How To Survive Politics in Product by Rocket Software Sr PM
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Main takeaways: - The Product Management specific political traps you're bound to encounter - Identification and diffusion strategies for political issues - Additional tactics to build stronger relationships
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How To Survive Politics in Product by Rocket Software Sr PM
- 1. www.productschool.com How To Survive Politics in Product by Rocket Software Sr PM
- 2. Join 35,000+Product Managers on Free Resources Discover great job opportunities Job Portal prdct.school/PSJobPortalprdct.school/events-slack
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- 10. Zain Master T O N I G H T ’ S S P E A K E R
- 11. A How To: Survive The Political Minefields In Product Management Zain Master
- 12. AGENDA & FLOW 1. Who Am I? 2. Office Politics 3. Minefields 4. The Silver Bullet 5. Scenario <> Diffusers 6. Relationships Let’s Get Those Drinks!
- 13. Who Am I ? • Product Management :: ~595 weeks (Fortune 500 – Startups) • Education :: B.S.E.E, M.B.A, Pragmatic • Industries :: Telecom, Oil & Gas, Monitoring, Email Marketing, Pets, CRM, Healthcare, Fintech, Video Intelligence, Database Software • Random :: At 16, I performed an appendectomy
- 15. What is it? Workplace politics is the process and behavior in human interactions involving power and authority. It is the use of power and social networking within an organization to achieve changes that benefit the organization or individuals within it. Influence by individuals may serve personal interests without regard to their effect on the organization itself.
- 16. Office Politics “One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.” - Plato
- 18. Reality!
- 19. Office Politics ● It’s Absolutely REAL ● Necessary ● There is an ‘Art’ to it ○ Disadvatageous ○ Advantageous
- 20. The MineFields! ● God Came To Me In A Dream ● The Non-Tech Executive ● MicroManaging Boss ● Vision Overselling ● E tu Brutus
- 22. Our Super Power ● Product Managers possess ‘Influential Power’ ● Influence is: ○ Transparent ○ Respectful ○ Win-Win ○ Mutual Think ‘Persuasion’ ● Manipulation is: ○ One Way Street ○ Disrespectful ○ Subterfuge ○ Dishonest Think ‘Pressure /Coercion’
- 23. God Came To Me In A Dream
- 24. Let’s Talk About The Garage ● The Garage I have is of a finite size: ■ What do I move out? Throw away? ● If you want me to hold these and add more: ■ I need a bigger garage! ● Don’t be surprised if approved: ■ Deliver OR Write 3 letters!
- 25. Solutioner ● Tool that helps all parties involved to come to a solution ● Builds Empathy, Relationships, Support ● Honestly you may come away with new ideas ● Lastly and most importantly communicate the answer you end up coming tohttps://foldingburritos.com/articles/2016/02/22/moving-solutions-problems/
- 26. The Non-Tech Executive conference room Creative Mahira from the Noun Project CEO CFO COO Legal HR CSO CTO CMO
- 27. Go Back To The Future Understand Motivations Review History Shop It Around
- 28. The Denver Post :: Kathleen Winsor-Games
- 30. Killing 2 Stones With 1 Bird https://www.cnbc.com/video/2018/11/07/navy-seal-jocko-willink-how-to-win-under-a-terrible-boss.html
- 33. E tu Brutus
- 34. The Ben Franklin Effect
- 35. Sun Tzu “Appear weak when you are strong, and strong when you are weak.” ― Sun Tzu, The Art of War “Let your plans be dark and impenetrable as night, and when you move, fall like a thunderbolt.” ― Sun Tzu, The Art of War “Build your opponent a golden bridge to retreat across.” ― Sun Tzu, The Art of War
- 36. Relationship Are Key To Your Success 1. Be together for the right reasons 2. Have realistic expectations about you relationships 3. Most important factor in a relationship is not communication, but R.E.S.P.E.C.T 4. Talk openly about everything, especially the stuff that hurts 5. A healthy relationship means two healthy individuals Every successful relationship is successful for the same exact reason - Mark Manson, Quartz Magazine, gathered research from 1500 people who’ve been married 10+ years https://qz.com/884448/every-successful-relationship-is-successful-for-the-same-exact-reasons
- 37. Relationship Are Key To Your Success 6. Give each other space 7. Your relationships will grow and change in unexpected ways, embrace it 8. Get good at fighting 9. Get good at forgiving 10.The little things add up to big things 11.Be practical, and create relationship rules 12.Learn to ride the waves, it’s not going to be smooth sailing all the time 13.….cntd https://qz.com/884448/every-successful-relationship-is-successful-for-the-same-exact-reasons
- 38. Relationship Are Key To Your Success 13.Sex matters… a LOT I’m still trying to figure that one out! https://qz.com/884448/every-successful-relationship-is-successful-for-the-same-exact- Want a copy > Email: zain.master@gmail.com
- 39. www.productschool.com Part-time Product Management, Coding, Data Analytics, Digital Marketing, UX Design, Product Leadership courses and Corporate Training
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- For those of you that do not recognize this game, it’s ‘Minesweeper’. A game released by Microsoft back in the 90’s! The objective was to be calculative, you were supposed clear the path, and not click on a mine kill yourself! Sometimes, the workplace feels exactly like this… make one wrong move, game over!
- So, lets define what Office Politics is… Read definition
- Confession... I really hate this topic…. And its something that I fought for a long time… I was too naive Heard a good quote from someone in the crowd that helped me great > “you can’t really avoid playing politics, you can only choose to play it badly” And this hold true today in the workplace: If you don’t participate in the political game, you risk not having a say in what happens and allowing people with less experience, skill or knowledge to influence the decisions being made around you.
- Here’s what most people think, and I used to as well: I think I have a great Idea to a market problem I’m going to gather all the data, customer testimonials, shop it around with our stakeholders (new product or kill old products) I’ll get the necessary approvals to proceed, launch this awesome product and make / save the company millions of dollars
- And then this happens? You’re blindsided, people that you thought were on your side, now in the moment turn against you … all the hardwork that you put in …the time you spent getting buy-in Customer visits, promises made ALL DOWN THE DRAIN? Then comes the self doubt, the feeling of helplessness, 2 options flash in front of your eyes and you either want to jump out from the window or get even with your peers/ stakeholders that just turned on you! Sorry too real?
- You can run, You can hide, but if you’re in a workplace with more than 2 people, Politics will rear its ugly head It’s necessary … if you want to get shit done And if you’re going to play, be aware of the implications… with great power comes great responsibility!
- While there are many, here the some of the most common ones we;re going to
- Before we dive into some how to’s around those common minefields that you may encounter within product management… let me tell you why after a deep dive into this subject matter and much introspection, at the end of the day it’s all about relationships…. We’ve all heard the phrase Happy Wife, Happy Life… and if you’re married, you know … if you don’t know, pay attention! Now if you increase complexity and also decide to bring in the world a little monster … you’re now getting the full monty A crash course in hardcore politics and life Building Relationship, and maintaining with those that actually like you (most of the time is hard), so image how bloody hard it is with those that barely know you! But if you build the TRUST | EMPATHY | SUPPORT …... That will, and has at least for me, been successful So just keep this in the back of our minds when we go through the the common minefields
- This is the situation where your CEO / C-Level team/ sales folks comes and tell’s you that they just spoke to a customer or that you should focus on something that would be considered a distraction from the planned roadmap. - Examples of this are: We need an native mobile app for our portal (even though no you’ve spoken to has asked for this) Need to go into a new market (Develop derivative product for GenZ ) So, how do you handle this random ask…
- Garage Problem: I only have a 2 car garage that already is storing more than just those 2 cars: There’s the Humvee, there’s the lawnmower, there’s that exotic car you’ve rarely driven So, if you’d like me to fit your new maserati in the garage as well: What do I move out? Throw away thats equivalent in size/ complexity Or if you’d like me to hold on to all of these prized possessions and park your maserati as well, please can I have the resources to build a new garage / shed? Then present them with a plan on how to do this with an ask that’s equivalent to the new addition required (3 developers, $5000 in travel budget) Then deliver, don’t be surprised if approved and reference the 3 letter joke (Blame situation - data, market; Accept responsibility; Lastly write 3 letters) Again reinforcing the silver bullet here… if you have a great relationship with your CEO that is built on that Trust / Empathy, this can be a quick conversation and not a formal exercise.
- Your options are: NO NO, Not Now NO, Not Ever!! IMP: “ No, Not Now ” should not be a substitute for “ NO, Not Ever!!” There’s real innovation in NO, Not Ever! You end it there and then and allow folks to move on, its the worst thing to keep them going and hanging on...worst case, it’ll come back to haunt you
- Here the situation is that you’re requesting approval for your product and overall approval is tied to also some of the non-tech executives: Some of them may be seeing this presentation for the first time Ask you some questions that you feel are really from FAR Left field
- Understand Motivations: Before and in the meeting Are they just detailed oriented and OCD? Do they just like the sound of their own voice? Demonstrate their reason for being there? What are their OKR’s for the year? What were they told to focus on? Review History: Ask you peers, influencers, and those that are close to the decision maker on how decisions have been made thus far What fly’s? What doesn’t? Shop it around: Keep an open mind, ear, and actively listen! You may find out a lot more through these engagements You might also change your mind, I’ve never been led wrong with an open but critical mind This will allow you both to build empathy for each other as well that will go a long way in your relationship Warning > Don’t pander though … if you strongly believe in something and have the data to back it up.. Do so.. Pandering ruins relationships
- Ooo.. this is a good one.. The Micro Manager… If you want to have every hour of your day defined for you and you like to follow orders… this is a great boss to have However, if you want freedom and want to fly your own flag, this one’s a definite challenge
- I call this the killing of two stones with one bird… From a relationship perspective what’s happening here is usually a lack of Trust … in some really bad situations > You’re just dealing with someone who needs a hug and probably tons of therapy! Your Boss doesn’t trust you, just yet.. So there’s hope!! Give them more and the most detail amount of information than they would every ask for Overwhelm with information and activity that you’re involved in with the project Show them that you understand and have a good grasp of things Let them come back to you and tell you they trust you to carry on… trust me, it will happen! At the core of this is to build a relationship with them Have the same relationship with any boss to effectively achieve the goals set out for you https://www.cnbc.com/video/2018/11/07/navy-seal-jocko-willink-how-to-win-under-a-terrible-boss.html Inattentive Boss: Feel that they aren’t paying attention and don’t care about you Firstly, I would say assume positive intent, they might have more than you think on their plate Go do what you were hired to do….. figure out what needs to be done Come up with a plan Then present it to them and ask them to proceed / deny EGOManiac: Run things up the chain of command Massage that ego, make them feel good Have great respect for what they are doing. You’re not there to take credit from them, but instead make them look good Flattery will get you everywhere
- We’re all quite guilty for this one.. And we have to at times sell the moon and stars… and fail to at most times inform our stakeholders and executives that it’s going to come in phases or via MVP’s So you sold it, they bought it Maybe you were even careful enough to tell them that this was going to come in phases They heard what they WANTED to hear, and are now evangelizing it from the rooftops Now with these expectations set, before even one line of code is written, you’re screwed having to meet high expectations
- Reinforce the baby at inception. Phase out the plan when pitching Identify ALL Stakeholder, influencers, and Communicate early and often to Build TRUST One of my colleagues that I know is really suave at relationships and expectation management: He sold the product vision and concept really well… and it was a really ambitious project Post Approval, he created a internal Google site that house all the information about the product Sent weekly reports to all stakeholders including executives Reinforced which phase of the project they were in Provided sprint updates: Successes/ Challenges Timeline Impacts And while most people would stop there, what separated him was that he wound it into hallway conversations with those executive stakeholders Like hey George, that was a really great presentation idea on how to expand the product portfolio.. I know you’ve been really busy, did you see that in the last weekly product update report that the xyz feature really resonated with beta customers along with some additional changes, and that’s going to have an impact on release date. All the details are in there, please let me know if you have any questions. From read receipts, web page statistics, and these engagements, it helped him understand who he needed to build better relationship with and those whom he already had good relationship with and could bank on for support Set this in motion from day one… that way no one can say, I wasn’t informed/ aware of that
- Unfortunately there’s always one. I think HR has a mandate somewhere to hire one on every team, just so that they can be entertained!!! Brutus has many names The rumourmongers The backstabber The brown noser The credit stealer The slacker It almost feels like they wake up early every morning and draw up and agenda of “how do I ruin your day today?”
- Humans can rationalize anything… so use this tool to create some cognitive dissonace in your bully by asking them for a favor….If you’re successful… then this is great as Brutus, with a thinking brain will rationalize this to the n’th degree and come to analysis that they wouldn’t have completed a favor for you … unless they really like you… The biggest weakness / strength of the human condition is that we can and have rationalize ourself into believing anything and everything… from the best intentions to the worst… If this doesnt work, the next steps are.. (next slide)
- This one is based on one of my favorite characters.. Jack Reacher Standard rules of engaging a bully apply here.. Cos at the end of the day this who they are They thrive on that negative attention and try to create it to get their office kill count high At first, don’t engage at all… and neither do anything… as much as you want to … take the higher ground BUT Keep records You want to be prepared Next, engage on a 1:1 Again this is about building that bridge that relationship You both may have inadvertently stepped off on the wrong foot Be practical and create some relationship rules Measure of last resort: Escalate to HR or Your Boss and have them mediate Remember, step 1, keep records, here is where that comes useful It’s hard to argue with facts and a trail There is a trap that you may be walking into here that I just want you to be aware of… If your boss loves Brutus, then skip the boss and escalate to HR This doesnt necessarily mean that after the HR meeting, your life’s going to be oodles better If hostility continues you really have to ask yourself a hard question… Does my boss Value me? Or only Recognize me? And see which ones more important to you The two are mutually exclusive… you could be recognize (pay raise, awarded praise) but not Valued (heard, promoted, etc)... you have to ask yourself which ones more important This may lead you to a hard decision.. If you feel you’re not valued, quit and find a place that will value you
- https://www.pinterest.com/pin/490399846918013286/
- Image attribution: https://ideas.ted.com/how-to-build-closer-relationships/
- Image: https://www.stmvalidation.eu/developers-forum/qa/