PMD #11 - on Leadership and Growing as a Product Manager

Hello! ???? Welcome to the latest Product Management Digest.

This issue focuses on Product Development, which includes topics like experimentation??, feedback ??, and growth as a Product Manager ??, enhancing your leadership and PM skills. We'll also take a deep dive into the Product Roadmap ??? as we're still in the first quarter of the year and probably iterating on it. Finally, we'll touch on Industry Insights & Trends ??. I'll delve into a few articles by category and leave the rest for you to discover ??.

The bonus sections ?? include many resources, from a list of recommended books to a list of Product influencers ?? you should follow.

Are you ready to dive in?

?????? 1) Mastering the Product Development Process

"How to Navigate Transitions Between Product Development Stages" by Annett Eckert , and additional posts from Abhishek Jain , Austin Yang and Francesca Cortesi

"How to Juggle Different Types of Feedback: Bug, UX Improvements, and Feature Request" by Pablo Martinez, and other posts from Juan Serrano Miralles , Gabrielle Bufrem

?? 2) Elevate Your Game as a Product Manager

"What Are the Most Requested Hard and Soft Skills from Recruiters" by Pierre Abi Hatem , and posts by Jonathan Lechevalier , Marina Krutchinsky

"The Importance and Impact of Strong Product Leadership in Companies" by Afonso Malo Franco , and posts by Stephane Delbecque , Petra Wille , Jér?me Granon

??? 3) Crafting the Perfect Product Roadmap

"A Failed Attempt at Collaborative Roadmap Building" by Stephane Delbecque , and other posts by Akhil Yash Tiwari , Alex Maravilla , Radhika Dutt

?? 4) Exploring Industry Dynamics & Emerging Trends

"Tips for PMs Changing Industries" by Stefano Rinaldi , and other posts by Ed Biden , Leah Tharin

Bonus Sections

A list of top influencers, free courses, learnings from the best product management books, and much more from Jackie Bavaro , Colin Lernell , Pawe? Huryn , Dr Bart Jaworski , Wes Bush , Aatir Abdul Rauf , Enzo Avigo

?????? 1) Mastering the Product Development Process

?? Product Development:

Annett Eckert emphasizes the importance of managing transitions between product development stages. She notes that these transition phases often lack clear structure and defined outcomes, increasing the risk of oversight. I agree it's challenging to determine when to move from one phase to another.

For example, during the discovery phase, it's hard to know when enough opportunities have been identified, or if more user interviews are necessary.

Similarly, while building a strategy, I struggle to decide how much time should I spend detailing the roadmap versus starting the execution. These are elusive lines to draw. This is why, I like Annett's approach of using a checklist to ensure you're on the right track while transitioning from one phase to another.

Other posts: Do you prefer freestyling product launches or meticulously documenting everything into PRDs ( Abhishek Jain )? – The key to successful product development is finding the right balance between innovation and not re-inventing the wheel ( Austin Yang ) – Similar to dating, where you want to appear eager without seeming desperate for a successful product execution, you need to be focused, yet also flexible ( Francesca Cortesi ).

?? Managing Feedback:

Managing feedback in product development requires discerning valuable insights from noise. Pablo Martinez outlines how SmartMonkey utilizes three processes: bug reporting for system failures, UX/UI improvement for potential enhancements, and feature requests for new functionalities. This approach fosters continuous learning and product improvement. I find this approach to be straightforward yet highly efficient. It underscores the necessity for a product manager to consider various sources of feedback.

In many companies that function as feature factories, product strategy is solely driven by feature requests.

I've experienced this in a SaaS company where we had to build our roadmap based on the demands of our highest-paying customer, even if the requested feature didn't benefit our other clients. Therefore, it's crucial to maintain a balance among different types of feedback.

Other posts: Not all client feedback is valid and getting the right one is tricky, hopefully, those 5 rules will help ( Juan Serrano Miralles ) – The thing with which I struggle the most is the key to great experiments: consistency ( Gabrielle Bufrem )

?? 2) Elevate Your Game as a Product Manager

?? PM Skillset:

Pierre Abi Hatem asked Hiring Managers to identify the top soft and hard skills required by Product Managers. Here's my two cents on the results: generative AI, or GenAI, could disrupt these so-called "hard skills".

Tasks like writing good specifications, technical documentation, user stories, and surveys have been simplified by GenAI, which could reduce their importance as differentiating factors between good and great Product Managers.

That's why, I believe the soft skills acquired through hands-on experience and learning from failures are the key elements to consider when hiring a Product Manager.

Other posts: To every mistake made by an ambitious PM, Jonathan has the solution ( Jonathan Lechevalier ) – New to UX? focus on those skills ( Marina Krutchinsky )

???? PM Leadership:

Afonso Malo Franco highlights the pivotal role of effective product leadership in accelerating product development, increasing employee satisfaction, and strengthening businesses overall. Effective product leaders recruit the right people, onboard effectively, provide strategic context, orchestrate team collaboration, focus on important outcomes, foster a healthy work environment, and prioritize coaching. As companies expand, product leaders transition from hands-on development to team building.

It's worth noting that great individual contributors may not necessarily excel as leaders, as the skills required differ significantly.

A Product Leader must focus on team coaching (without micromanagement), ensuring team happiness, and aligning different product teams towards a common goal, which involves substantial coordination and cross-team work. Therefore, understanding and honing these distinct skills is crucial for transitioning from a Product Manager to a proficient Product Leader.

Other posts: HBR asserts inclusivity is vital in leadership (Stephane Delbecque), however, it appears underrepresented among product executives, with few POC influencers - Product leaders can be micromanagers too (Petra Wille) - As a leader, you're responsible for considering the ???????????????? consequences of the solutions you introduce to the market (Jér?me Granon)

??? 3) Creating the Roadmap

Stephane Delbecque ?? shares a story of a failed collaborative roadmap-building attempt due to overlooking back-end dependencies and individual interests. This emphasizes the need for a comprehensive understanding of a company's issues in prioritizing and maintaining a roadmap. The Product function, being well-versed with technical needs, dependencies, and complexities, is critical to successfully building a roadmap.

I believe this is the most challenging part of Product management - managing various stakeholders while ensuring their voices and opinions are heard, and maintaining a clear Product Vision.

It means you need to make clear that you understand a specific team's new feature's importance, but you prioritize based on a holistic approach: what benefits the business, adds value to end users, and is technologically feasible.

In teams where the Product Roadmap is often influenced by the 'Hippo' - highest highest-paid person's Opinion, it's beneficial to explain the entire process that led to your roadmap. Discuss the data you considered, the choices you made, and the reasons behind them. Explaining why you chose to focus on certain features and intentionally avoided others, even if they are important, enhances the credibility of the Product team and justifies why it's best suited to drive Product strategy.

Other posts: 6 things to keep in mind when creating your Roadmap ( Akhil Yash Tiwari ), on top of the 1000s advice you get from the 20 books on Product Roadmap ?? - Link your Vision to your Backlog with your Roadmap ( Alex Maravilla ) - A podcast on how to translate your vision into action ( Talking Roadmaps & Radhika Dutt )

?? 4) Exploring Industry Dynamics & Emerging Trends

Stefano Rinaldi discusses how Product Managers can successfully transition across industries. He emphasizes mastering PM basics, developing strong business and product sense, and conducting in-depth research on the new industry. I completely agree with Stefano's points from his own transition experience.

I don't view industry knowledge as a crucial factor when hiring a Product Manager unless the role demands immediate expertise in a complex and hard-to-learn industry. Instead, I focus more on the candidate's soft skills and relevant experiences that can be applied to the job.

I often find that hiring from different industries can bring fresh perspectives and innovative approaches. I recall a situation where I had to choose between a PM with extensive industry experience but less impressive Product experience, and another PM who was new to the industry. Despite the appeal of hiring someone who thoroughly understands the industry, I realized it would be easier for a new PM to research and acquire industry knowledge than teaching them the skills they could have gained from Product experience.

Other posts: Find 7 differences: B2B vs B2C version ( Ed Biden ) - Being a brilliant Product Manager is way too easy, brace yourself: now you must be a Growth expert as well or risk redundancy ( Leah Tharin )

?? Bonus Sections

Survived 2024's layoffs and snagged a new job? Impress your peers with these tips for your first 90 days ( Jackie Bavaro and Product Faculty ) - Who needs free time to rest or have fun when you can learn more about Product Management? Here's a podcast list for Product Leaders to make sure you never disconnect ?? ( Colin Lernell ) - If you're not on this Product influencers list, you are a nobody ?? Spoiler: I'm not on it either! ?? ( Pawe? Huryn ) - How do you spot a great Product Manager? Easy, just check their certifications ??, so get certified and remember to flaunt it on LinkedIn ???? ( Dr Bart Jaworski ) - A very hands-on approach to learning SQL as a PM ?????? ( Dr Bart Jaworski ) - The best user onboardings from analyzing 150 companies ( Wes Bush , Laura Kluz & Ramli "RJ" John ) - Seen the infamous must-read product books diagram and can't be bothered to read them? Good news, here are the key takeaways ??( Aatir Abdul Rauf ) - Achieving Product Market Fit can be tough: lighten the load with these handy cheat sheets ??( Enzo Avigo )

I hope you enjoyed the knowledge and insights of this edition. See you in the next one in March!