[2] Communication is paramount

In a nutshell, the product manager role is to bridge the gap between Engineering, Business & Design people, which proves that Communication is paramount in PM, in fact a much needed skill anyone should possess.

This soft skill is not only for the Product Managers, this is the skill everyone should master. I'm sure that you should have been in negative instances where the root cause is miscommunication.

Therefore, we should constantly build our communication skill! 🗣

What? Who? When? Where do the product people communicate?

1. Communicating vision 🎯
2. Communicating product status 📈
3. Communicating product roadmap 🚧 🏴󠁭󠁥󠀰󠀷󠁿🚧📌
4. Communicating design (Business to Engineering & vice versa) 📱
5. Communicating user's pain points 😞
6. Communicating success ✌️

and the list goes on...

I've watched many YouTube videos, read articles on 'A Day in PM life' and almost everyone mentions the word 'Communication'. Here is a sample video you should watch.

With stakeholders:

• One of the primary goals of any PM is to ship the right product at the right time. To attain this the product vision needs to be communicated constantly. Have positive attitude & always compliment others.
• To achieve this, the team (Internal) should understand clearly. Without getting it right, it is impossible to build it right. 
• PM works with engineers, designers, market people, sales people, users etc. Hence, translating information from one to another requires thoughtfulness, different communicating styles, empathy.
• Make sure to keep the birds' eye view of the product on top of the mind.
• We should always let the data talk i.e. back up our decisions by analyzed data.

Let us put ourselves in different scenarios and reflect on how did we communicate effectively. Also think how our mentor / senior / leader / boss would have tackled the same scenario. This activity would help us to build the soft skill!

It is not only about talking, in fact, more than that. See this simple diagram which depicts different channels of communication:

There is a famous saying: "Killer product managers know how to influence without authority". To influence, we are using communication as an effective strategy.

Key takeaways from the book "How to win friends and influence people":

• Don't criticize, condemn, or complain
• Give honest and sincere appreciation
• Smile
• Remember that a person's name is, to that person, the sweetest and most important sound in any language
• Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves
• Talk in terms of the other person's interest
• If you're wrong, admit it quickly and emphatically
• Begin in a friendly way
• Let the other person do a great deal of the talking
• Let the other person feel the idea is his or hers
• Dramatize your ideas
• Talk about your own mistakes before criticizing the other person

Of course, there are much more in the book. But the secret sauce here is all these points involves some form of communication. 💡

Bye for now! See you in the next one! ✌

References:

https://www.sachinrekhi.com/mastering-effective-communication-as-a-product-manager#:~:text=Product%20managers%20spend%20much%20of,communicating%20errors%20in%20the%20product

https://miro.com/blog/communication-product-managers-product-school/

https://www.invisionapp.com/inside-design/product-management-communication/