Product Management Skills

2 Answers
Milena Krasteva
Milena Krasteva
Walmart Sr Director II, Product Management - Marketing TechnologyJune 9
This reminds me of an interview question I got a very long time ago: "Is it better to have a bad team or a bad manager". In both cases, you'd rather not find yourself in either extreme. In both cases, there is no right or wrong answer and a lot depends on additional circumstances and assumptions.......Read More
2413 Views
6 Answers
Mamuna Oyofo, MBA
Mamuna Oyofo, MBA
Shopify VP of ProductFebruary 9
I personally believe this to be communication. Often times, we as PMs dive heads down into a problem with understanding that we need to have a time with us to do the work. It is important to develop a communication style that resonates meaningfully with your audience. As a PM, you will need to co......Read More
736 Views
2 Answers
Sailaja Kalle
Sailaja Kalle
Gainsight Director, Product ManagementJuly 13
Product Manager Leaders essentially act as CEO of their Product. They bring 5 key traits to the table 1. Product and User Sense - Good Product Leaders have the talent to 'easily' obtain a holistic, strategic view of what the right product might be for a given problem space; they can ide......Read More
616 Views
6 Answers
Mamuna Oyofo, MBA
Mamuna Oyofo, MBA
Shopify VP of ProductFebruary 9
It likely depends on the type of role you are entering into, the focus and phase of the product. It also will likely depend on whether the company has invested a lot in building out an existing UX team. I am biased because I have built out product design teams and therefore see true value in anyo......Read More
812 Views
3 Answers
Anton Kravchenko
Anton Kravchenko
Carta Sr. Director of Product ManagementMarch 14
Start with your passion for Product Management and DWIT attitude. Find a team who needs an extra pair of hands. Partner with them in your free time. Deliver results that are visible to others. From there, it's an easy sell organizationally for "why" you should become a PM when the organization ne......Read More
687 Views
3 Answers
Mamuna Oyofo, MBA
Mamuna Oyofo, MBA
Shopify VP of ProductFebruary 9
The biggest mistake I will mention here is not getting stakeholder buy-in. A lot of times we make assumptions about what people want and do not take the time ahead of to understand needs. Speak to those needs and share any constraints. Work to bring alignment across stakeholders. In the end, stak......Read More
911 Views
4 Answers
Milena Krasteva
Milena Krasteva
Walmart Sr Director II, Product Management - Marketing TechnologyOctober 7
A CEO once told me that he would only hire a person if he thought that he would enjoy the time spent with that person despite being stuck at an airport with them waiting to board an indefinitely delayed flight. Despite the exaggeration, I've always imagined the equivalent scenario as whether engi......Read More
522 Views
How have you dealt with possible overlaps between Product Managers, Business Owners and Marketing?
I was just reading an article by Marty Cagan about the scenario of Business Owners "versus" Product Managers, especially for companies using a matrix organization. Now, I'm living in a similar situation, and not only in the case of Business Owners, but it seems that depending on the side of the organization, the scope of Product Managers is divided more than expected, causing various types of issues. So, I'm curious if other companies, big or small, have also had to deal with this. Here's the link to the article: https://www.svpg.com/product-managers-vs-business-owners/
1 Answer
Casey Flinn
Casey Flinn
Realtor.com Sr. Director, Product OperationsJuly 26
Ah yes, I remember this article :) I think the key point Marty makes is "Things go wrong when these two roles are not clearly defined." There are two aspects of "defined" to work out here. From a management and org structure perspective, there needs to be definition of who is accountable for what......Read More
433 Views
3 Answers
Melissa Ushakov
Melissa Ushakov
GitLab Group Manager, Product ManagementMarch 7
There are a couple of things that make some candidates stand out from the rest: * User-focused: The most successful product managers are those that think deeply about people and want to understand them to build great products. Product managers should have contact with end users in some ca......Read More
788 Views
4 Answers
Mamuna Oyofo, MBA
Mamuna Oyofo, MBA
Shopify VP of ProductFebruary 9
I like to look at feedback as a gift and approach it with an open mind. How I would approach this is: 1. Do some soul searching :) understanding your own communication style. How do you communicate? How do you like to be communicated to? What things help you stay open minded? What things make yo......Read More
650 Views