Slides Jenn Bornstein recently used in his discussion w/ mentees of The Product Mentor. The Product Mentor is a program designed to pair Product Mentors and Mentees from around the World, across all industries, from start-up to enterprise, guided by the fundamental goals…Better Decisions. Better Products. Better Product People. Throughout the program, each mentor leads a conversation in an area of their expertise that is live streamed and available to both mentee and the broader product community. http://TheProductMentor.com

1. The Product Mentor
Maintaining Team Morale on
Remote Collaborative Teams
April 2016

2. 2TOUCHTUNES
Introduction
Jenn Bornstein
• Current
- TouchTunes Music Corporation
- TouchTunes TV, Senior Product
Manager
- Locations: NY, Chicago, Montreal,
Chicago, Oxford
• Previous
- DirectTV, Product Manager, 2nd
Screen
- Locations: NY, LA
- Nielsen, General Manager,
RewardTV
- Locations: NY, Chicago,
Oxford, Belgium, Singapore,
Bangalore

3. 3TOUCHTUNES
Overview
TODAY’S TALKING POINTS
• Review issues caused by Remote
Teams
• Identify tools that help
• The importance of face-time
• Must remembers
“A virtual team – whether
across the street or across the
world – is a team whose
members simultaneously work
together to a common purpose,
while physically apart.” – Yael
Zofi

4. 4TOUCHTUNES
Structure
IDEAL TEAM
• Product Management
• Development
• Project Management
• Design
• QA
Co-location

5. 5TOUCHTUNES
Structure
REALITY – e.g. Current TouchTunes Team
• Product Management
• Design
• Project Management
• Developers
• QA
NYC Montreal

6. 6TOUCHTUNES
ISSUES OF REMOTE TEAMS
• Harder to get to know one another
• Easy to get out of step on day-to-day
activities
• Harder to realize when there is
miscommunication
• Easy to get disconnected on long-term
goals

7. 7TOUCHTUNES
IMPACTS ON MORALE
Feel disconnected
Feel Frustrated
Feel unheard
Feel alone
Feel unsupported
Feel confused
Feel uniformed Feel hopeless
Feel like everything is a fight
Feel burnt out
Feel set up for failure

8. So how can we make it
work?

9. 9TOUCHTUNES
Making it work
UTILIZATION OF THE RIGHT ONLINE TOOLS
• Support communication
• Support organization
• Support process
• Support collaboration

10. 10TOUCHTUNES
Online Tools
So Many Choices! Which one do I choose?

11. 11TOUCHTUNES
Online Tools
EXPLORING SLACK
• Slack has allowed TouchTunes to
create conversation channels for
every project
• What it has done for us:
• Reduced emails
• Real-time communication
• Project management
• File management
• Provided an archive

12. 12TOUCHTUNES
Online Collaboration
SLACK: THE RIGHT TOOL FOR TOUCHTUNES
Slack’s partnerships have allowed us
to integrate in other tools to create 1
big super-tool.
• Google Hangouts – Video
Conferencing
• Dropbox – File storage & Transfer
• GitHub – Code related project
management
• Trello – Roadmapping/Kanban
• Google Drive – create, store,
collaborate on documents online
MTL team sharing a pic of a
recent release celebration

13. Getting beyond digital

14. 14TOUCHTUNES
Beyond Digital
GETTING “REAL” FACE-TIME
• Office visits
• Making time for socialization
• Getting out of the office

15. 15TOUCHTUNES
Beyond Digital
THE BENEFIT OF OFFICE VISITS
• Getting on the same page
• Getting a better sense of what
people are working on
• Observing how people work
• Hashing out the hard stuff in
person
• Opportunity to work on longer -
term vision & strategy

16. 16TOUCHTUNES
Beyond Digital
THE BENEFITS OF GETTING OUT OF THE OFFICE
• Rent a Breather Space
• Do a little group field
research
• your products
• a competitor’s product
• a workshop
• a breather space
Check out:

17. 17TOUCHTUNES
Beyond Digital
THE BENEFITS OF MAKING TIME FOR SOCIALIZATION
• Get to know one another personally
• Shared experiences bring everyone
together
• Group activities promote teamwork
• Go to lunch or dinner
• Grab a drink
• Karaoke
• Bowling
• Trivia Night
• Escape Rooms
• Scavenger Hunt
Suggestions:

18. 18TOUCHTUNES
IN SUMMARY
• Find online tools that work for your
team to keep them in easy contact
• Make sure to visit and face-time
• Get out of the office for collaborative
time
• Socialize and get to know one another

19. 19TOUCHTUNES
Always Remember
• Digital solutions can never replace actual
conversation (pick up the phone)
• Go with your gut – if something feels off, it
probably is
• Pat yourselves on the back for your
accomplishments – and make note of what
you all want to improve