Ten Tips For New Product Managers

Waseem Safdar

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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…

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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

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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

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Let go of your past: To Do

Audit the time you are spending on each areaof 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

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Surround yourself with experts

Product managers can not and should notdo it all alone

Your success depends on othersDo not try to be an expert in

everythingLeverage the expertise of others in

certain areasLook for “formal” and “informal”

advisorsExperts do not just have to be within

your organization

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Surround yourself with experts: To DoIdentify 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

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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

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Gather data: To DoGather 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

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Ten Tips

1. Spend time with customers2. Ask “dumb” questions3. Let go of your past4. Surround yourself with experts5. Gather data6. Focus7. Concentrate on what, not how8. Communicate, communicate,

communicate9. Sell your product internally10. Do whatever it takes

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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

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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

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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

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Concentrate on what, not how: To Do

Clarify roles and responsibilities with team membersEngineeringDesignMarketing

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

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Communicate, communicate…

Do not underestimate the importance of communication in all forms◦ Informal, formal,

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

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Communication

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

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Communication

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Communication

ProductManager

Sales

Marketing

CustomerService

Finance

Legal

Other PMs

Engineering Design

Project Management

ManagerExecutives

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Communication

ProductManager

Sales

Marketing

CustomerService

Finance

Legal

Other PMs

Engineering Design

Project Management

ManagerExecutivesCustomers

Investors

IndustryAnalysts

Partners

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Communicate, communicate: To DoAudit 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!

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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

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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

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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.”

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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

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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…

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Thank You