Strategies For Purposeful Communication In Product

Stop talking, Start communicating

Earlier this year, I marked my 9th year of sobriety, a milestone that prompts introspection. With each sober anniversary, I take some time to self-reflect and journey inward, assessing my past and envisioning my future. This year, a theme for me was the power and significance of purposeful communication. It brought to mind a quote by Brené Brown, “Clear is kind, Unclear is unkind.” It’s a reminder that while not all great communicators are leaders, every great leader is indeed a great communicator.

Purposeful communication is clear, considered, concise and arms stakeholders with relevant information.

I often liken myself to a ‘chaotic-good’ force. A rebel with a good heart, driven by empathy, righteousness, and an unwavering authenticity. I am, for better or worse, unapologetically me 💁🏼‍♀️. This unique blend of chaos and conscience has been a strength in my career. It has fueled unrestricted creativity, intense passion, resilience, and an undying willingness to fail and rise again. Product development, especially in a startup world, is unpredictable and complex. One needs a bit of chaos to thrive.

For a crash course in alignment charts, here’s my take on where different types of PMs fall within the matrix.

Choose your PM fighter I Audrey Gawrych

Clarity: Chaos Contained

Andrew Grove aptly put it, “let chaos reign, then rein in chaos.” Unchecked, ‘chaos’ can cloud clarity, purpose and especially communication. While chaos can be effective in product management, communication is paramount in product and there’s always room for growth. Even the most distinguished leaders dedicate substantial time to honing a single presentation or pitch. Never underestimate the value of continuous refinement in communication.

Here are some indicators that you can work on your purposeful communication:

• You’re getting feedback that you should up-level your communication. This one seems obvious 😄
• An increase in customer complaints and/or decrease in customer satisfaction. If support teams can’t provide accurate information or solutions, customer satisfaction can decrease
• Rework and misalignment — without clear communication, designs and features might not align with user needs or business objectives.
• You notice a pattern of developers building features that are immediately deprioritized
• You wait to be told what to do — good product managers define their job and their success. Bad product managers constantly want to be told what to do
• Morale is low and frustration is high — lack of clear requirements can lead to frustration as designers might feel they’re working in the dark. Constant changes and ambiguity can demotivate the team
• No Clear Prioritization — If the team is unsure about which features or tasks are more important than others, it indicates a lack of clear communication about priorities

Considered: the Issue With Empathy

Empathy alone does not ensure quality communication.

“The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.” — George Bernard Shaw

Empathy helps us to communicate our ideas in a way that makes sense to others, and it helps us understand others when they communicate with us. It’s an important skill to hone when working in product, but it falls short when only the ‘illusion’ of communication is taking place.

Photo by reddit user ashbartonart

Concise, purposeful communication for PM may look like:

• You have regular feedback loops and you’re capturing feedback (what is the feedback, where is it coming from, who is it coming from). You are tracking and prioritizing as needed. Communication between product teams and sales/marketing provide valuable insights from the market and customers
• You have many ways to ensure everyone understands the product vision. You have a habit of simplifying complex information
• You regularly get 80% of the value out of any feature or project with 20% of the effort. Your thinking isn’t constrained by the resources available to you today or today’s market environment. You describe large disruptive opportunities, develop concrete plans for how to take advantage of them and can get buy-in on your vision
• You accept that some things are not important enough and move on. Other times, you put your foot down and reinforce that something needs to be done
• You identify critical gaps within your product and fill them as needed. For an interesting take on the white space theory refer to this article

Stop Talking, Start Communicating

Talking vs. Communication I @audreygawrych

While “talking” often conveys information, “communicating” ensures that the information is clear, actionable, and purposeful. Communicating is especially vital for a PM who needs to align various teams and stakeholders towards a common goal.

Strategies for Purposeful Communication:

“The most important things to say are those which often I did not think necessary for me to say — because they were too obvious.” ― André Gide.

• Over Communicate: Just because you’ve known something for a long time, doesn’t mean someone else knows it. To you it may be obvious, to others it’s not. Err on the side of over communicating. If Slack is your company’s lifeline, craft detailed messages there. Over-communication in this context is a form of kindness, equipping teams with the tools they need
• Brevity is Key: I know we just talked about over communicating, but be concise. Over communicating does not mean being overly verbose, especially with executives. Lead with crucial information — high-level findings, conclusions, a call to action and, most importantly, your recommendations. Drive discussions with a clear point of view. State the above points clearly and succinctly right at the start, and then, if there is time, move on to supporting data, subtleties, and material that’s peripherally relevant
• Slow Down to Speed Up: I know, another oxymoron, but seriously, take a few minutes and breathe. Allocate moments for reflection to articulate thoughts with clarity. Purposeful communication not only respects the recipient’s time but also ensures alignment, reducing potential misalignments and enhancing efficiency. When you communicate clearly, you leave no room for misinterpretation, which in turn streamlines processes, reduces delays and actually speeds up development
• Do More With Your Data: Data offers clarity and direction when it is communicated with purpose. Equip yourself with data and be attuned to the metrics that influence business outcomes. When presenting data, it’s imperative to establish the objective, identify the target audience, and provide clear insights and actionable steps. This structured approach streamlines decision-making, allowing stakeholders to focus on the essentials