How to improve??your communication skills as a PRODUCT manager?

Communication ?? is at the heart of everything we do as product leaders.

Not only that, but our jobs depend on it. Sure, there are a bunch of skills that are vital to building great products. Strategic thinking, data acumen, technical fluency and user research are just some of the many skills that make product managers successful.

But product managers can only succeed if they’re able to bring the whole team along with them and work with them to collectively reach a common goal.

So how can you get really good at communicating? Isn’t good communication?something you just...know? ??

Nope. Sure, some people are naturally more comfortable communicating than others. These people often have the gift of making presentations look like a good time. They are often social by nature and are energized by communication and engaging with others. They articulate themselves clearly and get their message across effortlessly.

But for many,?great communication doesn’t come as naturally. They need to work at it. Like any other skill, continued practise can help get you there. It might seem daunting at first, but good communication skills are within everyone’s reach with effort and practice.

Here’s how you can start to improve how you communicate:

1. Spend time getting to know people?? ?? ?? ??
2. Understand your audiences ??????
3. Practice communicating with clarity
4. Practice listening ??????
5. When in doubt, over-communicate ??????

How can you improve??your communication skills?

Now we know how fundamental communication is to building successful products. How can you start to improve your skills?

1. ??????Get to know people ??????

This may seem like an obvious point to some, but getting to know people doesn’t come as naturally to everyone. It can get especially tricky if you’re working in a larger organization. Understanding how people do their best work, how you can collaborate together and what some of the challenges they’re facing will help you work better together.

If this is something you need to practice, start with getting curious about people and their work. Empathy is about connecting with others.

If you show genuine curiosity for people in your team - whether it’s their work or the hobbies that they’re into, you’re fostering connection.

Getting to know people in a remote setting can be challenging.?But there are ways to improve communication skills here as well. This could be in the form of team office hours, where the team informally exchanges ideas and learnings.

Yes, communication takes practice!??

If getting to know people doesn’t come as easily to you, remember: to listen to people without a goal.

2. Understand your audience

If you understand whom you’re speaking with, you’ll be able to communicate better with them.

If you’re presenting to someone or updating them, empathise with them! People have different goals, motivations, and challenges.

Try to understand them. This way, you’ll be helping them understand your message and key points. If you’re unsure how to get to know people’s goals and challenges, simply set up some conversations with them to understand their needs and challenges.

If you are very unfamiliar with your stakeholders (and perhaps work in a larger organization), you can approach your conversations with more structure (some people refer to these as stakeholder interviews).

Create empathy with your audiences and understand how they relate to your product and team. This will help you communicate effectively with them. Remember to approach these conversations with curiosity and an open mind.

3. Practice communicating with clarity

Look for opportunities to practice clearer communication.

Using simple and clear language is a good bet in any setting. Avoid using industry jargon when speaking with people. The accessible language will go a long way to helping communicate with people.

This is especially true if you're trying to align a wide variety of stakeholders.

When communicating, whether in writing or in person, tailor your message depending on the audience. If you’re speaking to leadership removed from your team’s day-to-day, your message should be concise and to the point.

If you’re speaking with your team or people close to your work, you’ll naturally want to cover more detail.

Look for opportunities to communicate outside of meetings and presentations.

4. Practice better listening ??????

Actively listen and hear people out. Active listening means pausing your own internal thoughts (for example about what you might stay next) and actually paying attention to?what the other person is trying to convey.

Ask people questions to better understand their point of view. By doing this, you’re creating empathy and are building a better understanding.

Give room for feedback when you’re presenting with people you want to align with. After all, alignment isn’t one-sided! It’s an exercise in negotiating different views and opinions.

When you ask for feedback, it doesn’t mean you need to act on every single piece of feedback you hear, but make sure people feel heard and understood.

5. When in doubt, over-communicate

If you’re not sure if your team and stakeholders understand key decisions or things you’re working on, err on the side of communicating more. It’s better if your message is getting across clearly and repeatedly than if people need to chase for updates and information.

Be proactive with your communication. Look for opportunities to help others understand you and you do the same for them. You can do this during office hours, updates on Slack or informal demos. They may not have asked for it, but people will appreciate not having to guess what you’re doing or why you’re doing it.

As product leaders, it’s important to communicate well with your team so that they understand what’s happening and why it’s happening.?They’ll be looking to you as a leader to help guide the team with sound decisions you’ve arrived at by collaborating with other disciplines. You need to communicate well with stakeholders so they can buy into your vision.?

By building trust and empathy with your team and stakeholders you’ll be able to improve how you communicate with them.

Look for opportunities to practice clear communication - make a point of ditching jargon and using plain English. Don’t forget to actively listen to others??. And be proactive about communicating with others.