Welcome to SIPM

Hello, nice meeting you. I am Soma and I have been running this blog since 2008.


This was started as a journal for me as I dived into Project Management. Since then a lot has happened, I live and work in Hyderabad (India) now.


This space has grown over time and I write about Project Management, Personal Development, Agile and frankly anything that gets my attention.

When not at work, I am mostly reading, working on my next idea, travelling and exploring life with my 6 year old.


You can reach me at steppingintopm(at)gmail.com

Hello and I am here.

 I never realized it had been a year since I posted here.

My life updates have been mostly about work and I may have been doing this for too long. There's no team behind it, no editor, and no brainstorming sessions- mostly been me running this since 2008 along with a full-time job and a family.          

So, since we are just on time to start this weekend, I thought we could relook at the couple of articles I have posted in the community.

So, here are a few articles listed below that I have been writing and didn't share:

1.  Triads in Agile: The Path to Efficient Decision Making

2.  Quiet Quitting: How Agile can help combat that            

3. 3 Common Complaints in Scrum Team


Let me know if you get a chance to read through these articles.


(Pic courtesy: Pexel)

Bye 2021

Dec 31, 2021 | 0 comments |

Thank you for sticking around if you are seeing this. Grateful for this year even with its up and downs and I know I haven't been a lot here, but my heart is always here. 

As I wrap up this year, here's my new years resolution video below. Thanks again everyone, stay safe and take care. 


10 Effective Productivity Lessons

Sep 16, 2021 | 0 comments |

 Its September already and if you are constantly trying to figure out how to get more done, these top 10 lessons from the productivity guru Ali Abdaal might be just for you.


Stay safe and take care.



Interview with Yasmina Khelifi| Project Manager

Hello, todays interview is with Yasmina Khelifi. 

Yasmina Khelifi, PMP, PMI- ACP, PMI-PBA is an experienced project manager in the telecom industry. Along with her 20-year career, she sharpened her global leadership skills, delivering projects with major manufacturers and SIM makers. Yasmina strives for building collaborative bridges between people to make international projects successful. She relies on three pillars: her project management skills, the languages she speaks, and her passion for sharing knowledge.

French-native, she can speak German, English, Spanish, Italian, Japanese and she is learning Arabic. Yasmina loves sharing her knowledge and experiences at work, volunteers at PMI, blogs at projectmanagement.com, and PM Network Magazine. She is also the host and co-founder of the podcast Global Leaders Talk with Yasmina Khelifi to help people in becoming better international leaders.

Yasmina please tell us how did you get into project management and why were you interested?

As a telecom engineer, I began my career, by testing new value-added services at a French telecom operator. After a few years and with the sponsorship of my manager, I applied to a project manager position. It took me courage because I didn’t have strong self-confidence.  Becoming a project manager was a life changing decision. I loved it from the beginning: the variety of activities, being able to organize, to build human relationships, to improve the processes, to create new things. Since then, I’ve managed numerous international projects.

In the process, you also have a blog and a podcast, tell us about it?

During the lockdown, I decided to invest my time in an online self-paced course by Dorie Clark on how to become a recognized expert. As part of the course, I have access to an amazing Facebook community where many people have their websites and portfolio. It gave me the energy to develop mine: I wanted to have one place to share my experiences and ideas. During the lockdown, I've also discovered podcasts and thought: "why not try it out?” I was curious to know how it worked and to share my knowledge about international leadership.

In investing your time in trying to build a community with all of these, what has been your experience so far?

You’re right it takes time and effort. My main aim is to spread knowledge as I didn't have specific guidance when I began to work. If it turns out into a lively community, that would be great. So far, It has been an invaluable opportunity to meet global leaders, learn from them, and share their stories. I haven't met personally most people I’ve interviewed so far. I think my knowledge of project management helps me a lot: I explain the project, set the expectations, communicate the final product for go nogo, and define a communication plan in social media.

Beyond the nitty-gritty tasks, I’ve met incredibly generous people with their time and experiences, and I’m looking forward to sharing more stories from global leaders.

Do you have any suggestions for the new project managers getting into this domain?

I will focus on three points.

First, get the confidence to leap into project management: you’ll get the skills for life, useful in any job. Project Management isn't linked to technical jobs. As soon as you work in a team (and who doesn't?) you’ll need to define the roles, functionalities of the products, expectations, planning, and draw on lessons learned.

Second, don’t hesitate to ask people for help and advice. Sometimes we think we will see as incompetent by asking but that’s a way to move forward.

Third, take part in training about project management but also about leadership. Devise your learning strategy. Be a lifelong learner!

Where can the readers find you?

This is where you can find my blogs and podcasts. I have a monthly newsletter about global leadership and also write here. As for social media you can find me in twitter @YasminaKhelifi7 and LinkedIn

Thank You Yasmina.




If you are a Newbie, Read This

If you really want to show your work, show the vulnerability that comes with it.  I get it you are a newbie and welcome to SIPM. 

I think the biggest fear is that of being judged of failure, lesser experience and shaky confidence. You can fake it till you make it, however you won’t know how it is unless you go out there, do your work and put it out. There’s just one way to get it done and get done with your fear, go through the fire.

If you are a project manager and starting out, don’t feel intimidated by all the experience available over the web in blogs and other platforms. Everyone started like you. So, share your insights and its okay to take time to feel like you have found your zone.

When I started this blog years ago, I had just started out facing the same problem. Everything I read was out of my league and I couldn’t find a space where I would feel comfortable and easier to learn for someone brand new. So, I started my blog, for myself really to talk about my fears and journal my experience so I would remember it.


My first post is here (haha) and it’s been ages since then. What you don’t know is putting that out without any expectation actually helped me connect with people over the web, a lot of them project managers who helped me out without even knowing me personally. It helped me network, get invited for seminars, start a community to give back (You!), get job interviews and interviewer had read my blog (talk about having an advantage), opportunities to speak, finding mentors over twitter, publishing e-books and writing for popular platforms

So, there are only advantages and if no one takes interest in your work its okay too. Being yourself and finding your voice is important because you don’t need to clone yourself. If no one reads or notices that’s okay because you will have found clarity of thoughts, a diary to look back on and a practice that will allow to expand and grow.

So, mentioning yourself as a newbie isn’t a bad thing, it shows you open to learning, life and new skillsets.

So, whether you are starting out or struggling it's okay to bring it out, to ask for help and to show your work!

What do you think?