Comments on: Spend your time in the right places http://www.goodproductmanager.com/2007/02/05/spend-your-time-in-the-right-places/ A blog with tips on product management and related topics. Written by Jeff Lash, a product manager in St. Louis, MO Sun, 07 Mar 2010 10:14:56 -0800 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Delegate tactical responsibilities : How To Be A Good Product Manager: Product management tips http://www.goodproductmanager.com/2007/02/05/spend-your-time-in-the-right-places/comment-page-1/#comment-8026 Delegate tactical responsibilities : How To Be A Good Product Manager: Product management tips Mon, 14 Apr 2008 06:04:03 +0000 http://www.goodproductmanager.com/2007/02/05/spend-your-time-in-the-right-places/#comment-8026 [...] it is easy to say that product managers should be more strategic and less tactical (see Spend your time in the right places, for example), actually accomplishing that is a significant challenge. Pragmatic Marketing recently [...] [...] it is easy to say that product managers should be more strategic and less tactical (see Spend your time in the right places, for example), actually accomplishing that is a significant challenge. Pragmatic Marketing recently [...]

]]> By: Jeff Lash http://www.goodproductmanager.com/2007/02/05/spend-your-time-in-the-right-places/comment-page-1/#comment-6256 Jeff Lash Tue, 05 Feb 2008 03:00:21 +0000 http://www.goodproductmanager.com/2007/02/05/spend-your-time-in-the-right-places/#comment-6256 I don't think there's one "magic" number. Some weeks or months may be different, depending on the phase of projects that are in motion. Maybe a better way to look at it is to analyze your time and, if you feel like you're spending too much time on one area (likely monitoring development projects), ask yourself why. Is it because you're covering for other areas where you are short on resources? Is it because you haven't delegated enough decision-making? Is it because you are solving conflicts between team members? If you can figure out the root of the issue, you can figure out how to solve it. Enlist your team members to help -- maybe others can take on more responsibilities or make sure at least it's clear which things you should / shouldn't get involved with. Part of this also means defining how much time you want to be spending doing certain activities and analyzing whether that matches what you are actually doing. I highly recommend the <a href="http://www.manager-tools.com/2006/05/time-management/" rel="nofollow">time analysis</a> that Manager Tools describes as a way of finding the gaps between what you think you spend your time on, what you want to spend your time on, and what you actually spend your time on. That should give you a good framework to measure your own time and make sure you are focusing on the right product management activities. I don’t think there’s one “magic” number. Some weeks or months may be different, depending on the phase of projects that are in motion. Maybe a better way to look at it is to analyze your time and, if you feel like you’re spending too much time on one area (likely monitoring development projects), ask yourself why.

Is it because you’re covering for other areas where you are short on resources? Is it because you haven’t delegated enough decision-making? Is it because you are solving conflicts between team members?

If you can figure out the root of the issue, you can figure out how to solve it. Enlist your team members to help — maybe others can take on more responsibilities or make sure at least it’s clear which things you should / shouldn’t get involved with.

Part of this also means defining how much time you want to be spending doing certain activities and analyzing whether that matches what you are actually doing. I highly recommend the time analysis that Manager Tools describes as a way of finding the gaps between what you think you spend your time on, what you want to spend your time on, and what you actually spend your time on. That should give you a good framework to measure your own time and make sure you are focusing on the right product management activities.

]]> By: Matt Gregg http://www.goodproductmanager.com/2007/02/05/spend-your-time-in-the-right-places/comment-page-1/#comment-6142 Matt Gregg Fri, 01 Feb 2008 04:39:47 +0000 http://www.goodproductmanager.com/2007/02/05/spend-your-time-in-the-right-places/#comment-6142 I think I need to print this one out and post it so I'm reminded everyday. What would you consider a good split or amount of time to spend monitoring, prioritizing, or problem-solving on development projects? I think I need to print this one out and post it so I’m reminded everyday. What would you consider a good split or amount of time to spend monitoring, prioritizing, or problem-solving on development projects?

]]> By: Marsha http://www.goodproductmanager.com/2007/02/05/spend-your-time-in-the-right-places/comment-page-1/#comment-50 Marsha Tue, 06 Feb 2007 00:47:34 +0000 http://www.goodproductmanager.com/2007/02/05/spend-your-time-in-the-right-places/#comment-50 It's a delicate balancing act - product managers are constantly in danger of being sucked into a black hole as the demands of development intensify. You've got to be pretty tough to withstand the pressure... It’s a delicate balancing act – product managers are constantly in danger of being sucked into a black hole as the demands of development intensify. You’ve got to be pretty tough to withstand the pressure…

]]>