Katheryn Baker: Bridging Business and Technical People

What this episode covers

Katheryn Baker is Vice President at Artic Consulting, a consulting firm that provides technology solutions for business and data management.  Katheryn is passionate about both technology and business and is skilled in Enterprise Software, Business Strategy, Productivity, Data, and Program Management.  She’s joining us today from Anaheim, CA. Highlights: Q: You have a background in both business and technology, and you have been a consultant for essentially your entire career.  Tell us your story of how you got to where you are now. Katheryn has a degree in Art History but quickly found she was interested in program management.  She became good friends with the dev teams and moved into leading them.  She had to learn as she went.  She has grown dev consulting teams for many years, including at Artic. Q: Did you have to learn how to program to lead dev teams? Katheryn learned what she called “enough to be dangerous,” both in programming and database management.  She said her sweet spot was understanding how things work together and working with the technical and leadership teams and translating between them. Q: You work with a wide range of clients, from small companies to giants across different industries.  Is it pretty much the same to communicate with them or do you have to use different methods? She said Agility has been important in all industries, but it’s critical to her as a leader and a consultant to a wide range of clients. There are some similarities, but jargon changes across organizations and industries.  Whether people are remote or on site is another consideration.  It is extremely helpful for her team to be able to go on site and actually see what is going on.  She has to use different forms of communication to work with different clients—email, chat, in-person, and so on. Listen to the podcast to hear Katheryn’s tips on being flexible with different clients and as a leader working with different team members, how she has handled the talent shortage, and tips on working remotely and what challenges they have overcome at Artic. Words of Wisdom: There isn’t a one size fits all to a specific issue or goal. If you understand what motivates people, you can help them have a sense of pride in their work. As a manager, it’s important to recognize that people have different scenarios in their lives at different times. It’s a great time for women in the tech industry. Contact Katheryn Baker: Website: https://www.articconsulting.com/ Email: [email protected] LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katheryn-baker-34bb485/