- Why teams are even more important than you think - Why the Product Manager is not the CEO of anything - How to empower a team while maintaining influence and control

1. www.productschool.com
PM and Cross-Functional Teams by
Gov Digital Service Prod Mgr

2. Join 35,000+Product
Managers on
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3. C O U R S E S
Product
Management
Learn the skills you need to land
a Product Manager job

4. C O U R S E S
Coding
for Managers
Build a website and gain the
technical knowledge to lead
software engineers

5. C O U R S E S
Data Analytics
for Managers
Learn the skills to understand web
analytics, SQL and machine learning
concepts

6. C O U R S E S
Learn how to acquire more users
and convert them into clients
Digital Marketing
for Managers

7. C O U R S E S
UX Design
for Managers
Gain a deeper understanding of your
users and deliver an exceptional end-to-
end experience

8. C O U R S E S
For experienced Product Managers
looking to gain strategic skills needed
for top leadership roles
Product
Leadership

9. C O U R S E S
Corporate
Training
Level up your team’s Product
Management skills

10. Thomas Hall
T O N I G H T ’ S S P E A K E R

11. What the PM role brings Skills Attributes
Focus Communication Emotional Intelligence
An empowered team Analysis Humility
Making things happen Communication Creativity / Integrativity

12. What the PM role brings Skills Attributes
Focus Communication Emotional Intelligence
An empowered team Analysis Humility
Making things happen Communication Creativity / Integrativity

13. Tonight’s Topic
How product
managers work with
cross-functional
teams

14. Tonight’s Topic
Accountable...

15. Tonight’s Topic
….but not
in charge

16. About me
The importance of teams
The CEO of the product
Working with a cross-functional team

17. A B O U T M O I

18. Worked on: identity, eCommerce, digital art, internal tools,
publishing, transformations
Worked in: cross-functional teams, up to 30
Titles: from Product Owner to Director of Product

19. The importance of teams
And why I think we underestimate it

20. T O N I G H T ’ S S P E A K E R
X
X
X

21. Focusing on who’s on
the team, instead of
the team’s working
process then X

22. In software, the superstar is the team, not the individual’
Avichal Garg
‘Start treating teams, not individuals, as the fundamental building
block of the organization.’
Adam Grant
Success in today’s workforce is increasingly about how teams work
together, rather than work done by individuals. More and more work
is becoming knowledge work, and all knowledge work is teamwork.’
Slack founder
‘A new organisational form is on the rise: a ‘network of teams’ is
replacing the conventional hierarchy’
Deloitte

23. Good teams
deliver orders of
magnitude more
than average
teams

24. It’s not just me
saying that

25. Good teams deliver more, not just a little - a lot more
Being on a good team is more fun, and we learn more
A PM’s success is wholly dependent on the team

26. The CEO of the
product?

27. X

28. Product is not an individual contributor role
Product is not a managerial role

30. Team is essential to our
success
We’re in an influence
role
IN
CHARGE

31. Empower the team
while setting boundaries and context

32. Why is this rare?

33. What if they
make a
mistake?
What if they
work on
something
random?
What if they
do better
without me?
Will they still
listen to me?
We don’t
have time to
debate it
I’m supposed
to have all
the answers
I’m pretty
sure I’m right
about this

34. Fear

35. I’ve learned to do it
differently

36. Relinquish control

37. Set boundaries, let team choose direction within them
Offer opinions sparingly, use evidence
Find ways to facilitate consensus
Team makes most decisions, you ratify them
You make 20% of decisions, team ratifies them
When problems arise, look to the team to solve
Let the team choose how it wants to work
Let others speak first
Invite quieter team members to talk
Change team composition, if needed

38. Ask questions
How would
that affect
____?
How does
that fit with
our priorities?
Interesting,
why do you
think that is?
What do you
recommend?
Is there
evidence for
this?
Would
everyone
agree with
that?
Does anyone
disagree with
that?

39. What happened?

40. New, better ideas
Team happier
Delivered a lot
Missions perceived as successful

41. Giving up control
increases your
influence

42. The team is important
The role is influence-based
Relinquishing control to the team
increases your influence

43. More reading:
David Marquet

44. www.productschool.com
Part-time Product Management, Coding, Data Analytics, Digital
Marketing, UX Design, Product Leadership courses and
Corporate Training