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The Engineering Leadership Podcast

Unlocking Empowered, Self-Sufficient Teams: A Deep Dive into 'First Team' Strategies w/ Monica Bajaj #164

Jan 30, 2024
Monica Bajaj, VPE @ Okta, discusses the 'first team approach' and its application within different team functions and levels in an engineering organization. Topics covered include architecture, quality, security, onboarding, and product development. The importance of trust, transparency, and collaboration between teams is highlighted, along with the power of context sharing and autonomy. The chapter also touches on the habit of winning, the 'four piece' model, and the trend of 5G technology.
36:34

Episode guests

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Quick takeaways

  • The first team concept promotes trust, transparency, and accountability as crucial elements for organizational success, driving collaboration, effective communication, and faster decision-making.
  • Applying the first team concept in various functions and levels within an engineering organization enhances autonomy, accelerates execution, and builds technical excellence, fostering a culture of collaboration, ownership, and continuous learning.

Deep dives

The Power of the First Team Concept

The first team concept emphasizes the importance of prioritizing peer collaboration and support over individual team agendas. It promotes trust, transparency, and accountability as crucial elements for organizational success. By aligning with core business priorities and fostering cohesion among executives and leaders at all levels, the first team concept drives collaboration, effective communication, and faster decision-making. It enables organizations to tackle challenges, such as onboarding new teams, developing new products, and navigating mergers and acquisitions. The concept also encourages bottoms-up initiatives, unleashes creativity and innovation, and uplevels both technology and people skills. Overall, the first team concept fosters a cohesive, resilient, and adaptable organizational culture.

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