WiSE: You call yourself an 'accidental enabler', tell us a little bit about your path and what brought you to enablement.  

Timea Bara:  I started in the workforce in 2008, after completing my MBA in HR & Org Behavior, but my job offer was rescinded - similar to what we are seeing happen to many people today. So I took the first job I got, which was in sales! Never thought I would work in sales, but it turned out to be the best decision ever! From sales, to sales leadership, I ended up in sales enablement and I’m loving it. I worked on both small and large enablement teams and built enablement from the ground up - three times. 

W: In a typical enablement team's tech stack, there is a lot going on.  In your large tech stack, what is your favorite type of tool and how do you use it?  

TB:  I am a big fan of call intelligence tools and I think in this day and age, especially given the remote nature of most of our work, they are a must have. Call intelligence tools - like Gong, Chorus, Wingman, etc - help with metrics and ROI of current programs (i.e. how did a training land, is it being implemented), onboarding (learn from the best, modern shadowing), skill development (especially important since a lot of the social learning - overhearing a great way of handling an objection, etc is missing from our new environment) and coaching. 

W: Enablers juggle a lot of roles, which can be challenging at times.  In your opinion, what is the most challenging part of being in an enablement position and what advice do you have for overcoming these challenges? 

TB:   Most challenging thing I found is always connecting to business goals and proving the ROI of enablement. In order to overcome this, enablement professionals should:

• • Be closely aligned / report into the CRO

  • Be closely aligned with Sales Ops / Rev Ops / Finance

  • Build out an adequate enablement tech stack to support measurement efforts

W: The enablement field is evolving at a  fast pace and  our future looks different everyday.  How do you see the enablement field changing over the next five years?

TB:    I think one of the biggest challenges we face is the complex nature of the workforce we need to support. It’s complex in many ways: (1) many generations in the workforce, with different learning styles; (2) we work in a hybrid environment and have to design programs that work for both remote and in person experiences - we will never go back to the past of work;  (3) lack of social learning - not being able to pick up knowledge from others, “sparr” on ideas, debrief after a call.

Enablement has to reimagine itself and - in my opinion - partner more with Learning and Development and Customer Enablement, learn from each other and leverage each other’s resources. 

W: What is your biggest piece of advice you can offer to someone who is looking to grow within enablement? 

TB:    Stay close to the people you are enabling, ensure you understand their needs, their way of working, and that you speak their language. They are your customer and you need to help them realize the value of your “service/offering”. Be as much as a subject matter expert as possible and never lose your edge to continue learning.

If you're a woman in enablement and would like to be interviewed for the site,

 email WiSEGlobalContact@gmail.com with the subject line, 'Interview'