child can be placed on the walls: strategically and with plenty of distance in between each one.  If your child has awed you with their latest work: I suggest switching out the art so as to not clutter the wall.

I keep a 2-inch x 3-inch Japanese zen garden on my desk.  Alway with the stones placed intricately in and out of the small garden box.  This is both a relaxing activity to arrange and periodically rearrange; and an aesthetically pleasing decoration.

Soothing Music
One of the many wonderful things about smartphones: is that smartphones offer many wonderful things.  One includes a barrage of music apps that offer free or inexpensive music streaming.  Some of these stations are perfect relaxing music for work and can be played at such a low volume that only I am enjoying the light tunes.  Some choices for me are classical, spa, the 40s, and meditation music.  iTunes offered a lot of free radio stations years ago that included an eclectic Mediterranean playlist.  I prefer instrumental music for peaked focus.  I also prefer something slow-paced to keep me grounded.  These stations set a more professional tone than rock, house hip-hop.

No Thanks 
I stay away from posed photographs because it feels like someone is staring at me: posed photographs are usually unnatural and frankly: I will see everyone when I get home.  Framed photos take up space and I don’t like the idea of distracting my colleagues as well as myself with a school picture of my 4-year-old.

Now I have a desk I enjoy working at and the only distraction includes me talking to myself out loud during certain times of the day.  During this time it may be a good idea to check my playlist and switch back to ‘spa’ if I have not all ready.

What is Technical Marketing?

Technical marketing is a complex world.  There are so many aspects of it and so much more involved than one might think.  When I first started doing technical marketing I had a lot of prejudice myself.  I had no idea how much I would learn and grow walking in this field.  I had no idea how much technical knowledge and growth would be required of me in order to do well in this field.  After being in this field for five years, this is what I have seen.

Aspects of Technical Marketing
Technical marketing was easily placed in a small bucket for me.  After joining the team, my focus was on back-end project management and providing the data needed to back the claims the team was making.  As it turned out, this data would be processed in so many different ways and displayed so many times it amazed me how much it involved.  Little did I know I would be combining data, math, art, communications, and presentation skills to deliver my message in a way that was what the audience needed to do their job effectively.  Here are some of the different verticals in marketing utilized in the technical space to deliver the message.

Marcom
Here is a marketing role that requires a lot of travel and energy.  Setting up trade shows, having the vision to design booths at conferences, delivering, prioritizing, and of course, procuring the swag.  Marcom does require the organizers to have a good understanding of the audience.

Gone are the days of stationary two-dimensional displays.  It makes sense that with 3D printing, smart homes, smart manufacturing, and in the world of TedTalks that Trade-shows would express this sentiment as well.

Therefore it makes sense to include interactive booths, hands-on technology, and audience participation and input.

Design Win/Customer Win
Design win and customer win are clear examples that customer relationships and support are critical to maintaining a business.  "Win" is more than just having the better product or beating the competition.  It's about having an established relationship with the customer and earning their business for the present and future.  Working with the customer and having the ability to be the subject matter expert requires, not only the knowledge of whatever piece is being sold, but a knowledge of the entire ecosystem, where this business fits, how it will scale, and how the customer will benefit long term.

In Design win, telling a story is very important.  What does the industry look like now?  What will it look like in the future?  How will those changes impact the customer?  How will your business grow with the industry and the customer and ensure everyone's success?

These are all questions the customer is asking themselves and if they are not, then it is up to us to address the story anyways and get the customer to think with us and ultimately look at us as a partner rather than a vendor.

Strategy and Architecture
Where does Marketing fall into strategy and architecture?  How do some salesmen impact the technological direction of the company?

Lots.  Marketing research of the industry creates an enormous advantage to the direction of the industry and therefore the demands in the space.  This input is valuable and requires a lot of foresight.

By understanding the industry, the direction, the competition, and stated and actual claims, there is a lot of visibility to information that keeps a business relevant and provides a potential to disrupt the industry which is a real game-changer.

Bench-marking/Measurements/Workloads
Who doesn't like a good statistic?  Statistics is the single most credible source of delivering a story.  How many stories begin with "according to science."  Is it "science?"  Or is it statistics?  Theoretically, statics are a way to credibly state the likely hood of a specific outcome.

The statistics are further supported by measured data.  No matter how correlated the claim, the data and the statistics are, if a customer is offered a claim, and shown some comparable data to support the claim, there will likely be a boost in trust.  Furthermore, as competition makes a claim, this is an opportunity to debunk or explain where that claim is coming from if the numbers are somehow skewed in a way to support a specific position.

FAEs
Failure analysis engineers are an excellent channel for marketing data, benchmarks, claims, and collateral.  The FAE's have an excellent relationship with the customer and are a great way to provide more than just the failure analysis of what they are looking for.

Having a good relationship with the FAE and providing them with the collateral they need is really important.  They represent a large customer who has this type of resource allocated to them.  Keeping this person well-informed is what is best for the business.

Sales and Training
Sales and Marketing are often placed in the same bucket and for good reason.  Marketing collateral is often utilized to support sale efforts whether it be for inside or outside sales.  Sales also provide some important insights to Marketing and can often be the most important asset to the Marketing team.  Paper/online research is not enough to get real-world exposure to what the industry looks like.  Sales is often the eyes and ears of the Marketing team.

Originally I had placed training as a separate topic but often times since Marketing collateral can often times be utilized to advance sales efforts, its important to consider the relevance of training in this space as well.

With YouTube, TedTalks, STEAM activities training has become more interactive than the previous classroom type training structure.  Participants are often encouraged to engage and provide their two cents and these sessions progress into dialogues.  As this trend continues, communication will lead to collaboration and team effort will be rewarded for the best of the business and employees.

Attending Conferences
Attending conferences is one of my favorite parts of my job.  I get to see the technology firsthand, find other avenues to hear customer feedback, listen to ideas, hear about what is available open-source and continue to increase my understanding of what is out in the market.

These are opportunities to talk to the competition, expand networks, find meet-ups, and get access to tech in my case.

I have colleagues who are such skilled conference attendees that they know exactly where to be at the right time in order to attain exactly the information they are looking for and information they didn't know they needed.

No matter the purpose, attending conferences is a combination of learning more about the technology, increasing one's place as a subject matter expert, networking and getting more exercise than usual.

The many facets of Marketing combine together to provide a number of creative opportunities.  Research, Statics, Art, Technology, and Industry knowledge are a tremendous start and the possibilities are endless depending how deep down the rabbit hole one is willing to go.

With that said, defining scope and parameters are very important.  As with project management, gaining an understanding of resources that will be required for each case along with the ROI are just as important to consider as which aspect of Marketing to consider.

Understanding the Different PM hats

Believe it or not, there is still some ambiguity around the role of a project or program manager, even in industries flooded with PMs!

What then, does one say when asked "What will the Program Manager do?"  The short of it: Create and maintain project plan, report status and execute.

The length of it is much more fun in my opinion:

Determining Scope
What is the scope of the project?  What does it entail and what will it include?  a lot of this information can be based on available resources, relevant information, executive asks, and needs.  Some questions could include what am I trying to influence with this project?  Am I trying to execute something from prototype to production release?  Am I passed the research phase?  What kind of influence will my project have if it is in or prior to the research phase?

Asking these questions beforehand will be very important in determining the scope of my project and will be critical during the planning phase.

Creating Forecasts
How much do I anticipate my project will cost?  What percentage of each team member's time?  Will there be overhead costs?  Additional cost for research?

Having and categorizing costs for my project will be crucial in proposing my project to the necessary executives and ensuring I have the financial backing I need for my project from start to finish without any surprises.

Not sure what the forecast will look like?  Look at previous projects that have had similar outcomes or scopes and start with that.

Building and Maintaining a Schedule
There are some excellent tools that are both functional, easy to use, and easy to present at the drop of a hat in the case that executives want to know the status of the project.

There are also web-based scheduling tools available that are easy to share with teammates.  These tools make it easy to maintain and adjust schedules based on dependencies.

Following up and Chasing Deliverables
This is the single most important day-to-day effort of a good PM.  No duty is too small and no task is overlooked!  The PM must be diligent about maintaining excellent relationships and helping team members to meet their deliverables.  The key of a good leader is to ensure your teammates have everything they need to fill their tasks and it is up to the PM to ensure the resources are connected effectively.

Building and Maintaining Relationships
I briefly mentioned this in my previous section.  This is crucial in leading efforts as a PM.  In the standard managerial hierarchy, it is well received to manage up.  As a PM, however, the devil is in the details and relationships must be maintained everywhere in order to ensure a successful project.  The PM may have the backing of the executives at times but escalations hurt relationships.  It is almost a catch-22.  We lead the effort, but with no managerial power to do so.

Having a good, helpful attitude and approach will help to maintain relationships.  Respect teammates and their expertise.  Ask them for advice.  Include them in the brainstorming phase.  Continuously ask for feedback.  Reach out and learn each person's relationship language so that you know how to approach that person.  Acknowledge team efforts and ask for incentives from management whenever possible to recognize efforts.

Removing Obstacles
This goes along with chasing deliverables.  Often times a team or member may be at a stuck point, not because they forget, but because there is some kind of obstacle stopping them from filling their task.  What is it?  What can you do?  Who needs to be pulled in?  Will this be a reoccurring event?  If so perhaps a process improvement needs to be implemented to prevent obstacles like this from happening again in the future.

Intuitive process improvement methods can be used and for larger projects, Six Sigma methods such as DMAIC and SIPOC are good tools for systematic, statistical-based improvements.

Collaborating with Teams
Often times in a Program Management role, it will not just be one team, but a medley of cross-functional teams across the company that will need to be pulled in for a portion of the whole of a project.  In this case, understanding the team is important.  Being included in team meetings, getting to know different cultures, and speaking their language are essential.  The PM can be a jack of all trades but is a subject matter expert in the project or program.  Recognizing what each team is teaching you and bringing to the table is important while balancing the expertise in the program will be essential in successfully managing the project in an effective way.

By combining these efforts, a Program or Project manager has everything he or she needs to manage and attain the appropriate resources while managing both up and down and ensuring everyone has everything they need for the program.  Being a good leader often is determined by how well one can serve the effort.