Since I started in product management, so much has changed. Where things used to be trial and error as we all muddled through the new areas, there are now so many more resources, best practices and support available. I remain thankful for so many thought leaders elevating the discipline to continual new heights with Melissa Perri, Roman Pichler, Pawel Huryn and Teresa Torres being amazing people that are very much top of mind (and would recommending following them all). From a job lacking in understanding and clarity, it’s become a thriving community leading to well-defined roles within organisations with huge career potential across all levels from first time Product Manager through to CPO.

Like most product managers of a certain vintage, I came in via other routes and that’s led to me thinking about how my pre-product career shaped the product person I am today. The core thought that comes to mind is the realisation that we don’t talk enough about the human side of product management. This, to me at least, is defined as the way we work with our stakeholders and product teams. Our end users is topic for another conversation, as there are a lot of similarities and overlaps with the detail here.

Going back in time to my brand management and marketing days, understanding people to drive the right outcome was second nature in that role and experience I now leverage daily today.

Ultimately I believe that product management is, at its core, a human discipline. Dig below the surface and no matter if you’re strong in engineering, analytics, user insight, product practices or design thinking – you’ll always end up dealing with humans.

Taking that thought, there are five principles that come to mind:

  1. Take people on the journey.When we hit a challenge, it can be too easy to look to seek excuses for what can simply be a misunderstanding or a lack of knowledge in product management and how it works. As the subject matter experts, our role is to educate others, working through the changes that can impact teams or individuals outside of product roles. We should always seek to elevate the knowledge and understanding to a common ‘standard’, being proactive and take the lead, rather than sitting back and perhaps looking for reasons why we’re not making the progress we want. This does mean leaning in to other areas, a great practice to increase our overall understanding and effectiveness. The principle I keep in mind is we can’t change other people, only ourselves.
  2. Everyone is in a product team.A critical point to reaching success with any product team is called out in above. To achieve this, I’m a big believer in the concept of everyone is in a product team, it’s just if you’re full-time or part-time. Breaking this down, it translated to the core product team (product manger, engineers, QA, design) being defined as those employed to be 100% dedicated to the development of product. These are the full-time members. Part-time means those we work with who have other responsibilities outside of product management - finance, marketing, store operations etc. The core principle is to bring everyone into the full process, open up the backlogs, roadmaps, decision points and everything in between. Doing this means those who are part-time get the choice in when to step in and out as opposed to product teams making the choice for them, which can lead to exclusion or product teams coming across as an island.
  3. Context is key.The best way to describe this is going back to your school maths days - always show your workings, not just the answer. Product is the same. We focus a lot on the what we’re building, let’s face it, it’s the interesting part and the one everyone we work with understands and is keen to know more on. The bit that can sometimes be missing is the why. This can be what drove the change e.g. we’ve seen a gap in our purchase funnel service and this change will remove a core point of friction to why one change is above another in prioritisation. Taking the why (and I’m a big fan of ‘Start with Why’ from Simon Sinek) is critical and ensures we all know where the resources are spent and why they are being spent in that order. Never forget the why to go with the outcome you’re driving.
  4. Getting along with people is an under-appreciated aspect of product management.This was the inspiration for the whole article, as product management remains one around how you get on with and inspire other people. It becomes more critical based on the size of the organisation and what stage in their product journey they are. Let’s face it, change is hard. I’ve personally seen the benefit in getting to know the people I work with, it makes difficult conversations easier, trade-offs get resolved faster resulting in a better outcome for all. Invest the time in relationships, it will pay dividends later on.
  5. Know when and when not to stand your ground.Of all the 5 principles, this is the toughest and, at times, the most important. Being the experts, we tend to know the right thing to go. But, as with anything, relationships are a two-way street. No-one got to 50 years of marriage by always standing your ground and never compromising. It’s the same in product management, knowing when to stand for pure product ways of working and when to compromise is a delicate balance. What I’m saying is don’t abandon your principles, instead flex them so you continue building followship to do what is right in the long-term. Building the right outcomes takes time and for sure isn’t a linear journey. Accept there may be a few detours along the way, who knows, you may get to learn some missing context or meet a new person.

In summary it’s a fascinating topic and one that will continue to evolve given the changing world people in Product Management live in.