I was talking to a colleague from work who is a line manager (I'm associate manager engineering and non-techie) and we were discussing how slow things are for me, because I am used to fire-fighting and high pace work it is weird for me not be able to perform in such way. You know what he said? That for now my job is just to get to know people from the project and take things slow, because things are different here and that might actually be a good thing. Not sure how I feel about this new set up and how it will impact my overall motivation.. so much to think about! Perhaps, I need to work on my own mindset too :)
@@KasiaZ interesting! That actually sounds like a really nice situation to be in 😊 I wish I had more time to do that, but right now firefighting and doing lots and lots of things at once are more my work day. But love how you said it’s a mindset thing. Totally agree. And ‘busy’ is not always ‘productive’ or good :)
@@katharinaalf you are so right on the busy part! I feel like I spent most of my time fixing problems others created and lesson learnt was that nothing will change lol :D
As a software engineer, the very best product managers I've worked with are excellent at describing. They can describe the problem, expectations from share-holders, the acceptance criteria but they NEVER describe solutions.
I love that! Thanks for sharing! And it's true, I definitely felt that when I was working with engineers and would be able to describe something well, whether it's outcomes or visions, or the problem, they were much more motivated and also appreciative.
What I learned duing the past 9 months: If you're a people pleaser (like me 🤞), you should NOT behave like a pleaser as PM. It is hard to find to fine line between being '' customer-centric'' and '' customer-pleaser ''. My boss reminds me always that we're running a business not a charity organization :')
Just recently was hired as a "PO" at a startup, and you mentioned many situations I'm going through, thanks for the help! As a more "business/marketing" person, the lack of knowledge at programming, tech stuff, really makes me anxious, but this helped a lot!
Thank you for sharing your thoughts, Katharina. It's really helpful to learn how others go about the same challenges you meet at your job. About making your own product decisions - yeah, I guess it really takes time to feel more confident. So I am just really enjoying diving deeper into the product architecture and all the technical things which help me make better decisions. We just have to be patient and enjoy the journey. I am wondering are there any resources / books on product management you watch or read right now that you can recommend. I just finished reading "Hooked" by Nir Eyal. It helped me formulate a coupe of hypotheses for my product, so I really liked it. Thanks once again for the cool video.
Thank you so much Polina! I’m so glad this video helped you :) Totally, patience is is key. Aand reminding yourself how far you’ve come already :) In terms of product resources: right now I don’t read a lot of product books and focusing on learning by doing. But sometimes I pick out specific resources/articles based on the problems and things I need help with at the time. What really helped me in the beginning though were the free resources on productschool.com - they have some eBooks on various topics which are really helpful. And a classic is the book ‘inspired’ by Marty Kagan.
@@katharinaalf Thank you, Katharina! "Inspired" was one of the first books I read about product management and it's definitely one of the most inspiring and motivational ones. I also follow Product School and started watching CS50 videos some time ago. CS50 is great for those who don't have technical background to better understand how machines work. Helped me a lot!
What's something you learned recently in your role which everyone should know? :)
I was talking to a colleague from work who is a line manager (I'm associate manager engineering and non-techie) and we were discussing how slow things are for me, because I am used to fire-fighting and high pace work it is weird for me not be able to perform in such way. You know what he said? That for now my job is just to get to know people from the project and take things slow, because things are different here and that might actually be a good thing. Not sure how I feel about this new set up and how it will impact my overall motivation.. so much to think about! Perhaps, I need to work on my own mindset too :)
@@KasiaZ interesting! That actually sounds like a really nice situation to be in 😊 I wish I had more time to do that, but right now firefighting and doing lots and lots of things at once are more my work day.
But love how you said it’s a mindset thing. Totally agree. And ‘busy’ is not always ‘productive’ or good :)
@@katharinaalf you are so right on the busy part! I feel like I spent most of my time fixing problems others created and lesson learnt was that nothing will change lol :D
Thank you for making this video, it's really helpful!
As a software engineer, the very best product managers I've worked with are excellent at describing.
They can describe the problem, expectations from share-holders, the acceptance criteria but they NEVER describe solutions.
I love that! Thanks for sharing! And it's true, I definitely felt that when I was working with engineers and would be able to describe something well, whether it's outcomes or visions, or the problem, they were much more motivated and also appreciative.
What I learned duing the past 9 months: If you're a people pleaser (like me 🤞), you should NOT behave like a pleaser as PM. It is hard to find to fine line between being '' customer-centric'' and '' customer-pleaser ''.
My boss reminds me always that we're running a business not a charity organization :')
This! Best advice. Can definitely relate to that as well:)
Just recently was hired as a "PO" at a startup, and you mentioned many situations I'm going through, thanks for the help! As a more "business/marketing" person, the lack of knowledge at programming, tech stuff, really makes me anxious, but this helped a lot!
I’m glad to hear this! Yes, can totally relate, but it gets easier 😊
Nice Video Katharina, keep doing the same.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts, Katharina. It's really helpful to learn how others go about the same challenges you meet at your job. About making your own product decisions - yeah, I guess it really takes time to feel more confident. So I am just really enjoying diving deeper into the product architecture and all the technical things which help me make better decisions. We just have to be patient and enjoy the journey.
I am wondering are there any resources / books on product management you watch or read right now that you can recommend. I just finished reading "Hooked" by Nir Eyal. It helped me formulate a coupe of hypotheses for my product, so I really liked it.
Thanks once again for the cool video.
Thank you so much Polina! I’m so glad this video helped you :) Totally, patience is is key. Aand reminding yourself how far you’ve come already :)
In terms of product resources: right now I don’t read a lot of product books and focusing on learning by doing. But sometimes I pick out specific resources/articles based on the problems and things I need help with at the time.
What really helped me in the beginning though were the free resources on productschool.com - they have some eBooks on various topics which are really helpful. And a classic is the book ‘inspired’ by Marty Kagan.
@@katharinaalf Thank you, Katharina! "Inspired" was one of the first books I read about product management and it's definitely one of the most inspiring and motivational ones. I also follow Product School and started watching CS50 videos some time ago. CS50 is great for those who don't have technical background to better understand how machines work. Helped me a lot!