How to make less more: learn to pivot when your budget disappears

DevRelCon London September 2023 HOW TO MAKE LESS MORE: LEARN TO PIVOT WHEN YOUR BUDGET DISAPPEARS MYRSINI KOUKIASA @myrsiningos DEVRELCON LONDON SEPTEMBER 2023 Myrsini Koukiasa

she/ her. Director, DevRel EMEA at Twilio. Budget owner. Builder. Nerd. MYRSINI KOUKIASA @myrsiningos DEVRELCON LONDON SEPTEMBER 2023 Hello!

DEVRELCON LONDON SEPTEMBER 2023 ? MYRSINI KOUKIASA @myrsiningos What’s this talk really about?

Situation DECISION making FRAMEWORK and EXAMPLEs 1 2 3 MYRSINI KOUKIASA @myrsiningos DEVRELCON LONDON SEPTEMBER 2023 What we’ll look at

Your budget is being cut. Options may have started to jump out. Maybe this can be viewed as an opportunity. MYRSINI KOUKIASA @myrsiningos DEVRELCON LONDON SEPTEMBER 2023 Oh no, what now?

Education, awareness, contributions, sign-ups … Think of your org, mission, metrics. MYRSINI KOUKIASA @myrsiningos DEVRELCON LONDON SEPTEMBER 2023 What is your focus?

In all directions. Especially upwards and sideways. You will be doing less. Doesn’t mean it won’t be good. MYRSINI KOUKIASA @myrsiningos DEVRELCON LONDON SEPTEMBER 2023 Managing expectations

How will you figure out what really matters so you get it right? It’s all about your decision.. MYRSINI KOUKIASA @myrsiningos DEVRELCON LONDON SEPTEMBER 2023 Setting the basis

The necessity to make decisions often leads to bad ones. Take a step back to reaffirm your objectives. MYRSINI KOUKIASA @myrsiningos DEVRELCON LONDON SEPTEMBER 2023 Avoid rush decisions

DEVRELCON LONDON SEPTEMBER 2023 MYRSINI KOUKIASA @myrsiningos VFT: New approach to decision making based on values

MYRSINI KOUKIASA @myrsiningos DEVRELCON LONDON SEPTEMBER 2023 Overview of value-focused thinking

Step by step decision making skills. Values with a systematic approach. MYRSINI KOUKIASA @myrsiningos DEVRELCON LONDON SEPTEMBER 2023 A practical Guide To Better decision making.

The Framework Problem Objectives Alternatives Consequences Tradeoffs Uncertainty Risk Tolerance Linked Decisions MYRSINI KOUKIASA @myrsiningos DEVRELCON LONDON SEPTEMBER 2023 The Eight Elements of Smart Choices

characteristics description Team goal Marketing an API to developers Customer Developer with decision making authority Department Marketing Budget owner CMO Budget spend $1M global Activities Outreach: events, workshops, content Objectives Awareness, sign ups MYRSINI KOUKIASA @myrsiningos DEVRELCON LONDON SEPTEMBER 2023 The Example

DEVRELCON LONDON SEPTEMBER 2023 MYRSINI KOUKIASA @myrsiningos PROACT

Work on the right decision problem. Acknowledge complexity, avoid assumptions. MYRSINI KOUKIASA @myrsiningos DEVRELCON LONDON SEPTEMBER 2023 Problem

Open-ended phrasing How can we re-evaluate our activities to save budget? Focused phrasing How can we cut $500k out of our budget and get max ROI from activities we keep? MYRSINI KOUKIASA @myrsiningos DEVRELCON LONDON SEPTEMBER 2023 Example: decision problem framing

DEVRELCON LONDON SEPTEMBER 2023 MYRSINI KOUKIASA @myrsiningos PROACT

DEVRELCON LONDON SEPTEMBER 2023 Define your objectives. Where do you want to end up? MYRSINI KOUKIASA @myrsiningos Objectives

How do your objectives become your decision criteria? - Increase platform sign ups by 20% YoY Reach 50,000 developers Increase awareness and use of X product Focus on CEE countries Increase blog views by 50% YoY MYRSINI KOUKIASA @myrsiningos DEVRELCON LONDON SEPTEMBER 2023 Example: objectives

DEVRELCON LONDON SEPTEMBER 2023 MYRSINI KOUKIASA @myrsiningos PROACT

Create imaginative alternatives. Start wide to find the best. MYRSINI KOUKIASA @myrsiningos DEVRELCON LONDON SEPTEMBER 2023 Alternatives

Questions and tips you can use to come up with good alternatives - Ask “how” about each of your objectives Create them first, evaluate them after Challenge constraints Learn from experience Ask others for suggestions MYRSINI KOUKIASA @myrsiningos DEVRELCON LONDON SEPTEMBER 2023 Example: alternatives

MYRSINI KOUKIASA @myrsiningos DEVRELCON LONDON SEPTEMBER 2023 Brainstorm on alternatives that yield sign-ups

characteristics description Team goal Marketing an API to developers Customer Developer with decision making authority Department Marketing Budget owner CMO Budget spend $1M global Activities Outreach: events, workshops, content Objectives Awareness, sign ups MYRSINI KOUKIASA @myrsiningos DEVRELCON LONDON SEPTEMBER 2023 The Example

DEVRELCON LONDON SEPTEMBER 2023 MYRSINI KOUKIASA @myrsiningos PROACT

Understand the consequences. Which alternatives best meet your objectives? MYRSINI KOUKIASA @myrsiningos DEVRELCON LONDON SEPTEMBER 2023 Consequences

objectives Event a Event b Event C Event D Event E Sign ups activity Booth only Booth only Marketing Booth, talk, workshop Booth and marketing Reach size 450 1,000 500 2,000 2,500 Product demo Demo Demo Promo Demo, talk, workshop Demo, promo CEE location UK France UK Poland Czech Republic Cost $ 7,500 12,000 6,000 10,000 18,000 MYRSINI KOUKIASA @myrsiningos DEVRELCON LONDON SEPTEMBER 2023 Example: consequences table

DEVRELCON LONDON SEPTEMBER 2023 MYRSINI KOUKIASA @myrsiningos PROACT

Grapple with your tradeoffs. You’ll have to make sacrifices. Set priorities among competing objectives. MYRSINI KOUKIASA @myrsiningos DEVRELCON LONDON SEPTEMBER 2023 Tradeoffs

objectives Event a Event b Event C Event D Event E Sign ups activity Booth only Booth only Marketing Booth, talk, workshop Booth and marketing Reach size 450 1,000 500 2,000 2,500 Product demo Demo Demo Promo Demo, talk, workshop Demo, promo CEE location UK France UK Poland Czech Republic Cost $ 7,500 12,000 6,000 10,000 18,000 MYRSINI KOUKIASA @myrsiningos DEVRELCON LONDON SEPTEMBER 2023 Example: consequences table

objectives Event a Event b Event C Event D Event E Sign ups activity 2 4 5 1 3 Reach size 5 3 4 2 1 Product demo 3 (tie) 3 (tie) 5 1 2 CEE location 5 (tie) 5 (tie) 5 (tie) 1 (tie) 1 (tie) Cost $ 2 4 1 3 5 MYRSINI KOUKIASA @myrsiningos DEVRELCON LONDON SEPTEMBER 2023 Example: ranking table

objectives Event a Event b Event C Event D Event E Sign ups activity 2 4 5 1 3 Reach size 5 3 4 2 1 Product demo 3 (tie) 3 (tie) 5 1 2 CEE location 5 (tie) 5 (tie) 5 (tie) 1 (tie) 1 (tie) Cost $ 2 4 1 3 5 17 19 20 8 12 MYRSINI KOUKIASA @myrsiningos DEVRELCON LONDON SEPTEMBER 2023 Example: ranking table

Uncertainties Think about your Risk Tolerance Consider Linked Decisions Clarify your MYRSINI KOUKIASA @myrsiningos DEVRELCON LONDON SEPTEMBER 2023 The remaining three elements

Do a risk profile by answering these four questions - What are the key uncertainties? What are possible outcomes of these uncertainties? What are the chances of occurrence of each possible outcome? What are the consequences of each outcome? MYRSINI KOUKIASA @myrsiningos DEVRELCON LONDON SEPTEMBER 2023 Example: uncertainty

Questions Possible answers What are the key uncertainties? Economic and geopolitical instability, inflation, COVID-related issues What are possible outcomes of these uncertainties? Event getting cancelled, less attendees, hidden costs, staffing What are the chances of occurrence of each possible outcome? Cancelation - less likely Less attendees - likely What are the consequences of each outcome Not meeting objectives, bad ROI, damage to company reputation MYRSINI KOUKIASA @myrsiningos DEVRELCON LONDON SEPTEMBER 2023 Example: uncertainty

Steps to incorporate risk tolerance into your decision - Think about the desirability of each consequence Balance desirability of consequences with their chances of occurring Choose the most attractive alternative MYRSINI KOUKIASA @myrsiningos DEVRELCON LONDON SEPTEMBER 2023 Example: risk tolerance

COnsequence desirability Chances of occuring Not meeting objectives 1 2 Bad ROI 2 1 Damage to company reputation 3 3 MYRSINI KOUKIASA @myrsiningos DEVRELCON LONDON SEPTEMBER 2023 Example: risk tolerance for third party event sponsorships

To understand how future decisions will be influenced you need to … - Understand the basic decision problem Reduce critical uncertainties Identify future decisions linked to the basic decision Understand relationships Decide what to do in the basic decision Treat later decisions as new decision problems MYRSINI KOUKIASA @myrsiningos DEVRELCON LONDON SEPTEMBER 2023 Example: linked decisions

Open-ended phrasing How can we re-evaluate our activities to save budget? Focused phrasing How can we cut $500k out of our budget and get max ROI from activities we keep? MYRSINI KOUKIASA @myrsiningos DEVRELCON LONDON SEPTEMBER 2023 Example: decision problem framing

Framework recap Problem Objectives Alternatives Consequences Tradeoffs Uncertainty Risk Tolerance Linked Decisions MYRSINI KOUKIASA @myrsiningos DEVRELCON LONDON SEPTEMBER 2023 The Eight Elements of Smart Choices

You’ll find most value where you make informed and not solely gut decisions. MYRSINI KOUKIASA @myrsiningos DEVRELCON LONDON SEPTEMBER 2023 “Truly successful decision-making relies on a balance between deliberate and instinctive thinking”

MYRSINI KOUKIASA @myrsiningos DEVRELCON LONDON SEPTEMBER 2023 Thank you!