7 Questions for a Product Lead
Dan Tolster | Product Lead at Purplebricks
Half way through our 7 Questions series, our Product Lead, Dan, dives deeper into what his week looks like, challenges and myths around his role, and of course, that all important 7th question…
1. It’s Monday morning, what’s the first thing you do?
Because of the nature of my role, I’m involved in lots of different things at various levels. So, first thing on a Monday I like to spend some time reflecting on the week ahead — looking at what’s in my diary and thinking about what is coming up. I have a to-do list that covers everything on my radar over the course of the current month and quarter, and to help me focus I start each Monday by writing a list of what I want to achieve that week. I try to keep the list prioritised, and I always think about three key things that I want to say I have achieved by Friday.
2. Your role is a varied one. What would you say is the one thing you do most frequently?
Talk to people! Almost every aspect of my role relies on communication — be that with my team, my peers in Digital, or my stakeholders. Product is a discipline that only works when you effectively collaborate with the other experts around you, and so the phrase I use most often is probably ‘have you got 5 minutes for a chat?’.
3. If you could dispel the most common misconception about your role, what would it be?
That any problem can be immediately solved with a digital intervention! The reality is that almost every problem will have multiple possible solutions, and sometimes a change elsewhere (to an operational process for example), may be the way to truly solve the issue. Digital is often seen as the quickest route to a fix, which means that sometimes we might be putting a sticking plaster on something. This can result in an issue rearing its head again in the future if we’ve not really got to the root of the issue. The true art of Product is helping guide our stakeholders through this thought process!
4. What do you think the biggest challenge is of your role?
The constant change — although I would say that is also the thing I love most about it. I often need to react to the unexpected — you can’t always predict what the next customer or business problem will be, and priorities can often change based on when something new comes to light that needs sorting. Moving with that constant change can be hard, especially in a role like mine that relies upon planning and clarity. But it’s also the thing I love! I’m certainly never bored.
5. What was your biggest learning of 2020?
I think my biggest learning has been about adapting to new ways of doing things and still achieving the right outcomes. As with many people, working 100% remotely threw up lots of challenges and meant having to question all of my well-established practices — even down to something as simple as running an effective planning session when the team can’t all stand around a whiteboard. Overall, although it hasn’t been easy, 2020 has taught me that there is always a way to achieve what you need to achieve, sometimes you just have to be creative about how you get there.
6. It’s Friday evening, what’s the last thing you do?
It’s not always the absolute last thing I do, but my final meeting of the week is with my fellow Leads in Product & Design — our Design Lead, Bhups, and Monica, our Product & Design Ops Manager. We always get together at the close of the week to fill each other in on anything new that’s come up, and chat about what we need to carry forward into the following week. It’s a really good way for us to all keep on the same page, but perhaps more importantly, it helps us decompress after a busy week.
7. And finally, your favourite food?
Does gin count as food?
