Articles by Adrian Stefirta

Have you ever started a project and felt completely overwhelmed by the never-ending list of responsibilities? As a project manager, this feeling can be amplified tenfold. With so many moving parts and deadlines to meet, it’s no wonder that managing a project can be challenging. But fear not because there’s a secret weapon that can …

Continue reading “Unlocking the Secret Weapon: How a Project Manager Checklist Can Skyrocket Your Success”

Welcome to the age of constant change, where businesses need to adapt, pivot, and innovate faster than ever to stay ahead of the curve. To succeed in today’s fast-paced and competitive world, it’s not enough to work hard. You need to work smart. This is where work management comes in. Work management is the process …

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Welcome to the world of action items – the backbone of any project, the key to getting things done, and the difference between success and failure. Whether you’re a seasoned project manager or a novice entrepreneur, you’ve probably heard the term “action items” being thrown around a lot. But what exactly are they? And why …

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“Well, I think introverts can do quite well. If you’re clever you can learn to get the benefits of being an introvert…” – Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft. Most of us know a great leader when we see or work with one. But when we try to pinpoint the qualities that make a good leader, …

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Saying that communication is essential in the workplace is almost kind of a cliché. We all understand full well that positive and efficient interactions between coworkers can do wonders—it’ll streamline processes, boost business performance, increase morale, and much, much more. The question here is, “How do you do that?”. How do you create an environment …

Continue reading “An in-depth guide to communication in teams”

Employee engagement has become somewhat of a buzzphrase in the last decade. We hear it a lot, but what does it actually mean? Fundamentally, an engaged employee is a person that is dedicated and enthusiastic about their job and the success of the organization they’re a part of. There are many reasons why businesses would …

Continue reading “How to Measure Employee Engagement”

Every company owner wants to understand how their business is doing. And every potential investor wants to ensure they have as much information as possible about a company before they put their money into an organization. Running a company is a complicated and demanding process, and it’s not always easy to get a clear picture …

Continue reading “What Is Quantitative Business Analysis, and How Can it Help My Business?”

In most workplaces, disagreeing with your superior always comes with an element of risk or fear. More importantly, doing it in a constructive and non-condescending way can be pretty complicated. However, despite these challenges, learning to stand your ground and disagree in a respectful manner is an extremely valuable asset we should all master. In …

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None of us likes to be unheard or dismissed at work—to have our views undermined and brushed off. Unfortunately, that’s the case for lots of people in the modern workplace. On the bright side, changing the way your colleagues treat you isn’t really that complicated—a little assertiveness will definitely improve things. Learning to stand up …

Continue reading “A Simple Guide to Assertiveness in the Workplace”

Most of us have found ourselves in this odd situation where we strongly disagree with a colleague’s statement, but when it comes to speaking up—we just sit there. Giving your honest opinion and defending your boundaries at work isn’t exactly an easy thing to do. Many people don’t like being in the spotlight of disagreement, …

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Culture shapes our lives to a considerable extent. Everyone is born into a culture of their own, and failing to take this into account could yield misunderstandings and conflicts, which is why it became a crucial topic in the modern workplace. Our backgrounds define the way we interact with our peers and seniors and define …

Continue reading “Cross-Cultural Collaboration in the Modern Workplace”

Sometimes the most challenging part of running a business is allowing others to take some of your load off. It’s not just control freaks who feel they have to do it themselves if they want the job done right. Many of us try to do it all because we think it’s easier than training someone …

Continue reading “Give Your Business A Leg Up With A Virtual Assistant”

All people should be treated equally. However, when it comes to management, specific individuals may demand a different approach—and introverts are one such example. Introverts are often misrepresented in modern society. They’re seen as isolated, shy, and unforthcoming, which is far from true. The fundamental difference between an introverted and an extroverted person lies exclusively …

Continue reading “A Leader’s Guide to Working with Introverts”

The term “workaholic” is frequently misused nowadays. Simply clocking in a 50-hour workweek doesn’t qualify you as one. In fact, the problem is much more nuanced. Often people need to work for one reason or another—debt, goals, dreams, and aspirations. Workaholism is less of a choice and more of compulsion, stemming from a wide array …

Continue reading “A Quick Guide to Identifying and Curing Workaholism”

To most of us, understanding the inner workings of decision-making may appear like a complicated task. How do you even do that with a process that’s so hard to measure or express in hard numbers? How do we know that we’ve made the right decision at the right time? Well, we can’t, just because there …

Continue reading “The Value of Communication in Team Decision-Making”

Managing projects is complicated—managing them well is even harder. Despite all the training, resources, tools, and methodologies available to PMs today, there is a wide array of challenges that they face on a regular basis. An HBR study suggests that nearly 20% of all projects end up costing over two times their estimated amount, and …

Continue reading “Barriers to Watch Out for in Project Management”

Team velocity is a metric that upper management and CEOs often want to increase—and that’s totally understandable. Why wouldn’t you want a more productive and efficient team of professionals? Unfortunately, there’s a massive difference between increasing and improving sprint velocity. The former predominantly focuses on growing the amount of work that is executed within a …

Continue reading “4 Steps Towards Improving Team Velocity in Agile”

Any business that wants to stay ahead of the game needs a competitive advantage. And in order to keep themselves on top, they need to be innovative. However, consistently delivering products, services, and processes that stand out from the competition is no easy feat. There’s one thing that you can find in common with organizations …

Continue reading “Establish Innovation In Your Company’s Culture With These 7 Tips”

The COVID-19 pandemic has ushered in a new remote work culture throughout the world, forcing businesses and their employees to adapt quickly and rethink standard operations. While some parts of the world have partially resumed working from offices, it’s safe to say that a hybrid work model will be around for the years to come. …

Continue reading “Rethinking Daily Standups for Remote Teams”

If your business is stagnant, doing the same thing day in and day out, it’s pretty unlikely that you’re going to see growth and success. Every business needs to evolve to remain competitive in the market. So the question isn’t ‘do we need to change things up?’, it’s actually ‘how should we evolve?’ Business process …

Continue reading “There’s Always Room For Improvement – So Here’s How To Revamp Your Business Processes.”

Well-thought-out project scheduling allows businesses to establish when a team should begin and finish working on a deliverable, with resources and objectives in mind. Typically, a complete schedule will outline a variety of parameters like durations, dependencies, resource availability, and deadlines. As a result, this will allow the team and stakeholders to have a better …

Continue reading “Exploring the Advantages of Project Scheduling”

Communication is really at the center of the workplace. It guides our relationships with our colleagues, the work that we do and ultimately molds our careers. While communication in the workplace might be inevitable, a difference remains between good, open communication and poor, closed-off communication. Open communication is when team members are encouraged to share …

Continue reading “Open Communication At Work – Why We Need It And How To Improve It”

We hear and read so much about employee or workforce performance—how to measure it and how to evaluate it. But what about workforce productivity? At the end of the day, are they the same, or perhaps even interchangeable? The quick answer to that is a resounding no, but it’s probably a good idea to delve …

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Collaboration is kind of an elusive concept. It’s often treated like something that employees have to figure out on their own or that it’s something that might benefit the company but isn’t really that important. However, it’s safe to say that fostering a collaborative environment is an effort worth making that will grant businesses a …

Continue reading “The Risks of Poor Collaboration in the Workplace”

Every manager wants to work with productive and satisfied employees. However, this desire often leads them to walk the dangerous and harmful path of micromanagement. This practice of excessive control over one’s colleagues often comes from a desire to do good, to help people perform and do things right. The unfortunate part is that it …

Continue reading “The Harmful Effects of Micromanagement”

Mindfulness is a very elusive concept—some people say that practicing it’s more complicated than it appears, more experienced meditators say it’s much easier than people think. The beauty of investing time in mindfulness exercises is that you’ll benefit significantly from them, even if it’s your first time meditating. People get really worked up during office …

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Despite ample time, many leaders are still struggling over how to manage distributed teams. Over the last few years, organizations—from the smallest to the largest—have been forced to reassess and rework long-standing work paradigms. COVID sent employees home, separating teams and changing work patterns. And while many businesses are beginning to demand employees return to …

Continue reading “11 Timely Tips on How to Manage Distributed Teams”

Have you ever felt unsure about your role at work? You may have a job description from when you were first hired, but it isn’t really relevant to what you’re doing day to day and what is expected of you. You may feel like you are constantly wondering what your responsibilities are and how you …

Continue reading “Unsure About What You Need To Do? Here’s How To Get Your Boss To Clarify Your Responsibilities At Work.”

We’ve all managed a project at one point or another. Whether it’s planning a party or leading a large project at work, it’s important to understand the tasks that lead to the desired outcomes. One of the first steps many Project Managers will do is create the project’s timeline in a series of tasks. When …

Continue reading “A Run-Down On Zero Float In Project Management, Plus Tips On How To Manage It”

Would you be shocked to hear that the average professional spends 28% of the workday reading and answering emails? It sounds pretty staggering, but it makes sense when you consider that they receive an average of 121 business emails every day, not to mention all of the spam, newsletters, and sales emails. Whilst email has …

Continue reading “Endless Emails Are Killing Your Time. Take It Back With These Email Management Strategies”

“Unless your talent and skills absolutely dwarf those of your competition, the deep workers among them will outproduce you.”— Cal Newport. Many mistakenly believe that talent is crucial when it comes to achieving peak performance. Not to say that it’s useless, but no amount of talent and skill will help you perform well if you …

Continue reading “4 Steps to Achieve Peak Performance at Work”

The relationship between motivation and time management is an interesting one. Being super motivated is great, but if you haven’t effectively managed your time, all that motivation will be wasted, as you get bogged down with inefficiency. Excellent time management skills means you’re more likely to accomplish your tasks effectively, skyrocketing your productivity. This then …

Continue reading “Staying On Target: How Time-Management Fuels Motivation, and Vice Versa”

Miscommunication. According to The Oxford English Dictionary, miscommunication is: “A failure to make information or your ideas and feelings clear to somebody, or to understand what somebody says to you.” And it’s everywhere. It’s in the “he said, she said” of relationships. In consumer relations. In work teams. We don’t even need dialogue to miscommunicate. …

Continue reading “10 Steps on How to Avoid Miscommunication at Work”

Time is a highly scarce resource if you think of it. It’s something we always have, but we never have it under control. Our responsibilities often take up a huge amount of our time, making us leave the people and things we care about for later. Managing time efficiently is something that would help us …

Continue reading “How Can Mindfulness Improve Your Time Management”

Trust and accountability are the essential components of a productive workplace that enables people to grow. Many companies underestimate the importance of the two, which ends up undermining the performance and satisfaction of employees. Accountability in the workplace is what helps people to build meaningful relationships, establish a sense of ownership, and make them feel …

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“Well, we’re just like a big family.” Have you ever gotten this answer in a job interview when you ask about the organization’s culture? It’s not only cringe-worthy, but it’s also a sign that there isn’t a strong culture in the organization. If the hiring manager’s idea of great work culture is a ‘family’ who …

Continue reading “These 5 Companies Embrace a Culture of Collaboration. Here’s What We Can Learn From Them.”

Have you ever felt like you don’t really deserve your achievements? Or maybe that you just got lucky to be in the position you’re in today? Oh, here’s another one—perhaps you’re afraid that your colleagues will find out that you’re an imposter enjoying the benefits of an unfairly earned role? These are common signs of …

Continue reading “7 Things to Quickly Overcome the Imposter Syndrome”

Times have changed in the world of management. And definitely for the better! Better for employees, better for managers, and better for the organization. And as it’s still evolving, the future is looking pretty bright. Rita Gunther McGrath describes the history of management in three eras – execution, expertise, and empathy. Execution refers to the …

Continue reading “Management Through History: How We Got Here, And Where We’re Going”

Team building exercises are kind of a staple in the workplace. If you’ve held a job, it’s more than likely you’ve taken part in ice breaker questions or a team lunch at one point or another. As it turns out, there is a right way and a wrong way to build your team’s connection. This …

Continue reading “10 Virtual Team Building Activities Your Employees Will Actually Want To Do”

We all know how hard it is to run an engaging meeting. To many of us, this seems like a strenuous task. Where do you even start? Do you have to behave differently? And what about your colleagues that are on the shyer side—how do you motivate them to participate? Fortunately, we have an answer. …

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Picture this – you show up for your first day at a brand new job to find a locked door and no one waiting to meet you. You weren’t given any instructions and aren’t sure who to call. You can feel what was once excitement quickly turn to nerves. Surely situations like these, which are …

Continue reading “Welcome Aboard! How to Set Up New Employees For Success.”

Creating an inclusive environment at work yields a wide array of benefits for both employees and organizations. There is now a body of research on the topic suggesting that companies with an inclusive culture and diverse teams have seen a substantial boost in revenue and value creation. However, it’s safe to say that the COVID-19 …

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Gratitude is having a moment. Practicing it is a topic of conversation everywhere, and you wouldn’t be wrong to believe that the attention is deserved. A principle of self-care, practicing gratitude involves taking the time to notice and reflect upon the things you’re thankful for. Appreciation can be for anything – as simple as a …

Continue reading “Want a Healthier Workplace? Begin With Gratitude”

Ah, the performance review. A classic Human Resources pillar that has some of us roll our eyes and others filled with excitement. Possibly the most confronting part of the performance review is the self-evaluation. It’s a task where an employee answers a series of reflection-provoking questions about their strengths, weaknesses, accomplishments, goals, and inspirations at …

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