book

Product Management in Practice

by Matt LeMay

November 2017

Beginner to intermediate

188 pages

4h 57m

English

O'Reilly Media, Inc.

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Why I Wrote This Book: My First Day as a Product ManagerWho This Book Is ForHow This Book Is OrganizedStories from Working Product ManagersTemplates“Your Checklist”O’Reilly SafariHow to Contact UsAcknowledgments
What Is Product Management?What Is Not Product Management?What Is the Profile of a Great Product Manager?What Is the Profile of a Bad Product Manager?Summary: Sailing the Seas of AmbiguityYour Checklist:
The “Hybrid” Model: UX/Tech/BusinessThe CORE Skills of Product Management: Communication, Organization, Research, and ExecutionCommunicationOrganizationResearchExecution…But What About “Hard Skills”?Summary: Changing the Conversation About Product ManagementYour Checklist:
Taking a Genuine InterestCultivating a Growth MindsetThe Gift of Being WrongSpreading CuriositySummary: Curiosity Is KeyYour Checklist:
Don’t Believe the Hype“But This Worked at the Last Place!”Goals First, Then PracticesThe Best Thing About Best PracticesSummary: A Place to Start, Not a GuaranteeYour Checklist:
Asking the ObviousMeetings Are Good, If You Want ItOne Weird Trick for Better Meetings: Disagree and CommitCreating and Protecting Space for Informal CommunicationWorking with Distributed TeamsDon’t Deflect, Be DirectAccounting for Different Communication StylesEgregious Overcommunication in Practice: Three Common Communication Scenarios for Product ManagersScenario OneScenario TwoScenario ThreeSummary: When in Doubt…Your Checklist:
Managing Up for Clarity at All Costs“Our Boss Is an Idiot,” or, Congratulations—You’ve Ruined Your TeamNo Alarms and No SurprisesStaying User-Centric in a World of Company PoliticsTactical Trade-Offs, Not Emotional ManipulationThrowing the Poker Game in Practice: Two Common Scenarios for Senior Stakeholder ManagementScenario OneScenario TwoSummary: This Is Part of Your Job, Not an Impediment to Your JobYour Checklist:
Stakeholders and Users Are DifferentYes, You Need to Learn How to Talk to Users“Quick Wins” for Better User ResearchLeveling Up Versus Zooming In, or Another Way to “Why”Summary: No, Seriously, You Need to Learn How to Talk to UsersYour Checklist:
The Trouble with the “D” WordDon’t Hide Your Assumptions—Document Them!Focusing on Metrics That Matter“Up and to the Right” Is a Signal, Not a StrategyFrom “Accountability” to ActionAcknowledging the Limitations of Obfuscating Quantitative ProxiesKeeping It AccessibleSummary: No Shortcuts!Your Checklist:
It’s Not the Roadmap, It’s How You Use the Roadmap“The Product Manager Owns the Roadmap!”Structure and Facilitate Ideas for the Roadmap, Don’t Own ThemYour Product Spec Is Not Your ProductWait, You Mean We Actually Have to Build This Now?SMART Goals, CLEAR Goals, OKRs, and so onTaking Your Goals for a Test DriveMaking Room for Old Stuff and (Truly) New StuffBut This Is an Emergency!Prioritization in Practice: Same Features, Different GoalsSummary: Let Them In!Your Checklist:

Debunking Three Common Myths About AgileTurning to the Agile ManifestoFrom Manifesto to MonsterUsing Alistair Cockburn’s “Heart of Agile” to Bridge Values and PracticesFour Steps to Future-Proof AgileA Few General Caveats About AgileYou Are HereSummary: Ambiguity Lives Here, TooYour Checklist:
The Soothing Lull of an Organization on AutopilotThe Good Times Aren’t (Always) the Easy TimesCarrying the Weight of the WorldSummary: It’s Hard Work, but It’s Worth ItYour Checklist:

Content preview from Product Management in Practice

Chapter 10. The Wonderful, Horrible Truth About Agile

First: a hearty and heartfelt hello to those of you who picked up this book and skipped immediately to this chapter. For many product managers—especially those whose job description skews more toward Scrum Master or Agile Product Owner, navigating the finer points of Agile processes can seem like the sum total of one’s job. There are countless books, manuals, and step-by-step guides out there to implementing the Agile framework of your choice, whether it is Scrum or XP or a scaled framework like SAFe or LeSS.

For better or worse, this book is not one of them. Regardless of how orthodox, prescriptive, and by-the-books you are in your implementation of Agile, you can’t process-ize out the human complexity of product management. Regardless of which Agile (or non-Agile) processes and practices you choose to implement, you still need to connect, communicate, and collaborate. The wonderful truth about Agile is that it revolves around a set of values that reinforce and strengthen the connective work of product management. The horrible truth about Agile is that the work of implementing these values is never truly over, and requires constant reflection and refinement.

This chapter focuses on strategies and approaches that will help guide you through the successful implementation of any practices, processes, and frameworks that could fall under the broad banner of “Agile.” Throughout this chapter, keep our second guiding principle ...