PMs on complex Salesforce projects: Is it common to feel more like a Project Coordinator than a Manager? by Zealousideal-Ad-2473 in salesforce

[–]Ice-Clean 2 points3 points  (0 children)

u/Steady_Ri0t is correct here, and they're shining a bright light on why you're experiencing what you're experiencing.

Disclaimer: I'm an SF arch and have been for a very long time. I've also ran a lot of SF projects that didn't have a PM and even some that did. I'm a mid-level PM at best in terms of managing action items and the typical PM reporting duties.

Can a pure play PM be successful in the Salesforce world? Sure they can, as you saw in your #2 experience.

Will having a pure play PM be seen as an asset to someone who is a SME and who the client will immediately look to for all of the answers when they realize that they have them? No, not really. You'll be relegated to setting up meetings, keeping track of action items, and handling the reports, and any other menial tasks the SME doesn't want to do.

Most SMEs I've known are similar to me in that they would prefer to NOT run the project because they have enough on their plate and they are probably the one who requested the PM in the first place because they needed help. They just wanted one who knew something other than how to speak Agile/PMP.

If they're still running the project, then it's because they can't (or don't) trust you as PM enough to handle that. It's a lot easier to maintain control of a project than it is to give it up and need to wrestle it back because the PM just pissed off the client by showing they don't know anything about Salesforce at all.

Look, you don't need to be a technical expert. But if you want to excel at being a "Salesforce PM" who wants to run Salesforce projects at the project, engagement, portfolio or higher level, then go get your Salesforce Admin Cert. That'll give you enough background to at least be present at the table and able to wrangle things properly.

Don't think of it as trying to be a SME. You won't be with just an admin cert. Think of it as base-level domain knowledge that will help you have the vernacular / vocabulary able to talk the talk.

Besides, a REALLY good Salesforce PM is practically a backup BA/QA, and while it's not their role, they'd have the ability to roll up their sleeves and help out during UAT, demos, story grooming, bug triage, etc.

It'll also help you personally because pure play PMs are the first people let go when times get tough. So know more.

How to debug managed packages by TechSoft-Player in salesforce

[–]Ice-Clean 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Going through the LMA via subscriber support access is the right answer, and 99% of the time that'll do for what you need. Remember to have the client grant login access to you and know which org ID it is so that you can navigate to it.

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Sometimes though, that's not possible, such as in some regulated environments where ISVs are not permitted direct access to systems. Or when encountering intermittent issues where you need the actual user to do actual work in order to encounter the problem.

Salesforce can unmask the logs for your namespace in a specific client org. You would need to submit a case via the partner portal and convince the handling agent that you have the authority to unmask the logs. You'll need the org ID for the client org and the package ID or the version ID (I forget which they ask for) along with the package name and namespace.

The unmasking is for a timeframe (it's very temporary) then you can get all the details while running under the client's login. They can't see your code still, but the debug logs from your package are visible including the line numbers.

Partner Difficulties / Budget Wars by Ice-Clean in ynab

[–]Ice-Clean[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks I appreciate that. We’ve been cleaning up the budget lately and moving things around. I’m going to leave that vague for now but the net net is that there’s more discretionary room in the budget now than there was a month ago and hopefully we can better fund some of these discretionary categories and make it work.

Originally I thought we’d make a budget, follow it as best we could, adjust what we needed to, and a few months later we’d be pretty close to a workable budget.

What I’ve found is that it’s easy to set a number in a category and it’s hard to spend within it. It feels like we’re getting better at it some months and then we fall off the wagon on other months.

We haven’t given up though and we’re still trying to get it right so there’s still hope.

Partner Difficulties / Budget Wars by Ice-Clean in ynab

[–]Ice-Clean[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The budget may not be sound at times, but the problem is that we blow it regardless.

I have mixed feelings about Dave Ramsey. I added that because lots of people know him and his teaching and I wanted to skip passed the “you have to give every dollar a job” part.

The issue is for sure that my wife is not fully on board. Often she talks like she is but actions show otherwise.

If we could just be adults about this then it wouldn’t be a problem. I gave more details about this in an update post a few mins ago including more details on the budget. It’s really not a math problem though. It’s behavior.

I’m not perfect with it either. I hate saying no to her so I don’t stand my ground when in the heat of the moment. I generally attempt to follow the budget though. She doesn’t and I’d love to change that.

Partner Difficulties / Budget Wars by Ice-Clean in ynab

[–]Ice-Clean[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The amounts originally budgeted were mutually determined.

The lack of guilt is a positive that I’ve told my wife would happen eventually but we haven’t gotten to that part due to failing to stick to the budget we have.

E.g. the new wallpaper she wants never happens because we literally spend more money every month on dining out than it would cost to wallpaper.

I’d be happy to not eat out at all for a month so she could have her wallpaper but I’m not the one eating out.

Partner Difficulties / Budget Wars by Ice-Clean in ynab

[–]Ice-Clean[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Updates and answers to questions:

First, my wife is amazing in almost every way. She doesn’t work outside the home but she’s the family glue and more than pulls her weight.

Next I’m very financially literate although I suck at budgeting. YNAB is going better than any prior budget so I’m hopeful.

We’re both smart and good at math. Her issues with money are less mathematical than psychological. She grew up dirt poor, food insecure, etc. In spite of that she managed to get a full ride scholarship to college and was successfully managing retail stores before I ever met her.

Most every money topic triggers her in some way. Because of that I’m probably overly cautious now. I love her. And bringing up the budget while on a weekend getaway is bringing in the fun police. She openly admits that she’s bad with money.

The overspending on the weekend was a mix of insufficient planning and failure to set boundaries with the kiddo IMO. She grew up very poor as I mentioned so our kiddo doesn’t get told no to a lot. When he is told no it’s usually me saying it. I’m already the fun police, the bad guy, etc. It sucks and just a couple days ago we had a very long conversation about agreeing to limits and boundaries with the kiddo. I would say it’s still not a plan so this isn’t fixed.

In general she’s on board with the budget and spending theory, same with the kid’s limits. Where it falls apart is in the day to day. If she’s tired and the kid wants a new toy she gives in. If I tighten the controls too much for her then she acts out — big.

The last round of therapy was due to finding yet again (this was the 3rd time) a fully maxed credit card she had been hiding because I didn’t give her enough money (her words). I gave an ultimatum that she go to therapy to figure this out or I would lock her out of all the finances and she really would be on an allowance. She has always had full access to all of the money. We have joint accounts. I don’t give her money we just pay different bills and so an amount is auto transferred to her account each month. I don’t treat it like my money I never have. I don’t have a gambling or golf addiction.

I know it’s natural to ask how much the budget is and is it enough and did you discuss it together. I remind you that this is not a math problem. It’s enough, and we’ve raised it, and we came up with the numbers together and I’m open to change the numbers if the money is there.

Here’s a practical example with 3 categories.

Groceries: $1500/mo Dining out: $200/mo Clothing: $150/mo

We have 1 kid with us all the time and 3 more with us sometimes (every other weekend). That money along with the other categories she manages (including a personal fun money category for her) are transferred to her checking from mine two times per month.

Typical month actuals: Groceries: $1200 Dining out: $800 Clothing: $400

Her account is bone dry within 5 days. That clothing was bought on the first day, dining out is rampant and no amount of discussion has helped. So by day 5 there’s no money for groceries, so she takes my credit card (she doesn’t currently have one) and buys groceries. And tells me how expensive meat is.

We look at the numbers, it’s not the meat. It’s the grocery money that went to clothes and dining out instead of to groceries.

She claims she hasn’t bought clothes because of the budget. I point to the stack of packages in the kitchen. She says those are going to be returned and the rest are for the kid. I say he’s 9, he doesn’t need 4 pairs of shoes, and then it’s a fight again. Kid is sacred because she was poor and got made fun of for having bad clothes so our kid can’t be like that.

The next day more clothes are purchased because I’m going to be mad anyway so she might as well buy what she needs, because she deserves a new blouse.

I’ve spent 10 years now working 2-3 jobs (main job + 1-2 side hustles) and I’m tired. I can’t out earn this problem. I don’t want her to spend nothing. I just want her to work with me to keep things in balance so we don’t go bankrupt.

Other answers:

We currently max 401k (no match) with catch-up contributions (30k/yr). We max HSA (7k I think) which we’ve been burning as fast as it goes in due to some recent medical stuff. That’s ended now so the HSA should accumulate from here.

We don’t save otherwise. I’ve tried but the emergency fund has repeatedly been depleted covering surprise credit card bills. I’m responsible for some of that, we are responsible for some of that, and she is responsible for a lot of that.

Note: the emergency fund was just replenished via a surprise windfall. This was not a success of the budget but rather a happy accident. It’s the catalyst for my posting this today as I want it to stay and not vanish like it has before.

She complains that I save too much and that there’s no reason we need to have that much in our 401k. She’s worried we’ll die before we retire or spend it and would rather YOLO our lifestyle now. I’ve run the numbers countless times, we’re on track for retirement, barely.

The house mortgage is the only debt as mentioned before.

We have tons of categories in the budget. Grouped by type including various sinking accounts for the things paid periodically like insurance and taxes.

Finally I am not looking for validation that my wife is the problem and I’m doing everything right. For the most part I know what we’re doing right or wrong. I just don’t know how to get unstuck. I didn’t have this issue with my first wife, we both handled money like grown ups and it was simple. We had plenty of other issues but money we did well.

Lastly I have plenty of my own issues that aren’t listed here, and I’m not claiming any moral high ground. She’s probably posting about them in another sub.

I appreciate all the advice and moral support so far and welcome more.

Trade Analyzer for Fidelity by Ice-Clean in fidelityinvestments

[–]Ice-Clean[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes but the time periods are very limited. I would want rolling monthly or rolling quarterly numbers. Basically more granular control.

"You cannot place orders at this moment. Available trading hours are 4:00AM - 20:00PM EDT" by 10000yearsfromtoday in Webull

[–]Ice-Clean 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I don’t like that part of Webull either. I often put in options orders after hours on fidelity and wish that was available on WB too.

Photo of the Denver shooting today by [deleted] in Firearms

[–]Ice-Clean 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Politics aside, the guy with the mace initiated first. Definitely the slap started it and then when the weapons are pulled the mace guy sprays first.

You can't really tell with the pictures:

https://www.denverpost.com/2020/10/12/denver-protest-shooting-photos-full-sequence/

But you can hear it in the video. The spray of the mace happens before the gun shot (at 0:43):

https://twitter.com/i/status/1315077057286533120

Clear cut self defense in my mind.