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One of EA's highest-ranking female executives shares her 3 biggest keys to being successful at work
One of EA's highest-ranking female executives shares her 3 biggest keys to being successful at work
Dave SmithAug 1, 2019, 18:38 IST
Electronic Arts
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Laura Miele is one of the highest-ranking executives at Electronic Arts, where she's worked for 23 years.
Miele now leads EA's studio organization of about 5,400 employees.
In an interview with Business Insider, Miele shared her three biggest keys to being successful at work.
Laura Miele has been with Electronic Arts, the one of the largest gaming companies in the world, for 23 years.
Miele has worn many different hats at EA over the past two decades, within marketing, analytics, and publishing. In April 2018, she was named chief studios officer: She currently leads about 5,400 employees in EA's studio organization, which spans over 20 studios around the world.
"It's an amazing collective of creative people and creators that I get to work with everyday," Miele told Business Insider.
I had a chance to sit down with Miele when she visited Toronto for the 2019 Collision Conference this year. We had a lively discussion about technology, video games, and what it takes to be a leader at a multi-billion dollar company. Through that interview, Miele shared with me her three biggest keys to everyday success in her line of work; many of these tips could apply to just about every workplace.
Get yourself a good note-taking and organization tool, like Evernote.
Miele praised Evernote for its ability to handle note-taking and project organization, which is crucial in her current role where she needs to manage over a dozen different studios and projects at any given time.
"I meet so many different teams, we have so many different creative projects, and the scale is so large, I need to take really good notes as I'm having conversations and having insights," Miele told Business Insider.
Miele also recommends Evernote since your notes can sync across devices.
"The ability to actually access those notes from my iPad, or my phone, or my laptop is pretty powerful," she said.
Don't allow laptops in meetings.
While Miele said she will often attend meetings with an iPad and Apple Pencil, which can recreate that feeling of note-taking on a physical notepad, she said she objects to people relying on laptops in meetings.
"The teams [that I manage] worked really hard to prepare for a meeting — they're talking about a creative idea. We're in the entertainment business, and people are there putting their hearts on their sleeve. They're emotionally invested in what they're presenting. For a bunch of people to have their laptops up ... it's a thing for me."
Miele said she isn't a fan of how laptops can shield people's faces in meetings.
"I think some people are engaged in meetings, and some people aren't, you know?" she said.
Try to keep your email inbox as close to zero as possible.
Miele says she uses two email apps for work, Microsoft Outlook and Exchange, but that she often spends a lot of time to get both of her inboxes down to zero.
"That is something I am very emotionally committed to," Miele said. "I will admit, the Marie Kondo-type phenomena is big for me. It contributes to me. I like to keep my inbox clean and tidy and free."
While clearing out her emails is helpful on a personal level, Miele says the biggest motivator of being a "zero inboxer" is to ensure that she, and the organization, is not holding up decisions or communication, and keeping both of those things flowing. This also ensures that messages don't get lost.
"The sense of responsibility that I have, around all the people that are in our organization, is that we are keeping things moving as quickly as possible," Miele said. "We're making decisions fast. We're not slowing things down. And so, for me, that's what zero inbox means."
