Presenter: Christine Ferrusi Ross
Case studies tend to focus a lot on what went right. I'm not too proud -- I'll admit I made (and make) mistakes all the time. This session will talk about some of them and then we'll have a group discussion on how to avoid those mistakes and how to fix them if you couldn't avoid them.
Christine has created tech-oriented products and services for midsized and small companies, and led product strategy for a SaaS product. She loves to solve customer problems and build stuff.
30 things: Part 7/7: PEOPLE : 30 things I learned from my startup experienceSuhas Dutta
This is part 7/7 of my series 30 things I learned from my startup experiences. In this final part, I will be talking about creating the first team, running the teams (sales and tech), overall tips and then there is a section on choosing your co-founder. There are slides on what happens when things do go wrong, or if there is a fall out and what are the ways out. And finally some tips on learning and networking as well.
Landing an Executive Level Job -- Middletown5 Tool Group
You are either moving up, nowhere or out. To get to the top, you have to be a business "ninja" warrior moving from one obstacle to the next difficult obstacle till you get to the top.
To land an executive level job, you have to think, speak and act like an executive.
If you need help landing an executive level job, please contact me at joza@winningspeechmoments.com.
You can watch the presentation that goes with this on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/y7Nh9fkfHLs
For some new managers, the idea of giving performance reviews and being responsible for others can be intimidating. For others, there are fears about how to manage people older than them. And then there are others who worry about being accepted by their new team. I too, had these fears. But over time, I have learned a lot from peers, from mentors, and from my own employees. I made some terrible mistakes, and I had some pretty good successes. These nuggets of insight are some of the best personal learnings I’ve had in my management career, and ones which I wish I knew when I started managing people.
The Manager's Resource Handbook is an online source of tools, templates and articles relating to business and management in the global environment. Our mission is the help managers and businesses succeed through the benefit of our experience. You can contact us at http://www.managersresourcehandbook.com.
Building Rapport with your Team as a Product ManagerJeremy Horn
Slides Alberto Simon recently used in his discussion w/ mentees of The Product Mentor.
Synopsis: Learn the best tips on building rapport with a new or existing team. Earn the trust of your team by showing them the value you can bring to their daily work life.
The Product Mentor is a program designed to pair Product Mentors and Mentees from around the World, across all industries, from start-up to enterprise, guided by the fundamental goals…Better Decisions. Better Products. Better Product People.
Throughout the program, each mentor leads a conversation in an area of their expertise that is live streamed and available to both mentee and the broader product community.
http://TheProductMentor.com
30 things: Part 7/7: PEOPLE : 30 things I learned from my startup experienceSuhas Dutta
This is part 7/7 of my series 30 things I learned from my startup experiences. In this final part, I will be talking about creating the first team, running the teams (sales and tech), overall tips and then there is a section on choosing your co-founder. There are slides on what happens when things do go wrong, or if there is a fall out and what are the ways out. And finally some tips on learning and networking as well.
Landing an Executive Level Job -- Middletown5 Tool Group
You are either moving up, nowhere or out. To get to the top, you have to be a business "ninja" warrior moving from one obstacle to the next difficult obstacle till you get to the top.
To land an executive level job, you have to think, speak and act like an executive.
If you need help landing an executive level job, please contact me at joza@winningspeechmoments.com.
You can watch the presentation that goes with this on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/y7Nh9fkfHLs
For some new managers, the idea of giving performance reviews and being responsible for others can be intimidating. For others, there are fears about how to manage people older than them. And then there are others who worry about being accepted by their new team. I too, had these fears. But over time, I have learned a lot from peers, from mentors, and from my own employees. I made some terrible mistakes, and I had some pretty good successes. These nuggets of insight are some of the best personal learnings I’ve had in my management career, and ones which I wish I knew when I started managing people.
The Manager's Resource Handbook is an online source of tools, templates and articles relating to business and management in the global environment. Our mission is the help managers and businesses succeed through the benefit of our experience. You can contact us at http://www.managersresourcehandbook.com.
Building Rapport with your Team as a Product ManagerJeremy Horn
Slides Alberto Simon recently used in his discussion w/ mentees of The Product Mentor.
Synopsis: Learn the best tips on building rapport with a new or existing team. Earn the trust of your team by showing them the value you can bring to their daily work life.
The Product Mentor is a program designed to pair Product Mentors and Mentees from around the World, across all industries, from start-up to enterprise, guided by the fundamental goals…Better Decisions. Better Products. Better Product People.
Throughout the program, each mentor leads a conversation in an area of their expertise that is live streamed and available to both mentee and the broader product community.
http://TheProductMentor.com
This is a sample of our needs assessment capabilities. The client was a retail call center who wanted their Customer Service Reps to be more consultative.
Everything you need to know about 1 on 1s to prevent turnover and motivate yo...Jason Evanish
1 on 1 meetings are the single best tool a manager has to prevent turnover and drive performance with their teams. We share how you can start and make the most of these incredibly valuable meetings.
Whether you are replacing your performance reviews with 1 on 1s, or looking for ways for your managers to improve the 1 on 1s they already have, this is the deck for you.
We cover the latest research from places like Harvard and Stanford, as well as the timeless best practices great leaders like Andy Grove and Dale Carnegie have been using for decades.
Jane Marquardt of Management & Training Corporation curates seven helpful tips published by the Harvard Business Review to help develop the most effective leadership.
The biggest growth hack of the year: Eliminating time wasted in meetingsSoapBox
Want to 10X your business? Before you think about sales, before you think about CX, before you think about product, before you think about anything else, do this one thing: fix your time-sucking, soul-draining meetings.
At SaaStock 2018, Jessica Weisz shared the biggest pitfalls company leadership makes (many of which are well-intentioned but with disastrous effect!) and ways to make the time you spend with your team supercharge growth.
Performance reviews are a great opportunity to help engage and empower your employees. Here are 3 ways to up-level your performance reviews for that purpose.
How to Become a Consultative SalespersonSalesScripter
You often hear the term consultative selling. But what exactly does that refer to and how do you become a consultative salesperson?
If that is something that you are curious about, you may want to watch this recording of a recent webinar that we hosted on “How to Become a Consultative Salesperson”.
10 Things to Do When You Feel Like You Suck at SalesSalesScripter
Regardless of how much experience you have selling, it can be easy to feel like you are not doing a good job. If you feel like that or that you do not know what to do to get better, join us for our next webinar “10 Things to Do When You Feel Like You Suck at Sales”.
In this training session, we outline 10 very practical things you can do that will immediately make you a better salesperson.
How to Effectively Manage the Sales ProcessSalesScripter
There are key things that you can do to improve your ability to manage prospects through your sales process. Those are outlined in this presentation and video.
This is a sample of our needs assessment capabilities. The client was a retail call center who wanted their Customer Service Reps to be more consultative.
Everything you need to know about 1 on 1s to prevent turnover and motivate yo...Jason Evanish
1 on 1 meetings are the single best tool a manager has to prevent turnover and drive performance with their teams. We share how you can start and make the most of these incredibly valuable meetings.
Whether you are replacing your performance reviews with 1 on 1s, or looking for ways for your managers to improve the 1 on 1s they already have, this is the deck for you.
We cover the latest research from places like Harvard and Stanford, as well as the timeless best practices great leaders like Andy Grove and Dale Carnegie have been using for decades.
Jane Marquardt of Management & Training Corporation curates seven helpful tips published by the Harvard Business Review to help develop the most effective leadership.
The biggest growth hack of the year: Eliminating time wasted in meetingsSoapBox
Want to 10X your business? Before you think about sales, before you think about CX, before you think about product, before you think about anything else, do this one thing: fix your time-sucking, soul-draining meetings.
At SaaStock 2018, Jessica Weisz shared the biggest pitfalls company leadership makes (many of which are well-intentioned but with disastrous effect!) and ways to make the time you spend with your team supercharge growth.
Performance reviews are a great opportunity to help engage and empower your employees. Here are 3 ways to up-level your performance reviews for that purpose.
How to Become a Consultative SalespersonSalesScripter
You often hear the term consultative selling. But what exactly does that refer to and how do you become a consultative salesperson?
If that is something that you are curious about, you may want to watch this recording of a recent webinar that we hosted on “How to Become a Consultative Salesperson”.
10 Things to Do When You Feel Like You Suck at SalesSalesScripter
Regardless of how much experience you have selling, it can be easy to feel like you are not doing a good job. If you feel like that or that you do not know what to do to get better, join us for our next webinar “10 Things to Do When You Feel Like You Suck at Sales”.
In this training session, we outline 10 very practical things you can do that will immediately make you a better salesperson.
How to Effectively Manage the Sales ProcessSalesScripter
There are key things that you can do to improve your ability to manage prospects through your sales process. Those are outlined in this presentation and video.
How can you help new product managers hit the ground running? Here is product management advice we share at HubSpot when onboarding new product leaders to the team. Check out the blog post here: http://product.hubspot.com/blog/9-lessons-from-onboarding-new-product-managers
Barry Saiff -Managing Content Development Teams: Inner Mastery for Outer SuccessLavaConConference
n this session you will learn:
• How can you create outsourcing success?
• How can technical communicators influence outsourcing decisions?
• What are the potential pitfalls to watch out for?
• What are the potential benefits to maximize?
• Is outsourcing right for your organization? Is now the time?
This program teaches managers how to convert their conversation into coaching conversation. Imbed it in their day to day conversation with teams to ensure high performance, ownership and engagement amongst the team.
This program focuses on What, Why and How of Coaching. Easy to learn, understand and apply.
Tips on how to face a job interview with bold and confidently.pdfOnlinegoalandstrategy
While projecting confidence during a job interview can be as important as demonstrating your unique qualifications, confidence is just one element of a successful interview. Many factors can help you make a good impression during an interview, including arriving on time, being polite and preparing concise responses.
Dress appropriately.
Stay alert.
Practice breathing techniques.
Prepare and rehearse your answers.
Respond thoughtfully.
Consider eye contact.
Evaluate your body movements.
Think positively.
https://bit.ly/3rDWCOt
18 warning signs you need to be a better manager... plus tips to improve!Halogen Software
Even the best managers are always looking for ways to improve (that’s what makes them great). No matter what your weaknesses are, we have tips – 18 of them – that will help you be your best.
Some of these managerial missteps may sound familiar:
- You constantly change your mind about project direction
- You say you keep an eye on things; your employees say you micromanage
- You're never wrong, no matter what happens
- You avoid dealing with employee issues until the situation gets out of hand
Check out this SlideShare, 18 Warning Signs You Need to be a Better Manager, and make it your year to shine as a manager.
Should you prioritise leads (the short of it) or brand strategy (the long of it) in marketing.
For more advice on B2B lead generation, download our Strategic Customer Acquisition guide: http://www.weareoctopusgroup.net/the-long-short-of-it-should-marketers-prioritise-leads-or-brand-strategy/#sthash.jY2x0u9e.dpuf
When you are a sales manager, you’ll be responsible for the performance of your whole team. You cannot afford to make mistakes, and you need to be familiar with the common mistakes that almost every sales manager makes. Here are 12 mistakes that every new sales manager makes:
ProductCamp Boston is the world's largest and most exciting crowd-sourced one-day event for product people. It's organized by and for product managers, product marketers and entrepreneurs, so attendees get the most out of the day.
Attendees learn about and discuss topics in product management and product marketing, product discovery, product development & design, go-to-market, product strategy and lifecycle management, and product management 101, startups, and career development.
www.ProductCampBoston.org
ProductCamp Boston is the world's largest and most exciting crowd-sourced one-day event for product people. It's organized by and for product managers, product marketers and entrepreneurs, so attendees get the most out of the day.
Attendees learn about and discuss topics in product management and product marketing, product discovery, product development & design, go-to-market, product strategy and lifecycle management, and product management 101, startups, and career development.
www.ProductCampBoston.org
Building a Weatherproof Framework - How to Survive the Product Launch Storm i...ProductCamp Boston
ProductCamp Boston is the world's largest and most exciting crowd-sourced one-day event for product people. It's organized by and for product managers, product marketers and entrepreneurs, so attendees get the most out of the day.
Attendees learn about and discuss topics in product management and product marketing, product discovery, product development & design, go-to-market, product strategy and lifecycle management, and product management 101, startups, and career development.
www.ProductCampBoston.org
ProductCamp Boston is the world's largest and most exciting crowd-sourced one-day event for product people. It's organized by and for product managers, product marketers and entrepreneurs, so attendees get the most out of the day.
Attendees learn about and discuss topics in product management and product marketing, product discovery, product development & design, go-to-market, product strategy and lifecycle management, and product management 101, startups, and career development.
www.ProductCampBoston.org
ProductCamp Boston is the world's largest and most exciting crowd-sourced one-day event for product people. It's organized by and for product managers, product marketers and entrepreneurs, so attendees get the most out of the day.
Attendees learn about and discuss topics in product management and product marketing, product discovery, product development & design, go-to-market, product strategy and lifecycle management, and product management 101, startups, and career development.
www.ProductCampBoston.org
ProductCamp Boston is the world's largest and most exciting crowd-sourced one-day event for product people. It's organized by and for product managers, product marketers and entrepreneurs, so attendees get the most out of the day.
Attendees learn about and discuss topics in product management and product marketing, product discovery, product development & design, go-to-market, product strategy and lifecycle management, and product management 101, startups, and career development.
www.ProductCampBoston.org
113 -Product Marketing and the Collaboration with Product Management - sessio...ProductCamp Boston
ProductCamp Boston is the world's largest and most exciting crowd-sourced one-day event for product people. It's organized by and for product managers, product marketers and entrepreneurs, so attendees get the most out of the day.
Attendees learn about and discuss topics in product management and product marketing, product discovery, product development & design, go-to-market, product strategy and lifecycle management, and product management 101, startups, and career development.
www.ProductCampBoston.org
ProductCamp Boston is the world's largest and most exciting crowd-sourced one-day event for product people. It's organized by and for product managers, product marketers and entrepreneurs, so attendees get the most out of the day.
Attendees learn about and discuss topics in product management and product marketing, product discovery, product development & design, go-to-market, product strategy and lifecycle management, and product management 101, startups, and career development.
www.ProductCampBoston.org
ProductCamp Boston is the world's largest and most exciting
crowd-sourced one-day event for product people. It's
organized by and for product managers, product marketers and
entrepreneurs, so attendees get the most out of the day.
Attendees learn about and discuss topics in product
management and product marketing, product discovery,
product development & design, go-to-market, product strategy
and lifecycle management, and product management 101,
startups, and career development.
www.ProductCampBoston.org
ProductCamp Boston is the world's largest and most exciting
crowd-sourced one-day event for product people. It's
organized by and for product managers, product marketers and
entrepreneurs, so attendees get the most out of the day.
Attendees learn about and discuss topics in product
management and product marketing, product discovery,
product development & design, go-to-market, product strategy
and lifecycle management, and product management 101,
startups, and career development.
www.ProductCampBoston.org
ProductCamp Boston is the world's largest and most exciting
crowd-sourced one-day event for product people. It's
organized by and for product managers, product marketers and
entrepreneurs, so attendees get the most out of the day.
Attendees learn about and discuss topics in product
management and product marketing, product discovery,
product development & design, go-to-market, product strategy
and lifecycle management, and product management 101,
startups, and career development.
www.ProductCampBoston.org
107 - It's not easy starting new: career transitioning to product, starting ...ProductCamp Boston
ProductCamp Boston is the world's largest and most exciting
crowd-sourced one-day event for product people. It's
organized by and for product managers, product marketers and
entrepreneurs, so attendees get the most out of the day.
Attendees learn about and discuss topics in product
management and product marketing, product discovery,
product development & design, go-to-market, product strategy
and lifecycle management, and product management 101,
startups, and career development.
www.ProductCampBoston.org
ProductCamp Boston is the world's largest and most exciting
crowd-sourced one-day event for product people. It's
organized by and for product managers, product marketers and
entrepreneurs, so attendees get the most out of the day.
Attendees learn about and discuss topics in product
management and product marketing, product discovery,
product development & design, go-to-market, product strategy
and lifecycle management, and product management 101,
startups, and career development.
www.ProductCampBoston.org
ProductCamp Boston is the world's largest and most exciting
crowd-sourced one-day event for product people. It's
organized by and for product managers, product marketers and
entrepreneurs, so attendees get the most out of the day.
Attendees learn about and discuss topics in product
management and product marketing, product discovery,
product development & design, go-to-market, product strategy
and lifecycle management, and product management 101,
startups, and career development.
www.ProductCampBoston.org
ProductCamp Boston is the world's largest and most exciting crowd-sourced one-day event for product people. It's organized by and for product managers, product marketers and entrepreneurs, so attendees get the most out of the day.
Attendees learn about and discuss topics in product management and product marketing, product discovery, product development & design, go-to-market, product strategy and lifecycle management, and product management 101, startups, and career development.
www.ProductCampBoston.org
163 - Customer Centric Product Management - How To Be AwesomeProductCamp Boston
ProductCamp Boston is the world's largest and most exciting crowd-sourced one-day event for product people. It's organized by and for product managers, product marketers and entrepreneurs, so attendees get the most out of the day.
Attendees learn about and discuss topics in product management and product marketing, product discovery, product development & design, go-to-market, product strategy and lifecycle management, and product management 101, startups, and career development.
www.ProductCampBoston.org
ProductCamp Boston is the world's largest and most exciting crowd-sourced one-day event for product people. It's organized by and for product managers, product marketers and entrepreneurs, so attendees get the most out of the day.
Attendees learn about and discuss topics in product management and product marketing, product discovery, product development & design, go-to-market, product strategy and lifecycle management, and product management 101, startups, and career development.
www.ProductCampBoston.org
158 - Product Management for Enterprise-Grade platforms ProductCamp Boston
ProductCamp Boston is the world's largest and most exciting crowd-sourced one-day event for product people. It's organized by and for product managers, product marketers and entrepreneurs, so attendees get the most out of the day.
Attendees learn about and discuss topics in product management and product marketing, product discovery, product development & design, go-to-market, product strategy and lifecycle management, and product management 101, startups, and career development.
www.ProductCampBoston.org
153- Experience Maps: Essential Tool in Product Innovation StrategiesProductCamp Boston
ProductCamp Boston is the world's largest and most exciting crowd-sourced one-day event for product people. It's organized by and for product managers, product marketers and entrepreneurs, so attendees get the most out of the day.
Attendees learn about and discuss topics in product management and product marketing, product discovery, product development & design, go-to-market, product strategy and lifecycle management, and product management 101, startups, and career development.
www.ProductCampBoston.org
ProductCamp Boston is the world's largest and most exciting crowd-sourced one-day event for product people. It's organized by and for product managers, product marketers and entrepreneurs, so attendees get the most out of the day.
Attendees learn about and discuss topics in product management and product marketing, product discovery, product development & design, go-to-market, product strategy and lifecycle management, and product management 101, startups, and career development.
www.ProductCampBoston.org
NIDM (National Institute Of Digital Marketing) Bangalore Is One Of The Leading & best Digital Marketing Institute In Bangalore, India And We Have Brand Value For The Quality Of Education Which We Provide.
www.nidmindia.com
The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Modern Society.pdfssuser3e63fc
Just a game Assignment 3
1. What has made Louis Vuitton's business model successful in the Japanese luxury market?
2. What are the opportunities and challenges for Louis Vuitton in Japan?
3. What are the specifics of the Japanese fashion luxury market?
4. How did Louis Vuitton enter into the Japanese market originally? What were the other entry strategies it adopted later to strengthen its presence?
5. Will Louis Vuitton have any new challenges arise due to the global financial crisis? How does it overcome the new challenges?Assignment 3
1. What has made Louis Vuitton's business model successful in the Japanese luxury market?
2. What are the opportunities and challenges for Louis Vuitton in Japan?
3. What are the specifics of the Japanese fashion luxury market?
4. How did Louis Vuitton enter into the Japanese market originally? What were the other entry strategies it adopted later to strengthen its presence?
5. Will Louis Vuitton have any new challenges arise due to the global financial crisis? How does it overcome the new challenges?Assignment 3
1. What has made Louis Vuitton's business model successful in the Japanese luxury market?
2. What are the opportunities and challenges for Louis Vuitton in Japan?
3. What are the specifics of the Japanese fashion luxury market?
4. How did Louis Vuitton enter into the Japanese market originally? What were the other entry strategies it adopted later to strengthen its presence?
5. Will Louis Vuitton have any new challenges arise due to the global financial crisis? How does it overcome the new challenges?
Exploring Career Paths in Cybersecurity for Technical CommunicatorsBen Woelk, CISSP, CPTC
Brief overview of career options in cybersecurity for technical communicators. Includes discussion of my career path, certification options, NICE and NIST resources.
This comprehensive program covers essential aspects of performance marketing, growth strategies, and tactics, such as search engine optimization (SEO), pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, content marketing, social media marketing, and more
113 Everything I Did Wrong As A Product Manager And How You Can Avoid Them
1. Everything I Did Wrong
As A Product Manager
And How You Can
Avoid/Fix The Same
Mistakes
Christine Ferrusi Ross
2. Session Structure
• I’ll describe my top 3 mistakes. What happened and why.
• For each mistake, we’ll brainstorm ways to avoid or fix the mistake
• Then we’ll brainstorm metrics or other indicators we can use to know
that we really did fix or avoid the mistake
• We’ll collect notes from participants in the room and then distribute
the collated session notes through ProductCamp
3. First, Let’s Put All Of This In Context…
• Everyone makes mistakes, big ones and small ones
• Making mistakes doesn’t mean you aren’t a good (or fantastic!)
product manager
• But you owe it to yourself, your organization, and your product to
learn from your mistakes and constantly become better
Let’s get started!
4. Mistake 1: Not Managing Up
Situation: I got a new boss, and he had some rules he set up front: don’t
email unless absolutely necessary, don’t set up meetings unless absolutely
necessary, and to bring only problems I couldn’t solve on my own.
The mistake: I listened to him! So he started getting frustrated that he didn’t
know what was going on, and that he had to ask me whenever he wanted to
know status. It also led to a lot of arguments about why things weren’t done
(when they in fact were done.)
As a product manager I made the huge mistake of doing what he said, but
not what he wanted. I didn’t dig further into why he might be saying this, nor
did I gut check myself to ask if in fact it was a good idea to not have at least
occasional meetings and weekly emails. People don’t always know what they
want, nor can they communicate their desires effectively. I should have
known better and done more to keep him informed and comfortable with
where the product work was going.
5. What Could We Do To Avoid Or Fix This
Mistake?
• Start by asking for success metrics – how will your management decide you’re doing a good job? What does
management expect to know on an ongoing basis about what you’re doing? Often metrics will tell you if
you’re in alignment strategically. (Example: if your product management metrics are all about increased
product sales, you’ll have a tough time.)
• Distinguish between what people ask for and what they need.
• Get good at diagnostics, by asking better questions. Get beyond their stated wants to unstated (not wanting
to be disturbed doesn’t automatically translate into “don’t tell me anything,” for example)
• Keep asking what and why questions until you know what management NEEDS, not just what they want.
• Do you know management’s goals? Keep filtering and feeding back to them.
• Work more proactively with adjacent teams and manage out, so you have advocates and you don’t have to
rely only on direct communications with management.
• Logistically, create a tracker for your progress (easier if you use a tool to track, but you can use a spreadsheet
or word file.) Either email the tracker out weekly or put it on a shared drive and email the link weekly.
Remember to highlight what you want management to know, don’t just throw the spreadsheet at them.
6. How Will We Know We Fixed It?
• We get fewer status requests
• Management asks for advice, brings suggestions (not orders), and is
more receptive to your ideas generally
• Other teams will become more collaborative
• Meetings with management will be less contentious; less about status
reporting and more about idea generation and forward momentum
7. Mistake 1: Getting Buy-In Only Once, At The
Beginning Of An Initiative
Situation: I pitched a new product that everyone in my company loved.
They saw that clients wanted it, would be willing to pay for it, and that
it fit strategically with the rest of our portfolio. But as I kept working on
developing the idea, it went nowhere. Funding never happened and
the product never got built.
The mistake: I got buy-in from all the key stakeholders but didn’t keep
asking and following up. As a result, I missed some key red flags that I
could have used to either get continued buy-in or drop development
faster and move to another product.
8. What Could We Do To Avoid Or Fix This
Mistake?
• Get tough on yourself – understand your own biases and make sure you’re not either
influencing people’s feedback or only hearing what you want to hear. Ask open ended
questions, look for every objection and obstacle, be honest about whether those
obstacles can be addressed.
• Ask contextual questions, not just product questions. For example, in my case everyone
loved the product, but the funding was the problem. It was only when the Strategy VP
said, “the product is too expensive to fund from our existing resources and not expensive
enough that we’d just go out and acquire.” Make sure you understand the overall
business situation the product fits into. Ask about funding, resources, business direction,
and other contextual questions.
• Ask tradeoff questions. Would people advocate for this product over another one? Is this
product a better investment than other ways management could spend their money?
Remember that just because a product is a great idea, it isn’t automatically going to fit
with the strategy, finances, or customer fit of your organization.
• Keep asking questions throughout! Buy-in fades without constant attention.
9. How Will We Know We Fixed It?
• We have a 360-degree view of how we’ll make the product happen. We
know how it’s being funded, we know what resources have been allocated,
and we know where the product is prioritized among other corporate
initiatives
• When we see our product being talked about in context of overall company
plans
• When other teams want to work with us and collaborate because they see
where it fits with their own projects
• Reminder: sometimes the answer is no, the product is not happening or
getting cut. Clarity is always a win. Look at this as a chance to move on to
some other cool product. Learn what to do differently to get buy-in the
next time
10. Mistake 1: The BIG Mistake – Cutting Corners And
Bringing Your Work Down In Response To A Poor
Environment
Situation: I led product and worked in a tiny company. No one could
help with real feedback or other advice. So when it was time to build
the roadmap, I made a quick-and-dirty one that was really just a
schedule of product features for the development team to use.
The Mistake: No one knew the difference in the roadmap quality, since
no one knew what to expect – except me! I let myself get frustrated
and dragged down, so I created a subpar deliverable instead of trying
to educate my coworkers more and getting more external advice. Just
because no one in my company noticed, doesn’t mean this was ok. I let
myself down because I started to plateau and didn’t keep improving my
skills, like I should have.
11. What Could We Do To Avoid Or Fix This
Mistake?
• Focus some time in all meetings on education. You want to bring your colleagues up, not go down to their level of
product management expertise. Make sure you’re constantly highlighting best practices. For example, you can say
things like “our roadmap, which is based off of the best practice, takes this approach…”
• Keep up with the latest in product management. Read blogs and books, and keep up with best practices. Even if
your organization doesn’t notice on a daily basis, you will. And honestly, you’ll be creating a better overall product.
That’s what matters.
• Go outside more often. Especially in small companies where you might be the only product management, finding
collaborators and critics can be difficult. Network, meet other product managers, and find peers who are willing to
give you advice. NOTE: Of course, don’t share anything proprietary with people outside your company!!
• Have an absolutely laser focus on customer insights. If your company has a weak sales team, they may tell
management it’s a product problem. It might be, but of course, it might not be. Don’t cut corners on talking to
customers whenever you can. And make sure you bring this customer perspective to all management meetings.
• Learn to distinguish between real weaknesses/flaws and insecurities. For example, you might get criticized for
something like not being technical enough. But if it’s not really affecting your performance, then it’s not a
weakness, it’s just something leaders are saying to justify their own views
• Find a better opportunity. If you just can’t get motivated, or if your best efforts aren’t paying off, move to another
organization. Better to leave a product you love than to get stuck in a rut too long and become mediocre.
12. How Will We Know We Fixed It?
• We’ll have credibility with other teams and management
• They’ll ask for our opinions more often
• We’ll be able to answer every challenge of “why do it this way instead
of that way?” and “how do we know this is the best approach?”
• If management goes outside for another opinion, perhaps to hire
another product manager as the company expands, the feedback
from the consultant or new employee will be that your work is really
good and follows best practices
13. Thank You to everyone who participated. And
special thanks to Ned, Deb and Nicholas for
sharing their notes!
Christine Ferrusi Ross
cfr626@gmail.com
www.linkedin.com/in/christine-ferrusi-ross-02ab1