How do you manage people who don't necessarily report into you?

You are 100% correct that the hardest part of a PMMs job is managing without authority. Often, PMMs rely on shared resources or centralized teams to get their job done. I have found three things work really well in managing without authority. They are all hard and take time, but they are effective. First, invest the time in building a relationship with your cross functional partners. If someone knows you and likes you, they are going to be much more open to any feedback you have. They are also m ...Read More

Product marketers often end up in the position of “dotted line” managers/stakeholders for many functions — design, writing, research (to name a few). What’s worked for me in the past is two-fold:  Influence: For every function that feels like a “dotted line”, it’s important to build a close relationship with the leaders for those functions. This relationship enables you to freely exchange ideas, maintain alignment on priorities, operate efficiently, and set expectations between teams. If things ...Read More

You’re right that as PMMs it’s often impossible for us to get our work done without work from another team, often multiple other teams. Part of my advice for doing this well is a critique of the way you’ve worded your question. I don’t see myself, or my team, as “managing” people who don’t report to me. We’re partnering with them. We should have shared goals, a shared vision for what we’re trying to accomplish, and equal motivation to get it done. If we don’t, that team is just doing a favor for ...Read More

This is one of the most powerful skills you can develop as a leader and especially as a PMM. PMM by nature sits at the juncture of many, many stakeholder groups - both within product and within commercial. I wouldn't necessarily say the task is to "manage people". I would boil it down further to the nature of your relationship and what you need from that person and what they need from you. A few thoughts: Align upfront on goals and priorities for the month/quarter - this reduces misalignment and ...Read More

Like most cross-functional work, the most important thing is to build trust and establish shared goals early on. Instead of delegating work, involve them in your process, provide them with proper context, and agree on timelines where applicable. They will be much more motivated to help if they have the same context and can be part of the journey. When giving feedback, make sure to provide the why and take a step back when necessary to ground your discussions around objectives, guardrails, and wh ...Read More

You will need to win their respect and trust. To do that you need to...  know your stuff be humble give ample positive feedback understand their agenda and help them advance it take personal responsibility for everything that goes wrong, and emphasize the team contribution over your own for everything that went right criticize in private, while using "I" instead of "You" statements but be unmistakably clear in your feedback. Don't leave room for ambiguity and always criticize the work, not the p ...Read More

Managing people who don't necessarily report to you can be challenging, as you may not have the same level of authority or control over their work.  So you start with building relationships first. We work with people, and people are driven by emotions. So the main step in achieving a smooth collaboration is gaining trust, both on personal and professional levels. It comes to: Understanding one another's needs and goals Transparent communication Keeping your commitments Providing regular feedback ...Read More

Words are important. You do not 'manage' someone who doesn't report into you. You 'partner' with them. Fail to accomplish that, and you will fail on the job. There is a misconception about managers 'managing' people. It doesn't work. If you cannot sell your believability and competence, none will follow you, and you'll end up managing an army of one: You. Also, thinking in terms of 'authority' is not a good thing. Authoritative management is frustrating for most 'managed' people, especially thos ...Read More

Product marketing is one of the most cross-functional roles in a business, and whether you're an individual contributor or people manager, you will need to be able to influence, lead, and manage others. I recently read "5 Dysfunctions of a Team" and its concepts translate quite well to managing project teams and cross-functional stakeholders as well. Based on my experience, here's how you can drive successful cross-functional projects: Build trust and strong relationships: Before diving into a p ...Read More

I believe that the ability to build relationships with stakeholders and influence others is key to being a successful PMM. As you've noted in your question, due to the nature of our role PMMs are often drivers of very cross-functional projects, which involves co-ordinating peers and potentially people more senior than you too.  Really, it comes down to all the classic relationship-building things: Build trust - spend time with the people you need to influence (and not just when you need somethin ...Read More