Managing product managers is a nuanced problem that extends past customary management expertise. Whilst you possible have what it takes, given that you just’ve already landed the function, there are widespread pitfalls that may undermine your group’s effectiveness and total success. Let’s delve into these potential points and find out how to keep away from them.
I first grew to become a supervisor again in 2000. My supervisor was leaving and I acquired his job, beginning to handle 6 builders who have been beforehand my friends.
On the primary day of my new function, I discovered that I had been assigned one other developer. Because it was within the Israeli Air Drive (IAF), we acquired builders contemporary from coaching, and so they have been assigned to us with out a selection within the matter.
Nonetheless studying what I wanted to do, I took the brand new developer to a welcome dialog. I needed to get to know her, perceive what she needed to do, and discover the most effective match for her. I anticipated knowledgeable dialog, however she actually stunned me together with her solutions.
She instructed me she didn’t like coding. She didn’t wish to be a developer. She didn’t wish to be there. It doesn’t matter what I requested her, what angle I attempted, the reply was the identical.
I used to be puzzled. Not like in a business firm, I couldn’t simply let her go. She had signed with the military to serve for five years (!). I didn’t need an unmotivated particular person on my group, but it surely appeared like I didn’t have a selection. I had no concept find out how to take it from right here.
Fortunately for me, I used to be mates with an skilled supervisor who grew to become my mentor. I shared with him my state of affairs and he had an fascinating recommendation: He stated I ought to give her plenty of accountability, throwing her within the deep finish instantly.
I questioned that technique — in any case, can I belief somebody who doesn’t wish to be right here with an essential facet of our mission? However since I had no higher various I needed to give it a attempt. I assigned her to be accountable for the cybersecurity of our mission. It concerned integrating authentication and reporting programs, in addition to coding practices that your entire group wanted to stick to.
Fortunately for me, she didn’t need hassle. She was pleasant and revered my management, so she did the job.
I, however, wanted to follow administration (which I used to be nonetheless new to, keep in mind?), possession of a website I knew nothing about, studying all the small print myself to verify it made sense, and on the similar time avoiding micromanagement since that will have contradicted what I used to be making an attempt to do together with her private {and professional} growth.
It wasn’t simple, however I believe we nailed it.
By the point I left the group, she was an essential contributor to our success. She later grew to become an officer and even managed a group herself. I lately discovered that she is now not in tech, I assume she discovered her actual ardour in any case.
This story represents so many challenges in managing sensible folks: You wish to give them freedom, however nonetheless personal their success. You have to assist and foster their private {and professional} progress. You wish to increase the bar consistently and preserve them accountable for reaching new heights.
And relating to managing product managers, the challenges are even larger.
Product managers have ‘supervisor’ within the job title for a motive. Whereas they don’t handle folks, they nonetheless handle many issues. And while you turn out to be a supervisor of product managers, you at the moment are a supervisor of managers, even when HR-wise you’re solely a first-level supervisor.
Managing managers is a complete completely different recreation. Listed here are the widespread pitfalls that I see and that you just wish to keep away from.
As you possibly can see in my story above, I didn’t have plenty of grace as a brand new supervisor earlier than I wanted to cope with private issues. Whether or not you prefer it or not, a significant a part of being an incredible supervisor is understanding and nurturing the people in your group.
It’s true for any supervisor, however the motive it’s a pitfall is that I see too many managers considering that product managers are “grown-ups” and, due to this fact, managing them ought to give attention to the purposeful facets of the job and the private administration may very well be left apart.
It is a mistake for a number of causes. First, it’s well-known that individuals depart managers, not firms. So being a great supervisor — one which cares about their staff and their growth — is a should to have the ability to retain good folks in your group. Second, sensible folks’s motivation is tightly correlated with the extent of problem they expertise, particularly when it’s aligned with their profession objectives. These are true for a lot of professions.
The third motive is extra distinctive to product administration.
Product administration is a career of the guts. Most product managers are deeply invested in what they do, and what occurs of their private lives straight impacts their efficiency. If you happen to don’t handle that facet you miss a crucial alternative to affect your relationship in addition to their efficiency.
To keep away from this pitfall, make this a precedence. Common one-on-ones ought to transcend standing updates to perceive group members’ aspirations and challenges, each private {and professional}. Be certain that every member of your group has a growth plan that he’s conscious of and pleased with. Make it your accountability to get there.
I as soon as coached a product chief who, on the floor, appeared to have all of it collectively. Her group of product managers was well-organized, met deadlines constantly, and maintained a harmonious work setting. From the skin, it seemed like a textbook instance of fine administration.
Nevertheless, a major concern emerged as we dug deeper all through our teaching classes. Whereas this chief excelled at day-to-day operations, she struggled to articulate a transparent imaginative and prescient for her area. I used to be stunned to study that her product managers have been every engaged on disparate initiatives, however there was no cohesive technique tying them collectively. When requested concerning the long-term roadmap or how their work contributed to the corporate’s broader objectives, she would defer to her particular person product managers or higher-ups.
That is an instance of one other widespread pitfall for managers of product managers: specializing in skilled administration with out really proudly owning the success of their area. A core accountability of the product chief is to verify folks work on the proper priorities. If you happen to solely handle their work somewhat than their broader context, how will you guarantee they work on the proper issues?
By giving up on technique as a part of your management, you’re dropping an important lever. It’s your job to guarantee every little thing suits into the larger image, and with out this strategic oversight, the flexibility to ship significant outcomes is severely compromised. You would possibly discover your group working laborious however not making vital progress in direction of the corporate’s objectives.
I personally discover this half probably the most fascinating within the product chief’s job, so I can’t perceive why anybody would wish to surrender on it, however even in the event you like different components of the job higher, you possibly can’t afford to place this essential half apart.
If you happen to really feel you’re falling into an limitless prioritization course of, having to cope with a lot of particulars that don’t essentially add up, or unable to supply a transparent roadmap and imaginative and prescient in your area — you could have most likely fallen into this lure.
To keep away from it, begin by clearly defining your area, ensure you perceive it effectively, and create your strategic roadmap. This isn’t only a assortment of your product managers’ particular person plans however a cohesive imaginative and prescient for the place you wish to take your area. Interact with stakeholders throughout the group to grasp how your area suits into the larger image and be proactive in figuring out alternatives and threats.
Keep in mind, as a supervisor of product managers, you’re not only a facilitator. You’re a product chief in your personal proper, chargeable for a major a part of the corporate’s product portfolio. Embrace this function. Personal your area’s success. Your group might be extra aligned, extra motivated, and finally extra profitable once they see you main with imaginative and prescient and function, guaranteeing that each effort contributes to significant outcomes.
In my years of teaching product leaders, I typically see a recurring theme that masquerades as progressive management. Many newly promoted managers of product managers pleasure themselves on their hands-off strategy. “I don’t wish to micromanage,” they inform me. “I belief my group to make the proper selections.”
At first look, this would possibly appear to be a great state of affairs. With everybody speaking about empowered groups, this looks like the proper factor to do. However as we dig deeper, it turns into clear that this well-intentioned strategy is definitely a pitfall in disguise.
True empowerment doesn’t imply leaving your group to fend for themselves. It means offering them with the context, steerage, and assist they should make knowledgeable selections and take significant motion.
As a supervisor of product managers, your function is to create an setting the place your group can thrive. This entails setting clear expectations, offering common suggestions, and sure, typically making powerful calls. It means being actively concerned in your group’s work, not as a micromanager, however as a mentor and information. You have to give them course and ensure they work on the proper issues that want fixing.
To get there, you want to construct your group’s capabilities and confidence so you possibly can regularly improve their autonomy as they show readiness. However even then it doesn’t imply that you just let go fully. True empowerment goes hand in hand with tight technique, well-explained priorities, and common check-ins to verify everybody goes in the proper course.
Take into consideration your self while you don’t get steerage and course out of your supervisor. It doesn’t really feel like empowerment, does it? It typically feels extra like abandonment. Likewise, your product managers wish to you for management. They wish to know that there’s a gradual hand on the tiller, whilst they’re given room to steer their very own course. By offering construction, steerage, and clear objectives, you’re not stifling their autonomy — you’re enabling it.
True empowerment is a balancing act. It’s about figuring out when to step in and when to step again. It’s about creating a security web that encourages daring strikes whereas mitigating catastrophic falls. By avoiding this pitfall, you’ll create a group that’s really empowered — assured of their skills, clear of their course, and supported of their progress. Most significantly, you’ll have a group that’s not simply busy however efficient — delivering significant outcomes that drive actual worth in your clients and what you are promoting.
