How to improve your framework for product management

Product management is the product of successful software product development processes. Progress is happening due to the efforts of developers, marketing team, project managers etc. Product manager is an integral part of this progress who considers the customer needs, market demand etc. for building good software products accordingly. So if you are a product manager then it’s important that your work should be helpful in making decisions related to the product.

Here I am listing out some of my findings on how you can make your framework better for managing your product effectively:

1) Customers are always right – It’s necessary that customer requirements are met within deadlines and they are satisfied with their requirements before starting the next sprint/milestone. What does it mean? Have more than enough time in hand for each project so that you can fulfill your customer’s requirements and you don’t need to report late. By practicing this, you would be able to show better results and improve yourself for future projects

2) Don’t stick with any one member – Try to involve all the members of your team in the development process so that more views/opinions can be gathered which ultimately helps in making good decisions. Beware! “One man army” concept is not a solution here. So do include everyone if required(as per nature of work)

3) Be open-minded – Always keep an eye on what’s happening around you or what other competitors are doing? What is digital product management? If yes then take care that it does not affect your decision making capability so try being open minded about everything.

4) Encourage group discussions – Majority of the decisions are taken by a group so it’s wise to take advantage of this. So encourage your team members to air their views, ideas and suggestions wherever required especially when you’re taking a complex decision or solving a tough problem. It would help a lot.

5) Don’t let your ego take over – Everyone thinks his way is correct even if it’s not then try overcoming the situation by discussing with them politely without offending them instead make sure that everyone involved knows why they took such a decision?

6) Take proper time out for meetings– Always remember! Meetings should be constructive and productive in nature so don’t let anyone divert attention by talking irrelevant stuff or making silly statements. Keep focus and make sure everyone has a clear idea of what the meeting is meant for!

7) Always prepare yourself to smooth out things when it goes wrong because you can’t predict everything– no matter how much you screw up something there’s always a chance that this might happen so make sure that whosoever is involved in such an activity will have a backup plan to overcome it.

8) Don’t feel difficult in asking questions to your seniors if you’re really stuck somewhere – This would help them understand that even though your decision making capability and analytical skills are good, sometimes the problem becomes too critical that only someone with better knowledge could solve it. In short, never hesitate in asking any doubts or questions to anyone who can help you figure out what you’re stuck at.

9) Don’t delay in sharing your work with the world – The only way you can build a career for yourself or become successful is by having a work history that shows potential employers that you have what it takes to be hired and how valuable of an asset you can become to any organization. In short, if someone asks for your CV’s, resumes & portfolios send them as soon as possible so they could have a look at it earlier than later.

10) Always try solving problems from every angle– By doing this you’ll not only broaden your understanding of the subject matter even further but also come up with several ideas that would help solve the problem which other people might not have thought of before. For example: A company that makes theme park equipment, wanted to know how they could sell more seats for roller coaster rides during the summer months. One of their employees suggested “hiring dancers and putting them on each roller coaster car so that people would have to buy two tickets instead of one”.

11) Read & write every day– Even if you think you don’t like reading or writing, try it out at least once a day. If you’re not convinced enough about the importance of this statement just look at Warren Buffet’s book recommendations by clicking here . Or his advice on writing down your goals by clicking here .

12) Always go to bed early- Try going to bed at 10pm, 9pm or even 8:30pm. You’ll see that you have more energy and you won’t be so tired throughout the day. I’m a big fan of going to bed early with a full stomach. It does miraculous things for your body and mind – in fact, click here to find out how it can help improve your memory .

13) Sleep in complete darkness- This one is very important if you want to remember dreams every night (if not, try it out anyway because it’s beneficial). So make sure you don’t leave any TV on, dim lights or even stop using your phone half an hour before going to sleep. You’ll see that when you wake up without any light in the room, there will be an actual difference in the quality of your sleep!