engineers we meet in product management heaven!

AwwwardsNYC conference 2016: three engineers we meet in product management heaven by @natashaawasthi

engineers we meet in product management heaven

by natasha awasthi*


data monster by education

product manager by profession: 2003….2005……………….2015

moonlight as an instructor

creative writer who invented a boring twitter handle


practice.teach.preach product management


happy days: at work motivate tears of joy and tension in equal

parts.


on rainy days: there is a lot of talk and a little code.


on rainy days: or there is a lot of beautiful code but no product—i.e. a problem not worth solving

has been elegantly resolved.


we have empathy for people we build products for. we need to have empathy for people we

build stuff with.


let’s meet three of my code producing peers


the silent force



the silent forceThey think hard and listen even harder. They are thoughtful and analytical in their approach.

They offer researched facts over impassioned opinions.

Unfazed by a long haul. Great with complex problems that need steady hands to work patiently and carefully.

These self-motivated individuals can work alone or in teams with big personalities.



rules of engagement

Engage these engineers as early as possible.

They need a heads-up so they can ramp up their knowledge and carry out analysis independently, from which they gain confidence.

Brag for them.



dark side of their force

They are wary of people with fuzzy work styles.

Show you can can bridge from the big picture to the details.

They don’t like to be rushed into decisions or commitments. When repeatedly cornered into such situations they take on an excessively pessimistic stance.



fast (tad) furious



fast (tad) furiousHave at least a bazillion light bulbs hovering over their heads.

These worker bees juggle many side gigs.

Always game to tinker with the latest idea, technology or problem.



rules of engagementTo this brand of engineers conceiving ideas for the product is just as important as building it.

Involve them before you have cracked all the puzzles and thought through all the details.

Also, they take a lot of pride in their work so schedule frequent demo-days so they can show off their craft and get feedback to make it better.



They drag their feet when asked to work with stale technology and legacy systems (barf).

It pains them to ship even one line of shoddy code. Ensuring the beauty of what they produce may take precedence over deadlines.

They are individual contributors, so they get a little furious when they have to pause their real job(s) to mentor people or coddle clients.

dark side of their force



full stack-ish product personPresentations, people, and politics are not dirty words in their dictionary.

These hybrid employees can toggle between modes of product manager and engineer.

They can empathize with the end users and design and evaluate business models.


rules of engagementThese unicorns are not easy to locate or afford.

Frequently rotate them between the two roles so they can continue to hone their skills in both domains.

This suggestion should not be confused with staffing them to shoulder dual responsibilities simultaneously—the separation of concerns related to customers and product is key.


dark side of their forceTheir engineering pedigree can cause them to jump to solutions a little too quickly.

During development phases, however, when it is time to stop debating options and start developing something, they may continue to question assumptions and rehash past decisions.

AwwwardsNYC conference 2016: three engineers we meet in product management heaven by @natashaawasthiAwwardsNYC conference 2016: three engineers we meet in product management heaven by @natashaawasthi


don’t become process bullies aspire to be process mentors

don't be lazy, tweak your process based on needs, motivations and skills of your team

use the rhythms of retrospectives to create space for these discussions


balance


balance rigid………………


rigid………………personalized

balance


balance don’t be lazy, don’t just iterate on your product, keep iterating on your process.


thank you!natasha awasthi*

* find more on this topic here: http://qz.com/492896/the-three-engineers-you-meet-in-product-management-heaven/

engineers we meet in product management heaven!

Engineering