How to say NO without saying NO...
Subhodip Banerjee
Senior Product Manager @ Booking.com | Building data & tracking products for App Marketing
As a Product manager the most important advise I have recieved has been to able to master the skill to say NO
After some research and discussions with my mentors
Why do you think this is a good feature ?
Do you have any preliminary resarch on this or data to back this up?
What are you trying to accomplish here or what are the main problems you are trying to solve here ?
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What is the impact you are trying to create with this ?
How are you confident that the users will be using it on a regular-basis ?
If it s a paying feature, who is the intended audience ? Is there an intent to pay?
3. Bring them along with you on the journey : Once you get the above answers & evaluate if the request aligns with your product roadmap then request them to review the roadmap together with you. Let them know the existing items in the prioritised backlog. Ask them if you could do some competitive analysis
4. Once they have been able to go through the above processes let them help to take the decision with you. If they can come to the conclusion for you then it is a win-win for everyone. But, more often than not they will still push for it and then you have to play the Product manager's trump card - " I will put it in the Product Backlog."
Hope these steps helps a bit for you to make the journey a bit easier.
Keep building awesome products...
IT Product Owner | Service Delivery Manager
2 年Hey Subhodip! Long time :) Let me start by saying that this is quite an interesting topic, and a very engaging one too. I understand the theme of the post, you ideally want to make them heard and be transparent about the product. My 2 cents here - while I acknowledge this is a great way to initiate bringing the person on the same page as you, there are a some things which I think make a great impact. For example, the tone. A great technique would be to ensure that when saying no, they refrain from using strong words/phrases."It's just not worth it!", for example, would probably not be the right way to go about it. Moreover, I think it is not just about proving a point, but should rather be an informative, engaging exchange (and one where you probably will have to explain a lot, but that's okay, because you have the clear vision of the product), while also setting the expectations right.
Co-Founder @ GitView | Software Engineering Intelligence(SEI) platform
2 年Also remember to not fall in the trap of ALWAYS saying NO. As you rightly mentioned, first ask relevant questions. It actually might help you rethink product strategy and correct course.
Technical Product Owner @ Boeing | Global Certificate in Product Management
2 年A must have skill for any PM. Subhodip Banerjee A good read
Product/Project Manager at Raftlabs | Empowering teams with a culture of active listening and collaboration.
2 年This is a great read. It's crazy but recently I was thinking about this topic itself..how should we say no when it comes to certain requests. Thanks for sharing this
Fintech advisor | Australian Global Talent Visa(PR) | ex-Thought Machine, Rapyd, Grab| Core banking, Open banking & payments | All things Fintech
2 年Well captured points !