A single phrase in how product managers communicate release dates determines whether stakeholders hear an estimate or a commitment. The distinction is subtle enough that most PMs do not catch it until trust has already taken a hit.

Adam Race, Head of Product at ITV, shares the phrasing shift that changed how he communicates every timeline. He explains why the default language creates an invisible promise, and how confidence levels give stakeholders a productive way to hear uncertainty. Adam has spent more than a decade in product leadership across ITV, DAZN, and Chelsea FC, managing releases where engineering, editorial, and commercial teams all depend on the same dates.

This episode is one of a handful available outside the membership. The rest of the How I PM series is available inside The Product Way.

Join The Product Way for the full collection, plus PM Select, our service matching product managers with hiring managers:

https://patreon.com/theproductway/membership

The How I PM collection includes 50 strategies from practicing product leaders. Most are available exclusively to Product Way members.

Renata McCurley, Founder of Mariposa Insights, has led product teams for over 20 years across consulting and enterprise environments. In this tip, she addresses a pattern that costs teams their most creative thinking: filtering ideas by the job title of the person who raised them.

Renata shares how she challenges that pattern on her own teams. She talks about making technical recommendations to her engineers, why her team evaluates contributions on merit regardless of role, and what opens up when a team commits to hearing ideas before checking credentials.

👉 Get the full library of 50 How I PM strategies plus PM Select, where we connect product managers with companies actively hiring for PM roles: https://patreon.com/theproductway/membership

Your roadmap is not a feature list. If it is, you are solving the wrong problem.

In this How I PM episode, Michael Ionita — CEO of LFG Solutions, VP of Product, and General Manager of R&D — shares a simple shift that changes how your entire team thinks about what they are building and why.

Michael explains why features belong in the backlog and what should replace them on the roadmap. The distinction sounds small. The impact on team focus, stakeholder alignment, and execution speed is not.

"You can keep your team focused on solving problems and not just implementing features." – Michael Ionita

🔒 The full collection of 50 real-world strategies from practicing product leaders is available exclusively to members of The Product Way.

Great product managers apply product thinking everywhere. Including their own careers.

In this How I PM episode, Patrick Hoffman, building products at Meta, shares a powerful mental model: treat yourself and your career as a product.

Patrick explains how thinking this way changes how you make decisions about roles, teams, and what to work on next.

This approach helps you:

1. Identify your investors, customers, and stakeholders

2. Evaluate whether your career is on the right growth curve

3. Decide which opportunities are worth the investment

4. Maximize learning for the time and effort you put in

“Always be learning. Maximize how much you can learn for the amount of investment you’re putting in.” – Patrick Hoffman

Looking for more than just tips?

Members at the Practitioner tier and above on The Product Way get access to the full library of 50 quick and actionable tips along with access to PM Select, our exclusive service that makes curated personal introductions between product people and hiring managers -- plus many more benefits.

Join us: https://patreon.com/TheProductWay/membership

#ProductManagement #ProductStrategy #StakeholderAlignment #ProductLeadership #HowIPM #TheProductWay

One of the biggest challenges in product management is explaining value in a way that actually lands. Feature lists rarely work. Stories do.

In this How I PM episode, Joni Hoadley, product management coach and consultant, shares how to use a strategy-based roadmap to tell a clear, compelling product story.

Instead of organizing work by features, Joni recommends structuring your roadmap around themes tied to customer value and outcomes.

This approach helps you:

1. Explain your product’s value in a way stakeholders understand

2. Avoid feature-by-feature confusion

3. Align teams around outcomes, not output

4. Make it easier for other teams to do their jobs

“The benefit of having a strategy-based roadmap that tells a story through key themes is that it helps you explain the value of your product in a way that’s much easier for stakeholders to understand.” – Joni Hoadley

Looking for more than just tips?

Members at the Practitioner tier and above on The Product Way get access to the full library of 50 quick and actionable tips along with access to PM Select, our exclusive service that makes curated personal introductions between product people and hiring managers -- plus many more benefits.

Join us: https://patreon.com/TheProductWay/membership

#ProductManagement #ProductStrategy #StakeholderAlignment #ProductLeadership #HowIPM #TheProductWay

One of the hardest parts of product management is clarity. Features mean different things to different stakeholders, and misalignment creeps in fast.

In this How I PM episode, Adam Race, Head of Product at ITV, shares a simple but powerful practice: using a single slide to align everyone on what a feature is, where it stands, and why it matters.

Adam explains how a one-slide summary helps you:

1. Define exactly what the feature is and where it appears in the product

2. Show the current status, from discovery to testing

3. Point stakeholders to the single source of documentation

4. Anchor the work to the metric you are trying to move

This approach makes it easy to share updates, reduce confusion, and keep stakeholders aligned without constant meetings.

Looking for more than just tips?

Members at the Practitioner tier and above on The Product Way get access to the full library of 50 quick and actionable tips along with access to PM Select, our exclusive service that makes curated personal introductions between product people and hiring managers -- plus many more benefits.

Join us: https://patreon.com/TheProductWay/membership

#ProductManagement #ProductClarity #StakeholderAlignment #ProductLeadership #HowIPM #TheProductWay

Daily standups can be the most valuable five minutes of your day if you know how to use them.

In this How I PM episode, John Kreese, Senior Director of Product Management at Zip Co, shares how product managers can use standups to spot gaps, drive clarity, and keep teams aligned.

John’s advice for product managers:

1. Let someone else run standup. Free yourself to listen and identify issues.

2. Stay present. Put down your phone, close Slack, and focus entirely on what’s being said.

3. Rekindle your inner student. Take notes, observe patterns, and capture follow-ups that matter.

“Daily standups are your small window of time every day where you can identify and fill the gaps that exist on your projects and teams.” – John Kreese

Looking for more than just tips?

Members at the Practitioner tier and above on The Product Way get access to the full library of 50 quick and actionable tips along with access to PM Select, our exclusive service that makes curated personal introductions between product people and hiring managers -- plus many more benefits.

Join us: https://patreon.com/TheProductWay/membership

#ProductManagement #ProductStrategy #LeadershipTips #HowIPM

Feature prioritization often feels like a tug-of-war between customers, sales, and technical debt. The best product managers use a simple filter: focus on what truly benefits the user.

In this How I PM episode, Suresh Madhuvarsu, Co-founder and CEO of SalesTable, explains how asking one question -- “What’s in it for the user?” -- keeps prioritization grounded in real customer value.

Here’s how this approach helps you:

1. Cut through competing requests and focus on outcomes

2. Prioritize features that help users complete key processes faster

3. Avoid platform work or one-off requests that don’t improve user success

4. Build credibility with stakeholders through clear reasoning

“Every time we prioritize a feature, we ask: what’s in it for the user? Is it helping someone complete a business process faster or solve a problem they couldn’t before?” – Suresh Madhuvarsu

Releasing something every sprint builds momentum, confidence, and team rhythm. Sharon Allpress, VP of Strategic Engagements at EOT.AI, shares why a continuous release mindset keeps teams sharp, connected, and ready for bigger launches.

Her approach helps maintain quality, consistency, and engagement across every part of the product cycle:

1. Ship something every sprint — even small improvements build release muscle memory

2. Keep documentation, stakeholders, and users in sync

3. Avoid rust and forgetfulness that slow teams down when it’s time for a major launch

“Even if it's adding a little button or a link to support documentation, releasing every sprint keeps your team engaged, consistent, and ready.” – Sharon Allpress

Looking for more than just tips?

Members at the Practitioner tier and above on The Product Way get access to the full library of 50 quick and actionable tips along with access to PM Select, our exclusive service that makes curated personal introductions between product people and hiring managers — plus many more benefits.

Join us: https://patreon.com/TheProductWay/membership

#ProductManagement #ProductStrategy #LeadershipTips #HowIPM

How do you balance roadmap priorities with urgent defects and small enhancements? Jordan Bergtraum, Head of Product at myWork, shares a practical approach to keeping delivery focused while protecting long-term progress.

Jordan’s framework works whether you’re running a single scrum team or scaling across several:

1. Segment by work type: dedicate separate teams to roadmap items, small enhancements, and defects.

2. Protect each stream: ensure consistent attention across all three.

3. Stay flexible: redistribute work as capacity allows, but maintain long-run discipline.

“Over the long run, try to maintain that discipline you set for yourself — maybe 20, 40, 40 — so you avoid collisions.” – Jordan Bergtraum

Looking for more than just tips?

Members at the Practitioner tier and above on The Product Way get access to the full library of 50 quick and actionable tips along with access to PM Select, our exclusive service that makes curated personal introductions between product people and hiring managers — plus many more benefits.

Join us: https://patreon.com/TheProductWay/membership

#ProductManagement #ProductStrategy #LeadershipTips #HowIPM