Product Manager, become the advocate for product quality!

Does your team believe you don’t care about the product’s quality? Here are 7 ways to prove them wrong:

Before I start, let’s face it: Often, the Product Manager will primarily serve the company and the business, not the users as it is often portrayed. The PM can either accept it or fight for the principles and inevitably lose one’s job. Given that the former is far more likely, the business focus on short-term results may put you at odds with your dev team, which pursues tech excellence, and complete releases, and will often stand up for the users.

As much, as you’d like to side with them, your duty makes you push them outside those principles. However, to maintain their morale, the high quality of whatever is going out, and protect your mutual relationship, you need to face this no-win scenario.

Here’s how to do it:

1) Address the concerns before they arise — let them know you are between a rock and a hard place. It’s not who you care not for quality, but the circumstances that push you to that stance.

2) Be transparent about your reasoning — perhaps there is a valid business/strategic reason to do what you must do. Fill the team in, they are smart fellows, and they’ll understand.