Working with Engineers
As a product manager, you get the opportunity to work with a wide range of people, including customers, business people, designers, and of course engineers. And as you’ve probably discovered, there’s a lot more to working with engineers than attending stand-ups and managing backlogs. You need to consider how to build and maintain a strong relationship with your engineers, which can sometimes be easier said than done.
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How to be the product manager developers love. Nobody wants to be that product manager. The out-of-touch product manager that doesn’t get it. The one that only cares about hitting the metrics, reporting up to the big wigs, and looking good. We assume you’d rather be the product manager that the team loves. You’re a valuable and respected voice, the leader that’s got the pulse on the customer, protects the team, and increases everyone’s efficiency. Garrett Rysko explains what separates the product managers that get along with the team from those who don’t.
(via @SimiansInSpace)
Relationship goals: Ignite your dev-product relationship. The relationship between developers and product managers has been challenging since the beginning of time. There is a continuous dissonance- developers want to reduce tech debt and use cool technologies, while product managers want data and “boring” features that help sell the product. Relationships are hard and take work, patience, and a whole lot of compromise – and none more so than the relationship between developers and product managers. Managing a product for developers, made by developers, can be even more challenging. Noa Goldman takes you on a quick relationship therapy session and gives you her tips on how to keep the love going.
(via @rookoutlabs)
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Netflix keeps raising prices. Should you?
In what seems to be an annual tradition, Netflix announced new price hikes to its monthly subscription plans. It’s the third price increase for Netflix since 2019 – with its standard plan now set at $15.50/month.
Why the heck is Netflix doing this? We’re all trying to weather through a global pandemic… does it really want to beat our collective morale down even more? Actually, the reason is probably more cut and dry: Its subscriber growth is slowing and their content spend is continuing to increase. With those two things happening in tandem, Netflix needs to account for it somehow. The standard plan’s increase of $1.50 per month can help it do just that. With over 214 million subscribers, that’d add an additional $3.85 Billion in revenue (if there was no churn). It’s not nothing, but for perspective – it’s still less than ⅓ of its 2021 content expenditures.
But… will there be any churn?
There’s sure to be some. But Netflix has had a track record of having incredibly low churn compared to its competitors… even with its continued price hikes. For so many people, Netflix is one of those monthly automatic purchases that they wouldn’t dare not make. What’s the alternative – miss out on the newest seasons of Cobra Kai, Ozark, and Stranger Things?
So the real question is – why wouldn’t it continue to raise its prices… and should you be considering raising prices for your product?
The last question is something we should all think about. If your customers truly need your product, it’s bringing real value to them and overdelivering on the promises it makes, and the alternative is something that’s hard for your customers to fathom… well… what are you waiting for?
Those may not necessarily be easy-to-answer questions (especially if you’re not Netflix). But perhaps it’s something to think about over the weekend. After you’ve torn through Archive 81 with the lights off, that is.
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How To Use Customer Feedback for Business Growth
We present to you another collaboration from airfocus and Product Collective, this time to take a look into all the core topics of customer feedback: what it is, how to collect it, what types of feedback we have, and many tips and common mistakes you should avoid.
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Latest Slack Activity
What are your thoughts on PM online certificate programs as an early-career move? Join the conversation and read community members' takes here as they share advice for Paul.
Are you an expert in market and customer research for external APIs and integrations? Kelly is looking for panelists to chat about this topic.
Have you used Amazon Pinpoint? Share your opinion here to help out Jenna.
Chris is trying to organize product discovery interviews. Share what platforms you're using to connect with target audiences to help him!
Join 20,000+ other product people on the Product Collective Slack if you have not already done so.
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5 Challenges Product Managers Face When Going to Market
Product managers, you’ve gone through the brainstorming, the conceptualizing, the designing, the building, the testing—all the major milestones on the product development journey. But you’re only halfway there. The rest of the journey is preparing your product to hit the market.
It’s exciting, but it also means there are many more steps ahead, and with them, obstacles to overcome. It’s never too early to begin thinking about taking your product to market, especially to counteract potential costs, be it time, money, or resources.
In this blog, we will go over the top 5 challenges product managers come across in the go-to-market process (and how to avoid them).
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The New York Product Conference, now powered by INDUSTRY, returns in-person to The Times Center in Manhattan, NY on April 7th. 400 attendees will be treated to a day of 12 inspiring mainstage talks, ample food and drink, plus an INDUSTRY favorite -- notes of every session.
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How to work with difficult engineers as product managers. If this headline caught your eye, you are likely working with a very difficult engineer or a group of engineers. You’ve probably tried everything within your power to establish a healthy, productive, working relationship with your engineering counterpart(s). However, nothing you have done seems to have worked. Regardless of how hopeless your situation may seem, there is always a path forward. Lawrence Tai suggests some tried and true action steps you can take right now to establish a productive working relationship with your engineering team.
(via @ProductGym)
The product and engineering relationship. As Product Manager, you will work closely with engineers every day to make sure the product you’re building delivers the outcomes you were hoping for. Engineers are independent individuals and focus on creating optimal solutions to solve significant problems rather than only solving specific problems. If they feel unappreciated or feel less confident about the overall product, they will look for new opportunities elsewhere. As a Product Manager, your role is to ensure that engineers feel valued and also increase confidence in the product itself. Fitka Akbar shares some things on how to maintain the relationship with engineers.
(via @fitrakbar)
PM 101: Working with Engineers. In addition to designers, engineers are the people that you’ll interact with the most on your teams. In fact, there are usually many more engineers on product teams than people from any other function, so it is paramount for you to effectively collaborate with them. Working with engineers might be easier or more difficult for you, depending on whether you have a technical background or not. However, Jens-Fabian Goetzmann believes that these tips are useful regardless of how technical you are.
(via @MrJefago)
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Lessons Learned after Launch
Wednesday, February 2nd @ 1:00 PM EST
Amanda Goetz and her team at House of Wise, a luxury CBD and wellness brand, soft-launched at the end of 2020 — with a full rollout in mid-2021. Nearly a year after the soft-launch, what lessons are there to be learned in launching a brand new product? How do you test early hypotheses? When is it time to pivot, persevere, or double down? We'll discuss all of these questions, and more!
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The rise of the Outbound Product Manager: Equal Parts Customer Development & Design Partnership
Wednesday, January 26th @ 1:00 PM EST
It used to be the case that a "Product Manager" was… a Product Manager. There was just one type of Product Manager and everybody with that title mostly had the same basic key responsibilities and performed the same basic functions. But things have changed. Today, there are all different types of Product Managers — and recently, we've seen the rise of the Outbound Product Manager.
Good PMs know how to gather customer feedback to help prioritize features on the product roadmap, but there will always be strategic partnerships that require a deeper level of attention and product commitment. This is where the Outbound PM shines. Outbound PMs can build products that satisfy a niche group of customers. But satisfying one niche can benefit your entire customer base. In this discussion with Eric Crane, Co-Founder and CPO at Flatfile, we'll dive deeper into this role to understand what it is, how it's evolving, and why it may be important for organizations to take note. Plus, there will be plenty of time to answer questions you have as well!
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Senior Product Manager Home Depot, Anywhere
Product Manager Home Depot, Anywhere
Associate Product Manager Home Depot, Anywhere
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Product Collective Referral Program
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The Product Collective community is growing every day, now with over 31,000 members. Are your friends and colleagues enjoying it too? If you have yet to spread the word, perhaps this will help -- you can now win prizes (see below) based on how many people you refer.
Your referral link is now active. Simply forward this email to as many people as possible and have them use the button below to subscribe.
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WHAT TO TELL YOUR FRIENDS:
Product Collective is an initiative to connect software Product Managers from across the world - online and at our INDUSTRY conferences held in Cleveland, New York, Ireland, and virtually several times a year.
Membership is free and you get:
- A newsletter each and every Friday centered around an important product topic, like roadmapping, strategy, and analytics.
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PLUS, as a member, you can also take part in our referral giveaway program.
Our Member Dashboard is coming soon, but you can see some of the cool swag you'll be able to get your hands on here:
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Get forever-free 100% free access (worth $9.99/month) to INDUSTRY On Demand. Enjoy over 100 hours of videos that will help you level-up your Product Management skills.
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10 Referrals
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Put these custom-designed stickers on your laptop and show that you are a creative force of a Product Manager.
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The big one! For the top referrers amongst us, you have the chance to get a FREE ticket to INDUSTRY (valued at up to $1,000). Whether you join us in Cleveland, New York, or Ireland, your ticket will be waiting for you.
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