At the Mind the Product Leadership Meetup on Tuesday, 1 July, we brought together product leaders from various industries and team sizes to hone their leadership craft.
To kick off the engaging and interactive evening, Cait O'Riordan, VP Product at Google, delivered a great talk on hiring and leading high-performance product teams. In case you missed it or just want a refresher, have a quick read of our recap:
Cait explained that your team spends up to 80% of their time focused on doing product work instead of talking about doing product work. As a product leader, this means ensuring that your product teams are validating product-market fit, turning demos into something that customers actually use, and ensuring that your product is of the highest quality possible.
Your product team should be lean, with the right balance of ICs and managers. Cait explained how hiring too many managers leads to confusion, wasted time, and diluted ownership. Product managers need a broad scope to grow and deliver. You need fewer managers than you think; no one should manage fewer than four people, she said.
Cait said that for every 100 engineers, aim for 10 product managers, with 6-7 being IC product managers and only 2-3 in senior product roles.
She also warned against eliminating entry-level product roles. Organisations need a pipeline of junior product talent to stay healthy and sustainable. “Invest in ICs and balance the seniority mix,” Cait emphasised.
When looking to hire the right people, Cait stressed the importance of being ruthless in defining the job you need to be done and hiring accordingly. Whether it's going from 0-to-1 fast or optimising a product incrementally, match skills to the challenge. Focus on practical, scenario-based assessments that reflect your real problems, she explained.
If you've hired the wrong person, and it's clear that it isn't working out, Cait explained not to hang on too long. Everyone on the team knows when someone isn't pulling their weight. Six months is a reasonable time frame to assess impact.
Grow your best people by giving them more scope, new problems to solve, and bigger bets to own. Cait also highlighted how important it is to understand each person's motivations and align opportunities with what motivates them.
Cait closed by sharing a few words on the uncertain climate that lies ahead. The rise of AI and shifting tech expectations mean that product is harder and more exciting than ever. She advised focusing on what your product can do now that it couldn't do before.
For example, speed matters more than ever in this new age: Go from code to demo fast. It was also highlighted that quality is slipping industry-wide. She stressed setting a high bar with your products, learn quickly, and pivot when needed.
Want more product leadership goodness? Join us for a day-long in-person Leadership Forum, taking place in Cleveland, Ohio on Monday, September 8 – the day before INDUSTRY. Learn more!
