This article derives from a presentation at the Product Marketing Summit Sydney, in November 2022. Catch-up on other presentations using our OnDemand service.
You might be wondering exactly what this articleโs going to be about. Based on the title, youโve probably guessed that time zones are going to come into it. That’s true. Whenever weโre running global teams, we have time zones to consider.
We also have languages to consider, and perhaps even more than that, we have personalities to consider too. Plus, all of that is compounded by the role of Zoom over the last two to three years.
Those are really important factors to consider even before we start to talk about how operationally efficient these teams are to begin with.
In this article, I’ll be discussing:
- The joy of getting to know your teams in-person
- Getting everyone on the same page
- Aligning with sales leaders
- Coaching your product marketing team to work together
- Cultivating connectivity and motivation
To start with, let’s take a team in EMEA โ how well are they operating already within their own remit, geography, and subset? Do they have a good leader there? Do they have good stakeholder relationships? Are they operating well without the need for oversight?
Managing teams that check all those boxes is markedly easier than having to come over the top and start thinking about how to optimize teams with all their languages and time differences. Not to mention that there’s another layer of cultural and socio-economic differences on top of all of this.
All of these factors have a multiplier effect on each other, so you’re acutely aware of them every time you’re engaging and trying to get the best out of these teams.
