Sanjay Gupta 12/5/18 1
www.productschool.com
How to Over-Communicate as an Art
Form by TripAdvisor Sr. PM

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Pieter Van
Noordennen
TONIGHT’S SPEAKER

Today’s Agenda: The Art of Over-Communication
● About Me
● About TripAdvisor
● About My Job At TripAdvisor
● What Is “Over” Communication?
● Why Is This an “Art”?
● How Do We Over-Communicate at TripAdvisor?
● What are some tactics for over-communicating myself?
○ Own the RACI
○ Send the Update Emaill
○ Present Honestly

About Me
2001-2008
Journalist
● Newspapers
● Outside magazine
● Skiing magazine
● Money magazine
● Various outdoor,
travel, and business
publications
Pre-2001
College Student / Breakfast Cook
● Grew up in CT
● George Washington
University, Washington DC
● Line cook, Black Dog,
Martha’s Vineyard, MA
● Line cook, Great Divide
Lodge, Breckenridge, CO
2009 - Present
Product Manager
● Orbitz / Away.com
● Globe Pequot Press /
Rowman & Littlefield
● MIT Sloan EMBA 2016
● TripAdvisor

11
About TripAdvisor
● World’s largest travel website
● 455 million unique visitors per month
● 660 million reviews (and counting)
● 7.7 million accommodations,
attractions, and restaurants on-site
● 49 markets worldwide
2001: founded above a pizza shop in Newton 2015: moved into 282,000 sq ft
LEED-certified HQ in Needham in
Needham

What Do I Do at TripAdvisor?

The Art of Over-
Communication

Our vision of a
Product Manager
UX
Tech &
Data
Business
Strategy
COMMUNICATION
PROBLEM SOLVING
PM

You
Eng
How we imagine communication

You
Another
PM
Eng
How we imagine communication

You
Another
PM
Eng
DIR DIR
VP VP
How we imagine communication

How communication actually happens
You
Another
PM
Eng
DIR DIR
VP VP

How communication actually happens
You
Another
PM
Eng
DIR DIR
VP VP
Another
Eng

How communication actually happens
You
Another
PM
Eng
DIR DIR
VP VP
Another
Eng

How communication actually happens
You
Another
PM
Eng
DIR DIR
VP VP
Another
Eng

How communication actually happens
You
Another
PM
Eng
DIR DIR
VP VP
Another
Eng

How communication actually happens
You
Another
PM
Eng
DIR DIR
VP VP
Another
Eng

What Went Wrong?

Over-Communication: A Working Definition
● Taking ownership of ensuring alignment by identifying key
stakeholders; making them aware of the decisions being made in the
product development process; and preventing re-work, surprises, and
chaos.
● Pushing yourself to go above and beyond normal or sufficient
communication norms and fighting our internal tendency to assume
everyone has the same level of information we do, and that our version
is the correct one.
● Tell them. Tell them again. Tell them what you told him.

Over-Communication: A Working Definition
NOT Spam
NOT Grandstanding
NOT Status

Why is Over-Communication an Art Form?
Culture, organization
size, communication
processes, and industry
norms all impact
communication
complexity.
Actual mileage may
vary.
Organization Size
CommunicationComplexity
Chaotic /
Informal
Organized /
Hierarchical
Linear

Over-Communication
At TripAdvisor

How Do We Do This At TripAdvisor
Transparency as a company value

How Do We Do This At TripAdvisor
spec@ email
Company-wide email / details individual initiatives / “Reply All” from Senior Execs not rare

How Do We Do This At TripAdvisor
Product Review Meeting
Cross Business Unit Meeting : Concepts, Demos, Learnings

How Do We Do This At TripAdvisor
Milestone Meetings
Project basis: Kickoff / Design Review / Feature Review

Simple Tactics for
Over-Communicating
1. Own the RACI
2. Send the Update Email
3. Present Honestly

1. Own the RACI
R - Responsible
A - Accountable
C - Consulted
I - Informed

1. Own the RACI
R - You
A - Your Boss / Your Boss’s Boss
C - Key Stakeholders, those with “Voting Rights”
I - Anyone who wants to stay in the know.

1. Own the RACI
R - You
A - Your Boss / Your Boss’s Boss
C - Key Stakeholders, those with “Voting Rights”
I - Anyone who wants to stay in the know.
Think critically about who
gets into this group.

1. Own the RACI
R - You
A - Your Boss / Your Boss’s Boss
C - Key Stakeholders, those with “Voting Rights”
I - Anyone who wants to stay in the know.
Be open to
anyone in
this group
Pro Tip:
use a
distro list

2. Send the Update Email

2. Send the Update Email
Dear [Key Stakeholders],
TL;DR [One sentence Summary new decisions]. The project is [on track / delayed by
X days].
Based on [catalyst for new decisions being made], we’ve decided on the following:
● Bulleted pointed list of decisions
To achieve this, the following needs to happen:
● Action items @assigned to people with Due Dates

2. Send the Update Email
Hi all,
TL;DR We’re switching to a new icon for sponsored placements. The project is still
on track for the 12.17 launch.
Based on our meeting with design, user research, and legal on Dec 5, we’ve decided
on the following:
● The icon for SPs will now be a gold star instead of diamond in the original
design
● We will test a series of color changes at a later date
To achieve this, the following needs to happen:
● New design comps completed by @Ben by Dec 6
● User testing to be done by @Pieter by Dec 7
● Final comps delivered to engineering by @Pieter by Dec 8

2. Send the Update Email
Status Email Update Email
Theme, Epic, Department Scope Single Project Focus
Regular / Periodic (daily,
weekly)
Frequency
Ad Hoc, as major decisions
are made
In-depth Granularity Just the facts
Broad (the I’s) Audience Targeted (the C’s)
Status Email vs Update Email

3. Present Honestly

3. Present Honestly
I am super nervous right now that this
was the worst Product School
presentation ever and that you are all
just waiting for me to finish so you can
tell me how terrible it was.

Thank You!
Questions?
Twitter: @psvann
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/psvann

Sanjay Gupta 12/5/18 45
www.productschool.com
Part-time Product Management, Coding, Data, Digital
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