Continuous Learning and Growth in Product Delivery Teams

The Operations & Delivery Team in any product company is not only pivotal but also a significant revenue generator for the organisation. Operation team individuals often juggle client work, technical debts, train customers and the success team training along with tools and solutions development for effective maintenance and monitoring.

With an abundance of shifting responsibilities, it is not uncommon for anyone in a delivery team to feel overwhelmed by work pressures and shifting priorities that limits self-learning and growth. The monotonous nature of everyday tasks can lead to demotivation and a reduced interest in the job.

To thrive in a delivery team, it is crucial to adopt key practices that brings in learning and growth within self and the organisation. This kind of a learn-and-grow approach not only enhances job satisfaction but also contributes to personal and professional development.

Photo by Suzanne D. Williams on Unsplash

On-the-Job Learning and Beyond

Learning can be :

1. On-the-Job Learning: This includes gaining skills and knowledge through daily tasks and responsibilities. It is a practical and hands-on approach.
2. Learning Outside Daily Tasks: This includes acquiring new skills and knowledge beyond the scope of daily job duties. It can be online courses, workshops, certifications and related professional articles.

Tailored learning opportunities ensures that you remain engaged, motivated, and equipped with the latest skills to excel in your roles. Whatever be the type of learning — the key is to be consistent and targeted.

Growth comes from what you do consistently.

Embrace Best Practices

• Focus on understanding and implementing industry best practices in your work. This not only improves your efficiency but also ensures that your contributions are aligned with the highest standards.
• Implementing best practices positions you as a role model within the organisation. By setting high standards for yourself, you encourage others to follow suit, driving overall team performance and success.
• You can contribute to organisation level code repositories or internal documentation — this makes you a valued contributor.
• Be eager and thorough to understand the product and its features — your feedback is more relatable and valuable when you understand the existing architecture of the system.

Take Initiative

• Volunteer to activities that helps you interact and learn more with the product, analyse and understand tech debts built over the years within your team.
• Take efforts to understand business and customer — use cases and pain points. This will help address the right areas required for improvement. There can be multiple opportunities for improvements — but strike a trade off on items that are quicker to achieve and brings in maximum benefits.
• Take advantage of the abundant information available as part of being in a delivery team about the client and their usage of the product. You can track usage and suggest methods to improve product adoption which also adds to increased revenue.

Identify Potential Mentors

• Having a mentor is invaluable for your professional and personal growth at any stage of your career. Identify individuals who have experience and success in areas you want to grow. This could be your immediate manager or even someone within your organisation.
• Approach potential mentors for effective guidance. Work with your mentor to set specific, achievable goals for your development.
• Be open to their feedback and suggestions. Constructive criticism from a mentor can be instrumental in your growth.
• Stay committed to your growth and appreciation for their time and effort.

Goal Setting

• It is important to understand how you want to chart your growth in the organisation. Take time to understand where you want to be and set goals that align with your career aspirations.
• It is important for your goals to also align with the organisational objective, so take time to understand your organisational north star objectives.
• Allocate time for reading in your everyday scheduling — It can be a product feature documentation, an engineering case study, notes on team practices or industry trends — it can be anything that aligns with your aspirations. Reading even 15 mins a day will work wonders over a period of time.
• Ensure your goals are bite sized, measurable and time boxed.
• Track progress regularly to ensure you are consistent and do not stray off track due to work pressures. Make sure to mark smaller milestones and Celebrate when you reach them.

Last of all, Self Motivation is key for Continuous Learning and Growth of an individual in delivery teams. You cannot wait for someone else to invest in your growth — be the person responsible for your development. Believe in yourself and balance what you do to ensure you feel satisfied of progress over a period of time.