» Saying no to a good idea requires confidence in your product strategy
» Even if saying no to an opportunity, take the time to understand its value and context
» Keep ideas and suggestions separate from your product backlog
» Clear company goals and strategy make it easier to say no to unaligned requests
» Saying yes habitually to one-off custom features will usually kill your product business
» Identify the key stakeholders whom you need to trust you and collaborate with you regularly
» Understand the real reason for anger – whether in others or ourselves
» Remember where stakeholders’ help starts and ends
» To be trusted, you need to demonstrate your competence
Starting a new product manager job can be daunting, particularly if you don’t change jobs very often. I work freelance, so I find myself in a new organisation roughly every 3-6 months. Let me share with you my tips for your first few months in a new role.
I’ve just been on Ross Webb’s new Product Team Success podcast talking about learning product leadership. We cover plenty of ground, have a listen.
This is an interview I did a little while ago with a user experience author living on the US East Coast. She was interested in moving into freelance product management.
I was recently asked this question:
How would you recommend working with organisations who are used to a traditional / waterfall approach, transition towards agile / iterative development?
Here’s my response:
There are several common dysfunctions plaguing product teams in B2B companies the world over. How can you stop them? Read on for suggestions.
Government digital teams have a way to ensure their digital services and products are created in the right way.
Curating the product roadmap is one of the most typical responsibilities of a product manager. But have you ever thought about why you bother with them in the first place and how you could make them more effective?
I’ve just kicked off another project through my firm, Product People Limited. With the inevitable flurry of project start-up activity, a couple of basic tasks have reminded me how important it is for product managers to be flexible, whenever possible.
