Biggest Challenges Faced By A Professional At AT&T
Frances's greatest challenge as a long-tenured AT&T retiree involved "managing up," navigating differing expectations from supervisors and senior leadership. This included the frustration of simplifying complex work, such as marketing campaigns, into concise presentations for executives who desired only "the top line."
Communication, Executive/Leadership, Overcoming Challenges, Presentations, Managing Up
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Frances Groeneman
Retiree
AT&T
University of Redlands, 1994
University of LaVerne MSLM
Business Management & Admin
Advertising, Communications & Marketing
Communication and Marketing
None Applicable
Video Highlights
1. Managing Up: The interviewee highlights the challenge of aligning expectations with supervisors who may have a different perspective on achievable goals. This is a crucial skill in any career, requiring communication and negotiation.
2. Preparing Presentations for Senior Leadership: Creating concise and impactful presentations for senior leaders who prioritize high-level summaries is a common challenge. This involves strategic communication and data visualization skills.
3. Balancing Detail and Conciseness: The interviewee discusses the difficulty of summarizing complex projects and campaigns for senior management, demonstrating the need to effectively communicate intricate information concisely. This is a valuable skill in many professional fields.
Transcript
What is your biggest challenge in your current role?
I think because I've done it for so long, I didn't really feel like I had a lot of challenges. The only challenge would be sort of managing up.
This involves managing your immediate supervisor and their expectations. They may not be as close to the work as you are and might have a different perception of what you should achieve.
You have to manage their expectations, but also help them manage their boss's expectations. For some people, this can be frustrating, but it's a necessary part of the job.
Another challenge was preparing presentations for senior leadership at least once a quarter. These presentations were to give them a summary of our work and results.
These presentations were frustrating because senior leaders don't want a lot of detail; they just want the top line. Trying to explain an intricate marketing campaign with various aspects and tactics to senior leadership is difficult to summarize effectively. Preparing those quarterly summaries was a very frustrating exercise.
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