Focus on what is really important in life — When you become self-employed, you must first deal with administrative work — register your business and take care of taxes and insurance. That can be daunting. But once you’ve done that, the question is: What’s next? Of course, you have a business idea and plan, but what is necessary to…

5 steps to get successfully started — Yes, I know, the title is provocative, and long-time Scrum Masters will be outraged and say: “You can’t become a Scrum Master in 3 months; you need years of experience!” That is true: the more experience you have, the better you can assess situations and the more possibilities you have to…

How to work with personas — If you want to sell something, it is crucial to know who the target audience is and what the needs of the people in the target group are. A good approach is to create personas. Definition of personas A persona represents a typical person of a target group. They have expectations, values, desires…

Why I love Duolingo — I have been trying to learn Swedish for some time now. And I’ve tried a lot of different apps, books, and other learning materials: Babbel, Rosetta Stone, LingQ, PONS language courses (books + CDs), and language crime stories. These have given me a wide range of experiences: from total frustration to…

Peer consulting for Scrum Masters and Agile Coaches — Scrum Masters act as consultants, coaches, trainers, mentors, and facilitators. But sometimes, they are also at a loss and need support. Intervision is an ideal instrument for this. It can be established relatively quickly and is suitable in all companies with several Scrum Masters or Agile Coaches. Intervision is a…

The boundaries exist only in your head — You may have been working in the IT sector for several years and have been successful, but from time to time, you reach your limits, and nothing progresses. New projects fail to materialize, and the fees offered seems too low. It’s time to put your energy into marketing and sales…

And this is the reason why criticism annoys me — For a few months now, I’ve been writing on Medium and also publishing in various publications. I’ve noticed that I react very sensitively to specific critical feedback from editors. So I’ve asked myself: Why? Reactions from editors Reactions to drafts I proposed varied widely: Accepted without comment, accepted with nice, motivating words, rejected…

How cross-promotions via Slack complement your marketing mix — You have probably heard of referral marketing. How does it work in general? You know someone, are convinced of their performance, and then recommend them. A typical example is a move to a new city. …

10 simple tips for freelancers to attract more potential customers — An exciting and meaningful LinkedIn profile is more likely to attract potential clients than one that is only half-heartedly maintained. Many videos show how to improve your LinkedIn profile. However, it also takes a lot of time to find these videos, watch them and then implement the suggestions. Here’s a…

Why feedback can be harmful. — In almost all companies, a feedback culture is cultivated. Feedback has a reputation for improving performance, so it’s built-in as standard after workshops, training, and meetings, for example. Of course, regular peer feedback and 360-degree feedback with the boss are not to be missed. As early as the hiring process…

Five tips to stay calm when confronted with criticism — also applicable for other professions. — I did not write much and regularly in English for a long time, but my first English article experience was almost 15 years ago. And it was great. I was working as a product owner in a software company at the time. The software I was responsible for was very…

Four tips that boost your confidence — also applicable for online presentations. — Some people are born speakers and passionate about performing on stage. But with a little practice, anyone can give a good presentation that will captivate the audience. With the following tips, you can look forward to your next presentation with confidence. I do not like to be the center of…

Sometimes we are faced with two options that are of equal interest — assessing our values can help us make a decision that we’ll still agree with in the future — I am currently facing a decision: Move abroad or continue living where I am. It is a difficult decision. And I did what I always do in such cases: Created a spreadsheet. Defined criteria. Assigned a weighting for the criteria. Evaluated the criteria for both options.

How you can make the most of that day — Did you know that since 2018, Freelancer’s Day has been celebrated annually on May 14th? I’ve been a freelancer for years, but this day has no meaning for me. I only noticed it this year because I took a closer look at my emails over the weekend. …

Just Do It. It is Your Decision. — Do you sometimes dream of lying in a hammock under palm trees instead of doing your unloved job? Why don’t you do it? Is it the circumstances, your family, the economy, your financial possibilities that keep you away? It isn’t. It is only you because it is your decision. A…

Maybe you know the following situations from remote meetings: Someone talks and is on mute. Several people start to talk simultaneously but don’t notice it because there’s a delay. Some backgrounds or illuminations are irritating. Children and pets in the background, it is dark, and the face is hardly recognizable. …

Five Tips For Freelancers — Are you also one of those freelancers who sometimes feel frustrated and dissatisfied and then think: “Another one of those poorly organized projects where nothing is progressing.” “I’m just too tired to take care of marketing and sales on top of the daily project work, and now I’m in a…