Main takeaways: - What are the possible options to solve a given problem? And how to get the ideas? - Which one is the best? How to prioritize and drive clarity? For yourself, for your team (basically how to pick from the options in challenge 1) - How to go about executing it? How to influence without formal authority? Communication and tips on that.

1. Problems PMs Face as Problem Solvers by
Microsoft Product Leader
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5. Problems PMs Face as Problem
Solvers
Kaushal Jain
PRODUCT MANAGER

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7. Agenda
Problem #1: Unpacking Options
Problem #2: Prioritizing and
Navigating Chaos
Problem #3: Influence without
Authority
Summary
Context

8. Context
You are a Product Manager and you are tasked to solve a problem.
Healthcare efficiency
Make public health
workers efficient through
technology
Advertising (B2C)
Improve User Engagement
on shopping experiences
for an Ads product
Cloud Security (B2B)
Increase the adoption of
cloud security services among
customers

10. Problem #1 : Unpacking Options
Problem is ambiguous
Too broad, unclear direction,
several overlapping issues
What are the options?
Unable to identify potential
paths to solve the problem
Research and Read
 Industry landscape
 Competitor study
 Similar case studies
 Company strengths
Customer Feedback
 Direct Interviews
 Key metrics, trend analyses
 Support tickets / Feedback
 Sales conversations
 User Research
Stakeholder Opinions
 Experienced PM interviews
 Engineering insights
 Finance Team chats
 Marketing insights
Clearly defined problem
statement
List of several options (ideally
logically categorized)

11. Problem #1 : Unpacking Options
Healthcare efficiency
• Surveys, interview with
healthcare workers, government
officials
• Data quality and frequency
available to healthcare workers
• Research on similar problems in
other countries
Advertising (B2C)
• Current engagement metrics
and trends
• UX and PM discussions
• Ad coverage and revenue
trade-off study
Cloud Security (B2B)
• Discussions with PMs and
Engineers of Security Services,
Marketing Insights
• Competitor and Industry
analyses
• Sales and Commerce insights on
Security

12. Problem #1 : Unpacking Options
Healthcare efficiency
Make public health workers
efficient through technology
Advertising (B2C)
Improve User Engagement on
shopping experiences for an
Ads product
Cloud Security (B2B)
Increase the adoption of cloud
security services among
customers
“Provide insightful data
visualizations to healthcare
workers to mobilize resources”
“Product integration-led growth
in adjacent security services for
existing security customers”
“Show more relevant free offers to
users without hurting total
revenue from Shopping”

13. Problem #2 : Prioritizing and Navigating Chaos
Team alignment
 OKR / KPI movement potential
 Strategic Alignment
 Internal coordination
Feasibility
 Time to implement
(complexity)
 Regulatory / Admin
 Cost to implement
Value for Customer
 Tangible ROI for customer
 Indirect impact
 Available alternatives
IDEA PRIORITY
Selecting the best idea with a solid rationale
Making it a Team Priority
Having your immediate team to agree on
the right idea when there are multiple
conflicting priorities and chaos
 Write a convincing pitch
 Stay focused : avoid distractions (learn to say “No”)
 Stay calm
 Zoom In and Out as needed

14. Problem #2 : Prioritize and Navigate Chaos
Healthcare efficiency
Detailed Heat maps for disease
prevalence
• Value to healthcare workers
and the country – lives
saved, $$ saved, time saved
• Feasibility – partnership
with external organizations,
bureaucracy issues
Advertising (B2C)
Experiments for iterative
growth
• Balance Value to users, and
Internal Goals of revenue
• Repeat (Try, improve, Try)
Cloud Security (B2B)
Product-led growth :
engineering + marketing
• Feasibility – easy to
implement (vs building new)
• Internal Alignment – help
all services, increase
stickiness

15. Problem #3 : Influence without authority
Execution Issues
 Conflicting Goals
 Politics
 Lack of accountability
 Time constraints
Logos
(reason
and logic)
Pathos
(emotion)
Modes of
Influence
Ethos
(common
purpose)
Empathy
Step into their shoes, and understand their
day-to-day and world
Trust
Stay authentic, and build meaningful
relationships
Adaptability
Understand their incentives and align your
goals with theirs
Expertise
Be clear and confident in your goals, and be
the expert for your problem area
How to Influence Stakeholders?

16. Problem #3 : Influence without authority
Healthcare efficiency
• External partners – Research
agencies : opportunity to
improve their models
• Shadow public health
workers, show empathy and
understand their incentives
to get data
• Pathos, Ethos
Advertising (B2C)
• UX team : improve
experiences
• Engineering team – metrics
and technical challenge
• Support team – reduced
tickets
• Logos, Ethos
Cloud Security (B2B)
• PMs incentives (PnL) and
establish trust
• Marketing team – portfolio
improvement
• Sales – more attach sales
from their accounts
• Finance team – portfolio
improvement
• Ethos

17. Summary
As a Product Manager you’re often given diverse problems to solve
 Unpacking Options
 Clarify and concretize the problem statement
 Explore multiple approaches
 Prioritize and Navigate Chaos
 Drive clarity through prioritization, both for yourself and for the team
 Influence without Authority
 All about people, relationships, authenticity

18. Thank You!
WWW.PRODUCTSCHOOL.COM
www.linkedin.com/in/kaushal-y-jain/
Credits: Xema Pathak

19. www.productschool.com
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