Top 3 Traps Managers of Product Managers Fall?Into

I first became a manager back in 2000. My manager was leaving and I got his job, starting to manage 6 developers who were previously my peers.

On the first day of my new role, I learned that I had been assigned another developer. Since it was in the Israeli Air Force (IAF), we got developers fresh from training, and they were assigned to us without a choice in the matter.

Still learning what I needed to do, I took the new developer to a welcome conversation. I wanted to get to know her, understand what she wanted to do, and find the best fit for her. I expected a professional conversation, but she really surprised me with her answers.

She told me she didn’t like coding. She didn’t want to be a developer. She didn’t want to be there. No matter what I asked her, what angle I tried, the answer was the same.

I was puzzled. Unlike in a commercial company, I couldn’t just let her go. She had signed with the army to serve for 5 years (!). I didn’t want an unmotivated person on my team, but it seemed like I didn’t have a choice. I had no idea how to take it from here.

Luckily for me, I was friends with an experienced manager who became my mentor. I shared with him my situation and he had an interesting advice: He said I should give her a lot of responsibility, throwing her in the deep end immediately.

I questioned that strategy?—?after all, can I trust someone who doesn’t want to be here with an important aspect of our project? But since I had no better alternative I had to give it a try. I assigned her to be accountable for the cybersecurity of our project. It involved integrating authentication and reporting systems, as well as coding practices that the entire team needed to adhere to.

Luckily for me, she didn’t want trouble. She was friendly and respected my leadership, so she did the job.

I, on the other hand, needed to practice management (which I was still new to, remember?), ownership of a domain I knew nothing about, learning all the details myself to make sure it made sense, and at the same time avoiding micromanagement since that would have contradicted what I was trying to do with her personal and professional development.

It wasn’t easy, but I think we nailed it.

By the time I left the team, she was an important contributor to our success. She later became an officer and even managed a team herself. I recently learned that she is no longer in tech, I guess she found her real passion after all.

This story represents so many challenges in managing smart people : You want to give them freedom, but still own their success. You need to support and foster their personal and professional growth. You want to raise the bar constantly and keep them accountable for reaching new heights.

And when it comes to managing product managers, the challenges are even greater.

Product managers have ‘manager’ in the job title for a reason. While they don’t manage people, they still manage many things. And when you become a manager of product managers, you are now a manager of managers, even if HR-wise you are only a first-level manager.

Managing managers is a whole different game. Here are the common pitfalls that I see and that you want to avoid.

Pitfall #1: Managing Functionally but Not Personally

As you can see in my story above, I didn’t have a lot of grace as a new manager before I needed to deal with personal matters. Whether you like it or not, a major part of being a great manager is understanding and nurturing the individuals on your team.

It’s true for any manager, but the reason it’s a pitfall is that I see too many managers thinking that product managers are “grown-ups” and, therefore, managing them should focus on the functional aspects of the job and the personal management could be left aside.

This is a mistake for a few reasons. First, it’s well known that people leave managers, not companies. So being a good manager?—?one that cares about their employees and their development?—?is a must to be able to retain good people on your team. Second, smart people’s motivation is tightly correlated with the level of challenge they experience, especially when it’s aligned with their career goals. These are true for many professions.

The third reason is more unique to product management.

Product management is a profession of the heart. Most product managers are deeply invested in what they do, and what happens in their personal lives directly impacts their performance. If you don’t manage that aspect you miss a critical opportunity to impact your relationship as well as their performance.

To avoid this pitfall, make this a priority. Regular one-on-ones should go beyond status updates to understand team members’ aspirations and challenges, both personal and professional. Make sure each member of your team has a development plan that he is aware of and happy with. Make it your responsibility to get there .

Pitfall #2: Managing Professionally but Not Owning Domain?Success

I once coached a product leader who, on the surface, seemed to have it all together. Her team of product managers was well-organized, met deadlines consistently, and maintained a harmonious work environment. From the outside, it looked like a textbook example of good management.

However, a significant issue emerged as we dug deeper throughout our coaching sessions. While this leader excelled at day-to-day operations, she struggled to articulate a clear vision for her domain. I was surprised to learn that her product managers were each working on disparate projects, but there was no cohesive strategy tying them together. When asked about the long-term roadmap or how their work contributed to the company’s broader goals, she would defer to her individual product managers or higher-ups.

This is an example of another common pitfall for managers of product managers: focusing on professional management without truly owning the success of their domain. A core responsibility of the product leader is to make sure people work on the right priorities . If you only manage their work rather than their broader context, how can you ensure they work on the right things?

By giving up on strategy as part of your leadership, you’re losing a crucial lever. It’s your job to ensure everything fits into the bigger picture, and without this strategic oversight, the ability to deliver meaningful outcomes is severely compromised. You might find your team working hard but not making significant progress towards the company’s goals.

I personally find this part the most interesting in the product leader’s job, so I can’t understand why anyone would want to give up on it, but even if you like other parts of the job better, you can’t afford to put this important part aside.

If you feel you are falling into an endless prioritization process, having to deal with lots of details that don’t necessarily add up, or unable to provide a clear roadmap and vision for your domain?—?you have probably fallen into this trap.

To avoid it, start by clearly defining your domain, make sure you understand it well, and create your strategic roadmap. This isn’t just a collection of your product managers’ individual plans but a cohesive vision for where you want to take your domain. Engage with stakeholders across the organization to understand how your domain fits into the bigger picture and be proactive in identifying opportunities and threats.

Remember, as a manager of product managers, you’re not just a facilitator. You’re a product leader in your own right, responsible for a significant part of the company’s product portfolio. Embrace this role. Own your domain’s success. Your team will be more aligned, more motivated, and ultimately more successful when they see you leading with vision and purpose, ensuring that every effort contributes to meaningful outcomes.

Pitfall #3: Avoiding Management in the Name of Empowerment

In my years of coaching product leaders, I often see a recurring theme that masquerades as progressive leadership. Many newly promoted managers of product managers pride themselves on their hands-off approach. “I don’t want to micromanage,” they tell me. “I trust my team to make the right decisions.”

At first glance, this might seem like an ideal scenario. With everyone talking about empowered teams, this seems like the right thing to do. But as we dig deeper, it becomes clear that this well-intentioned approach is actually a pitfall in disguise.

True empowerment doesn’t mean leaving your team to fend for themselves. It means providing them with the context, guidance, and support they need to make informed decisions and take meaningful action.

As a manager of product managers, your role is to create an environment where your team can thrive . This involves setting clear expectations, providing regular feedback, and yes, sometimes making tough calls. It means being actively involved in your team’s work, not as a micromanager, but as a mentor and guide. You need to give them direction and make sure they work on the correct problems that need solving.

To get there, you need to build your team’s capabilities and confidence so you can gradually increase their autonomy as they demonstrate readiness. But even then it doesn’t mean that you let go entirely. True empowerment goes hand in hand with tight strategy, well-explained priorities, and regular check-ins to make sure everyone goes in the right direction.

Think about yourself when you don’t get guidance and direction from your manager. It doesn’t feel like empowerment, does it? It often feels more like abandonment. Likewise, your product managers are looking to you for leadership. They want to know that there’s a steady hand on the tiller, even as they’re given room to steer their own course. By providing structure, guidance, and clear goals, you’re not stifling their autonomy?—?you’re enabling it.

True empowerment is a balancing act. It’s about knowing when to step in and when to step back. It’s about creating a safety net that encourages bold moves while mitigating catastrophic falls. By avoiding this pitfall, you’ll create a team that’s truly empowered?—?confident in their abilities, clear in their direction, and supported in their growth. Most importantly, you’ll have a team that’s not just busy but effective?—?delivering meaningful outcomes that drive real value for your customers and your business.

Our free e-book “ Speed-Up the Journey to Product-Market Fit”?—?an executive’s guide to strategic product management is waiting for you at www.infinify.com/ebook

Originally published at https://infinify.com on August 2, 2024.