How To Succeed In Product Management | Jeffrey Shulman, Red Russak & Soumeya Benghanem

Best of 2022: Finding Success When Transitioning into Product Management

Wed Jul 12 2023

Product ManagementCareer DevelopmentDiversity and Inclusion

Description

This episode covers various aspects of product management, including breaking into the field, transitioning into product management roles, onboarding and building relationships, challenges and growth in the role, key skills for product leaders, best practices in product management, and the importance of diversity and inclusion. The episode features insights from experienced product managers and highlights the work of the Product Management Center at the University of Washington. Listeners can gain valuable advice on navigating a career in product management and contributing to a diverse and inclusive product management community.

Insights

Breaking into Product Management

To break into product management, it is important to gather customer feedback, identify transferable skills, practice frameworks for launching products, and prepare for interviews through mock interviews.

Transitioning into Product Management

Transitioning into product management involves building stories around PM competencies, networking with hiring managers, and leveraging internal transfer opportunities.

Onboarding and Building Relationships

Successful onboarding involves asking questions, identifying key contacts, creating a checklist, and shadowing experienced product managers.

Transitioning from Engineer Leader to Product Manager

Transitioning from an engineer leader to a product manager requires showcasing problem-solving skills, building successful partnerships with the engineering team, and gaining insights from sales teams.

Success in the First Month

Success in the first month involves learning company goals and products, having one-on-one conversations with stakeholders, observing meetings, and defining success indicators.

Challenges and Growth in Product Management

Product managers face challenges such as lack of confidence, dealing with limited resources, and navigating different responsibilities. Role-playing, prioritization, and questioning best practices are important for growth.

Key Skills for Product Leaders

Curiosity and empathy are essential skills for product leaders. Taking action, proposing experiments, and ongoing curiosity and empathy contribute to effective leadership.

Best Practices and Growth in Product Management

Collecting feedback, prioritizing best practices, continuous growth, building a network, handling crucial conversations, and collaborating with sales teams are important for success in product management.

Conclusion

The Product Management Center aims to develop a diverse and inclusive product management community through events like the inclusive product management summit. Companies are encouraged to hire from the program and support its mission.

Chapters

Introduction
Breaking into Product Management
Transitioning into Product Management
Onboarding and Building Relationships
Transitioning from Engineer Leader to Product Manager
Success in the First Month
Challenges and Growth in Product Management
Key Skills for Product Leaders
Best Practices and Growth in Product Management
Conclusion

Summary

Transcript

Introduction

00:04 - 06:24

Product managers give 100% to their customers, but who's there for the PM?
The Product Management Center at the University of Washington is a global hub for knowledge and community.
The show 'How to Succeed in Product Management' features candid conversations with product managers.
The conversation today focuses on breaking into product management and what to do once you're there.
The Product Management Center aims to solve problems of exclusion and underrepresentation in product management.
They want to bring new voices into the field and encourage inclusive thinking in innovation development.
There is an upcoming inclusive product management summit that everyone can join online.
Listeners can get involved by asking questions during the live Q&A or joining the Slack group.
The podcast recording is available for those who couldn't attend live, promoting inclusivity.
Guest Jaleesa Fontaine shares her background as an associate product manager for Oscar Health.

Breaking into Product Management

05:58 - 13:32

The intersection of user experience research and project management in the lab became the product team.
Product management was the career choice for one of the speakers.
The Inclusive Product Management Summit is being discussed.
Three fellows in the Inclusive Product Management Accelerator are sharing their experiences landing product management jobs.
Dimple worked as a product specialist, gathering customer feedback to improve the customer experience.
Joanne transitioned into product management from working in compliance security and accessibility standards.
Mentorship and coaching were important for Jules in making the transition to product management.
Practicing frameworks for launching products and prioritizing helped Jules effectively communicate during interviews.
Dimple focused on identifying transferable skills and building stories around them for interviews.
Mock interviews were helpful for Dimple to prepare for product management job interviews.

Transitioning into Product Management

13:06 - 19:50

The speaker built up stories for each of the PM competencies and leadership principles that companies look for.
They did weekly mock interviews and actively networked with hiring managers and recruiters on LinkedIn.
For an internal transfer, the speaker had conversations with people in product, talked to those who had done internal transfers, and reached out to hiring managers directly.
Doing well in their current job was important for the internal transfer, as having sponsors within the company helped.
The speaker emphasized not getting discouraged by rejections and staying motivated with a support system.
In their first few days on the new job, one speaker leaned on their direct professional community at work and communicated with their career coach from IPMA.
Another speaker leaned on asking questions and having a supportive team and manager who encouraged questions.

Onboarding and Building Relationships

19:25 - 26:15

Asking questions and having key contacts are important for success in a new role.
Identifying helpful people and key contacts is crucial.
Having an on-boarding planner and a buddy assigned can be very helpful in navigating a new company.
Keeping in touch with mentors and product people from previous roles is beneficial.
Creating a 30, 60, 90-day checklist and getting resources from the start is important.
Finding peers to brainstorm with can help prepare for idea sessions with managers.
Product management fellows share their experiences transitioning into product management roles.
Q&A session begins where listeners can ask questions to the product managers.
Shadowing a product manager is a great opportunity to gain confidence and contribute.
Before interviews, it's helpful to ask what to expect and how to prepare from the interviewers themselves.
During shadowing, asking questions, observing day-to-day activities, and contributing when possible is valuable.
Building connections by having one-on-one meetings with people being shadowed or asking for recommendations helps expand the network.

Transitioning from Engineer Leader to Product Manager

25:55 - 32:47

When shadowing or networking, ask the people you shadow for recommendations to build your network.
Take advantage of shadowing opportunities to showcase your problem-solving skills and product management mindset.
Speak up and show initiative outside of just shadowing.
Identify projects that align with your interests and contribute to them.
Shadowing and taking on extra responsibilities can help transition into a product management role.
Transitioning from an engineer leader to a product manager may involve power dynamics, but knowing the product well can be an advantage in building successful partnerships with the engineering team.
Dogfooding your own product gives you a competitive edge as you are intimately familiar with it.
Meeting with sales teams provides valuable insights into customers and market opportunities.
Inclusion is critical in product management, leading to success metrics. Companies like Microsoft, Axon, Motorola Solutions, and Zillow are committed to inclusion and hiring inclusive teams.
Define success in the first days on the job by looking at early indicators rather than waiting for product launch or adoption.

Success in the First Month

32:34 - 39:33

Success in the first month is defined by learning and understanding the company's goals and products
The learning process involves attending meetings, having one-on-ones with managers, and asking questions
Scheduling one-on-one conversations with engineers and salespeople is important to gain insights about the products
Observing meetings and shadowing managers helps in understanding how to participate effectively
Defining success involves aligning stakeholder goals, understanding customer pain points, and determining key results
Product managers sometimes feel insecure when working on unfamiliar tools or domains
Having faith in oneself and trusting the skills that got them hired is crucial for success

Challenges and Growth in Product Management

39:06 - 45:44

Lack of confidence coming into the role, but growing more confident over time.
Insecurity about working with product requirement documents (PRDs) instead of power points, but realizing it's just a different way of communicating.
Product management responsibilities can differ depending on the team or company.
Navigating and clarifying expectations with managers regarding responsibilities.
Dealing with limited resources as a product manager.
Getting different responses and questions as a product manager, learning to navigate and find resources for answers.
Prioritization and keeping track of tasks is important as a product manager.
The importance of role-playing, practicing, and helping each other grow in the product management community.
Questioning best practices in product management and identifying naive or wrong practices.

Key Skills for Product Leaders

45:24 - 52:35

The most necessary or required skills in a product leader are curiosity and empathy, but these alone are not enough to be actionable.
Finding small opportunities to contribute early on in a product career is important.
Taking action and proposing experiments can lead to improvements in team meetings and productivity.
Curiosity and empathy should be ongoing skills for product leaders, not just limited to the beginning of their careers.
Surveys can provide anonymous feedback from internal teams who may be hesitant to share openly.

Best Practices and Growth in Product Management

52:11 - 58:25

Surveys for internal teams provide an anonymous way for engineers to share concerns and feedback.
Collecting feedback from different stakeholders helps to have more fruitful conversations.
Best practices in product management are important but not all can be implemented at once.
Prioritizing and choosing what works for the company is necessary.
Getting the role of a product manager is just the first step, growing into the role is equally important.
Developing skills and practicing product management even before getting the role can lead to success.
There will be hurdles in the job search process, but learning from them and enjoying the process is crucial.
Building a network and staying connected with interviewers can lead to future opportunities.
Product managers are good at handling hard and crucial conversations.
Talking to sales as a product manager can be beneficial for both parties.
The Product Management Center aims to develop a diverse, inclusive, and skilled product management community.

Conclusion

58:00 - 59:42

The product management center is working on developing a more diverse and inclusive product management community.
They have an upcoming inclusive product management summit to expand thinking about innovations and who they serve.
Being mindful of those who are excluded will make you a better product manager.
Amazon is a platinum partner for both the summit and the inclusive product management accelerator program.
The program aims to bring new voices into product management and connect them with companies that will hire them.
If you want to find talented product managers, reach out to Jeff Schulman on LinkedIn.
More companies are encouraged to hire from this program and support its mission.
The podcast is available every week on Clubhouse and major podcasting apps.