We are all asked to build everything at the same time and everything is due yesterday. This is the life of product managers - and they seem to survive! Prioritization techniques used by successful product managers can relieve a lot of stress at centralized DevOps/platforms teams.

DevOps efforts usually start with a technical need that is closest to the surface. However, there may be other underlying needs that are not articulated by the request owners. As DevOps practitioners, we can integrate subtle yet effective interviewing techniques into our 1:1s and meetings to collect these deeper, hidden needs.

When we talk to each other, we follow certain conversation styles. This choice, sometimes deliberate and sometimes not, determines the outcome of the conversation - sometimes good, sometimes bad. I will cover different conversation styles and draw from various relationship theories to explain how conversation styles shape our communication. If you are a coach, mentor, or trying to improve your inter/intra-team communications, this is going to be a great session for you. 

Were you mad when you first realized that sudo doesn’t work on humans? Getting someone to understand us and to follow our suggestions take a lot of effort. And sometimes we struggle understanding others and make sense of what they want. Why can’t they say what they want openly? Why can’t they understand what I am saying?

It’s because we are human, and we talk in different ways. In this session we will talk about 7 different conversation styles all humans use. We will discuss how each style can be used to create harmony and mutual understanding. We will focus on biases in coaching scenarios, and cover other factors that impede with open, strong connections to our colleagues, mentees and customers. We will share field-tested tips and tricks that will help you keep focus on understanding and not jumping to conclusions during interviews, coaching sessions or tough management conversations.