Episode 7

Last updated Sep 4, 2022 Edit Source

Original Recording Date: 2018-08-06 

Topics 

Professional Networking -  Tech Village #2 - Get Your Head Out of Your Valley 

Training Revisited 

2:30 - Professional Networking 

• Have you checked out  The Tech Village Podcast? 

  • Start with the  first episode to hear their thesis. 

• This segment dives into  Tech Village Podcast # 2 – Get Your Head out of Your Valley 

  • We found a common theme on professional networking in this episode. 

  • First guest - Adam Eckerle ( @eck79) stressed the following: 

    • Professional networking as a remote worker 

    • Tough without regular on-site visits 

    • Face-to-face meetings inspire better electronic responses. 

    • Find out what you can do for your network. 

    • Professional networking is a Journey and is not instantaneous. 

      • The first step might not get you the dream job. 

      • Working for a VAR helps you to meet people. 

    • Networking within a company should go horizontal, vertical, and diagonally. 

  • Second guest - Joep Piscaer ( @jpiscaer,  https://www.virtuallifestyle.nl) 

    • The importance of in-person interaction merits 10-12 trips per year to US, 1-2 trips to London, and 1-2 trips to Barcelona. 

    • Joep shares Alastair Cooke’s example of frequent contact with other community members (schedules in-network call every couple of weeks). 

      • Alastair Cooke ( @DemitasseNZ,  demitasse.co.nz) 

      • See also  Geek Whisperers Episode 119 – Keep Learning and Keeping Connections after Changing Jobs 

    • Organization is key to continuous networking and making connections. 

    • John suggests a call with video rather than just an audio call to make a greater impact. 

  • Third guest - Marie Mauer ( @doxly_marie) 

    • She experienced an acquisition and needed to connect with people in other geographic locations to synchronize office culture. 

• Washington Post Article -   How to Network Within Your Company 

  • The Washington Post’s jobs blog has solid career advice in general. 

  • Key takeaways from the article: 

    • Invest some personal time 

      • Spend lunch with others, and attending social networking events outside of work. 

    • Attend some personal events 

      • Make the personal connection with others first. 

    • Network at your level 

      • John shares his networking strategy when attending conferences. 

    • Network up 

    • Move up and out 

20:35 - The Ins and Outs of Training…Revisited 

• This started from a conversation between Nick and John on personal training plans. 

• We gave some ideas on the “what” aspect of training in episode 6 (need to add a link here) but did not address adjacencies. 

• What is an adjacency? 

  • An area outside of your main focus 

• Nick shares some examples of adjacent areas under the IT umbrella. 

• Why are adjacencies important? 

  • Know what is important in the adjacent areas that affect your core competency. 

  • Knowledge of adjacencies can build rapport between teams. 

  • Customer example – a member of the development team moved to operations to help improve processes and better support developers. 

• What if you get really interested in an adjacent area? 

  • An adjacency that’s interesting enough could eventually be a specialty. 

  • Dip a toe into another area without leaving where you’re comfortable. 

  • Knowledge of other disciplines makes you more valuable and better able to support other teams. 

  • John says “take their job now.” 

• Ideas on “How” to train for adjacencies 

  • Leverage specialist teams to cross-train other teams to a baseline level of knowledge.   

  • Train to understand the areas of concern in adjacent disciplines. 

• Ideas for “What” 

  • We talked about technical adjacencies earlier in this segment, but what about the non-technical adjacencies? 

  • John stresses the importance for technical people to understand how Sales organizations think and operate. 

  • Understanding how your boss is being measured helps with prioritization alignment. 

  • Train on concerns of business executives to better position and get funding for IT projects. 

    • revenue 

    • expenses 

    • risk 

    • time to market 

    • quality of service 

    • Networking 

  • Individual contributors can learn about managerial skills. 

    • Helps in getting hired later 

    • Or promoted in place 

    • Or hired diagonally within the organization 

    • Understand how performance is measured 

  • Most people think about training for certifications or in another area under the IT umbrella.