How can you use feedback to evaluate your product management performance remotely?

While SMART goals are popular, they may not always be the best approach. Some innovative and transformative ideas can't be neatly boxed into specific, measurable, or time-bound parameters. Sometimes, ambitious, visionary goals can drive remarkable progress, even if they aren't traditionally 'SMART.'

It is utmost important to define the Success Metrics of the features that are being Build. It builds the foundation of why we are doing for whom and whether that has been meeting up the expectations or not. Feedback in general is hard to get, we can focus on some of the channel sources, to know about it a bit. But Metrics defines really whether our assumptions have met the reality and we are solving the customer pain points in a more measurable outcome. With any product it is also important to have a focus on NPS( Net Promoter Score) to see holistically if we are improving our product or not.

Receiving feedback in product management differs significantly from receiving feedback on a product. Product managers possess a diverse range of skills, often tailored to their specific role and the organization's context. So, you need to be aware of the ideal profile and focus on understanding where you fall short. Typically, PM skills fall into three categories: 1. People skills, which include communication, relationship-building, and leadership; 2. Process skills, including strategy, discovery, development, delivery, and optimization; and 3. Product skills, which cover data analysis, product discovery, industry domain knowledge, business account management, and mastery of various frameworks. Plot them against scoring and ideal case.

Feedback and ideas are key parts of a product lifecycle. PMs must incorporate the feedback loop directly into their backlog in order to win the trust of the customers, partners, vendors, and other players in the ecosystem. It is important to keep things good right from step go: 1. Surveys must have questions that will distill serious and non-serious participants for the right data 2. Feedback loops must have guardrails 3. Representation from all customer groupings must be considered (no tangential evaluation) 4. Have a strong mechanism to treat and evaluate the feedback 5. Move ideas to backlogs to sprint and correspondingly to market-based on its ROI All of the above must be mapped to Vision, Business, and Company Vision. #KPKR

Remember as well as surveys, interviews and conversations with SMEs, you can automatic discovery to compare the detail in the data, versus the opinion gathered.

When conducting interviews, it's crucial to record your respondents' answers in addition to taking notes. This allows you to revisit the conversations, capturing nuances in tone and mannerisms. This added context can greatly enhance the depth and insight of your notes.

The journey of transforming feedback into enhancements begins with creative brainstorming and design, whether it's refining current features or introducing innovative ones. A critical step is evaluating the technical feasibility and resource demands of proposed solutions. User testing, if feasible, validates these modifications align with user expectations. Continuous monitoring and measurement gauge the impact on user satisfaction and product performance, with a commitment to iterative refinement guided by the feedback loop. Maintaining an open channel for ongoing feedback and actively engaging users to share their insights further enhances the product development journey.

Certainly. The key focus should be on prioritizing features that have unanimous agreement, and then systematically tracking them within each sprint or milestone to ensure that feedback is neither overlooked nor delayed.

After collecting feedback, categorize it to identify strengths and weaknesses. Utilize tools like spreadsheets or feedback management software. Prioritize actions using matrices, roadmaps, or backlogs. Execute and communicate improvements via project management tools or newsletters. This ensures continuous improvement in remote product management performance.

In remote product management, feedback is a continuous compass for performance. Regularly engage with teams and users for real-time insights, not just post-milestones. Utilize digital tools to track feedback against OKRs, ensuring iterative improvements are data-informed. Also, heed indirect feedback like user metrics and support trends. This creates a dynamic of constant enhancement, essential for remote work's unique demands.

Irrespective of whether your role is remote/onsite, progress in product is governed by your metrics (which are the realest feedback indicators ultimately). Everything that impacts it has to be optimised accordingly, and these factors are almost always human centric and communication dependent. 1. How we communicate. 2. How often do we communicate. 3. Do we assume things. 4. Are we communicating enough cross functionally. Ensuring that continuity would govern how the team performs.

Where possible keep a valued panel of people, and tools for discovery to run at regular intervals. Compare trends and see new spikes in the road, and refine and improve your questioning and measurement.