Welcome to my blog. You may want to filter posts by your role for your convenience. Click here if you are an individual contributor in product (aka. PM) and here if you are leading a product organisation (aka product leader).
What usually happens in June happened at the end of September this year. Due to the COVID situation, our MTP Engage Leadership Forum made its first autumn premiere. Arne Kittler and I are the organizers of MTP Engage Hamburg and we had the pleasure of hosting the first Mind the Product in-person event since the pandemic hit.
Here are my key learnings from this half-day event.
Read MoreWhen it comes to offering development opportunities, some companies struggle with doing this in a strategic way. They essentially throw money at the problem, opting to pay a premium for coaching and training. So what’s wrong with this approach? As a coach, shouldn’t I be happy to take money from any potential client who would like to pay me?
Read MoreIf you have been following my work for a while, you already know that I think the right question at the right time can do magic. Powerful questions can come up at any time: in a team meeting, during a quick chat at the water cooler, or in a proper 1:1 employee feedback situation.
Read MoreWhat are your product managers hoping to achieve in the future? Sometimes it helps to look at what they’ve done and where they’ve come from before helping them chart a course toward the future. Learn how Tim Lukas Leinert approaches this with his team and how the Future Self canvas guides those conversations.
Read MoreSo you’ve decided that you’re interested in product coaching? That’s great! But it’s a very broad ecosystem and it’s easy to get overwhelmed by everything that’s out there. So my goal is to help you navigate the different offerings and figure out what’s right for you.
Read MoreAre you looking for a case study of a company that successfully managed the transformation to become more agile, customer centric, or product led? If that’s the case, I’m sorry to disappoint you, but you won’t find the one that tells you exactly what to do to successfully transform your organization.
Read MoreWhat does it mean to be “good” at something? This can be a tough question to answer. But if you’re trying to coach your product managers on their professional development, it’s essential to help them conduct an accurate self-assessment.
Read MoreOne of the things that’s so exciting about developing a coaching tool is seeing how people adapt it to their own needs. I’m thrilled to introduce you to Arne Kittler, VP of Product at XING and co-organizer of MTP Engage Hamburg. In this post, you’ll learn how Arne has customized the PMwheel for his team.
Read MoreAs a product leader, you face a number of challenges. You might lack confidence in your coaching abilities, struggle to get stakeholders on board, or simply feel overwhelmed by meetings that creep across your calendar and prevent you from getting any real, strategic work done. So how do you take charge of your own professional development as a product leader?
Read MoreOne of the not-so-hidden secrets for developing new products or features is called “working backwards.” This practice involves writing a press release before you even start to develop a new product or feature. The idea is that the process of writing a press release will help you to put your customers first and focus on the most essential aspects of your product.
Read MoreHow can you help your product managers meet their goals? It helps to translate big, lofty ideas into specific plans of action. And one tool that can help you achieve that is the Future Self template.
Annu Augustine is the founder of product management training and consulting company NedRock in beautiful Cape Town, South Africa. Annu has also found this framework useful in her training and consulting work.
Read MoreIn every product organization, you as HoP—along with your product managers—must constantly balance product discovery (what to build) and product delivery (build it). Do too much of the former, and you’ll never get anything built. Do too much of the latter, and you’ll fall victim to building the wrong products in a beautiful way.
Read MoreMy virtual book tour is still going full force and my latest stop was close to home at ProductTank Hamburg.
Read MoreEven if you haven't read the book Leaders Eat Last by Simon Sinek, you might have seen the title. And if you are a product leader, chances are you believe in servant leadership or the fact that you should prioritize your team’s happiness, health, and motivation above your own.
Read MoreSpring is just around the corner in the northern hemisphere and since most people around the globe are still fighting the pandemic, our work/life balance continues to be a challenge. Many of us haven’t seen our colleagues, employees, and peers in person in a long time. Everyone seems to be exhausted and drained from the last 12 months of home office, homeschooling, home everything.
Read MoreIn my new book STRONG Product People: A Complete Guide to Developing Great Product Managers, I’ve aimed to deliver everything a product leader needs to help team members live up to their full potential and to feel empowered. Get a quick overview of the book here and find out how I recommend approaching the content in the book here.
Want to actually dive into some of the book content? In this post, you can preview Chapter 11: How to Find the Time?
Read MoreIn the past, I’ve written a few posts about the PMwheel, a tool I created to help define product managers’ roles and responsibilities. But today, I’m excited to share someone else’s perspective. Sophia Höfling is a Head of Product at Babbel. She’s been using the PMwheel as a coaching tool for the product managers on her team.
Read MoreOne of the biggest topics I address in my daily work is the development of strong product people. I help product leaders to understand the importance of people development and I’ve created all sorts of frameworks and canvases. My goal is to help them become the best coach their PMs have ever had.
Read MoreIn our conversation about STRONG product people, I chose to focus on Chapter 4: Define Your Good. You’ll hear about my own approach to defining good and the six personality traits that I believe define great product managers.
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