Tech

 
 
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Altö

Before Google Calendar’s scheduling improvements, we found it difficult to arrange for meetings quickly as they were usually done via multiple emails.

Skills: Stakeholder management | Communication | Python | Project management | Creative problem solving

  1. Challenges:

    This started as a passion project, with our small team working after office hours just for fun in a bid to improve the lives of our staff members. We decided to build a chatbot but since we didn’t have the technical expertise, we roped in an in-house dev and formed a cross-departmental team after securing executive buy-in

  2. Learnings:

    Software development components and that it’s an art, not a science.  We also had to hardcode certain portions of the chatbot where we weren’t able to surmount the technical challenges within the short timeline. Google calendar’s improvements made our chatbot obsolete. Stakeholder management across developers and non-developers. StackOverflow.

  3. Improvements:

    Maintenance of software products takes dedicated resources and needs to be planned for and the approvals also need to be secured.

  4. Output:

    Chatbot hosted as custom integration on Facebook Workplace.

 
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Facebook Workplace

Sourcing for a platform to share internally what’s going on in our schools and HQ.

Skills: Stakeholder management | Communication | Creative problem solving

  1. Challenges: Management was only looking for free offerings which limited the options available. The wide demographic spectrum of users and inherent distrust of a work social network made it difficult to secure buy-in on the ground.

  2. Learnings: Securing executive buy-in and visiting the users on the ground in person helped to allay most concerns. School leadership and the presence of technology advocates also determined the success of the implementation. Using a popular platform like Facebook workplace helped users with on-boarding.

  3. Improvements: Nil as company budget doesn’t allow for external providers.

  4. Output: Facebook Workplace set up for EtonHouse use.

 
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School Management System & Kagami

I was hired to conceptualize an electronic offering for EtonHouse. It evolved into a school management system eventually and was handed over to our Pedagogy department.

Skills: Stakeholder management | Communication | Synthesizing information | Systems thinking | Critical thinking

  1. Challenges:

    Being non-technical left me at the mercy of the tech team many times in terms of deliverables and progress. It is also difficult to distil our pedagogy and curriculum into a piece of software that fully embodies both.

  2. Learnings:

    Being a product owner without the requisite authority or technical knowledge was a huge challenge as the product features were at risk of being skewed by other stakeholders.

  3. Improvements:

    Team structure and internal software development processes are vital for the successful development of in-house software.

  4. Output:

    Customised ERP for EtonHouse use. Learned how to use Moqups for mockups.