WATSON IOT

Building teams, leading change

In 2015 IBM started a new business uint built out of 3 other BU. This created a challenge in not only in blending 3 different cultures, but also to inspire our designers to adopt a start up approach.

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This was a dynamic team of 20+ designers who were working on legacy products that suddenly found themselves in the world of IoT. My approach to blending the 3 cultures was to start the teams on new projects in IoT, crossing the previous team lines and blending the unique skills that each individual brought to the table. We kept an Agile and fast pace on the new concepts and repeated the mixing of teams until we started to feel like the community of Watson IoT Design. 

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As we progressed in our maturity as a business unit I aligned the skills that each designer brought to the table with the projects that were proposed. Looking for what inspired each designer, I have been able to energize stalled out careers, redirect ones that have gotten off course, and help new employees to build experience. Being a Designer myself, I was able to identify the right skills needed and either hire or internally build them. Through recruitment and skill development, I have grown the team to 30 designers.

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Another aspect of my work was to be the key representative for the design and build of our Munich HQ. I worked with the external design companies to help identify the desired client journeys and then build the content out. This work gave me the opportunity to better understand our sales cycles and what is involved in the full process for the clients. Through this work I have built a passion for helping align our sales process to be more efficient. 

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Client engagement is an area that really energizes me. I enjoy working with the client at all levels to identify opportunities and help to pursue them. For Watson IoT my focus has been on building partnerships and acting on their potential.