AMA: Automattic VP, Product & Operations (WooCommerce), Clara Lee on Establishing Product Management

There are many great approaches to this question – and to some extent, it will depend on what the company values. If you're a first Product Manager, it is most important that customer needs / expectations are at the forefront of any framework.  With my teams, I sometimes like to use a graph, where one of the axes represents customer impact (how much does this product or feature postively improve their lives?) and the other maps effort or investment. That will give you an easy 2x2 where there is ...Read More

One way to get Engineering excited about customer focus is to invite them to listen in on interviews. We post all customer interviews on a shared calendar and use webinar settings that ensure observers hopping on / off are not disruptive to the participant or moderator. We also run an internal back-channel where observers can discuss responses or suggest follow-up questions. Often, I see that hearing directly from individual customers drives a level of engagement for Engineers that is much highe ...Read More

To me, the first 90 days are all about communication with your new team and cross-functional partners – even more so if you're setting up the Product Management function for the first time. Treat your communications a bit like internal marketing for PM (and yourself), meaning they should be tailored to your audiences, showcase how your PM skills create value for the team, and address potential concerns head-on. The first 30 days are your time to listen and learn. Spend time with Engineering and ...Read More

The biggest surprise was how hard it was to convince others that Product Leads / Product Managers would be an asset to the team. This sentiment was more common among those who had been at Automattic and WooCommerce for several years, and perhaps not worked with a Product Lead / Product Manager before. The questions I heard included: Would this role add an extra administrative layer? A: It's actually a new type of work that would help us ensure what we build meets users' needs.  Shouldn't Enginee ...Read More

The product organization at WooCommerce is organized by merchant needs: Start: Merchant onboarding, from the moment they click the CTA on WooCommerce.com to when their store is ready to sell. Manage: Back-end and admin tasks including product catalog, order management, and settings. Grow: Spreading the word about their products and business via sales and marketing channels like Google, Amazon, Facebook, and Pinterest. We have native channel integrations that merchants can attach to their stores ...Read More