Let’s jump right into part 3 of Acuity Technology as we discuss teams.

ENRIQUE: Talk to the folks thinking about or currently working with virtual development teams. What are the benefits and challenges of working with an offshore development team?

TUSHAR: I've had the chance to work in several outsourcing models and in multiple roles from development to management. I've observed that finding a working model is far from trivial.

The reality remains that we live in a global economy and more and more companies are beginning to explore ways to creating software in distributed and multicultural environments. The Web and the open source movement have demonstrated that it is not only possible to create quality software in a highly distributed and decentralized manner, but also that it "makes business sense" to do so.

Typical challenges can range from communication issues, IP infringement risks, and lack of adequate top level management skills to quality control, capacity management control and social and political factors. Then, there are the not-so-typical challenges like the incompatibility of the onshore-offshore company cultures and the way software is created. The last factor plays a crucial role in the success of the model, because it incorporates vital elements such as; escalation process, people and roles, communication processes, offshoring models, infrastructure, agile practices and agile tools.

A successful engagement starts by identifying the right offshore partner - someone committed to creating software in a collaborative and agile fashion. Next is the careful selection of key offshore employees. The chances of hiring the right talent offshore are significantly higher if the onshore team gets involved in the selection and interviewing process. Following the formation of the team, the onshore and offshore teams decide on a core set of Agile practices and tweaks them until seeing concrete results. Finally, a careful selection of Agile tools is a great help for collaborating distributed teams and can make the development process more enjoyable.

ENRIQUE: On the topic of teams, what are characteristics of operating highly successful teams?

Common Goal: The vision, mission, goal or task of the team has been defined and is now accepted by everyone.

Listening: The team members continually listen to and clarify what is being said and show interest in others thoughts and feelings.

Open Communication: Differences of opinion are encouraged and freely expressed. The team does not demand narrow conformity or adherence to formats that inhibit freedom of movement and expression.

ENRIQUE: What are you thoughts about disagreements, problem solving, and adaptability?

TUSHAR: If you don’t mind, I’ll go through a similar list. Here it is:

Disagreement: The team is willing to identify conflict and focus on it until it is resolved or managed in a way that does not reduce the effectiveness of those involved.

Problem Solving: The team focuses on problem solving rather than allowing interpersonal issues or competitive struggles to drain the team’s energy.

Roles: Roles are balanced and shared to facilitate both the accomplishment of tasks and team’s morale.

Mistakes and learning: To encourage risk taking and creativity, mistakes are treated as sources of learning rather than reasons for punishment.

Adaptability: The team is responsive to the changing needs of its members and to the external environment to which it is related.

Energy from within: The members identify with the team and consider it a source of both professional and personal growth.

Developing a climate of trust is recognized as the crucial element for facilitating all the above characteristics.

ENRIQUE: That’s all the time we have. Thanks Tushar and thank you to all those that read through the interview. Stay tuned for additional insights from our very own experts.

Meanwhile, be sure to learn more about ARGI’s ground-breaking new product, Acuity.

In earlier blog entries, we discussed branding, marketing, and communicating your reader response program. The focus of today’s blog entry is on the design of the card itself because the design of the card can actually encourage greater reader response.

As with most good graphic design, a well-designed reader response card is visually appealing and makes it easier for readers to digest information. A well-designed card should not be cluttered with too much information. Remember that very often, less is more.

A well-designed reader response card will feature the following elements:

• A clearly communicated url to let readers know where they can request this information online.
• Service benefits - FREE Product information or literature.
• The ARGI Focus fax number where requests can be faxed rather than mailed for readers who find fax a more convenient means of response.
• Easy-to-read and clearly numbered categories make it easier for readers to request information about specific topics of interest. This is very important because category requests can greatly increase your lead volume.
• “Calls to action” with words like fax, mail, go to url, and placing a deadline on the offer by way of an expiration date.
• A block of reader service numbers that is easy-to-read and circle.
• Survey questions and responses that are numbered and easy-to-read. Assignment of unique numbers to each response aids in the efficient and accurate collection of this data.
• An issue date at the bottom of the card to identify the issue and to facilitate efficient and accurate card processing once the card reaches ARGI Focus.
  
  
  Click here to view an example card
  

You may not know…

That a maximum of 6 close-ended questions and responses are included as one of the many benefits of ARGI Focus’s reader service program. These responses can either be used internally by your research or editorial group, or they can be collected and delivered with leads to further qualify them to your advertisers; the choice is yours.

ARGI Focus processes card and fax responses within 24-48 hours of receiving them, which means hotter, better-quality leads for your advertisers.


If you would like help in designing a better reader service card, contact your ARGI Focus account manager at 1-201-391-1500, or email us at argifocussupport@callargi.com. We look forward to helping you achieve your goals.

More best practices for lead generation. Take a look at the Folio newsletter of July 8th for Bobit Media and ARGI Focus!

Leading with leads, Five Tips for Building Out a Successful Lead-Gen Engine, Getting creative with leads.

We left off with some amazing insights on change and how Information Technology is adapting to meet these changes. Next, we’ll discuss more about technology as Tushar explains CLIC and the future of IT. Here’s part 2 of my interview with Tushar Shah, VP of Engineering at ARGI.

ENRIQUE: CLIC. That’s new. Can you talk about CLIC and how it ties into audience interactions?

TUSHAR: Audience Interactions relate to those functions associated with serving your readers and are built on ARGI's patent-pending CLIC (pronounced CLICK) technology. CLIC's are Code-Less Interactive Controls. These are a convenient web-based application which can be embedded into your web sites allowing you to quickly and easily manage audience interactions. They enable content access control, personalization and monetization. CLIC's are one of the key ingredients of Acuity and provide the ability to deliver real-time audience interactions that help grow revenue. It is this configure-not-code integration that helps improve your operating velocity and agility, and significantly reduce cost.


ENRIQUE: Let’s look into the future a bit. Where do you see the technology industry shifting in 5 OR 10 years?

TUSHAR: This question would get a much different answer several years ago. All the Gurus assured us that the future was Windows based client server computing. And if you were not deep into it, you were simply headed for death.

Today, Client Server is nearly dead and many radical trends are glaringly obvious. Here is a number of them.

1. The Internet is the center of the known universe and its importance will continue to increase rapidly. Its performance and security flaws are painfully obvious, so we have to work on improving them.
2. The PC era is over. For general computing, the PC is too complex, too fragile, too expensive to support and it limits mobility too much (even notebooks). It will be around a long time, but its use will increasingly be limited to only those who really need one. The Internet is the computer now, and it can use a cell phone like device as a terminal, or a supercomputer, or anything in between.
3. The Web browser is the application platform. A person will be able to sit down at any Web capable device anywhere in the world, log onto the Internet, and call up their own familiar environment and programs, and work with their own data.
4. Company internal networks are rapidly extending onto the Internet - they have no choice. It is extend or be left behind.
5. XML based open Internet protocols like UDDI and SOAP will transform company to company communications. EDI will suffer a slow, lingering death.
6. Wireless communications devices will continue to become more important. Broadband satellite will become an important service for mobile users and where wired service is inadequate.
7. With the Internet as the company's data system, businesses will find they can't afford offices (once their competitors start dropping them). A critical scarcity of time (and coming scarcity of gasoline) will make today's long commutes impractical. New ways to measure employee effectiveness will have to be evolved. This will precipitate a crisis for middle managers.
8. This is a magical transition time. Nobody can predict how it will shake out, but it isn't going to be easy and isn't going to go away. Business fatalities will be very high, but that's how evolution works. The survivors will rule, and those that didn't play will fade to the background.
9. It means you must carefully evaluate if technologies you are considering will tie you into a corner that maybe isn't going to be there in a while. Look at everything as a communications issue, because communications is now the dominant factor in our business society - in many cases the only factor.

ENRIQUE: Communication is a key component to a healthy organization. Join us next time as we wrap up my interview with Tushar when we discuss the topic of teams.

So begins one of the most famous documents in the history of human civilization. Those words, and their meaning, are often lost in the bustle of contemporary July 4th celebration. I find it comforting from time to time to read the entire document, especially around Independence Day. The writing is simultaneously inspiring, coldly logical, soaring rhetorically, and lilting in its phraseology. It lays out the case for Independence so clearly, it such compelling language that no reader whether then, now or in some future generation fails to understand the logic of the argument put forth. These men of the enlightenment - farmers, bankers, brewers, lawyers, publishers, merchants -understood that they were standing at the gateway of a new era. They understood that the old order that had prevailed since the fall of the Roman republic was crumbling. They also understood the risks that they were taking in signing such a revolutionary document.

My advise this holiday: watch this video and read the Declaration of Independence. It will, I'm sure, cause you to reflect on the meaning of the holiday.

All the best,

Ray