Meeting the engineers’ expectations as a product manager
By: Ishita Mehta
Tags: Technology, Product, Product Management, Expectations, Product Manager

One of the teams that product managers closely work with is the engineering team. This is the team that literally brings ideas to life. Since the interaction with the engineers happens on a day to day basis, it becomes necessary for product managers to understand what engineers expect from them. The simple reason for this is that you don’t want engineers to work in a frustrated manner because that will surely impact the quality of the deliverables. Without further adieu, let us look at some of the things which engineers would like product managers to understand before working on any project.

1. Giving clear and concise instructions

Though this sounds relatively simple, it is one of the things which product managers often tend to not do. What happens is that once the requirements have been gathered, product managers will prepare lengthy documentation that consists of the features and specifications to be built. Now there is nothing wrong with lengthy documentation because after all, it contains every little detail which will ensure that the set expectation is met. However, if you are assuming that the engineers will go through it in detail, then you are mistaken. You have to understand that engineers are not here to read long documents. They are here to understand what they have to do and then actually code. Therefore, whenever you need the team to build or change a feature(s), give the instructions that the team actually needs for implementation. In other words, don’t beat around the bush, please!

Photo Credit: Giphy

2. Take necessary meetings only

If there is one word that may make the engineering team sigh a little it is the word “meeting”. In no way am I saying that engineers don’t like meetings. They also understand that meetings allow the entire team to be on the same page. However, it is crucial to understand that engineers are not going to appreciate you as a product manager if you will keep having discussions with them related to the projects. Think about it. The engineering team cannot give all their time to the meetings because they have to do the coding, and they know that if their tasks are not completed, the project will come to a halt. So as a product manager, one way to ensure that you are only taking the required time out of the engineers’ schedule is first to figure out all of the things that need to be discussed. Go ahead and see who would be the best person/people to give those answers. Wherever you need the engineers, schedule a discussion where you are getting as many answers as possible.

3. Providing with finalized designs

From my own experience of working with the engineers, I can guarantee you that your engineers will love you if you provide them with finalized designs to develop. By completed I mean that these designs have received the approval of the boss, client, and any other stakeholder. When you put yourself in the shoes of the engineering team, this makes a lot of sense. Developing fully approved designs means that you are not going to be making nearly 1000 changes. That is just frustrating for anyone!

Having said this, it happens so that sometimes getting approval for the designs from clients or other stakeholders can take time. At the same time, you also have deadlines to meet. In such cases, do not try to give half-approved designs to the developers right away. First, try to get the approval for a set of designs and then give it to the engineers. This way you and your team will be much more productive!

4. Take up a stand for them when needed

For a moment, I would like you to think about who are the closest ones to you. If I am not wrong, one of the reasons why someone is close to you is because you know that they will take up a stand for you if such a situation arises. The engineers expect the same from the product manager. Engineers may not say this to the product managers, but they would greatly appreciate it if product managers would stand by them in times when perhaps there are delays in the deliverables due to genuine reasons. When such support is given to them, it will motivate them to fight through the obstacles and get there.

5. Tell them the truth

They say honesty is always the best policy. No matter how bitter the truth may be, it is better to know it. Engineers, like anyone else, would like to know the truth at all times. As a product manager, you must be honest and tell them upfront about scenarios that can range from further changes to be made in the design to stop building a feature because of another requirement. Don’t try to keep it from them for as long as you can because eventually, they will come to know of it.

Also, one more thing: though the team may not react happily to all truths, they will indeed not despise you because firstly, you are being honest and not creating stories out of thin air, and secondly, they understand that things like this can happen. It’s okay!

Wrap Up

The engineering team is a great team to work with as they always bring a new perspective to the table and teach you the things you may have not known. Having said that, it is essential as well as dutiful as product managers to understand the key expectations of the engineers. This could take some time and can be challenging too. However, once you get in the habit of doing this, you will see how your team will become more enthusiastic while building rocking products for the customers!

To the engineers who have read this, I would love to know whether you agree or disagree with the expectations that you would have for product managers. Also, how do you all find this article overall? Let me know your valuable feedback in the comment section below.

(For anyone looking for ways to be rocking product, do check out this blog!)

This post has been published on www.productschool.com communities