The practice of product management consists of two sets of skills:<ol><li>Technical skills are tools to solve a customer problem: What work is done - product roadmaps, vision statements, OKRs and KPIs, design sprints, product prototypes, testing, MVPs.</li><li>Human skills are about how the work is done - the ability to influence, lead, coach, mentor, learn, handle conflict, communicate, be curious, innovate, adapt, energise, build and maintain relationships, and grow as an individual.</li></ol>A product practitioner needs to balance technical skills with human skills in order to succeed.

Product management skills

The basic dimensions of emotional intelligence: <ul><li>Self-awareness: The ability to understand what we're feeling and the reason for feeling it. Self-awareness is at the centre of intuition and decision-making.</li><li>Self-management: The ability to regulate difficult emotions and connect with positive emotions to energise our work.</li><li>Social awareness: The ability to foster relationships and be aware of others' feelings, needs and concerns.</li><li>Relationship management: Merging self-awareness, self-management, and social awareness to ensure positive and beneficial relationships.</li></ul>

Understanding EQ and human skills

<ol><li>What is the main purpose of the role? Why does the role exist? For example, to lead a team to find new ways to engage with a new market.</li><li>What is the role accountable for? Start with the known goals or outcomes for the role.</li><li>What human skills will the role need to display to achieve outcomes? For example, a role that is part of a team that experience tension and conflict means the person needs strong conflict resolution skills.</li><li>What technical skills will the role need to perform in order to meet the outcomes and achieve success?</li></ol>

The Role Canvas

Behaviour-based interview questions focus on understanding what behaviours led to accomplishments, and the intentions, consequences and impact of the behaviours on other people. Questions to explore conflict:<ul><li>Tell me about a time you suggested something that others disagreed with. What did you say?</li><li>Have you ever encountered someone unreasonable at work? How did you handle it?</li></ul> Questions to explore resilience:<ul><li>Tell me about a time someone criticised you at work. What did you do?</li><li>Tell me about a time you wanted to give up on a goal.</li></ul>

Interviewing for human skills

A survey of HR hiring managers found that 80% say job descriptions are important, but nearly 50% admit to copy-pasting job descriptions from other banks and industry leaders like Google and Amazon. The Role Canvas can help to create a better job description by focusing on the role's purpose, accountabilities, and human and technical skills.

Focus on the role in your context

The key to understanding product management is to think of it as a practice—somewhat like a doctor practising medicine or a lawyer practising law.

Collection of stellar videos and articles to keep in your back pocket.

problemsolving

Problem Solving

product

Product & Design

leadershipandmanagement

Leadership & Management

career

Career

productivity

Productivity

Product Management Starter Kit

For many in Product Management, success comes from mastery of tools like roadmaps, MVPs, strategy frameworks and OKRs. These and other technical skills describe what a product person does to design, build and support new complex technologies for our users. But as technologies quickly become ubiquitous, it's the human approach to creativity, innovation, decision-making, and leadership that makes the difference in whether an individual, team, product, and even organization is successful or not. These human skills describe how a product person works and must go hand-in-hand with the technical skills.Through the story of a new director of product's missteps as he and his team try to hire their way to become a thriving product organisation at a global financial services firm, the author pulls from her experience in product management, org design and leadership coaching to introduce practical tools that will change not only how an organisation hires, but how they think of a healthy product management culture and essential product skills. Working together, the team begins to understand and grow their Product EQ, and through the easy tools and exercises in this book, so can you."This book is a fantastic catalyst to rethink which skills you need in a product team in order to be truly innovative - and then details exactly how to change both your hiring and coaching practices to foster those skills in your organisation." Martin Eriksson - Co-Author, Product Leadership " I loved this book. It pin points the aspects of Product Management we often gloss over, hiring theright people. Kate shows us that human skills are a pre-requisite for all successful product people, notjust technical skills. Follow her advice and approach, and you'll find the right product person for yourproduct team in no time."Adrienne Tan - Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Brainmates

Interviewing for human skills

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