Transcript Ten Tips for New Product Managers

Ten Tips For New Product Managers
Presented by Jeff Lash
[email protected]
www.jefflash.com
www.goodproductmanager.com
Four types of “new” Product Managers
Your relationship to the organization
New
Tenured
New
New product,
new organization
New product,
same organization
Existing
Existing product,
new organization
Existing product,
same organization
Type of
product
Ten Tips
1. 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
Customer: Uploaded to flickr by David Kozlowski
flickr.com/photos/traveller2020/539548225/
►The best way to
understand the
market is to spend
time with customers
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 time
one is answered
►Make note of interesting answers
for future reference
►Ask the same question to different people
and compare answers
Let go of your past
141 Thursday - letting go: Uploaded to flickr by roujo flickr.com/photos/tekmagika/474086212/
►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
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 data
Data: 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 Tips
1. 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 Shrivathsan
michael.hightechproductmanagement.com/2006/12/seven_traits_of_successful_pro.html
Communication
Manager
Sales
Product
Manager
Engineering
Marketing
Communication
Executives
Other PMs
Manager
Sales
Finance
Legal
Product
Manager
Project Management
Engineering
Design
Marketing
Customer
Service
Communication
Executives
Other PMs
Manager
Sales
Finance
Legal
Product
Manager
Project Management
Engineering
Customers
Design
Marketing
Customer
Service
Partners
Investors
Industry
Analysts
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 include
all 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 Group
www.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-productmanagement/
– 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-tobe-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
– [email protected]