Personas of engineers we meet in product management heaven, how to work with them and the dark side of their force.

1. AwwwardsNYC conference 2016: three engineers we meet in product management heaven by @natashaawasthi
engineers we meet in product
management heaven
by natasha awasthi*

2. AwwwardsNYC conference 2016: three engineers we meet in product management heaven by @natashaawasthi
data monster by education
product manager by profession: 2003….2005……………….2015
moonlight as an instructor
creative writer who invented a boring twitter handle

3. AwwwardsNYC conference 2016: three engineers we meet in product management heaven by @natashaawasthi
practice.teach.preach
product management

4. AwwwardsNYC conference 2016: three engineers we meet in product management heaven by @natashaawasthi
happy days: at work motivate
tears of joy and tension in equal
parts.

5. AwwwardsNYC conference 2016: three engineers we meet in product management heaven by @natashaawasthi
on rainy days: there is a lot of
talk and a little code.

6. AwwwardsNYC conference 2016: three engineers we meet in product management heaven by @natashaawasthi
on rainy days: or there is a lot of
beautiful code but no product—
i.e. a problem not worth solving
has been elegantly resolved.

7. AwwwardsNYC conference 2016: three engineers we meet in product management heaven by @natashaawasthi
we have empathy for people we
build products for. we need to
have empathy for people we
build stuff with.

8. AwwwardsNYC conference 2016: three engineers we meet in product management heaven by @natashaawasthi
we have empathy for people we
build products for. we need to
have empathy for people we
build stuff with.

9. AwwwardsNYC conference 2016: three engineers we meet in product management heaven by @natashaawasthi
we have empathy for people we
build products for. we need to
have empathy for people we
build stuff with.

10. AwwwardsNYC conference 2016: three engineers we meet in product management heaven by @natashaawasthi
let’s meet three of my code
producing peers

11. AwwwardsNYC conference 2016: three engineers we meet in product management heaven by @natashaawasthi
the silent force
AwwwardsNYC conference 2016: three engineers we meet in product management heaven by @natashaawasthi

12. AwwwardsNYC conference 2016: three engineers we meet in product management heaven by @natashaawasthi
the silent force
They think hard and listen even harder. They are
thoughtful and analytical in their approach.
They offer researched facts over impassioned opinions.
Unfazed by a long haul. Great with complex problems that
need steady hands to work patiently and carefully.
These self-motivated individuals can work alone or in
teams with big personalities.
AwwwardsNYC conference 2016: three engineers we meet in product management heaven by @natashaawasthi

13. AwwwardsNYC conference 2016: three engineers we meet in product management heaven by @natashaawasthi
rules of
engagement
Engage these engineers as early as possible.
They need a heads-up so they can ramp up their
knowledge and carry out analysis independently, from
which they gain confidence.
Brag for them.
AwwwardsNYC conference 2016: three engineers we meet in product management heaven by @natashaawasthi

14. AwwwardsNYC conference 2016: three engineers we meet in product management heaven by @natashaawasthi
dark side of their
force
They are wary of people with fuzzy work styles.
Show you can can bridge from the big picture to the
details.
They don’t like to be rushed into decisions or
commitments. When repeatedly cornered into such
situations they take on an excessively pessimistic
stance.
AwwwardsNYC conference 2016: three engineers we meet in product management heaven by @natashaawasthi

15. AwwwardsNYC conference 2016: three engineers we meet in product management heaven by @natashaawasthi
fast (tad) furious
AwwwardsNYC conference 2016: three engineers we meet in product management heaven by @natashaawasthi

16. AwwwardsNYC conference 2016: three engineers we meet in product management heaven by @natashaawasthi
fast (tad) furious
Have at least a bazillion light bulbs hovering over their
heads.
These worker bees juggle many side gigs.
Always game to tinker with the latest idea, technology or
problem.
AwwwardsNYC conference 2016: three engineers we meet in product management heaven by @natashaawasthi

17. AwwwardsNYC conference 2016: three engineers we meet in product management heaven by @natashaawasthi
rules of
engagement
To this brand of engineers conceiving ideas for the product
is just as important as building it.
Involve them before you have cracked all the puzzles
and thought through all the details.
Also, they take a lot of pride in their work so schedule
frequent demo-days so they can show off their craft
and get feedback to make it better.
AwwwardsNYC conference 2016: three engineers we meet in product management heaven by @natashaawasthi

18. AwwwardsNYC conference 2016: three engineers we meet in product management heaven by @natashaawasthi
They drag their feet when asked to work with stale technology and
legacy systems (barf).
It pains them to ship even one line of shoddy code. Ensuring the
beauty of what they produce may take precedence over
deadlines.
They are individual contributors, so they get a little furious when
they have to pause their real job(s) to mentor people or coddle
clients.
dark side of their
force
AwwwardsNYC conference 2016: three engineers we meet in product management heaven by @natashaawasthi

19. AwwwardsNYC conference 2016: three engineers we meet in product management heaven by @natashaawasthi
full stack-ish
product person
Presentations, people, and politics are not dirty words in
their dictionary.
These hybrid employees can toggle between modes of
product manager and engineer.
They can empathize with the end users and design and
evaluate business models.

20. AwwwardsNYC conference 2016: three engineers we meet in product management heaven by @natashaawasthi
rules of
engagement
These unicorns are not easy to locate or afford.
Frequently rotate them between the two roles so they can
continue to hone their skills in both domains.
This suggestion should not be confused with staffing them
to shoulder dual responsibilities simultaneously—the
separation of concerns related to customers and product is
key.

21. AwwwardsNYC conference 2016: three engineers we meet in product management heaven by @natashaawasthi
dark side of their
force
Their engineering pedigree can cause them to jump to
solutions a little too quickly.
During development phases, however, when it is time to
stop debating options and start developing something,
they may continue to question assumptions and rehash
past decisions.

22. AwwwardsNYC conference 2016: three engineers we meet in product management heaven by @natashaawasthiAwwardsNYC conference 2016: three engineers we meet in product management heaven by @natashaawasthi

23. AwwwardsNYC conference 2016: three engineers we meet in product management heaven by @natashaawasthi
don’t become process bullies aspire to be process mentors
don't be lazy, tweak your process based on needs, motivations and
skills of your team
use the rhythms of retrospectives to create space for these
discussions

24. AwwwardsNYC conference 2016: three engineers we meet in product management heaven by @natashaawasthi
balance

25. AwwwardsNYC conference 2016: three engineers we meet in product management heaven by @natashaawasthi
balance
rigid………………

26. AwwwardsNYC conference 2016: three engineers we meet in product management heaven by @natashaawasthi
rigid………………personalized
balance

27. AwwwardsNYC conference 2016: three engineers we meet in product management heaven by @natashaawasthi
balance
don’t be lazy, don’t just iterate on your product, keep iterating on your process.

28. AwwwardsNYC conference 2016: three engineers we meet in product management heaven by @natashaawasthi
thank you!
natasha awasthi*
* find more on this topic here: http://qz.com/492896/the-three-engineers-you-meet-
in-product-management-heaven/