In this kickoff episode of season two of Practical Product Management, Leah and Marilyn dive into New Year’s resolutions and their parallels to product management practices. They tackle the common resolutions people set—like losing weight, spending more time with family, and getting out of debt—and reframe them for PMs as trimming backlogs, improving customer and stakeholder relationships, and managing tech debt. The conversation emphasizes the importance of intentionality in meetings, strategic time management, and learning new skills to grow personally and professionally. Leah and Marilyn reflect on flexibility, experimentation, and the value of creating leaner processes in both life and product management.

Key Takeaways

1. Trimming the Fat: Clean up your backlog by removing unnecessary items and outdated features, and keep MVPs truly minimal.
2. Building Relationships: Spend more time with the “family” of your work—customers, stakeholders, and engineering—by breaking down barriers and improving collaboration.
3. Managing Debt: Address tech and relationship debt by honoring commitments, mending connections, and being strategic with budgeting.
4. Intentionality Matters: Reevaluate meeting cadences and communication habits to improve efficiency and focus on high-value activities.

🎄 A Special Holiday Episode to Wrap Up 2024 🎁

In the final episode of Practical Product Management Season 1, Leah Farmer and Marilyn McDonald celebrate the year with a thought-provoking conversation featuring Toni Dos Santos, a B2B product consultant and AI expert. Toni shares his remarkable journey from economics and the music industry to entrepreneurship, offering insights into how startups can find product-market fit faster and build sustainable business models.

This festive season, we reflect on how AI is transforming the world of product management, why solving real problems matters more than chasing trends, and how visionary leadership can light the path for future innovation. Join us as we unwrap the lessons of 2024 and look ahead to a bright, innovative 2025.

Key Takeaways:

1. AI as the Gift That Keeps Giving: Use AI to streamline your workload and focus on what matters most—creating meaningful, human-centered solutions.
2. MVPs: The Perfect Stocking Stuffer: A well-crafted MVP is like the best holiday gift—thoughtful, practical, and exactly what the recipient needs.
3. Visionary Leadership: The North Star: Just like Santa's sleigh, a strong vision guides teams through challenges and keeps innovation on course.

🎅🎄✨

🍂 In this special Thanksgiving episode of Practical Product Management, hosts Leah and Marilyn dive into how product management skills transcend the workplace and enrich everyday life. From communication and prioritization to empathy and feedback loops, they explore how these principles help navigate challenges and build stronger connections outside of work.

The episode features 7 inspiring stories from the PM community, showcasing real-life applications of product thinking. Whether it’s managing family dynamics, planning a garden with a Kanban board, or organizing a dinner party using MVP principles, these stories illustrate how product management skills create clarity and drive results in personal life.

🎙️ Key Highlights:

➡️ Communication builds stronger relationships.

➡️ Prioritization helps focus on what matters most.

➡️ Feedback loops create growth in personal and professional contexts.

➡️ Gratitude for PM skills fosters intentionality and connection.

This Thanksgiving-themed episode is a celebration of the ways product management transforms lives. Tune in to hear practical insights, heartfelt stories, and inspiration for applying PM principles beyond work.

In this episode of Practical Product Management, Leah and Marilyn sit down with Jil Berning, founder of Femote, to discuss her journey from product manager to entrepreneur in healthcare tech. Jil dives into her motivations for creating a company focused on remote gynecological solutions and shares the challenges she’s encountered along the way. The conversation touches on building a supportive company culture, the role of vulnerability in leadership, and the importance of addressing the gender gap in healthcare. Together, they explore themes of resilience, the power of open communication, and why having a strong “why” is crucial for founders. Jil’s story offers valuable insights for anyone passionate about making a difference in tech and healthcare.

Key Takeaways

• From Product Manager to Purpose-Driven Founder: Jil's transition from product management to founding Femote showcases how PM skills like iteration, MVP thinking, and empathy apply in entrepreneurial roles.
• Vulnerability and Culture-Building: Open, honest conversations are essential in fostering a healthy team environment, particularly when navigating the pressures of a startup.
• Championing Women’s Health: Jil’s focus on femtech highlights the need for women’s health to be prioritized in healthcare and research, given longstanding gender biases.
• Embracing Discomfort as Growth: Jil emphasizes that courage in entrepreneurship means stepping into discomfort and valuing growth, even when outcomes are uncertain.

Feel free to leave comments here or go to our Ask Us page on the website for comments, questions, or show ideas: practicalpmpodcast.com

In this episode of Practical Product Management, Leah and Marilyn sit down with Mirela Mus, founder of Product People, to unpack the unique world of interim product management. They discuss how interim roles differ from traditional product management, emphasizing the importance of adaptability, tactical execution, and navigating the challenges of temporary engagements. Mirela shares insights on balancing strategy with execution under time constraints and how market trends have reshaped the product management landscape. She offers a candid look at the evolving demands of the industry and her vision for a more resilient, business-integrated future for product management.

Key Takeaways

• Adaptability in Interim Roles: Interim product managers must quickly assess situations, identify priority tasks, and integrate into teams without the long onboarding period of in-house roles.
• Navigating Market Dynamics: As market trends shift, so do the opportunities and expectations for product managers, making resilience and flexibility essential traits in this evolving field.
• Building a Broad Skill Set: Interim roles provide PMs with exposure to diverse industries and challenges, building versatile, adaptable skill sets that are valuable in the changing product landscape.

Feel free to leave comments here or go to the ASK US page on our website (practicalpmpodcast.com)

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In this episode, Leah and Marilyn dive into the nuanced world of product management through the lens of team dynamics, particularly focusing on transitions when employees move on. They discuss the challenges leaders face emotionally and strategically during these transitions, highlighting the need for open communication and empathy. The conversation explores how leaders can balance the transactional nature of employment with a supportive work culture, advocating for a holistic approach that sees employees as whole individuals. Leah and Marilyn share practical strategies for product leaders to enhance team resilience, understand the impacts of performance evaluations, and encourage career growth within and beyond the team.

Key Takeaways

• Transitions as Growth Moments: Employee departures, while challenging, are opportunities for growth and evolution within the team and organization.
• Empathy-Driven Leadership: Empathetic leadership that sees employees as whole individuals fosters stronger team dynamics and open communication.
• Understanding the Employment Transaction: Recognizing the transactional nature of employment helps leaders stay grounded, manage transitions without taking them personally, and build supportive workplace relationships.

Leave us a comment or check out our "Ask Us" page at practicalpmpodcast.com

In this episode of Practical Product Management, we sit down with Jay Fluegel, a seasoned product leader with 25 years of experience spanning startups, Microsoft, Expedia, and Axon. Together, we explore the evolving role of product management across different organizational contexts, from big tech giants to traditional, non-digital companies. The conversation underscores the importance of fostering collaboration, driving innovation, and building resilient teams across industries.

Key Takeaways

• Product Management as a Philosophy
• Context Matters
• Overcoming Resistance
• Finding Joy and Support

Feel free to leave your comments/questions here, or to check out our website: practicalPMpodcast.com

In this episode of Practical Product Management, Leah and Marilyn sit down with guest Ekaterina Gabaruk Monnot to dive into the nuances of technical and platform product management. They explore how Ekaterina transitioned into product management, the specific challenges faced by technical product managers, and how understanding both customer needs and system architecture is critical. The discussion touches on managing stakeholders, balancing the complexity of technical products with simplicity, and building a culture of curiosity and continuous learning. They also cover how to stay on top of technology trends and reflect on the evolving nature of product management in today's fast-paced world.

Key Takeaways

• Balancing Complexity and Simplicity: Successful technical product managers must navigate the fine line between managing complex systems and delivering simple, scalable solutions.
• Empowerment Through Platforms: Platforms should enable other teams and drive collaboration, not just be technical constructs.
• Curiosity Fuels Innovation: A culture of learning and curiosity is key to overcoming challenges and embracing new technologies.
• Understanding Customer Needs: At the heart of any product, technical or otherwise, is a deep understanding of the customer and their needs.

Feel free to leave us comments here or on our website: practicalpmpodcast.com

In this episode of Practical Product Management, Leah and Marilyn sit down with Pete Peterson, a seasoned product design leader with a wealth of experience in building design teams and user research practices. They dive deep into the intricacies of product management in large organizations, uncovering how harmonizing design standards can foster a unified user experience. Pete also shares his wisdom on balancing B2B and B2C products, the power of advocating for user research, and why empowering teams to step beyond their core responsibilities leads to greater success. This episode is a must-listen for anyone looking to understand the value of user research and the challenges of driving product harmony in complex environments.

Key Takeaways:

1. Influence is everything - Advocating for design and research is crucial in large organizations where multiple teams and stakeholders are involved.

2. B2B needs love too - B2B products often don't get the same attention as B2C, but they benefit greatly from thoughtful user research and design standards.

3. Challenge assumptions - Recognizing and eliminating biases, like confirmation bias, is critical for making better product decisions and truly understanding customer needs.

4. Empower your team - Product leaders who encourage their teams to explore beyond their roles see stronger collaboration and more impactful results.

Leave us comments here or come over to our Ask Us page on practicalpmpodcast.com

Summary

In this episode, Leah and Marilyn dive into the world of fintech and its intersection with product management. They break down what fintech encompasses—everything from payments to lending and wealth management—and discuss their vast experiences in the field. The conversation highlights key elements such as the movement of money, the importance of security, compliance with regulations, and the challenge of creating user-friendly financial products. They explore how product management in fintech mirrors product management in other industries but comes with the added complexity of building customer trust around financial transactions.

Key Takeaways

• Understanding Financial Transactions: Fintech product managers must have a solid grasp of how money moves within systems, along with the layers of security and compliance that accompany it.
• User Experience is Key: Creating a seamless and intuitive user experience is essential, as users expect secure and effortless interactions with their financial transactions.
• Unique Regulatory Challenges: Fintech brings unique regulatory challenges, and product managers must ensure that their products adhere to constantly evolving standards.
• Trust is the Foundation: While product management skills are transferable, building customer trust is more critical in fintech, requiring a deeper understanding of financial systems and regulations.