AMA: Automattic VP, Product & Operations (WooCommerce), Clara Lee on Product Management Soft and Hard Skills

I’ve worked in Product across two very different contexts – a company that favored complete alignment versus a company where autonomy was part of their cultural DNA.  While there are a lot factors that contribute to retention (industry trends, opportunities for career progression, compensation), the factors in my daily focus are derived from this definition of psychological safety: Meaning – company vision, team purpose, individual contribution, and belonging. Mastery – goals and accountability, ...Read More

Having worked in Product in completely opposite contexts, the most valuable soft and hard skills depend on several factors, including product maturity, organizational maturity, availability of supporting functions (e.g., Product Operations, Product Analysts, etc.), and company cultural norms.  At WooCommerce/Automattic, the expectations I set for PMs are: Drive the creation and execution of product strategy for your focus area. Lead multi-disciplinary teams through the development process. Culti ...Read More

Sharp communication skills that enable proactive stakeholder management. This doesn't just mean blasting memos and updates to everyone, everywhere – it means:  Speaking about what matters to who;  Understanding what is the right timing; And knowing which channels are most effective for getting your point across.  In some organizations, you may be lucky enough to have a Product Operations team to help you with that; in others, you won't. Leaning into comms and stakeholder management means:  Risks ...Read More

I'm actually curious if this is widespread, as I've not seen in current or previous Product roles analytical skills being considered more valuable than UX...  While analytical skills are important for looking at customer data in aggregate and prioritizing problems by impact, UX skills help PMs dig into the "why" and "how" our customers think and operate. It's a balance: We don't want PMs that "hide behind the numbers," nor do we want PMs that entirely base roadmaps on a handful of customer inter ...Read More