Introduction
A year ago I was getting inconsistent feedback on the product managers in my team. Various groups were praising and criticizing different product managers. There was no clear good or poor product manager. Everyone had a different point of view. It was critical that I get to the bottom of this issue and find a solution.

The Story
With different feedback from different groups it was important to figure out why the views were so divergent. It was evident that the most likely cause was around expectations of what it meant to be a good product manager. I conducted a series of interviews with the leadership in each of the departments. And realized that the issue was the broad range of areas a product manager was expect to master.

I developed a pyramid of skill that my team was responsible for:

Vision and Thought Leadership

Business Growth and Financial Analysis

Domain Expertise

Detailed Product Knowledge

Knowledge Transfer and Organizational Readiness

Product managers that did well at the top often did poorly at the bottom and vice versa. One person could be loved by sales and hated by support or the other way around.

To tackle this issue I created a new role - Senior Product Segment Manager>/i> that would be responsible for the high level items such as Vision and Business Growth. This new structure has had an immediate and positive change on the department and how we are viewed inside the company. Now that roles are better aligned with achievable results we are well positioned for success in the year ahead.

What I Learned
1. Listen to those around you and get active feedback on your team;
2. Take action on that feedback;
3. Create jobs that people can be successful in, make sure the span of responsibility is manageable;
4. Look for the thought leaders and put them in the place they belong;
5. You cannot be successful unless your team is successful!



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