The 7 deadly sins of the product management and engineering relationship
The 7 deadly sins of the product management and engineering relationship
A seamless partnership between product management (PM) and engineering (ENG) is essential for any company building technology products and services. When firing on all cylinders, this collaboration can generate outstanding solutions that delight users while exhibiting technical excellence. However, even the best product teams can fall prey to dysfunctional patterns.
This article will uncover seven anti-patterns, or sins as I refer to them, that can surface between product and engineering, ranging from poor communication to mismatched priorities. We will diagnose the root causes of these maladies and provide actionable ways to get the relationship back on track. By recognizing and rectifying anti-patterns, product managers and engineers can rekindle transparency, trust and alignment - the hallmarks of an empowered, user-focused partnership geared for innovation.
The 7 deadly sins
I outline the sins in the table below offering how they manifest themselves from the two main protagonists perspectives: engineers and product managers. Each of these sins can alone derail a project or sour the relationship between engineering and product management.
I am sure there are many more sins or anti-patterns, but the above tend to be the ones I have observed the most frequently or the ones that can really cause the most harm. So what can be done to prevent these sins from happening? There are three critical traits that must be exhibited and practiced for a strong and healthy relationship between PM + ENG. These traits are the best defense for the sins outlined above.
1- Trust as the foundation
Trust is the cornerstone of an effective partnership between product management and engineering. With robust trust in one another, a PM/ENG pair can overcome any obstacle and steer towards successful outcomes together. Trust enables efficient alignment without excessive rules and processes governing the relationship. However, without trust as the bedrock, the PM/EM relationship will struggle to deliver results, no matter how well-defined the roles and responsibilities on paper. Building trust must be the number one priority.
2- Shared Accountability, Separate Ownership
PM and ENG collectively decide on the most critical problems to solve to advance the business. As leaders of the teams building the products, the PM + ENG are mutually accountable for delivering solutions that meet those needs. They have flexibility to adjust as they gain insights, but ultimately their success is interdependent. However, within this shared accountability, unique ownership still matters. While closely collaborating on trade-offs, the PM retains final authority on some decisions, and the EM on others. Separate ownership, within joint accountability, enables leveraging each leader's expertise while maintaining clear responsibilities.
The clearest separation of concerns, and decision making lies along what and how. PM decides on what to build and why - context matters. ENG decides on how to build. Having said that, even though the decision making is clear, these decisions are rarely done in isolation. A healthy PM+ENG relationship will be highly collaborative. PM will seek ENG input to help prioritize and decide on what to build. Similarly, ENG will seek PM’s guidance on design tradeoffs and choices, which are concerned with how a feature or product is a build. But, these tradeoffs can have profound customer and user implications.
3- Communication
Clear, ongoing communication is the lifeblood of an effective working relationship between both PM + ENG. To collaborate seamlessly, both sides must establish regular touch-points to align on priorities, track progress, and raise concerns early. Some best practices include having regular check-ins, whether through stand-ups, weekly syncs, or impromptu conversations. Other include demos and reviews at sprint end to validate acceptance criteria and designs. Written documentation of requirements and specs to supplement in-person discussions. Communication between both needs to happen across all levels of the respective organizations, leadership and within product development teams. This facilitates both bottoms up and top down alignment.
I realize this is pretty obvious, but its actually hard to get this relationship to truly flourish. I suppose this is no different than any other relationship, personal or professional, they all need trust, accountability, ownership and communications.
Easy :)