Onboarding new product hires - Christian Idiodi on The Product Experience
Jul 12, 2023
44:50
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Quick takeaways
Effective onboarding programs are crucial for new product hires to excel in their roles.
Structured onboarding curriculums should align with company values and goals for employee success.
Extend onboarding strategies to include all departments, fostering collaboration and productivity.
Deep dives
Christian Idiori's Role at Silicon Valley Product Group
Christian Idiori, a partner at Silicon Valley Product Group (SVPG), focuses on coaching companies worldwide on building products that customers love. SVPG's current emphasis is on helping companies transition to the product operating model and empowering teams to make informed decisions through effective discovery processes. Christian also dedicates time to working with teams in Africa, highlighting the importance of building products suited for local markets.
The Significance of Onboarding Programs
Christian Idiori stresses the importance of effective onboarding programs for new hires in product teams. He argues that most job descriptions are inadequate, leading to gaps in employees' preparedness to excel in their roles. By creating detailed onboarding programs that establish trust, clarify job expectations, and provide coaching, companies can accelerate new employees' learning curves and enhance team performance.
Designing a Structured Onboarding Curriculum
Christian Idiori emphasizes the need for a structured onboarding curriculum that aligns with the organization's values and goals. He advocates for a hands-on approach that involves coaching, equipping, and practicing to enhance employees' competencies. By creating deliberate outcomes for each day of onboarding, managers can ensure new hires are prepared to succeed in their roles.
Expanding Onboarding Initiatives to Other Departments
Christian Idiori extends the onboarding approach beyond product teams to include all departments within an organization. By facilitating job shadowing experiences and fostering cross-departmental learning, companies can improve collaboration, understanding, and respect among different teams. This comprehensive onboarding strategy aims to enhance communication, teamwork, and productivity across the organization.
Innovate Africa Foundation and the Inspire Africa Conference
Christian Idiori's commitment to fostering technology and product innovation in Africa led to the establishment of the Innovate Africa Foundation. The foundation aims to build a strong technology community in Africa that can develop local solutions for local challenges. Through initiatives like the upcoming Inspire Africa Conference, Christian seeks to train, coach, and connect product professionals across the continent to drive impactful change and innovation in the region.
Christian Idiodi, Partner and SVPG joins us on the podcast this week! We speak with Christian about onboarding new product hires, and the work he is doing for the first in-person product conference for the African continent.
Our Hosts Lily Smith enjoys working as a consultant product manager with early-stage and growing startups and as a mentor to other product managers. She’s currently Chief Product Officer at BBC Maestro, and has spent 13 years in the tech industry working with startups in the SaaS and mobile space. She’s worked on a diverse range of products – leading the product teams through discovery, prototyping, testing and delivery. Lily also founded ProductTank Bristol and runs ProductCamp in Bristol and Bath.
Randy Silver is a Leadership & Product Coach and Consultant. He gets teams unstuck, helping you to supercharge your results. Randy's held interim CPO and Leadership roles at scale-ups and SMEs, advised start-ups, and been Head of Product at HSBC and Sainsbury’s. He participated in Silicon Valley Product Group’s Coaching the Coaches forum, and speaks frequently at conferences and events. You can join one of communities he runs for CPOs (CPO Circles), Product Managers (Product In the {A}ether) and Product Coaches. He’s the author of What Do We Do Now? A Product Manager’s Guide to Strategy in the Time of COVID-19. A recovering music journalist and editor, Randy also launched Amazon’s music stores in the US & UK.
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