Navigating Pressure as a New PM and Enhancing Writing Skills

By Leslie Cook
Posted on December 27, 2023

Welcome to our Product Newsletter, a biweekly email highlighting top discussions, and learning resources for product managers.

What We Will Cover In This Edition:-

Top Discussions:

1) As a newbie PM how did you handle pressure?

2) How can I strengthen my writing abilities?

3) How do you get information from interviews for usability tests?

Top Learning Resources:

1. 4 skills you can learn to be a better PM

2. 5 types of PMs in high demand right now

3. A framework for product strategy

__________________________

Top Discussions

Question 1) As a newbie PM how did you handle pressure?

Fear has nearly immobilized me due to my lack of faith in engineering, responsibility, and workload. I can only manage my attitude; I have no influence over other people. However, being a PM has so far caused me more concern than I had anticipated, especially as I’m expanding my family. My manager and the former product manager share my misplaced confidence in engineering.

The alpha engineer is a grouchy, nasty person who takes advantage of the fact that he has the most legacy knowledge by providing mediocre responses or griping when you ask appropriate follow-up questions. Even the new scrum master was surprised by the way they spoke to me. Their manager is too frail to offer his players clear-cut instructions.

The tech lead, who is a peer of the grumpy engineer and who reports to the same manager, is viewed as a dubious hire since he lacks self-confidence, submits to the grumpy engineer on a regular basis, and makes excuses for him. The rest of the team is made up of contractors from abroad, and when I asked the tech lead a question, the grumpy guy responded, “We are saying the same thing over and over again.” It turned out that the contractors have problems with the tech lead as well because they find him to be very unyielding and closed to their suggestions.

When I mention accountability, I’m referring to myself.

– Jesus Rojas

Discussion

A] One bit of advice from a seasoned PM with four children: Always make sure you prioritize your family, relationships, and self-care, regardless of how much pressure you feel from work. Although there are many jobs available, there is often just one family. Find a new workplace as soon as possible if you are employed by a company that does not offer an emotionally secure workplace. Life is far too short.

– Richardson Eva

B] This is the finest piece of advice.

I recently heard a senior architect say, “You’re juggling two balls with work and family. One of them, though, is made of glass.

Welcome to the community @DavidMercy. Hope you like hanging around here. Your two cents are really worth following. Very good and thanks. Keep it up.

– Amy Walker

C] Hello everyone. I’m new to this community, and am loving it so far as I surf through the pages of resources and community.

@Richardson Eva, Find a new workplace as soon as possible if you are employed by a company that does not offer an emotionally secure workplace. Life is far too short.

That’s the way @JesusRojas. Here’s my two cents.

Persistent stress may harm your health and strain your relationships with family and friends. It will be difficult or impossible to get any of things back if you lose them. I have three children and work as a development manager. A healthy you can take better care of the family and work better. Sleep, eat well, and exercise. I would rank putting on your own oxygen mask first as the top priority, with the exception of the pregnancy time.

Restricted organization and limits on labor, both in terms of hours and mental capacity. Be mentally and physically present for your family.

Make a priority list for work, talk with your management about it, and specify what has to wait. Communicate your concerns to the engineer. Management is responsible for resolving any potential capacity or overcommitment issues.

The level of trust between the PO and the technical team members has a significant impact on both the team’s performance and the workplace culture.

To be completely honest, after reading your description, I would update my resume and begin looking. Accept the situation as it is and let it go while doing the best you can if you are unable to move on for any reason.

– David Mercy

__________________________

Question 2) How can I strengthen my writing skills?

I’m striving to write better, as the title indicates. I frequently have to write PRDs, guidelines, 1-pagers, roadmaps, etc. in my role as a product manager. I’ve found that I’m pretty excellent at coming up with ideas, explaining to engineers and stakeholders what it is we need to develop, and even though I know it’s not our job, I would consider myself a decent project manager. Having stated that, I find it difficult to express my ideas in writing in PRDs and other documents. I find it dull in part, but I also don’t know where to begin. My coworkers write these incredibly extensive documents, but to me, it’s just filler. Additionally, I’ve been working to organize the process, and Lenny’s Newsletter has some useful templates.

Even though I’m doing this, I still feel that a lot of it isn’t as beneficial as having a call where I can clarify my points and respond to inquiries. In any case, I’d appreciate advice or even some suggestions to help me rethink my perspective and become a better writer of PRDs, roadmaps, and other documents because I know that’s what we need to accomplish our jobs. I’d be keen to hear any suggestions, if anyone has any.

– Risa Butler

Discussion

A] I spent a lot of time teaching college-level writing. Writing effectively is very difficult, and many people struggle with it. Although practice will assist, I’m pleased to share some tips that I’ve learned along the way.

Before writing, first create a mental outline. When it comes to actually put pen to paper, I usually draft a basic outline of what I want to say and in what sequence.

Second, consider the many levels of organization in your writing. A written item is made up of paragraphs, which contain phrases, which contain words. Assessing at each of these three “levels” is necessary for good writing. Take into account how the sentences you use to construct paragraphs of thought-out sentences. Consider how each paragraph relates to the others. Think about the finest word combinations to convey your concept.

Third, edit your work. Always consider whether you might get your point through in fewer words. Read what you have written aloud. While reading aloud, are there any sentences or paragraphs that tangle your tongue? Focus on those passages and make any necessary clarifications.

It’s a great objective to improve your writing! These pointers should be helpful, I hope.

– Luis Nielson

B] I like the idea of outlining thoughts first. Physical whiteboards work the best for me for some reason.

This is the boring but effective advice that I always start with. Especially the first point about outlining.

This was hammered into us in both high school (we were even graded on the outlines) and college. I’m surprised by the number of people who not only don’t do it but were never taught to.

If anyone wants a book, I recommend On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction by William Zinsser.

– Christie Dook

C] A few concepts on the importance of written documents:

People process information differently; some prefer textual communication while others prefer verbal communication (you seem to be one). Hence, you are here serving various customer segments.
Written papers, in addition to spoken communication, lessen the possibility of misunderstandings. Additionally, they generate alignment and transparency among stakeholders in ways that (bilateral) communication does not (record function).
Written materials may be used as a guide for post-launch examination (i.e. you mapped your assumptions on how to create value before launch, then refer back to whether these assumptions were validated or not).

With regard to practicing:

You can seek stakeholders for comments on your documentation in addition to building a clear picture of what great looks like (via online research, etc.) and iterating from there (view your docs as a “product” itself).

– Anushka Garg

__________________________

Question 3) How do you get information from interviews for usability tests?

Building the MVP for a B2B SaaS product while handling only 6–8 interviews. My manager suggested that I record them so I could learn from them. This is helpful for valuable insights but requires a lot of work. unable to use a tool since they spoke in their native language.

Curious to know how do others do it?

– Natalie Smith

Discussion

A] Here is my (very broad) approach, which assumes that your usability evaluations involve asking users to complete specified activities rather than doing a “free form” study.

I make a matrix for each participant with the following tasks listed in columns and rows:

Could one accomplish the task? (Objective yes or no)
Soundbites: direct quotes from the participant that are objective and word for word
Observations: Your unbiased notes on what you observed (they don’t have to be comprehensive; just include anything that stands out as significant).
Your own subjective notes about what transpired and why the person encountered difficulty (I like to push myself for more than one hypothesis rather than narrowing down)
Ideas: Any suggestions for specific adjustments that could solve issues if the person reattempted the assignment (and tie back to hypotheses)
If nothing leaps out for some people, there might be blank cells, and that’s okay.

Then combine this data for all participants and concentrate on areas with a high degree of similarity.

People who take a more general approach to insights often introduce a lot of their own bias into their observations. I prefer to take a very structured approach and purposefully separate out objective, subjective, and ideas-for-changes.

– Dhiraj Mehta

B] You watch each interview ten times if you have six or eight.

Don’t listen to what they say about the instrument; instead, observe their facial expressions and body language. These specifics are lost in transcription.

Users frequently tell lies. You must research the reasons behind particular comments they make in order to understand why they do this. It is very hard to go back in time and do this.

The ideal strategy is to read The Mom Test, then revisit and conduct further interviews. I believe a good quantity is between 20 and 30.

– Karan Trivedi

C] Hello Natalie,

There are both short-term and long-term strategies for interviews. You are correct, though, because conducting, transcribing, and regurgitating interviews takes time. Sadly, it is exactly the way that particular beast is.

You are creating a body of evidence for patterns and analysis, just like any other data point. Therefore, you need to be aware that your B2B product workflow would involve conducting more than one round of 6–8 interviews. It’s more likely that you’ll perform three sets of eight repetitions during the start, middle, and end of a large release.

Create an input matrix for the critical intersections in your product workflow. As a result, the rows would be the user list and the columns would be observation instances. Use the same table inputs as much as possible to establish a benchmark for your progress over time.

All the best !

– Maire Hamilton

__________________________

Top Learning Resources

4 skills you can learn to be a better PM

One of the things that I have loved the most about being a Product Manager is that you are involved in the end-to-end process of product making. Especially because throughout the process you get to interact with people from across all disciplines to be able to build the product, from the engineering team about design options, to the law department of the company to evaluate the risk of a feature.

5 types of PMs in high demand right now

Product Managers can come in many forms, ranging from Generalist PMs to Growth PMs to Technical PMs and even Platform PMs. Different companies seem to require PMs with slightly different skills and expertise.

A framework for product strategy

The vision seats at the top (or at the bottom if you want to think about it in terms of a pyramid) and defines everything that your organization will do in the long term. It articulates a view of the world in which your organization had a significant impact. It is a powerful motivator for your organization — the why everyone rallies with.

__________________________

If you enjoyed this newsletter, please consider sharing it with a friend by asking them to sign up here.

Who’s Prowess? We are optimist product managers, engineers, and educators working on creating a world where merit meets opportunity. On Prowess, aspiring and experienced product managers showcase skills, learn from the community, and connect with employers to advance their careers.

How can you grow with Prowess?