Shreyas Doshi’s Post

100% THIS. I definitely steam roll sometimes, but my total focus is on the problem being solved including the impact and customer experience. I don't want to be right, I want us to find the right answer. But that also requires everyone contributing have a deep understanding of the problem being solved - otherwise it is arm-chair quarterbacking.

Shreyas Doshi hard to imagine you angry / aggressive 😛

Great advice! Can't imagine you being aggressive. 😆 But what are your thoughts on how to handle not being heard as a PM? E.g, a PM might share that approach x does to meet the impact. But team can't deliver on it. And then the PM is the enemy. Meanwhile, PMs leadership expects to not lower the bar and act as an “owner”. If you bring the issues too early to leadership to get shit done and help your team, leadership might say - why are you lowering your bar. Or if you wait too long, then you are not getting shit done.

Great advice. The second boils down to "don't be a jerk". One magic phrase that helps with making people feel heard that I've learned recently (and to make sure I've actually heard them) is: "So if I heard you correctly, {insert what I heard including subtext}" Then ask "Did I hear you correctly?" It's empowering for me, and mollifying for other parties especially when I did hear them (and when I didn't it gives them an opportunity to let me know where I didn't hear them).

Even if you are not steamrolling others or not being dishonest you can have enemies....because people may have perceptions about you.... A better approach is to be humble, learn, and depersonalize things. If you feel overlooked don't get emotional, ask deep questions, and increasingly rely on data/data points.

Loved this. It expands to all work exchanges. When you just hold people accountable for the outcome, while they figure out how, the motivation and commitment to the task increases. This way people act like owners and won't stress over it as an additional burden (might as well enjoy doing it).

Shreyas Doshi, I am currently facing a unique challenge with cross module PMs within my org. The feature I am working on is a part of an org wide initiative that everyone is aware of, including its business impact, etc. It was supposed to be prioritized for this quarter. Unfortunately, after numerous discussions with the respective PMs from those areas since the beginning of this year, including various meetings and follow ups, I have learned that it wasn't prioritized from their areas in Q3 whereas my part of the work is ready for them to consume in their areas. Now, my senior director suggests that it's my fault for not having written confirmation from them; verbal agreements are no longer considered sufficient, despite working well in previous years. I am eager to hear your perspective on how I can move forward effectively without creating enemies or burning bridges. How can I ask them to prioritize this feature from their respective product areas within this quarter? Looking forward to your thoughts and perspective on this.

The most important point in this for me was - " the blind spots in the document that's written" I've come across PM's expecting to get something done with one sentence verbal statement of what they think should be done and with no articulation on the why, how - resources, challenges and so on. My advice would be, take a leaf from Jezz Bezos's Memos. If we write a detailed memo / doc about the problem, solution, pros / cons of this solution, is this a priority at this point i.e. is it high ROI ? We'd see majority of the issues you've mentioned fade away.

How about utilizing some other term, instead of s**t.... You know thinking outside the box....

Well said, learned it the hard way. Listening is #1 skill. Objective (purposeful, and timely) driven consensus building (with mutual respect) is #2. Good communication is beyond words. It's taking people along.