Download - What is good product management
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GOOD PRODUCT MANAGEMENT
For CTO School Meetup Nov 10 2014 Giff Constable www.neo.com
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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
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I went looking for stories on PM-Engineering collaboration, and got horror stories
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I also discovered some jokes
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Q. what’s the best way to pay a product manager? A. American Express. They love taking credit for things.
Source: The Cooper Review
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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?
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What is a good product manager? How to be a great partner to them? Appendix: How to hire for them?
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1. WHAT MAKES A GOOD PRODUCT MANAGER
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Product managers are not “one size fits all”
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Process
Creative Vision
Engineering Skills
Design Skills Business Skills
Communication & Empathy
Domain Expertise
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“You need to hire PMs for attitude over aptitude” - Satya Patel
http://venturegeneratedcontent.com/2014/10/30/what-makes-a-great-product-manager/
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12 attitude traits of a good product manager
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GOOD PRODUCT MANAGER
Leads and serves at the same time
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BAD PRODUCT MANAGER
Thinks managing people means telling them what to do and how to do it (aka “requirements”)
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GOOD PRODUCT MANAGER
Has great product ideas, but spends as much time fostering the creativity of the team
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BAD PRODUCT MANAGER
Thinks their ideas (or their boss’ ideas) are God’s gift
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GOOD PRODUCT MANAGER
Can balance a healthy obsession with data and experiment-driven development, along with a healthy respect for vision, risk and intuition
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BAD PRODUCT MANAGER
Pegs either end of the spectrum, with total worship or total rejection of metrics
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GOOD PRODUCT MANAGER
Deeply understands the customer’s needs and behavior through direct contact, not indirect research
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BAD PRODUCT MANAGER
Hides behind the sales team, the customer support team, the Gartner Group reports
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GOOD PRODUCT MANAGER
Understands the power of focus and simplicity
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BAD PRODUCT MANAGER
Thinks more features are always better
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GOOD PRODUCT MANAGER
Is a master at managing everyone’s expectations while making people feel listened to and respected
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BAD PRODUCT MANAGER
Forgets that their constituency is people above, below, across and even outside the company
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GOOD PRODUCT MANAGER
Understands tech debt − they might ask for it, but they will fight to pay it down later
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BAD PRODUCT MANAGER
Thinks the engineers just need to work harder because customer-facing features are all that matter
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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
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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
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GOOD PRODUCT MANAGER
Feels responsible for how the product is bought, sold, and marketed
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BAD PRODUCT MANAGER
Thinks their job stops once the feature is shipped
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GOOD PRODUCT MANAGER
Takes the time to deeply understand the production process across all functions
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BAD PRODUCT MANAGER
Thinks everything takes a weekend, because they don’t have a clue
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GOOD PRODUCT MANAGER
Can come from any discipline, but knows their job is to balance across all disciplines now
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BAD PRODUCT MANAGER
Can’t stop meddling in the area they know best, and favors it when compromise is needed
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GOOD PRODUCT MANAGER
SHIPS
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BAD PRODUCT MANAGER
BLAMES
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I view these traits as non-negotiable Hire for it and fire for it
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careers.neo.com see a detailed skills matrix at
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2. HOW TO BE A GREAT PARTNER TO PRODUCT MANAGEMENT?
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Think strategically about the pressures on the business, not just the pressures on engineering
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Be a creative partner fascinated by customer needs and willing to gather direct research on those needs
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Inspire your engineers to be creative partners, not just in engineering problems, but product problems
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Don’t sandbag
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Be willing to accept tech debt, but don’t hesitate to challenge it
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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
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Engineering, product and design all need to report into the CEO − create a trio of equal partners
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Create a team working agreement for leadership, not just the cross-functional teams
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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
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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
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Do retros together to spot problems early
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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
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Be generous − depending on priorities, product, design and engineering will have different times in the driver’s seat
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If there isn’t mutual respect and trust, someone has to go. Period.
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APPENDIX: HOW CAN YOU INTERVIEW FOR A GOOD PM?
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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
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Give them a gnarly product problem you are currently working on and see if they can solve it
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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
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Give them a startup idea and ask how one could validate if it was a good idea before building it
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Give them an interesting product idea, and ask how one would go about best acquiring customers?
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Give them a problem that has been bugging you, and ask how one could solve it with a new startup?
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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
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You know how non-technical friends ask you to interview their CTO candidate? Get a great PM to interview your VP of Product candidate