hashtag#chatgpt hashtag#AI hashtag#artificialintelligence hashtag#biologicalintelligence

hashtag#thoughtoftheday hashtag#hrairtcholakian

Just because we can hear doesn’t mean we’re great at listening. And even if we’re good listeners, there’s always room for improvement. There’s a ton of info out there about why listening is so important, but let’s dive into a fun example.

Remember when AI models used to mess up simple tasks like counting the Rs in “strawberry”? They’ve come a long way, and so can we with our listening skills. Besides that, to get better, more accurate results, we need to provide additional details (parameters, prompt engineering). We need to ask ourselves, what other details we need to provide for the AI engine to better understand what we are looking for.

It got me thinking about this while listening to my music library with my various headphones. Each type—wired, wireless, in-ear—has its perks and quirks. Depending on the music genre, I pick specific headphones. Classical, jazz, live pop—you name it, I’ve got the perfect pair.

Listening to music this way has sharpened my listening skills. When I focus on different instruments like the guitar, bass, drums, and keyboards, I’m not just hearing the music; I’m dissecting it. I analyze the production, the mix, and the arrangement to understand what the artists are trying to convey. This deep dive into music helps me listen better in conversations too.

When I talk to someone, I try to break down what they’re saying, how they’re saying it, what they’re NOT saying, and the emotions behind their words. It’s like listening to a song in a different language—you need to understand the culture and background to get it.

Growing up, I learned a few languages, which helped me keep an open mind and absorb details better. Whether someone’s speaking French or Armenian, I don’t just switch on my mental translation mode. I also switch to thinking in that language, turn on my knowledge of that language/culture, and tune into their unique way of expressing themselves.

Now, about the AK47 and M16 firearm sounds—yeah, I can tell them apart. Growing up and surviving through my teenage years in a political and civil conflict in a third-world country, I had to learn these sound signatures. This is my way of trying to take something positive from the terrible years and events of my teenage years. I do NOT condone gun violence. I learned from this experience that one aspect of listening is categorizing sounds with minimal emotional biases.

The point is, we learn from our environment, experiences, and open-mindedness. When we listen, we should minimize our biases and expectations to make others feel safe and open up. It’s like listening to someone in a different language; we need to understand their words and where they’re coming from.

So, let’s keep working on our listening skills. Listen with an open mind to better understand, ask the right questions, connect, and improve our listening skills.

#AI #listening #music

Here’s the link to the previous post: https://eksperts.net/speaking-of-being-passionately-curious/

Why work with Eksperts when there are those larger consulting firms?!

Eksperts try harder to build long term relationships and not driven by stock prices and profit margins!

#clientadvocate #clientsuccess #clientrelationship #consulting #humuor

The CEO of Spotify, who does not know how to play any instruments or arrange a piece of music or write a song, just posted that for Q1 of 2024 Spotify posted $1 billion in profit. Then, announced that they are raising the monthly subscription fees and none of that is going to the artists. Also, introduce a minimum threshold of 1000 streams before the artist can qualify to get paid the very low (pennies) amount per stream.

one of many examples: Peter Frampton recently posted: “For 55 million streams of, ‘Baby I Love Your Way’, I got $1,700,”

I know it’s not just up to the CEO for a publicly traded company.

Still.

Talk about greed and out of touch.

I am posting this because music has been and is one of the most important aspects of my daily life. Music has helped me through some very hard times. Too many to count.

There are so many amazing new and old artists and music out there. All it takes is just a little effort with many modern tools to discover, listen and purchase. I buy directly from artists whenever it’s available or purchase CDs, Vinyl, or digital downloads to better support the artists.

I am aware that it’s not that simple and we have to be more actively involved, but it seems that there is a lot of money left on the table from the Spotify model. The system is broken. There are many other similar business models that are in the same state of “growth” that take advantage of talents. We tend to fall into the convenience of things for the short-term benefit, but we pay for it in the long run. We should do better as human beings. We can do better.

#spotify #music #artist #streamingmusic #fairpay #wecandobetter

We’ve been working on a few things.

New product Coming this summer. Hopefully sooner!

#new #product #integration #implementation #software #comingsoon #announcement #transformation

We’ve been working on a few things.

New product coming this summer. Hopefully sooner!

#new #product #integration #implementation #software #comingsoon #announcement #transformation

“You Can’t Always Get What You Want” – Rolling Stones

Oh no, not again! There goes Hrair going on about music/songs again…

Here’s why I thought of those lyrics:

A potential client called us via a recommendation from another happy client. This potential client wanted us to provide a project manager for their HCM implementation project.

I sat in on the call with our salesperson to listen in and provide support as needed.

They seemed to be in a rush and wanted the PM to start quickly. This is fairly common as most clients start a project thinking that they can take it on with their current staff. However, soon realize that they still have their daily tasks and responsibilities to perform.

After a few minutes of introductions and listening to them talking about what they wanted, I started asking questions based on the information so far. My intuition kept nudging me that there was something still that had not surfaced in our conversations. So, I kept digging further and asking questions to see things from their perspective. I always strive to put myself in the client’s seat to better understand everything. I was able to identify another gap, besides the PM they wanted.

At this point, I started to explain that they needed a Time Module resource to help them with the client-side activities which are heavy lift client-side tasks, towards the end of the project cycle.

The client was silent for a few and then said that they were so glad that I was on the call and engaged with all these details. They had no idea that was a blind spot and a huge gap.

Needless to say, the project went very well, and they could not stop talking about that first call they had with me. They said that they would come to me for anything they wanted and needed going forward.

Sometimes, you get what you want AND what you need.

Music #want #need #project #implemenation #clientadvocacy #HCM #sales #storytime

And now for something completely different.

As a client-side advocate, I have had this happen too many times to keep count.

Years ago, a close contact from the implementation group of a software and services partner reached out to me asking me to join a call with a client who had been struggling to engage on an implementation project. They had already signed a contract to implement their latest software/services offering. However, they were unhappy with the assigned team and concerned about the implementation.

The first two calls were an introductory and a deeper dive. I was getting familiar with the client and gathering information. The issue with the first two calls was that the implementation team leads were still the same people, and the client was unsatisfied. On the third call, I started to share some of my insights from my previous experience implementing this product/services. I took time to break down the effort by week of what is expected from the client and what will happen. This prompted a healthy dialog between the client and I. Level setting expectations and providing clear insights on risks and timeline of events. This prompted the client to tell the partner that they would only go ahead with the project with me, and my team, to be assigned to the project as the client-side advocate and advisor. This was unanimously agreed upon.

What are the takeaways from this real-life experience story?

• Manage key stakeholders effectively by developing buy-in, identifying roles, and allocating resources.
• Adopt an agile approach to project management that allows for feedback loops, planning, and reassessment.
• Understand user stories and align them to the scope of the project.
• Understand the systems landscape and the integration requirements.
• Provide adequate training and enablement for the end-users.
• Avoid long implementations that increase the risk of management changes and project cancellation.
• Document and apply lessons learned from past projects to improve best practices.

When you are having challenges with your project, and need a client-side advocate to look out for you and help you navigate things forward, look no further. Reach out to us before it’s too late.

#implementation #clientsuccess #project #problemsolver #relationships #advocate