AMA: GitLab Director of Product Management, Jacqueline Porter on Influencing the C-Suite

Wow, great question. The best roadmaps are ones that contain a lot of feedback, iteration, and discussion with the company as well as external customers/stakeholders. I have seen a couple of strategies applied to ensure priorities for the roadmap are clear. Identify the top metric/business result you are influencing. This will help drive the discussion. Anything that needs to get added should have a tie back to this metric Have percentages for types of scope on the roadmap and communicate these ...Read More

I have personally struggled with this many times in my career and most organizations do. The executives should be able to articulate the overall company goals and targets quarter by quarter (these are commonly OKRs or MBOs) This is the main method I like to rely on to have executives streamline priorities so the product organization can contribute meaningfully. Secondarily, as PM is it essential you identify the business case for your roadmap. What will be the business impact if you can successf ...Read More

At GitLab we have a DRI (directly responsible individual). The DRI is the one who's decision matters and even if there are senior leaders if they are not the DRI their opinion doesn't necessarily mean it be an outcome. But let's say the company does not have this concept and as a PM you have to take both POVs into consideration. I would make sure to restate the company/business/division/product goals. I would then provide any evidence or data to suggest which direction is better. If there is no ...Read More

When I started my PM journey a posting from a prominent Amazon Product leader was something that was referenced. In this piece, the author suggests there are a few traits that put PMs above and beyond others. As a product leader now, I would say the shortlist is: Communicate Forecast & measure Execute Write effective copy As a junior PM, doing these four things exceptionally well will get you recognized and noticed in your role and most likely give you the opportunities to get more career ad ...Read More

Thought leadership is one of the most valuable tools as a PM. There are many ways to build a thought leadership portfolio. Here are some of the ways I use and coach others: Attend industry conferences and make connections Attend meet ups and be a speaker Lead talks/panels with other industry leaders Publish blogs/share content on social media/record short videos on your POV and share on social media Become a published author With all these methods of becoming known, it makes it easier to carry i ...Read More

Personally, I do my best to stay current with industry analysts, top leaders and product innovators in my space, and connecting with people who are doing product management at the level I currently am. The best way to make sure you are sharp and current is to engage with your industry meaningfully. Talk with customers, go to conferences, talk with PMs at your competitors to learn how they do things (not what they are doing). These are all strategies that can help expand your skills and capacitie ...Read More

I usually align myself with other parts of the organization's metrics and OKRs rather than a specific person. When you are supporting others' metrics they are accountable to, you will have their attention and commitment to accomplishing a shared objective together. If I align with a single person, this often means when that person leaves I need to find a new relationship to build. Rather I tend to focus on helping the entire group accomplish what they need to get done (by supporting it with Prod ...Read More