WAYS OF WORKING | 1 PDU
Sue Rowland
Program Managing Hybrid Teams: Embrace Your Inner Captain Obvious | 10:00 - 10:50 AM | ROOM 1410
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Advanced Program Manager, The Kroger Co.
Sue Rowland, PMP, PSPO 1
Sue Rowland is an accomplished Program Manager with over 20 years’ experience in managing complex programs in the retail industry. Known for her personable style and meticulous approach, Sue has successfully led programs from inception through delivery in areas such as security, payments, infrastructure, merchandising, health & wellness, and customer loyalty, to name a few. Sue is passionate about program methodology and building a resilient work culture, both of which are foundational components for the creation of high performing teams, whether those teams are co-located, virtual or hybrid.
In addition to holding a PMP and PSPO1, Sue has a Bachelor of Science from Xavier University, and a Project Management Certificate from Keller Graduate School of Management. Outside of work, Sue lives in Blue Ash, Ohio with daughter Rachel, husband Dave, and English Bulldog Hoss. Sue, Dave, and Rachel all love to escape to the warm waters of the Caribbean to scuba dive any chance they can get!
Program managers are often the front line, day-to-day tactical program team management, so it makes good sense that they should be armed with a highly methodical and proactive approach to leading hybrid teams. It often falls to the program manager to embrace their inner Captain Obvious to make sure that the team is on track. Are program team members…
What comes naturally to program managers, does not always seem O-B-V-I-O-U-S to others! Captain Obvious says:
O - Open & honest communication is foundational and critical.
1. Applies to program team & stakeholders; build a robust communication plan to ensure everyone gets relevant info.
2. Is one of the pathways to build trust.
3. Learn to get in front of your own bad news so you don’t become the lead story.
4. A little (well-placed) humor at the right time can bring people together.
5. What’s the Captain Obvious takeaway?
B - Be intentional about getting to know the team.
1. Personalities, time zones, working hours, cultural differences, communication preferences, etc. all contribute to how the team works together.
2. Sometimes being vulnerable helps the team to know you.
3. Figure out how people on the team are motivated!
4. What’s the Captain Obvious takeaway?
V – Value the team.
1. Praise in public, criticize in private.
2. No matter what, always do the right thing to gain respect of the team.
3. Be respectful of people’s time.
4. What’s the Captain Obvious takeaway?
I – Identify the right milestones to track so that the team knows early and often if they are on track to achieve desired outcomes.
1. Why delivering “stuff” every sprint doesn’t necessarily equate to delivering outcomes.
2. Lean on Product and Business partners to gain understanding of the critical path.
3. What’s the Captain Obvious takeaway?
O – Optimize team collaboration.
1. Figure out ways to reduce the “noise” that frequently distracts teams.
2. If one thing doesn’t work, try another!
3. Ask the team for candid feedback or use Scrum Masters from another area for periodic retrospectives if you get in a rut.
4. What’s the Captain Obvious takeaway?
U – Use technology to your advantage.
1. Share examples of creative, streamlined communication.
2. 2 or 3 bullets of what was covered in a meeting dropped into a meeting chat is super helpful for those who couldn’t make it / to remind of next steps.
3. What’s the Captain Obvious takeaway?
S – Set aside time to celebrate small wins along the way!
1. Do not wait for one big celebration at the end!
2. Figure out how people prefer to be recognized and do it – often (and “in front of” their boss)!
3. Get creative to include folks not physically present.
4. What’s the Captain Obvious takeaway?
