Habits I picked up as a new product manager

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

Introduction

Being a successful product manager is not easy when you are constantly swarmed with multiple projects. Here are some of the habits I developed that helped me to become a more effective manager.

1. Schedule 30 minute meetings

Google Calendar settings

Head to Calendar settings and set the default duration as 30 minutes. 30 minute alignments are sufficient for clear alignment with stakeholders. Additionally, it encourages people to get straight to the point instead of spending more time discussing.

2. Include a meeting agenda

Writing meeting agendas is often an underrated use of time. Meeting agendas helps participants to understand whether they are needed for the meeting. Include links so participants can read up on documents before the meetings. Stakeholders are also likely to revisit what was discussed after the meeting. This helps others save time on attending meetings and asking for the meeting notes and resources.

3. Convey tasks using public channels

Public channels encourages knowledge sharing, promotes accountability and decision tracking. Conveying tasks publicly makes it easier for others to learn about who is managing a feature and what are the processes around it. This also serves as a documentation for future product managers who can search up what was did in the past to solve a specific issue.

4. Use the slack search bar

This brings me to my next point, use the Slack search bar! Use the simple format of from:@yourname @person / keyword to easily find past threads. These threads can then be copied to existing discussions for knowledge sharing.

5. Create a priority list

Priority list created on Notion

At some point, there is no way one can keep up with 10 to 20 ongoing tasks. Writing them down will help prioritize what is important to work on now and revisit the lower priority tasks in the future.

6. Timeboxing

Timeboxing with Focus time

Timeboxing simply means opening your calendar and entering a block of time that you’ll spend on a certain task in the future. With a timeboxing approach, you can avoid late delivery, low quality, and over-doing and over-processing tasks.

7. Document FAQs

Flowchart made on Whimsical

The most important parts of your product should be well documented so they can be easily shared with stakeholders. This helps you to save time setting up meetings to clarify with stakeholders.

Summary

1. Schedule 30 minute meetings
2. Include a meeting agenda
3. Convey tasks using public channels
4. Use the slack search bar
5. Create a priority list
6. Timebox your tasks
7. Document FAQs

In summary, these are the 7 tips I have when it comes to being more productive at work. Communication occupies most of what a product manager does on a day to day basis. These tips serve to reduce the time spent communicating to others.