PITA 009
TOPIC 1:
Ideas on how to introduce topics that are challenging to talk about and you know that people won’t be happy about!
Just joined - you have the benefit of asking (stupid) questions as the new person
Also ask, what are you unsatisfied about?
What outcomes are you going for? How does this tie in? Suggest alternatives
Deliver short term to build trust, then change minds
Use the Start Stop Continue framework
Find a channel to try and post articles, etc about alternate approaches - seed the ideas
Ask, have you ever tried a different way?
Introduce and start working on alternative ways, not yet replacing the “bad” practice in place
TOPIC 2:
Tips for being inclusive when working remotely with introverts
Start with a doc, ask for feedback
Set some empty/alone times for people
Check-ins with people at the start & end of day, but leave space in between
Split into smaller groups with breakout rooms, nominate speakers to represent in larger settings
Validate that people *are* introverts, not just cultural differences
Have a retro about meeting and conversational styles
Accommodate for allowing “thinking” time, give questions/food for thought in advance
Give the introvert a backchannel to let others speak up if needed
TOPIC 3:
Did your formal education help you succeed as a Product Person?
Yes, Psychology & innovation, project management methodologies
Running events, innovation & entrepreneurship, getting the chance to learn on the job
Politics degree, not so much - but epistemology to challenge facts & assumptions, asking good questions, got over a fear of science
Storytelling, from a journalism minor
Comp Sci helps create a better basis for talks with tech teams
UX master’s also gave a good psych background
Workshops & courses can give you great education outside of formal degrees
Fine arts degrees - how to give and take critique
TOPIC 4:
Suggestions for leveling up / upskilling Product teams without a training budget (thanks to Covid-19)
Create an internal conference
Emily Webber’s Building Successful Communities of Practice
Exchange knowledge with other orgs - lunch&learns, etc
For getting up skilled in User Centered design, IDEO and Acumen jointly run free courses- you need like 3-6 people to team up and tackle the subject, takes around 3 hours per week but totally free
Get some clear levels of skillsets/expectations at each level; build career development plans
Scrum Training Series: Free Scrum Master Training from Seattle
Don’t forget the soft skills
Also keep in mind starting bottom up, figuring out what path everyone wants
TOPIC 5:
Best ways to deal with and improve communication with founders/stakeholders who tend to be very overcommunicative and can get distracting and impact everyone’s work
Assign them specific work to make them feel useful
Use a formal process for idea generation (use ProdPad | Product Management Software or similar)
Figure out their goals - motivation mapping