We are currently offering an online or in-person 1-full day workshop on how to work successfully across diverse teams - build trust, establish a common language, reduce friction and deliver results faster.
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More details and syllabus are mentioned below. Pricing will vary based on the number of team members and format. Please contact us to discuss your needs.
Course Overview
What you'll get out of this course
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Create high-performing sub-cultures around projects​
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Frame your ideas using the right language and the right amount of detail that is suitable for your technical/non-technical project partners
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Deliver results sooner by eliminating delays caused by back and forth and reducing conflict, confusion and miscommunication​
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Learn and apply a framework for working across technical/non-technical roles that you can customize and reuse as many times as needed​
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Build trust between diverse team members, a necessary ingredient for cross-teams project success​
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Develop leadership skills to move your career forward by focusing on how you influence laterally and adapt to different partners
Yes, you can collaborate successfully across different teams, every time!
Your project requires collaboration between teams whose specializations are as fundamentally different as data science or technical product engineering on one side and non-technical business fields on the other. It can be difficult to find a common language and system. Yet, you have a unified project goal and a scheduled deliverable.
In the past, you may have faced project risks and delays due to miscommunication, incorrect assumptions, mistrust, overstepping boundaries and other friction between the team members. Not to mention, additional stress and fatigue for everyone involved.
Unfortunately, there is no training provided to help with these types of collaborations, which often require daily interactions.
We can fix that. We can develop shared context, trust and set communication processes that can reduce the risks, delays and increase the chances of success and innovation.
THE CANS
You and your team can speak the same language.
You can reduce misunderstanding.
You can teach and learn respectfully.
You can create alignment on solutions.
You can be inclusive and adaptable.
You can deliver results faster and stronger.
How to achieve these ‘cans’ is what you will learn in this course. So that you can bring more efficiency into your collaboration and create repeatable patterns.
THE APPROACH
Taught by Sonia Ketkar, the course draws from several years of her experience working as an integrator between business teams (of strategists, marketers, sales, finance, creatives) and technical teams (of data scientists, technical product managers and engineers). All brilliant colleagues with completely different skillsets or educational backgrounds.
Over the years, she has developed a tried-and-tested framework for effective collaboration and communication between these two types of teams.
We will use the framework to learn valuable communication skills and collaboration methods. We will also discuss how to modify the framework to fit your specific situation because the best tools should always be flexible and adaptable.
We will also enhance the 'living' framework through your ideas and contributions as we engage in class discussions. Over time, you can make it your own and customize it for your role and industry.
Most importantly, we will use real-world case studies, exercises, role-play and discussions to rehearse and solidify the concepts of the framework.
WHAT YOU'LL WALK AWAY WITH
You’ll leave the course with an actionable framework, reference scripts and tactics that you have practiced during the course and can start to implement immediately in your work.
Whom this course is for
Business managers in non-tech/ creative roles such as media, entertainment, advertising, retail that are relying more on data-driven methods
Project managers who want to expand their scope, Business Product managers or technical product managers who work with the other side
Data scientists, engineers, technical program managers who frequently collaborate with business teams to develop solutions
Course Content and Syllabus
Session 1 - After the introduction and kick-off, we will learn the components of a 'Framework for Successful Communication and Collaboration between Technical/Non-Technical Teams', henceforth referred to as 'framework'.
We will discuss the first part of the framework with a focus on
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how to develop a successful project sub-culture
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how to cultivate trust among team members
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how to create shared context and common ground
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how to describe the project goals, business questions and identify outcomes using the right language and with the right amount of detail for the target audiences
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Session 2- In this session, we will dive deep into the components of the second part of the framework which focuses on efficiently working together through the lifecycle of the project.
Key areas include
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Communication styles, attitudes, how to disagree honestly but respectfully, how to translate complex methodologies in simple ways
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Collaboration best practices such as how to create space for internal feedback, how to iterate with less friction and how to be inclusive
Session includes exercises and case studies to which we will apply the framework
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Session 3 - In this session, we will discuss and apply the last section of the framework - Delivering Results - by focusing on key areas including
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how to share final results using the right amount of detail that is suitable for various audiences
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tools and methods that make results easy to share and understand
We will use exercises and case studies to practice and apply the framework
We will also discuss ways to adapt the framework to your different types of projects or your individual situations if you choose to share them with the class
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All sessions will be covered on the same day or split into two days per your preference.​