A Day in Life: 5 Real-World Hurdles Every Product Manager Jumps Over

Hey there, you fellow product person! ??

Now, I know there's no 'typical' day at work. But there are a few challenges that seem to pop up more often than others that I think each of us go through often, here are my top five:

1. Chasing the "Perfect Product" Mirage

Every organization wants to create "the best product ever". But trying to add every possible feature before launching simply makes everything slow down. It's like they say, “If you're totally happy with the first version of your product, you probably launched it too late." So, don't wait for the perfect move. Get it out there as soon as you can and gather some feedback.

The more features we try to squeeze in, the longer the time to market. We end up waiting indefinitely for perfection rather than delivering value promptly. The key lies in releasing fast, learning quickly, and iterating efficiently. The opportunity cost of not launching our already-developed product value offering is also a hefty price to pay in the long run.

2. The "When Will It Be Done?" Puzzle

People, I mean stakeholders, always want to know when a feature will be ready. The problem? You can't predict every single distraction along the way with some unrealistic "padding". It's kind of like cooking a new recipe – sometimes it just takes longer than you thought. Instead of focusing on hard deadlines, you must always focus on moving forward, little by little.

When it comes to setting deadlines for every feature, reality often defies calculation. Unexpected hiccups are a part of the process, and it's not feasible to account for every unknown because they are not known yet! Instead of being deadline-driven at a singular specific point in time, I believe organizations should foster a culture of steady output over time.

As long as your continuous output-per-time is at a steady net positive level, I would argue that it's the right metric to keep an eye out for.

3. The Long, Long, Long-Term Plan Fallacy

Roadmaps, roadmaps, roadmaps... We all make plans. But if your roadmap looks something like stretching over 18-24 months, chances are it's going to change before you get there, multiple times. Priorities shift, competition pops up, and regulations get updated. It's better to focus on the next few things on your list, and not stress about what's happening two years from now.

Surely, it's great to have a north-star vision and an ideal image of what success looks like in the next 5 years. However, long-term planning can prove a deceptive comfort. I've found that detailed plans beyond a 6-9 month timeframe rarely hold water. Teams benefit more from focusing on the next 2-3 features rather than worrying about a roadmap that extends into a distant and unpredictable future.

4. The "Figma vs. Real Life" Showdown

Designing a product flow on Figma is one thing. Bringing it to life is another. It's like planning a road trip – the route might look straightforward on the map, but you don't know what it's like until you're on the road. We need to make sure everyone involved - the developers, the designers - is on the same page so we can make our design a reality.

Design tools like Figma are instrumental in conceptualizing and streamlining the front-end development process. However, a beautifully conceived UI flow on Figma does not guarantee an equally pleasing user experience in reality. It's crucial to ensure seamless collaboration among developers, UX & UI designers, and align with the timeline of deliverables to translate vision into reality. This, less frequently talked about challenge, is one that causes dire consequences if not managed properly.

5. The Juggling of Stakeholder Expectations

Ever felt like you're a circus performer spinning plates? That's what managing stakeholder expectations can feel like. But the thing is, it's okay if everyone's not over the moon. The goal is to deliver value to the users, improve the product, and keep things moving. As long as everyone's on board with that, we're golden.

Balancing stakeholder expectations can sometimes feel like juggling flaming torches. Striving to satisfy everyone often leads to satisfying no one. Instead, I find it more practical and rewarding to focus on delivering user value and enhancing the overall product, even if it means not all stakeholders are ecstatic.

Not only in product management but also in life, keeping everyone happy at all times is often not possible and is a very taxing task for you. Instead, I have observed that keeping everyone 'not unhappy' is a more realistic and sustainable goal when it comes to managing stakeholder expectations. The goal is to keep progressing at all times with better value to the users, that's what matters.

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That's it! Every day's a new challenge, but that's what makes this job fun, right? ?? Let me know if you agree or disagree.

If you enjoyed this article, give it a good old thumbs up ?? Let me know if you would add like to a daily challenge to this list in the comments below ??