The Salesforce Consultant’s Guide : Tools to Implement or Improve Your Client’s Salesforce Solution

Contents 5 About the Author 6 About the Technical Reviewer 7 Acknowledgments 8 Introduction 9 Part I: Where to Start 12 Chapter 1: Introduction to the Salesforce Ecosystem 13 The Salesforce Ecosystem 14 The Platform 17 Summary 18 Resources 18 Chapter 2: Salesforce Learning 19 Mentoring 21 Learning 22 Free Learning 23 Trailhead 23 Free Bootcamp Programs 23 100 Days of Trailhead 24 Paid Learning 24 Certifications 25 Learning Communities 26 Trailblazer Community Groups 26 MVP Office Hours mvpofficehours.info 26 Salesforce Saturdays 26 Ohana Slack 27 Military 27 Salesforce Military 27 Mervis 27 Events 27 Conferences 27 Regional Events 28 Summary 28 Resources 29 Chapter 3: Salesforce Work Experience 30 Job Experience 30 Volunteer Work 32 Volunteer Resources 32 Catch a Fire 32 Taproot Foundation 32 VolunteerMatch 33 Points of Light Engage 33 Idealist 33 Recruiters 34 Summary 35 Resources 35 Part II: Preparing for a Software Project 36 Chapter 4: The Evolution of Software Development 37 Automation 38 Software Development Lifecycle 40 Waterfall 40 Acceleration of Change 42 Agile 42 Sprinting 43 The Value of Continuous Feedback 44 Summary 45 Resources 46 Chapter 5: Common Project Roles 47 What Is a Consultant? 47 What Is the Difference Between Functional and Technical Roles? 49 Roles 50 Project Managers, Scrum Masters 51 Business Analyst, Business Architect 53 Solution Architect 53 Change Manager, Trainer 54 Certified Technical Architect 55 Data Architect 56 Developer 58 Women in Programming 58 Quality Assurance Engineer 60 More on Cucumber 61 Role-Based Resources 61 Summary 62 Resources 62 Chapter 6: Sales and Staffing 64 Presales 64 Types of Contracts 65 How to Get Staffed on a Project 66 On the Bench 67 Centralized Staffing Model 67 Decentralized Staffing Model 68 Sales Handoff Meetings 69 The Sales Handoff Internal Meeting Presentation 70 The Background of the Company 70 What Was Sold? 71 The Timeline, Scope, and Budget 72 The SOW 72 What Are the Assumptions? 72 Client Idiosyncrasies 73 What Is the Dynamic Between Business and IT? 73 Introducing the Project Team to the Client 74 Technology 74 Summary 74 Resources 74 Part III: Stages of a Project 75 Chapter 7: Ramp-Up 76 Travel 76 How Much Will I Travel? 77 Airport Hacks 78 Travel Reimbursement 79 Working from Home 80 Utilization 83 Know Your Role 84 Summary 88 Resources 89 Chapter 8: Kickoff and Discovery 90 What Is Kickoff? 90 Interpersonal Tips 91 Understand Client Vision and Use Cases 92 Project Methodology 93 What Is Discovery? 94 Business Analysis 96 Current State and Future State 96 Process Flows 97 Writing User Stories 98 Acceptance Criteria 99 Team Cohesion 100 Summary 101 Resources 102 Chapter 9: Build, Test, Deploy 103 Agile Meetings 104 Backlog Refinement 104 Definition of Ready 104 Design 105 Dependencies 106 Sprint Planning 107 Definition of Done 108 Sprinting 109 Daily Stand- Ups 109 Identifying Risks and Issues 110 Sprint Reviews 111 Demo Tips 111 Retrospective 112 Visuals 113 Work Breakdown Structure 113 User Acceptance Testing 114 Deployment 115 Summary 116 Resources 116 Part IV: Consulting Skills 117 Chapter 10: Client Management 118 What Are Soft Skills? 119 Project Archetypes 119 The Hydra 119 Watch Out For 120 Strategies to Help 121 The Echo Chamber 122 Watch Out For 122 Strategies to Help 123 Swiss Cheese 124 Watch Out For 125 Strategies to Help 125 The Explorer 125 Watch Out For 126 Strategies to Help 126 The Rube Goldberg 127 Watch Out For 127 Strategies to Help 127 High Horse 128 Watch Out For 128 Strategies to Help 129 Stick in the Mud 129 Watch Out For 130 Strategies to Help 130 Summary 130 Resource 130 Chapter 11: Communication 131 The Medium Is the Message 131 Listening 132 Speaking and Writing 133 Public Speaking 134 Slack 134 Summary 135 Resource 135 Chapter 12: Emotional Intelligence 136 What Is Emotional Intelligence? 137 What Is an Emotion? 137 Types of Emotional Turbulence on a Project 139 Stormy Seas 140 Perspective to Take 140 Dumpster Fire 141 Perspective to Take 142 Burnt 145 Perspective to Take 146 Booted 146 Perspective to Take 147 Summary 149 Resources 149 Meditation Resources 150 Kai’s Recommendations for Managing Burnout 150 Chapter 13: Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving Skills 151 What Is Critical Thinking? 152 Gathering, Analyzing, Evaluating 152 Watch Out For 153 Bias 153 Differentiate an Opinion from a Fact 153 Information Overload 153 Strategies to Help 154 Time Management 155 Synthesizing and Distilling 155 Cognitive Biases 157 Bike-Shedding Effect(Parkinson’s Law of Triviality) 157 Information Bias 158 Irrational Escalation (Escalation of Commitment) 158 Automation Bias 158 Next in Line Effect 159 Spacing Effect 159 Semmelweis Reflex 159 Summary 159 Resources 160 Appendix A: Other Resources 161 Index 163 Break down the art and science of Salesforce consulting. This book will help you refine your consulting skills on the Salesforce platform. Author Heather Negley, a seasoned consultant who has completed over 30 Salesforce delivery projects in the past nine years, equips Salesforce professionals with detailed explanations on the stages of a project and the skills you need for each stage. You will learn the type of roles on a project, so that you can plan your career path. If you need help managing clients, this book teaches you how to effectively work with and advise people. You will go through the following main sections to round out your skills and service offerings: The best learning and community resources, including mentoring programs Tips on how to get job experience The evolution of software development Project roles The parts of a project Consulting skills The consulting skills section of the book breaks down each skill and explains the parts of the project to which you should apply your skills and real-world examples. Topics include client management, communication, emotional intelligence, critical thinking, and avoiding cognitive biases. What You Will Learn Identify patterns in your projects through archetype identification Watch out for specific risks common to project types Choose the best consulting tool from your toolbox, depending on the problem that you encounter Who This Book Is For People who work as Salesforce administrators for their industry and want to make a move into consulting. It is an excellent choice for someone who is interested in project work and likes to work with people to help them make decisions.