Image credit: Daniel Shoreman
So, what is this product management lark about? Product folks (we go by many titles) are a very special yet misunderstood group of tech generalists who like to ask ‘why’ a lot. The truth is, every company operates differently and the role is open to interpretation to a large extent, but there are some basic things to know about product folks.
No one explains it better than the product manager’s best friend Mind the Product (who actually quoted Marty Cagan, but whatever):
“[A product manager’s job is] to discover a product that is valuable, usable and feasible”.
It’s a mix of skills and personality type. I remember reading the afore-mentioned Mind the Product article way back in 2015 and being super-excited about this role existing. It’s absolutely perfect for someone like me. I love data (not so much mining it but analysing it), doing research and building evidence, asking ‘why’ and ‘should we?’.
The first time I could vote, I surveyed every adult I knew asking who they voted for and why (it was a disappointing survey with ‘i just always have’ being the general sentiment). I have THREE weather apps on my phone and I take a mean from their forecasts and make my own (why are they so different?!) A great example of how data is open to interpretation. I’m the annoying person who sends Doodles to organise a night out, but you would not have a night out without me annoying you with Doodles so you secretly love it. Does this sound like you? Maybe product is the career you never knew you needed!
When I officially started out in product back in 2018, there was very little work here in Leeds. I made the gruelling commute over the Pennines everyday and spent most of my spare cash on travel or staying over. Struggling to find a work/life balance, I lasted 18 months and gave up. Fast forward to 2023 and there is a burgeoning product community that’s thriving and growing at pace. There’s also the world of remote working opening up the county lines and offering so much more opportunity.
Where once we had nowhere to meet and exchange notes on stakeholder management and the best brand of sticky notes, we now have options! As with every professional meetup, things went quiet for a while due to the pandemic. In the absence of a product community I decided in January of this year to stand up my own, largely out of curiosity. Who are the product community in Leeds and can we hang out please?
I pulled in all my favours from brilliant people in my tech network and made a start on building a community of practice for product managers, owners and leaders to share ideas and grow their own networks. It can be lonely working in product when you are one of a handful (or, in some cases, the only person in your department!). It’s great to have a community to learn from and bounce off ideas. Since the idea for Product Assembly was a gleam in my eye back in January, I’ve run two meet ups and have over 200 people in the network. Three months after Product Assembly was born, the much beloved Product Tank came back with newly appointed Sam Quayle at the helm. “Oh no” I thought, “Is there a place for two product meetups in Leeds?”. Worrying that the town wasn’t big enough for the both of us was not necessary and now Sam and I have very clear places in the meetup market. Product Tank continues with its well-known brand of talks from the movers and shakers in the profession, and Product Assembly focuses on the practice of product management as well as facilitated networking. Both compliment the other brilliantly. You really are a lucky bunch, Leeds.
Each meetup is led by its attendees. You decide what you want from the next event and feedback drives the format each time. The next event is going to be a mashup of a practical skills session with talks as voted for at the last event. I’m even thinking of doing an open mic so the community can do lightning talks about what they have learned or are passionate about sharing. The meetups are during the week after work and currently live at various homes in Leeds City centre. We network and get to know each other a bit and then I do guided sessions that are interactive and should leave you feeling that bit more knowledgeable when you head home.
What I have found is that product meetups are of interest to lots of different professions. I’ve had UX designers, user researchers, business analysts, service designers and general tech leaders joining the community looking to understand more about Product Mindset.
You are of course all welcome along. We are a friendly bunch and it’s a safe space to ask any question regardless of your experience and knowledge, so please do join us and get involved.
The next meet up is in the pipeline for October – we’d love to see you there!
You can find out more about Product Assembly events and news on the LinkedIn page here.