AMA: Google Group Product Manager, Android, Shahid Hussain on Stakeholder Management

Be straight up with other teams, like sales and support, from the get-go. Instead of hard dates, talk about the overall vision of where the product is heading and the strategy or the general plan to get there with intermediate milestones. Think of these milestones as checkpoints; you can give rough estimates for when you expect to hit them, but make it clear these aren't set in stone. The most important thing is to keep the communication flowing. As you learn more and things shift (which they al ...Read More

To get your roadmap approved, start by making sure everyone understands where you're trying to go - that's your vision. Think of it like your product's ultimate destination, and you need to get people to believe in it like you do. Make it clear by adding details where people are likely to ask questions to show you've done your homework. Next up is the strategy, which is just your plan for how to actually reach that vision. Be upfront about your goals, how you'll measure success, and any resource ...Read More

There's a lot of factors at play as a company grows -- it could change focus, go international, or pivot entirely. But there's two changes that are probably going to happen: The company will scale. That means more people, more layers. Expect more politics, and a bigger ship that turns more slowly. Your job as a PM will change from the functional shipping, to taking on more and more internal alignment work. Revenue focus. The company may go in & out of phases where it's all about the bottom l ...Read More

To manage people who don't report to you, the key is often persuasion and building good relationships. Since they have their own stuff to do, communicate the "why" behind your project and how it fits into the bigger picture, perhaps even how it might help them down the line. Your reputation among your peers matters a lot, so being helpful and reliable can make them more willing to prioritize your requests. Giving feedback on a piece of work -- consider why you're doing that. Do you want to help ...Read More

This is one of the most fun parts of being a PM. When meeting a new stakeholder, a key objective is to understand their perspective and priorities. You'll want to figure out what they really care about and what they're trying to achieve within the company. What are their incentives? Do you need to manage those incentives in your work? Finally, ask questions to grasp their vision and strategy for getting there. Another crucial objective is to start building a working relationship. This means list ...Read More

I love this question because it's core to what PMs do. Try to understand where everyone is coming from. Sometimes, passionate people will have different opinions and argue them out, which can be valuable, but it's important not to just agree all the time to avoid conflict because that can lead to a lack of clarity. Your job is to point everyone in the same direction (aka alignment), focusing on the user and the overall goal. If discussions aren't productive or risk slowing things down, you might ...Read More