How FinCap made a big difference with a small budget

As a nonprofit working to save Kiwi families from financial hardship, FinCap have lots they want to achieve with a limited budget.

With money so tight, when the time came to redevelop their Client Voices web application, they knew it was vital that they kept project risk to a minimum.

This was especially important because of the cross-government collaboration that FinCap supports. With the government’s digital strategy driving these kinds of collaborations, agencies had a vested interest in the project’s success.

This case study looks at how FinCap maximised the impact they achieved. It shows how passion and commitment paired with Agile development processes can bring about lasting change for the better.

Making stress work for you — what the science says

For a long time we’ve been told that stress is bad for us. But research has shown that this isn’t entirely the case. It turns out that stressing about stress is bad for us, not the stress itself.

In one of the most popular TED talks ever, health psychologist Kelly McGonigal describes the science of stress, and how to make it work for you.

She talks about a Harvard study that showed how the way you think about stress affects how you respond to it. When you recognise that stress is your body’s way of preparing you for action, you respond in a healthier way. Instead of constricting, your blood vessels stay relaxed, keeping your cardiovascular system in good nick.

She also looked at research into stress and the hormone oxytocin. The body produces this neurohormone when under stress. This has two effects. It primes you to seek and give social support. And it helps your heart repair any stress-induced damage. Best of all, if you do reach out to others in stressful times, you release more oxytocin, making your stress response even healthier.

For us at Boost, this really reinforced the importance of a collaborative, supportive working environment.

You can distill the talk into two practical tips:

Two tips for turning stress into strength

1. Treat stress as your body’s way of energising you for action.
2. Connect with others when you or they are under stress.

Check out the talk. Just watching it sets you up to get stress on your side.

Get first crack at our next Agile foundation course

We’re currently setting the dates for our next Agile Professional Foundation course. If you’d like to get first crack at securing a seat as soon they become available, leave your email address below.

You can find out more about this ICAgile-certified online training here.

Email James to register your interest. We’ll notify you when the 2021 dates are set.

Shaneil joins the team

We’re very happy to welcome Shaneil Escober, the latest addition to Boost’s team in Manila.

Shan joins us after seven years as a developer and team leader. In both roles she really enjoys the relationships that develop; getting to know her clients and colleagues, finding out what they want to achieve, then helping them get there.

Manila’s year-long COVID-19 lockdown has been brightened by the two homeless cats she’s adopted — Chibi (which means cute and small in Japanese) and Aki (Japanese for Autumn, in honour of his autumnal colouring).

A former competitive swimmer, her time in the water has been limited lately, though she had been teaching her niece to swim. Shan’s brother asked for lessons, hoping they might soak up some of his daughter's abundant energy.