PDMA Body of Knowledge: Culture, Teams & Leadership Insights #6
Read time: 5 minutes
The kHUB Curator Team members have each been assigned a BoK section to own. This includes seeking, editing and sharing content related to that section. The curators are also sharing their perspective of various sub-sections of their chapter and contributing personal examples, experience, or related articles corresponding to the subject matter.
Working Styles for Product Team Success
Most companies have many teams working on various product areas. One key area that can be overlooked is how to choose the right people for each team. Understanding potential team members work styles may help form a team that can succeed.
A person’s work style is how the person goes about the day-to-day tasks on the job. Everyone has a working style. Optimizing the working style of people in a team can help the team be more productive and effective. Working styles affect everything from how a person interacts with others to the person’s ability to stick to deadlines.
Work styles include:
- Collaborative/Supportive/Influencers/Steady: This work style is focused on building relationships and working closely with others to achieve common goals. Collaborative individuals value teamwork, communication, managing conflict and compromise. People who prefer a collaborative work style enjoy working closely with others to build consensus and to find ways to achieve goals. They thrive on input and feedback from others and seek to build relationships to help facilitate teamwork. They are normally expressive and emotionally aware. Team members with this style are adept at facilitating team interactions and listening to others. They can tell if something is amiss with one of their coworkers. They want to help others. They thrive on collaboration rather than competition.
- Analytical/ Conscientious: This work style is focused on data and quantitative analysis. Analytical individuals are skilled at identifying patterns, trends, and opportunities in data, and they use this information to make informed decisions. They are often detail-oriented and have a methodical approach to problem-solving. People who prefer an analytical work style are data-driven and focused on metrics and measurements. They use quantitative data to inform their decisions and are skilled at identifying trends in areas like industry data and market data. This work style is focused on achieving measurable results. They are logical and look for logic in team plans. They also value quality and accuracy.
- Strategic/Visionary: This work style is focused on the big picture and long-term vision. Strategic individuals are skilled at setting goals, developing plans, and anticipating changes in the market or industry. They are often creative thinkers who can see opportunities where others may not. People who prefer a strategic work style are focused on the big picture and long-term vision for a product. They enjoy developing plans and tactics to achieve the team’s goals. They are skilled at identifying longer term trends in the market and anticipating changes in areas like customer behavior and the external environment.
- Agile: People who prefer an agile work style are comfortable with uncertainty and change. They are skilled at adapting to new information and pivoting quickly when necessary. They value speed and flexibility and are comfortable with rapid iteration and experimentation. Team members who have an adaptive work style are effective at adapting to changing circumstances and new information. They are comfortable with uncertainty and can adjust their approach as needed to achieve the best outcome for the team.
- Dominance/ Results Oriented: these individuals make good team leaders. They prefer fast pace and are action oriented. They can appear demanding to the rest of the team. They like making decisions and are good at moving the team forward. They often are self-confident and are more comfortable with taking risk than other team members. They like winning, competition and success. Results-oriented individuals are often competitive. They like ambitious goals and are willing to work hard to achieve them. They like timelines and want to see results. But they may have trouble listening to and collaborating with others.
The work styles of product team members can affect how teams work and what the team can produce. Building a great team takes time and effort. Understanding the team goals and what mix of individuals might best achieve these goals is important. With a cohesive, confident, well-managed team, a company can achieve goals on time, create innovative ideas and improve the overall company culture while building individual confidence and skills in employees. Ultimately, the most effective product team members are those who can work together to achieve the goal of the team. Balance team membership and work styles to allow each person to contribute their best work.
About the Author
Rose Klimovich is Visiting Professor of Marketing and Management at Manhattan College in New York. She is also a Digital Marketing and Strategy consultant to small businesses and entrepreneurs.
Formerly, as the Vice President – Product Management and Product Marketing for Telx, Rose Klimovich created the Telx business strategy and developed the investment plan for new products and services in areas including colocation, cloud, Ethernet, and video conferencing. Rose’s team supported vertical markets including Financial Services, Media and Service Providers.
Prior to this, Rose was the Vice President of Business Strategy for AT&T, responsible for strategy development and investment decisions in new markets and technologies. Rose has more than 20 years of experience and achievement in designing, scaling and managing Internet, VPN and data businesses. Rose led AT&T to the #1 share position in VPN and to a leadership position in Internet Services.
Rose has an MBA and a BS in Math/Economics from Carnegie-Mellon University. Rose is Joint Chairperson of the Board of Directors of the Women’s Venture Fund.
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