Product Management

Three Keys to Better Product Communication

Once you know your stuff, how do you differentiate yourself as a strong product communicator?

Whether you’re a product manager or designer in a large, multinational company or you’re the sole contributor in your startup, communication is a keystone skill for the product discipline. It goes without saying that communication is heavily reliant on your own expertise of the subject matter. But once you know your stuff, how do you differentiate yourself as a strong product communicator?

Here are three keys to improving your product communication:

1. Know Your Audience

“It is said that if you know your enemies and know yourself, you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles.” — Sun Tzu, The Art of War

This famous quote from Sun Tzu is one of my favorites. If you have not read The Art of War, I would highly recommend it. This is not to suggest that your audience is your enemy or that your work is a battle (although both may feel as such at times). Instead, another translation substitutes “enemy” with the word “other” and I would suggest that “battles” can be traded for “communications”. If you know the other (your audience), then you will not have trouble in a hundred communications.

Much like in any professional role, what you say as a product owner is just as important as to whom you say it. In product management and design, your job sits between a number of different internal and external stakeholders. Having exposure to all of these people is important, but it can make communication difficult. Explaining that your product has a bug might need to be stated entirely differently to an engineer versus an executive versus an end user. Remember to cater your message appropriately to your audience.

2. Over-Communicate

As a product manager or a product designer, one of your primary responsibilities is to manage expectations. You own the relationship with all of your stakeholders. Most of the people you interact with won’t come to you seeking information (and if they do, it signals a need for more communication from you). Make sure your audiences know the “who, what, where, when, and why” of your product at all times.

A lesson that I (rather painfully) learned in my career on several occasions is to over-communicate. This falls into the broader theme of communicating early and often. Just because you have delivered information to a stakeholder once does not mean that the message is being absorbed. In fact, if you have not reiterated important information, it is likely that your audience has misinterpreted or forgotten the details. Repeat the information.

3. Master All Forms of Communication

As professionals, we all tend to have strengths and weaknesses. Even if you consider yourself to be an expert communicator today, you are probably stronger in some areas than others. Do you find yourself preferring to schedule meetings to explain things? Or would you rather send a verbose email to offer relevant details? Just as it’s important to remember to whom you are communicating, it is also vital to know the best mechanism to communicate with them.

You might be the best business writer in the world, but think about the last time you received a mini novel in email form. Did you want read the whole thing? Your audience will be more inclined to receive your message if you craft the delivery of the information to be appropriate for the situation and audience. Your product skills will be enhanced if you can become effective at all forms of communication and if you can master when to use each form.

Let’s continue the conversation on Twitter or in the comments. For more on product management, follow Trust the Product on Medium.