Performance is the core of what The KPI Institute is about. Beyond strategy, management systems and KPIs, there are certain enablers of performance such as staff skills, software solutions and operational capability, which oftentimes are overlooked.

Committed to supporting organisations on their end-to-end performance journey, our team has work intensively in bringing these enables to the front stage of organisational initiatives by launching 3 new service lines.

TKI Skills Academy

• Offers blended training programs in over 20 business domains on 130 topics;
• All courses have an examination and certification component for learning evaluation;
• Content is customized according to the participant’s profile (industry, functional area and country).

<< Explore enabling PERFORMANCE through skills >> 

TKI Solutions

• Operates as a Software Integration Center, specialized in Business Intelligence (BI), Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Employee Performance Management (EPM) products;
• Offers software selection and implementation services, as well as training and change management support;
• Ensures cost effectiveness by combining on-site engagement and off-site configurations.

<< Explore enabling PERFORMANCE through software >> 

Sales Performance Labs

• Operates as a Sales Performance Improvement Center of Excellence, supporting organisations in revamping their sales systems to enable better and sustainable sales results;
• Sales Accelerator is offered as a complete solution integrating 22 intervention modules;
• Services include: sales audit, sales transformation, sales consulting, sales benchmarking and sales software integration.

<< Explore accelerating Sales PERFORMANCE >>

As the busy season of 2017 is about to start and budgeting for 2018 is in the final stages in many organisations, I invite you to explore how your initiatives may benefit from these three new service lines.

The comprehensive business acumen of a well-trained team, supported by smart software solutions and a sales system which delivers as per projections is a winning combination, which we are now available to support you deploy.

Contact us at [email protected] as the next step.

At The KPI Institute, our mission is to pursue performance, in all its facets, and bring this knowledge to others who wish to improve both on an individual level and an organizational one. Outstanding employees that strive to lift their company to new heights, maximize its potential and strengthen its development, so that it becomes the best of the best, all the while harnessing this knowledge to better themselves as professionals – these are the people that inspire us.

Join us in our journey of interviewing some of the most extraordinary individuals that continue to make The KPI Institute a role-model for others to follow. In today’s edition, we will be featuring August’s Employee of the Month, Alexandra Pescaru.

1. What is your role at The KPI Institute and what makes it special?

As Director of Inbound Marketing for The KPI Institute, I am the coordinator of all the creative teams and corporate communications departments, conceptualizing and orchestrating all the marketing campaigns that effectively reinforce and build our brand’s image.

What makes my role special is, first and foremost, my spectacular team! I really want to use this opportunity to speak about these wonderfully talented people! I coordinate five departments: Marketing, Digital Marketing, Graphic Design, IT and Online Platforms, and I must say that never in my entire career have I met such dedicated, talented and creative professionals. They’ll always go the extra mile for a project, always give their best and always try to better themselves and their work. It’s honestly a fantastic honor to be part of such a team and also a unique chance for me to grow and continuously learn.

So please allow me to say thank you to them for all their wonderful work and to pass this award forward to each and every one of them!

2. How did it feel to be nominated and selected as Employee of the Month?

It felt fantastic! I was nominated by my team after only three months of working for The KPI Institute. I must say that no matter what prestigious awards or forms of recognition I received before, this is my biggest professional accomplishment so far. Not the award itself, but the nomination by my team. As I previously stated, they are stellar marketing professionals, so to gain their respect and recognition is definitely something unique and special! So, thank you so much guys! I can only hope I’ll rise up to your challenges and manage to prove I am worth the honor of working in this position.

3. What do you find most challenging at The KPI Institute?

I wonder if saying that the challenge is rising to the challenge would make sense to anyone? Working for The KPI Institute has proven to be the biggest professional challenge for me so far. The field is complex, the activity reaches almost all continents, countless countries and implicitly so many consumers and requires such complex manners of communicating messages. It’s a beautifully challenging and rewarding work!

4. What would be the three main career lessons that you have learnt thus far?

I’ve worked in several companies so far, and I have learned many things during my tenure. One important thing I have learned is that as you grow up in your position, the responsibility keeps increasing. You will be more and more responsible for not only your actions but your team’s performance, as there are more variables than only doing your job right. The greater you grow, the longer you have to deal with people around you and be open to ideas from all members of staff.

It’s not just about doing it right, but about helping everyone on the team, which is what ultimately leads to the success of a concerted effort in any project. Being effective as an individual and at the same time being a team player, being proficient at time management, people management, giving timely constructive feedback and being open to feedback and to the ideas that can come from any corner – these are the key things I have learned in my career so far.

We are glad to announce that The KPI Institute is celebrating  another milestone – our LinkedIn Group now reached 23,000 members, and we are still trending upwards!

PERFORMANCE in Measurement, Management, KPI, Balanced Scorecard, Business Intelligence, Analytics is continuously evolving, just as we are.

We realize how significant milestones like this are, but what really excites us is that every day, we have the chance to share our business solutions with people that choose to join the performance community and attempt to continuously expand their knowledge.

We welcomed many members since our last milestone in February, managing to build a strong group that had continuously evolved globally over the past years and engaged with The KPI Institute events around the world.

Some of the most popular topics within our PERFORMANCE community are:

• Performance related events (e.g. courses and conferences);
• Designing and implementing Performance Management frameworks;
• Best practices in Performance Management and measurement;
• Performance Management tools of the trade and how to employ them successfully;
• General issues related to organizational, operational and individual performance management;
• Recommendations of relevant resources.

The KPI Institute community continues to provide a common ground for professionals coming from various functional areas and industries, one that allows them to interact and create an excellent learning hub for performance know-how, field insights, and business opportunities.

We support our members with building a solid foundation and accessing industry best practices, especially because concepts like Performance Management, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), Balances Scorecard, Business Intelligence and Data Visualization are key enablers for organizational success.

The generated discussions bring relevant insights to practitioners of all seniority levels and functions involved in various industries like:

• Management Consulting;
• Financial Services;
• Human Resources;
• Information Technology and Services;
• Operations Management.

The KPI Institute continues to strive for community growth, a process allowing for greater business opportunities and connecting us with innumerable professionals worldwide.

See you at the next milestone! We’d love to have you with us. Join the performance LinkedIn community now!

At The KPI Institute, our mission is to pursue performance, in all its facets, and bring this knowledge to others who wish to improve both on an individual level and an organizational one. Outstanding employees that strive to lift their company to new heights, maximize its potential and strengthen its development, so that it becomes the best of the best, all the while harnessing this knowledge to better themselves as professionals – these are the people that inspire us.

Join us in our journey of interviewing some of the most extraordinary individuals that continue to make The KPI Institute a role-model for others to follow. In today’s edition, we will be featuring July’s Employee of the Month, Răzvan Coteț, our Customer Engagement Specialist.

1.What is your role at The KPI Institute and what makes it special?

I joined this team almost 2 years ago, and promised myself that I will achieve my goals and exceed expectations. I am constantly focused on innovative solutions to solve business challenges as efficiently as possible for the company. I am proud of my team and my colleagues; this organization cultivated a high sense of community inside me, it is awesome to take part into this constantly evolving family.

Staying most of the time at the office, it kind of builds this sense of “family”, which I have never experienced in a workplace before. Now, at the end of the day, someone could say “but ok, it’s just a job” – well, I can argue that for me, The KPI Institute is a bit more than that.

What is my current role? Well, basically we are a team, it is not just me and we are all focused on promoting The KPI Institute’s services and products, through all communication channels, including professional social media platforms, building & managing effective relationships with key stakeholders to increase the impact of the marketing & sales campaigns, and contacting international prospective customers to showcase the benefits of our enterprise sales accounts and convert them in loyal customers.

Short story, we are the sales team, our goal is simple -> increase revenue, constantly strive for more and achieve great results.

2. How did it feel to be nominated and selected as Employee of the Month?

It was amazing, I wasn’t expecting this coming. I can’t describe in words how it feels to see that people are aware of your efforts and they appreciate your dedication towards achieving great results. I think this is literally the most important thing that all of us should get, appreciation.

3. What do you find most challenging at The KPI Institute?

Here at The KPI Institute, we learn how to overcome anything, break-down any problem and deliver top-notch solutions.

For me the most challenging part was to offer a small part of me to one of our junior members in my team, I was responsible for her induction in our activity, and slowly but surely to bring her to the current level of the team. I was tough and always sure on my words, but I would say now that I was a bit scared, as it’s a huge responsibility because someone is counting on you. Eventually, I overcame it and so far I feel that the newest member in our team is on the right path.

4. What would be the three main career lessons that you have learnt thus far?

One of the first lessons that I have learnt here was the ability to understand my limits and work on them, overcome them.

Another lesson that I would say everyone should apply even in their personal life is that a skill set can be learnt. Bring good attitude, bring your willingness to learn, as for sure everyone will appreciate an open-minded person willing to learn and to experiment new things. If this doesn’t apply to your current job, maybe you are in the wrong place.

One more trait that I have honed here is perseverance. Our activity is really challenging sometimes, a lot of things could stand in your way, but we always stay sharp, focused and have learnt to be perseverant against all odds.

5. If you could interview one person, either from the past or present, who would it be and why?

I would totally enjoy a discussion with Elon Musk, which I personally consider one of the best entrepreneurs and inventors. One of the topics I would like to approach him on is AI – Artificial Intelligence, given that I have watched an interview on this topic where he stated at some point that artificial intelligence is the “biggest existential threat for humanity”. There are probably many others, but he emphasized mainly this one, which sparked my curiosity as to why that is so.

At The KPI Institute, our mission is to pursue performance, in all its facets, and bring this knowledge to others who wish to improve both on an individual level and an organizational one. Outstanding employees that strive to lift their company to new heights, maximize its potential and strengthen its development, so that it becomes the best of the best, all the while harnessing this knowledge to better themselves as professionals – these are the people that inspire us.

Join us in our journey of interviewing some of the most extraordinary individuals that continue to make The KPI Institute a role-model for others to follow. In today’s edition, we will be featuring The KPI Institute’s Team of the Quarter for Utilities Performance Benchmarking project.

1.What was your role within the Utilities Performance Benchmarking kick-off team?

Alina Miertoiu

,, I was extensively involved in developing the content for the reports and applying the agreed-upon benchmarking methodology, but as a Project Manager, my role was also to coordinate the project team and to work with other departments, such as Graphic Design, Marketing or Sales.”

Andrea Minelli

,, My role was to support the development of all the Utilities Benchmarking reports, contributing and keeping track of the progress of all the research activities that assisted the enhancement of the report series. My involvement consisted in delineating certain sections of the utilities reports, processing a large pool of both financial and non-financial KPI data, to include in the reports, and design related graphs in order to clearly visualize the performance data that we were working with. Furthermore, we researched several companies’ reports that presented valuable performance data, relevant for our initiatives.”

Ana Lenchințan

,, My main responsibility consisted of drafting up a part of the reports presenting various types of performance metrics, besides the financial ones. Large amounts of KPI data were thereby processed, on the basis of which we designed associated graphs to help visualize the results of each metric. I also conducted research on the companies whose reports we analyzed in order to extract applicable data and defined over 100 key performance indicators.”

How did it feel to be nominated and selected as Team of the Quarter?

Alina Miertoiu

,, It is always nice to have your efforts recognized and appreciated. This is, on one side, a confirmation that you are doing the right thing, and, on the other side, an impulse to do even better next time. I think of it as a trigger to starting a constructive competition with  yourself.”

Andrea Minelli

,, I reckon that when your efforts are recognized and aknowledged by your team members and at the organizational level, it gives you the support to continue being driven, focused and willing to do more and in a better way.”

Ana Lenchințan

,, Seeing that that your efforts materialize into a well-structured and informative publication, that you helped create a positive impact and your work in this direction is being recognized is one of the main benefits a workplace can offer. Thus, through the nomination and selection, I felt that my efforts are appreciated and that my contribution matters.”

What do you find  to have been the most challenging part of the project?

Alina Miertoiu

,, As this project required working with considerable amounts of secondary data, making sure the data was relevant, accurate and clustered corectly, was essential for the deployment of the Utilities Performance Benchmarking Report Series, hence clustering and reviewing the accuracy of the data were the most challenging and time cosuming parts.”

Andrea Minelli

,, I had the chance of working with very supportive team members, where communication and support was constant throughout the duration of the project. For this initiative, I reckon the challenges were mainly technical, considering the fact that the nature of these tasks were very intricate and required attention and accuracy.”

Ana Lenchințan

,, The innovative character of this initiative, which prompted us to constantly adapt and redesign our work processes in order to obtain the best results.”

What would be the three main lessons learnt from this project?

Alina Miertoiu

,, Since this was the first large scale project I coordinated, I can say that there were a lot of lessons to learn for me, but if I were to name the main three I would say:  

Make sure all team members are on the same page 

Empower the people from your team to act 

Ask for feedback often and recalibrate based on it ”

Andrea Minelli

,, Communication is vital – When communcation among members is constant and clear, it creates a sense of accountability and understanding that supports the achievement of the desired results.  

 Plan and update – When the tasks and expectations are decided upon as a group, since the very beginning of the project,  each individual member will be able to focus on his/her duties and have control over the progress made towards the established shared goals.

Ask for and give feedback, be adaptable – Being able to keep an open mind but above all, have a positive attitude towards new ideas, opinions and initiatives proposed by those involved in the project is very important. Moreover, be flexible in case unexpected events that may interfere with your tasks appear out of nowhere. ”      

Ana Lenchințan

,, Communication is essential– If information flows consistently, results will reach desired levels sooner and all team members will feel included and appreciated. 

Plan every step carefully – If expectations and specifications are clear from the beginning, team members will focus adequately on their tasks and will be able to work with a high degree of independence towards reaching the common goal.

Stay malleable – Despite accurate planning, unforeseen events and changes will almost certainly occur, thus it is important to adapt to these developments as you go along, with a positive attitude, naturally, and the desired results will follow suit. ”

At The KPI Institute, our mission is to pursue performance, in all its facets, and bring this knowledge to others who wish to improve both on an individual level and an organizational one. Outstanding employees that strive to lift their company to new heights, maximize its potential and strengthen its development, so that it becomes the best of the best, all the while harnessing this knowledge to better themselves as professionals – these are the people that inspire us.

Join us in our journey of interviewing some of the most extraordinary individuals that continue to make The KPI Institute a role-model for others to follow. In today’s edition, we will be featuring May’s Employee of the Month, Adrian Șuteu, Solutions Manager for  TKI Solutions.

1. What is your role at The KPI Institute and what makes it special?

The KPI Institute was my very first work place. I had the chance to meet extraordinary people, co-workers and mentors here. Although I started as a Digital Marketing Intern, the company proved to be flexible and therefore a few months later, they gave me the chance to work as an Intelligence & Insights Specialist. Since then, I have gained a lot of knowledge about various business software solutions.

After leaving the company for a few months, I came back on a new position, Solutions Manager and I am currently responsible for the identification, customization, implementation, end-user training and database management for various software solutions (CRM, BI), both internally and externally. TKI Solutions is one of our newest brands that focuses on software implementation.

2. How did it feel to be nominated and selected as Employee of the Month?

Being nominated for this award was a little bit of a surprise but it also gave me a nice feeling. And of course, winning it felt great. I appreciate the support and trust that The KPI Institute team is giving me.

3. What do you find most challenging at The KPI Institute? 

The most challenging part, in my case, comes with the fact that I have recently became a manager and that my responsibilities are much larger now. But besides the fact that I am on a new stage and I have a lot to learn about how to be a good manager, I don’t find things challenging at The KPI Institute. Of course, a lot of hard work and dedication is required to do a good job, but if you like what you do and have a clear career path in front of you, things get fun and easy.

4. What would be the three main career lessons that you have learnt thus far?

There is no such thing as impossible – everything can be learned if you work hard and invest time in it.

People are different, but each one of them can bring value; together they create a system that works like a watch – every part, big or small, has to be there and do its job in order to keep the watch working.

Patience is king – besides dedication and hard work, you must give time to yourself and others if you want to see good results.

5. If you could interview one person, either from the past or present, who would it be and why?

I would interview Marc Benioff, the founder and CEO of Salesforce, because the story of this brand and how strong and appreciated it became seems incredible to me. And besides, he is well known as being a tolerant person and a philanthropist, aiming to change the world through technology.

If you’re in business, then you’re probably concerned with knowing how to protect yourself against cyber criminals and hackers. For starters, it’s no longer safe to sit back and do nothing. You should educate yourself on the matter and be proactive in your approach to safeguard yourself and your company against attacks, as today’s IT & security industries have become closely intertwined, given the many perils that one’s website can encounter in the online environment.

It’s not easy to know what you’re supposed to be doing when cyber security isn’t your expertise. You’re busy running a business and managing clients. You know there’s action you should be taking, but aren’t sure where to start. The good news is there are experts, such as The KPI Institute‘s research team, who can offer advice and guidance on the subject, through carefully researched materials, such as the Top 25 IT Security KPIs of 2011 – 2012 or the Information Technology KPI Dictionary.

Understand the Risk

Don’t ever look the other way and assume it won’t happen to you. Always be cautious and on guard. If you have money, data and a workplace, then you’re in jeopardy. It’s nothing personal to you, but it puts you in a target group for cyber criminals.

Understand what’s at stake. This is your, and in some cases your client’s, personal and private information that you need to protect. Getting hacked or attacked will leave you with a major headache and you’ll spend a lot of time cleaning up. Do everything in your power to make sure you’re not a victim by understanding your risk and taking proper precautions.

Businesses and individuals deal with cyber-attacks all the time. Fortunately, it’s a matter that’s avoidable if the right steps are taken to prevent it. These are cyber security tips for businesses.

If you would like to know how you can measure your IT security performance, The KPI Institute’s publications –  the Information Technology KPI Dictionary and the Top 25 IT Security KPIs of 2011-2012 offer you in-depth knowledge on the most valuable security KPIs for the IT industry.

At The KPI Institute, our mission is to pursue performance, in all its facets, and bring this knowledge to others who wish to improve both on an individual level and an organizational one. Outstanding employees that strive to lift their company to new heights, maximize its potential and strengthen its development, so that it becomes the best of the best, all the while harnessing this knowledge to better themselves as professionals – these are the people that inspire us.

Join us in our journey of interviewing some of the most extraordinary individuals that continue to make The KPI Institute a role-model for others to follow. In today’s edition, we will be featuring April’s Employee of the Month, Iulia Mureșan-Man, Business Event Coordinator.

1. What is your role at The KPI Institute and what makes it special?

I joined The KPI Institute’s Romanian branch almost 3 years ago, promising myself that I will make the best of this experience, so I did. My role in the organization is to ensure the continuity of regular events and at the same time, to successfully introduce new events on TKI Romania’s events agenda.

As event coordinator, I am responsible for the entire organizational process, collaborating closely with the Marketing, Graphic Design, IT and Sales departments in order to deliver events that respond to business trends and needs. What’s so special about my job is the dynamic feel of the field and the fact that I am working with people and for people.

2. How did it feel to be nominated and selected as Employee of the Month?

In all honesty, it felt awesome. It was a confirmation that I do my best at work, but nevertheless, that my colleagues are aware of my results and appreciate my efforts. This is the kind of non-financial incentive that would inspire and motivate every employee.

3. What do you find most challenging at The KPI Institute?

What I find most challenging is constantly trying to deliver products and services that meet professional expectations and needs. Our role is to enhance the way organizations work and that’s a pretty ambitious goal.

4. What would be the three main career lessons that you have learnt thus far?

• Practice makes perfect – experience will always improve your skills;
• Connect your goals to the business strategy – you have to understand that the organization’s success is basically your success;
• Invest trust in people, respect them and they will surprise you – you and your colleagues can create an amazing working environment if your interactions are governed by some very straightforward values, such as trust.

5. If you could interview one person, either from the past or present, who would it be and why?

Here I want to make 2 nominations. On the one hand, I would find it interesting to have a nice chat with Sun Tzu, the author of Art of War. I think his book has many implications for leadership, management and for today’s business environment, even if it was written about 2500 years ago.

On the other hand, I would love to have the opportunity of listening live to Morgan Freeman, regardless of the subject. I just enjoy hearing his voice, as many of us do.

At The KPI Institute, our mission is to pursue performance, in all its facets, and bring this knowledge to others who wish to improve both on an individual level and an organizational one. Outstanding employees that strive to lift their company to new heights, maximize its potential and strengthen its development, so that it becomes the best of the best, all the while harnessing this knowledge to better themselves as professionals – these are the people that inspire us.

Join us in our journey of interviewing some of the most extraordinary individuals that continue to make The KPI Institute a role-model for others to follow. In today’s edition, we will be featuring March’s Employee of the Month, Andreea Poponea, Talent Aquisition Specialist.

1. What is your role at The KPI Institute and what makes it special?

My journey at The KPI Institute has started 2 years ago, as an Intern within the Human Resources department. I always considered myself a person who loves to be surrendered by people, who wants to find friendly solutions to their problems, that’s why I always thought that my place should be in an HR team.

My current role is to bring new talent at The KPI Institute, to join our dynamic and enthusiastic team for both the national and international offices.

What makes it special? The international context and the fact that I am getting in touch with people from different countries and I have the chance to find more about their cultures and possibly tips for new vacation spots.

2. How did it feel to be nominated and selected as Employee of the Month?

Wow, it felt amazing. The most important feeling an employee needs to have is appreciation. When you feel that your work is appreciated, it gives you courage and trust that you are doing the right thing. Personally, I believe that most of my colleagues deserve this title, as they are hard-working and enthusiastic in the work they do.

3. What do you find most challenging at The KPI Institute?

At The KPI Institute, we talk about performance, and this is the reason why we are a dynamic company. When it comes to performance, things change fast, which influences the work I do. I always need to keep track of new projects and to find the right person for the job! This is very challenging from an HR perspective!

4. What would be the three main career lessons that you have learnt thus far?

• Communication is everything;
• You never know enough but you can do more than you think you can;
• Deliver on your promises;

,, You don’t hire for skills, you hire for attitude”, this is the most important aspect I’ve learned so far – a great attitude can bring more value than any amount of talent.

5. If you could interview one person, either from the past or present, who would it be and why?

Well, to be honest, I do not have any one specific in mind, but I do have a question I would like to ask anyone who reads this. I ask myself this question every day, so now I ask others: What makes you want to wake up every morning?

At The KPI Institute, our mission is to pursue performance, in all its facets, and bring this knowledge to others who wish to improve both on an individual level and an organizational one. Outstanding employees that strive to lift their company to new heights, maximize its potential and strengthen its development, so that it becomes the best of the best, all the while harnessing this knowledge to better themselves as professionals – these are the people that inspire us.

Join us in our journey of interviewing some of the most extraordinary individuals that continue to make The KPI Institute a role-model for others to follow. In today’s edition, we will be featuring The KPI Institute’s Team of the Quarter from our Global Performance Audit Unit.

1. What was your role within the GPA Unit kick-off team?

Cristina Tarata

,, As Head of Research Programs at The KPI Institute, I was deeply involved in developing the audit methodology that is used to assess the maturity level of organizations. Moreover, aside from my contribution, we also asked subject matter experts for advice in each of the audit’s areas: strategy, performance measurement, performance management, employee performance management and culture.”

Alin Sonda

,, My role was to coordinate, contribute to and keep track of progress of all the activities that supported the launch of the Global Performance Audit Unit. I was involved in shaping the audit methodology, the audit process and the presentation materials. I also had a key role in the development of the online platform dedicated to the audit service delivery – GPAUnit.org.

Andrei Popoviciu 

,, I was the Junior Graphic Designer of the GPA Unit team. My responsibilities were to develop the structure of the website, with the help of our Online Platforms Department, and to create the visual identity, which includes the website, banners and other graphical elements.”

2.  How did it feel to be nominated and selected as team of the Quarter?

Cristina Tarata

,, When your efforts are recognized at the organizational level by management and your other colleagues, it gives you the positive energy that you need to keep on being focused and motivated. It triggers a strong desire to do more and better next time!”

Alin Sonda

,, It always feels good to receive confirmation that your efforts are acknowledged by management and your colleagues. It feels even better when your efforts are also rewarded.”

Andrei Popoviciu 

,, I wasn’t expecting to be nominated, so this made it a little bit more special. I felt like the work we’ve put in was relevant and acknowledged.”

3. What do you find to have been the most challenging part of the project?

Cristina Tarata 

,, I must say that as a team, we collaborated very easily and effectively. My challenges were mostly technical, as we needed to create an audit methodology that encompasses the collective know-how of our consultants, of The KPI Institute. We have put in one instrument all the good practices, all the lessons we have learned throughout our 12 years of experience in the market. Covering all the important aspects of a state-of-the-art integrated performance management system, while ensuring it is a time effective and easy to use tool was quite difficult, given that we had to also map the criteria for each stage in the maturity cycle.”

Alin Sonda

,, I think the most challenging part was listening to, considering and putting together everyone’s points of view on the subject at hand, as well as making sure that management agrees with the outcomes and supports us every step of the way. The project required the commitment and contribution of our colleagues that are specialized in research, graphical design, IT, sales, marketing and communication.”

Andrei Popoviciu

,, For me the whole project was a challenge, because it was really complex and we missed some steps in creating the website, so we had to adapt and solve the design problems as fast as possible. If I would have to choose only one part, the most challenging one was to create the website blocks, so we could use them in different ways.”

4. What would be the three main lessons learnt from this project?

Cristina Tarata

,, Your product is as good as your client thinks it is – meaning that testing is very important, there will always be scenarios that you will fail to anticipate, therefore testing the product on 2-3 real case scenarios is vital in order to create a useful product or service.

Focus – if you want a high quality product, in a relatively short period of time, you have to learn how to focus. You have to be able to avoid getting sucked in other activities, as well as being able to concentrate effectively for a longer time period on the same project.

Everyone has to be on the same page – all team members, regardless of their role (marketing, research, graphic design or sales) have to have the same level of understanding of the product or service. To create synergies between the sales force and R&D, it is vital to share a common perspective on the usage, benefits, purpose and identity of the product/service.”

Alin Sonda

,, Clearly assign tasks and constantly track progress. Project management skills are vital in assuring the success of any project. Work hard but smart, to achieve your goals and not lose control (or your mind) in the process.

Ask for and give feedback. Keep an open mind and a positive attitude towards the ideas and opinions of those involved in the project and they will be happy to share their thoughts and come up with valuable insights.

We are all in the same boat. Enforce the fact that the success of the project relies on the effort and commitment of all those involved, while the benefits are granted to the people that delivered in accordance to and above expectations.”

Andrei Popoviciu

,, Ask questions and listen carefully. I find it really important to ask questions and listen carefully when it comes to design, because it’s important to get all the input and clarify any kind of unclear information.

Get out of your comfort zone. If you don’t get out of your comfort zone, you don’t develop yourself.

Deliver in time. The last one is delivery in time, because time is one of the most important assets in every business, so in order to be good, you need to be able to deliver in a specific timeframe.”

We would also like to congratulate the forth member of the GPA Unit team, Andrea Dinu. Even though she is working now on a different project, Andrea took up the role of Head of Online Platforms: from website wireframe and page creation, to establishing each page’s structure & items, as well as making sure User Experience is at the best level, she undertook the task of creating an online presence for the GPA Unit.

Moreover, she played the part of Project Manager as well, given that she maintained the main communication channel between The KPI Institute and our partnering IT specialists, BitStone.