Knowing when to escalate a situation
How leads can keep sane and protect their product and business.
I came back from an extended paid time off and simply not knowing my password. After a few days of catching up, I just faced the monster of product management: one more quarter roadmap to be signed off. Before diving into it, we realize we missed lots of context out-of-office to make the right decisions for our product now. The product has changed, the team has changed — your stakeholders are the same.
This is the moment we should take a breath and rethink what your purpose as a product leader is in your career. I took a breath and thought of what would empower me like it used to before the paid time off.
In the past months, I’ve been having more conversations with C-level executives to shadow the way they behave, talk, and mentor — so I can mirror these with mentees. After a 1–1 with a group director, I highlighted these for my current career: a. product strategy, b. people management and c. growth mindset within products. This is the way to go and focus from 9–5.
Alright. Let’s start right there.
Product Strategy
If your strategic and creative solutions are the best your teams could get to and still deliver user value and revenue impact — this is the one to go and get signed off. In case leadership is demanding the reasons why to believe your plan, put an executive presentation together: challenge, solution, trade-off, risk, and next steps. Stick it to 5 slides — guiding questions on escalating product strategy:
- Overall: are business goals, KPIs, and metrics being impacted? Y/N
- Isn’t the solution easily perceived by the users — and major markets? Y/N
- Haven’t we tried to be flexible with the stakeholders? Y/N
People Management
Recently, I also was told my motivation for making a difference, and taking action can be infectious, in the best possible way. For a second, it felt so good — and then it hurt. Because product people face customers, timeline constraints, AB testing failures, competitors landscape, peers get sick.
Not only about how much effort or motivation you put on. If these don’t feel right to you, there’s a red flag to be raised promptly — guiding questions on escalating about people management:
- Are peers often working after hours or complaining? Y/N
- Is there anyone dropping the ball sometimes? Y/N
- Aren’t you aiming to uplift teammates with positivity and friendliness? Y/N
Growth Mindset within products
The truth is we tend to go biased if our dream roadmap is impacted. Simple like this — guiding questions on escalating your growth mindset:
- Are you as a product leader unmotivated and/or concerned? Y/N
- Aren’t you clear on the win-win to put on the table? Y/N
- Don’t teams know what Agile really means for the business? Y/N
During product cycle management, we go biased whenever a top-down decision comes our way. We tend to be biased when our ego is touched.
Last — but not least: solutions should be the output and why you put the motivation and your worth. And: the why behind any escalation.
And in case you’re not sure about all answers above — you’d rather go back to the drawing board. Focus on your strengths. It is okay to feel biased as a product leader, reflect and keep going, girl.
Text by Rhaissa V.
1/2 Nomad, 1/2 attached to Earth. Keeps hacking bias every day. Reading about surfing🏄♀️, product strategy🎯, and effective communication🥇. Partners with Products by Women and Code Like a Girl.
