The Productologist

In my experience, a Product Manager’s workload is cyclical, primarily revolving around product releases, but there are other factors, too. For example, I recently had maintenance releases for two products, a Beta program for our next-generation release and managing a special project all going on a the same time. For some of you, that may be a lot happening at once; for others, it may seem like a lull, but for me it’s more toward the former than the latter.

There’s an interesting thread going on across several blogs about the Agile development method (Agile, here and across other posts, is being used as a catch-all for many rapid release methodologies) and the role of Product Management. I have posted an article and made comments on several of these blogs, but this post isn’t about that. It’s about the relationship between Product Management and Engineering.

The Cranky Product Manager, in her post about Agile, and a response from one of the other bloggers involved in the discussion demonstrates the tension between Product Managers and Engineering groups.

On my work calendar, I have the first 30 minutes of each morning blocked off so that I can review the tasks for the day and read any email and listen to voicemails that came in overnight. I do this because I know that it will help me stay focused on what needs my attention most. Unfortunately, this level of organization doesn’t fit well with what my job requires.

Most mornings, I get into the office 20-30 minutes before my scheduled review block. I regularly do the one or more of the following things: