What's your advice on improving a historically tense relationship between functions?

As I wrote in another answer, the market will reward some kinds of tension, especially if there is substantive disagreement between leaders or functions on a critical topic (e.g. pricing and packaging, which I believe is the least understood topic in all of enterprise software). In these cases, lean into the tension, and remind each other all the time that you are doing something really hard but also really important to the company. It is absolutely worth it to have tough conversations in these ...Read More

We're all human after all so taking the time to understand the baggage but also find a path forward. Find a champion on both sides willing to go on the journey with you and who is as vested as you are in moving forward. And making time for building carmaderie. I remember we once had tensions between our PMM and Marketing organization - so we spend time in workshops doing joint planning, finding operational projects where we could join up people to build bridges, and finally team bonding - includ ...Read More

Oh man, this is a tricky one!  It's important to start by first identifying the source of tension. Is it due to leaders of those teams (or the leaders of those leaders) not seeing eye to eye and their conflict flowing downstream? Is it due to your predecessor being a jerk? Is it due to one team not following through on their commitments which in turn hurts the other team?  I'd recommend then asking "what's my scope for influencing the relationship?" If you're a relatively junior IC PMM, you have ...Read More

At the core, these situations are about finding the product-market fit for the product marketing function in your organization. You are trying to establish a conversion thesis that will make them a future advocate for PMM instead of a detractor. So take a similar tact as you would do for customer-facing work.  1) Start by listening. Have 1:1s and understand what they see as having gone wrong in the past. Ask what areas they would like to have support for.  2) Look for data or anecdotes on launch ...Read More

First of all: patience. Lots of it. :) As you start to unravel the history of the relationship, you’re likely to find norms that were established so long ago that no one knows why they’re there. And with every new person who comes on board, you have the opportunity to start building new, more positive norms...but of course this can take a long time. In addition, a few other tactics I rely on: Build support at every level. The individual contributors on a team can be just as powerful as the execu ...Read More

Product Marketing is one of those roles that can be very different from each organization. I find the most successful way to develop a strong relationship is to show value from the start and align on your mutual goals / objectives. If there are certain functions where you have a tense relationship, i'd suggest to first understand why there is this less collaborative relationship. Is it based on some historical context (prior launch)? Is it due to a difference in role expectations? Once you've id ...Read More

One of the most important shifts I’ve made when navigating historically tense cross-functional relationships is to start with curiosity. It’s easy to anchor on past friction, but much more productive to step back and genuinely seek to understand how we got here and what’s driving each team’s priorities. Asking thoughtful questions and listening without defensiveness often uncovers context that wasn’t visible before. I also try to assume positive intent in prior decisions. Most tension doesn’t co ...Read More

It’s always difficult to navigate tense relationships. It’s important not to take this all upon yourself. If you are looking to help, I think the first step is to assess the situation and try to understand the underlying cause that’s driving the tension. Is it due to misalignment of expectations and goals? Is it a result of constant miscommunication, which can stem from having different working styles? Is it a broken process that’s fueling confusion between teams? While it can be uncomfortable, ...Read More

Love this question because it's one that is bound to come up as you move up within an organization. My suggestion is to think about the action plan from both a qualitative and quantitative perspective. First, get alignment around shared outcomes and metrics so it's clear both sides are working toward the same goal. Then, work to rebuild the "softer" side of the relationship. Redefine or clarify roles and responsibilities, clarify expectations and deliverables, and most importantly, build better ...Read More

What a great question!  Sometimes the smartest people on the planet can not figure out how to work together. It's challenging and, at the same time, it's rewarding to nurture the culture of cross-functional collaboration between functions. Those are a few tips that helped me: Give first by helping other teams. We are all very busy. Today, the sales team may be overwhelmed with closing their quotas. Tomorrow, you might be under the water with company-wide product launches. So giving a hand to the ...Read More

I've found that returning to the basics of understanding and setting common goals together helps ease that tension. This tension almost always comes from some level of misalignment between the functions and some level of the power struggle between the two. Sometimes acknowledging what those goals are, where the power struggle comes from (why it's there), and then marching forward together. Start somewhere small, and come up with one small goal, one small plan, and one small activity the two func ...Read More

As I said in another answer, being a successful PMM relies heavily on being able to build relationships and trust with your cross-functional stakeholders. The tips in that answer about building relationships apply here, but I'll also add 2 things:1. Always look for opportunities for PMM to add value, and make sure you understand other functions' goals and priorities. If other functions can see the value PMM bring - and that you want to help, not hinder them - it's much easier to get a seat at th ...Read More

Oh boy, this is a great question.  In my experience in working with various different startups in the valley, I've seen this dynamic in many places. Sales and marketing tensions are not a 'thing' for no reason.  However, these relationships can improve. Some of the people who I've personally (and my team) had tense relationships with are now friends whom I rely on for references, counsel and collaboration.  Many professionals understand that their frustration is of a professional nature and one ...Read More