 Here’s a new rule for people who wish to create a meeting: what difference could you make that requires no one’s permission other than your own? Do that first, and don’t call the meeting until you have done that. What do you think? “Let’s meet to discuss it”. Black holes. Time sinks. They feel like progress, but they really are avoidance of the real work. The average man spends 4.34 hours each week in meetings, the average woman 2.28. 75% say that these meetings were ineffective. Imagine a culture of meetings more widespread nor more ineffective than anywhere else in the corporate world – where many employees whose concept of a job is attending meetings. They do nothing except travel to meetings, sit through meetings, plan meetings and complain about having to attend so many meetings. However, they spent so much time in meetings because it is far easier than the alternative of actually taking a decision, justifying it and getting on with implementation. Meetings being used as an escape from personal responsibility. Rings a bell? “What difference could you make that requires no one’s permission other than your own?” The leader’s role is to take the difficult decisions. The meeting’s role is to present that decision and plan execution. The leader’s role is to keep the meeting on track. Anything that does not contribute to refining the decision or executing the decision should be taken offline. Writing side issues up on a big flip chart in the room can be a great way of showing that these side issues have not been ignored, but this is not the time and place to debate them. If the leader does not know what decision to take, a group meeting will not help. 1-to-1 sessions with affected people, peers, consultants can help the leader shape the criteria for the decision. Often the most powerful tool is a blank sheet of paper and some time alone reflecting and thinking. No meeting should be called without the basic criteria for taking the decision already in place. Proposal rules for meetings:
Bonus: Amazon Staff Meetings: “No Powerpoint” Staff meetings at Amazon begin with 30 minutes of silent reading - “We have study hall at the beginning of our meetings” says Jeff Bezos. “The traditional kind of corporate meeting starts with a presentation. Somebody gets up in front of the room and presents with a powerpoint presentation, some type of slide show. In our view you get very little information, you get bullet points. This is easy for the presenter, but difficult for the audience. And so instead, all of our meetings are structured around a 6 page narrative memo.” All meetings are structured around a 6-page memo: “When you have to write your ideas out in complete sentences, complete paragraphs it forces a deeper clarity.” Why don’t you read the memos in advance? “Time doesn’t come from nowhere. This way you know everyone has the time. The author gets the nice warm feeling of seeing their hard work being read.” “If you have a traditional ppt presentation, executives interrupt. If you read the whole 6 page memo, on page 2 you have a question but on page 4 that question is answered.” And so that is what we do, we just sit and read. “Think Complex, Speak Simple” Let me know what you think!
DM me @philippemora on IG and Twitter My name's phil mora and I blog about the things I love: fitness, hacking work, tech and anything holistic. Head of Digital Product thinker, doer, designer, coder, leader
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 As a new decade sets in, I would like to take a close look at three fundamental trends that are shaping product management in 2020:
PMs are now strategic leaders within an organization As I have said in a previous post last year, in the past, product managers were often confused for user experience designers, senior technology leads, or even project managers. At best, teams acknowledged PMs as product owners in the agile sense, and as such their main deliverable was the product backlog. The real impact of product management was often misunderstood, and PMs did not have the software of resources to carry out their best work. In 2020, this is no longer true. PMs play an increasingly significant role that will not only impact a company’s product, but overall strategy and growth. In traditional organizations, PMs are needed to create digital product experiences that seamlessly align with existing products and services — a major challenge brought on by the age of digital transformation. In the B2B world, we are seeing a “consumerization of IT,” meaning that people want the technology they use for work to look like the elegant, well-designed tools they use personally (like the iPhone and other B2C products). Thus, PMs are crucial for creating delightful B2B products that appeal to both buyers and end-users. Finally, the convenience of modern technology has increased customer expectations. Customers want your product to solve their problems now. And if you can’t do it, someone else will. As a result, Product Managers in 2020 largely own the product strategy and vision, and play an active role in the future of organizations. More than ever, PMs use data-driven processes and systems to support their mission-critical work and their decision-making responsibilities also mean that it’s on them to act as leaders within their organizations and rally everyone around their plan. Product-led growth and growth product managers As I have said last year, Product-led growth is a go-to-market strategy that relies on product usage as the primary driver of acquisition, conversion, and expansion. The model is exploding in popularity because when executed well, a product can infiltrate the market and grow on its own — no extra work required. Growth product managers share a lot in common with traditional product managers, but instead of owning the product, the growth PM works to improve a specific set of metrics or goals. Experimentation is core to the growth PM job description, and they often use methods like A/B testing to continuously optimize their metric of focus. Some growth PMs own part of the product like onboarding, the sign-up experience, websites, monetization strategy, and email flows. Teams begin to understand the importance of transparency in product management In high-functioning organizations, everyone is invested in a common product vision and works to support the product in one way or another. To be effective, they need to know what products and features are coming up, what was launched, what is in consideration, and how everything relates to the organization’s overarching goals. It is the responsibility of product organizations to make this information accessible.
Product teams who foster this kind of transparency often use a tool or method specifically designed to openly share the product management process —a “source of truth.” This opens up the business context and user insights behind each product-related decision. When transparency is embraced by product teams, it prevents knowledge silos that can hinder communication with customers, prospects, and other stakeholders. It helps cross-functional departments understand the rationale behind tough trade-offs on what gets built next, even if they don’t personally agree with the decision. In short, transparency unites everyone behind a common goal, which, let’s admit, is simply good for business. Let me know what you think!
DM me @philippemora on IG and Twitter My name's phil mora and I blog about the things I love: fitness, hacking work, tech and anything holistic. Head of Digital Product thinker, doer, designer, coder, leader  Let me know what you think!
DM me @philippemora on IG and Twitter My name's phil mora and I blog about the things I love: fitness, hacking work, tech and anything holistic. Head of Digital Product thinker, doer, designer, coder, leader |
Product Builder in Colorado. travel 🚀 work 🌵 weights 🍔 music 💪🏻 rocky mountains, tech and dogs 🐾
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