Product Management in Practice by LeMay, Matt -- Read -- Imperial Library of Trantor

Index

Introduction

Why I Wrote This Book: My First Day as a Product Manager Who This Book Is For How This Book Is Organized

Stories from Working Product Managers Templates “Your Checklist”

O’Reilly Safari How to Contact Us Acknowledgments

1. The Practice of Product Management

What Is Product Management? What Is Not Product Management? What Is the Profile of a Great Product Manager? What Is the Profile of a Bad Product Manager? Summary: Sailing the Seas of Ambiguity Your Checklist:

2. The CORE Connective Skills of Product Management

Communication Organization Research Execution

…But What About “Hard Skills”? Summary: Changing the Conversation About Product Management Your Checklist:

3. Showing Up Curious

Taking a Genuine Interest Cultivating a Growth Mindset The Gift of Being Wrong Spreading Curiosity Summary: Curiosity Is Key Your Checklist:

4. The Worst Thing About “Best Practices”

Don’t Believe the Hype “But This Worked at the Last Place!” Goals First, Then Practices The Best Thing About Best Practices Summary: A Place to Start, Not a Guarantee Your Checklist:

5. The Art of Egregious Overcommunication

Asking the Obvious Meetings Are Good, If You Want It One Weird Trick for Better Meetings: Disagree and Commit Creating and Protecting Space for Informal Communication Working with Distributed Teams Don’t Deflect, Be Direct Accounting for Different Communication Styles Egregious Overcommunication in Practice: Three Common Communication Scenarios for Product Managers

Scenario One

What’s really going on What you might do about it Patterns and traps to avoid

Scenario Two

What’s really going on What you might do Patterns and traps to avoid …And a bonus question

Scenario Three

What’s really going on What you might do Patterns and traps to avoid:

Summary: When in Doubt… Your Checklist:

6. Working with Senior Stakeholders (Or, Throwing the Poker Game)

Scenario One

What’s really going on What you might do Patterns and traps to avoid

Scenario Two

What’s really going on What you might do Patterns and traps to avoid

Summary: This Is Part of Your Job, Not an Impediment to Your Job Your Checklist:

7. Talking to Users (Or, “What’s a Poker Game?”)

Stakeholders and Users Are Different Yes, You Need to Learn How to Talk to Users “Quick Wins” for Better User Research Leveling Up Versus Zooming In, or Another Way to “Why” Summary: No, Seriously, You Need to Learn How to Talk to Users Your Checklist:

8. “Data, Take the Wheel!”

The Trouble with the “D” Word Don’t Hide Your Assumptions—Document Them! Focusing on Metrics That Matter “Up and to the Right” Is a Signal, Not a Strategy From “Accountability” to Action Acknowledging the Limitations of Obfuscating Quantitative Proxies Keeping It Accessible Summary: No Shortcuts! Your Checklist:

9. Realistic Roadmaps and Painless Prioritization

It’s Not the Roadmap, It’s How You Use the Roadmap “The Product Manager Owns the Roadmap!” Structure and Facilitate Ideas for the Roadmap, Don’t Own Them Your Product Spec Is Not Your Product Wait, You Mean We Actually Have to Build This Now? SMART Goals, CLEAR Goals, OKRs, and so on Taking Your Goals for a Test Drive Making Room for Old Stuff and (Truly) New Stuff But This Is an Emergency! Prioritization in Practice: Same Features, Different Goals Summary: Let Them In! Your Checklist:

10. The Wonderful, Horrible Truth About Agile

Debunking Three Common Myths About Agile Turning to the Agile Manifesto From Manifesto to Monster Using Alistair Cockburn’s “Heart of Agile” to Bridge Values and Practices Four Steps to Future-Proof Agile A Few General Caveats About Agile You Are Here Summary: Ambiguity Lives Here, Too Your Checklist:

11. In Good Times and Bad

The Soothing Lull of an Organization on Autopilot The Good Times Aren’t (Always) the Easy Times Carrying the Weight of the World Summary: It’s Hard Work, but It’s Worth It Your Checklist:

12. Conclusion: Whatever It Takes A. A Reading List for Expanding Your Product Management Practice B. Articles and Blog Posts Cited in This Book Index