ten tips for new product managers presented by jeff lash jeff@jefflash.com

Ten Tips For New Product Managers

Presented by Jeff Lash

jeff@jefflash.com

www.jefflash.com

www.goodproductmanager.com

Four types of “new” Product Managers

Your relationship to the organization

New Tenured

Type of product

NewNew product,

new organizationNew product,

same organization

ExistingExisting product,new organization

Existing product, same organization

Ten Tips1. Spend time with customers

2. Ask “dumb” questions

3. Let go of your past

4. Surround yourself with experts

5. Gather data

6. Focus

7. Concentrate on what, not how

8. Communicate, communicate, communicate

9. Sell your product internally

10.Do whatever it takes

Spend time with customers► The single most

important thing a product manager can do is to understand the market

► The best way to understand the market is to spend time with customers

Customer: Uploaded to flickr by David Kozlowskiflickr.com/photos/traveller2020/539548225/

Spend time with customers: To Do► Spend more time with customers

than with colleagues

► Set goals for customer visits

► Establish a regular schedule for customer interactions

► Bring colleagues along with you

► Bring back information to share

Ask “dumb” questions► “Dumb” questions are really

more about when they get asked than about what you are asking

► New product managers have the luxury of asking naïve questions

► Ask as many questions as possible as soon as possible

► Who to ask? Customers, colleagues, stakeholders, superiors, partners, competitors…

sign - ? question mark: Uploaded to flickr by Leo Reynolds flickr.com/photos/lwr/12364944/

Ask “dumb” questions: To Do► Develop a list of initial questions

► Generate additional questions each timeone is answered

► Make note of interesting answers for future reference

► Ask the same question to different peopleand compare answers

Let go of your past

► What were you in your “past” life? Whatever it was, you’re a product manager now

► There is a natural instinct for product managers to gravitate towards the function of the business from which they came – resist it

141 Thursday - letting go: Uploaded to flickr by roujo flickr.com/photos/tekmagika/474086212/

Let go of your past: To Do► Audit the time you are spending on each area

of the product

► Have an open conversation with colleagues in your former role– Discuss experiences and establish boundaries

► Think hard before overruling decisions

► Review regularly to discuss progress

Surround yourself with experts► Product managers can not and should not

do it all alone

► Your success depends on others

► Do not try to be an expert in everything

► Leverage the expertise of others in certain areas

► Look for “formal” and “informal” advisors

► Experts do not just have to be within your organization

Surround yourself with experts: To Do

► Identify areas important to product’s success

► Identify internal experts in targeted areas

► Enlist experts as Trusted Advisors

► Utilize advisors for decision-making, planning, support and overcoming obstacles

Gather data► “In a truly consumer-driven company,

decisions are based on data… so the person with the best data wins.” – Scott Cook; Founder, Intuit

► Lots of different types of data…– Internal data

– External data

–Market data

– Product dataData: Uploaded to flickr by kokeshi flickr.com/photos/kokeshi/119345900/

Gather data: To Do► Gather existing market research and industry

data – primary and secondary

► Identify information gaps and develop plans to fill them

► Gather existing product performance data

► Identify missing and desired information and leverage colleagues to obtain– If desired data is not available, quantify the value of

it in order to obtain support for projects to gather it

Ten Tips1. Spend time with customers

2. Ask “dumb” questions

3. Let go of your past

4. Surround yourself with experts

5. Gather data

6. Focus

7. Concentrate on what, not how

8. Communicate, communicate, communicate

9. Sell your product internally

10.Do whatever it takes

Focus► It will be

overwhelming

► You will not know where to start

► It is better to do one thing well than to do a lot of things poorly

irony; Uploaded to flickr by mrpattersonsir flickr.com/photos/mrpattersonsir/30325860/

Focus: To Do► Make a list of all of the “internal” and

“external” priorities

► Determine timelines, relative levels of effort, and resources required

► Pick a few quick wins and focus initial effort

► During that time, develop longer-term focus

► Get agreement on focus, communicate, and reiterate it

Concentrate on what, not how► It will be tempting to control “how”

things get done with your product

► Resist the temptation

► Product managers should define “what” needs to happen…

► … and others should define “how” those things happen

Concentrate on what, not how: To Do

► Clarify roles and responsibilities with team members– Engineering

– Design

–Marketing

► Get regular feedback on whether you and others are keeping with the agreed-upon responsibilities

Communicate, communicate…► Do not

underestimate the importance of communication in all forms– Informal, formal,

written, verbal, unspoken, method, timeliness, frequency, tone

Calling_all_Flickrs; Uploaded to flickr by carf flickr.com/photos/beija-flor/5011611/

Communication

Source: Seven Traits of Successful Product Managers; Michael Shrivathsanmichael.hightechproductmanagement.com/2006/12/seven_traits_of_successful_pro.html

Communication

ProductManager

Engineering

Sales

Marketing

Manager

Communication

ProductManager

Engineering Design

Finance

Legal

Project Management

Sales

Marketing

Manager

Executives

Other PMs

CustomerService

Communication

ProductManager

Engineering Design

Finance

Legal

Project Management

Sales

Marketing

Customers

Investors

IndustryAnalysts

Manager

Executives

Other PMs

CustomerService

Partners

Communicate, communicate: To Do► Audit current communications (if any)

► Get feedback from stakeholders on preferred communications channels and frequency

► Develop communications plan; type and frequency– Email newsletter– Intranet site– “State of the Product” presentations

► Set reminders about communications and stick to schedule!

Sell your product internally► Be the champion for your product

► “Sell” your product to executives, team members, other departments

► Will help gain resources, funding, support for issues and new initiatives

Sell your product internally: To Do

► Regularly communicate good news– Don’t go overboard

– Don’t ignore or try to dismiss bad news

► Make sure your communication plans includeall the necessary audiences

► Get others to help sell your product– Explicit “enlistment”

– Find good supporters and keep them happy

Do whatever it takes

“Be willing to do whatever it takes.

 …

I know of many cases where the product manager needed to help out with deliverables for customer support, sales training, technical writing, QA, engineering, and marketing.  You may need to just do it.”

Source: Thriving in Large Companies; Silicon Valley Product Groupwww.svproduct.com/blog/files/thriving_in_large_companies.html

Do whatever it takes: To Do► Learn about as many areas of your

product as possible– The more you know, the more you can help

► Help out at the right time– Don’t start too early, but don’t wait too long

► Don’t complain about having to help out– But make sure to discuss it later if there are

skill or resource issues that need to be addressed

Bonus tip #11► Learn from other product managers

► There are plenty of great (and often free!) resources available

► Books, blogs, newsletters, webinars, conferences, training, professional associations, local groups, mailing lists, social networking sites…

Resources► How To Be A Good Product Manager

2) Ask dumb questions– www.goodproductmanager.com/2007/02/09/ask-dumb-questions/

3) Let go of your past– www.goodproductmanager.com/2007/01/30/let-go-of-your-past/

4) Surround yourself with experts– www.goodproductmanager.com/2007/02/22/dont-do-it-all-or-do-it-all-yourself/

7) Take responsibility for what, not how– www.goodproductmanager.com/2007/02/14/take-responsibility-for-what-not-

how/

10) Do whatever it takes– www.goodproductmanager.com/2007/04/04/help-out-in-areas-outside-of-

product-management/

– More topics at www.goodproductmanager.com

Resources► Brainmates: So You’re a New Product

Manager…– Part 1: www.brainmates.com.au/?p=165

– Part 2: www.brainmates.com.au/?p=153

– Part 3: www.brainmates.com.au/?p=159

– Part 4: www.brainmates.com.au/?p=166

– Part 5: www.brainmates.com.au/?p=169

– Part 6: www.brainmates.com.au/?p=172

► On Product Management: How to be a Great Product Manager– onproductmanagement.wordpress.com/2007/08/14/how-

to-be-a-great-product-manager-boxed-set-with-bonus-features/

Resources► Lots of other great Product Management

blogs– www.goodproductmanager.com/resources/

► These slides are available online– www.jefflash.com/work/

► Interested in getting your feedback– jeff@jefflash.com