Product Manager: get out of the building now!
“Get out of the building!” — I can’t remember how many times I’ve been told this since I started entering the product management world.
I don’t know exactly why, but I admit I have a huge ability to postpone important things while I focus on urgent things…and this is one of the things I have postponed for a long time.
After taking a training course which main motto was N.I.H.I.T.O. (nothing important happens in the office), I asked myself “what’s keeping you from starting to contact people?”. In my case, having an engineering background have been good for many things in my transition to product management…but definitely not for contacting and talking to people. Maybe that is why I was somehow scared and it prevented me from sending emails and making phone calls to my users.
What’s your value proposition?
At the end, what made me move was the following question: “what’s your value proposition as a product manager?”
I have been thinking lately a lot about what is the value I bring to the different departments in my company, and in my opinion, that is the knowledge of the user.
I have read in several places how the PM has to be the voice of the customer, the voice of the market, the person who has to make the user voice be heard on every meeting, every task that is done inside your company. Agree.
But to achieve that…first you need to know your users! And how will you get that knowledge if you don’t talk to them?
My conclusion after a bunch of market visits lately and a couple user tests of features and products we are working on is that EVERY TIME I am in front of a user, I discover something jaw-opening regarding human behavior and customer needs.
[Read more: 8 tips for becoming a market visits ninja]
Your assignment for TODAY: send 10 emails (or make 10 phone calls, whatever you prefer) to users or customers and schedule meetings with them. Then, shut up and listen.
Stop letting urgent stuff keeping you away from the important things!
Best,
Juan Fernández
