The key to being an effective Product Manager
Product Managers are people of many talents 💪.
However, to be an effective product manager that gets things done and that earns the respect of his or her team and stakeholders, there needs to be a focus on delivering results ✔️. In a world of many open projects, open threats, open queries, thousands of emails, and a communicator that looks like a beehive, it is easy just to work and not finish stuff.
Rather than letting your head explode from too many things that need your attention, let me give you some advice on how to get things done in this world of product management chaos:
🕐 Start the day planning what you want to deliver by the end of the day and perhaps a week.
📩 Look at your emails and communicators only at the fixed points of time. Try not to have those open at all times to be subjected to constant potential distraction.
📜 Try to keep A to-do list perhaps in Trello so that you can rank what you need to do and assign time accordingly.
📌 In this list make sure to identify the top three or top five tasks that will always take priority over anything else. This way you can always notice progress on things that you believe actually and really matter at the given time.
⛔️ It’s OK to say no or to say that he will look into something later
☎️ If possible, keep the phone away from you. it will really help your focus.
📋 When coming into any meeting come with a goal that you want to achieve with the meeting. End the meeting with action points that have a designated owner and a deadline.
🔍 Though you are not and should not act as a project manager, it doesn’t hurt to ask the status of things that are really important to you from external parties and even your own team. Try not to do it in an angry boss way, but as someone who is invested and would like to be informed.
📞 Make sure that the book time to communicate about the progress of the most important items and projects you’re leading. This way even if things drag along the stakeholders will be less likely to be impatient and frustrated because they will understand the status. they might even offer to help if they know a way to help you.
📈 Finally, and this may surprise you, value work efficiency over the number of hours that you commit to working. When rested, relaxed, and focused you may complete more things in four hours than you would in 10 when you’re frustrated and tired.
I hope that some of those tips are new for you and you can start your next week inspired and ready to get things done more effectively. Do you know any other advice that’s worth sharing to reach that goal? I’d be happy to hear your input in the comment section.
