How to Make Time for Real Product Work
Product management is such a busy job. The hectic day-to-day in itself contains more work than one can do, but we all know that real product work requires much more than that. How can you make time to get to the important things? Here is a quick guide.
How I Invented the Google Assistant
Coming up with the next big thing is hard. Or is it? Where do big creative ideas come from, and how important is this skill for product leaders? Some takeaways for you from a product interview I had at Google many years ago.
If You Love Your Decisions Let Them Go
There are times when you just know that your decisions are right. The data says so, the experts say so, but your colleagues or stakeholders disagree. Sometimes, the best way to get them to accept your decision is to give it up altogether. Here’s how it works.
How to Onboard a New Product Manager
Onboarding new product managers is not a trivial task. They need to learn many different things, but more importantly – they typically take ownership of an area that was owned by someone else before. Here is a three-phase method to make it a smooth transition.
3 Things Missing From Your Product Requirements
Product requirements are there to help the team understand what you want to build. Whether you write them in detailed documents or share them briefly and verbally with the team, it’s easy to go directly to the bottom line and give clear instructions. However, there are many more important things to include if you want the team to succeed. Here are three things that if you include in your product requirements would make your life easier and help your developers deliver on what you really intended, not on what you told them to build.
How To Help Your Team Make Better Decisions
Managing smart people is a privilege, but can also be confusing at times. When is it time for you to step in, and where should you let them lead without interference? When it comes to decision making, especially with important decisions, there is a lot you can do to help this balance feel natural and beneficial for everyone involved. That’s true even if your people are more experienced than you are.
How To Manage People Who Are More Experienced Than You Are
Product management requires so many diverse skills that most likely your people are more experienced than you at least in some of them. When these skills are core to what your team needs to achieve, it can become confusing. If the people reporting to you know better how to do their job, what is your role as a manager? Don’t worry, you are still needed. Here’s why and how.
How To Be Strategic Even if You Can’t Set the Tone
When the CEO sets the strategy, what is your role as a product leader? How can you be strategic when the strategy is set by someone else? Surprisingly, there is no contradiction there, and in most cases, there is more room for you than you think. You just have to know where to look for it.
Who Owns the Technical Debt?
Technical debt is always a hot discussion topic between product managers and engineers. It is not always clear how to handle it right, and who is the decision-maker. My recommendation is that product managers own it like they own any other feature. But beware – with great power comes great responsibility. Are you ready for it?
Becoming a Strategic Product Leader, Part 2: Speak Up.
To take a leadership position, your voice must be heard. Even, and maybe especially, when your managers see things differently.
Becoming a Strategic Product Leader: Understanding the Business
Becoming more strategic is one of the most common – and most challenging – development areas for product leaders. This article and the following ones in the series will help you to get there.
