What are some effective ways to influence engineering decisions without being pushy?

If you want to be a great TPM and respected by your peer engineering manager and team - know your business inside out. Be the expert on what business capability is needed and why. Understand your customer success metrics - communicate them loudly and broadly. Make sure you know the outcome you seek before engaging with your tech partners. Once you've communicated the need and why - be supportive while the engineering team works through the problem. Be supportive, ensure they get the time they need to go through different options before picking a direction.

In the realm of engineering, effective influence is a nuanced craft. Begin by sharing well-researched insights, backed by compelling data. Demonstrate your expertise by leading through example and offering guidance when needed. Be an educator, not a preacher, by imparting knowledge and fostering learning. Actively listen to concerns and ideas, making others feel valued and respected. Timing is key; present ideas when they align with project milestones or needs. Pose constructive questions to spark critical thinking. Adaptability is essential; be open to feedback and flexible in your approach. Ultimately, influence in engineering is about building trust, relationships, and mutual respect, which lead to lasting, well-received decisions.

Lead, Mentor, and Network Like a Pro! ?? I'd recommend: - Involve engineers early in product development for better decision-making. ??? - Create a supportive environment in mentoring programs. ?? - Use systematic methods for effective program evaluation. ?? - Act with integrity and stay informed to build influence. ?? - Keep skills relevant and embrace change. ?? - Use LinkedIn for targeted professional networking. ?? - Collaborate globally to expand your professional reach. ?? - Partner with various companies for diverse experiences. ?? Pro Tip: Use tools like Zoom or Microsoft Teams for virtual mentoring and networking! ???

Lead with curiosity. There’s nothing more powerful than an earnest “Hmm, tell me more” or “why?” Influence isn’t about having all the right answers, it’s about asking the right questions.

Clarifying the factors they are considering and their precursors helps set the scene for everyone on the call. This has several benefits. It ensures that all minds are actively trying to solve the issue whilst subtly checking that you are being given a full picture and that they have considered the whole picture. In my experience, summarising the options back to the team with the pros and cons at the mid way point of the meeting tends to precipitate a preference. Then you can help them by taking a collective decisive decision. The second half of the conversation can the be about next steps. You won’t have been pushy, you can brief upwards effectively and you can always try the other solutions if you are Agile and route one fails.

If your product emphasises the user journey, bring your engineers along. If they understand what the user is trying to achieve, they have a better understanding, and often even can suggest innovative ways to achieve the objective.

Context rather than control In my experience, sharing the product strategy and offering insights into feature decision-making is an effective way to influence. Clear communication is crucial, especially when managing multiple stakeholders across cross-functional teams. Additionally, great PMs proactively identify and address potential issues early in the development process, to prevent misunderstandings.

Maintaining a shared dashboard or Excel sheet that is accessible to the engineering, product, and growth teams is one effective practice that I have observed in action. Root Cause Analyses (RCAs) and metrics about product funnels and feature adoption should be regularly shared and discussed, especially with engineering teams. Continual communication of findings, including UX research reports and user engagement data, helps garner buy-in from engineering teams. Rather than simply presenting ideas, the focus should be on working together to evaluate and refine them iteratively.

If you’re looking to influence an engineering decision, talk through the technical aspects with your tech lead / engineers. Build / buy? Cloud / data lake implications and cost? Time to build / ship? Impact to technical debt? Upcoming refactoring? Test / validation impacts? If you’re building hardware or devices, the stakes are higher as your time & cost to prototype / build / test are higher. Discuss, debate & decide, while keeping the end goal in mind - it’s not about getting your way; it’s about making the best decision.

In my experience transitioning from AI/ML consultant to Technical Product Manager, involving engineers early in the decision-making process is pivotal. By integrating them from the start, you harness their expertise and foster a sense of ownership. Presenting challenges as collaborative problems rather than directives encourages innovation. Utilize data-driven insights to highlight the impact of decisions on product goals. Regularly facilitate open forums for engineers to voice concerns and suggestions. This collaborative approach not only drives better engineering decisions but also cultivates a cohesive team environment where every member feels valued and invested in the product’s success.

No one has unlimited time or unlimited budget. Accept trade offs : working software is good software. There is no bug free software.

Make use of every opportunity to learn the capabilities of the technology in use! Meetings discussing the trade-offs are one such opportunity. Rather, organize workshops that discuss the build feasibility requirement-by-requirement. Such workshops would conclude into necessary trade-offs and the reason behind those decisions. Giving you the product manager to learn more about the building blocks. Over a period, the quality of solutions proposed by you would improve.

Excellent response. So many engineers, management, and programs forget that design is always a compromise. A cheesy cliche but "fast, good, or cheap" tends really stand out. One cannot have all three, pick any two. Objectives and requirements have to be stated and documented.

As a Product Manager, it's essential to maintain unwavering commitment throughout the product lifecycle. Keep a vigilant eye on every crucial milestone, and ensure that your team is aligned with the overarching strategy, goals, and vision. When your team begins to taste the fruits of their achievements, you've achieved a significant milestone yourself because you've cultivated a cohesive unit that shares a deep alignment with the product's objectives. This alignment is the foundation for success.

Commander’s Intent: You have an objective and a defined plan (timing, mile stones, design/build phases, budgets etc). Then let engineering do it’s job without interfering. Have an established meeting cadence to ensure the plan is being executed as agreed but outside of that let them be creative to accomplish the objective that was established. If things go off plan lean into engineering’s experience and allow them to come up with corrective actions or alternate routes to still achieve the original objective.

To influence engineering decisions without being pushy, start by building trust by demonstrating a solid understanding of both the technical aspects and the product vision. Engage engineers early in the process, valuing their input and fostering collaboration. Frame your suggestions around shared goals like user satisfaction and scalability, ensuring alignment. Use data to support your ideas, making your case objective and evidence-based. Instead of dictating, ask questions that guide engineers to consider alternatives. Lastly, be flexible and open to compromise, as blending perspectives often leads to the best decisions. Influence through collaboration and respect, not force.