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Perspectives.

Personal reflections and experiences from the people at Clientek.

Navigation - Part 1: Responding to the Great Resignation

The Great Resignation will have some lasting effects that will shape the way we recruit and retain great employees going forward.

March 18, 2022Read →

Mentorship - Part 4: Build Confidence

Leaders build confidence by celebrating wins, supporting growth, and being both a coach and a team's biggest fan.

January 18, 2022Read →

Mentorship - Part 3: Progress Is Made on the Back of Failure

Great leaders let others fail, learn, and grow—mentoring with guidance, support, and the resilience to try again.

January 11, 2022Read →

Group Dynamics - Part 3: Norming & Performing

Ultimately, the goal for any team is to reach the norming and performing stages as quickly as possible.

December 15, 2021Read →

Group Dynamics - Part 2: Storming

The storming stage is the most important and most valuable because it is in this stage where the team learns and grows the most.

December 8, 2021Read →

Group Dynamics - Part 1: Forming

At the forming stage, new teams define roles, processes, and expectations — setting the tone for how they’ll tackle challenges and grow together.

December 1, 2021Read →

Mentorship - Part 2: Delegation Is Key

Delegating tasks empowers your team, fosters growth, and frees you to focus on priorities — key to mentorship and long-term success.

November 23, 2021Read →

Mentorship - Part 1: Let It Go

Leaders must learn to let go — trusting new team members to take over, make mistakes, and grow while focusing on their own responsibilities.

November 16, 2021Read →

Teamwork - Part 3: Connect & Bond

From tournaments to charity events and weekly lunches, Clientek fosters teamwork by creating fun, meaningful ways for teammates to connect and bond.

October 20, 2021Read →

Teamwork - Part 2: Asking for Help

At Clientek, asking for help is encouraged. Weekly check-ins and open collaboration foster trust, problem-solving, and stronger project outcomes.

October 13, 2021Read →

Teamwork - Part 1: Ownership

Each team member brings value to our projects. Our collective experience is greater than the sum of its parts.

October 7, 2021Read →

Reflection - Part 3: Know Your Colleagues

Building trust starts with knowing your colleagues beyond work. Connect on a personal level to strengthen teams and foster lasting success.

September 28, 2021Read →

Reflection - Part 2: Celebrate Your Wins

Don’t rush past success — pause to reflect and celebrate your team’s wins. Recognize achievements to build momentum for future goals.

September 8, 2021Read →

Reflection - Part 1: The Importance of Retrospection

As with most things in life, if an individual or team feels they cannot spend the time to reflect on how to get better, they never will.

August 31, 2021Read →

A Good User Story - Part 3: Eliminate Misinterpretation

Clear, specific acceptance criteria in user stories reduce misinterpretation — ensuring teams share the same understanding of what will be delivered.

August 18, 2021Read →

A Good User Story - Part 2: Vertical Slices

What’s the smallest piece of functionality that can be provided to the business user as soon as possible?

August 11, 2021Read →

A Good User Story - Part 1: Business Value Vs. Solutions

When writing user stories, focus on business value — not predefined solutions — so teams can explore multiple approaches to meet the need.

August 4, 2021Read →

Finding Balance - Part 5: Retrospective Balance

Retrospectives help teams step out of the weeds, regain perspective on project goals, and balance sprint delivery with overall release objectives.

June 8, 2021Read →

Finding Balance - Part 4: Get a Hobby

Passionate hobbies outside of work boost focus, productivity, and job satisfaction — giving your mind the reset it needs to thrive.

June 1, 2021Read →

Finding Balance - Part 3: Retaining Culture

During remote work, we found creative ways to keep Clientek’s culture alive — proving connection and fun can thrive even without the office.

May 18, 2021Read →

Finding Balance - Part 2: Personal Connections

Strong partnerships require personal connections — beyond business. Finding creative ways to connect kept relationships thriving during isolation.

May 11, 2021Read →

Finding Balance - Part 1: Take a Walk

Breaking the nonstop work-from-home cycle with a daily walk brought fresh air, connection, and clarity — boosting focus and productivity.

May 4, 2021Read →

Changing Perception - Part 7: Slow Down to Go Fast

Slow down to go fast — focus, prioritize, and work the plan to deliver faster and with higher quality, even in high-demand situations.

April 20, 2021Read →

Changing Perception - Part 6: Release Fear

We need to stop being afraid to release our work into the wild. Instead, embrace it and learn from the valuable feedback that you get.

April 13, 2021Read →

Changing Perception - Part 5: Delivery

Managing communication, transparency, and perception are all important but delivery is still the key.

April 6, 2021Read →

Changing Perception - Part 4: Transparency

One of the biggest mistakes we have made as an industry is to treat our craft like some sort of behind-the-scenes magic.

March 30, 2021Read →

Changing Perception - Part 3: Predictability

Track velocity, stay transparent, and adjust deliberately — predictable delivery builds trust, improves planning, and shifts perception positively.

March 16, 2021Read →

Changing Perception - Part 2: The Estimate Myth

Estimates are a best guess at a point in time — stay transparent, assess change impacts, and adapt with your partners to deliver real value.

March 9, 2021Read →

Changing Perception - Part 1: Confidence

Rebuild confidence in IT by partnering with the business, staying transparent, adapting to change, and showing the true project state often.

March 2, 2021Read →

Defining Success - Part 7: Perseverance

Great teams persevere. At Clientek, trust, positivity, and diligence help us tackle tough challenges and deliver complex projects with pride.

February 23, 2021Read →

Defining Success - Part 6: Quality

Quick fixes fail. At Clientek, we embed quality into every sprint so our solutions last — because band-aids fall off, but quality endures.

February 16, 2021Read →

Defining Success - Part 5: Time to Market

On time isn’t in time if your business can’t take advantage of the new functionality quick enough, or if the product is beaten to market by a competitor.

February 9, 2021Read →

Defining Success - Part 4: Predictability

Hitting the “on time” goal for a project requires a deeper look into how predictable your team can be at delivering on their commitments.

February 2, 2021Read →

Defining Success - Part 3: Incremental Wins Are Success

Big projects don’t need to wait for the big launch — at Clientek, we find and deliver small, incremental wins that create immediate impact and lasting success.

January 19, 2021Read →

Defining Success - Part 2: What makes a software team successful?

Successful software teams start with the right people, clear goals, transparency, and trust — then celebrate victories along the way.

January 12, 2021Read →

Defining Success - Part 1: When Done Is Done

Ensure 'done' truly means done — align teams, verify all work, and keep overall release goals in focus to deliver successful projects.

January 5, 2021Read →

Focus - Part 5: Finish Strong

A project’s end is a chance to learn and improve. Hold a final retrospective, carry lessons forward, and celebrate your team’s hard work.

December 15, 2020Read →

Focus - Part 4: Change Is Inevitable

Never in the history of project-based work has an initial plan been executed with zero adjustments. Changes aren’t bad, but they all have impact.

December 8, 2020Read →

Focus - Part 3: The Definition of Success

Define success by clearly stating the problem, exploring solutions, and setting measurable goals to track progress and validate results.

December 1, 2020Read →

Focus - Part 2: Planning

Planning turns priorities into action by defining tasks, dependencies, and milestones, helping teams adapt quickly and deliver successfully.

November 24, 2020Read →

Focus - Part 1: Prioritization

Prioritization helps cut through distractions, keeping focus on the most important tasks and ensuring productivity at work and at home.

November 17, 2020Read →

Common Ground

Take away new ideas outside of your current thinking. Find common ground, compromise, and be more successful.

November 10, 2020Read →

Empowerment - Part 5: Yourself

Discover five practical ways to empower yourself — from prioritizing personal time to networking — to boost confidence and effectiveness.

November 3, 2020Read →

Empowerment - Part 4: Leadership

Leaders that empower, widely demonstrate some fundamental characteristics of emotional intelligence...

October 27, 2020Read →

Empowerment - Part 3: Employees

Empower employees through autonomy, mastery, and purpose — building trust and culture that drive performance and long-term success.

October 20, 2020Read →

Empowerment - Part 2: Building Trust in Teams

Empower teams through trust, transparency, and mentorship — fostering autonomy, collaboration, and high-quality results for lasting success.

October 13, 2020Read →

Empowerment - Part 1: Next-Level Teams

Discover how empowerment — through autonomy, trust, and mentorship — drives high-performing agile teams from inception to delivery.

October 6, 2020Read →

Inspect & Adapt

Continual inspection and small, honest adaptations build accountability, prevent stagnation, and drive lasting team performance and innovation.

September 29, 2020Read →

Failing Fast

Not all ideas work. Not all projects will be successful. If we become comfortable with that and learn to fail fast, we are actually not failing at all.

September 22, 2020Read →

Employee Engagement

Clientek keeps employees engaged remotely by adapting its 'Management by Walking Around' approach with impromptu Microsoft Teams video drop-ins.

September 15, 2020Read →

Optimize Your Innovation

Clientek helps companies optimize innovation by defining objectives, prioritizing value, and delivering in smaller, faster, high-impact releases.

September 9, 2020Read →

Effective Remote Collaboration

Strategies for effective remote collaboration, blending technology with informal connections to keep teams engaged and productive.

September 1, 2020Read →

Is Now the Time to Invest?

Clientek helps businesses turn uncertainty into opportunity, investing in innovation now to outpace competitors when the market rebounds.

August 25, 2020Read →