Knowledge shared by our community

Servant Leadership

As a manager, it is important to use the concept of servant leadership to help your team grow and reach their potential. This involves advocating for them, removing their blocks, and helping them build their resumes. It is also important to recognize when team members are not willing to grow and take the necessary steps to ensure the team's success. Ultimately, the manager should use their experience and wisdom to guide their team and foster a trusting relationship.

Delegate successfully as a first time manager of Product Managers

This article outlines the steps taken by an individual to successfully delegate tasks and scale their career. These steps include shifting their mindset to be open to delegation, collaborating with other managers to foster delegation, and influencing teams with empathy. The article also discusses the lessons learned from this process, such as the importance of mentorship and the pride of seeing direct reports succeed.

Inviting Juniors to Learn New Skills

After two decades of software development, the author was looking for a new challenge and found it in team leadership. By taking the initiative to get to know new team members and giving them opportunities to exceed themselves, the author was able to cultivate their talent and eventually pass on their responsibilities as they grew within the company. This experience taught the author the importance of investing in new employees and training their successors.

Specialization vs. Wearing Many Hats

This article discusses the issue of knowledge silos in large organizations and how they can lead to organizational waste. It also outlines the actions taken by a small company to combat this issue. The company works in a highly collaborative environment and encourages its engineers to develop expertise beyond their job descriptions. The article also highlights the importance of exposing people to unfamiliar things and hiring entry-level developers out of boot camps to build them into the person the company needs.

Firing Somebody for the First Time

This article discusses the difficult experience of having to fire an employee who was hired by a different team and transferred to the author's team. After initiating a performance improvement plan and documenting every relevant interaction, the author was able to convince HR that they had a solid case to let the employee go. The article also highlights the importance of having trust with managers, documenting relevant facts, and having conversations with people directly and early when they are struggling.

Working From the Ground Up

A company that was like Craigslist in other countries had to build all of their websites from scratch. They encountered many problems and the project took much longer than expected. They ended up acquiring another company and rewrote the entire business stack. After ten months of hard work, they were able to launch the new website and apps. The lessons learned from this experience were that businesses need to consider the future when building apps or websites, and that the software should grow with the business.

Building a New Team in a Foreign Country

This is a story about the experience of traveling to India to build a team for a Swedish company. There was a significant cultural gap in terms of working style, and the team had to adjust their expectations and onboarding process. Through dedicated mentoring and pairing, the team was able to train their new recruits to think more about test-driven development and software architecture, and give them the opportunity to attain a level of success that is difficult to come by in India.

Overcoming Constraints Through Creative Thinking

When faced with budgetary constraints and aggressive timelines, an Engineering Manager created a Fun Learning Challenge for their team to revamp the customer-facing application UI using AJAX and JQuery. The team was given books, free resources, and a skeleton website to work on for two weeks, with user experience and performance as the main evaluation criteria. The challenge was successful and the team was able to acquire the necessary skills and deliver on the objective much better than anticipated. This experience highlighted the importance of investing in upskilling current teams and finding alternatives for training when budgets get cut.

Building trust as a new Manager

This article discusses the importance of trust in management and how it can be earned differently for different people. It recounts the experience of a manager who had to earn the trust of a team member who had previously reported to a different manager. The manager learned that trust must be earned, and that it is important to set expectations with existing team members to set up the new person for success.

Mergers and Acquisitions: Collaboration tools hold a key to bringing cultures together

This article discusses the challenges of merging two organizations with different tech stacks and different ways of working. A task force was created to objectively evaluate the best collaboration suite of products for the combined organization, taking into account sentiment analysis and cost. The results showed that sentiment and ease of working together carried a premium over cost savings alone, and Slack was chosen as the go-forward collaboration tool. The article emphasizes the importance of being objective and transparent when making decisions, and adapting to the best way of working in the context of the situation when merging organizations.

What it takes to become a great product manager

Product teams have different levels of experience and tenure, and switching the way of working can be uncertain. At BT, product management was broken into four buckets - strategy, leadership, delivery, and performance - and people could move between assignments to gain more experience in areas they lacked. This helped people figure out what they enjoyed and were good at, and showed that managing a team isn't the only path to a successful career. It's important to be honest with ourselves and realize what we like doing and what we are good at.

The art of managing up

In order to restore confidence in a team and product, the author took action to identify the real stakeholders, co-create a vision and strategy, and communicate progress with stakeholders and product leadership. The author also found that recording videos during virtual meetings was a great way to communicate cross-functionally. The key lessons learned were to never let communication become a challenge and to foster collaboration between stakeholders.

Are your product problems that special?

The author, a product manager, discusses the importance of networking and learning from outside perspectives to help with business and customer challenges. He implemented an initiative to bring in a facilitator every month to talk about their experience and ask questions related to any burning topics. He also suggests traditional mentoring and attending seminars or round tables as ways to foster a continuous learning culture in an organisation. He concludes that everyone is on a similar journey, regardless of company size, and that learning from real-life experiences is more beneficial than trying to remember a theory.

Overcoming imposter syndrome through focusing on your strengths

When taking on a new management role, it is normal to feel overwhelmed and like you are not equipped to manage the team. It is important to recognize your strengths and weaknesses and be open with your manager and team about them. Additionally, it can be helpful to listen to podcasts and reach out to a product forum to talk about the emotions associated with imposter syndrome. Finally, having a community outside of your organization can help to combat feelings of isolation.

How to Build Rapport With an Introverted Manager

Working with an introverted boss can be challenging, as it can be difficult to get feedback. To make the most of the situation, it is important to ask questions, get a mentor, become a mentor for juniors, and look back on what you want. Communication is key, and it is important to clarify any misunderstandings and assume the best intentions in people.

The Benefits of Stakeholder Communication

It is important to understand stakeholders in order to ensure the success of a project. To do this, it is necessary to create different communication channels, such as email and team channels, and to post milestones on a document. Additionally, it is important to have designed discussions with stakeholders to understand their needs and create a one-pager before every meeting. It is also important to have deadlines, but to be flexible and allow for possible changes. Finally, having ownership and giving ownership to different stakeholders is key.

Building a Long-Lasting Career Infrastructure Using Ikigai Principles

This article discusses the importance of developing technical skills in order to move forward in a career. It also introduces the Ikigai framework, which is a four-sided Venn diagram that outlines life’s questions and principles. This framework is used to determine career infrastructure and to empower team members. Additionally, the article discusses the importance of performance reviews and regular check-ins to measure team members’ alignment with the company goals. Ultimately, the article emphasizes the importance of understanding how individuals grow on a team and what can be done to support them.

Demystifying the Cult of the Founding Engineer: Talking to Customers and Discovering “Hidden” Talent

This engineer joined an early-stage company and had to balance multiple responsibilities. To get customer feedback, they set up regularly scheduled meetings and created a Whatsapp group. As the company grew, they had to prioritize customers based on criteria such as revenue, integration speed, and API calls. To hire new engineers, they joined tech communities and attended hackathons. The hiring process was unique and included a Trial Day to determine compatibility. The engineer learned that when working with an early-stage company, one person can significantly impact the trajectory and that it is important to have a systematic way to prioritize customers.

How to Work With People Who Are Different Than You

A new team member from a diverse background struggled to make themselves heard in a new team. Drawing from the book "The Five Dysfunctions of a Team" by Patrick Lencioni, the team member organized activities to build trust and get to know each other better. They also had follow-up activities with an external coach and 1:1s with team members. The team member learned that taking ownership and being solution-minded are important qualities, and that even if you are new to a team, you should make sure you are heard.

Surefire Ways to Boost Team Morale

When taking over a team with low morale, the author took several steps to improve the situation. These included conducting an eNPS survey, giving the team autonomy, prioritizing their ideas, and having them interact with senior management. The author also learned that it is important to balance between keeping employees happy and prioritizing business needs, and to take care of team members authentically.

Servant Leadership

As a manager, it is important to use the concept of servant leadership to help your team grow and reach their potential. This involves advocating for them, removing their blocks, and helping them build their resumes. It is also important to recognize when team members are not willing to grow and take the necessary steps to ensure the team's success. Ultimately, the manager should use their experience and wisdom to guide their team and foster a trusting relationship.

Delegate successfully as a first time manager of Product Managers

This article outlines the steps taken by an individual to successfully delegate tasks and scale their career. These steps include shifting their mindset to be open to delegation, collaborating with other managers to foster delegation, and influencing teams with empathy. The article also discusses the lessons learned from this process, such as the importance of mentorship and the pride of seeing direct reports succeed.

Inviting Juniors to Learn New Skills

After two decades of software development, the author was looking for a new challenge and found it in team leadership. By taking the initiative to get to know new team members and giving them opportunities to exceed themselves, the author was able to cultivate their talent and eventually pass on their responsibilities as they grew within the company. This experience taught the author the importance of investing in new employees and training their successors.

Specialization vs. Wearing Many Hats

This article discusses the issue of knowledge silos in large organizations and how they can lead to organizational waste. It also outlines the actions taken by a small company to combat this issue. The company works in a highly collaborative environment and encourages its engineers to develop expertise beyond their job descriptions. The article also highlights the importance of exposing people to unfamiliar things and hiring entry-level developers out of boot camps to build them into the person the company needs.

Firing Somebody for the First Time

This article discusses the difficult experience of having to fire an employee who was hired by a different team and transferred to the author's team. After initiating a performance improvement plan and documenting every relevant interaction, the author was able to convince HR that they had a solid case to let the employee go. The article also highlights the importance of having trust with managers, documenting relevant facts, and having conversations with people directly and early when they are struggling.

Working From the Ground Up

A company that was like Craigslist in other countries had to build all of their websites from scratch. They encountered many problems and the project took much longer than expected. They ended up acquiring another company and rewrote the entire business stack. After ten months of hard work, they were able to launch the new website and apps. The lessons learned from this experience were that businesses need to consider the future when building apps or websites, and that the software should grow with the business.

Building a New Team in a Foreign Country

This is a story about the experience of traveling to India to build a team for a Swedish company. There was a significant cultural gap in terms of working style, and the team had to adjust their expectations and onboarding process. Through dedicated mentoring and pairing, the team was able to train their new recruits to think more about test-driven development and software architecture, and give them the opportunity to attain a level of success that is difficult to come by in India.

Overcoming Constraints Through Creative Thinking

When faced with budgetary constraints and aggressive timelines, an Engineering Manager created a Fun Learning Challenge for their team to revamp the customer-facing application UI using AJAX and JQuery. The team was given books, free resources, and a skeleton website to work on for two weeks, with user experience and performance as the main evaluation criteria. The challenge was successful and the team was able to acquire the necessary skills and deliver on the objective much better than anticipated. This experience highlighted the importance of investing in upskilling current teams and finding alternatives for training when budgets get cut.

Building trust as a new Manager

This article discusses the importance of trust in management and how it can be earned differently for different people. It recounts the experience of a manager who had to earn the trust of a team member who had previously reported to a different manager. The manager learned that trust must be earned, and that it is important to set expectations with existing team members to set up the new person for success.

Mergers and Acquisitions: Collaboration tools hold a key to bringing cultures together

This article discusses the challenges of merging two organizations with different tech stacks and different ways of working. A task force was created to objectively evaluate the best collaboration suite of products for the combined organization, taking into account sentiment analysis and cost. The results showed that sentiment and ease of working together carried a premium over cost savings alone, and Slack was chosen as the go-forward collaboration tool. The article emphasizes the importance of being objective and transparent when making decisions, and adapting to the best way of working in the context of the situation when merging organizations.

What it takes to become a great product manager

Product teams have different levels of experience and tenure, and switching the way of working can be uncertain. At BT, product management was broken into four buckets - strategy, leadership, delivery, and performance - and people could move between assignments to gain more experience in areas they lacked. This helped people figure out what they enjoyed and were good at, and showed that managing a team isn't the only path to a successful career. It's important to be honest with ourselves and realize what we like doing and what we are good at.

The art of managing up

In order to restore confidence in a team and product, the author took action to identify the real stakeholders, co-create a vision and strategy, and communicate progress with stakeholders and product leadership. The author also found that recording videos during virtual meetings was a great way to communicate cross-functionally. The key lessons learned were to never let communication become a challenge and to foster collaboration between stakeholders.

Are your product problems that special?

The author, a product manager, discusses the importance of networking and learning from outside perspectives to help with business and customer challenges. He implemented an initiative to bring in a facilitator every month to talk about their experience and ask questions related to any burning topics. He also suggests traditional mentoring and attending seminars or round tables as ways to foster a continuous learning culture in an organisation. He concludes that everyone is on a similar journey, regardless of company size, and that learning from real-life experiences is more beneficial than trying to remember a theory.

Overcoming imposter syndrome through focusing on your strengths

When taking on a new management role, it is normal to feel overwhelmed and like you are not equipped to manage the team. It is important to recognize your strengths and weaknesses and be open with your manager and team about them. Additionally, it can be helpful to listen to podcasts and reach out to a product forum to talk about the emotions associated with imposter syndrome. Finally, having a community outside of your organization can help to combat feelings of isolation.

How to Build Rapport With an Introverted Manager

Working with an introverted boss can be challenging, as it can be difficult to get feedback. To make the most of the situation, it is important to ask questions, get a mentor, become a mentor for juniors, and look back on what you want. Communication is key, and it is important to clarify any misunderstandings and assume the best intentions in people.

The Benefits of Stakeholder Communication

It is important to understand stakeholders in order to ensure the success of a project. To do this, it is necessary to create different communication channels, such as email and team channels, and to post milestones on a document. Additionally, it is important to have designed discussions with stakeholders to understand their needs and create a one-pager before every meeting. It is also important to have deadlines, but to be flexible and allow for possible changes. Finally, having ownership and giving ownership to different stakeholders is key.

Building a Long-Lasting Career Infrastructure Using Ikigai Principles

This article discusses the importance of developing technical skills in order to move forward in a career. It also introduces the Ikigai framework, which is a four-sided Venn diagram that outlines life’s questions and principles. This framework is used to determine career infrastructure and to empower team members. Additionally, the article discusses the importance of performance reviews and regular check-ins to measure team members’ alignment with the company goals. Ultimately, the article emphasizes the importance of understanding how individuals grow on a team and what can be done to support them.

Demystifying the Cult of the Founding Engineer: Talking to Customers and Discovering “Hidden” Talent

This engineer joined an early-stage company and had to balance multiple responsibilities. To get customer feedback, they set up regularly scheduled meetings and created a Whatsapp group. As the company grew, they had to prioritize customers based on criteria such as revenue, integration speed, and API calls. To hire new engineers, they joined tech communities and attended hackathons. The hiring process was unique and included a Trial Day to determine compatibility. The engineer learned that when working with an early-stage company, one person can significantly impact the trajectory and that it is important to have a systematic way to prioritize customers.

How to Work With People Who Are Different Than You

A new team member from a diverse background struggled to make themselves heard in a new team. Drawing from the book "The Five Dysfunctions of a Team" by Patrick Lencioni, the team member organized activities to build trust and get to know each other better. They also had follow-up activities with an external coach and 1:1s with team members. The team member learned that taking ownership and being solution-minded are important qualities, and that even if you are new to a team, you should make sure you are heard.

Surefire Ways to Boost Team Morale

When taking over a team with low morale, the author took several steps to improve the situation. These included conducting an eNPS survey, giving the team autonomy, prioritizing their ideas, and having them interact with senior management. The author also learned that it is important to balance between keeping employees happy and prioritizing business needs, and to take care of team members authentically.

Servant Leadership

As a manager, it is important to use the concept of servant leadership to help your team grow and reach their potential. This involves advocating for them, removing their blocks, and helping them build their resumes. It is also important to recognize when team members are not willing to grow and take the necessary steps to ensure the team's success. Ultimately, the manager should use their experience and wisdom to guide their team and foster a trusting relationship.

Delegate successfully as a first time manager of Product Managers

This article outlines the steps taken by an individual to successfully delegate tasks and scale their career. These steps include shifting their mindset to be open to delegation, collaborating with other managers to foster delegation, and influencing teams with empathy. The article also discusses the lessons learned from this process, such as the importance of mentorship and the pride of seeing direct reports succeed.

Inviting Juniors to Learn New Skills

After two decades of software development, the author was looking for a new challenge and found it in team leadership. By taking the initiative to get to know new team members and giving them opportunities to exceed themselves, the author was able to cultivate their talent and eventually pass on their responsibilities as they grew within the company. This experience taught the author the importance of investing in new employees and training their successors.

Specialization vs. Wearing Many Hats

This article discusses the issue of knowledge silos in large organizations and how they can lead to organizational waste. It also outlines the actions taken by a small company to combat this issue. The company works in a highly collaborative environment and encourages its engineers to develop expertise beyond their job descriptions. The article also highlights the importance of exposing people to unfamiliar things and hiring entry-level developers out of boot camps to build them into the person the company needs.

Firing Somebody for the First Time

This article discusses the difficult experience of having to fire an employee who was hired by a different team and transferred to the author's team. After initiating a performance improvement plan and documenting every relevant interaction, the author was able to convince HR that they had a solid case to let the employee go. The article also highlights the importance of having trust with managers, documenting relevant facts, and having conversations with people directly and early when they are struggling.

Working From the Ground Up

A company that was like Craigslist in other countries had to build all of their websites from scratch. They encountered many problems and the project took much longer than expected. They ended up acquiring another company and rewrote the entire business stack. After ten months of hard work, they were able to launch the new website and apps. The lessons learned from this experience were that businesses need to consider the future when building apps or websites, and that the software should grow with the business.

Building a New Team in a Foreign Country

This is a story about the experience of traveling to India to build a team for a Swedish company. There was a significant cultural gap in terms of working style, and the team had to adjust their expectations and onboarding process. Through dedicated mentoring and pairing, the team was able to train their new recruits to think more about test-driven development and software architecture, and give them the opportunity to attain a level of success that is difficult to come by in India.

Overcoming Constraints Through Creative Thinking

When faced with budgetary constraints and aggressive timelines, an Engineering Manager created a Fun Learning Challenge for their team to revamp the customer-facing application UI using AJAX and JQuery. The team was given books, free resources, and a skeleton website to work on for two weeks, with user experience and performance as the main evaluation criteria. The challenge was successful and the team was able to acquire the necessary skills and deliver on the objective much better than anticipated. This experience highlighted the importance of investing in upskilling current teams and finding alternatives for training when budgets get cut.

Building trust as a new Manager

This article discusses the importance of trust in management and how it can be earned differently for different people. It recounts the experience of a manager who had to earn the trust of a team member who had previously reported to a different manager. The manager learned that trust must be earned, and that it is important to set expectations with existing team members to set up the new person for success.

Mergers and Acquisitions: Collaboration tools hold a key to bringing cultures together

This article discusses the challenges of merging two organizations with different tech stacks and different ways of working. A task force was created to objectively evaluate the best collaboration suite of products for the combined organization, taking into account sentiment analysis and cost. The results showed that sentiment and ease of working together carried a premium over cost savings alone, and Slack was chosen as the go-forward collaboration tool. The article emphasizes the importance of being objective and transparent when making decisions, and adapting to the best way of working in the context of the situation when merging organizations.

What it takes to become a great product manager

Product teams have different levels of experience and tenure, and switching the way of working can be uncertain. At BT, product management was broken into four buckets - strategy, leadership, delivery, and performance - and people could move between assignments to gain more experience in areas they lacked. This helped people figure out what they enjoyed and were good at, and showed that managing a team isn't the only path to a successful career. It's important to be honest with ourselves and realize what we like doing and what we are good at.

The art of managing up

In order to restore confidence in a team and product, the author took action to identify the real stakeholders, co-create a vision and strategy, and communicate progress with stakeholders and product leadership. The author also found that recording videos during virtual meetings was a great way to communicate cross-functionally. The key lessons learned were to never let communication become a challenge and to foster collaboration between stakeholders.

Are your product problems that special?

The author, a product manager, discusses the importance of networking and learning from outside perspectives to help with business and customer challenges. He implemented an initiative to bring in a facilitator every month to talk about their experience and ask questions related to any burning topics. He also suggests traditional mentoring and attending seminars or round tables as ways to foster a continuous learning culture in an organisation. He concludes that everyone is on a similar journey, regardless of company size, and that learning from real-life experiences is more beneficial than trying to remember a theory.

Overcoming imposter syndrome through focusing on your strengths

When taking on a new management role, it is normal to feel overwhelmed and like you are not equipped to manage the team. It is important to recognize your strengths and weaknesses and be open with your manager and team about them. Additionally, it can be helpful to listen to podcasts and reach out to a product forum to talk about the emotions associated with imposter syndrome. Finally, having a community outside of your organization can help to combat feelings of isolation.

How to Build Rapport With an Introverted Manager

Working with an introverted boss can be challenging, as it can be difficult to get feedback. To make the most of the situation, it is important to ask questions, get a mentor, become a mentor for juniors, and look back on what you want. Communication is key, and it is important to clarify any misunderstandings and assume the best intentions in people.

The Benefits of Stakeholder Communication

It is important to understand stakeholders in order to ensure the success of a project. To do this, it is necessary to create different communication channels, such as email and team channels, and to post milestones on a document. Additionally, it is important to have designed discussions with stakeholders to understand their needs and create a one-pager before every meeting. It is also important to have deadlines, but to be flexible and allow for possible changes. Finally, having ownership and giving ownership to different stakeholders is key.

Building a Long-Lasting Career Infrastructure Using Ikigai Principles

This article discusses the importance of developing technical skills in order to move forward in a career. It also introduces the Ikigai framework, which is a four-sided Venn diagram that outlines life’s questions and principles. This framework is used to determine career infrastructure and to empower team members. Additionally, the article discusses the importance of performance reviews and regular check-ins to measure team members’ alignment with the company goals. Ultimately, the article emphasizes the importance of understanding how individuals grow on a team and what can be done to support them.

Demystifying the Cult of the Founding Engineer: Talking to Customers and Discovering “Hidden” Talent

This engineer joined an early-stage company and had to balance multiple responsibilities. To get customer feedback, they set up regularly scheduled meetings and created a Whatsapp group. As the company grew, they had to prioritize customers based on criteria such as revenue, integration speed, and API calls. To hire new engineers, they joined tech communities and attended hackathons. The hiring process was unique and included a Trial Day to determine compatibility. The engineer learned that when working with an early-stage company, one person can significantly impact the trajectory and that it is important to have a systematic way to prioritize customers.

How to Work With People Who Are Different Than You

A new team member from a diverse background struggled to make themselves heard in a new team. Drawing from the book "The Five Dysfunctions of a Team" by Patrick Lencioni, the team member organized activities to build trust and get to know each other better. They also had follow-up activities with an external coach and 1:1s with team members. The team member learned that taking ownership and being solution-minded are important qualities, and that even if you are new to a team, you should make sure you are heard.

Surefire Ways to Boost Team Morale

When taking over a team with low morale, the author took several steps to improve the situation. These included conducting an eNPS survey, giving the team autonomy, prioritizing their ideas, and having them interact with senior management. The author also learned that it is important to balance between keeping employees happy and prioritizing business needs, and to take care of team members authentically.

Servant Leadership

As a manager, it is important to use the concept of servant leadership to help your team grow and reach their potential. This involves advocating for them, removing their blocks, and helping them build their resumes. It is also important to recognize when team members are not willing to grow and take the necessary steps to ensure the team's success. Ultimately, the manager should use their experience and wisdom to guide their team and foster a trusting relationship.

Delegate successfully as a first time manager of Product Managers

This article outlines the steps taken by an individual to successfully delegate tasks and scale their career. These steps include shifting their mindset to be open to delegation, collaborating with other managers to foster delegation, and influencing teams with empathy. The article also discusses the lessons learned from this process, such as the importance of mentorship and the pride of seeing direct reports succeed.

Inviting Juniors to Learn New Skills

After two decades of software development, the author was looking for a new challenge and found it in team leadership. By taking the initiative to get to know new team members and giving them opportunities to exceed themselves, the author was able to cultivate their talent and eventually pass on their responsibilities as they grew within the company. This experience taught the author the importance of investing in new employees and training their successors.

Specialization vs. Wearing Many Hats

This article discusses the issue of knowledge silos in large organizations and how they can lead to organizational waste. It also outlines the actions taken by a small company to combat this issue. The company works in a highly collaborative environment and encourages its engineers to develop expertise beyond their job descriptions. The article also highlights the importance of exposing people to unfamiliar things and hiring entry-level developers out of boot camps to build them into the person the company needs.

Firing Somebody for the First Time

This article discusses the difficult experience of having to fire an employee who was hired by a different team and transferred to the author's team. After initiating a performance improvement plan and documenting every relevant interaction, the author was able to convince HR that they had a solid case to let the employee go. The article also highlights the importance of having trust with managers, documenting relevant facts, and having conversations with people directly and early when they are struggling.

Working From the Ground Up

A company that was like Craigslist in other countries had to build all of their websites from scratch. They encountered many problems and the project took much longer than expected. They ended up acquiring another company and rewrote the entire business stack. After ten months of hard work, they were able to launch the new website and apps. The lessons learned from this experience were that businesses need to consider the future when building apps or websites, and that the software should grow with the business.

Building a New Team in a Foreign Country

This is a story about the experience of traveling to India to build a team for a Swedish company. There was a significant cultural gap in terms of working style, and the team had to adjust their expectations and onboarding process. Through dedicated mentoring and pairing, the team was able to train their new recruits to think more about test-driven development and software architecture, and give them the opportunity to attain a level of success that is difficult to come by in India.

Overcoming Constraints Through Creative Thinking

When faced with budgetary constraints and aggressive timelines, an Engineering Manager created a Fun Learning Challenge for their team to revamp the customer-facing application UI using AJAX and JQuery. The team was given books, free resources, and a skeleton website to work on for two weeks, with user experience and performance as the main evaluation criteria. The challenge was successful and the team was able to acquire the necessary skills and deliver on the objective much better than anticipated. This experience highlighted the importance of investing in upskilling current teams and finding alternatives for training when budgets get cut.

Building trust as a new Manager

This article discusses the importance of trust in management and how it can be earned differently for different people. It recounts the experience of a manager who had to earn the trust of a team member who had previously reported to a different manager. The manager learned that trust must be earned, and that it is important to set expectations with existing team members to set up the new person for success.

Mergers and Acquisitions: Collaboration tools hold a key to bringing cultures together

This article discusses the challenges of merging two organizations with different tech stacks and different ways of working. A task force was created to objectively evaluate the best collaboration suite of products for the combined organization, taking into account sentiment analysis and cost. The results showed that sentiment and ease of working together carried a premium over cost savings alone, and Slack was chosen as the go-forward collaboration tool. The article emphasizes the importance of being objective and transparent when making decisions, and adapting to the best way of working in the context of the situation when merging organizations.

What it takes to become a great product manager

Product teams have different levels of experience and tenure, and switching the way of working can be uncertain. At BT, product management was broken into four buckets - strategy, leadership, delivery, and performance - and people could move between assignments to gain more experience in areas they lacked. This helped people figure out what they enjoyed and were good at, and showed that managing a team isn't the only path to a successful career. It's important to be honest with ourselves and realize what we like doing and what we are good at.

The art of managing up

In order to restore confidence in a team and product, the author took action to identify the real stakeholders, co-create a vision and strategy, and communicate progress with stakeholders and product leadership. The author also found that recording videos during virtual meetings was a great way to communicate cross-functionally. The key lessons learned were to never let communication become a challenge and to foster collaboration between stakeholders.

Are your product problems that special?

The author, a product manager, discusses the importance of networking and learning from outside perspectives to help with business and customer challenges. He implemented an initiative to bring in a facilitator every month to talk about their experience and ask questions related to any burning topics. He also suggests traditional mentoring and attending seminars or round tables as ways to foster a continuous learning culture in an organisation. He concludes that everyone is on a similar journey, regardless of company size, and that learning from real-life experiences is more beneficial than trying to remember a theory.

Overcoming imposter syndrome through focusing on your strengths

When taking on a new management role, it is normal to feel overwhelmed and like you are not equipped to manage the team. It is important to recognize your strengths and weaknesses and be open with your manager and team about them. Additionally, it can be helpful to listen to podcasts and reach out to a product forum to talk about the emotions associated with imposter syndrome. Finally, having a community outside of your organization can help to combat feelings of isolation.

How to Build Rapport With an Introverted Manager

Working with an introverted boss can be challenging, as it can be difficult to get feedback. To make the most of the situation, it is important to ask questions, get a mentor, become a mentor for juniors, and look back on what you want. Communication is key, and it is important to clarify any misunderstandings and assume the best intentions in people.

The Benefits of Stakeholder Communication

It is important to understand stakeholders in order to ensure the success of a project. To do this, it is necessary to create different communication channels, such as email and team channels, and to post milestones on a document. Additionally, it is important to have designed discussions with stakeholders to understand their needs and create a one-pager before every meeting. It is also important to have deadlines, but to be flexible and allow for possible changes. Finally, having ownership and giving ownership to different stakeholders is key.

Building a Long-Lasting Career Infrastructure Using Ikigai Principles

This article discusses the importance of developing technical skills in order to move forward in a career. It also introduces the Ikigai framework, which is a four-sided Venn diagram that outlines life’s questions and principles. This framework is used to determine career infrastructure and to empower team members. Additionally, the article discusses the importance of performance reviews and regular check-ins to measure team members’ alignment with the company goals. Ultimately, the article emphasizes the importance of understanding how individuals grow on a team and what can be done to support them.

Demystifying the Cult of the Founding Engineer: Talking to Customers and Discovering “Hidden” Talent

This engineer joined an early-stage company and had to balance multiple responsibilities. To get customer feedback, they set up regularly scheduled meetings and created a Whatsapp group. As the company grew, they had to prioritize customers based on criteria such as revenue, integration speed, and API calls. To hire new engineers, they joined tech communities and attended hackathons. The hiring process was unique and included a Trial Day to determine compatibility. The engineer learned that when working with an early-stage company, one person can significantly impact the trajectory and that it is important to have a systematic way to prioritize customers.

How to Work With People Who Are Different Than You

A new team member from a diverse background struggled to make themselves heard in a new team. Drawing from the book "The Five Dysfunctions of a Team" by Patrick Lencioni, the team member organized activities to build trust and get to know each other better. They also had follow-up activities with an external coach and 1:1s with team members. The team member learned that taking ownership and being solution-minded are important qualities, and that even if you are new to a team, you should make sure you are heard.

Surefire Ways to Boost Team Morale

When taking over a team with low morale, the author took several steps to improve the situation. These included conducting an eNPS survey, giving the team autonomy, prioritizing their ideas, and having them interact with senior management. The author also learned that it is important to balance between keeping employees happy and prioritizing business needs, and to take care of team members authentically.

Servant Leadership

As a manager, it is important to use the concept of servant leadership to help your team grow and reach their potential. This involves advocating for them, removing their blocks, and helping them build their resumes. It is also important to recognize when team members are not willing to grow and take the necessary steps to ensure the team's success. Ultimately, the manager should use their experience and wisdom to guide their team and foster a trusting relationship.

Delegate successfully as a first time manager of Product Managers

This article outlines the steps taken by an individual to successfully delegate tasks and scale their career. These steps include shifting their mindset to be open to delegation, collaborating with other managers to foster delegation, and influencing teams with empathy. The article also discusses the lessons learned from this process, such as the importance of mentorship and the pride of seeing direct reports succeed.

Inviting Juniors to Learn New Skills

After two decades of software development, the author was looking for a new challenge and found it in team leadership. By taking the initiative to get to know new team members and giving them opportunities to exceed themselves, the author was able to cultivate their talent and eventually pass on their responsibilities as they grew within the company. This experience taught the author the importance of investing in new employees and training their successors.

Specialization vs. Wearing Many Hats

This article discusses the issue of knowledge silos in large organizations and how they can lead to organizational waste. It also outlines the actions taken by a small company to combat this issue. The company works in a highly collaborative environment and encourages its engineers to develop expertise beyond their job descriptions. The article also highlights the importance of exposing people to unfamiliar things and hiring entry-level developers out of boot camps to build them into the person the company needs.

Firing Somebody for the First Time

This article discusses the difficult experience of having to fire an employee who was hired by a different team and transferred to the author's team. After initiating a performance improvement plan and documenting every relevant interaction, the author was able to convince HR that they had a solid case to let the employee go. The article also highlights the importance of having trust with managers, documenting relevant facts, and having conversations with people directly and early when they are struggling.

Working From the Ground Up

A company that was like Craigslist in other countries had to build all of their websites from scratch. They encountered many problems and the project took much longer than expected. They ended up acquiring another company and rewrote the entire business stack. After ten months of hard work, they were able to launch the new website and apps. The lessons learned from this experience were that businesses need to consider the future when building apps or websites, and that the software should grow with the business.

Building a New Team in a Foreign Country

This is a story about the experience of traveling to India to build a team for a Swedish company. There was a significant cultural gap in terms of working style, and the team had to adjust their expectations and onboarding process. Through dedicated mentoring and pairing, the team was able to train their new recruits to think more about test-driven development and software architecture, and give them the opportunity to attain a level of success that is difficult to come by in India.

Overcoming Constraints Through Creative Thinking

When faced with budgetary constraints and aggressive timelines, an Engineering Manager created a Fun Learning Challenge for their team to revamp the customer-facing application UI using AJAX and JQuery. The team was given books, free resources, and a skeleton website to work on for two weeks, with user experience and performance as the main evaluation criteria. The challenge was successful and the team was able to acquire the necessary skills and deliver on the objective much better than anticipated. This experience highlighted the importance of investing in upskilling current teams and finding alternatives for training when budgets get cut.

Building trust as a new Manager

This article discusses the importance of trust in management and how it can be earned differently for different people. It recounts the experience of a manager who had to earn the trust of a team member who had previously reported to a different manager. The manager learned that trust must be earned, and that it is important to set expectations with existing team members to set up the new person for success.

Mergers and Acquisitions: Collaboration tools hold a key to bringing cultures together

This article discusses the challenges of merging two organizations with different tech stacks and different ways of working. A task force was created to objectively evaluate the best collaboration suite of products for the combined organization, taking into account sentiment analysis and cost. The results showed that sentiment and ease of working together carried a premium over cost savings alone, and Slack was chosen as the go-forward collaboration tool. The article emphasizes the importance of being objective and transparent when making decisions, and adapting to the best way of working in the context of the situation when merging organizations.

What it takes to become a great product manager

Product teams have different levels of experience and tenure, and switching the way of working can be uncertain. At BT, product management was broken into four buckets - strategy, leadership, delivery, and performance - and people could move between assignments to gain more experience in areas they lacked. This helped people figure out what they enjoyed and were good at, and showed that managing a team isn't the only path to a successful career. It's important to be honest with ourselves and realize what we like doing and what we are good at.

The art of managing up

In order to restore confidence in a team and product, the author took action to identify the real stakeholders, co-create a vision and strategy, and communicate progress with stakeholders and product leadership. The author also found that recording videos during virtual meetings was a great way to communicate cross-functionally. The key lessons learned were to never let communication become a challenge and to foster collaboration between stakeholders.

Are your product problems that special?

The author, a product manager, discusses the importance of networking and learning from outside perspectives to help with business and customer challenges. He implemented an initiative to bring in a facilitator every month to talk about their experience and ask questions related to any burning topics. He also suggests traditional mentoring and attending seminars or round tables as ways to foster a continuous learning culture in an organisation. He concludes that everyone is on a similar journey, regardless of company size, and that learning from real-life experiences is more beneficial than trying to remember a theory.

Overcoming imposter syndrome through focusing on your strengths

When taking on a new management role, it is normal to feel overwhelmed and like you are not equipped to manage the team. It is important to recognize your strengths and weaknesses and be open with your manager and team about them. Additionally, it can be helpful to listen to podcasts and reach out to a product forum to talk about the emotions associated with imposter syndrome. Finally, having a community outside of your organization can help to combat feelings of isolation.

How to Build Rapport With an Introverted Manager

Working with an introverted boss can be challenging, as it can be difficult to get feedback. To make the most of the situation, it is important to ask questions, get a mentor, become a mentor for juniors, and look back on what you want. Communication is key, and it is important to clarify any misunderstandings and assume the best intentions in people.

The Benefits of Stakeholder Communication

It is important to understand stakeholders in order to ensure the success of a project. To do this, it is necessary to create different communication channels, such as email and team channels, and to post milestones on a document. Additionally, it is important to have designed discussions with stakeholders to understand their needs and create a one-pager before every meeting. It is also important to have deadlines, but to be flexible and allow for possible changes. Finally, having ownership and giving ownership to different stakeholders is key.

Building a Long-Lasting Career Infrastructure Using Ikigai Principles

This article discusses the importance of developing technical skills in order to move forward in a career. It also introduces the Ikigai framework, which is a four-sided Venn diagram that outlines life’s questions and principles. This framework is used to determine career infrastructure and to empower team members. Additionally, the article discusses the importance of performance reviews and regular check-ins to measure team members’ alignment with the company goals. Ultimately, the article emphasizes the importance of understanding how individuals grow on a team and what can be done to support them.

Demystifying the Cult of the Founding Engineer: Talking to Customers and Discovering “Hidden” Talent

This engineer joined an early-stage company and had to balance multiple responsibilities. To get customer feedback, they set up regularly scheduled meetings and created a Whatsapp group. As the company grew, they had to prioritize customers based on criteria such as revenue, integration speed, and API calls. To hire new engineers, they joined tech communities and attended hackathons. The hiring process was unique and included a Trial Day to determine compatibility. The engineer learned that when working with an early-stage company, one person can significantly impact the trajectory and that it is important to have a systematic way to prioritize customers.

How to Work With People Who Are Different Than You

A new team member from a diverse background struggled to make themselves heard in a new team. Drawing from the book "The Five Dysfunctions of a Team" by Patrick Lencioni, the team member organized activities to build trust and get to know each other better. They also had follow-up activities with an external coach and 1:1s with team members. The team member learned that taking ownership and being solution-minded are important qualities, and that even if you are new to a team, you should make sure you are heard.

Surefire Ways to Boost Team Morale

When taking over a team with low morale, the author took several steps to improve the situation. These included conducting an eNPS survey, giving the team autonomy, prioritizing their ideas, and having them interact with senior management. The author also learned that it is important to balance between keeping employees happy and prioritizing business needs, and to take care of team members authentically.

Servant Leadership

As a manager, it is important to use the concept of servant leadership to help your team grow and reach their potential. This involves advocating for them, removing their blocks, and helping them build their resumes. It is also important to recognize when team members are not willing to grow and take the necessary steps to ensure the team's success. Ultimately, the manager should use their experience and wisdom to guide their team and foster a trusting relationship.

Delegate successfully as a first time manager of Product Managers

This article outlines the steps taken by an individual to successfully delegate tasks and scale their career. These steps include shifting their mindset to be open to delegation, collaborating with other managers to foster delegation, and influencing teams with empathy. The article also discusses the lessons learned from this process, such as the importance of mentorship and the pride of seeing direct reports succeed.

Inviting Juniors to Learn New Skills

After two decades of software development, the author was looking for a new challenge and found it in team leadership. By taking the initiative to get to know new team members and giving them opportunities to exceed themselves, the author was able to cultivate their talent and eventually pass on their responsibilities as they grew within the company. This experience taught the author the importance of investing in new employees and training their successors.

Specialization vs. Wearing Many Hats

This article discusses the issue of knowledge silos in large organizations and how they can lead to organizational waste. It also outlines the actions taken by a small company to combat this issue. The company works in a highly collaborative environment and encourages its engineers to develop expertise beyond their job descriptions. The article also highlights the importance of exposing people to unfamiliar things and hiring entry-level developers out of boot camps to build them into the person the company needs.

Firing Somebody for the First Time

This article discusses the difficult experience of having to fire an employee who was hired by a different team and transferred to the author's team. After initiating a performance improvement plan and documenting every relevant interaction, the author was able to convince HR that they had a solid case to let the employee go. The article also highlights the importance of having trust with managers, documenting relevant facts, and having conversations with people directly and early when they are struggling.

Working From the Ground Up

A company that was like Craigslist in other countries had to build all of their websites from scratch. They encountered many problems and the project took much longer than expected. They ended up acquiring another company and rewrote the entire business stack. After ten months of hard work, they were able to launch the new website and apps. The lessons learned from this experience were that businesses need to consider the future when building apps or websites, and that the software should grow with the business.

Building a New Team in a Foreign Country

This is a story about the experience of traveling to India to build a team for a Swedish company. There was a significant cultural gap in terms of working style, and the team had to adjust their expectations and onboarding process. Through dedicated mentoring and pairing, the team was able to train their new recruits to think more about test-driven development and software architecture, and give them the opportunity to attain a level of success that is difficult to come by in India.

Overcoming Constraints Through Creative Thinking

When faced with budgetary constraints and aggressive timelines, an Engineering Manager created a Fun Learning Challenge for their team to revamp the customer-facing application UI using AJAX and JQuery. The team was given books, free resources, and a skeleton website to work on for two weeks, with user experience and performance as the main evaluation criteria. The challenge was successful and the team was able to acquire the necessary skills and deliver on the objective much better than anticipated. This experience highlighted the importance of investing in upskilling current teams and finding alternatives for training when budgets get cut.

Building trust as a new Manager

This article discusses the importance of trust in management and how it can be earned differently for different people. It recounts the experience of a manager who had to earn the trust of a team member who had previously reported to a different manager. The manager learned that trust must be earned, and that it is important to set expectations with existing team members to set up the new person for success.

Mergers and Acquisitions: Collaboration tools hold a key to bringing cultures together

This article discusses the challenges of merging two organizations with different tech stacks and different ways of working. A task force was created to objectively evaluate the best collaboration suite of products for the combined organization, taking into account sentiment analysis and cost. The results showed that sentiment and ease of working together carried a premium over cost savings alone, and Slack was chosen as the go-forward collaboration tool. The article emphasizes the importance of being objective and transparent when making decisions, and adapting to the best way of working in the context of the situation when merging organizations.

What it takes to become a great product manager

Product teams have different levels of experience and tenure, and switching the way of working can be uncertain. At BT, product management was broken into four buckets - strategy, leadership, delivery, and performance - and people could move between assignments to gain more experience in areas they lacked. This helped people figure out what they enjoyed and were good at, and showed that managing a team isn't the only path to a successful career. It's important to be honest with ourselves and realize what we like doing and what we are good at.

The art of managing up

In order to restore confidence in a team and product, the author took action to identify the real stakeholders, co-create a vision and strategy, and communicate progress with stakeholders and product leadership. The author also found that recording videos during virtual meetings was a great way to communicate cross-functionally. The key lessons learned were to never let communication become a challenge and to foster collaboration between stakeholders.

Are your product problems that special?

The author, a product manager, discusses the importance of networking and learning from outside perspectives to help with business and customer challenges. He implemented an initiative to bring in a facilitator every month to talk about their experience and ask questions related to any burning topics. He also suggests traditional mentoring and attending seminars or round tables as ways to foster a continuous learning culture in an organisation. He concludes that everyone is on a similar journey, regardless of company size, and that learning from real-life experiences is more beneficial than trying to remember a theory.

Overcoming imposter syndrome through focusing on your strengths

When taking on a new management role, it is normal to feel overwhelmed and like you are not equipped to manage the team. It is important to recognize your strengths and weaknesses and be open with your manager and team about them. Additionally, it can be helpful to listen to podcasts and reach out to a product forum to talk about the emotions associated with imposter syndrome. Finally, having a community outside of your organization can help to combat feelings of isolation.

How to Build Rapport With an Introverted Manager

Working with an introverted boss can be challenging, as it can be difficult to get feedback. To make the most of the situation, it is important to ask questions, get a mentor, become a mentor for juniors, and look back on what you want. Communication is key, and it is important to clarify any misunderstandings and assume the best intentions in people.

The Benefits of Stakeholder Communication

It is important to understand stakeholders in order to ensure the success of a project. To do this, it is necessary to create different communication channels, such as email and team channels, and to post milestones on a document. Additionally, it is important to have designed discussions with stakeholders to understand their needs and create a one-pager before every meeting. It is also important to have deadlines, but to be flexible and allow for possible changes. Finally, having ownership and giving ownership to different stakeholders is key.

Building a Long-Lasting Career Infrastructure Using Ikigai Principles

This article discusses the importance of developing technical skills in order to move forward in a career. It also introduces the Ikigai framework, which is a four-sided Venn diagram that outlines life’s questions and principles. This framework is used to determine career infrastructure and to empower team members. Additionally, the article discusses the importance of performance reviews and regular check-ins to measure team members’ alignment with the company goals. Ultimately, the article emphasizes the importance of understanding how individuals grow on a team and what can be done to support them.

Demystifying the Cult of the Founding Engineer: Talking to Customers and Discovering “Hidden” Talent

This engineer joined an early-stage company and had to balance multiple responsibilities. To get customer feedback, they set up regularly scheduled meetings and created a Whatsapp group. As the company grew, they had to prioritize customers based on criteria such as revenue, integration speed, and API calls. To hire new engineers, they joined tech communities and attended hackathons. The hiring process was unique and included a Trial Day to determine compatibility. The engineer learned that when working with an early-stage company, one person can significantly impact the trajectory and that it is important to have a systematic way to prioritize customers.

How to Work With People Who Are Different Than You

A new team member from a diverse background struggled to make themselves heard in a new team. Drawing from the book "The Five Dysfunctions of a Team" by Patrick Lencioni, the team member organized activities to build trust and get to know each other better. They also had follow-up activities with an external coach and 1:1s with team members. The team member learned that taking ownership and being solution-minded are important qualities, and that even if you are new to a team, you should make sure you are heard.

Surefire Ways to Boost Team Morale

When taking over a team with low morale, the author took several steps to improve the situation. These included conducting an eNPS survey, giving the team autonomy, prioritizing their ideas, and having them interact with senior management. The author also learned that it is important to balance between keeping employees happy and prioritizing business needs, and to take care of team members authentically.