Empowering Product Managers: The Key to Unlocking Team Synergy
In the past, companies often relied on a single leader to make decisions for every team. However, with the advent of agile and scrum methods, we’ve shifted towards empowering teams to take ownership of their work. This includes building trust and confidence in product managers, who play a crucial role in guiding teams and making informed decisions.
What Does it Mean to be an Empowered Product Manager?
An empowered product manager is at the center of the decision-making process, with full responsibility to guide other roles and disciplines. While we often hear about empowering engineers and teams, it’s equally important to empower product management roles. In fact, having an empowered product manager can make a huge difference in boosting your product delivery process.
The Challenges of Managing Cross-Functional Teams
As product managers, we work with cross-functional teams, customers, and more. However, many software companies expect product managers to fill multiple roles, including project managers, product owners, and business analysts. This can lead to blurred lines and confusion, making it difficult to make sharp decisions quickly.
Building Trust and Confidence in Product Managers
So, what does a product manager need to provide confident, consistent, and stable decisions in stressful moments? A little help from leaders, of course! Leaders can create a suitable environment for product managers by:
- Recruiting people who work well together on the same team
- Assuring product managers that their decisions are respected
- Giving them the responsibility for results
The Importance of Team Synergy
An empowered engineering team helps a product manager build a good product. However, without synergy inside the team and between product managers, teams can’t achieve their goals. Leaders need to be careful about the characteristics of who they’re putting together, as a well-built team can solve half of the problems.
Respecting Product Managers’ Decisions
To create an empowered team, leaders need to destroy “my way or the highway” rules. There are many ways to do every task, and people are strong with their own ways. Forcing people to do things one specific way without asking for feedback is a recipe for disaster. Instead, leaders should trust product managers and make it known that their decisions are respected.
Giving Product Managers Liability for Results
If you want a 100% empowered team, product managers need to be accountable for their solutions, including both success and failure. When a product fails, it’s essential to discuss the whys and hows so that we can learn from mistakes. And when a product succeeds, credit needs to be shared all around.
Common Mistakes Leaders Make
Every leader wants their team to be powerful and manage their own business. However, leaders often make mistakes, such as:
- Blurring the lines between problem-solver and coach
- Working towards an unclear product vision
- Not advising towards a proper product strategy
- Not promoting knowledge sharing
The Power of Empowered Teams
An empowered team can face any consequences and feel responsible for the outcomes. Encouraging a sense of ownership of the product means feeling bad when things don’t go correctly. Powerful teams can only be created when they see the positive and negative consequences of each decision. By giving product teams a sense of liability, leaders can create a more powerful team that’s capable of making informed decisions.
By following these principles, leaders can empower their product managers to take ownership of their work, make informed decisions, and drive product success. Remember, you hired product managers, not business analysts or product owners. It’s time to give them the trust and confidence they deserve.