Women of Silicon Roundabout 2017: Refreshing, empowering and inclusive.

Celeste Ortega, Head of Operations

Women of Silicon Roundabout 2017: Refreshing, empowering and inclusive.

At TheTin we develop solutions that connect people, helping them engage and do things in new and better ways.

As Head of Operations at TheTin, I was drawn to Women of Silicon Roundabout 2017 for the second year running to enable me to report back to the company and reinforce our commitment to the sector and our clients. The event provides a platform for both men and women to discuss issues relating to Women in Tech Leadership, female founders, bridging the gender gap, and most importantly inspiring future generations of girls into the sector.

Having grown considerably from last year (which, I think speaks for itself!) it was invigorating to hear once again from so many speakers with so many things in common: ambition, challenges, fears and of course technology!

Inspiring the next generation

Recently awarded Employer of the year at @BritLGBTAwards, we heard from Sheridan Ash (Director, Technology and Investments) and Nina Rush (Technology Transformation Leader) of PwC Uk who reinforced to us the importance of role models in an industry mostly represented by men. A shocking statistic showed that only 3% of female students in the UK choose digital as their first career option. Encouraged by this, the company recently hosted workshops at the Science Museum, demonstrating to youngsters the endless possibilities available in the digital industry.

https://www.pwc.co.uk/who-we-are/women-in-technology/time-to-close-the-gender-gap.html

Discovering new role models

Mum, Grandmother, and proud women in tech, Jody Davids (SVP, Global CIO, PepsiCo) is my new role model! An admiral professional with 38 years of experience, her career started as a secretary. Jody offered us one of the best bits of advice I have heard to date: “If we want to succeed these days, we need to change the old model of work/life balance for work/life effectiveness. Each stage of your life will have different needs, adapt to them and you will succeed.”

Leading change

Storm Fagan (Product Director, JustEat) explained why people are so hesitant to change, she gave us some easy steps to change the culture and empower teams, embracing new challenges as one. Changing culture is about shifting power, therefore she warned us to brace for some resistance when implementing her advice, but to never be disheartened and stop making improvements.

Refreshing techniques

Discussing how obsolete some management techniques are Meri Williams (CTO, Moo), spoke to us about the key to modern management: purpose, autonomy, mastery and inclusion. This was to help us understand how important is to help people to succeed as themselves, creating a more inclusive culture in your company.

Supporting the future

Every organisation has different challenges and needs, but diverse teams lead to better outcomes. Some of the things we can all do, which we practice here at TheTin, are as follows:

  • Work as one team, rather than as multiple - lead employees to support each other as a company rather than work as individuals.
  • Embrace personal growth - support your employees to succeed as themselves.
  • Be open- have forums in place to allow each individual to voice their opinions, pushing ideas forward and increasing productivity.
  • Inspire - technology is challenging and changes every day. Inspire your employees to keep their fingers on the pulse and see these changes as part of their daily jobs.

Ending the day with some bubbles and light conversations, I came away from the event encouraged and empowered. I continue to feel a subtle sense of achievement knowing that here at TheTin we have an exceptional team full of powerful men and women that are pushing every day to make our company more equal, inclusive, challenging and we are not afraid of pushing our innovative ideas forward.

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