Hiring the Best Product Managers: A Comprehensive Guide

Understanding the Role of a Product Manager

The role of a product manager (PM) is multifaceted and crucial for the success of any product-driven company. A PM acts as a hub function, connecting various stakeholders within and outside the organization. Here are the core responsibilities:

• Validation: This involves gathering insights from customer interviews and product usage data. A PM must validate ideas to ensure they address real customer needs.

• Building: Effective PMs work closely with engineering teams. They communicate requirements in a language engineers understand and make trade-offs to facilitate smooth development.

• Business Acumen: PMs need to set relevant KPIs and link their work to business outcomes. Understanding the overall business and market dynamics is essential.

• Communication Skills: Communication is key. PMs must interact effectively with executives, customers, and engineers, each requiring different vocabulary and altitude.

These competencies are vital for making informed decisions, prioritizing features, and aligning cross-functional teams toward common goals.

When to Hire Your First Product Manager

Hiring your first product manager (PM) is a critical milestone. The ideal time to make this hire is when you've achieved:

• Repeatable Product-Market Fit: Ensure that your product meets the needs of a defined customer segment consistently.

• Clear Customer Profiles: You should have well-defined ideal customer profiles (ICPs) and an understanding of their needs.

Hiring a PM too early can be problematic. Founders should first establish core aspects like user experience and prioritize features. Onboarding a PM before achieving product-market fit may lead to confusion and misaligned priorities.

A junior PM can handle backlog management initially. However, a senior PM or product leader should only come on board once the foundation is solid.

Setting these conditions ensures your first PM can drive meaningful impact and align with your business goals.

Structuring the Hiring Process

Hiring a product manager requires a meticulous process. Here’s a five-step approach to ensure you get the best candidates:

1. Recruiter Screen: Start with a 30-minute screen by a recruiter or the hiring manager. This checks for basic qualifications and fit.

2. Hiring Manager Interview: The hiring manager spends an hour evaluating core competencies of the candidate, including their experience and skills in product management.

3. Engineering Manager Interview: An engineering manager conducts a one-hour interview. This assesses the candidate's technical knowledge and ability to collaborate with engineering teams.

4. Peer Interview: Arrange an interview with current PMs. Use hands-on exercises like the 'Think Big, Think Small' to evaluate their thinking process and collaboration skills.

5. Final Interview: Conduct a final interview with either the hiring manager again or a bar raiser. This often involves a case study to test problem-solving abilities and strategic thinking.

Following these steps ensures a thorough assessment of each candidate's qualifications and fit for your team.

Core Competencies to Look For

When hiring a product manager, certain core competencies are essential. These competencies ensure the PM can effectively manage the product lifecycle and contribute to company success. Here are the four key competencies:

• Validation: This involves customer interviewing and gathering product usage data to validate ideas. Example: Ask the candidate to describe a time they changed course based on surprising customer insights.

• Building: Effective PMs work well with engineering teams. They must be able to make trade-offs and communicate requirements clearly. Example: Evaluate their ability to break down a complex project into actionable steps.

• Business Acumen: PMs need to set relevant KPIs and link their work to business outcomes. Example: Ask about a past project where they aligned product features with business goals.

• Communication Skills: Strong communication skills are crucial for interacting with executives, customers, and engineers. Example: Test their verbal and written abilities through exercises and real-world scenarios.

These competencies help ensure your PM can make informed decisions and align cross-functional teams toward common goals.

Effective Peer Interviews

Conducting peer interviews effectively is crucial for hiring top-notch product managers. Here are some key strategies:

• Think Big, Think Small Exercise: Ask candidates to prepare a topic relevant to the role. They need to outline a vision and then break it down into actionable steps. This tests their ability to think strategically and execute practically.

• Test Verbal Communication: Throughout the exercise, assess how well candidates explain their ideas. Clear and concise communication is vital for cross-functional collaboration.

• Evaluate Written Skills: In remote settings, written communication is essential. Ensure candidates can document their thoughts clearly and effectively.

These methods help identify candidates who can not only generate ideas but also communicate and implement them efficiently.

The Importance of Writing Skills

Writing skills are crucial for product managers, especially in remote settings. Clear documentation helps ensure alignment and effective communication across teams.

At GitLab, writing was essential due to the fully remote environment. PMs did very little synchronous work, so written communication was the primary mode of interaction.

Scott Williamson emphasized the importance of writing skills: "If you can't rely on verbal agility to get things done, you better be a good writer."

Key documents include the opportunity canvas and six-pager strategy documents. An opportunity canvas helps PMs think holistically about a product concept, covering user targets, pain points, potential upsides, and risks.

The six-pager strategy document outlines long-term strategies and narrows focus to avoid overcomplication. It facilitates meticulous planning and stakeholder alignment.

Strong writing skills allow PMs to document ideas clearly, ensuring everyone understands the goals and strategies, ultimately driving better product outcomes.

Onboarding New Product Managers

Onboarding new product managers effectively is crucial for setting them up for success. Here’s a step-by-step guide:

• Set Clear Expectations: Define what responsibilities the founder will keep and what the product manager will own. Clarify vision, strategy, prioritization, and hiring roles.

• Provide Context: In the first two weeks, ensure new hires meet key team members and review essential documents. This helps them gain context quickly.

• Outline Initial Deliverables: In weeks three and four, have them conduct customer interviews. By the end of the first month, they should be able to give a product demo.

A structured onboarding process ensures new product managers are well-prepared and aligned with the company's goals.

Managing Product Manager Performance

Managing product manager performance is crucial for long-term success. A career development framework can help structure this process effectively.

Key Elements of the Framework

• Validation: Assess the PM's ability to gather customer insights and validate ideas. This ensures they are addressing real needs.

• Building: Evaluate how well they collaborate with engineering teams. Can they communicate requirements clearly and make necessary trade-offs?

• Business Acumen: Check their ability to set relevant KPIs and align their work with business goals.

• Communication Skills: Test their capability to interact with different stakeholders, from executives to engineers, in their respective languages.

Regular Check-ins and Feedback

• Bi-Monthly Reviews: Schedule check-ins every two to three months. Provide actionable feedback based on observed behaviors and outcomes.

• Document Observations: Create a new line below their level in the career development framework. Note what you saw that was either positive or in need of improvement.

• Clear Expectations: Inform PMs where they stand—do they need development, meet expectations, or exceed them?

Regular feedback and a structured framework help PMs understand their strengths and areas for improvement, aligning their growth with company objectives.