The Art of Leading in Product Management: Building Trust and Strong Relationships
As the world shifts towards remote and flexible work environments, creating a strong corporate culture has become more crucial than ever. This is especially true for product managers, who must lead by example and build trust with their teams and customers.
Leading in Product Management: A Unique Challenge
In product management, leadership looks different from traditional forms of management. Product managers don’t directly manage teams, but instead, help prevent development teams from veering off track and ensure business teams are aligned on their priorities. There are two main categories of leadership in product management: leading the development team and leading customers.
Leading the Development Team
As a product manager, you’re responsible for the backlog, roadmap, product vision, and mission. You should lead the stories and tasks according to the project plan, even in agile environments. To lead a tech team without a technical background, you must understand the business flow and ask the business team about any gaps in knowledge. In grooming meetings, create an environment where team members can ask questions freely.
Leading Customers
Leading customers requires more soft skills than analytical skills. You must understand their daily struggles and create solutions to deliver the right results. Ask the right questions, show previous behavior, and draft flows or mockups to lead customers effectively. Be careful not to promise delivery times without certainty, and set demo sessions and regular updates to keep them informed.
The Formula for Trustworthiness
Trustworthiness is key to leading effectively. It can be broken down into four components: credibility, reliability, intimacy, and self-orientation. Credibility is about making people confident in your subjects and requests. Reliability is about keeping promises and delivering successful features. Intimacy is about building strong relationships with both tech and business teams. Self-orientation is about focus, and as a product manager, you must reduce self-orientation to increase trustworthiness.
The Importance of 1:1 Meetings
Regular 1:1 meetings are crucial for building trust and strong relationships with your team. These meetings help you understand their characters and act accordingly. Come prepared with questions and undivided attention, and make sure to listen actively. The frequency of these meetings can vary, but they should be at least 30 minutes and not more than 60 minutes.
Real-World Examples of Leading in Product Management
Leading in product management is about walking a fine line between customer requests and team dynamics. In one project, I realized that over-defining features can create a blind eye for the tech team, and instead, I should have explained the problem and guided them. In another project, I lost reliability by not waiting for customer decisions and assuming everything would go as planned.
My Way of Leading
I believe in being honest and open to solve most problems. Update customers and gain their trust, and then ask for favors if there’s a technological bottleneck. Inform customers about technical problems and take responsibility for your team’s actions. Reward positive behaviors and thank the team, and always demonstrate a strong work ethic.
By following these strategies, you can build trust and strong relationships with your team and customers, leading to successful product management and a better work environment.