Artur Borzęcki

Q: How can writing a novel help being a Product Manager? A: In lots of ways! My book IS my product, so I had to apply many PM activities to get it to publication. Last week I had the opportunity to speak about my writing and how it links in with Product Management (thanks Martin Hudymač!), and it led me to think about how writing has helped me as a PM: I’m telling a story. “Are you sitting comfortably?” A lot of being a PM is about storytelling, taking people on a journey, getting them involved, so writing a novel is perfect practice. Helps with audience/customer identification. “Know your audience.” In the same way that I need to know who my book is aimed at, you need to know who your product, pitch and comms are aimed at. Improves sales technique. [Waves hand like a Jedi] “These ARE the products you’re looking for.” Once you’ve written a book, you have to promote it yourself. It all helps in selling ideas, pitching and convincing people your product is the one they want. Teaches failure and how to learn from it. “You’re s**t and you know you are…” I’ve had the odd bad review and plenty of rejections. Not everyone will like your product. You may get helpful insights, but sometimes you have to accept that you can’t please everyone all the time. It helps to work out when and when not to release. “Just release it already!” When is your product good enough? I had to decide when to stop editing. You have to eventually let your product go. It makes you work out what success looks like. “How’s your book doing?” What will make your product successful? I had to ask myself what - to me - will make my book successful? Just getting it published? Being able to retire and buy a yacht? Or something in between? You get to practise evaluating, iterating, tweaking, improving. “I liked it but…” Just like beta releases, feedback from early readers allows you to evaluate your product, tweak, improve and eventually make the best damn version of it that you can. Improves attention to detail. “There, their, they’re.” After analysing hundreds of pages and thousands of punctuation marks, you get pretty food at spitting misstakes. 🙂 Provides a creative outlet. “I’ve been in this Google Meet for 3 hours now and my brain is melting.” Work may not always provide a lot of opportunities to express yourself, so writing is a great outlet to release your creative side, which in turn can help your work stand out. It’s a great talking point. “You wrote a book? Wow!” It gets you noticed - people remember you as the PM who also writes books! Talking of which ... here's mine: https://lnkd.in/e6EHbjww Go be a PM. Go write a book. You never know what could happen.

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Save the date: June, 27th 6pm CET It will be a fantastic session for all Digital #nomads and HR professionals. Join us on the Joberty webinar 👀👇 #NativeTeams #Freelancer

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It's been 3 months of my #maternity leave and I feel like sharing some thoughts about it.    One of my fears regarding maternity leave was that my brain would turn into mash without proper daily brain activity. And I am happy to say it didn’t and quite the opposite - every day I am mastering my key skills I use at work. See few examples:   1. 📆 #Planning in unknown and ever changing conditions. Life with a newborn is unpredictable but I still need to attend all those medical appointments, baby classes, welcome visitors, see friends, cook, keep the house tidy etc. So to make sure I am on track everywhere, I need not just to plan, but prepare plan B, plan C… 2. ✔ #Prioritisation. Obviously baby is a priority, you would say. Well, yes and no. Sometimes I need to prioritise myself or something else. And it might be a tough decision but always for the better of my family. 3. 📚 #Learning. Yes, learning. And it’s not only learning to care for my baby, but many other things too. For example I am reading a lot about baby development and brain development. And this knowledge is very useful with adults and with work situations - can’t wait to apply some of the “baby tricks” with adults. 4. 💬 #Communication. I never met so many new people in a short period of time (all, of course, baby-related). I am mastering my gentle communication skills as all people are really different and very sensitive when it comes to discussing parenting.    What else, mums and dads?

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Sharing your framework (the context & why) behind your decisions is 🗝️ for creating a shared understanding with your product team & executives and should become a 1st-instinct to you as it helps build credibility and demonstrate intellectual humility. Being opinionated is also equally important, you might be dumped with info by a lot of stakeholders and the pitfall here is that most PMs take these inputs for their face value or as direct orders. All stakeholders will share their POVs but they trust & empower YOU at the end of the day to take the shot that cuts through their perspectives and concerns.

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One for my UX colleagues... 🤔 Have you ever noticed the "break glass in case of emergency" pattern during payment processing? Why show customers an action that seems unnecessary whilst their payment is being processed, and one which encourages them to cancel the payment? How long should they wait before deciding there is a problem? In my experience of dealing with online payments, the customer is not qualified to make the decision if they're having problems. Is there a better approach to enhance the user experience? 💭💡

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Wanted: LESS product managers. Wanted: MORE startup co-founders, UX/UI designers, customer success specialists, business analysts, and so on. We need more product thinking, and less product management. We don’t need product managers to: - Manage a product and advocate for the customer - Talk to customers and users - Write requirements, epics and user stories - Keep the team's priorities aligned and 'Get work done' - Facilitate stand-ups, plan meetings, and organize retrospectives - Have 'accountability' for releasing features/functions - Design experiments and measure the impact of product - Test features with customers and back-end users There are already roles for these: project managers, business analysts, program managers, QA managers, UX/UI designers, business managers, etc. Do product managers have these responsibilities? Yes. Do we need product managers to do them all? No. Product manager has become a glitzy catch-all title. Sometimes making it meaningless for daily use. We need product managers when there is a product to be managed. When there is a validated business model, there is profit and loss, sales and marketing, and so on. With many SaaS startups, the whole business is referred to as 'the product'. But many associate anything and everything—every project, initiative, app, etc.—a "product," and anyone who oversees it is ... a product manager. Get the product manager when the product is established. Not before. #product #marketing #sales #productmanager #poductmanagement #productmanagers #businessanalyst #projectmanager #startup #advice

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Parenthood changes everything. 👶🏻 A month ago, I became a dad to my amazing Sofia. Sleepless nights, messy diapers, and a whole lot of joy I never knew existed... and it's made me a better project manager, strangely enough. Hear me out: 👇🏽 Before, I was all about goals and finish lines. But babies don't care about your timeline. They teach you to embrace the messy, beautiful process. To let go of perfect outcomes and just be present for each little win. Turns out, this mindset is GOLD in a world driven by AI and constant change. Projects rarely go as planned now, do they? That adaptability, the focus on what I can control each day... that's my new project superpower, all thanks to my little girl. Any other #projectmanagers out there who are also parents? How has your experience shaped your work style? 👇 #ProjectManagement #AI #Parenthood

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"PI Plannings are soooo ineffectively wasted time!!!" 😲 At least, that's what some people think. But for us it works! Just wrapped up an awesome PI Planning session with our colleagues from Switzerland, Germany, Czechia and Slovakia! 🌍 In these remote times and working with people living in 4 countries / 8 cities, getting the chance to meet in person once in 3 months is invaluable. It is a fantastic opportunity to share insights, keep things transparent, and bridge the gap between our business and tech teams across different locations. It is important to step back from time to time and look at what we're doing from a higher perspective. 🌟 We know that the SAFe framework isn't everyone's favorite in the Agile world, but it fits our context perfectly! For our industrial applications and hardware-software dependencies, it's been a game-changer. 🚀 Our main focus now? Getting ready for our next exhibition this autumn. We’ve got a clear understanding of what we want to showcase to catch the eye of new customers. 🍂📈 How do you feel about PI Plannings in your organization? Are they a waste of time or a valuable tool?

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I have heard statement "overqualified for job". Sounds funny. You know, world of IT is changing so fast that person with 10+ year experience necessarily has to have experience with more technologies. If he or she doesn't, thats actually the case when you should be cautios :D Or you have to be really sure that you need only someone who will produce for example SQL scripts without much thinking... But isn't that a use case for AI? ;) I think that the key ability you want to see is ability to learn fast and apply previously gathered experience when starting with new technologies. Not the amount of certificates for specific tools which will be gone in few years. And do you know how to find such people? Just search for those who are good at mathematics

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mind shifts happen more often than you think especially if you: 1. are open to them 2. talk to the right and interesting people 3. reflect on it the last one was about shifting thoughts about daily tasks: - from: how many days/what are my estimates for (a), (b), and (c) tasks? - to: how can I accomplish (a), (b), and (c) today? still trying to figure out how to work with it the right way, but i like it

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#ConsultingTheDelve The Delve continues! Last couple of weeks were really packed up with other activities, but finally I had a chance to write down part 3 of the miniseries about organizing my work! "Part three of the "multiple-things-methapore series" - after 3.1 Juggle all the balls and 3.2 So many hats here comes 3.3 Boxes and Drawers, where I would like to dive deeper into some of the tools that help me organize the work I do on daily basis: control the flows of data; store, organize and retrieve knowledge etc. [...] More here: https://lnkd.in/dimBEfNd All posts of Consulting: The Delve can be found here: https://lnkd.in/d4TKTGgK #ITConsulting #ConsultingTheDelve #PegaConsulting #LifeAtPega

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It’s easy to see IT as a commodity — and that leaves IT functions vulnerable to outsourcing.  So how can IT departments add business value? THE PROBLEM In most cases, IT is not the main business of a company. The IT function generally operates in service of the company and its employees, supporting the people who make/provide the products/service the company offers . Traditionally,  IT team members tend to focus on IT problems, coming out of the basement only to solve technical IT problems for their coworkers. It’s not uncommon for IT people to not even understand their company's service or product offerings. This is the essence of commoditized IT — and is often the reason why companies can resort to simply outsourcing some or even all of their IT functions. IT teams have a surprising amount of influence over the future of IT within their organization, it comes down to one simple dynamic: delivering business value and outcomes. THE SOLUTION Instead of viewing IT as a separate function within a business, IT should see itself as a service provider that adds value to the organization. Certifications, hardware, networks, and other IT components are merely tools to help deliver business value. In my experience, IT professionals are often some of the brightest individuals in a company. Those who truly excel understand the distinction between delivering an IT service and delivering business value. The true value of IT lies not in the technology itself, but in how IT professionals use IT and their expertise to drive business outcomes and create value for the business. THE RESULT I have personally encouraged and witnessed "naturally born" IT professionals thrive by focusing on business value. By helping their organization improve efficiency and achieve better business outcomes, they have progressed significantly. There are two key outcomes from this approach: “IT” IS A POWERFUL ENABLER  Great IT teams demonstrate the art of the possible in terms of business value.  One effective tactic is encouraging IT professionals to engage with other departments to enhance efficiency.  Every team can benefit from workflow optimization and automation. By applying your expertise, you can reveal new possibilities to others.  For instance, departments like HR and finance may not naturally see the potential of workflow orchestration and automation. Take the initiative to show them, becoming a partner rather than just an IT helper. YOUR OPPORTUNITY FOR PROFESSIONAL GROWTH  When you show interest in your company's business and address problems outside of IT, you transition from being seen as a mere commodity to a valued partner.   By tackling business challenges and focusing on creating business value, you will be noticed, and positive outcomes for you and your team will quickly follow.

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User trainings? This is the most crutial part in my personal opinion. You can have the best product in the World, but if you don´t explain it the right way, users won´t be able to benefit and the product image is heavily impacted. That is why we do multiple training sessions, where each of them aligns with the most crutial types managements, to name few: revenue, finance and operations. If i should pick one, i like the most? That would be hard to choose between revenue and finance. These two are always quite "juicy" topics, on one side you go from performance based data, reports, and KPIs over to invoicing, ledgers and balances on the other side, both always generate a lot of room for questions and discussions. One could say it must be quite overwhelming to accommodate all, what each customer needs, especially on many markets around the World, but with our strong in-built revenue and financial reports and exports, we streamline this process efficiently, ensuring that every customer's requirements are met promptly and accurately, regardless of the market they're in. #revenuemanagement #finacialmanagement #pms #hoteltech #trainings #implementation #hotels #projects

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My recent work really gave me inspiration for a a new blog. Read it on "The Product Gnome". Let me know what you think or give me feedback. Oh and btw, sharing = caring :-). "Test it? It works over there". https://lnkd.in/eiDnAta8 #productmanagement #productowner #agile #experimenting #experimentation

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An article about the tale of 2 product mangers - an interesting exploration of the challenges of motivating teams in different product cultures, looking at how leadership style, company goals, organizational structures, and communication affect team motivation. I personally have a strong preference for what the writer calls the 'Empowered Product Team'. I much prefer giving (and being given) autonomy and clear objectives, even with financial challenges. This makes for a much more sustainable product and a better user experience. Do you disagree? Tell me why!

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The past two months flew by, and I learned so much. Recently I completed a course in Facilitation of Group Meetings from Projector Institute! 🎉 I'd like to share some insights, as facilitation skills are crucial for anyone leading a group and aiming to achieve goals efficiently. I know that meetings can be wonderful opportunities for learning and empowerment, where trust is built, and work gets done... But I also know that meetings can be awful, feel like a terrible waste of time, leave attendees with a headache, and even ruin relationships. This course is perfect for those looking to guide groups smoothly, even in challenging or conflict situations. It covered everything from basic facilitation skills to advanced techniques for managing group dynamics, understanding different personalities, and dealing with conflicts. It exceeded my expectations, offering not just theoretical knowledge but plenty of practical exercises and real-world scenarios that significantly enhanced my skills. A special shout-out to Olena Kizimenko! Your feedback was incredibly helpful, and your guidance helped me uncover my strengths. Your support truly made a difference. Thank you! 🙌 #Agile #team #facilitation

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Tina Gorenc, partner and business trainer at Hansen Beck, on conflicts: "Usually, we listen in order to respond, and rarely because we want to understand the person... In order to really listen to a person, you have to care about them." Recently, I had the pleasure of talking with Tina Gorenc, who organizes and leads workshops for companies and teams striving to improve. The conversation was part of a series of interviews for Purry Thoughts (https://purry-thoughts.com) with professionals whose work involves improving people's well-being. With her extensive knowledge of building satisfied and productive teams, as well as her insight into workplace relationships and dynamics, I was eager to discuss various work-related challenges and solutions with her. We talked about the main reasons employees change their jobs, why conflicts can be beneficial, and a few tips on how to address them. We also discussed concerning workload trends and why she believes children should have as many opportunities as possible to try new things. During our conversation, Tina also mentioned that we must take responsibility for ourselves and take action, including setting boundaries. Additionally, we talked about her career path and current work, the kind of work environment that inspires her, and how she takes care of her well-being. More in the interview: https://lnkd.in/dXGvv8eb

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