Devika Nair

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.

First, ensure you have the right data to backup any claims or decisions you want to make. Second, focus on the goals you want from that audience. Third is to make sure that the content is clear and crisp with the right level of detail. Occasionally, I have to re-write a document for a different audience (e.g., CEO). However, in general ensuring there is a clear summary for anyone without assumptions of previous context and the decisions (or requirements) are clearly articulated in your doc/email/presentation. Include details for anyone who might want to dig in the subsequent paragraphs or include links/appendix for anyone who might want such details.

My approach is usually to have a initial wireframe to convey your ideas. The UX team needs to have sufficient understanding of the customer journeys and need to be involved early in the product definition/creation phase. Start with your vision document and a wireframe and spend some time discussing the details. Involve them throughout the product definition and execution phases to ensure you remain on the same page.

I would not say I had a single point where I made this decision. I had the opportunity to lead a few PMs which I initially picked. I transitioned back to IC from this role a couple of times based on my interest in the product goals. My final (or I should say current since I could transition back to IC someday) decision was when I realized I was happier seeing success of my PMs than the success of the products. The slow transition helped me prepare both with the help of my mentors and advisors, and through "learn by doing". 

For Product Management, my general advice is to experiment with it. Try to understand your customers and market, define the product vision and work through requirements for your features. You can also go through exercises with side projects. For Project Management, I don't have personal experience, but I would say try getting hands on experience alongside your current role is the best path.

I don't think I've had a single surprise across my various tech product management roles. In general, I would say my most surprising aspects when I moved to a product role has been the amount of work that goes into non-engineering aspects. For example, how much influence marketing or finance can bring into the success of a product. Partnering with these organizations taught me a lot since I came from an engineering background.

If your question was about Tech Product Management, it is a solid understanding of the product vision and direction. A tech PM is able to be the voice of the customer in front of engineering or the voice of engineering in front of marketing. They are able to represent the best interest for the product in front of any audience.

This depends on the goals of your product. In general, you want your key metrics to be aligned with what you and the organization considers the top goals of the product. For example, this might be revenue from your product, or number of other products customers use alongside your product. There would also be secondary goals like your adoption, retention and growth.

In general, you need technical product managers when the PMs need a deep technical understanding. In most cases, this is because the customers of your product are technical. PMs who aren't technical will be unable to effectively manage a product whose customers are technical folks like developers. There can be situations where your direct customer might not be tech folks, but the product is sufficiently complex and the PM needs to understand enough of the product to be effective. 

The best tech product managers I know have a very good understanding of their product. This includes understanding the customer needs and market. They use this knowledge to make quick, but data backed decisions about the product direction. They are also able to influence and bring along a wide range of stakeholders in order to successfully execute.