Tips for PM’s — Covid-19 Take
In this article, I will share my thoughts and experiences (including tips!) for the PM role during Covid-19 times. These are uncertain times when communication, a basic tool for every PM is reduced to nothing but voice Consequently, 80% of it (body language and expressions) is unattainable.
At the base of any PM role, are the strength and weaknesses of the team as a whole and of each individual. Once you have deep familiarity with your team members, you can influence and motivate them. The combination of exceptional soft skills and a firm understanding of the product, organizational goals, and the roadmap are all the keys to your success.
On a further note, department members usually sit in the same open-space office to facilitate misunderstandings in communication between team members. In the Covid-19 times, it is the product manager’s additional task to adapt to the new remote workforce environment and help the whole team communicate better.
Unlike ordinary, mask-free times, the PM’s work greatly differs in the Covid-19 times. At the heart of which lies the fact that soft skills are much harder to apply. Even if you have those skills and you are an expert in maneuvering the ship in the right direction, you’ll need to now apply them via zoom or any other video conferencing tool.
No more five-minute meetings in the hall. No more short discussion on the DOD of a feature. No more creative sprint, whiteboarding ideas. Instead, you will need to create a calendar zoom meeting for each discussion, often having sessions without video, therefore not seeing the other person’s reaction to what you say.
The communication problem would be even more challenging if you started a new PM role nowadays. . I, for one, onboarded to my current PM role at Dynamic Yield in the Covid-19 times. I didn’t have any prior relationships established to rely on. I had to make sure I was understood, and my intentions were crystal clear.
So, here’s how to handle it:
1- Schedule 1:1 meetings with your peers and colleagues to discuss life. Even lunchtime on Zoom might work. This way, you’ll be able to establish some kind of friendly relationship.
2- Help your team. Facilitate tech talks and other activities that keep your team aligned. Common feeling employees have these days is that remote work has left them stripped of all the advantages a workplace has to offer — colleagues, people to talk to and brainstorm together.
3- Be bold. Ask people for their opinion when you feel unsure about their reaction to the ongoing discussion. Stop talking and be attentive to the wallflowers who find it easier to hide in the remote circumstances.
4- Ask for feedback. This is a standard and essential part of the PM’s work, but it is even more crucial now. Identify your internal and external stakeholders’ needs, and mind them carefully.
5- Reach out to your customers. A fundamental truth is that you have to listen to the customer’s pain to create products that bring value. Don’t stop practicing that. Take these times as a window of opportunity to let your customers vent their new concerns surrounding Covid-19, and help them help you as you seek the essence of their needs.
6- Sessions with more than 3–4 participants are ineffective even in regular times, so you should stick to small meetings with clear action items even more today. I’ve learned from a fellow PM of mine, who found that brainstorming sessions in these times would benefit from splitting into small groups.
In conclusion, as an extraordinary product manager, you do your magic with whatever team of staff and conditions that are at hand. Your influence is measured by your ability to move forward no matter which obstacles stand in your way. You have to deliver value to your customers. In order to be successful, you need to mitigate risks and overcome barriers such as unsuitable team members, lack of communication, Covid-19, and many other problems. In these times, you’ll need to practice a lot more of that good old fashioned clear communication.
