Shankar Subramanian

Great teammates make great teams Are you one? Great teams aren’t just built on talent—they’re built on trust, respect, and collaboration. Being a great teammate is about showing up, not just for your work but for the people around you. Here are 12 ways to level up as a teammate: 1 >> 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗨𝗽 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗱 Respect your team’s time by coming to meetings ready to contribute. Preparation shows you care. 2 >> 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗖𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗢𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗻 Silence can be misinterpreted. Share updates, voice concerns, and keep your team in the loop. 3 >> 𝗚𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗖𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗶𝘁 𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝗗𝘂𝗲 Shine a light on others’ contributions. Great teams celebrate wins together, not alone. 4 >> 𝗣𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗟𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 Don’t listen to respond—listen to understand. It builds trust and strengthens relationships. 5 >> 𝗢𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿 𝗛𝗲𝗹𝗽 𝗪𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗕𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗔𝘀𝗸𝗲𝗱 If someone is struggling, step in. Even small acts of support go a long way. 6 >> 𝗢𝘄𝗻 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗠𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀 Accountability is key. Admit when you’re wrong, learn, and move forward. 7 >> 𝗕𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗣𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗘𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗴𝘆 Your attitude is contagious. Show up with enthusiasm and optimism—it makes a difference. 8 >> 𝗕𝗲 𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗙𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 Great teammates don’t just give feedback—they welcome it too. Growth happens when we listen and adjust. 9 >> 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘆 𝗖𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗼𝘂𝘀 Ask questions, seek input, and be open to new perspectives. Curiosity fosters innovation and connection. 10 >> 𝗞𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗘𝗴𝗼 𝗶𝗻 𝗖𝗵𝗲𝗰𝗸 It’s not about being the smartest person in the room—it’s about contributing to collective success. 11 >> 𝗦𝗲𝘁 𝗕𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗹𝘆 Be clear about your limits and respect others’. A healthy team culture values balance. 12 >> 𝗖𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗯𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗦𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀 When the team wins, we all win. Take time to celebrate milestones and accomplishments together. Great teammates make great teams—and being one is a choice we can all make, every day. 📌 Which of these 12 habits do you see the most (or the least) in your team? What would you add to this list? Share in the comments⤵ ---- ♻️ Repost and share these leadership tips to help your network ➕ Follow me, Ashley VanderWel, for more

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I often see people mixing up the roles of Project Manager (PM) and Program Manager (PgM). While both are crucial in driving success, their focus and responsibilities are quite different. Let’s break it down 👇 🔹 Project Manager (PM) • Manages a specific project with a defined scope, budget, and timeline. • Ensures deliverables are completed on time and within quality standards. • Focuses on execution and delivery. • Example: Delivering a mobile app by Q4 with agreed features and budget. 🔹 Program Manager (PgM) • Oversees a group of related projects aligned to a larger business objective. • Ensures projects interconnect to achieve strategic goals. • Focuses on strategy, alignment, and long-term impact. • Example: Managing a digital transformation program where multiple projects (CRM upgrade, data migration, mobile app) come together to improve customer experience. ✨ Think of it this way: • A Project Manager ensures the train runs on time. • A Program Manager ensures all the trains are headed in the right direction. Both roles are vital, but the lens of impact differs – tactical vs. strategic. #ProjectManagement #ProgramManagement #Leadership #Strategy #Execution #BusinessTransformation #PMO #ProjectManager #ProgramManager #ChangeManagement #CareerGrowth #Agile #Management #ProjectLeadership #FutureOfWork

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Discussion over PRD is not a conflict, it’s collaboration. Healthy debates in product and engineering teams are a sign of passion, ownership, and care for building the right solution. Sometimes the voices get loud, sometimes perspectives clash but in the end, these discussions shape stronger products and better business outcomes. Let’s value these moments of constructive disagreement because innovation happens when diverse ideas come together. #Teamwork #Collaboration #Leadership #ProductManagement #EngineeringExcellence #Innovation #HealthyDebate

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📌From Individual Contributor to Technical Program Manager Moving from being an individual contributor to a Technical Program Manager has been one of the biggest shifts in my career. As an IC, my world was about execution — coding, finishing tasks, and measuring success by what I delivered. As a TPM, that definition of success completely changed. It’s no longer about my personal output, it’s about how well I can help the team succeed together. Along the way, I’ve learned a few things: ➡️Enabling > Doing My value now comes from unblocking others, creating clarity, and making sure people can focus on the real work. ➡️Communication matters more than I imagined Keeping engineers, product, and leadership aligned saves time, prevents confusion, and builds trust. ➡️Fix the process, don’t add to it One of the most rewarding parts of this role has been simplifying workflows and reducing overhead. Cutting down unnecessary meetings, automating repetitive tasks, or improving how updates are shared — small changes like these give people time back to focus on building. ➡️Trust is everything As an IC, you earn it by delivering. As a TPM, you earn it by being reliable, transparent, and showing up for your team. This transition wasn’t easy. I had to move away from the mindset of “my work = my value” to “team’s success = my value.” But it’s been one of the most fulfilling shifts in my career. If you’re thinking about making a similar move: focus on alignment, focus on trust, and never underestimate the impact of removing just one blocker for your team. #CareerTransitions #workplacelessons #careergrowth

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When I led the API Platform organization at Groupon from Seattle, my teams were spread across four locations and three time zones: Seattle, Santa Clara, Chicago, and Bangalore. Same codebase, same programs, and a shared on-call rotation. This setup wasn’t accidental. There were clear business reasons behind it. Like it or not, the US labor market is costly, and even within the US, costs vary—Santa Clara isn’t Chicago. Balancing cost and talent availability shaped how we structured the teams. It wasn’t just about cost, though. Our teams supported the business in North America, EMEA, and, on a smaller scale, South America and APAC. Proximity to customers and key stakeholders still matters, even in a globalized world. Expertise and know-how also played a role. We prioritized people experience over physical location. But a setup like this comes with challenges. A 12-hour time difference between the Pacific West Coast and Bangalore isn’t trivial. Communication, culture, and knowledge sharing could easily suffer—or you risk burning out the team with 16-hour workdays. We had to get creative and remain flexible. Here’s how we made it work: 1- Local leadership. Each country had its own manager. This was non-negotiable. Local leaders ensured cohesion, alignment, and regular feedback. They also supported individual development at a level that would’ve been impossible otherwise. 2- One team, not many. From day one, I made it clear: we were a single team, spread across locations. Ownership was assigned based on skills, collaboration needs, and growth opportunities—not geography. 3- Respect for time zones. We designed mechanisms to minimize late-night meetings and off-hour disruptions. While regular travel helped build connections and facilitate brainstorm in person, we balanced it with practicality and costs. 4- A shared on-call rotation. The 12-hour time difference became an advantage. On-call shifts covered local working hours, eliminating 3 AM pages and ensuring uninterrupted support. 5- The right set of tools. Slack, Asana, GitHub, and Wikis became essential to keep enable asynchronous collaboration and keep information flowing. 6- Adaptability. We relied on feedback, data, and pulse surveys to refine our mechanisms. This experience solidified my belief in the value of remote work and distributed teams. Accessing diverse talent—no matter where they live—unlocks potential you simply can’t achieve with rigid, location-based policies. A few months ago, a former engineer from the team in India sent me a message saying, "I don't think I will ever find a team as good as GAPI (Groupon API)". I'm sure he will, but that message still touched me. And I don't think it was an accident.

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