Being a Product Manager requires structured and organized thinking, relationship building, and team leadership. In today's evolving landscape, Product Managers have had to learn how to conduct their duties completely virtually. Many of the styles of working we rely on in-person do not quite translate into this environment.

1. www.productschool.com
Remote Product Management
by Box PM

2. CERTIFICATES
Your Product Management Certificate Path
Product Leadership
Certificate™
Full Stack Product
Management Certificate™
Product Management
Certificate™
20 HOURS40 HOURS40 HOURS

3. Corporate
Training
Level up your team’s Product
Management skills

4. Free Product Management Resources
BOOKS
EVENTS
JOB PORTAL
COMMUNITIES
bit.ly/product_resources
COURSES

5. The remote Product
Manager
Lessons from the working in the virtual office

6. hello world
Katy McCreery
Product Manager at Box

7. Agenda
1. About me
2. What does Product Management done remotely look like?
3. Problems to solve and lessons learned
4. Three takeaways

8. About me
Degree in International Security and Conflict Resolution
Experience working in nonprofits, agencies, start-ups and now
managing Developer Products at

9. I don’t have the most linear path
● Driven to help people through work in mission
driven organizations.
● Obsessed with the intersection of behavior and
innovation.
● Followed my curiosity from Marketing, to Sales
Engineering, to Product.
● Self-taught SQL, Ruby on Rails, Design facilitation,
conducting experiments.
● My current role lets me make things for makers.
AKA I'm on the team that makes the experience of
using Box APIs delightful.

10. What does Product Management
done remotely look like?

11. My remote work timeline
2014 2020
WireMedia was a fully remote
digital agency. Team of six
working across the US.
NationBuilder had a hybrid
model of some remote
employees. 40/60 split.
Box has employees all over the
globe, but the pandemic has
forced our in person team to be
fully distributed.
2018

12. Remote work is not one thing
● Remote vs. distributed
○ Some employees working remotely vs. the whole company working without a
physical office space
● Team size
● Time zones
● Industry
● Culture

13. This is more than a trend
● In the U.S., 4.7 million employees (3.4% of the workforce) work from
home at least half the week. (Global Workplace Analytics)
● Roughly 62% of employees between 22 and 65 say they work
remotely at least occasionally, (Owl Labs)
● 44% of employees say that part of their team is full-time remote.
(Buffer)
● While 30% of people report working remotely full-time, 18% work
remotely one to three times per week. (Owl Labs)
https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/remote-work-stats

15. The challenges are unique
● Ultimately the role is exactly the same, but the different work
context creates its own set of challenges that are unique from
sharing a physical workspace.
● I want to share how I observed the problems and applied product
thinking to overcome my challenges.
● My hope is that these lessons will be applicable to you.

16. Problems to solve and lessons
learned

17. Problem - Collaboration is not the same
● Let’s grab a whiteboard
● Want to get a coffee and talk
● Was that in email or Slack?
● Let me share my screen
● I think you’re frozen

18. https://hackernoon.com/double-diamond-discovery-z0hi3oc5
https://www.jpattonassociates.com/dual-track-development/

19. Define my collaboration needs
When I need to get broad alignment on a project idea or a strategic
initiative, I want generative, ad hoc input from a number of different
stakeholders, so that I can get to the best ideas possible.
When a project is in motion, I want to get ideas and issues surfaced
quickly and regularly so that we don't block anyone or deter
progress.

20. Lesson: Redefine how your team collaborates
● As a team, determine guidelines for async and sync communication
patterns
○ No one likes a meeting that could have been an email
○ But no one also likes walking back to 60 Slack threads that could have been a 5 min
Zoom call
● 👏 Write 👏 everything 👏 down 👏
● Schedule collaboration time and come prepared to facilitate
○ Always add an agenda or description, no matter how small
○ It’s not all about a specific tool, but tools are meant to help you
● Don’t skip stand ups
○ Ask questions to keep yourself in the loop
○ Hold a 15 min period after stand up to quickly iron out issues

21. Problem - It’s harder to connect as a team
🙌vs.

22. Teamwork does in fact make the dream work
● We are so dependent on other people to get work done
● Being a trusted leader and a team player are core to the role
● Building relationships is essential
● So much of this happens organically in an office

23. Ideate with the team to find solutions
● HMW make it not feel forced?
● HMW create a fun team culture during our day to day?
● HMW take advantage of the virtual nature of the work?
● HMW find different activities for everyone’s different comfort
levels/interests?
How might we….?

24. Lesson: Show up for your team, virtually
● Consistent rituals and communication guidelines
○ 👀 vs. 👍 vs. 🧵
○ Camera ON
● Schedule team bonding
○ Mixing up coffee hours and happy hours
○ Team book club or UX teardown
● 2 minute “human” check-in at the start of a stand-up
○ Share a non-work activity or story

25. Problem - No separation from home and work
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26. Instagram vs. reality

27. Prioritize for work/life sustainability
● I was treating working remotely like WFH
● Because I wasn’t in an office, I felt I needed to prove I was doing my
work by being constantly available
● I stopped investing in the parts of my workday that would be
“normal” in an office
○ Lunch time , social time, commuting time, walking to conference rooms, etc
So…
● I had to change my priorities for a sustainable, enjoyable work life

28. Lesson: Respect your work/life boundaries
● Dedicated work set-up
○ Get your ergonomics and lighting right!
● Experiment to find what schedule works best for you
○ What is your most productive schedule?
○ What parts of your day are you unwilling to sacrifice?
● Pomodoro 🍅 technique to break up the day
● Turn off self view in your camera
● Truly unplug 🔌 for a small amount of time every day

29. Three takeaways

30. 1. Redefine how your team collaborates
2. Show up for your team, virtually
3. Respect your work/life boundaries
And secret #4
Use your skills as a PM to define your problems, ideate on different
solutions, and prioritize what’s going to work for you and your team.

31. Thank you!
Questions? Want to share your own story?
Feedback about I can do a better job
presenting next time? Reach out here or
connect on LinkedIn.

32. www.productschool.com
Part-time Product Management Training Courses
and
Corporate Training