Working women lead the life of a multitasker – trying to achieve perfect balance between various aspects of life: children, family, work pressure, career growth, updating competencies, etc.. with very less time of Me time left. To top it some biases/psychological phenomenon, lack of adequate support network, lack of role models, all make it challenging for women to climb up the career ladder. The talk focuses on why women face so many challenges in IT, what are those, what can be done and how Agile/Scrum values and ceremonies can help play a part

1. Making IT Better
for HER
Prajakta Thakur
MBA, CSM, CSPO, CSP
Tata Consultancy Services Ltd

2. Persona:
- Indian woman
- Mother of a 3 year old
- Stays with In Laws
- Works for a renowned IT Firm in India with a US Client
- Has a packed daily routine from 5.30 am to 11.30 pm
- Responsible for household chores, childcare, family
responsibilities and hectic project work
- No Me Time
- Playing PO role for 3 yrs and not able to get role
progression
Sarika, the Scrum Product Owner
Sarika’s Goal: Maintain Work Life Balance & Achieve Career Progression
Emotional State:
- Stressed,
- Always on the run trying to Have it All,
- No focus on Self,
- Lack of motivation,

3. Challenges faced by working women like Sarika
Household & Family
Responsiblities
Working Hours
Organizational Policies
Lack of Adequate Role
Models
Lack of Support, Network
& Mentorship
Statistics: http://www.ted.com/talks/sheryl_sandberg_why_we_have_too_few_women_leaders?language=en

4. Exercise: Male or Female?

5. Scenario 1
Sarika as Product Owner delivered a successful release. She was instrumental in gathering requirements,
preparing release plan, collaborating with her team of 4 developers and testing all deliverables, even playing
Scrum Master responsibilities for her team. Client has sent a big appreciation email specially focusing on
Sarika’s attention to detail, how effectively she managed the release and helped the team to give on time
delivery with quality
Mr Sharma, Business Relationship Manager:
Congratulations Sarika!... You did a great job with ABC project.
Client is very happy with your work. Keep it up!
Sarika, Product Owner:
Thank you, but the success was all due to my team…Luckily we
did not face any major issues with release…. Also it was a simple
project and small team , so easy to drive
Mr Sharma:
Would you like to take up the upcoming project, it is very
challenging and big team to manage.
Sarika thinks to herself :
I have never managed this big a team… I don’t think I am ready… I was lucky that the
last release went fine… things fell in place… my team was very good… I dint do
anything… I don’t deserve all this… I don’t think I can manage a bigger challenge…

6. Imposter Syndrome
Pauline Rose Clance & Suzanne Imes researched on this in 1978
Recent study on this says, 70% of people experience Imposter Syndrome
High achieving women have it more frequently and deeply
Statistics: http://www.forbes.com/sites/margiewarrell/2014/04/03/impostor-syndrome/

7. Scenario 2
There is an upcoming assignment. Business Sponsors on this project are very demanding. It is a first
experiment within client organization when Oracle Apps project is being implemented in Scrum. Business
Relationship Manager wants to immediately identify IT Product Owner and Team for this project
Portfolio Lead, Suresh has never worked with Sarika but has worked closely with Kapil. Suresh, also
mentors Kapil and they take lunch together
Mr Sharma, Business Relationship Manager:
Suresh, this project is a challenging assignment and I would like to make it into a
success story for our account. I want team to be staffed immediately. Do you think
Sarika can play the PO role for this?
Suresh, Portfolio Lead:
I have never worked with Sarika directly. But, If you suggest I will talk to her.
However, I believe she may not be able to manage hectic deadlines and the occasional
travel that this project has. She has a toddler to look after, afterall
Also the sponsor Mike is very aggressive. In our last assignment with Mike one of our
POs Rupa, was not able to negotiate effectively, which resulted in ineffective release
planning, schedule slippage and major escalations! So I don’t think Sarika is a good
choice! How about Kapil? Kapil is a good negotiator and also he will be fine to travel
anytime

8. Stereotyping
SOURCE: dilbert.com

9. Familiarity Heuristic

10. Result?
Overlooked
Demotivated
Self Doubting
Stressed
Under Valued

11. What inspiration
can we draw from
Scrum?
Finding Solutions for Sarika

12. 1. Prioritization

13. Prioritize your TO DOs – Urgent Important Matrix
Low Importance
High Urgency
Low Importance
Low Urgency
High Importance
High Urgency
High Importance
Low Urgency
Urgent
High
Low
Low HighImportant
Do Now
PlanEliminate
Delegate
1
24
3
Laura Vanderkam in her
book, I Know How She
Does It: How Successful
Women Make the Most
of Their Time
- They plan their toughest
tasks for early in the
morning
- They plan ahead
- They think 168 hours,
not 24
- They take real breaks
- Track Your Time
- Sneak in some me time
for your health and
hobbies

14. 2. Focus
When you
FOCUS
ON WHAT YOU WANT,
everything else
falls away

15. Focus on Yourself – Do a Personal SWOT
Strengths
o Positive self & public
image
o Education
o Rich work experience
o Technical knowledge in
specific field
o Communication skills
o Leadership skills
o Networking and contacts
o Interaction with
professional organizations
Weaknesses
o Negative personal
characteristics ( lack of
discipline, lack of motivation,
poor health, indecisiveness,
shyness)
o Lack of networking
o No goals and objectives
o Negative self and public image
o Lack of work experience
o Lack of technical knowledge
o Lack of communication skills,
o Lack of leadership skills
Opportunities
o Growth, globalization in
your field of choice
o Technical advances in
your field of work
o Trends needing your
kind of skills
o Chance to target more
specific job goals
o Chance for
advancement in your
field
o Location is at your
advantage
o Strong network
Threats
o Downsizing your chosen field
o Off trends in your field of
work
o Cut throat competition
o Tough competitions from
young Competitors with
superior skills, experience
and knowledge
o Lack of advance education or
training facilities in your area
o Limited advancement in your
field
o Companies are not hiring
Strengths
Opportunities
Weaknesses
Threats
InternalExternal
Helpful Harmful
S W
O T
(Capitalize) (Manage)
(Take Advantage) (Minimize Impact)

16. 3. Accountability
It is not only what
WE DO, but also what
WE DO NOT DO for which
WE are accountable

17. • Invest in Relational Capital
• Target Decision Makers
• Make your network multidimensional
• Put yourself out there
Take Accountability – Build your Network
will readily acknowledge
that "who you know"
counts for a lot, or at
least as much as "how
well you do your job
believe that long hours,
hard work, and
education lead to
promotion rather than
key connections
77
% Women
83
% Men
Few tips from Rebecca Shambaugh
(Internationally recognized Leadership Expert, Author, Keynote Speaker)
Statistics: Catalyst’s research, also referred in Rebecca’s book Make Room for Her

18. 4. Communication
Communication. It’s the first thing we
really learn in life. Funny thing is, once we
grow up, learn our words and really start
talking, the harder it becomes to know
what to say. Or how to ask for what we
really need

19. Take credit
where credit is
due
Don’t take
things
personally
Negotiate
effectively for
what you
deserve
Communicate Effectively
Sit at the
Table

20. Alone we can do so little,
Together we can do so much
5. Collaboration

21. Collaborate
• Make your partner your true partner
• Create your support system @home & @workplace
• Engage with Organization HR to understand policies
• Be part of women’s network or forum to draw inspiration from role models and
peers
SOURCE: TCS video channel

22. 6. Inspect and Adapt
The easiest thing
in the world is to
find fault with
others, the
toughest is to
find our own
faults

23. • What is working well ?
• What is not working well and needs to change?
 Competencies
 Aspiration
 Work Life Balance
 Priorities
 Health
 Relationships
 Finances
 ……..
Retrospect

24. Gather Feedback

25. Thank You
Prajakta Thakur
MBA, CSM, CSPO, CSP
Tata Consultancy Services Ltd
prajakta.thakur2112@gmail.com
https://in.linkedin.com/pub/prajakta-thakur-csm-cspo-csp-
mba/b/b15/782