Given at Mind the Product, SF 2018

1. Reboot Your Team
Christina Wodtke
Author of Radical Focus and Pencil Me In
Lecturer at Stanford University

2. The Union BBQ Beef
Ribs and Fondue
House

4. The Three Jobs
of Product
Management
• Business Owner
• Vision Holder
• Team Coordinator

7. Are all groups teams?

9. What is a TEAM?
• Common PURPOSE
• Performance GOALS
• Complimentary SKILLS
• Mutual ACCOUNTABILITY
The Wisdom of Teams
Jon R. Katzenbach and Douglas K.
Smith

10. Set Objectives
and Key
Results
1. Common Purpose
2. Performance Goals

11. OKRs
O: Qualitative
goal (common
purpose)
KR: Success
criteria
(performance
goals)

12. Objective: Establish clear value to distributers
as a quality tea provider
KR:
Reorders at
85%
KR: 20% of
reorders
self-serve
KR:
Revenue of
250K

13. 3. Complimentary
skills

14. 4. Mutual
Accountability

15. Objective: Establish clear value to
distributers as a quality tea provider
KR: Reorders at 85% 5/10
KR: 20% of reorders self-serve 5/10
KR: Revenue of 250K
5/10
Key Risk Factors: Need new self-serve
system up in first month
Priorities this week
Next 4 weeks - Projects
OKR Confidence
Team Health:
Distributor satisfaction Health:
Org Health
Yellow
P1
P1
P1
Green
Close deal with TLM Foods
Team struggling with direction
change
# solid sales canidates in for
interview
Passive reorder notifications
New self serve flow for distributors
Metrics for distributors on tea sales
Hire Customer service head
New Order flow
Weekly
OKR
Check-
ins

16. Learning
Team
Or Lean Team
Improves over time

17. Bruce Tuckman ‘Developmental sequence in small groups’

20. A Cadence for Learning Teams
Set
Check
Correct

21. Forming a
Learning Team1.

23. Set Expertise Roles

24. Set Informal Roles
• Facilitator
• Tie-Breaker
• Spokesperson
• Schedule Keeper
• Office Housework

25. Design Norms
If you don’t set norms, you make assumptions. Assumptions lead
to errors. Errors lead to fights.

27. Erin
Meyer’s
Culture Map

30. “The problem is that we tend to
assume that our framing represents
the truth, rather than merely
presenting a subjective “map.”
In truth, however, each frame offers
its own image of reality.”
Edmondson, Amy C.
Teaming: How
Organizations Learn,
Innovate, and
Compete in the
Knowledge Economy

31. Don’t default
into norms.
Set them

32. Norms Exercise
• Get together in groups of 2-4

33. What was the
best team you
ever had? What
made it great?

34. What was the worst
team you were ever on?
What made it so bad?

35. Norms Exercise
• Get in groups, and share.
• Make rules for how you wish to work
together

36. Norms Exercise
• Get in groups, and share.
• Make rules for how you wish to work
together

37. Please try this
at home
Aka at the office

38. Performing in a
Learning Team2.

39. Check Weekly

40. Goals

41. Team Feedback
Feedback fast and slow

42. Weekly: Retrospective
Fast and frequent allows for iteration and growth

43. “Weekly retrospectives build the muscle
of asking why things aren’t working…
learning to say “that’s eff’ed up. Let’s try
something else.”
Rosemary King @rozemaryking

44. teIam
Mindful team take care of the
us AND the I.

45. Two kinds of feedback
Individual Team

47. Fast Peer Feedback
But not too fast

49. Short Cycles
Reduce
quantity of
information
Reduce gap
between action
and evaluation
Reduce stakes
Actionable
Memorable
Iterative

50. Feedback Loop

51. Feedback Loop

53. When you behavior I
reaction and it
consequences.
What can we do about
this?

54. Adjourning in
a Mindful
Team
3.

55. Pause, Evaluate, Correct

56. Formal Feedback
“Shorten your time through the Feedback Loop.”

57. Team Feedback
For Learning Teams

58. Team Check In
“Quarterly seems to be a good starting point though. Every month seems too
often (people get fed up with it, and the data doesn’t change fast enough to
warrant it). Bi-annually seems too seldom (too much happens within that
period). But, again, it varies.” – Spotify Labs

59. Carbon Five
Dartboard
http://blog.carbonfive.com/201
5/07/29/the-product-dartboard/

60. Spotify Health
Check Model
https://labs.spotify.co
m/2014/09/16/squad-
health-check-model/

61. Roll Your
Own
1. List norms
2. Rate performance
3. Discuss
4. Decide on Changes

62. Team Member Feedback
for
Mindful Teams

63. Empathy
Warm-up
• Sometimes I pretend
• Sometimes I’m afraid
• Sometimes I wonder
• Sometimes I try

64. Empathic
Feedback
Canvas

66. Jherin Miller

68. Reboot Your
Team
1. Treat quarters as do-over
moments
2. Set goals, roles and norms
3. Check weekly to make sure you
are living your intention
4. Correct: take time at the end of
the quarter and evaluate and
make major changes

69. Be kind to everyone you meet, for they
too are fighting a great battle.”
Dr. John Watson (the real one)

70. Thank
You
@cwodtke | me@cwodtke.com
www.cwodtke.com
CHRISTINA WODTKE

71. The Models