Half-Day Interactive Workshop
“Get ready to actively participate in your transformation from product manager to product leader”
A product manager rarely has any authority beyond what they can talk people into, thus we need to become really strong communicators. In this half-day interactive workshop, we’ll look at the three kinds of communication: managing up, team communications, and the very important roadshow for getting other groups onboard with your vision. We will use the power of story for formal communication and a combination of techniques from NVC (Harvard’s negotiation project) and the GSB’s “touchy feely” class to make sure your message gets through, and that we are listening effectively.
This special half-day training workshop, with product author and lecturer, Christina Wodtke, is specifically designed for product managers who are looking to really level up their communications skills and who want to use story-telling to effectively communicate with others.
2. Housekeeping
• Break at 3:00
• End at 5
• Please be present for each other
• Slides and supplementary materials https://bit.ly/2KZVlNB
• Signs for needs
• Louder
• Slow down
• Jargon
3. Interview Each Other
• Get into pairs
• 2 minutes of A answering B’s question
• 2 minutes of B answering A’s question
• Round table: short introduction of who is at each table, 30 secs each
6. Goals
Objective: Learn to communicate my needs
effectively and build coalitions that allows my
product to thrive
KR: Marketing is excited to promote my product
Has 3 solid plans to promote
KR: Team Members enthusiastically work toward
our shared goal
Show up on time for meetings and contribute
KR: Boss understands my value and rewards it
I get a raise/bonus
7. Two kinds of Communication
Part 1: One to One Part 2: One to Many
Good for coalition building
Time consuming at first; but
builds strong ties that last
across jobs
Good for reaching many, but
builds weak ties
Upfront work, but the deck can
go with you… until the projects
over
10. What change do you seek?
After our meeting, ____________ will feel _____________ and will want to
support the product by _______________.
Grateful
Joyful
Relieved
Free
Peaceful
Loving
Hopeful
Purposeful
Connected
Confident
Curious
Enthusiastic
Healthy
Spiritual
Prosperous
Inspired
Motivated
Secure
Thrilled
Amused
12. Research
• Who in your organization matters as you struggle to move things forward?
• Who is that person, as a person? Who do they care about? How do they
spend their time?
• How do they communicate?
• What do they value?
15. RACI
R = Responsible (also Recommender)
A = Accountable (also Approver or final approving authority)
C = Consulted (sometimes Consultant or counsel)
I = Informed (also Informee)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Responsibility_assignment_matrix
16. 4 Types of buyers
• The Sponsor Buyer (Their reputation depends on your success)
• The User Buyer (Your decisions affect them)
• The Detail Buyer (anyone who can derail the success of the project)
• The Financial Buyer (person who can give a go/no go)
17. Others?
• Execution Team
• Bosses of matrixed team members
• Technical Partners
• Promotion platform owners
• Business Partners
Can any of these veto your work? Can any make you successful?
24. “The problem is that we tend to
assume that our framing represents
the truth, rather than merely
presenting a subjective “map.”
In truth, however, each frame offers
its own image of reality.”
Edmondson, Amy C.
Teaming: How
Organizations Learn,
Innovate, and Compete in
the Knowledge Economy
25. Me You
Cultural Gap Analysis
Pick a person from your influence map. On each line, mark where you think you
are and where the person you wish to influence is.
34. POWER: Social status and
prestige, control or dominance
over people and resources
Me
My Boss
Peer I want to influence
Very important Somewhat
important
Matters Matters
somewhat
Doesn’t matter
35. ACHIEVEMENT: Personal success
through demonstrating
competence according to social
standards
Me
My Boss
Peer I want to influence
Very important Somewhat
important
Matters Matters
somewhat
Doesn’t matter
36. HEDONISM: Pleasure or sensuous
gratification for oneself
Me
My Boss
Peer I want to influence
Very important Somewhat
important
Matters Matters
somewhat
Doesn’t matter
37. STIMULATION: Excitement,
novelty, and challenge in life
Me
My Boss
Peer I want to influence
Very important Somewhat
important
Matters Matters
somewhat
Doesn’t matter
38. SELF-DIRECTION: Independent
thought and action - choosing,
creating, exploring
Me
My Boss
Peer I want to influence
Very important Somewhat
important
Matters Matters
somewhat
Doesn’t matter
39. UNIVERSALISM: Understanding,
appreciation, tolerance, and
protection for the welfare of all
people and for nature
Me
My Boss
Peer I want to influence
Very important Somewhat
important
Matters Matters
somewhat
Doesn’t matter
40. BENEVOLENCE: Preservation and
enhancement of the welfare of
people with whom one is in
frequent personal contact
Me
My Boss
Peer I want to influence
Very important Somewhat
important
Matters Matters
somewhat
Doesn’t matter
41. TRADITION: Respect, commitment,
and acceptance of the customs and
ideas that traditional culture
or religion provide
Me
My Boss
Peer I want to influence
Very important Somewhat
important
Matters Matters
somewhat
Doesn’t matter
42. CONFORMITY: Restraint of
actions, inclinations, and impulses
likely to upset or harm others and
violate social expectations or
norms
Me
My Boss
Peer I want to influence
Very important Somewhat
important
Matters Matters
somewhat
Doesn’t matter
43. SECURITY: Safety, harmony, and
stability of society, of
relationships, and of self
Me
My Boss
Peer I want to influence
Very important Somewhat
important
Matters Matters
somewhat
Doesn’t matter
48. Write an
argument for
what you want
using one value
Examples: If we launch
this, we will protect out
user’s privacy (safety)
If we launch this, it will
continue our company’s
tradition of excellence
(tradition)
If we launch this, it will
allow us to keep parity
with competitors.
(conformity)
52. Transition
Hooks
“Little did I know I was
completely wrong.”
“It proved even harder than
we thought.”
“No one suspected then
that the opposite was true.”
53. Struggle
Yes, But: I was finally able to land a famous blogger for my new platform,
but that day my cofounder quit to become a life coach.
No, Furthermore: Our first coffee store in Shenzen was struggling, and then
we heard Starbucks was opening their first store in a month.
54. Solution
• “It killed us, but we had to go back to those early
adopters and show them a new product that actually
solved their problems: a mini-hoe coated with
pesticides!”
• “When we did usability testing, we realized color-
blind people weren’t seeing the button. Fixing that
solved the mystery we saw in the A/B test results”
• “We’d thought that people in China wanted a familiar
atmosphere in their coffee shops, but what they really
wanted was a tiny vacation to visit the west.We
redesigned our stores to give that to them.”
66. What change do you seek?
After my presentation, ____________ my audience will feel _____________
and will want to support the product by _______________.
Grateful
Joyful
Relieved
Free
Peaceful
Loving
Hopeful
Purposeful
Connected
Confident
Curious
Enthusiastic
Healthy
Spiritual
Prosperous
Inspired
Motivated
Secure
Thrilled
Amused
69. Two Story-Based Approaches
Story Driven Story Decorated
Anecdote #1
Point #2
Point #3
Point #4
Point #1
Point #2
Point #3
Point #4
Point #1
Anecdote #12
Anecdote #3
Story (1-3)
71. Improv
• Character with a Goal and a Motivation
• Setting/Situation
• Inciting incident (usually first attempt
toward goal, or a motivation to start
trying to accomplish goal. More here)
• Try (character tries something to get to
their goal)
• Fail (something goes wrong)
• Try
• Fail
• Try
• Fail
• Crises (all is lost, the goal will never be
accomplished!)
• Climax (character figures out a way! or
gets rescued)
• Resolution (how is character’s life
changed by this success?)
• Moral of the story is (punchline)