With a large proportion of the workforce being thrust into remote working so abruptly, we’ve been exploring how teams are set up for success, specifically in Product Management. Who better to discuss distributed teams with than Rylan Dawes, VP of FX Product at Airwallex. Airwallex was named by KPMG as Australia’s highest ranked Fintech in the 2019 Fintech100 report, and their products are taking the world by storm. They seem to have read the play early when they launched their borderless cards product earlier this year, just before our borders literally closed. Embracing remote working during COVID-19 Middleton Executive Director, Jade Bennett, spoke with Rylan about how this high-growth fintech unicorn is supporting their remote teams during this challenging pandemic. Here’s what Rylan had to say about Airwallex’s approach to embracing remote working and how they’re supporting their teams with this transition. Jade: What has been Airwallex’s stance on working from home? Rylan: At Airwallex, flexible working arrangements have always been extended to our employees depending on their circumstance or need. Whether someone needs to tend to a sick child, oversee house maintenance or needs a different environment to focus on deep work, the option to work from home for the day is available to them. However, having a few team members occasionally work from home isn’t quite the same
How Product Managers Can Thrive In A Distributed Work Model
By Jade Bennett We’re currently experiencing an unprecedented moment in time with the escalating impact that COVID-19 is having across the world. Our Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison called this a “once in a hundred-year event”. Like many of you, I have experienced a roller-coaster of emotions ranging from stress, fear and sadness for humanity. But instead of feeling hopeless, I’ve been searching for ways to help our community face this challenge. It’s taken me by surprise how novel an idea remote working is for so many companies and their people. Establishing Middleton Executive three years ago as a remote-first business was risky. The recruitment industry was very traditional and often had a culture of ‘presenteeism’. Working remotely has not hampered our ability to support our candidates and clients to meet their business objectives. In fact, we’ve been able to thrive as a remote-first business. I’ve found myself thinking about the Product Management community we serve; the impact this way of working might be having. Specifically, Product Managers, both teams and individuals who are not accustomed to the remote working model. I figure, here is my opportunity to help my Product community! Words of Product Wisdom Reaching out to my network of Senior Product Leaders who have experience with distributed teams of Product Managers, I asked for their help in
Leading The Product At Mates Rates
Hey product folk, get your Leading The Product event tickets at mates rates! At Middleton Executive we are always looking for ways to offer value to our community of Product folk. So we’re happy to announce a new partnership with product management & marketing experts, Brainmates! To celebrate, we’re excited to offer you ‘mates rates’ for Australia’s leading one-day Product Management conference, Leading The Product. Held in Melbourne on October 17, and in Sydney on October 22, we are offering you $50 off your ticket purchase! To redeem this offer, simply click on the applicable link below and be sure to enter the Mates Rates promotional code ‘MEFRIENDS’ at the checkout. Buy tickets at mates rates for MELBOURNE – October 17 Buy tickets at mates rates for SYDNEY – October 22 Don’t leave it too late, as tickets sell out quickly for this event. Our team will be there and we look forward to seeing you there too! If you’d like to become part of the Middleton Executive Product tribe and be notified of career opportunities and special product-related offers, register with us here. Jade and the team at Middleton Executive
The Life And Times Of A Product Entrepreneur
I recently attended a Product Anonymous networking event hosted by A Cloud Guru: The Life and Times of an Entrepreneur, featuring special guest speakers, Grant Hatamosa from Zen Ecosystems, Shannon Gilleland from Form-I-Baby and Carl Rigoni from SixSix. The event was geared toward coming together as a product management community and supporting each other through our individual journeys; whether it be as an entrepreneur, a product engineer or anyone with a slight interest in product management. Right up my alley! Kicking off with the presenters each sharing a lightbulb moment, we heard tales of how passion drove them each to become an entrepreneur, and what this means for them on a day to day basis. Whilst each story was unique, there were some common and complementary perspectives from these entrepreneurs so I thought I’d share with my product community some key takeaways… What makes a Product Manager ‘great’? Often referred to as the mini-CEO, this person wears many hats. They have a good grasp on all the skills and attributes that make up the role, and have the ability to deliver on those being all those things eg. support, engineer, designer, etc. They are rounded enough to be able to influence all the disciplines that go into the product from inception all the way through to the market launch and