Building and Managing Top-Performing Global Teams, Part 1
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This week’s episode welcomes a new host to The Talent Economy Podcast, Toptal’s Chief Economist, Erik Stettler. Many of you may remember Erik from his interview with Paul earlier this year (Putting a Dent in the Universe: Introducing Toptal Chief Economist Erik Stettler). Paul and Erik, along with other key members of the Toptal team, will host different episodes of the podcast, each offering their unique perspectives on the Future of Work and introducing us to key leaders from within the industry and their respective networks.
Toptal’s Head of Projects, Stephanie Currier, joins Erik for his first episode. Stephanie holds three degrees from Northwestern University and Clarkson University. She has been in the IT management and consulting industry for about 10 years, where she started as an IT analyst and iteration manager at ThoughtWorks in Chicago, working with distributed teams for clients across multiple industries including fintech, eCommerce, and healthcare. Stephanie subsequently moved into program and product management roles for two startups.
She has been working with Toptal for the last three years. As the head of projects, she manages a team of delivery managers that curate and manage entire teams of Toptal talent to deliver successful client solutions.
In Part 1 of their conversation, Erik and Stephanie deep dive into a discussion about current events, how their personal passions have influenced their professional outlooks, the opportunities that remote work allows, and the importance of being output-driven. They also offer advice on how to alleviate client concerns around working with a remote team.
Questions Erik asks:
- What led you to your current role at Toptal and why?
- Did you have any experience working remotely prior to joining Toptal?
- How do project managers account for different time zones when managing a global team?
- How do you go about evaluating individual talent to build the best possible team?
In this episode, you will learn about:
- Stephanie’s process for assessing and reconciling the needs of a new project, client, and team.
- Stephanie’s and Erik’s advice on how to “learn your rhythm” and manage a work-life balance while working remotely.
- What Stephanie does to ensure that structured roles don’t prohibit individual contributions that could benefit the client.
- Stephanie’s process for engaging a new client and the assistance Toptal Projects offers to those who are new to remote work environments.
Connect with Stephanie:
