what is good product management
DESCRIPTION
From talk to CTO School in NYC - what is good product management - how engineering can be a good partner to product (and how to structure product leadership) - how to hireTRANSCRIPT
GOOD PRODUCT MANAGEMENT
For CTO School Meetup Nov 10 2014 Giff Constable www.neo.com
WHO AM I? 6 startups over the years currently CEO of Neo Innovation co-organizer of Lean Lessons Learned meetup author of Talking to Humans
I went looking for stories on PM-Engineering collaboration, and got horror stories
I also discovered some jokes
Q. what’s the best way to pay a product manager? A. American Express. They love taking credit for things.
Source: The Cooper Review
We know what good engineering looks like. We’ve got a more advanced understanding now as to what good design looks like. But what about product management?
What is a good product manager? How to be a great partner to them? Appendix: How to hire for them?
1. WHAT MAKES A GOOD PRODUCT MANAGER
Product managers are not “one size fits all”
Process
Creative Vision
Engineering Skills
Design Skills Business Skills
Communication & Empathy
Domain Expertise
“You need to hire PMs for attitude over aptitude” - Satya Patel
http://venturegeneratedcontent.com/2014/10/30/what-makes-a-great-product-manager/
12 attitude traits of a good product manager
GOOD PRODUCT MANAGER
Leads and serves at the same time
BAD PRODUCT MANAGER
Thinks managing people means telling them what to do and how to do it (aka “requirements”)
GOOD PRODUCT MANAGER
Has great product ideas, but spends as much time fostering the creativity of the team
BAD PRODUCT MANAGER
Thinks their ideas (or their boss’ ideas) are God’s gift
GOOD PRODUCT MANAGER
Can balance a healthy obsession with data and experiment-driven development, along with a healthy respect for vision, risk and intuition
BAD PRODUCT MANAGER
Pegs either end of the spectrum, with total worship or total rejection of metrics
GOOD PRODUCT MANAGER
Deeply understands the customer’s needs and behavior through direct contact, not indirect research
BAD PRODUCT MANAGER
Hides behind the sales team, the customer support team, the Gartner Group reports
GOOD PRODUCT MANAGER
Understands the power of focus and simplicity
BAD PRODUCT MANAGER
Thinks more features are always better
GOOD PRODUCT MANAGER
Is a master at managing everyone’s expectations while making people feel listened to and respected
BAD PRODUCT MANAGER
Forgets that their constituency is people above, below, across and even outside the company
GOOD PRODUCT MANAGER
Understands tech debt − they might ask for it, but they will fight to pay it down later
BAD PRODUCT MANAGER
Thinks the engineers just need to work harder because customer-facing features are all that matter
GOOD PRODUCT MANAGER
Knows when an outcome is necessary, and efficiently iterates until it is accomplished Knows when a deadline is necessary, and ruthlessly manages scope Knows when a feature output is necessary, and effectively manages timing
BAD PRODUCT MANAGER
Can’t even think about outcomes − can only think about the next feature to ship Promises fixed scope against fixed deadlines Is not pragmatic enough to do what needs being done, or even understand it
GOOD PRODUCT MANAGER
Feels responsible for how the product is bought, sold, and marketed
BAD PRODUCT MANAGER
Thinks their job stops once the feature is shipped
GOOD PRODUCT MANAGER
Takes the time to deeply understand the production process across all functions
BAD PRODUCT MANAGER
Thinks everything takes a weekend, because they don’t have a clue
GOOD PRODUCT MANAGER
Can come from any discipline, but knows their job is to balance across all disciplines now
BAD PRODUCT MANAGER
Can’t stop meddling in the area they know best, and favors it when compromise is needed
GOOD PRODUCT MANAGER
SHIPS
BAD PRODUCT MANAGER
BLAMES
I view these traits as non-negotiable Hire for it and fire for it
careers.neo.com see a detailed skills matrix at
2. HOW TO BE A GREAT PARTNER TO PRODUCT MANAGEMENT?
Think strategically about the pressures on the business, not just the pressures on engineering
Be a creative partner fascinated by customer needs and willing to gather direct research on those needs
Inspire your engineers to be creative partners, not just in engineering problems, but product problems
Don’t sandbag
Be willing to accept tech debt, but don’t hesitate to challenge it
On tech debt: include infrastructure-related KPIs in your heartbeat report on key metrics Early stage: refactor as you can, plan for periodic infrastructure-focused iterations, and don’t be afraid to call an audible Later stage: refactor as you can, and create a rotating team that is dedicated to infrastructure
Engineering, product and design all need to report into the CEO − create a trio of equal partners
Create a team working agreement for leadership, not just the cross-functional teams
PM owns the outcomes and priorities Design owns the user experience, voice and visual identity Engineering owns how something is built But everyone is a creative partner and gets a say
A product business requires constant compromise because quality is a relative thing Sometimes you will deeply disagree with a decision Build appeals to the CEO, who makes the final call, into your team agreement so that you have a transparent process not politics
Do retros together to spot problems early
If you are in the same location, the heads of all three groups should sit together, just as your cross-functional teams should sit together
Be generous − depending on priorities, product, design and engineering will have different times in the driver’s seat
If there isn’t mutual respect and trust, someone has to go. Period.
APPENDIX: HOW CAN YOU INTERVIEW FOR A GOOD PM?
1. Know what you are looking for 2. Do a traditional interview on experiences, goals, values, failures, favorite new product, current reading list, etc 3. PAIR
Give them a gnarly product problem you are currently working on and see if they can solve it
Ask them to sketch out a single-screen application and then write every single user story behind that application
Example: a single-screen loyalty-program app for an airline
Give them a startup idea and ask how one could validate if it was a good idea before building it
Give them an interesting product idea, and ask how one would go about best acquiring customers?
Give them a problem that has been bugging you, and ask how one could solve it with a new startup?
Give them a true, complex prioritization debate your team is having and ask them whether outcome, deadline, or output is most important
Note: their answer here is less important than their questions
You know how non-technical friends ask you to interview their CTO candidate? Get a great PM to interview your VP of Product candidate