In a previous article, we explored the idea of women joining the Technology sector through transitioning part way through a career, and how this can form an entryway for many instead of traditional training-first career paths. We have an almost equal gender split here at Lean Tree, in our leadership team and reflected across our business. Last time we heard from Isobel who shared how her experience as a Project Co-ordinator and a Virtual Assistant put her in good stead for the jump into the world of Tech.
Today, we hear from Abbie, another Lean Tree Consultant who transitioned into the world of technology after following a different career path.
1. Before you were in digital transformation, where did you begin your career? How did that experience shape your approach to technology and innovation?
“Before I entered the world of digital transformation and IT consulting, I was an E-Commerce Project Manager. I worked mostly on e-commerce re-platforming transformations, as well as strategic business initiatives – I focused on the customer journey, and operational aspects of projects. Prior to that, I worked in Customer Care – both e-commerce and physical, as well as Retail.
“In my experience, anyone who comes from a retail or operational background has a unique can-do attitude - not the buzzword frequently used on CV’s, they are truly skilled in the art of ‘making things happen’. Often these areas are underfunded or the primary target when it comes to cost-cutting rounds, but they are also the closest to the customer and the front line. As a result, they are adept at protecting the outcomes needed to deliver results, but capable of thinking outside the box for ways they can do this, in the face of adversity – a breeding ground for innovation!
“I strongly believe that having experience of being in both a Tech and non-Tech role is paramount to any textbook learning or qualifications. Whilst there’s a place for both, the combination of the two is powerful. Having end-user experience and the ability to understand business goals from both angles means you have a unique viewpoint, you understand how to using tech to realise business outcomes, as well as how to build tech to enable realisation of business outcomes. This allows you to truly appreciate the goals from each perspective and enables you to support the combination/marriage of the two, working to ensure they are both delivering in sync and to compliment/enable each other, as well as the ability to spot pitfalls or friction points early and address these.”
2. People often see ‘digital transformation’ as a tech job; when did you realise it was a people and problem-solving job too?
“So often, technical programmes focus on tech – the build, the testing and the go live, but the crucial piece is what happens when the technology is ‘live’? The work doesn’t end there - who will use the technology, how will they use it and what will they use it for, and most importantly will they use it? People are the crucial component to unlock successful digital outcomes when it comes to delivering technology which is built for end users to interact with.
“Often, these programmes of work are green light because of the benefit they will deliver - cost savings, ways of working efficiencies, more revenue, increased customer base, but they will only deliver on that if the end-user of the tool knows how to use it effectively to deliver those results. You could build the best technology in the world but there will be no point if no one know how to use it and use it well - it’s people that realise this outcome and they need to choose to adopt the new ways of working and be set up for success to make this happen.
“I once worked on a transformation where the focus was on ensuring that the re-platforming was complete on time, there was so much effort from all teams involved working flat out. However, three weeks out from go live we realised that the end-users who would be using one of the tools for 80% of their work, couldn’t access this due to firewall restrictions. An assumption had been made that since the tool was in use elsewhere today, it would work as-is for the teams that would adopt it tomorrow and the only work needed was to integrate it according to the new architecture. Had the focus here been on the teams using the tool, their needs and ways of working, perhaps this assumption wouldn’t have been made and the work to make the tool accessible would have been planned early on, with more focus on whether the tool could function as-is for the new teams.”
3. What triggered your transition, was it a deliberate career move or an opportunity you seized?
“It was not a deliberate move – if you’d told me 10 years ago, I’d be working in Technology I wouldn’t have believed you! I was a subject matter expert in my area working in e-commerce customer care, and when a series of digital transformations were planned, the director of our department had the foresight to insist on a dedicated Project resource within the team to manage the transition of a large global team onto an entirely new platform and ways of working. They knew how seismic this change would be and fortunately, the resource was approved. Without this, I’m not quite sure how it would have turned out!
“I’ve witnessed it where all too often, there’s an assumption made that end-users would prepare themselves, that they’ll have the capacity, understanding and resources to do this – which is crazy! There should be as much focus on the people impacted by technical change, as there is for building the technical change itself. I strongly believe digital transformations would be more successful if this were the case, and it’s because of my experience that I’m so passionate about Business Change and Change Management.”
4. Walk us through a moment in your digital transformation career where your previous background gave you an unexpected edge.
“Understanding customer behaviour is something that comes natural to me because of my background in Retail and Customer Service. I am aware of common trends, as well open and aware to the fact that behaviours can differ across different customer segments and geographies etc. It always surprises me when those working to deliver a solution have limited perception or understanding of their end-user as they simply haven’t had the exposure or opportunity to learn about them.
“As a result, the Covid pandemic was a challenge when we were crisis planning for the way our systems and operations would function during the various lockdowns and restrictions. We were all forced to understand from an end-customers’ perspective, what they would need to do and work back from there to design processes to handle these actions and then understand the technical changes needed to enable this. Everything from how customers would create returns, to how and when we would ship orders.”
5. How did you learn about the tools, data, and systems thinking without a formal background? What helped most: mentorship, shadowing, baptism by fire?
“Mostly a baptism of fire! When I began working on technical transformations, I had no prior knowledge or experience. My value was knowing my subject matter, and it took some time for me to feel comfortable in the knowledge I had to offer when sitting at the table with extremely technical minded people. Back then, my experience was that the Tech took the stage front and centre, and therefore the end-users were mostly an afterthought, or at best, were considered but always as a negotiable, or a ‘nice to have’. Having no expertise in the technical aspects at that time, it was difficult to work with the teams to bring both Tech and People together and come up with solutions that satisfied both. It took some time for me to realise it’s this combination that unlocks success, and having strong voices for both is critical – from there my confidence grew.
“Although the focus for me is People and Process, over time I’ve been exposed to many different technical aspects and picked up along the way, as well as worked within some brilliant teams and had the opportunity to learn from others. Building technical knowledge has enabled me to have a well-rounded, considered view and make better decisions.”
6. What advice would you give to other women who see tech as “not for them", but are curious?
“It’s said that Tech is a male-dominated industry, and statistically speaking it is. It’s often not until I look up and realise, I’m the only women in the room that I’m reminded of that fact. My experience has been that both the other women in the industry and male colleagues around them are incredibly supportive of each other – although I know I’m fortunate here, and that isn’t always the case. Ensuring women's voices are represented in tech is vital to shaping a more balanced industry, so if you’re curious start a conversation! As with all fields, tech is broad and varied. Your perception of it, versus the reality is likely to be very different, you may be surprised to discover there’s place for you and your skills.”
Giving Women in Technology a Platform
We are constantly exploring initiatives and ways to get involved with promoting diversity and inclusivity at Lean Tree, giving voices to those that could benefit from the support. We will be sharing more of the journeys that our teams have been on to join the technology sector soon, look out for them over on our LinkedIn.
