Product Management Skills
LATEST POSTS
Give Public Speaking a try and get Ready for a Bigger Stage
We all love to attend product conferences and events like ProductTank. It’s where we learn, where we meet our tribe, and where we exchange experiences. But, as co-organiser for MTP Engage Hamburg (and I’m sure every other organiser of such events will agree), it’s hard to find speakers. It’s not hard to find people with […]
Why Simply "Allowing" Mistakes is a Dead-end for Agile Companies
Managing culture can quickly become one of the most complex challenges for companies that seek to scale agile practices. If self-organization and continuous improvement aren’t already tricky enough in a team of 10 individuals, they represent a daunting challenge when teams grow to the hundreds (not mentioning companies of thousands of people). Scaling agile practices[1] in […]
Lost in Translation - how do you Localize Your Product for International Growth?
Have you ever opened up an exciting new app, but instead of being asked to “Sign up” you saw “რეგისტრაცია”? Maybe you’ve received a confirmation email saying “Th□nks you for you reg□ster. Conf□rm□ng here ple□se”? Or perhaps you attempted to enter your name into a text field, only to be told it contained invalid characters? […]
Show me the Money! Four Career Path Alternatives to Chief Product Officer
It’s Monday, you’re a little scared, very excited and you’re walking into the product job you’ve always dreamed about. What is that dream job? A lot of product managers, if you asked them, might be tempted to say that they want the lead product role in the organisation. Whatever that role may be called – […]
Are you Segmenting Your A/B Test Results?
How often do we hear people say: “Version A won, so our users like this one more!” But their assumption is misleading. It illustrates perfectly why quantitative and qualitative testing (and research) need to go hand-in-hand for a complete picture. Although A/B testing tells you what users are doing, it doesn’t tell you why they […]
Why Product Managers Should not Report to the CTO
Product managers often end up reporting to the CTO, and some will argue that this is a good thing. While this might have been the case in the early days of product management, it’s not anymore. Why Shouldn’t a CTO be the Boss? Martin Eriksson’s seminal post on being a product manager shows that they […]
Embrace Your Imposter Syndrome
Martin Eriksson opened #mtpcon London 2018 – the world’s largest conference for passionate product people – by telling us that despite all he’s achieved, he feels like a fraud. This Imposter Syndrome is a deep fear of being exposed as someone who doesn’t know what they’re doing, despite their position in the world. Imposter Syndrome […]
Take Care of the Misfit Toys: Managing End of Life Products
So you’ve read all those books and articles on how to become a product manager, about how tough it is, but also how rewarding it is. Now finally you’ve become one. I remember when I moved from being a sales engineer to product manager. I had a picture of myself in my new role. I […]
Insights from the #mtpcon London Product Leadership Forum
The Product Leadership Forum is a chance for senior product professionals to discuss the challenges they face in a safe environment. The product manager role is evolving at pace and this means that there are a range of conversations that are hard to have in public. Here’s some insight into what was discussed at this […]
Managing Feedback: Do you start with a No?
Do you start with a “No”? Defining your process for feedback will save time and improve feedback quality. My seven-year-old son has the gift of positioning, a trait he comes by honestly as his mother is a sales professional. He knows that, given the opportunity to present his case the likelihood of approval increases. Lately, […]