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

New product, New product,

New
new organization same organization
Type of
product
Existing product, Existing product,
Existing
new organization same organization
 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 sign - ? question mark: Uploaded to flickr by Leo
Reynolds flickr.com/photos/lwr/12364944/

► Who to ask? Customers,

colleagues, stakeholders,
superiors, partners, competitors…
 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 Marketing
Manager

Engineering
 Communication
Executives

Manager
Other PMs
Sales
Finance
Product Marketing
Legal
Manager
Customer
Service
Project Management

Engineering Design
 Communication
Executives Customers

Manager
Other PMs Partners
Sales
Finance
Product Marketing Investors
Legal
Manager
Customer
Industry
Service
Project Management Analysts

Engineering Design
 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-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