How do you prevent burnout leading PMM in a hypergrowth company? Product Marketing is asked to do a lot by Product, Marketing and Sales which can be exciting but challenging. How do you prioritize?
It's hard and it's an area I am still working through. So much is asked of PMM and there's a natural desire as a connecting function to say "yes" to everything so in order to prove our value. The reality is if everything is important, nothing is important, so a Product Marketing superpower to develop is one that can gauge and asses what projects and deliverables will drive the most impact for the business, and prioritize accordingly. Having executive leadership partner with Product Marketing on this is helpful, and what they'll need to prioritize decisions is the end-to-end view of what's happening, when it's happening, the expected impact, the risks, and the implications of doing nothing at all. That type of framework drives the right conversations with leadership and puts Product Marketing in a position to facilitate outcomes, not take orders.
If you say yes to everything, there's no way you're giong to avoid burnout. Be guided by your OKRs. If nobody set OKRs for you, set them for yourselfand align on them with leadership from Sales, Product, and Marketing. Help them understand that you have to say no to protect your yes. And let them know that everytime you request something, you have to give up something else. If they are part of the prioritization process, they are likely to defend your decisions to others.