Clarity for Product People

Transcript

1. CLARITY for Product People Arne Kittler
2. Clarity is a crucial success factor for product people. We can only be successful together with others. Effective collaboration requires clarity, especially in times of change. Clarity is work—and it's never "finished.“ We, as product people, can increase clarity!
3. AI needs clarity even more than humans do.
4. We all want clarity—where's the problem? Time pressure: Clarity requires effort upfront. Misconception: We confuse clarity with certainty Fear: Clarity can be frightening. Harmony: We are afraid to disturb collegial harmony.
5. For succesful collaboration we need clarity on four layers Directional Clarity Situational Clarity Role Clarity Clear Communication
6. We need Directional Clarity …so everyone can independently work towards a common goal.
7. You need more Directional Clarity if… … everything is important … you lack arguments for saying no … too much is in progress, for too long … everybody‘s exhausted, but nothing really moves
8. An incoherent direction is worse than no direction.
9. 1. Create a Coherent Direction Decision Stack as a mental model Vision how? Strategy how? how? why? why? Objectives Opportunity how? * https://www.thedecisionstack.com/ Opportunity Opportunity Opportunity Principles Opportunity why? why?
10. 1. Create a Coherent Direction Decision Stack as a mental model Vision Strategy NO! NO! NO! NO! * https://www.thedecisionstack.com/ NO! Objectives Opportunity Opportunity Principles NO! Opportunity NO! NO!
11. 2. Be clear about your initiative …even if there‘s no coherent overall direction! What key insight is behind your initiative? What is your core hypothesis, and how will you test it? How will you measure success, and what is your level of ambition?
12. 3. Show how everyday work connects Use any chance to connect what‘s happening to direction „Because our priority for this quarter is….“ „This is a great example for what we mean by ….“
13. We need Situational Clarity …so that things keep moving forward
14. You need more Situational Clarity if… … you experience late surprises when working with other teams … you leave meetings unsure what was actually decided … conflicts are not resolved
15. 1. Don‘t assume – ask & clarify!
16. 2. Speed Up Decisions with Principles Long term guardrails for day-to-day decision making Be specific about your trade-offs: X over Y statements Don‘t state the obvious! 3-6 principles + explanation what they mean in your context
17. 3. Escalate Gracefully Take responsibility Joint escalation Be clear about what‘s unclear Agree to disagree
18. Ambiguity on one layer compromises all others Directional Clarity Situational Clarity Role Clarity Clear Communication
19. We need Role Clarity …so it‘s clear what we expect from each other.
20. AI makes our roles more fluid. Different perspectives & teamwork still matter!
21. You need more Role Clarity if… … you often need to do stuff that‘s not your job … you are disappointed in colleagues who never knew what you expected …it‘s not clear who‘s making which decision
22. Different types of contexts = Different role clarification
23. 1. Your Role in your Organization Understand your competency profile: Seek active dialogue about what‘s expected HoP PM Embrace areas for development as a growth opportunity! PM PM
24. 2. Your Role in your Team Clarify role expectations on the team. What traits would the perfect <role> have? What does <role> need to know to work well with you? What can you do to help <role> do a great job? Dev UX PM QA
25. 3. Your Role in Temporary Initiatives Clarify who‘s driving an initiative. Whenever you cannot rely on PM Mkt established ways of working. IR -> DACI … … CS
26. We need Clear Communication …so we enable others to collaborate well
27. You need Clearer Communication if… …newbies are lost with your internal lingo …there are many misunderstandings …your commercial colleagues ask you to join client calls
28. 1. Make yourself understood …even if you have to repeat yourself It's your responsibility to make yourself understood. Make it as easy as possible for your counterpart to understand you so that they can act and speak effectively!
29. 2. Be a translator! What‘s in for them? Use their terminology & mental models Nobody cares about our product lingo!
30. 3. Provide context and be explicit …especially in async, remote collaboration Make sense beyond the immediate moment Make work-in-progress & decision state explicit Clear framing: How do you expect your feedback to be used?
31. What makes you clearer for humans also makes you clearer for machines!
32. Directional Clarity Situational Clarity 1. Coherent direction & context 1. Don‘t assume – ask & clarify 2. Be clear about your Initiative 2. Speed up decisions with principles 3. Show how everyday work connects 3. Escalate gracefully Role Clarity Clear Communication 1. Understand your competency profile 1. Make yourself understood 2. Make role expectations explicit 2. Be a translator 3. Clarify who‘s driving an Initiative 3. Provide clear context & be explicit
33. CLARITY is your job!! Make it your Superpower!
34. Arne Kittler Contextual Product Leadership Coaching | Interim | Consulting bit.ly/arne_clarity