How do you manage the stakeholders and teams that have worked on these products for years?

Joining a team of experienced professionals who know more about the product than you can imagine, is a privilege. While they hold the history, you bring the "breath of fresh air" they often crave. When managed correctly, this partnership becomes a powerful engine for business impact. Listen First Before you can lead, you must learn. Long-tenured employees are a wealth of knowledge—not just regarding the product, but regarding workplace dynamics and institutional hurdles. Respect the History: Be ...Read More

Stakeholders for mature products are typically large customers, experienced field teams (sales, engineering, support in B2B), and long-term product team members. Managing customer expectation: While there are many aspects to managing customer expectations, here are a few things that I have encountered working on mature products: Hundreds of users within a large customer organization use the product daily and expect it to scale and perform to their growing needs. As PMs, it's our job to ensure th ...Read More

When joining an established team, I start by listening deeply and respecting existing context and opinions before making changes. I look for opportunities to contribute small, low-risk improvements early to build credibility and trust. Over time, I introduce structured frameworks and data-driven decision-making, using customer feedback and usage insights to ground discussions. This helps shift alignment from opinion-based to evidence-based, which naturally builds confidence in direction without ...Read More

Teams that have worked on a product for years bring deep context, but they can also become strongly entrenched in existing beliefs and decisions. Start with empathy.  Give the benefit of doubt that protectiveness comes from long term investment and pride in the product, not resistance to you personally.  Earn trust by taking the time to truly understand the product, the tech stack, the operating model, and the historical context behind past decisions. That effort goes a long way in building the ...Read More

If you haven’t yet, it’s helpful to start with the context provided in “How do you define a mature product?” Mature product teams often include deeply experienced domain experts at every level of the organization. These individuals may be former users, customers, competitors, or long-time employees, some of whom helped launch the product or even the company itself. They’re fully capable of making informed decisions, as long as the strategic business context is clearly communicated. This is the i ...Read More