PRODUCTHEAD: Efficient note-taking (communication toolkit #4)
» A mind map is helpful for noting non-linear information
» The Cornell note-taking method can be useful for learning
» Sketchnotes allow more effective visual communication
Category: PRODUCTHEAD – Product management newsletter
PRODUCTHEAD is my free curated newsletter of the best articles, videos and podcasts from product leaders and commentators all over the world. All neatly packaged up in a weekly email delivery for your reading, viewing and listening pleasure. Curated by Jock Busuttil (jockbusuttil.com).
PRODUCTHEAD: Writing for the needs of your audience (communication toolkit #3)
» What you write online is there to serve the users’ needs
» Writing for the web = using short sentences
» People read differently on the web than they do on paper
» Tools exist to help make your writing easier to understand
PRODUCTHEAD: How to read more effectively (communication toolkit #2)
» Read a format that suits you best, whether physical or digital
» As you read, ask yourself questions of the content to keep yourself engaged with it
» Analytical reading allows you to understand, then accept or reject the key idea being presented
» F-shaped reading occurs on web content because people are short on time or engagement
PRODUCTHEAD: Active listening (communication toolkit #1)
» Being a better listener can improve your productivity, as well as your ability to influence, persuade and negotiate
» Psychological safety partly depends on your team feeling they are being listened to
PRODUCTHEAD: Dropping the masks at work
» We perform better when we bring our emotions to work
» Call out toxic workplaces, but also have an exit strategy
» An effective team needs: psychological safety, dependability, structure & clarity, meaning, and impact
» Treat psychological safety as a key business metric, as important as revenue, cost of sales, or uptime
PRODUCTHEAD: The difference between good and bad strategy
Rumelt:
» “Good strategy grows out of independent and careful assessment of the situation”
» “Bad strategy follows the crowd, substituting popular slogans for insights”
Eriksson:
» “Deciding what not to do is just as important as deciding what to do”
PRODUCTHEAD: A primer on analytics for beginners
» You can only tell if you’ve been successful if you can measure it
» Analytics approaches that work for others may not work in your context
» Behind every metrics is a behaviour
» The point of an experiment is to learn
PRODUCTHEAD: Defining services
A service:
» is defined from an external end user’s point of view
» describes something someone would want to do, in their language
» has an outcome that relates to the organisation’s goals
» includes all the steps between the user and provider
» includes all the parts involved in delivering it
PRODUCTHEAD: Component teams, feature teams and centralised skill teams
» A component team’s focus on a specific technology can result in being less user-centric
» Feature teams are better suited to deal with innovation, uncertainty, and change
» Centralised skill teams should aim to make themselves redundant by disseminating knowledge
PRODUCTHEAD: The hidden patterns within design systems
» Federation squares the circle of having both a cohesive design system and autonomous product teams
» A successful design system closely meets the needs of developers of apps and the end-users of those apps
» For a design system to appeal to third parties, it has to accommodate their brand identity and niche audience needs
