Notes on Product Management Lecture

Introduction

• Speaker has been a product manager for 8 years in the consumer travel space.
• Initial nervousness has turned into passion for the role.

Role of a Product Manager

• Responsibilities:
  • Ensure the success of the product.
  • Act as a liaison between various internal functions: product design, engineering, marketing, sales.
  • Create narratives to drive business objectives.

Daily Meetings and Activities

• Standup Meetings:

  • First meeting of the day.
  • Team updates on progress and blockers.
  • Helps connect team members towards shared goals.

• Sprint Planning:

  • Occurs every two weeks.
  • Team works on user stories (one change defined by PM, designers, engineers).
  • Break down tasks into smaller user stories for engineers to tackle in the next two weeks.
  • Sprints provide a sense of accomplishment after delivering user benefits.

Cross-Functional Meetings

• Two types of cross-functional meetings:
  1. Project-Specific: Focused on shipping projects.
  2. Leadership Meetings: Ensuring leaders understand timelines and decisions.
• Importance of facilitating communication within the company.

Designer Review Meetings

• Weekly meeting for pixel-level feedback on product designs.
• Discuss button placements, character counts, etc.
• Prepares the team for user interactions before coding starts.

One-on-One Sessions

• Regular check-ins (bi-weekly or weekly) with team members.
• Discuss updates, concerns, and personal well-being.
• Builds trust and morale within the team.

Networking and Industry Trends

• Keeping up with industry trends and user feedback on product usage.
• Importance of staying connected with community and audience.

Concept Review Meetings

• Exciting meetings to pitch new ideas.
• Ideas backed by data and user research.
• Team feedback helps justify project focus.
• Aim to balance user experience with product improvements.

Personal Passion

• Enjoy working on products or features of personal interest.
• Finding joy in aligning personal passion with professional work.

Conclusion

• Speaker hopes to inspire interest in product management as a career path.