Tackling Common Product Management Challenges

Identifying typical problems faced by PMs and offering practical solutions

In my 4.5 years as a product manager and as someone who mentors junior and transitioning PMs, I’ve noticed some recurring problems. I’m writing to share what has worked for me [and others] in overcoming these common issues.

From getting everyone on the same page, to handling sudden changes, working with limited resources while keeping team morale high — there’s a lot to manage as a PM.

I’d be listing some of the common problems below and stating the solutions. I hope you find these tips useful in your work.

1. Getting everyone on the same page

This is also known as stakeholder alignment, which is a subset of stakeholder management. On many teams, it’s hard to get everyone to agree on the same goals and priorities for one reason or the other. Sometimes it’s not even a disagreement, it is just a misalignment because of little to no communication end-to-end.

Solution:

• Communicate, communicate, communicate! In groups, and also privately as the case may be. Any private discussion should be shared publicly if decisions are made. All relevant stakeholders should be involved early on and carried along. Listen to their input and address their concerns so they feel part of the process. Some of us have made the mistake of bringing them in too late and it causes some form of conflict and a lot of back and forth, depending on how far the project has gone.

Please communicate in the way that works best for your stakeholders, you know that most of them will not read your 22-page PRD, so stop making 22-page PRDs. Except you just like to write and don’t mind if it’ll be used or not.

Designers, Engineers, UX Researchers, Customer support reps, etc. are all relevant stakeholders. Not just your Manager or CEO. 🙄

• Regularly update everyone on the product’s goals, progress, and any changes. Use meetings, reports, teamwork tools, etc. to keep them in the loop. In many cases, you have to do this “update/progress” communication publicly and not just in private DMs. (If you know, you know. Just take the advice 😭)

Tip: Not everyone likes to read a long document that entails all the updates you want to communicate. Adapt according to what your team prefers.

2. Handling unexpected changes

This can also be known as scope creep. New requests and changes can pop up out of nowhere, making your task or project more complicated and can delay your progress. These new requests can come from internal or external stakeholders and they almost always seem urgent 😒.

Solution:

• Clearly define and document what your tasks are from the start and stick to them as much as possible — specific deliverables and the timelines involved.

This type of documentation helps you make a case if anything comes up suddenly, you can easily show the agreed deliverables documented. Pointing out that the new task was not part of the project at the beginning

(This is great in cases where the stakeholder insists it was all part of the plan from the beginning 🙄)

• Have an internal process for evaluating, prioritizing, and approving new requests. After new changes or requests go through the process and are accepted, make sure everyone understands how the new changes will impact the timeline and resources available. Ensure this is documented and shared with all relevant stakeholders.

Sometimes these “agreements” happen in virtual or physical meetings. I would usually share [publicly] a summary note after the meeting, showing the points agreed and the people involved.

• Keep an eye on the project’s progress and adjust as needed to stay on track. This is especially important if you have a set date for launch or product release that cannot be changed. If things get out of hand, something will have to give — prioritize over and over until it fits right.

3. Managing limited resources

You might not have enough budget, time, or people to get everything done, which can slow down your project. Especially in small-scale startups where one person may be handling 2/3 roles at once while trying to keep up with a very limited timeline.

Solution:

• At the beginning of the project, figure out what resources you need and allocate them properly.
• Focus on delivering the most important features and high-impact tasks first. This way, you deliver the most value even with limited resources. If you have some extra time after completing the critical tasks, then go ahead and work on other things. Make sure everyone knows what’s most important and why.
• Work closely with the cross-functional teams to make the best use of the resources you have. Use everyone’s strengths to fill in any resource gaps. I have had to handle tasks that were not exactly a Product manager’s task so my team could meet a goal.

4. Keeping the team motivated

This one is very tricky, lol, because as a PM you may not always be motivated but you are expected to motivate the team as often as necessary. Working on a product can be very stressful, and it’s important to keep the team’s spirits up in any way you can. Low morale can lead to decreased motivation which in turn leads to decreased team output.

Solution:

• As much as you can, acknowledge and reward team members for their hard work and achievements (to the best of your abilities). Don’t be known as the PM who is always finding a fault or complaining about one thing or the other and never celebrating milestones and successes together.

On a Twitter space 2 years ago, a senior PM who was one of the guest speakers mentioned that he usually buys his engineers drinks and snacks to boost morale 🤣.

Just do what you think can work for you and your team. You can team up with HR to get this done.

• Create and encourage a culture where your team members feel comfortable sharing their concerns and ideas. They should not be afraid that their opinions will be shut down or seen as “useless”. If this is broken within your team, you may want to start by forming relationships with team members first.
• Encourage a healthy work-life balance — advocate [as much as you can] for realistic deadlines for the team and avoid overloading them. While it might be challenging in high-pressure environments or with strict timelines, make a concerted effort to support your team’s well-being.

5. Prioritizating tasks or features

Figuring out which features or tasks to work on first can be tough, especially if there are a lot of pressing tasks coupled with limited resources. It’s easy to get overwhelmed and probably confused about what’s most important. Poor prioritization can lead to a waste of time, missed deadlines, and a product that doesn’t meet the most important needs.

Solution:

• Start by understanding the main goals/objectives of the product/business. Make sure everyone on the team knows what’s most important for the product’s success from the beginning. In some cases it is customer delight or satisfaction to improve brand equity, in other cases, it is revenue because the business must stay afloat.
• Use a simple system or framework to rank tasks by importance. Use any method or framework that works for you and your team. Simple methods like the MoSCoW (Must-have, Should-have, Could-have, Won’t-have) technique or the Eisenhower Matrix are simple and can help you decide what to tackle first.

You can also base your prioritization on data/user feedback (you can do this hand in hand with any simple framework). Your data will show you the most important thing to attack first. It will be easy to identify which features or tasks will have the biggest impact on users and the business.

• Don’t forget market conditions! Your team or product priorities can change as new information comes in from market trends. Be prepared to be flexible and adjust your plans as needed.

I hope this article has given you practical solutions that you can apply in your own team/company. Remember, these problems are part of your PM journey and they are opportunities for growth.

Thanks for reading, see you in the next one! 😉