What's the biggest challenge you've ever faced as a product management leader and how did you overcome it?

Answer

3 Answers

SMB Product Management Consumer Product Management Technical Product Management

Neel Joshi

Google Group Product Manager, Google Assistant • 3y

Without going into specifics, the biggest challenge has been cross-organization influencing. My time at both Microsoft and Google has exposed me to lots of intra-organization projects with varying levels of buy-in from each team. The level of effort and coordination required to pull not one, but two organizations in the same direction can be enormous. As a PM - at any level - it's your role to effectively communicate why what you're trying to acheive makes sense for other teams, your company and ...Read More

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Chris Omland

Workiva Vice President Of Product Management • 3y

Oh, this is a tough one! Since the AMA is about Technical Product Management, I'll answer from that perspective. It's common for a successful company and product to face tech challenges after they've achieved significant growth. When you're a startup moving fast to find product-market fit, you might not prioritize the technical hygiene of your product. Then, as you scale up, you may need more time to go back and clean up or improve your technology. Eventually, this issue needs to be addressed, a ...Read More

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Devika Nair

Oracle Director of Product Management • 3y

Two constant challenges for me in any product role has been finding the right way to say no. This could be to your customers asking for a particular feature or your organization that has decided to prioritize certain aspects differently.

The best way to overcome this challenge is by having your facts and data clear. For example, it is easy to convince leadership about your prioritization rationale if you have data to back up your claims, whether it is potential revenue or customer impact.

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