How to be a good (product) manager
- 1. How to be a good (Product) Manager Ugo Bataillard - 2019-02-28
- 2. Who am i?
- 3. Ugo Bataillard ● French citizen ● Software engineer by training ● 10 years in Japan ● Have only worked in Japan ● 4 companies (FR, JP, US, JP) ● Researcher -> Technical Manager -> Product Manager -> CTO/CPO @ Shippio
- 5. Research cycle Ideation Planning/partnership Prototyping Funding 60 projects300 projects3,700 researchers 1 year
- 6. Projects Turbo button “Boost your data speed only when you need it” Tap’n’go “Get a movie in less than 5s”
- 10. By plane
- 11. By ship
- 12. And trucks!
- 13. All over the world
- 14. We are only orchestrating
- 15. We don’t own any planes or ships
- 16. It’s actually harder than Japan post @+ + =
- 17. SaaS to the rescue!
- 18. Integrates!
- 19. Can we start now?
- 21. Have a well defined framework
- 22. Why have a well defined framework? ● Less overhead of micro management ● Communication standardized and timeboxed ● Progress/Failure easily observable ● Easier onboarding of new recruits ● Commit time for process improvement
- 23. How to have a well defined framework? ● Be knowledgeable on the standards ○ SCRUM ○ Kanban ○ Waterfall ● They never fit ● Make your own!
- 24. My experience ● Certified SCRUM Master and PO ● With small teams start with the minimum ○ Backlog, Sprint Planning, Demo and RETROSPECTIVE ● Introduce new elements when needed ● Borrowed Kanban capacity ● Use retrospective like questions for one on one
- 26. Why understand your team? ● Optimize your team performance ● Find the right motivators ● Anticipate problems ● Adapt roadmap ● Hire better
- 27. How to understand your team? ● Be involved in the life of the team ● Participate in conversations ● Prove area of expertise ● Always be observing
- 28. My experience ● People clusters happen easily ● Projected image is as important as reality ● Bilingual meetings are hard
- 29. Know your people
- 30. Why know your people? ● Optimize role for happiness and efficiency ● Solve problems better and faster ● Help them grow ● Minimize churn
- 31. How to know your people? ● Poll information don’t wait for push ● “Hey, how are you doing?”, “How is that thing going?” ● Structured one on ones ○ Plan for long term ○ Look at the past ○ Adjust short term to progress toward long term ● Be genuinely interested in people
- 32. My experience ● Saved many hours of people being stuck by poking them ● Solved a lot of intra team problems ● Helped people by knowing issues outside of work ● Discovered desire of several members to be more involved in conception process ● People enjoy one on ones
- 33. Be a leader
- 34. Why be a leader? ● Inspiration is the best fuel ● You can ask more from them ● Less time arguing ● Your team will have your back when you need it
- 35. ● “Extreme ownership”: any failure of the team is your failure ● Protect your team from stakeholders ● Have their back when they need it ● Be honest even when it hurts How be a leader?
- 36. My experience ● Owning your team failures may seem scary, but it is actually rewarding ● Framework helps protecting team members from stakeholders but is not enough ● Respect comes more easily if you show you can get your hands dirty ● Giving really bad reviews in a constructive way is hard
- 38. Why empower people? ● I’m lazy ● Makes people feel good ● Cheaper to have leaders you groomed than to hire them ● Already integrated the framework
- 39. How to empower people? ● Prepare them for it ● Have a framework ● Clearly communicate it to the team ● Trust your people ● Let them fail ● No need for titles
- 40. My experience ● Organization authority: SCRUM Master ● Technical authority: senior developer ● Tech marketing ● GV Design sprint ● Team members can become PO of an epic
- 41. Thank you