Chris Barbin, Former CEO and co-Founder of Appirio, Venture Capitalist & Tequila Master - joins the RTRL team for an interview.  We had a blast asking him about everything from how his career got started, to his thoughts on the Appirio journey, to what he is doing now! 

Check us out on facebook, twitter (@realtechrl) and at www.realtechreallife.com

In this episode we share our thoughts on Women in Technology & Leadership - quite a loaded topic these days! We have an honest conversation about why it matters, whether progress has been made and what we have seen organizations do to help.

Check us out on facebook, twitter (@realtechrl) and at www.realtechreallife.com

An interview with Mike Epner, Guru of Customer Delivery Operations, Professional Services and how to build amazing teams. We talk about how he got into the business, how he approaches building leadership teams and a form of photography that he invented! (*originally recorded in August 2017) 

You can find Mike's photography at www.michaelepner.com

You can find the RTRL Playbooks , best practices and list of recommendations at our website - https://realtechreallife.com

Join us for our relaunch podcast - an update on what we have been doing during our hiatus, what we have learned and what is coming up on future podcasts. 

You can find our Playbooks , best practices and list of recommendations at our website - https://realtechreallife.com

A discussion on how to manage project closure successfully. This was originally recorded in 2017 and closes out our Services Lifecycles Series. Stay tuned for brand new episodes in August!

You can find our Project Mgmt Playbook and other best practices at our website - https://realtechreallife.com

 A discussion on how to manage projects – and how to do status reports in Haiku!!

You can find our Project Mgmt Playbook at our website - https://realtechreallife.com

 People are the product of services firms – we talk about how to best staff the on projects. 

You can find our Staffing Projects Playbook and other info at our website - https://realtechreallife.com.

You can find more detailed Show Notes and the Playbook for this episode at our website - https://realtechreallife.com. 

A fun and hopefully insightful discussion about how to think about and approach scoping software implementation and development projects!

Lightening Round & Recommendations:

Documentaries / Movies

• Lori A – Young At Heart – A 2009 documentary based on a group of seniors (average age 81) that sing classic and current rock covers. Sweet and sad with good music.
• Andrea –  Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. She laughed so hard her son told her to be quiet.
• LoriW – Gleeson – Documentary about a New Orleans Saint football player who filmed his life from the time he finds out he has ALS as the diseases’ journey parallel the like of his newborn son. Equal parts informational, sad, funny – and inspiring.
• Maryam – Lion– A boy from India that gets lost from his village and ends up adopted in Australia. Though he doesn’t even know the name of his home village the story takes us through his effort to find his original family.

What is it and how can it benefit you?

Lori Asburry leads us through a discussion on what Mindfulness in the Workplace is and how it can benefit you and your business.

 You can find the Mindfulness Playbook here and at our website - https://realtechreallife.com

You can find more detailed Show Notes and the Playbook for this episode at our website - https://realtechreallife.com.

What About Change Orders / Project extensions?
How do SI’s approach CO’s scope/budget?
How soon should you know about it and how formal should the notification be?
Should you allow the SI to work at risk?
With agile projects how do you draw a firm functionality line?
If you inherited a project budget off the rails where would you start to unravel it?

Lightening Round & Recommendations

How Do You Leave It At Work? This is a hard one and something most have to continually work at – as evidenced by the “free for all” conversation while discussing it.

Team Building - How do you bond a team to prepare them for potential tough times? (Yes, we talk about using Haiku's to help.

TV Shows

• Maryam – This Is Us – Binge-worthy and the perfect mix of funny and emotional with multiple story lines so it appeals to to all types of people. Special shout out to Chris Bell who once threatened to de-friend her if a character died, because she sucked him into the show addiction with her.
• Andrea – Big Bang Theory – smart, funny and good for all ages and guaranteed to be showing on a channel somewhere in the world 24 hours a day.  Apparently her family gave her the Big Bang Theory Game for Mother’s Day. No words….
• LoriA – Grace & Frankie – Again,  smart and funny and also innovative in that it treats over 70 women like real people.  Their new business venture alone is worth watching for.  (Plus it has the always amazing Lily Tomlin and we spend a few minutes in awe of how amazing Jane Fonda looks at 79)
• LoriW – Netflix Chef’s Table series – There are 3 seasons and hey  take some of the best chefs at the best restaurants around the world and tell their story.  Not only is the food amazing, but the stories are so compelling.  Kind of like This Is Us, but with better food.

 Lead to Order part 2 - Buying from an SI: The Delivery Perspective

You can find more detailed Show Notes and the Playbook for this episode at our website - https://realtechreallife.com.

What do you wish your customers asked before they bought?
What is the biggest impediment to incorporating external consultants?
What should you ask in the sales process?
Fixed Fee or T&M?
What should you look for in your contract?

Lightening Round & Recommendations:

• Andrea – Serial and Stown
• Maryam – Tim Ferris (and Serial and Stown – she likes stories!)
• LoriA – Moth Radio Hour & Up first
• LoriW – Left, Right & Center from KCRW and Design Matters with Debbie Millman