What are the best ways to show initiative in a Product Management role?

Product Managers solve user problems. The best way to show initiative is to first: 1. Care deeply about the user problem 2. Conduct user interviews to better understand the problem 3. Generate new ideas for features to solve the user problem This requires the most important habit a PM can have - Bias for Action. When in doubt, move forward...show initiative.

Identifying problems is great, but that is not only the project manager's task. His/her task with problems is rather eliminating them as smooth and as quickly as possible. This can happen with a short-term solution or a long-term, final solution. A project manager is initiative for me in terms of eliminating problems, if (s)he makes sure that long-term, permanent solution is reached for that issue, even after project closure, and if (s)he makes sure that the risk of the same problem popping up in a next project is reduced to minimum. Why is this initiative for me? As this attitude goes beyond the project and keeps long-term general project management vision/goal in focus.

As a Product Manager, you should constantly be thinking of how you can improve the life of your customers with products. This becomes easier, when on a daily basis you look at products on the streets, in shopping mall or anywhere and ask yourself "How I can improve this product?". Doing this on a daily basis gets you into the habit of identifying problems and opportunities much quicker.

"Being a PM isn't just a role, it's a state of constant vigilance." To show initiative, actively listen to customers to understand their feelings about your product. Observe user data for patterns and insights, utilizing tools like funnels and cohorts for deeper analysis. Then, craft a one-page proposal outlining the identified problem, your proposed solution, and its potential impact on the organization. This proactive approach demonstrates clear initiative as a product manager

?? Taking initiative is critical in product management. I'd start by identifying problems and growth opportunities through user research and market analysis. Leading cross-functional collaboration is essential, uniting diverse teams towards common goals. Continuously learning new skills and methodologies keeps you at the forefront of the field. Seeking feedback is crucial for continuous improvement. Lastly, advocating passionately for your product and users drives its success. This proactive approach enhances the product and cements your role as an innovative and effective product manager. ????

As a Product Manager, your ability to lead cross-functional collaboration is the only way to get things done. For example, as you are building your product roadmap(a visual artifact that lists the features & sequence of work for the next 3-12 months) - involve your stakeholders - share your draft, the general direction you want to take the product, and ask for feedback. Repeat this same exercise with your engineers & leadership team - this will allow you to start gaining alignment with stakeholders BEFORE you ship your first feature. Next to Bias for Action, Earning Trust is the second most important habit a Product Manager can have - you earn trust by getting feedback from stakeholders along the way & delivering results.

Speaking and building rapport with customer-facing staff is a crucial way to understand the needs of the customer better and provide valuable input into the product management process. Service, support, and customer success staff will have the best input on primary points and areas that need to be improved. Sales, market development, and account management employees will know where the hidden opportunities are and who the biggest threats in the industry impeding your product's territory.

Go out of your way to understand what ails the teams in the moment. Reach out and understand what they think could be done better/ is a pain point for them If you identify action items that could impact the product in a better way, put them down with an intention to resolve them. Build rapport with your teams, foster trust and transparency; which always helps build great products and you never know when you might need someone’s assistance ! Remember a great product manager is only as good as his supportive team

Your cross-functional team is one of the most crucial aspects in your career as a Product Leader. At the end of the day, no matter what initiative you take, it has to be in alignment with your cross-functional team, as they will be building the product. You could influence them more effectively by building strong relationships with them, using data, negotiating with business and developing initial wireframes, mockups and prototypes yourself.

Another way to show initiative in product management is to lead cross-functional collaboration with other teams and departments. As a product manager, you are responsible for aligning the vision, goals, and roadmap of your product with the needs and expectations of your users and the business.

Great Product Managers are lifelong learners - here are some of the books that I've read(and re-read often as I grow) to help me learn new skills: 1. Inspired by Marty Cagan - how to build great products 2. Empowered by Marty Cagan - how to do product the right way 3. The Lean Product Playbook by Dan Olsen - the mindset you need each day as a PM; the power of Minimum Viable Products(MVPs) 4. Measure What Matter by John Doerr - how the Objectives & Key Results goal-setting framework transformed Google & other companies

Product Management is a constantly evolving role and it is important to stay updated with latest technology, trends through news articles, blogs, webinars, books and podcasts. Some of the resources that I use are TechCrunch, Daily Tech News Show and Product Hunt.

Product management is a dynamic and evolving field that requires constant learning and adaptation. Showing initiative means being proactive in acquiring new skills and tools that can help you improve your product and your performance. You can learn from online courses, books, podcasts, blogs, webinars, or events, or from your peers and mentors.

Jump into learning new tools and skills whenever you can. It's all about staying ahead of the curve in tech and trends. Check out webinars, follow industry blogs, and join discussions. Keeping your skills sharp and up-to-date is a solid way to show you’re proactive in your product management role. Plus, it keeps your job interesting.

One of the best ways to improve as a Product Manager is to take time to reflect on your product decisions and see what you could have done differently. When I worked at Amazon, within the "Earn Trust" leadership principle, we were asked to be "vocally self-critical..even when doing so is awkward or embarrassing" - I believe Product Managers need to have this same approach. Celebrate your product wins but learn from the losses - dissect the losses by asking yourself: 1. How can I avoid this mistake in the future? 2. Did I communicate effectively to my stakeholders? 3. What missing information might have improved your decision making? We move fast as PMs but its very important to slow down, "watch the tape", and get feedback.

Continuous improvement is a lifelong process. It is important to have bi-weekly one-one meetings with your Manager to get feedback on how you could improve. Receiving feedback twice a year from your technical stakeholders could also be extremely helpful. Lastly, having a product coach or product mentor outside of the workplace can give you a different perspective. Some platforms that can be used are ADPList.

Showing initiative also means being open to feedback and improvement. As a product manager, you need to be able to measure the impact of your product decisions, learn from your successes and failures, and iterate based on user and stakeholder feedback.

No one cares about your product. That's a fact. People and customers only care about solving a pain point or helping them achieve their goals. Show how your product can help them do that. Is it the differentiated value prop, is it the unfair advantage, is it a unique pricing model or something else. First align the value that is uniquely suited with your audience and then share the story and narrative. Soon you'll find your counterparts pitching your products and doing the evangelization for you. It also helps to repeat the narrative a minimum of 3 times for it to sink in.

As a product manager you're the strongest voice of your users within the team, and you need to be confident advocating for user needs, even when faced with pushback. Show initiative by persistently taking a user-centric approach to drive product success; present data, user research, and the potential impact on user experience to support your position.

Nobody will care about your product more than the Product Manager. Actively seek out opportunities to "evangelize" or show product passion(Marty Cagan) for what your team is building. Do product demos for stakeholders, share weekly/bi-weekly updates on your product performance, and when you launch a new feature to users - make it a BIG deal. Here's how to create an effective product feature launch update with these 3 sections: 1. What it is - high level overview of the feature 2. Why it matters - the impact it has on users/results so far 3. What's next - how you plan to continue to iterate and launch new features to deliver more value 4. List all the team members & leaders that helped with the launch or that need visibility

Product evangelism is essential for a Product Manager. A Product Manager knows the product inside out. If they have the ability to sell their product in conferences, trade shows and deliver exciting demos, they would be of great asset to the company's Product Marketing and Sales team. Joining certain clubs like Toastmasters, where you can drastically improve your Public Speaking skills can be a good starting point to hone Product evangelism skills.

Identify a serious pain point plaguing your users that has been overlooked. Then advocate with your leadership to ultimately get the custom pains addressed. Doing this can have a huge career impact. When I was leading the creation of Microsoft's new API platform. We uncovered many pains that were driving developers to use competitors, which were ultimately able to address. It took a lot of patience, persistence, and qualitative data to motivate our leadership that this was the right place to invest. One area I remember specifically was around enabling developers to self-host APIs in their own processes without depending on Microsoft's IIS web server. It was a big lift to break that connection but it paid off!

There are 2 more ways to show initiative in Product Management - Getting well versed in the key usage and engagement metrics of your product. Leveraging data shows you are knowledgeable about how your product is being used and what your customers are using it for. - Another way of showing initiative is by engaging with your customer support team to hear what customers are saying about your product. That is very valuable insight and early indicators of issues that could impact your product metrics. These two steps not only shows initiative on your part but will help you build busienss case for future features in your product.

As a Product Management Leader, I've evolved from being overly strategic to adopting a more balanced approach of 'act first, apologize later' when it benefits my product. Initially, I focused heavily on long-term strategies, but I've learned that sometimes you need to make bold moves and quick decisions for the good of the product. Now, I encourage my team to be proactive, to experiment and innovate without fear. I've found that fostering an environment where taking calculated risks is welcomed and sometimes, just sometimes heh leads to groundbreaking ideas and advancements.

One of the best ways to contribute is to critically and objectively evaluate your company's products and services compared to what available locally and globally. Assess how will you beat your own products and services since your competitors are already doing exactly the same.

Be a power user of your product/feature. You cannot fully understand the nature of your customer's problem & how your solution solves it unless you yourself solve the problem using your solution!

Connect. Over time as you grow/ship features or solutions look around you internally to sister teams. Are you connecting with them in a way to solve your common problems together? Are you building a community to support your users ? Are you connecting the mission to the vision to the KPIs (and do they match)? Connect as much as you can and you’ll blossom opportunities and solutions.