How to avoid unwanted work in product management
What is the most effective way to prevent executive directives, or unwanted work in product management, that my team or I feel could harm the product?
This situation is unfortunately very common. A project is in development. You and your team believe in the work and things are going well. Then, late in the process, unexpectedly, a company leader (perhaps even the CEO) implements a product idea you disagree with, and now you feel responsible for doing it.
I have experienced this both as the person executing and as the person giving the order. There is no secret about why it happens. Everyone wants the product to succeed, and everyone has different views on the best path forward. That cognitive diversity usually makes teams stronger, because different views, data, and intuition as input are excellent. The problem starts when a leader higher in your management chain steps into a process that was going well under your watch and, with unwanted work in product management, sets a path contrary to the team’s plans.
How can you carry out these unwanted directives, reach a good solution, and close the gap between the team and executive decisions?
First, a few things not to do:
Do not tell your team, “The boss wants us to do this, so I guess we have to.”
That is bad management for many reasons. You do not own the plans, yet you assert power. Instead of strengthening relationships, you start undermining company leadership and pointing the finger at them. You are destroying trust on both sides.
Do not ignore unwanted work in product management.
At the other extreme, ignoring internal feedback on the assumption that “I know better” is a mistake.
If you hope this informal comment will not be executed, you might be right. But nobody appreciates a “veto.” You put your team at risk of a harder path than the current one, and you will need more painful changes later. So make sure you never ignore unwanted work in product management.
Do not blindly follow a path you do not understand.
Sometimes following a path you do not fully agree with is necessary. Following an order you do not understand is like following the letter of the law instead of its spirit, and it can bring you down.
At minimum you should ask clarifying questions about the unwanted work you disagree with, so you understand the reasons.
For example, if an executive says, “This button should be higher on the page,” do not just say “yes.” Investigate further so you know what they want. Sometimes that is as simple as asking, “Why do you think that?” Sometimes it needs a deeper understanding of the path ahead: “Are you worried that in the current location people will not see the need to get in touch?”
Do not turn the situation into “us” versus “them.”
When you get close to a disagreement, issues escalate quickly, and if you do not accept that you are all one team, every side becomes defensive.
Steering a product is not about winning and losing, or your ideas versus executive ideas. You all want the same thing: a successful product. Each of you has a unique capability. You gain your own specific knowledge. Your executive team may have a broader view of what the product is meant to become. So remember that unwanted work in product management is not always bad; sometimes you need to widen your view. So how can you work together?
Find common ground.
Your team is working hard. You spend a lot of time on research opportunities, iterate on your ideas, and trust your plans. Now an executive, who has probably not spent much time thinking about or working on these operational problems, feels they have a better idea and that you should take it instead of yours.
Maybe their suggestion goes against the path your research and data show. Or maybe it is a good idea that needs more investigation and does not look important enough in the current priority list.
Whatever your reason for disagreeing, if every answer you give starts with “no,” you will never make progress in the conversation.
Figure out where you overlap. Do you agree on the problem you are trying to solve? Are you confident you understand the problem correctly, and that data and research support your strategy? Are you aligned on how you will measure success? Before you get stuck in implementation details, make sure you are aligned on the important questions that shape your views.
This exercise often leads you to the conclusion that the disconnect is not about where the button should sit. Maybe one of you missed important information about how this work fits the product experience. If you try to prove that point, you will certainly understand the feedback better. With any luck, you will find an agreement that works for everyone.
If not, the best you can do is “disagree and commit.” You may still not be convinced, but work has to move forward. The sooner you try something, even if you do not think it is the best choice, the sooner you will learn. In practice you sometimes need to test unwanted work in product management.
Prevent unwanted work by sharing early and often.
A habit of effective leaders is making sure their plans are known, understood, and aligned with all key stakeholders. Whenever harm happens, it means you went a long way without getting all the input you needed and without providing it.
Look through career path plans and share your early thoughts and ideas. Actively take ownership of reviewing scheduled plans. Give your executive team a chance to participate at every stage, and get confirmation from everyone who could later say, “Yes, I understand these plans and I agree.” If you have doubts about your plans, be more alert and run one-to-one feedback so you can see where the disconnect is.
Source: this is a translation of Julie Zhuo’s article published as Addressing executive swoop-ins on Medium.