The Weekend Picklist

Every weekend, we’ll be delivering our top headlines – highlights from the previous week for you to enjoy with a cup of coffee!

1. 7 Productivity Tips for Salesforce Admins

Many consider Salesforce Admins to be the backbone of most, if not all, orgs.?Without them, many companies wouldn’t be able to take advantage of everything the Salesforce interface has to offer. Because of this, many admins are dubbed as “all-stars,” managing org planning and solving problems. They often need to put on their productivity hat and adopt best practices to make the most of their work day.

1. Removing all distractions is the golden productivity rule – getting interrupted by non-urgent matters can take precious time out of your day.
2. Analyze how each individual tasks affects the bigger picture and evaluate the task's level of importance.
3. Create a dashboard for all your work and measure your achievements. This will also make it easier to report your progress to your company’s higher ups.
4. Keep your disk clean! Remove any unnecessary files from your computer and prevent slow loading times.
5. Create training instructions templates for any company newcomers.
6. Acknowledge when you need a break, and actually take it. Have mini-breaks by taking a scroll, fetching a coffee, or having a snack.
7. Keep learning and avoid burnout by staying up to date with Salesforce’s ever-constant feature releases. Check out user groups, podcasts, or maybe even sign up to our?new Youtube channel.?[Read More]

2. The Demand for Salesforce Business Analysts: "The Big Tuna"

Are you the person in your org who is always asking “why are processes happening a certain way?”?You’re most likely your company’s Business Analyst, then. The role has existed within the ecosystem for quite some time, but with the release of the new certification, the title has become more popular and in-demand than ever before. This year alone, the demand for Business Analysts has increased by 55% – hence the “big tuna” reference.

?Admins have been an ecosystem staple for many years, some people even considering these to be saturating the job market lately. Because of this, many admins are looking for that extra set of skills that will help them stand out in the saturated market. Many were even left scratching their heads when the certification came out. Although they were classified as admins, weren’t they doing the same job as a BA? The new certification encouraged many to even change their job titles as the skills were transferrable.

And with Salesforce getting more customers each year, and companies growing alike, the communication between teams needs to be as streamlined as possible. BA’s are set in place to plan and deploy changes, steering the metaphorical business ship in the right direction.?[Read More]

3. Salesforce Admin Salary Guide 2022/23?

Any job seekers out there looking to change their profession??One of the first things one searches for when looking for a new job are the benefits, workload, and the compensation.

Of course, there are many factors that can affect a Salesforce Admin’s salary – from level of experience, earned Salesforce certifications, location, and the difference between generalists and specialists. But don’t let this deter you from pursuing an Admin’s career, because there are many ways you can improve your Salesforce salary:

• Combine your multi-cloud skills to stand out in the job market.
• Earn more Salesforce certifications to show your dedication to your professional growth.
• Nurture on-demand skills.
• Although easier said than done, working in the right environment can help you reach the next level. Are you a solo admin or a team admin?
• Become self-sufficient. Be able to describe what your issue is using the correct terminology, and explore all possible solutions in your research.?[Read More]

4. Land a Job in Salesforce DevOps

From new websites to brand new DevOps-related roles, the developer route is one to look out for.?A 2021 study even found that 85% of Salesforce teams are already using (or planning to use) DevOps within their org. It’s a hot topic, and one to look out for. Want to stand out? Learn the following:

1. Change sets:?Understand the limitations of change sets to implement robust DevOps processes. After learning the limitations, you will be able to know what can be automated in a CI/CD pipeline.
2. Metadata API, XML, and Deployments:?Metadata API are used to automate Salesforce deployments.
3. Sandboxes and how to organize them: From Developer Pro to Partial Copy, there are four different sandboxes you need to familiarize yourself with to effectively deploy your DevOps journeys.
4. Basics of Bash programming: Creating a Bash terminal is imperative if you want to run scripts.
5. SFDX: Focus on how to work with Salesforce metadata using the SFDX CLI. Learn how to authenticate, retrieve data to your local file system, and deploy metadata from VSCode.
6. Git: Use Git to commit changes to a remote repository and create different development branches.
7. Git Branching Strategies: Effectively leverage Git by learning as much as you can about branches in Git. From there, learn the different strategies for organizing your Git branches.
8. Continuous integration and trunk-based development:?The CI in CI/CD – the software development methodology where developers commit changes as frequently as possible to a Git branch.
9. Continuous delivery: The CD in CI/CD – the ability to get changes of all types into production safely and quickly, in a sustainable way.

Practice setting up an entire CI/CD platform: Solidify your knowledge and practice creating your own CI/CD pipeline using GitHub actions.?[Read More]

5. 10+ Salesforce Dashboard Tips and Tricks

?There are many ways you can use your Salesforce dashboard.?The simple, out-of-the-box feature allows you to visualize one or more Salesforce reports at the same time, and “identify trends, sort out quantities, and measure the impact of their activities.” Here are 10 best practices you can start adopting today:

1. Improve Salesforce Dashboard Adoption:?In many orgs you’re probably the only person looking at your Salesforce dashboard – but it can make it difficult for others to understand or navigate.
2. Interactive Filters:?Drown out the noise and select filters that matter to you.
3. Stacked summaries:?easily summarize data for a quick review and compare.
4. Dynamic Gauge charts:?compare how close you are to a particular numerical or monetary goal.
5. Salesforce dashboard dark mode:?switch between light or dark mode per component so viewers are drawn to the most important data.
6. Build an “Admin Daily” dashboard:?Find out what is happening in your org - do you have enough licenses? Are you getting the best ROI possible out of your Salesforce??[Read More]

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