The digital transformation is changing the way we live and work. Working is becoming increasingly mobile – independent of location, time and media. But everyday mobility does not arise at the push of a button – it arises from the right strategy, suitable processes, powerful infrastructures and mobile apps.
Often employees demand more mobility because they have more flexible and modern IT solutions in private than in their business environments. Fortunately, the management is increasingly recognizing the benefits of enterprise mobility.
As a result, more and more end devices, integration requirements, applications and access routes are challenging the IT managers as well as every employee. That does not have to be: The Modern Workplace Expert of CONET, Nicole Enders, offers support for mobile collaboration strategies and in all questions of enterprise mobility and cloud solutions. With her advisory support, the IT consulting provider CONET has tackled many challenges by developing unique strategies and solutions.
Started as a Software Developer
Nicole started her career at CONET as a software developer with focus on Microsoft technologies. Over the course of time, she has been able to steadily expand her area of responsibility and has performed activities as a developer, consultant and project manager. She is an expert in modern workplace and collaboration with Microsoft 365, an international speaker, author and blogger, and she leads a multilingual team of nine people.
The Experience Worth Relying on
Nicole has spent her entire career at CONET. In the first few years, she achieved a position as a technical SharePoint expert. In 2013, she shared her knowledge with a public audience by publishing her first book “SharePoint 2013 für Anwender”. At this time, she had a lot of training material from the previous six years working as a SharePoint consultant and developer, and she decided to share it with the SharePoint community.
Nicole even reports on her newest SharePoint experiences at conferences and different community events. It was a long way with many challenges to become an accepted member of the speaker community. She had to submit her sessions many times until she got her first confirmation. “That was an important milestone for me,” adds Nicole.
In 2015 Office 365 became more and more important for CONET’s customers. Consulting how to move to the cloud and introducing new cloud technologies was then part of her daily business. With the enhanced experience, she wrote three more books presenting real-life use cases that show her readers how to use Microsoft products such as Office 365 to improve collaboration and teamwork.
Needless Roles and Behaviors
“Don’t think that you need to fit in predefined roles and behaviors. People will know if you only pretend to be somebody else. Be authentic and find your own way and your individual solutions. And don’t forget to care about yourself. You can only be successful and look after other people if you are doing well yourself. For example, I take a break from time to time and travel to distant places such as Peru, Australia, and New Zealand,” says Nicole.
Ensuring Every Team Member
Feels Good Three years ago, Nicole talked to her manager to go one step further in her career. It was not a development of her technical skills she had in mind. Nicole has enjoyed helping other people during her community work and now she wanted to become a team lead who manages business operations and ensures that every team member feels good at work.
Her manager offered her the opportunity to convince her team of her skills. She worked hard on herself and gradually gained the trust of every single team member. Half a year later, she was appointed as a team coordinator. This role is a preliminary step before a real management position and serves to gain initial experience and to be able to decide whether you are suitable for a management position.
Chance to Speak at Conferences
2019 was an important milestone in many ways. On the one hand, Nicole got her first management position, and she was nominated for the Women in IT Awards Europe. On the other hand, she got the chance to speak at conferences in the United States such as the Modern Teamwork and Collaboration Conference in Washington D.C.
As an international speaker traveling became a time-consuming part of her daily business. She had to learn to manage her team in a different manner and from different locations. And there were many situations in which she had to learn to protect her team while representing the interests of CONET and its customers.
Supporting Team Members in Their Development
In recent years, Nicole gained a lot of experience and learned that it is very important to participate in teamwork, to support team members in their development and to assume responsibility.
CONET provides two different career paths. Nicole can choose between an expert and a management career. But she is convinced that future leaders can be so much more than a traditional management role. Currently, Nicole is planning the next step on her journey. She is thinking about a combination of a team lead and a technical expert role in form of a strategic business developer who is recognized by the international Microsoft community.
Work Together, Have Fun Together
“Believe in yourself, and do not think that you are not good enough to achieve your goals. If you work hard, your dreams can come true and success will happen. Be brave and face every challenge on your way. You may fail sometimes, but every challenge and every failure is a chance to learn something new. You don’t need to achieve everything on your own. Build a team around you, give them a purpose and work together while having fun,” guides Nicole.