Why women in tech should have a voice at the table now
Work-life didn’t teach women to have the courage to stand up. Here’s why we should think about it every day. My thoughts come from a place in which I am an expat working for global initiatives on behalf of Google.
Bias may be in charge, at any time, and I won’t lie! Bias makes our lives harder at any time.
What your personality tells you
Hi. You cannot have a voice at the table if you don’t know yourself enough to strive for it. Find your life and work hacks to be seen. Before committing to any kind of behavior, you should know how your brain functions. The same exercise we should do when it comes to design thinking and you don’t know what users think. The same approach we should do when a ticket is being refined. As a user, what would you look for? And then how your brain does function under pressure, sexism, and elitist environments — how you react to peers ignoring what you’re saying, how you get offended when your idea or technical approach to a solution is not chosen at the table, and so on. Ask them, does it make sense? What are your thoughts? How does it contribute to the business?
Assumptions are just assumptions if you don’t clarify them in a meeting.
Eventually, I cannot hide my concerns when we commit to an aggressive Sprint. I found out my body language tells so much about me. If you’re an extrovert — avoid sending so many messages on Slack and position yourself a bit more vocally in a meeting instead. Try this — my ex-coworker told me. If you’re a nerd, you may prepare yourself before demo meetings, and elaborate on a good speech in front of the mirror. If you’re practical, you may feel the room and let your judgment and instinct lead you. Although there’s no single formula I promise.
What peers tell you
A British coworker told me I was doing good. “We seldom see ourselves as others see us” — this was sweet, and I realized it when I sent a farewell message to a previous team and my stakeholders replied with so much love and caring. Have you ever asked how you were doing lately? And what could you improve? I recognized myself as a community builder in my current pod and seeing it as an opportunity made me grab it in the first weeks already! Introvert, technical, anxious people — you’re not alone in this. Every time we hide, there’s one point of view peers are missing at the table. I am not the best Accessibility expert in my pod — but I can count on who does it perfectly. And yes, your point of view can be essential to finish the puzzle. Having 1:1s is also a great strategy to build trust and have some support if you’re not into speaking out in meetings and still wanna have your confidence evolved. Passion and good manners are essential to any business.
Pay attention if somebody nicely defers questions to you — it’s a great sign they trust you, they want to receive your input. I work with development and QA peers and try not to hesitate to ask for help. Gut check with a close colleague about your soft and hard skills. I was told to improve my active listening last year. I started mentoring and it feels good to know bad habits can get better by opening yourself to vulnerabilities. A mentorship session (tks, Product by Women) is a safe space to listen, guide, and elaborate on constructive feedback to mentees. I have so much fun too!
What leadership tells you
At first, you should have your direct leadership as a potential allyship to have a voice at the table. Once a person told me not to trust their direct leader, and they were right. I started analyzing the leader’s behavior and it changed from time to time. As we were told at an early age to obey and follow the one above — it is not easy to recognize when something is wrong. Good leaders envision, challenge, and inspire, all with very good intentions. And facts can prove leaders will. Who’s owning the table now? How can you seat and have your voice heard at this table?
Have a seat, take a breath. If these requirements are important for you and they’re not met right now at any level, leave the table now.
This is an article inspired by some honest conversations I’ve been having with women in tech and strategy, such as Glaucia Guerra, Bruna Brito, Naimeesha Murthy, and Carolina Napoli. Thank you, girls.
Text by Rhaissa V.
Keeps hacking bias every day. Been reading about mental health, mentorship, strategy, and communities. Works as a Senior Product Manager — not a Developer, on behalf of Google.
