Companies Attend GHC For Reasons Beyond Recruitment

Why do companies attend Grace Hopper?

Grace Hopper offers employers access to connect with over 25K women in technology. Aside from the obvious reason for companies to be present at GHC — recruitment — I was curious what else drives their attendance.

I walked through the career fair and asked a handful of companies what their reason was, and here’s what they said…

“[We] want to pay it forward, and mentor students.”

“Last year I submitted my resume to the resume database, and now I am here with the company that hired me.”
-Chat Pham (pictured below, third from left)

“We are in a landscape of emerging technologies. It’s amazing how motivating it is to see other women so passionate about technology and personal growth.”

– Rona Taylor and Sonia Batra (pictured below, left to right)

“We want to bring light to unconscious biases.”

-Ryan Mosher (not pictured)

I act on inclusion_GHC2019

“The most impactful solutions come from teams with the highest diversity. At Intuit, we believe in supporting all our women in tech, bringing the best ideas to our products in helping power prosperity for our customers.”

-Aliza Carpio (pictured below, right)

“We are excited to tell people that we already have a good cross-section of minority groups.”

– Nara Kasbagern (pictured below, first on left)

“We want to balance the scales as we grow.”

“I am one of two women in software development on a small team.”

– Sidney English (pictured below, farthest right)

Co-working spaces: the new-age office that best cultivates innovation

Make your workspace work for you — create a space that encourages innovation

We spend ~160 hours working in a given month. For the majority of us, this time is spent in an office meant to foster creativity, communication, and ultimately a better business. Technology has revolutionized many pieces of our daily lives and has too impacted the concept of an office. As needs of employees change, employers must shift the manner in which they best support their employees to produce their best results.

Personally, I find that my best work is accomplished when it also aligns with my passions; work that fulfills a personal purpose cultivates personal happiness and joy. In a Ted talk I recently watched, I was drawn in by the idea that the physical space in which we work plays a significant role in the joy we have. Joy, among other things, impacts the work produced and the level of innovative thinking possible.

Inspiration and motivation come from within, but also come from our surroundings.

– Ingrid Fetell Lee states in her Ted talk, “Where joy hides.”

So how exactly can companies encourage innovation while being flexible with their employees needs?

Create a spin-off of a co-working space

Co-working spaces are no longer a space for start-ups and entrepreneurs. As work continues to be digital-focused, employers are shifting the concept of what it means to ‘come to work.’ For many people, it’s important to leave the house to get into the right mindset of working effectively (away from noise or other distractions). For others, going into work is effective in accomplishing this need, however their environment may not be as conducive to inspire innovative thinking as it could be.

Regardless of the space where work is being accomplished, ways to stimulate productivity and creativity remains consistent.

1. Height creates a sense of ‘no limits,’ and creative problem solving

Like your business potential, you want your employees to feel there are no limitations in what they can accomplish. The concept of limitations is perceived by our physical space.

“People perform better at tasks requiring creative problem-solving skills under ceilings 10 feet or higher compared to eight-foot ceilings” (details). Glass ceilings and other boundaries that project a feeling of being boxed in, should not be existent. Things should feel taller than they are. For example, when decorating, choose a tall bookshelf versus a short bookshelf. Alternatively, select decor with vertical stripes.

Our mental space stands in direct proportion to our perception of physical space.
– Medium

2. (Visual) Distance supports creative thinking

Construal level theory (CLT) is a mental model in which the interpretation of distance is affected by interpretation and contextual understanding. According to CLT, the observation or perception of things being far away stimulates abstract thinking.

The greater our perception of something being in the distance, the more inclined we will be to idea formation; early stage ideation (brainstorming, sketching, drafts) relies on abstract, big-picture thinking.

For example, if you are planning where your business will be in one year, versus 5 years, you are more likely to think of more impactful, creative, opportunities and goals when discussing a 5-year plan versus a 1-year plan; 5 years is farther in the distance so thoughts will be more focused on ‘what could we do,’ versus ‘how do we do it.’

Closeness in proximity prompts detail-oriented thinking, whereas distance prompts open-minded, unbiased, free thinking.

3. Neutral colors create a sense of relaxation

Color choice plays a vital role in giving a feeling of comfort and relaxation. Cooler colors (blue, green) are more soother than warm colors (red, orange).

By decorating or painting walls with warm colors, your initial level of energy will spike, however it will also quickly fade due to being over stimulated. Soothing, earth colors, encourage relaxation and make people feel as though there is more space, opposite of warm colors which make people feel closed in. Exploratory thinking will increase in spaces with more neutral tones, so choose your colors wisely.

4. Let there be l i g h t

“People who work in windowless spaces get ~46 minutes less sleep on work nights, experience lower-quality rest, and are less physically active during the workday than colleagues who are afforded adequate exposure. Additionally, medical scientists report higher levels of depression, anxiety, delirium, and even psychosis among patients lacking access to outside views in healthcare facilities” (details).

Dim-lit, natural space encourages exploratory thinking, whereas bright spaces encourage rational, logical thinking.

Finding a balance between the two is challenging, but with natural lighting from windows and dim to medium-lit lights will provide balanced thinking required for creative, efficient work.

5. Smell the plants

Awaken your brain through smell. Scents like eucalyptus and citrus help people feel alert, and lavender helps people remain calm. My personal favorite place to work is somewhere where I feel as if I am outside surrounded by nature. A balance of earthy colors and greenery from plants, combined with fresh scents from things found outside like flowers makes me feel at-ease.

6. Make the coffee and food spots your hang-out spot

Whether coffee, tea, or water, make the space people frequent a place inspiring to communication and collaboration. Food and drink are a social activity, so why not encourage communication in the office by making the space where food and drink are consumed are also a place people enjoy – feel relaxed, creative, and open-minded.

Food and drink feed your body, so why not feed your brain at the same time?

7. Inspire through storytelling

Remind people why they do what they do. Whether through written phrases, photos, or paintings, reminding employees of the goal they are working toward inspires their work. Whether a start-up focusing on growth, an advanced company encouraging innovation, or a co-working space explaining the value they provide to members, storytelling is an extremely effective tool for encouraging big-picture thinking.

Being creative and innovative is a lot about surroundings — feelings of freedom, relaxation, and time foster limitless, innovative, thinking. As you build or design an office for your team — remember that what works best for them, will work best for your company’s success.

Why diversity matters

Learn about the importance of diversity in the workplace from a young female in tech (me).

Without challenge, there is no change, and without change there is no long-term success.

To be successful, change through innovative thinking and decision making is inevitable. One way to stay innovative is by having a diverse team.

I have experienced being part of diverse, and not-so-diverse, teams throughout my educational and career development, and have seen the positive and negative repercussions on business failure or success resulting from the level of diversity within a team.

This post defines diversity, outlines the importance and challenges of diversity, as well as documents ways to create a thriving, diverse team.

What is diversity?

Diversity comes in all shapes and sizes; diversity can be found by educational background, sexual orientation, income level, religion opinions, values, geographical location, communication style, language, and much more.

In May, I attended the PODIM conference in Slovenia and spoke on a panel called, “Winning Team, Winning Company” which focused on the importance of diversity in the workplace.

When we kicked-off the discussion with a panel solely of women (a man did join the discussion later; there were supposed to be two men on the panel), we had to address the elephant in the room – how can a diversity panel only have women? It was simple,

What makes us different, is not always visible to the naked eye.

Why does having a diverse team matter?

In teams without diversity, you’ll find little differentiation in opinion or thought. I’m sure you’ve heard the saying, “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.”

This quote relates to teams which have had little conflict in decision-making, which is why there is a tendency to hire those with similar opinion and thought; similar opinions simplify discussion around decisions.

That said, just because decisions will be simplified, this does not necessarily mean they will be the right decisions. One of the greatest challenges that goes hand-in-hand with having a diverse team, is conflict.

My experience with diversity

To level set, I am a college-educated female and currently work at one of the top technology companies in the world. The companies and people in the following stories will remain anonymous; these stories are not about where or whom with these situations arose, but rather these stories help illustrate a few challenges of diversity.

I remember meeting two people working at a small company. After sitting down and asking a couple questions about their business, the man paused as if something was wrong and said,

“I’m sorry, when I heard [we were meeting], I was expecting to meet an older, white, man.”

There was a bit of an awkward pause – I truthfully didn’t know whether he was joking or not – so I laughed off the comment, and continued to ask questions about the business. As we continued our discussion, I continued to question whether he was indeed joking or not; when I provided business recommendations, even after sharing my educational and professional background to earn trust, there was a lot of push back.

A few days later when we met in person among a group of men and women, this person sought advice about his business problem from an old white man whom provided the same advice as I had days prior which he then agreed to.

Take-away 1: Cultural differences are not an excuse for cultural norms.

I shared my experience with a group of friends, and the following day after sharing my story, a friend pulled me aside and said,

“I’m so happy you shared that story. I see and hear things like this all the time, that I didn’t realize I had gotten so used to it. I stayed up all night thinking about it, and spoke with my mom about it the next day. I don’t like that I see this, and don’t say something – knowing how you felt, is not something we should accept as okay.”

In another situation, I was working with two men and a woman to meet a male and female business partner. After about 10 minutes into the conversation, the female business partner began speaking about the business and one of the men I was working with cut her off mid-sentence and began speaking over her, stating, “[we shouldn’t do that, we should do this].” The woman’s face looked white as a ghost when he cut her off and for the remainder of the three-hour meeting she did not speak; the men spoke with the men.

This feeling of sexism was further augmented when – throughout the meeting – I noticed the male with which we were meeting made eye contact only when speaking with the other males at the table. While this example is of a small behavioral trait that can easily be brushed off, I felt it is important to note; there are cultural differences and some need to be understood in a manner of difference in cultural norms, but there is also a level of disrespect which cannot and should not be considered acceptable as a cultural norm and brushed off as if it is acceptable behavior.

Without respect for each other and the differences among us, we cannot be successful.

Take-away 2: Sexism can occur between the same sex, as well as the opposite sex

During a meeting, when seeking to understand business objectives and clarification, a female told me that “[this was none of my business and to just do the work].” I felt immediately disrespected as I felt I was inquiring about a business decision. I was further criticized by my comments and received feedback it was not my place to ask questions — and it was my place to do the work. I felt completely disrespected and questioned why I was hired at a company where I was not allowed to bring my knowledge to a team to help make better decisions. A very similar situation occurred at a different company with a male counterpart.

Always seek [and work] to get your team on the page with your strategy and strategic goals, otherwise they will not respect you as a peer or as a leader. Effective leaders understand each person’s strengths, weaknesses, and differences and encourages and supports conflicting points-of-view.

While creating a thriving, diverse team likely seems – understandably – impossible and challenging, it is not.

5 Ways to create and support a thriving, diverse team

1. Be open minded; listen
As expected, when people come together with differing opinions, there is conflict. While you may be stubborn in your ideas, it’s important to make sure others feel respected and heard.

Carolyn N. Spencer of Amazon promotes diversity in her environment by supporting people to openly express their thoughts and feelings.“This is the only way to truly grow – personally and in business.” – Diversity Matters

Take the time to listen to the other person’s point of view, and allow them to explain their reasoning for wanting to move forward with the recommendation they suggested. By listening, you may realize they had thought of something you did not.

2. Speak up; respectfully challenge others’ point of view

This one is not easy; in moments we can all get emotionally responsive. It’s important to step back, asses the situation and how your comments may come off and adjust your body tone and behavior accordingly.

If you disagree with someone, or want to share your point of view and know it will be controversial – pose your idea in the form of a question – lead the person there by helping them think differently.

Example: “I am sure you have already thought about XYZ, but XYZ.”

This type of conversation comes across less judgmental and threatening, eliminating potential tension between you and the other person speaking.

3. Be aware of acceptable and non-acceptable cultural differences
While we are diverse in many ways, cultural differences can impact communication styles and therefore impact interpretation of the level of respect received.

Be cognizant and educate yourself on what cultural differences exist around you. Note and communicate if something makes you feel uncomfortable or disrespected; there could be a simple misunderstanding.

4.Give feedback, and teach others to encourage diversity
Without acknowledging that teams are diverse, and therefore will run into situations where people disagree and a decision is made which others do not support or understand.

If people do not support or understand why a decision was made, then you cannot be a successful leader or have a successful team.

5. Work with each other to get the best result
At the end of the day, your goal is to be successful. If in the face of differing opinions and stagnant conversation, find a place of agreement or way to make a decision.

For example, if your business replies on customers to purchase products, then you pick whichever is the best decision for your customer.

Summary

At the end of the day, it’s most important for everyone to acknowledge that there is bias in the workplace; the worst thing you can do as a company is pretend like there is no discrimination; while we do not encourage or support it, often times discrimination is sub-conscious.

In simplest form, every company should have mandatory diversity training. While we can’t control people’s background or biases and beliefs, we can however encourage and have low tolerance for disrespect. By creating a mandatory diversity training at work, you acknowledge there can be bias in the workplace but most importantly how to address or escalate inappropriate behavior or respect between others.

Diversity drives change. Without change there is stagnation and little-to-no innovation. Support diversity in your workplace to drive business success.

For more discussion and inspiration on diversity, check out this Ted Talk by Janet Stovall called, “How to get serious about diversity and including in the workplace.”

Disclaimer: This post does not reflect the views of opinions of my employer, Amazon, the PODIM conference, or SwissContact Entrepreneur in Residence (SwissEP) program. Copyright, Carolyn N. Spencer.

Startup Weekend: Challenges, Learnings, and Recommendations

Over a 54 hour time period, over 100 attendees came together to start something new at Techstars Seattle International Startup Weekend. Attendees shared initial problems they’d like to solve, formed teams, received coaching support, and pitched final business plans.

As the event ended, I spoke with a few teams about their Startup Weekend experience; their challenges, their learnings, and their recommendations for others.

What challenges did your team face during Startup Weekend?

Figuring out the most salient information to share.
Validation. It was difficult to go out, and talk with people on a Saturday. We tried to ask people questions, but due to our business problem most people weren’t available to speak with us.
Time management. We started to practice pitching later in the day on Sunday. We had our deck ready on Saturday, but didn’t start practicing our pitch until fairly late.

What did you learn from Startup Weekend?

We should have thought about market validation sooner, especially on the supply side.
I wish we had thought of ways to get customer insights faster, and in a more scalable way.
It’s important to learn the business side of things, so you can quickly identify whether something is a good or bad idea.

What recommendations do you have for others attending Startup Weekend?

Develop a process for listening efficiently within the group, and with coaches and mentors; you don’t want to go around and around discussing the same topic.
Practice pitching.
For the pitch, it was less important about having a working prototype, than it was having information showing you validated the business idea; don’t stress if you don’t have a developer on your team.
Be willing to pivot your idea based on customer research insights.
Do your research of the business model canvas ahead of time; having a background in that will be helpful.
Focus on problem definition and validation.
Take advantage of the time you have here at Startup Weekend, and commit to it.

To learn more about Techstars Startup Weekend, please visit: https://startupweekend.org/

IoT Marketing: Connecting the Dots Between IoT and Marketing Strategy

The Internet of Things (IoT) is here, so let’s talk strategy. How exactly does IoT affect marketing strategy?

With an “expected 34 billion devices connected to the internet by 2020” consumer demand will change, according to Forbes (Greenough et al., 2016). IoT and the world of connectivity will continue to shape needs and requirements for products and services. Businesses will strategize for an IoT centric world, and so will marketers.

As a Marketer, it’s your job to connect the dots between IoT and marketing strategy — who are your customers, what (products) are you promoting, what are your customers willing to pay for your products or services and where should you promote these items?

Promotion
Rapidly Growing Audience
Early IoT consumers are more than willing to spend hundreds of dollars for the newest, hottest tech. With the new release of the Apple Watch this past year, we know this to be true.

According to TechCrunch, “Apple Watch accounted for over 50 percent of smartwatch sales in 2015″ (Perez, 2016).

The audience size will continue to skyrocket as companies continue investing billions of dollars into discovering and creating the connected IoT world.

Industry analysts predict “the IoT market [to] support total services spending of $235 billion in 2016,” (Eddy, 2015). Intel echoes industry sentiments in saying that, “the IoT world is growing at a breathtaking pace,” (A).

(A).

Narrow Targeting, Higher Costs
We can expect an explosion in data collection and data mining as IoT products and services develop. With more data we can find more granular insights around consumption and consumer trends, thus improving marketing and advertising campaigns.

Marketers can create more relevant –and personalized– messaging, editing copy and tone specific to each audience segment. More relevant campaign messaging, means more campaign engagement, therefore more leads and more customers syphoning further into the sales funnel.

Let’s say you download a multi-purpose app, but you only use the app for health reasons. In receipt of this information (e.g. what you use the app for, what are your health goals and related statistics), the marketing team can then specialize their tone, messaging and methods for communicating with you based on your engagement.

Narrow marketing campaigns unfortunately means potentially higher costs, resulting from the increased target markets to connect with.

Increased Brand Loyalty and Customer Retention
If you own multiple Apple devices, you expect each device to have similar functionality and feeling, right? This familiarity makes new products easy to use and a more streamlined customer experience across the brand family. This desire will be augmented in the IoT world. Consumers want to connect and use their (brand-related) products in a similar and logical way.

Marketing strategy will be aimed to add value through the addition of new devices, or through up-selling and cross-selling within the brand portfolio.

We’ve seen this uphold with Amazon’s Echo. In initial release, the Echo defaulted playing music through Prime Music. Acknowledging Spotify as one of the more frequented music apps, Amazon pivoted to focus on customer retention.

“Users who are Spotify Premium subscribers, who also have an Amazon Echo, will now be able to command Echo’s virtual assistant Alexa to ‘play Spotify’ and call up their Spotify playlists, as well as artists or genres on the streaming service,” (Lundin, 2016).

Users have two options: continue to stream Amazon’s (free) music, or pay for Spotify Premium for $10 per month. Amazon streamlined the awareness and use of other related products within the Echo, but also pivoted when necessary to meet customer needs.

User experience becomes the forefront of marketing strategy — cohesive products with related ways to solve a certain problem will become dominant in the market. Products available in the IoT space will continue their focus on added value to existing solutions.

(The, 2016).

Price
New Pricing Models
Products will continue to add value through the addition of related services. IoT efforts and bundled pricing options will become more commonplace as companies build a family products focused on solving one specific problem, rather than one product to partially solve the problem.

Initially Higher Product Prices
We can expect costs for connecting devices (e.g. with the need to strong network connection) to be at it’s highest point today, per the current market share. As competition arises, we can expect prices to decline.

As users define their problem more specifically, products and marketing solutions will consequently evolve. Until there are more answers and less questions, product costs will remain high, thus marketing efforts will be slow to gain (sales) traction until products have reached mass adoption.

Paying Customers for Their Data?
IoT is such an exciting marketplace, because there is a huge potential to gain data and analyze it to create the ideal customer experience and marketing communications. With an increased effort, companies are faced wth the question,

“How do we (continue to) incentivize customers to allow us to use and share their data… and how can we get more?”

Product
Niche Products
Niche products will be the new norm. Companies will pivot toward solving problems for business sectors (e.g. manufacturing, health care, insurance). House management and time management will be controlled by certain apps or products, rather than a combination of several devices.

The Internet of Things will help develop the world of the ideal user and customer experience.

Place
With increased noise and competition online, marketers should consider more unique ways to promote online and offline; IoT represents a world of connectedness, across mediums. Everything that has a screen is now a driver of market messaging.

Moving Forward
Promotion of value added products will drive marketing efforts. More technical and IoT focused copy will drive social media and blog content. Creativity in marketing and mediums used will become even more crucial. It’s time to connect the IoT dots and create an ideal user experience.

References:
A Guide to the Internet of Things Infographic. Intel. Retrieved from: http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/internet-of-things/infographics/guide-to-iot.html

Eddy, N. (2015, Nov 10). Gartner: 21 Billion IoT Devices to Invade by 2020. Silcion Angle. Retrieved from: http://www.informationweek.com/mobile/mobile-devices/gartner-21-billion-iot-devices-to-invade-by-2020/d/d-id/1323081

Greenough, J., Camhi, J. (2016, Jan 29). Here are the IoT Trends That Will Shape the way Businesses, Governments, and Consumers Interact With the World. Forbes. Retrieved from: http://www.businessinsider.com/iot-trends-will-shape-the-way-we-interact-2016-1

Lundin, I. (2016, Feb 4). Spotify now Integrates with Amazon Echo… if You’re a Premium User. TechCrunch. Retrieved from: http://techcrunch.com/2016/02/04/spotify-now-integrates-with-amazon-echo-if-youre-a-premium-user/#.hch2q99:eLbM

Perez, S. (2016, Jan 13). Apple Watch Scooped up Over Half the Smartwatch Market in 2015. TechCrunch. Retrieved from: http://techcrunch.com/2016/01/13/apple-watch-scooped-up-over-half-the-smartwatch-market-in-2015/

The Marketing Power of the Internet of Things. Marketo. Retrieved from: https://www.marketo.com/infographics/the-marketing-power-of-the-internet-of-things/

4 Changes Affecting Product Managers

Today, Product Managers are managing more than products. Product Managers are responsible for listening to their customers, paying attending to trends and developing products to meet their target audience’s evolving needs. With the introduction of new management tools and methods, Product Managers are challenged to prioritize and balance their time appropriately.

Increased Social Presence
With continued importance around digital branding, Product Managers reap the benefits of representing and promoting their product in a positive light online. They are responding to product issues and questions and sharing relevant content about their company and product on social networks.

A social media presence is mutually beneficial; Product Managers can more deeply understand the end user’s needs, while customers can openly express their product questions and concerns, thus increasing product loyalty and awareness among end-users. An open and engaging presence is a win-win for everyone.

Increased User Education and Engagement Demands
Gone are the days of simple customer support. With constant (almost bi-weekly) changes to software, companies are partnering with popular third-party apps Intercom, Pendo and Inline Manual to achieve product and company relevant goals (e.g. increase product engagement or increase client retention, post onboarding).

“Intercom allows us to ‘scale authenticity’ and foster a passionate community of users. By A/B testing message format and content, we see open rates above 75% for all of our onboarding emails,” Ben Jordan, VP of Customer Experience, Invision.

Of course, with this demand comes the question of resource management and how to properly balance product and business goals.

New Internal Communication and Management Tools
Real-time responsiveness is key, and with new tools such as AHA! and Slack, Product Managers can quickly and easily communicate with their stakeholders.

While Jira used to act as the primary platform for adding, editing and prioritizing new features and bugs, the introduction of AHA! provides separate management and communication methods specific to a subset of end-users.

AHA! is great for requirements gathering, prioritizing and roadmap planning, approval and sharing. The visual heavy aspects are immensely helpful for teams that may not connect with the PM org on a daily basis, such as the sales, marketing, and account management teams; instead of constantly answering one-off questions around what’s on the roadmap and when will it be released, Product Manager’s can easily share a link to the most updated roadmap.

While the combination of AHA! and Jira are useful for roadmap communication, Slack combines the most necessary daily communication functionalities into one platform. Product Managers can create project or team based Channels specific to whom they wish to communicate with (e.g. Engineering, Marketing, Sales, Scrum Team, etc.). Slack’s integration with Jira is especially beneficial; PM’s can receive ticket updates from Jira simultaneously in a Slack Channel.

Whether it’s through Jira, AHA! or Slack, Product Managers are expected to readily answer product related questions at the drop of a hat. Dependent on the end-users and the size of the company, multiple communication and management platforms may be the best way to answer those questions in a scalable manner.

Specialization
Product Managers are specializing in multi-disciplinary educations (e.g. technical PM or design-savvy PM) to align with new HR requirements. This was pulled from a recent Google Product Management job description,

“Minimum Qualifications: BA/BS in Computer Science or related technical field… Preferred Qualifications: Product management or design experience with a focus on software products and technologies.”

Since Product Managers work with the design and engineering teams on a daily basis, it’s helpful to understand how each team functions. From a startup perspective, Product Managers can more easily market themselves as a technical or design focused Product Manager — the knowledge they have can eliminate previously required resources.

At the end of the day, Product Manager’s roles, much like products, are constantly changing. With continued learning and application of design, engineering and communication trends, Product Managers can get ahead of the game and set themselves, their business and their product apart from the crowd. The question remains that remains is how to properly balance time executing tasks versus learning new management tools and methods.

7 Skills More Important Than A Technical Degree

While I don’t formally have an engineering or technical degree, I’ve held a product management role for the past few years. I’ve worked for corporate companies, as well as start-ups and found it to be true that,

“Not all Product Managers need a technical degree.”

As a Product Manager, you’re responsible for managing the product through each stage of the Product Life Cycle (PLC): strategy, roadmap planning, marketing, sales, forecasting, etc. Each of these stages require a certain skill set, but most important the skill of communication. When pressed with technical questions in the past, I found that if I asked questions about the things I didn’t understand, that the skills I had superseded the knowledge lacked.*

Overall, there are 7 skills all Product Managers need to succeed.

Customer Love
Understand and love your customer. Be empathetic to their pain points and make decisions with the customer in mind.
Think Strategically
Define and re-define the problem your product solves. Listen to customers as their problem(s) and factors of influence change. Investigation into your marketplace and competition will provide insights into the direction and positioning of your product.
Plan and Prioritize Accordingly
Foresee potential changes in the way your product solves the customers’ problem and how and when your customer makes decisions around the purchasing or use of your product. Develop your roadmap with those possible challenges and changes in mind, along with proper engineering estimates and product designs.

“The product manager owns the product roadmap. [S]he is the person responsible for defining, in detail, the ‘why’ and high level ‘what’ of the product that the engineering team will be asked to build.”
– De Haff, CEO of AHA! (2015)
Influence Others
You need to explain your product, the reasoning for the direction of your product, as well as why and how your product solves a particular problem better than anyone else’s product. Since Product Managers work cross-functionally, the ability to build relationships across various teams will ultimately determine the success of your product; if you cannot get other teams to support your product then how can you expect your customer to?
Focus on Details
Annotate – in detail – the client’s requirements and feedback throughout the Product Life Cycle (PLC). From color choice to font type, each decision made influences the customer experience and their opinion of the product. Clarity is important; product decisions need to be explained from the point of view of the customer.

“Like all forms of design, visual design is about problem solving, not about personal preference or unsupported opinion.”

– Bob Baxley, Head of Product Design at Pinterest (2003) (Cornett, 2008).
Analyze Data
Decisions should be made based on data, not gut feeling. Because data is irrefutable, it’s simple to explain why or why not a product decision was made; it removes opinions from the conversation and leaves only facts. The analysis of data can additionally provide new insights, which may lead into the development of new features or products.
Execute
Product Managers need to execute the product goals and roadmap plans outlined. If you follow through on the commitments and timelines promised, you’ll gain trust, respect and support from your fellow colleagues.

I found that pairing these seven skills with passion and ability to overcome ambiguity in the workplace, that my lack of a technical degree did not affect my level of success as a Product Manager. As a Product Manager it’s much more important to be fearless — ask questions, be curious and learn from others.

References:

de Haff, B. (2015, July 8). The product manager vs. the engineering manager. Huffington Post. Retrieved from: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/brian-de-haaff/the-product-manager-vs-th_1_b_7733156.html

Cornett, C. (2008, June 2). Visual design is about problem solving. inspireUX. Retrieved from: http://www.inspireux.com/category/bob-baxley/

Everyone Wants to Hire a Techpreneur

Randi Zuckerberg and I
ROCHESTER, NY (October, 16, 2015) — The ambitious, sassy and entrepreneurial Randi Zuckerberg discussed the opportunities and trends in technology during the Gasser Lecture Series, hosted by the Saunder’s College of Business at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT).

Today, the opportunity to succeed relies heavily on involvement with technology. Radi discussed three things you can do achieve success: (1) participate in a hackathon, (2) pay attention to your brand, and (3) get hooked on technology at an early age.

Everyone should “participate in a hackathon,” said Randi. Hackathon are events that drive out-of-the-box thinking and problem solving. “Hackathons allow people to eliminate the fear of failure,” said Randi; when people feel as though they can speak freely, they share ideas more often and more openly. Companies such as Intuit, Facebook and Google host monthly or yearly hackathons, of which frequently produce the most innovative and thoughtful products to date. By displaying original thinking during a hackathon, or at your current job, people will admire and appreciate your unique perspective; you’ll always be someone who brings new ideas to the table.

Next, Radi discussed the importance of “paying attention to your brand.” Companies, such as Amazon encourage their employees to “respectfully challenge decisions should they disagree.” It’s important to think differently than others; a unique brand is the most important thing you can have. With the opportunity to interact and “post in real-time,” with social channels, such as Facebook and Twitter, people can get ahead of trends (and their peers), said Randi. Your online brand is how people perceive you, so pay special attention to it.

While on the subject of your online presence, Randi urges that you to “get hooked on technology at an early age.” There are so many opportunities that a knowledge of technology can provide. Not only can people learn to build technology, but people can learn to solve problems using technology. “(As we’ve seen with Facebook), advancements in technology can change the world,” said Randi. Some of the most successful tech companies have started with young adults, such as Box, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat and Pinterest.

If you become immersed in technology at an early age, you’ll gain skills companies look for when hiring; an innovative and forward-thinking mindset, and a fearless attitude. Wouldn’t you want to hire someone like that?

Cyber Law: Coming Your Way?

As the internet evolves, so do the challenges encountered in the marketing field. Looking back, Web 1.0 was a place where people read HTML, but Web 2.0 has evolved into a place for writing and sharing content. It is a place of converging ideas, thoughts, cultures, languages and ultimately, information. With the rise of user generated content being shared, there is a direct correlation to news topics and stories regarding its regulation in the cyber world. The “legal implications of the Internet’s rapid development are rendered even more complex by the specific features of its relationship to existing laws, regulatory frameworks, and the ideas that underpin them,” (Flew, 2008). Issues that have been brought into mainstream conversation lately regard legalities and legal ramifications of the cyber world. Marketers must be aware of cyberspace laws as they are becoming issued, especially laws regarding their extent to free speech and their use of intellectual property.

Increasing knowledge and content from citizen marketers has recently brought about the topic of free speech online. As citizen marketers criticize companies and generate and publish their content for the world to access, they are facing issues regarding the extent their information is deemed okay under free speech laws, and where it isn’t. For example, in response to BP’s oil spill in the Golf of Mexico in 2010, citizen marketers created an account on Twitter called #BP Public Relations, (“Twitter,” 2012). The cite has numerous contributors, and over 157,000 followers who continue to add content and remark about BP’s oil spill and the after effects and response, as seen in the screenshot below, (“Twitter,” 2012).

https://twitter.com/#!/BPGlobalPR

Unfortunately, the invisible lines that currently run the cyber world explaining what the extremes of free speech are not completely defined the same across platforms, thus there the confusion of where the lines are and where lines should be drawn. The question I pose is, if no one is in control or regulating content, will there soon be laws dictating the extent of a person’s free speech online that must be adhered to?

Similar to the confusion of one’s free speech online, citizen marketers and journalists are also facing copyright issues pertaining to the use of intellectual property. In many popular websites and social media sites under their privacy and conditions section, there is information about how the content published on the site can be used. Since many people do not bother to read through this information, they do not realize what they are signing away by agreeing to the terms and conditions.

Wait… I am agreeing to what?

This case study that has recently been in the news is the new internet phenomenon, Pinterest. An article was released explaining that a lawyer interested in photography looked into the Pinterest’s copyright laws and found that under their terms and conditions that,“YOU ACKNOWLEDGE AND AGREE THAT, TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, THE ENTIRE RISK ARISING OUT OF YOUR ACCESS TO AND USE OF THE SITE, APPLICATION, SERVICES AND SITE CONTENT REMAINS WITH YOU,” (Shontell, 2012). Thus meaning that each pin that is uploaded must be original or give credit to whom it originated from. The story goes on to say that she closed her Pinterest account in fear. After the article was released, Pinterest co-founder, Ben Silbermann admitted that “there are issues with Pinterest and the fear of claims of copyright infringement,”(Shontell, 2012). On Youtube’s video, Pinterest and your rights- Tech Tonic, they bring up the idea that the “traditional copyright model is dead,” (ReutersTV , 2012).

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWMRbgrINe0&w=560&h=315]

ReutersTV (2012, February 27). Youtube.com. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch v=PWMRbgrINe0

If traditional copyright is dead, what will be the newly adapted copyright laws?
With the evolving use and dependency on the internet for information, the problems marketers face are legal. What was once known as free speech is slowly becoming limited speech. Those among the marketing industry have to be careful of what they say and how they communicate online. Unfortunately, since the internet is a public domain there are little laws and enforcements as of today being done regarding these issues.As they say, there is no such thing as a free lunch, and as we can see now, this is being applied to the cyber world; there is no such thing as free speech or free content.

References:

Flew, Terry. (2008). New media: An introduction. (3 ed., pp. 207-210). Victoria,
   Australia: Oxford University Press.
Freepress. (2012, February 23). Retrieved from
   http://www.freepress.net/ownership/chart/main
ReutersTV (2012, February 27). Youtube.com. Retrieved from
   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWMRbgrINe0
Shontell, A. (2012, February 28). Business insider. Retrieved from
   http://www.businessinsider.com/pinterest-copyright-issues-lawyer-2012-2?
   nr_email_referer=1
Twitter. (2012). Retrieved from https://twitter.com/#!/BPGlobalPR