How to Lead in Product Management: Practices to Align Stakeholders, Guide Development Teams, and Create Value Together

by Roman Pichler

First, stop doing less important tasks, or delegate them, something I recommended earlier. Do you really need to attend all meetings you currently participate in? Do you need to receive and read all emails that are sent to you? Can you get off some distribution lists, or can someone else take care of the messages? Second, timebox routine work. For instance, check and answer messages for thirty minutes in the morning, after lunch, and towards the end of the day. Set a timer and stop the activity when the time is up, then close your email or social media app and disable notifications.

Third, review your recurring tasks: Do they help you manage the product and lead the dev team and stakeholders? If not, why are you carrying out the tasks? As discussed in the chapter Interactions, it’s a mistake to take on additional responsibilities and to cover other people’s work on a continued basis.