What's New in August

Meet our newest project manager Nnenna Azuka-Onuka! Nnenna comes to us with over 12 years' experience managing projects in marketing/advertising, construction, food services and banking industries. She is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) and has earned her MBA.

Nnenna is a resourceful team leader with the ability to proactively identify and analyze issues to improve project performance meeting deadlines and deliverables successfully. Our team and our clients are looking forward to utilizing Nnenna’s wealth of knowledge and expertise to achieve both business and project goals. Welcome to Capstone Nnenna!

Capstone's NG911 Modernization Team is full steam ahead!

Across Canada, the public safety 911 community is facing a critical, pivotal moment in its history. The existing 911 system was designed in an era of landline telephones and assumes the calls are coming from fixed, known addresses. Today, most emergency calls originate from smartphones and IP devices, often while away from home. As a result, these changes are driving this historic evolution to Next Generation 911 (NG911) creating a faster, more resilient system allowing voice, data, photos, videos and test messages to flow seamlessly.

Capstone is delivering NG911 transformational projects with a comprehensive team including key skills in Privacy, Cyber Security, NENA requirements and Business Analysis, Organizational Change Management and Data Architecture/Governance to name a few. We deliver using a tried-and-true three phase approach. Our roadmap for delivery is clearly defined. It all starts with an initial assessment of current technology, facilities and more.

Stay tuned for upcoming information sessions on each aspect of our NG911 Modernization Practice. This pivotal moment in history has a lot of agency support, including experts at BELL, ESWG, NENA and other working groups. With Capstone, you can get in front of the change and manage it in stride.

Capstone takes to the high seas...sort of.

All work and no play; that's not how we roll at Capstone! Every summer, our team gets together for a fun, stress free event to simply be together as real people and not just as co-workers. This year, the Capstone team embarked on a boat tour of Oak Island followed by a BBQ and treasure hunt. There are two simple rules to follow at our team events; no shop talk and have fun. By the looks of it, our team nailed it!

Check out the Knowledge Centre article below to learn more about fun team building activities that will help reinvigorate your team and are actually enjoyable.

Show Stopper: 911 Modernization

We’ve learned that NG911 transitions have a tremendous impact on training and process enhancements to support the new technology, functionality and facility features. Our NG911 Modernization team includes emergency service project managers, fire and emergency services business analyst(s), fire operations, administration and training subject matter experts, national expert on privacy, international expert on cyber security and threat risk assessment, nationally recognized change manager leading a Canadian consortium of NG911 training and change management.

We have a deep knowledge NG911 technical requirements, NENA standards, CRTC progress and timelines, Bell/Telco governance and implementation/transition options suitable for PSAPs. We bring our knowledge and experience of NG911 procurement, vendor assessment, technology evaluations, service package appraisal and collaborative implementation planning and delivery practices to this project.

Capstone’s NG911 Modernization team is assisting EMO’s, PSAPS and other emergency services to proactively adjust from legacy systems and practices to NG911 technology and services delivery.

Check out all the services available to you through Capstone-on-Demand by clicking HERE.

Shout Out: Dave Miller

Dave is a Mi’kmaq Sexual Health activist with over 10 years' experience working with and supporting many service organizations across Canada. His work spans Global organizations who are most focused on research and community engagement.

Dave has been seated in various board positions for Canadian organizations throughout his career, currently sitting as the Chair for Canadian Aids Society. He has successfully coordinated four national projects including a national project for the Canadian Aboriginal AIDS Network about gender inclusivity with a special focus on Trans experiences; he was also Co-Coordinator for the 6th International Indigenous Pre-Conference on HIV and AIDS in Durban, South Africa with the International Indigenous Working Group.

Dave is a community builder, a fun, free-spirited guy who serves his communities in whatever way he can and we are delighted to have him on the Capstone team.

Capstone Knowledge Centre:

Team Building (Yes, it can be fun!)

The dreaded team building exercises, we know they are definitely not for everyone, especially for those introverts out there. The thought of a few hours or even a day away from the office sounds great in theory, but when those hours are filled with trust falls, personality tests and other forced "fun" team building activities most of us would rather just stay at our desks. So, instead of instilling fear and causing the typical eye-roll response, we've compiled a short list of some activities that your team might actually enjoy.

Community Service

Instead of solely focusing on the team itself, why not have your team focus on others in the community. There are plenty of organizations that would love to have your team help out for a few hours. Meal service at a homeless shelter, highway/beach/park clean-up programs, snuggling the dogs & cats at your local humane society; there are so many possibilities. Check out the options in your area, there will be more than you think.

Office Trivia

Come up with a list of trivia questions related to your place of work. Questions like "What does the poster in the cafeteria say?", "How many people named 'John' work in the IT department?", "How many people work in the accounting department?", etc. Write all questions and their answers on index cards. Ask questions to the whole group and solicit answers out loud. The participant who gets the most answers right wins at the end. Simple, fun and fast; even the team introverts might like this one.

Online Gaming Session

There are way more online gamers out there than you think. Why not tap into that and host an online gaming session for your team; playing your favorite game with your remote coworkers is the perfect way to build up camaraderie. Poll team members on what their favorite online games are. Build consensus on what games everyone can participate in. Choose something that no team member is particularly skilled in, otherwise it will lead to a skill mismatch. Also try to pair up a new team member with a senior pro to break the ice. Try to choose games that demand teamwork (such as Counterstrike or Fortnite). Segregate all participants into two (or more) teams. Mix up team members so you get a good general mix of skill and experience (i.e. pair an experienced player with a beginner). Play!

Leave it at Work Lunch

So simple. We all eat, so why not do it together. The one rule, your team cannot talk about work. Hanging out with your team outside of the office doesn't have to be a big event. You'll be amazed how relaxed and comfortable everyone will feel in an informal setting sharing a meal and hopefully some laughs.

Escape Room

No phones, no Google, and no helpful hints. This activity challenges you and your team to make an escape using only your collective wits. Put your heads together to work through clues, agree on the next steps, and act as one, if you ever hope to escape that is. There are even virtual escape rooms if there aren't any in your area or your team is remote. Check out some virtual options at Team Building Hub.

There are so many more team building activities for all types of teams, budgets and desired outcomes. Just remember, keep your team in mind when planning these activities. What works for your personality type might be absolute torture for other members of your team. You can't please everyone, but you may be able to come close. Below are a few websites if you're looking for team building ideas.