I’m one quarter in at Veritas Technologies and frequently encounter some form of the question “So what’s your job really like?” As Americas Chief of Staff, I can confidently respond, “I work with a lot of really talented people.”
At Veritas, you’re surrounded by individuals who are passionate about providing sincere value to customers. Driving this company-wide initiative, we have a selection of industry-leading products and solutions supported by a team of sales representatives uniquely trained to deliver them with attention to our customers’ interests and needs.
Still, there’s always room for improvement, and this challenge is motivating. In pursuit of improving, I’ve had the chance to gain visibility of every part of the company – participating in efforts touching each Veritas business group and global region.
Really, it’s sort of incredible.
But it’s equally intense, with rapid cross-organizational requests occurring within tight timeframes. With this demand in mind, I’d like to share some of the best practices I’ve put into place in my day-to-day to be successful in my role:
- Prioritize: To ensure nothing slips and priorities remain in focus, I keep a simple “Top 15” list of ordered actions, checking it daily to make sure I’m working on something that’s among my leading 15 goals.
- Communicate: And keep it simple! I write emails to fit within a smartphone screen; with email composed clearly and concisely, my colleagues understand what I am trying to say in as few words as possible. And I’ll often call someone after 3 emails have been exchanged – you’ll probably reach a solution faster with direct communication.
- Prepare: I maintain a running list of key discussion topics for conversations with company leaders. Planning in advance, I can guarantee the most pressing matters are engaged in conversation and make efficient use of our time.
- Solve: I’ve found the problems most readily addressed are those that arrive with clearly defined bounds and a proposed solution. When highlighting an issue, make a point to identify and describe the details at hand, and come prepared with a possible solution; this approach eases the decision-making experience for all parties involved.
This brings us to what could be a 5th best practice on my list, but is perhaps better represented as an overarching aim at Veritas Technologies: collaborate. At Veritas, there is a communal awareness of the importance of collaboration – a shared collaborative spirit – and this intentionality in connecting with one’s colleagues and inviting joint efforts inspires impressive results among and between the organization’s teams, globally. This is Veritas.
