This document provides 11 tips for new product managers. The tips include: spending time with customers; asking "dumb" questions; letting go of past roles; surrounding oneself with experts; gathering data; focusing on key priorities; concentrating on defining objectives rather than solutions; communicating regularly with all stakeholders; selling the product internally; doing whatever it takes to support the product; and learning from other product managers. Accompanying each tip are specific action items and advice for implementation. The overall message is that new product managers should prioritize understanding customer needs, leverage the expertise of others, gather and use data to make decisions, clearly define responsibilities, and communicate constantly throughout the organization.

1. Ten Tips For New
Product Managers
Waseem Safdar

2. Waseem Safdar 2

3. Four types of “new” Product Managers
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Your relationship to the organization
New Tenured
New
New product,
new organization
New product,
same organization
Existing
Existing product,
new organization
Existing product,
same organization
Typeofproduct

4. Ten Tips
1. Spend time with customers
2. Ask “dumb” questions
3. Let go of your past
4. Surround yourself with experts
5. Gather data
6. Focus
7. Concentrate on what, not how
8. Communicate, communicate, communicate
9. Sell your product internally
10. Do whatever it takes
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5. Spend time with customers
 The single most
important thing a
product manager can
do is to understand
the market
 The best way to
understand the
market is to spend
time with customers
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6. Spend time with customers: To Do
Spend more time with customers
than with colleagues
Set goals for customer visits
Establish a regular schedule
for customer interactions
Bring colleagues along with you
Bring back information to share
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7. Ask “dumb” questions
 “Dumb” questions are really
more about when they get
asked than about what you
are asking
 New product managers have
the luxury of asking naïve
questions
 Ask as many questions as
possible as soon as possible
 Who to ask? Customers,
colleagues, stakeholders,
superiors, partners,
competitors…
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8. Ask “dumb” questions: To Do
 Develop a list of initial questions
 Generate additional questions each time
one is answered
 Make note of interesting answers
for future reference
 Ask the same question to different people
and compare answers
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9. Let go of your past
 What were you in your “past” life? Whatever it was,
you’re a product manager now
 There is a natural instinct for product managers to
gravitate towards the function of the business from
which they came – resist it
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10. Let go of your past: To Do
Audit the time you are spending on each
area
of the product
Have an open conversation with colleagues
in your former role
- Discuss experiences and establish boundaries
Think hard before overruling decisions
Review regularly to discuss progress
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11. Surround yourself with experts
Product managers can not and should not
do it all alone
Your success depends on others
Do not try to be an expert in everything
Leverage the expertise of others in certain areas
Look for “formal” and “informal” advisors
Experts do not just have to be within your
organization
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12. Surround yourself with experts: To
Do
Identify areas important to product’s
success
Identify internal experts in targeted
areas
Enlist experts as Trusted Advisors
Utilize advisors for decision-making,
planning, support and overcoming
obstacles
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13. Gather data
 “In a truly consumer-driven company,
decisions are based on data… so the
person with the best data wins.” – Scott
Cook; Founder, Intuit
 Lots of different
types of data…
◦ Internal data
◦ External data
◦ Market data
◦ Product data
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14. Gather data: To Do
 Gather existing market research and industry
data – primary and secondary
 Identify information gaps and develop plans to
fill them
 Gather existing product performance data
 Identify missing and desired information and
leverage colleagues to obtain
◦ If desired data is not available, quantify the value of it
in order to obtain support for projects to gather it
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15. Ten Tips
1. Spend time with customers
2. Ask “dumb” questions
3. Let go of your past
4. Surround yourself with experts
5. Gather data
6. Focus
7. Concentrate on what, not how
8. Communicate, communicate, communicate
9. Sell your product internally
10. Do whatever it takes
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16. Focus
It will be overwhelming
You will not know where
to start
It is better to do one
thing well than to do a
lot of things poorly
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17. Focus: To Do
 Make a list of all of the “internal” and “external”
priorities
 Determine timelines, relative levels of effort, and
resources required
 Pick a few quick wins and focus initial effort
 During that time, develop longer-term focus
 Get agreement on focus, communicate, and reiterate it
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18. Concentrate on what, not how
It will be tempting to control “how” things
get done with your product
Resist the temptation
Product managers should define “what”
needs to happen…
… and others should define “how” those
things happen
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19. Concentrate on what, not how: To Do
Clarify roles and responsibilities with team
members
 Engineering
 Design
 Marketing
Get regular feedback on whether you and
others are keeping with the agreed-upon
responsibilities
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20. Communicate, communicate…
Do not underestimate
the importance of
communication in all
forms
◦ Informal, formal, written,
verbal, unspoken, method,
timeliness, frequency,
tone
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21. Communication
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Source: Seven Traits of Successful Product Managers; Michael Shrivathsan
michael.hightechproductmanagement.com/2006/12/seven_traits_of_successful_pro.html

22. Communication
Manager
Engineering
Marketing
Sales
Product
Manager
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23. Communication
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Product
Manager
Sales
Marketing
Customer
Service
Finance
Legal
Other PMs
Engineering Design
Project Management
ManagerExecutives

24. Communication
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Product
Manager
Sales
Marketing
Customer
Service
Finance
Legal
Other PMs
Engineering Design
Project Management
ManagerExecutives
Customers
Investors
Industry
Analysts
Partners

25. Communicate, communicate: To Do
 Audit current communications (if any)
 Get feedback from stakeholders on preferred
communications channels and frequency
 Develop communications plan; type and
frequency
◦ Email newsletter
◦ Intranet site
◦ “State of the Product” presentations
 Set reminders about communications and stick
to schedule!
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26. Sell your product internally
Be the champion for your product
“Sell” your product to executives, team
members, other departments
Will help gain resources, funding, support
for issues and new initiatives
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27. Sell your product internally: To Do
 Regularly communicate good news
◦ Don’t go overboard
◦ Don’t ignore or try to dismiss bad news
 Make sure your communication plans
include
all the necessary audiences
 Get others to help sell your product
◦ Explicit “enlistment”
◦ Find good supporters and keep them happy
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28. Do whatever it takes
“Be willing to do whatever it takes.
…
I know of many cases where the
product manager needed to help
out with deliverables for customer
support, sales training, technical
writing, QA, engineering, and
marketing. You may need to just do
it.”
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29. Do whatever it takes: To Do
 Learn about as many areas of your product
as possible
◦ The more you know, the more you can help
 Help out at the right time
◦ Don’t start too early, but don’t wait too long
 Don’t complain about having to help out
◦ But make sure to discuss it later if there are skill or
resource issues that need to be addressed
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30. Bonus tip #11
Learn from other product managers
There are plenty of great (and often
free!) resources available
Books, blogs, newsletters, webinars,
conferences, training, professional
associations, local groups, mailing
lists, social networking sites…
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31. Thank You
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