AMA: Lattice Group Product Manager, Linh Lam on Influencing Without Authority

I find that the list of stakeholders tends to be roughly the same across company size, with the key difference being how many "support" functions you can rely on as a PM. For example, bigger companies tend to have dedicated people or teams to help with internal communications, training, research, and data analysis. Roughly speaking though, I always walk into any company trying to keep an eye on the following teams, and will add or subtract folks based on the organizational model of the company: Customers, other Product teams, Engineering, Data, Design, UX Research, Product Marketing, Sales, Customer Success, Customer Support, and Enablement. Another difference as a company grows - there are more people and levels you have to account for, which typically means you need to spend more time on creating alignment and awareness in the work you are doing. This means in practice: * Spending more time creating documents and sharing them out * Setting aside time for quarterly / bi-annual planning * Agreeing further in advance on the work you plan to do and what support you'll need from other teams * Taking into account go-to-market teams needs and coordinating internal comms and training * More meetings to make sure people have opportunities to provide feedback and are aware of the work your teams are doing * Establishing roles and responsibilities upfront (RACIs can be a helpful framework) * Being more cognizant of downward, upward, and horizontal communication and alignment 

Do you mean in terms of getting people to buy in to market research as a valuable practice in the company? Or in terms of using learnings from market research to drive culture change? If you are interested in how to get people to buy in to market research as an important practice in the company: I feel like a lot of the push back on market research comes down to a few key issues: * A lack of awareness of market research and the benefits it provides * A bias towards quantitative vs qualitative approaches * Bad experiences in which market research didn't feel practical or applicable * A lack of resources to invest in market research In these cases, what I've seen work well: * Finding a champion or sponsor who sees the value in research and work with them to build advocacy and support in the company * Spend some time raising awareness of what market research can provide in terms of benefits and highlighting when qual vs quant is valuable * Be really explicit in how the research will get used - what decisions this will help make, what clarity this will provide * Have a plan for what happens after the research is completed - I've seen researchers run workshops to facilitate product roadmap brainstorming based on research as well as have had product managers run with the findings on their own. Absolutely spend time socializing the findings and going on a road show of the work. * Start small! Focus on smaller studies so you can show and deliver value faster. If you are interested in how to use market research to drive culture change: A lot of the steps are likely very similar to what I'd outline above. I think the differences I'd add is: * Try to find more than one advocate or sponsor if you can. Focus on people who are influential within the company. Try to get top-down buy-in. * Talk about why the market research is credible and should be trusted. * Outline the impact or benefits this culture change can have. * Be patient - culture changes take a really long time to enact, especially if people are hestitant. * Start small - a step towards the change you seek to see is still progress, and it's easier to push people along in increments. It makes the change less scary. * Take time to listen and understand what pushback may exist and why. Sometimes people aren't opposed to change, but there are a bajillion other factors that make change hard. 

Oh boy, this one is a doozy. Here's how I generally approach this situation - hoping it helps: * Make sure your manager is aware of the conflict and see how they might be able to support you. Depending on the manager, they might just solve the issue for you. If not, then they may be able to back you up in other ways. * Get the executive stakeholders in a room together and clearly outline the conflict in strategy. I find it helps to have a short blurb or 1-pager clearly outlining: * This is my understanding of what we are trying to do (goal, problem to solve, opportunity) * Outline the strategies that are currently up for debate, pros/cons, and other considerations for each approach * Clarify what decision you need made to be able to move forward * Share the impact of delaying this decision * Facilitate the conversation by asking each executive to share their thoughts on the strategies, if they have strong feelings about the path forward and why they feel strongly. * If the entire group is able to reach an agreement, document it. As you move forward in the strategy, be sure to update both of them on how things are going. A few phrases and questions that can help in these situations: * What can we move forward with that makes both parties comfortable? * Can we validate either direction in a lightweight way or with data? A short analysis or talking to a few customers usually helps clear direction. * Is this a situation where we just need to disagree and commit? 

Scroll down for answers to the specifics you called out, but I'll start with a more general framework first: I find that a lot of this starts with your own mindset and attitude towards the people you're working with. When you don't officially manage someone (and even if you do), I find that thinking of these relationships as partnerships is incredibly important. When you frame your working relationships as partnerships, you are more likely to approach the relationship with respect and trust. But what does that mean in practice? In no particular order, here are some of the things I try to keep in mind when working with others: Start by trying to understand the other person I like to do an introductory meeting where I ask what the person's day-to-day looks like, what motivates them, what they're focused on in the next few months, and what success looks like for them. I will also ask what I can do to be a better partner to them and what they care about being involved in. Understanding that helps me have more empathy in my approach, helps the folks I work with feel heard, and also enables me to advocate for my work in terms they'll care about. Involve people early and often Each person I work with brings a unique and important perspective to what I'm building in Product. I believe you're able to create better products when you take a collaborative approach in your work. Involving people in the "I'm in discovery mode" or "let's brainstorm product ideas!" phase and beyond makes it much easier for people to be aligned with what you're doing and to be able to support you if you're involving them from the beginning. From there, the work doesn't stop. I try to periodically follow-up at various phases to continue getting feedback and sharing out. Roadmap planning, research learnings, product spec documents, early designs, QA and post-launch learnings are all opportunities to involve your team and take them along for the ride. Be respectful of other people's time Even if someone is meant to be a "support" function for your role, that person likely has a million things on their plate, of which you are only one piece. With that, I try to make sure when I ask someone of their time, I give them as much notice as possible, and I am coming to the table with the details that will give them context on what I'm working on and what I might need to ask of them. Nothing is more frustrating than being asked for something at the last minute or having a meeting thrown on your calendar the same day with zero context, right? Don't do that to others. Be flexible and creative on how you work with someone By and large, people want to be helpful, and sometimes, it just takes a bit of creativity and flexibility to get support. Some ways I've worked this out with others: * If they can only help me with one thing, what would that one thing be? Can I reduce my ask to the core thing I need to move foward at this stage? * Is there any flexibility on when something I need is done? Maybe I can wait a month or a quarter, as long as there's commitment to working on the thing down the line. * Can the person I'm working with enable me to do the work on my own? This often comes into play when recruiting for research or conducting studies, as an example. * Could I "borrow" help from another team or from an agency that my partner works with? Provide context People are more likely to listen to you or do what you ask when you can provide context on why. Examples of context: * "We are working on this because 70% of customers have asked for this" * "If we don't do this, we may put morale at risk, which will result in people leaving the comapny" * "Leadership sees this as a top priority" * "If we don't invest in this now, here are 2-3 things that we could lose out on" Be explicit about agreements and expectations Oftentimes, when partnerships have gone south, a lot of that stress has been around both sides not being on the same page around what each person's role is, what the expected output or outcome is, or the timing by which something is done. In my introductory call, I like to probe on this by asking "what do you see your role as?" and as we work on projects together, I will often say things like "Would it be reasonable for you to do X by Y date and time?" The added bonus of being this clear is that if someone doesn't deliver on something they've promised, you have more permission to hold them accountable to what they committed. "Hey, you mentioned you'd be able to do X by Y - how're things going? I noticed the deadline's passed." Clarifying priorities - aka escalation - is okay. Early in my career, I thought of "escalation" as a dirty word - one that people used to be political or to throw someone under the bus. It is still a loaded word (so use the word "escalation" sparingly), but I've learned that the concept of escalation doesn't have to be scary. If you have tried all of the above and you're still not getting what you need from others, it's time to ask yourself and your partner two questions: (1) is my work not as high priority as I feel it is? (2) is my partner not prioritizing my work when they need to? If your manager or your leadership team agrees that other projects are just more important than yours, the conversation then starts to shift towards what timelines are reasonable for your projects given that your projects are lower priority or what are other projects you should be working on in the mean time. If in fact your partner should be prioritizing your work, the conversation may shift towards "how can I better support you in getting my work prioritized?" Sometimes, partners need others to surface up to their leadership that they are underresourced or need that clarity for themselves. WHEW! Okay, that's all off the top of my head. For the specific scenarios you outlined... On giving feedback on a piece of work * Ask questions to understand why someone has made the choices they did. You may learn something that you weren't considering previously. People will often hear me say things like "Can you walk me through why X is this way? I'm curious to learn more." or "Have you considered Z facet about this flow or user?" * Bring up specific reasons if you don't agree with something, grounded in something that is not just your opinion. Common phrases might be... "Have you considered this fact about our users...?" "I believe this should be shorter b/c the audience receiving this skims" "We did a previous test or study that shows this way of doing something may not be as effective" * Focus on what you want to see more of, not "don't do that". It's not helpful to someone if you say "I don't like this" or "This is not helpful". It's helpful to hear "I'd love if this item could focus more on this" or "I really like this portion of what you've done - how might we get more of that?" * Focus on the intended outcome, not how your partner achieves that outcome. If you get too far in the weeds of how your partners do work - it's a recipe for being a micro-manager and prevents you from scaling your impact over time because you're constantly in the details. If you don't agree on something, check yourself on - are you being prescriptive about how they do their job? Or is it that you're concerned the desired outcome won't be reached? If the former, then maybe it's not feedback worth giving or do so with a lot of caveats "I know this is totally personal preference, so feel free to ignore this, but I think this would be better if you did X" or if the latter, be clear on the desired outcome. On getting people to prioritize your work Use the tips above! In summary... * Make the ask, and be sure to provide the context and details your partner needs to determine when and how they can support you * Be flexible and willing to get creative on how your partner supports you * Re-examine priorities if you're hitting a wall, and make sure everyone gets on the same page of what the likely outcomes will be as a result if you can't get the help you need

Influence is interesting because it's very much a function of if others are willing to accept your influence. Here are some things I'd recommend doing to get started, but ultimately, your influence depends on the openness of others: * Gain trust from others. To me, this comes from doing your work well, being reliable, and being honest and transparent in how you work. * Start to get involved in bigger and broader things outside your scope. Easy ways to do this include asking questions in broad team meetings, volunteering to mentor others or to be part of interview loops, planning social events for the team, or volunteering to fix a wonky process that you feel passionately about making better. * Celebrate and amplify the work of others. Because it's a good thing to do, people will appreciate it, and everyone needs more celebration in their lives. * Connect the dots. Creativity is often not about creating something net new, but taking something people are familiar with and applying it in a wildly different context. Get into the habit of asking yourself "How could this work be connected to other work being done around the company?" "What inspiration can I take from other competitors or analogues to make my work better?" "What is one team doing that we should be doing as well?" * Take on bigger problems. As you start to get more familiar with your space and in your work, you will be able to tackle increasingly difficult problems or opportunities. In product land, this may mean taking over more features, more product areas, or more/new teams. * Pay attention to what's happening in the industry. Staying updated on the latest trends and frameworks in Product or the industry I am working in is a forever-thing I am working on - the more you know, the more you can apply it to the work you're doing. * Develop a perspective. Most of the really influential PMs I know have a perspective based on the unique experiences that they bring to the table. When you are approaching problems, ask yourself what you think or how you would solve it. Even if you don't share it with others, this practice will help you get more familiar and comfortable with your own thought process. If you feel like you have a good handle on this, consider publishing your thoughts on LinkedIn, Medium or some other blog. * Ask questions. It's the easiest way to start to understand more, get your name out there, and to help others start to understand how you think.

I start by trying to understand the nature of the conflict, usually via 1:1s with each individual. Is it that they don't agree on an approach to a project? That someone said something passive aggressive? That one person feels like they are not as accountable to doing work as the other? I will sometimes talk to other folks involved as well to get a more holistic understanding of the situation. Based on that, I will first ask myself - is this a conflict I personally need to solve? As someone whose professional career is finding problems to solve, I have often fallen into the trap of thinking that I am responsible for solving all the problems. The reality is that sometimes I'm not the right person to do so (or that it's not a good use of my time). If I do need to solve this conflict, I most commonly will bring both team members together to discuss the nature of the conflict and talk about how we might arrive at a solution that works best for both of them. There are some situations in which a different approach is necessary - such as sexual harassment or discriminatory behavior - in which case, I bring in HR and my manager. 

I'm assuming you mean how do you get other people to trust you and believe you are credible? Here's my list! (Can people tell I think in bullets?) * Care. It sounds dumb, but would you trust someone who you didn't think cared about you as a person? I don't. Ways to demonstrate this include: taking time to ask questions to get to know someone, following up on small things they've mentioned (their birthday! a thing about their weekend, etc.), or listening when they seem troubled about something. * Support your team. Part of trust is knowing that when you need someone to be there, they will be. In a product context, this can mean pushing back on timelines you think are unreasonable for your team to deliver on, helping someone out when they need a second pair of eyes, or shouting out someone for a job well done in a public forum. * Follow through on what you say you will do. Nothing erodes trust like feeling you can't rely on someone. * If you can't follow through, be really upfront and let others know that. Sometimes work gets crazy and you just can't do everything you said you would do. While it's not ideal, it happens. In this case, people will appreciate if you flag it early so their expectations can be reset. * Admit when you don't know something or when you're wrong. This might sound counter-intuitive to building credibility, but I find doing this shows you're both self aware and humble enough to admit you're not perfect. * Be vulnerable. Trust is a two-way street. Unless it's your therapist, it feels weird to share a lot of yourself without getting anything back from the other person. Be willing to share parts of yourself (within reason, in a work context). * Say the hard thing. This is really really hard to do, especially if you are in unsafe environments or toxic cultures. If you are in a safe environment, saying hard things is incredibly valuable. What do I mean by this? Be willing to voice the contrarian opinion, if you believe it will serve better outcomes. My proxy for this is "What gives me a ton of anxiety? I'm going to voice that." Examples of this I've encountered: * I think our culture is lacking innovation because our OKRs are too metrics-focused. * I think we need to push out a timeline b/c our entire team will burn out otherwise. * Is what we're doing ethically wrong? If not, are we doing wrong by the customer? * While I love this outcome, I am concerned about the way in which we achieved it. * Are we doing something because an executive said it or because we believe it's important for the business to do so? * We keep saying X is a priority, and yet there are no resources / we keep putting it behind these 3 other things. Do we need to re-evaluate our priorities? Hope this helps! 

Influencing people across different functions and teams is very similar to what I outlined under the question "How do you manage peopel who don't necessarily report to you?" This includes things like: * Get an understanding of the team and what they care about * Involve them early and often * Be respectful of their time * Provide context on where you're coming from