Laura Miel has been with Electronic Arts, one of the largest gaming companies in the world, for 23 years.
Over the past two decades, Miel has had different roles in EA. She was a major in marketing, analytics and publishing. In April 2018, she was named the main employee: she currently leads about 5,400 employees at EA's studio organization, which spans over 20 studios around the world.
“This is an amazing team of creative people and creators with whom I work every day,” Miel told Business Insider.
Laura Miel talked about technology, video games and what it takes to become a leader in a multi-billion dollar company. During this interview, Miel shared the three biggest keys to success in her work. Many of these tips can be applied in almost any situation in your workplace.
Have a good notebook with you, such as Evernote
Miel praised Evernote for her ability to manage notes and organize projects, which is crucial in her current role when she needs to manage more than a dozen different studios and projects at any given time.
“I meet with so many different teams, we have so many different creative projects, and the scale is so great that I need to take really good notes when I talk and have an idea of what is happening around,” Miel said.
She also recommends Evernote, as your notes can sync across devices.
“The ability to access these notes from my iPad, phone or laptop plays an important role,” she said.
Do not allow laptops in meetings
While Miel said that she will often attend meetings with the iPad and Apple Pencil, which can recreate the feeling of real notes in a physical notebook, she said she was against people relying on laptops in meetings.
"The teams that I manage worked hard to prepare for the meeting - they talk about the creative idea. We are engaged in the entertainment business, and the people there are fully invested in this business. They are emotionally invested in what they represent."
Miel said she is not a fan of the fact that laptops can cover people's faces in meetings.
"I think some people participate in meetings, and some do not, understand?" - she said.
Try to keep your inbox as clean as possible.
The woman says that she uses two e-mail applications to work: Microsoft Outlook and Exchange, but she often spends a lot of time to clear both her mailboxes to zero.
"This is something that I am very emotionally attached to," said Miel. "I admit that a phenomenon like Marie Kondo is close to me. It helps me. I like my mailbox to be clean, tidy and free."
While clearing her letters is useful on a personal level, Miel says the biggest motivator for keeping her inbox clean is to ensure that she and the organization do not delay decisions or communication and support both of these things. It also ensures that messages are not lost.
"The sense of responsibility that I have is for all the people who are in our organization. Thanks to this, we continue to move as quickly as possible. We make decisions quickly. We don't slow anything down. Yes, for me it means to have a clean mailbox."
As you can see, Laura Miel is an excellent leader, and therefore her advice can be heeded.