Biggest Challenges Faced By A Director Of Program Management And Product Strategy Operations At Turnitin
Kevin's role at Turnitin presents the challenge of bridging communication gaps between "very smart people" across diverse teams and acquired companies, each with its own "cultural dynamics." This requires navigating multiple domains to ensure that the company's "knowledge and skill" effectively serves students and institutions' academic integrity goals.
Project Management, Communication, Teamwork, Cross-cultural Communication, Leadership
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Kevin Tsay
Director, Program Management & Product Strategy Operations
Turnitin
Washington University in St. Louis, 2007
Duke University Sanford School of Public Policy, MPP
Education
Technology
Operations and Project Management
LGBTQ
Video Highlights
1. Understanding and facilitating information across teams of very smart people with diverse expertise.
2. Navigating the cultural dynamics of a large company with a history of acquisitions.
3. Translating knowledge and skills across different domains to create deliverables that impact students and educational institutions.
Transcript
What are some of the biggest challenges in your role?
A couple of things. One is that many of the smart people at Turnitin are brilliant because they excel at what they do. In my role, understanding their perspectives and facilitating information sharing across teams can be a significant challenge.
It's also something I enjoy, but it's inherently difficult when I'm not a domain expert in every area. Turnitin is a company with a long history, and it has acquired many different companies over the years. These acquisitions bring their own cultural dynamics.
Because people are so smart and operate within different cultural models, not only as a global company but also across acquired entities, it challenges someone in my role. I need to think across different domains.
Ultimately, I need to figure out what this means for our customers and how to translate all this knowledge and skill into deliverables. These ultimately affect how students view their own work and how educational institutions promote academic integrity.