When cross-functional teams are out of alignment on a product build, a game of tug-of-war often results. For a product manager, this kind of misalignment costs precious time and resources during a launch. It requires a special finesse for product managers — who own the product but aren’t formal team leaders — to get everyone pulling in the same direction.
Built In asked product managers from Boston to reveal their secrets of influencing cross-functional teams without official authority. According to these experts, being clear about goals, identifying motivations, providing value, investing in relationships and staying curious are all key to persuasive product management.
EDB, a provider of Postgres software and services, has had a busy year. In 2020, the team grew by 46 percent and significantly expanded its technology portfolio. To successfully unite teammates and launch products, Principal Product Manager Aislinn Wright relies on partnerships built on trust.
What are your key considerations when defining the product vision?
Two main considerations are customer feedback and market research. We are preparing for a product launch later this year and these two considerations are crucial. We conducted research with current customers and other users to help refine our product vision based on what resonated, what did not resonate and what pain points they experienced.
What steps do you take to identify — and understand — the stakeholders you need to influence and then build good working relationships with those individuals?
I spend time understanding their personalities so I can be prepared when meeting with them. It’s important to approach stakeholders as partners, rather than demanding things from them. Setting the tone as a partner who is willing to work together helps build longer-term relationships.
It is important to establish expectations. For example, I have had many stakeholders who think product managers are also project managers. It is important to set boundaries about your role, prioritize your time and make your responsibilities clear.
When it comes to influencing without authority, what's been the most valuable lesson you've learned, and how have you applied that lesson in your work?
Earning trust across teams is critical. It’s important to listen and spend time getting to know people personally so you can build relationships. With a strong foundation of trust, I find it a lot easier to have healthy debates and work through issues together. Influencing without authority does not mean you are better or more powerful, and approaching product management with that attitude will not help you earn trust and succeed.
It’s important to approach stakeholders as partners, rather than demanding things from them.”
For The Predictive Index, a talent optimization platform, alignment is the name of the game. To navigate a recent product launch, Senior Product Manager Laura Morrison emphasized the importance of a clear, but flexible, vision to get the team on the same page.
What are your key considerations when defining the product vision?
Defining a product vision starts with getting crystal clear on who the core user of the product is and what their unmet needs are using the Jobs To Be Done framework.
We just launched a new product that helps teams work together so that they can consistently deliver against their goals. We were eager for data that could help us refine our JTBD. We did competitive research and interviews. We looked at our existing portfolio — digging through software use data, customer service call volume, client sentiment — to understand what was working, what wasn’t and what unexpected use cases we could uncover. Then we launched our product with a plan to learn and iterate along the way. Your product vision is constantly evolving. It’s important to remain curious and willing to be surprised, and to continue to refine the vision.
Even if you have an amazing product vision in your head, it is the storytelling that will allow your vision to be heard, adopted and spread. My favorite software for sharing product vision is Soapbox, which allows you to record, screenshare and adjust until you get the message right.
What steps do you take to identify — and understand — the stakeholders you need to influence and then build good working relationships with those individuals?
When starting a project we use the RACI framework, which identifies people who are responsible, accountable, consulted and informed. We make a list and share it with everyone to get their buy-in. If someone thinks they should be consulted and you think they only need to be informed, you’re setting yourself up for trouble from the start.
Once stakeholders are identified, it’s important to agree on the big picture. Stakeholders get anxious if they don’t think the team understands the “why” and may be tempted to dig into the details of project execution. Build confidence by starting every conversation with a reminder that you understand the business context of your work.
Relationships aren’t built in a day. As someone who is task (vs. people) oriented, I stretch outside my comfort zone to invest in relationships — even if we’re not actively working together. This helps me build empathy for my teammates, increase awareness of the business and gain the community I need to remain engaged.
When it comes to influencing without authority, what's been the most valuable lesson you've learned, and how have you applied that lesson in your work?
I love a good healthy conflict and debate. I am driven — more than anything — by having my ideas heard. As a result, I have learned the hard way that influencing without authority isn’t about being heard in every conversation, but picking your battles and elevating your ideas to the right audience at the right time. Share your ideas with others who have authority, find your allies and see how great ideas spread naturally.
WhiteSource, an open-source security and license compliance management company, kept specific goals top-of-mind for its latest product launch. Rhys Arkins, director of product at the firm, identified stakeholder motivations to keep products on track.
What are your key considerations when defining the product vision?
Influencers always have a goal, and the clearer the goal is, the easier it is to achieve it. A good product vision should be short, clear and focused on the value for customers, not on technology.
We recently launched a product meant for individuals and very small teams of developers. We wanted to provide the fastest time to value and the most streamlined experience on the market. These two factors drove our decision-making. Our vision was broad enough to be flexible, but narrow enough to provide a clear goal that the team could work toward. Finding that line can be difficult, but it's necessary.
What steps do you take to identify — and understand — the stakeholders you need to influence and then build good working relationships with those individuals?
Teams self-organize around multiple leaders — official or otherwise. It's necessary to understand what kind of leadership those members provide so you can guide it, not challenge it. To achieve influence, you must provide value to the team. For example, subject matter experts are often looked to for leadership in technical teams, but may lack the ability to see the bigger picture outside of their expertise. In these cases, influence can be gained by providing the greater context of the product vision with a clear goal that can be achieved by leveraging their talents.
People desire their work to be self-directed, to have a meaningful impact and show what they are capable of. Identifying which of these may be a motivation for a stakeholder — then showing how your leadership will help provide it — is a good starting point for influencing.
When it comes to influencing without authority, what's been the most valuable lesson you've learned, and how have you applied that lesson in your work?
Leading through influence is the art of guiding teams toward goals by aligning expectations, skills and roles. One of the earliest lessons I learned was to always explain the “why” even if you don't think you need to. Saying “we need to do this” is not as effective as “this is what I think we need to accomplish, and here's why.” Explaining the why has several benefits, from driving engagement and reminding the team of the vision, to simply being more polite. The biggest benefit of this approach, however, is that it opens the door to possibly superior alternative paths to achieving the why that may not have been considered.
Another lesson I've learned is that decisiveness is often in short supply on influence-based teams, especially cross-functional teams. To effectively lead through influence, you often have to make a decision and own the consequences, for better or for worse.
