The Cranky Product Manager has returned from the land of sweatpants and spit-up (aka maternity leaave), and is now back at Dysfunctosoft three days a week. She’s still sleep deprived and cranky, but is enjoying the conversations with adults and the astonishing luxury of going to the bathroom BY HERSELF IN PEACE without someone having a mammoth conniption fit.
50s mom
We’ll see how it goes, being a part-time product manager. The Cranky Product Manager is skeptical about the plausibility of such an undertaking. Can product management be done part time? The Cranky Product Manager would love to hear from anyone who has done it successfully, or unsuccessfully for that matter.
Surprisingly, Dysfunctosoft did not fall apart while the Cranky Product Manager was on maternity leave. The place is indeed still standing. However, they did do some really stupid shit.
Example: they pushed out a release with release notes that were a direct export from Bugzilla, and apparently no one bothered to read them before publication.
So what, not a big deal, right?
Reading the release notes is one of those minor details, part of that 80% of cruft that delivers little value to the customer. Product managers should just blow that stuff off, and concentrate on the most meaningful 20% of tasks – the product strategy, the positioning, the user experience, the pricing, etc. – right? Besides, it’s probably someone else’s job to dig through the release notes. Surely, some QA weenie will be delighted to file a separate bug for each and every grammatical error.
Well…WRONG!
Apparently, the Bugzilla export contained the details of each and every person that reported the bug, including their e-mail addresses and personal telephone numbers. And no one checked it or even noticed. Even though reviewing the release notes was on the release checklist.
As you can imagine, the customers are thrilled beyond words that the world now has their cell phone numbers, although they would be more happy if their names and numbers were inscribed on a bathroom wall (“for a good time call…”), because at least spammers don’t usually read bathroom walls. As for the Dysfunctosoft Sales Force, well they are SO psyched that a competitor is now using the release notes as a to-do list of prospects to lure away.
So what can we learn from this parable?
That the main purpose of product management is to have some FREAKIN’ common sense, when no one else seems to have any?
That the seemingly little things, that ones you would assume can be safely ignored, might blow up into big effing messes?
That this is the natural result of the Cranky Product Manager’s control freakishness, and that she obviously created a product team culture where no one else can or will take responsibility for such matters? (Believe the Cranky Product Manager when she says that this is the first thing that occurred to her. )
That the Cranky Product Manager’s new intention of “focusing on just the big things” and letting the small stuff go, so that she can fit her full-time job into a mere three days a week, is doomed to failure?
Stay tuned.
(Seriously, if any of you have figured out how to do product management with two small kids who get sick a lot, a spouse that work full-time and travels a bit, and no family in the immediate area, please give the Cranky Product Manager some advice.)
{ 42 comments… read them below or add one }
Glad to see you back. I ALWAYS read in detail the release notes. I would never let even a cleaned up dump from our issue tracking system get even close to the release notes.
As to the part time thing, I am not sure that is possible. I have found that even when I take a short vacation, the blithering idiots can’t make even simple decisions on their own. Hence, I get an endless stream of cell calls.
The longer I am in Product Management, the less I see there being a time when I can not sweat the small stuff, and focus on the big stuff. In theory, a good TPM or BA should be able to handle the day-to-day tactical firefighting, but it has become clear to me that as soon as someone gets good at that role, they get snatched by some other group or the leave for a better job.
Hence, a continued trend where from 9:00 – 4:30 every day my calendar is booked with pointless bullshit, and any real work happens from 7:00 – 9:00 or at home after 5:00PP (or, sadly, on weekends).
To think that some companies function just fine without product managers there to wipe their bottoms, and wash their dishes for the rank and file.
Be sure to let us know how the 3 day a week gig works.
SOOO glad to have you back on the blogosphere. Polite blogs are always valuable but there’s nothing like a good Crank-o-gram to make a point.
What you describe is what parents (or more correctly, parenting magazines) call a “teaching moment.” Dysfunctosoft need not go beyond its own doors for a concrete example of why details matter. Pull them up onto your lap, calmly and clearly explain why “we don’t do that”, hugs and cuddles, then strangle the $^&$%#& out of the yahoo that didn’t review the release notes.
Keep up the good work. We missed you.
#prodmgmt – New Cranky Blog Post! : How Did They Survive While the Cranky PM Was on Maternity Leave? http://t.co/jH4fOgWf
'a competitor is now using the release notes as a to-do list of prospects to lure away.' http://t.co/KJyFpAh6 #PureFAIL via @crankypm
Welcome back @crankypm from maternity lv… I can't imagine how to wk as PT PM :) good luck! #prodmgmt http://t.co/MAd40eCQ
#prodmgmt – New Cranky Blog Post! : How Did They Survive While the Cranky PM Was on Maternity Leave? http://t.co/jH4fOgWf
RT @crankypm: How Did They Survive While the Cranky PM Was on Maternity Leave? #prodmgmt http://t.co/nGIPKItA – So much resonates w/me
Yay! She's back! How Did They Survive While the @CrankyPM Was on Maternity Leave? – http://t.co/MwpVTl9v
#prodmgmt – New Cranky Blog Post! : How Did They Survive While the Cranky PM Was on Maternity Leave? http://t.co/jH4fOgWf
YEAH! CRANKYPM IS BACK! RT @crankypm: #prodmgmt -: How Did They Survive While the Cranky PM Was on Maternity Leave? http://t.co/3qEEktIp
She's BAAAACK! RT @crankypm: #prodmgmt -: How Did They Survive While the Cranky PM Was on Maternity Leave? http://t.co/y9pr7J2j
#prodmgmt – New Cranky Blog Post! : How Did They Survive While the Cranky PM Was on Maternity Leave? http://t.co/jH4fOgWf
Cranky PM is back! http://t.co/zDZTwfpY (via @sociablesite)
Main purpose of product mgmt is to have some FREAKIN common sense when no one else seems 2 have any http://t.co/LRgHjWGa #prodmgt @crankypm
Welcome back, the world of PM has missed you.
Re: 3-day a week PM job, I had a PM on my team do it. It certainly forces a PM to be ruthless about priorities.
But it also means that the staff size needs to be sufficient to cover the gamut of strategy-to-release-notes-review. Which is a bigger fight but is the real issue in most PM teams: understaffed.
The job of a PM is all encompassing. You are ultimately responsible for the full experience. (via @crankypm http://t.co/3cRlaq3z) #prodmgmt
wait, what are these ‘release notes’ things of which you speak? were the devs actually supposed to write something about the code they wrote? How do you get them to do that?
Welcome back!
I am actually getting ready to go on maternity leave in Jan and dreading it. Right now I am trying to get “my team” ready and make sure they are not lost without me and have something to do…making project lists, and check lists, status report templates for those who cannot seem to manage their time and priorities on their own.
All this prep made me realize I am basically a babysitter. So what happens when I am out and the kids are left unsupervised for weeks? Will they all just go crazy and start sticking their fingers into outlets, or turning the gas on, or touching hot things, or trying to flush things down the toilet that are not meant to be flushed? Will be I be persecuted for neglect and endangerment?
…maybe I am just paranoid…The company was able to function before me, and it will probably function without me. And I will just have a big mess to clean up when I am back…it will probably take months…but I think of my return back to work as starting a new job, from scratch.
As to a 3 day work week…I would be very curious to know how it works out. I am considering a similar arrangement myself; or at least working from home part time and part time from the office, so I will definitely stay tuned.
Further to the 3 day per week component:
I believe you have to be very careful with this, especially if you are coming back at a 3-day rate of pay. I’ve had colleagues come back “full time” with the understanding that two days per week they weren’t there and meetings/con calls were generally off limits during those two days and email responses would take longer to respond.
I have also seen it where those two days out they were not as available and you got responses as and when.
The temptation and danger is if you are on a reduced pay rate everyone may expect 24/7 response as though you were back full time – including you. Whatever the scenario you have to manage everyone’s expectations about response times and your flexibility for those days when you are not there.
Good luck with the transition back.
RT @crankypm: How Did They Survive While the Cranky PM Was on Maternity Leave? #prodmgmt http://t.co/P2ebtu5t lol
WOOOHOOO! She's back! RT @crankypm: How Did They Survive While the Cranky PM Was on Maternity Leave? http://t.co/UgDB4C7k…
So glad you’re back! If you haven’t found this blog yet (http://www.rantsfrommommyland.com/), they make me just about as happy as you do, and they’re great for those of us living on the edge with small children chasing us.
Re product management with two small kids who get sick a lot and a spouse who isn’t around too much: It is possible to work, take care of the kids and run a household. However, I personally found it better (and easier) when I work full-time, rather than part-time. Why? Because I don’t like having to cram 5 days worth of work into 3 days and having work spill over to the days that I wasn’t suppose to be working, whilst only getting paid to work 3 days per week. Incompetencies around me made sure that it was an uphill battle.
Working full time is much more manageable, although my days are very structured and there’s not much room for fluff during business hours. I have the kids routine down to military precision along with a great long daycare place down the street from the office. I’m also able to work from home if either of my kids are sick. This usually means spreading my work day around them and their needs, but it can be done. (Yes, there is hope.)
RT @crankypm: How Did They Survive While the Cranky PM Was on Maternity Leave? #prodmgmt http://t.co/acn5KlXH #yam
Welcome back @crankypm from maternity lv… I can't imagine how to wk as PT PM :) good luck! #prodmgmt http://t.co/5VcBxEPd
This blog cracks me up! RT @crankypm: How Did They Survive While the Cranky PM Was on Maternity Leave? ##prodmgmt http://t.co/CBbmMkJN
I have done, and am doing, what you are doing. After my 2nd (now I have three) I was back only three days/week. Now I work four full days a week with a 3yo, 6yo and 7yo. No matter what, you are working full-time, you just basically have to cram your hours in any way you can (I work until 10 or 11 most nights). I’ve never seen my actual workload decrease proportionately to my theoretical capacity. But, I have gotten creative about convincing my employers to allow me to predominantly work at home. My kids are never home when I am working at home, but being there makes it so much easier.
Oh, and release notes are the bane of my existence. We use Rally and there is no way to export to even create a shell of release notes. Having that alone and then editing would make me do a happy dance, rather than putting them all in there from scratch.
How Did They Survive While the Cranky PM Was on Maternity Leave? http://t.co/qcIDev7H <- welcome back cranky PM
I must agree with both Syndey PM and Arin. I have 2 small children and work full time as a PM. I tried part time work and found that I was working full time hours but getting paid only for part time work. I also contemplated changing from a PM role to some other role within my company, but I am a PM down to my core – and it would be really hard for me to be happy working in a different role. I finally just gave up and went back to full time hours.
The best advice I can give you is: HIRE A NANNY. Don’t try to use daycare only. I tried that for a year and just about died. If you can afford it, it is worth the extra expense to hire a nanny who can take care of sick kids and do all of the preschool dropoffs/pickups for you. My life and work have both improved immensely since hiring a nanny.
Hi, Welcome back.
For those of you who are about to go on pat/maternity leave, make sure you get to hand over your tasks to someone else. If you don’t get any one person that will do your job, the solution is NOT to stay connected with emails and try to avoid hazards, it is to look for a new job. If your manager thinks that during the coming 6 month we don’t need this person, then maybe you should get someone that apriciates your efforts.
When coming back partially (and thats is great imho) make surer that you and your manager and the rest of the org. is clear on what are your duties, and who will continue to do the others that would have happened during the two other days (hopefully the person you handed over to (see bullet 1) )
And the thirdly, work flexible, if you don’t have any meetings in the office, stay home with the kids, they are very flexible, so make sure that you spend time when you can with them. I have noticed that we (Prod Mgrs) tend to spend more time when required where the biggest fire is (and it tends to be at work… that sucks…)
Agree with Kathy, Sydney and Arin.
Since my oldest went off to (full-day, of course) kindergarten, I have worked 6am-3pm. I would highly recommend it (unless you work at my company, in which case keep out – I want my quiet time). I get a lot done from 6-8 or even 9, before people start scheduling meetings (although I sometimes use the time to call customers in other time zones). I check email after 3pm, but I try very hard to not reply to most things until the next morning (training people more than myself). My husband is a saint and gets the kids up and out the door in the mornings, which used to drive me ape-$%*# crazy before my day even started.
When the kids inevitably get sick, I can usually convince the husband to stay home till 10am, work a half day (6-10) in the office myself, and then take PTO or WFH for the other part or the day.
You’ve got me nervous about release notes… I probably ought to start reviewing them more carefully, but we have a real, true, Documentation Writer who does them, and I respect and trust her work.
Lindsay, Sydney, Arin, Kathy, and Tim… THANK YOU FOR THE ADVICE!!! It certainly makes me feel better to know that It Can Be Done, because I am struggling mightily right now.
Right now, the Cranky PM is having difficulty with the childcare. With kid #1, she had a great daycare that allowed her to work fulltime guilt-free. But alas, she now finds herself disheartened by the dearth of after-school options available for her kindergartner, who is only in school 3 hours and 20 minutes a day. It is so hard to concentrate on work and come back full-time if you are unenthusiastic about the childcare. I need to figure out alternatives, stat!
Main purpose of product mgmt is to have some FREAKIN common sense when no one else seems 2 have any http://t.co/LRgHjWGa #prodmgt @crankypm
Main purpose of product mgmt is to have some FREAKIN common sense when no one else seems 2 have any http://t.co/LRgHjWGa #prodmgt @crankypm
You have my sympathy. Been there.
I’m not a mom, I’m a dad. I started my second PM job (first at a big company) several months before my twin girls were born. When they joined their two-year-old sister in the world, I was pretty much delirious with joy and terror. My wife and I each took some time off, but soon enough we were back at work, I full time and she part time.
We did two things to survive. First, we staggered our hours a bit, to increase “coverage”. I worked from 7 to 3 (plus commute) for a long time. That helped a little. The second thing is what saved us: we hired a grandmother. Not just a babysitter. We somehow found an Salvadoran woman who adopted our kids as if they were her own. She became part of the family in pretty much every way, except that she was the only one who got paid for it. When she became overwhelmed, we hired an assistant for her for a while.
No, we didn’t “sub out” the kids. My wife and I spent every non-working minute with them. They’re in college now and they turned out pretty well, though none of them aspires to be a product manager. (Go figure.) One reason they turned out so well is that they had such a great person spending so much time with them when they were very young. Now they all speak fluent Spanish and have a window into a world that’s very different from the one my wife and I came from.
Hiring a grandmother wasn’t cheap, and we weren’t wealthy (and still aren’t – my stock options seemed to always be issued a few months too late or cashed in a bit too early). I don’t regret it for a second. I could not have continued my job without her, nor could my wife – one of us would have had to quit.
There’s one secret that I will tell you, since I think you already understand: Going to work was what I did to relax. I worked at a high-energy software company, responsible for a new product line, and that was what I did to relax. Sounds pathetic. Somehow it all worked out.
I have enjoyed your writing for years, and I wanted to offer this bit of support. Your latest adventure may be your most challenging, but it’ll work out. You just have remember that your little products at home are more important than the software you make at work, but that doing the work well will keep you from going nuts at home.
But please, hire a grandmother.
3 days was a challenge for me but I’ve been doing the 4 day week for a couple years now even if sometimes I find myself fighting to keep my extra day. Overall, it’s a good balance and if you can make it work for you and the company, everyone ends up happier. Warning – don’t get too happy or your blog will lose the edge that makes us all read it. (oh, I’ve got a sweet daycare situation though there were some challenging times until this situation fell into place and I do pay someone to clean my house).
I was a part time PM mom!
I hired a college student to be my part time nanny (she was also my cousin, so maybe that violates your “no family around” provision?) It can absolutely be done and I’m glad I did it. Working part time helped me have the best of both worlds. I could be there for my kids, but still keep my toe in the working world so that when I was ready to jump back in full time I could do so easily. The hardest part was the first few months. After that we all settled into a routine. The things that helped me:
1. Having an awesome DysfunctoSoft company to work for that “got” that my kids are important (and that if you respect that, I will work my ass off for you.)
2. Telling myself that I am so valuable that I can demand concessions like being part time and they will have to meet my demands. Sometimes you need to pep talk yourself.
3. Be available at any time. Some people swear by the be on during some hours and not available others, but that didn’t work for me. Allowing for flexibility helped me deal.
4. Demonstrating that even though you are not visibly there full time you will NOT PUT UP WITH NONSENSE. I mean, seriously, is there a time that being a parent helps more than when you’re dealing with devs, sales bots, clients? It feels like being a PM is being a fancy parent.
5. You worked really hard to get to this place. You have the opportunity to work part time and still earn a good salary. So many women do not have that choice. We’re paving the way for parents in the future who also want a better work-life balance. NO PRESSURE.
6. It gets easier. Swear.
“being a PM is being a fancy parent”
OMG!!! Awesome! so true…
So glad she's back: RT @crankypm: How Did They Survive While the Cranky PM Was on Maternity Leave? ##prodmgmt http://t.co/G0LZpn3m
Just wanted to say as I’m scrolling through your blog how wonderful it is to relate to it. :)
Busy mom, 4 kids, full time job and we run our own business on top of my PM job for my company. It’s VERY demanding! I didn’t want to do the ‘Nanny thing’ because my preference was to be there for those specific drop off/pick up times. If not, I wasn’t sure when I would see them. BUT… I did become a ‘PM’ for my life. I noticed that spending time with my kids would be easier if someone would handle the things I really didn’t care that much about and neither did they… cleaning house/fixing meals/shopping. Found someone/someway to get around all that. Added 15 hours a week back into my life! (1 hour a day for fixing dinner, 5 hours a week for cleaning house, 2 hours a week for shopping, 3 hours a week driving all over town trying to do all those things.) Also… switched to paper/plastic during the week. Not very ‘green’ of me, but I don’t want to spend the extra time cleaning dishes…
I was a full time PM at the same time as having two small kids and a husband with a career.. I can only say -grow extremely thick skin! Everyone will feel thay have the right to comment, criticize and give well-meaning advice. Only you will know how to best run your family. The one advice I actually embraced was to dim the lights at home and use candles instead, the dirt in the corners doesn’t look half as intimidating that way :-)
Хорошее приложение н-нада? Бесплатные подарки в соцсетях н-нада? Блокиратор рекламы и наборы дополнительных смайликов н-нада? Переходи на светлую сторону Силы – ставь приложение КТВТ и наслаждайся, о юный падаван! http://www.youtube.com/user/ktbtru?feature=watch