Real Tech Real Life Podcast

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.comYou 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 / MoviesLori 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 o

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 & RecommendationsHow 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 ShowsMaryam – 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 chara

 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: Podcast Recommendation LinksAndrea – Serial and StownMaryam – Tim Ferris (and Serial and Stown – she likes stories!)LoriA – Moth Radio Hour & Up firstLoriW – Left, Right & Center from KCRW and Design Matters with Debbie Millman  

This episode kicks off our 8 part Professional Services Lifecycle Series. You can find an overview here and along the way we also post playbooks on key topics at our website - https://realtechreallife.com. Lead to Order Part 1:  How to get the most out of your Systems Integrator You can find more detailed Show Notes and the Playbook for this pod on at the links provided and on our website. In this Episode we talk about how to run an effective sales process with an SI. What you should ask, what you should look for and how to get the most out of your partner both commercially and practically.Lightening & Recommendations Round: Book RecommendationsFunny in Farsi by Firoozeh Duma – Maryam loves this book authored by an Iranian woman who has moved to the US.  She identifies with the challenge and humor of explaining Iranian customs to Americans.Journey to the Heart by Melody Beattie & Mindful Work by David Gellis – LoriA thinks these are great resources if you want to jumpstart a meditation practice or ju

Intro: Why do a Podcast?Deep Dive: Networking & MentoringHow to restart a network after being caught up in your day jobHow and When do you network?What different forms does that take based on personality, experience, needs?Do you have to challenge yourself to go beyond what’s comfortable?Ways to find people to network with?Technologies and/or tools that help facilitate networking? Lightening Round & Recommendations