Three traits Gen Z product managers (like me) value in our tools
How Coda enables authenticity, usability, and inclusivity at work.
Kathy Pan
Product Manager at Coda
Three traits Gen Z product managers (like me) value in our tools
By Kathy Pan
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Blog > Product teams · 5 min read
Authenticity: You can bring your personality into Coda.
In order to do my best work, I need to feel like I can bring my whole self to work. One of the primary ways we express ourselves at work is through written communication, and Coda has everything I need to convey my personality over text. It’s important to me to know my co-workers as people, and vice versa. One of my favorite ways to do this is with a weekly team kickoff. Every Monday, my team shares a fun picture of their weekend and drops a heart on everyone else’s photos. It’s a quick and easy way to see what folks were up to offline and connect with them as humans before diving into actual work. Hearts not your thing? Another one of my favorite touches in the template is the custom reactions—the heart, cowboy, and Drake Yes. It’s a small way to add delight, and who doesn’t love clicking an emoji? Reactions are entirely customizable, so you can tailor it to your own personality and preferences.
Intuitive design: I expect my tool to work for me, not the other way around.
Like most Gen Zs, I’m a digital native. Many of us grew up with almost constant access to the internet and computers. As a result, I have a high bar when it comes to app usability and design, and I expect my professional software to be as functional and polished as my personal apps. Luckily, Coda is flexible, nice to look at for eight hours straight, and easy to use! The Coda canvas supports all sorts of media, including photos, video, and audio, without requiring re-formatting. I’ve never had to constrain the type of content I put in my docs. With Coda, I can also bring information that lives outside of Coda into Coda with just a few clicks. Want to put a Miro board into a Coda doc? No problem—I can create a full-page or partial embed with a quick copy-paste. With two-way sync, I can even edit the board in my doc and those changes will reflected in Miro as well. Coda’s library of Packs makes integrating with hundreds of third-party apps like Miro seamless. Whatever you can dream up, you can probably create in Coda. Even if your manager or team lead prefers to use another tool to pull reports or store info, Coda lets you continue to collaborate.Diversity & Inclusion: Coda drives inclusive meetings.
Gen Z puts a high priority on diversity and inclusion—one in two of us won’t even work for a company without diverse leadership. But inclusion in a company goes much deeper than just hiring practices. Like many other members of my generation, I value working in an environment where everyone’s input matters, and I care deeply about creating safe spaces for my colleagues and myself to share our unique perspectives. In my experience, I’ve found that larger group meetings are particularly prone to non-inclusive behaviors. As someone who’s on the younger side of the workforce and also a lower volume individual, I used to struggle with getting my thoughts heard in bigger meetings. However, on joining Coda, I was introduced to two rituals— Dory and Pulse —that have become my favorite tools for making meetings inclusive. With Dory (named after the question-asking fish from Finding Nemo), anyone can add a meeting topic or question, and the team votes on their favorites, ensuring that the most important questions are prioritized (regardless of who added the topic). With Pulse, everyone has an opportunity to voice their opinion (anonymously or otherwise), and can also use flashtags to convey how strongly they feel. Using these templates together drives meetings where everyone’s ideas and sentiments are equally shared.
Let me know what you think!
If you’re a Gen Zer (or you simply work with one), I’d love to hear your thoughts! What do you value at the workplace and what tools enable you to succeed? You can reach me at kathy@coda.io. And thanks to my colleagues for creating the various templates and resources referenced above! Want to give Coda a try? Make a copy of my Team Kickoff template and give it a shot with your team!Related posts
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