Are you also a noob Product Manager? Here is what I’ve learned…
Got your first Product Manager role and have no freakin’ idea with how you can do well?
Are you also overwhelmed by the amount of frameworks, blog posts, and books you need to read as a PM?
Do you also struggle with defining the vision, roadmap when you have no idea what the ‘customer problem’ is?
Are you also struggling with mapping out the delivery plan?
Well, guess what! You are not the first person to ask. I had the same set of questions a couple of months back and honestly, those are still some of the questions I’m trying to answer today. This is what I’ve learned so far and hopefully, this is gonna be useful for the wider noob PM communities out there.
Advice #1: Chillax and shape the culture
The first thing that most PM articles tell you is to define the product vision. Well, here is my take on it. They are not wrong, long term wise, it is absolutely crucial to define the Product Vision. But before all of that, take a chill pill and have fun with the team.
Stop thinking engineers and technical workers are boring, nerdy and skeptical. They are a super fun bunch of people and are exactly the same as me and you. As a PM, you will be working very closely with the team, if you don’t build a strong bond from the beginning, how are you expecting the team to work with you in the future. Just because you have a manager in your title, it doesn’t mean anything. You are there to serve the team and be the glue that bonds everyone together.
Take the team out to drinks, do some Karaoke and bring out the inner beast inside everyone.
Advice #2: The vision and problem comes naturally, there is nothing wrong with pre-defined solution but do talk to your customers
Being a junior and new to the business, it is not unusual for a product problem and solution to be pre-defined and your job is to execute and deliver the product. Honestly, there is nothing wrong with that. I know you will be eager to change everything and avoid turning into a feature factory like every online article tells you not to but realistically, it is fine to take what’s there today.
The info you are given is knowledge and is a great starting point for you to start iterating and gaining perspectives. Once you have soaked up the info, go and talk to your customers. I aim for at least 10 different customers in order to gain their persona.
Once you’ve started talking to customers, the product vision and problem will come to you naturally. From there, you can then take a holistic view of what your approach may be.
Advice #3. Define the user persona and map out their journey
It can be overwhelming talking to so many customers while stressing out about defining the product to keep the team going. Just remember, it’s ok not to know and take small steps. I recently discovered a tool called UXPressia and it is a great way to map the user journey and understand their problem. It is also a great way to highlight user issues to the technical team and product designers during the design sprint, also a concept I’ve recently learned.
Advice #4. Involve the team in defining delivery
Now we come to the question that everyone asks, delivery. When is this going to be available? Which quarter can I have this? Don’t cave in guys and give out a date. It is always better to “under promise, over deliver”. Involve the team when it comes to building the MVP and delivery, give them the time to do the spike to understand effort vs value. Let them tell you what is feasible rather than coming up with an arbitrary date. Trust me, they are going to appreciate you doing that.
Advice #5: Books, blogs, and frameworks? Ignore them for now and it will come naturally
A couple of months back, I was always under the impression that I need to know every buzzword out there for Product Management. Trust, that approach is not feasible nor sustainable. Only read it when you need it, trust your instinct and every product is different, there is no single rule that fixes them all.
This is what I’ve learned so far as a noob PM and I’d love to hear all your thoughts and learnings. In the mean time, stay classy and keep on fighting!
Peace out
Noob PM
