Top 5 Things You Must Do When Onboarding a New Product Manager
+ Bonus "User Guide for Me" Template
Onboarding a new product manager (PM) is a pivotal moment for any organization. It sets the tone for their journey and can significantly impact their effectiveness and integration within your team.
I look forward to writing the onboarding document for a new associate. It's an opportunity to tell the story of our organization, explain how we understand our business, identify key individuals they should connect with, and describe our customer base as we know it today, along with our aspirations for deeper understanding.
This week, we’re diving into the top five things you must do to ensure a smooth and successful onboarding process.
!! Plus, as a bonus, we’ll share a unique approach to creating a “User Guide for Me” – a tool that enhances understanding and collaboration between you and your new PM.
Let’s dive in
Top 5 Onboarding Essentials for New Product Managers
1. Deep Dive into Customer, Vision, Strategy, and Roadmap
Your new PM needs a comprehensive understanding of your company’s vision, strategy, and current product roadmap.
Spend a considerable amount of time reviewing the customer in person.
I like to do this with a whiteboard to build a high-level picture and understanding, so they know about our whole business, how we understand the customer, and how we support them.
Vision & Strategy: Explain the company’s vision and how the product strategy aligns with it. Discuss the product roadmap, highlighting key initiatives and upcoming launches.
Current Roadmap: Provide a detailed walkthrough of the product roadmap, including short-term and long-term goals. Emphasize how these goals align with the company’s vision and strategy.
Customer: Ensure the new PM understands who our customers are, the problems they face, their needs, their desires, and how our products serve them. Have them meet and work along side customer care if possible. If you have a sales team, let them visit a customer with a seller if possible.
2. Establish Key Relationships Early
Building strong relationships is crucial for any PM. Facilitate introductions and provide opportunities for your new PM to connect with key stakeholders and team members.
Meet the Team: Introduce them to their main contacts, including developers, designers, and cross-functional partners. Set up initial meetings to discuss roles, expectations, and current projects.
My tip: Balance getting to know the person with understanding their role and contributions. Spend as much as half of a 30-minute meeting learning about their background, accomplishments, and hobbies. Then, dive into the business, who they should meet, and set up follow-up meetings to discuss specific areas. This is also a great time to get some calendar invites to see how the team operates.
Stakeholder Management: Ensure they understand the importance of managing stakeholder relationships and provide guidance on how to effectively communicate and collaborate with different departments. Set the stage for these meetings as introductions and listening sessions. A quick reminder for them to avoid making quick decisions or commitments, using your newness to follow up later.
3. Immerse in Product and Tech Ecosystem
A deep understanding of the product and its technical ecosystem is important. This includes knowing the product lifecycle, tech stack, and any dependencies.
Product Knowledge: Encourage them to spend the first few weeks learning about the product in-depth. Request that they play with the product as much as possible. With the provided documentation, past user feedback, and data insights, they should learn but not hesitate to ask for clarity when needed.
Tip: Start with a zoomed-out view before going into details to ensure they understand the big picture.
Also: Provide the framework you use, such as the E3 Framework. Give them access to the Product Protégé Guide to explain how ideas go to production.
Tech Ecosystem: Explain the technical architecture, including benefits and limitations. Arrange sessions with the tech team to discuss data flow, integration points, and any technical challenges. This can happen at a high level early on and more in-depth during specific project discoveries.
4. Clarify KPIs and Metrics
Understanding key performance indicators (KPIs) and metrics is essential for any PM to gauge success and align their efforts with business goals.
KPIs and Metrics: Discuss the KPIs that are critical for the product’s success. Explain how these metrics are tracked, measured, and reported.
Data-Driven Decision Making: Emphasize the importance of using data to drive decisions. Provide access to dashboards and analytics tools used within the organization.
Tip: Provide practical examples of how data drives decisions today. This sets the stage for your new PM and helps them understand the organizational approach.
5. Foster a Learning and Collaborative Environment
Promote a culture of continuous learning and collaboration. Encourage your new PM to act as a sponge, absorbing as much information as possible and actively seeking feedback.
Continuous Learning: Encourage participation in agile rituals, team meetings, and ideation sessions. Create a safe space for experimentation and learning from failures.
Collaboration: Stress the importance of teamwork and open communication. Regularly schedule team meetings and one-on-ones to ensure alignment and address any concerns.
Here is a google doc with 10 other questions you can answer to help your new product manager onboard onto the team. If you take the time to answer these, you will speed up how quickly the product manager will add value to the customer and business.
Bonus: Creating Your Personal “User Guide for Me”
To enhance collaboration and understanding, I recommend creating a personal “User Guide for Me.” This document outlines your working style, preferences, and how best to communicate and collaborate with you. Here’s a template to get you started:
Example User Guide
Conditions I Like to Work In:
Prefer working with high-tempo instrumental music and minimal distractions.
Use a stand-up desk for about four hours of the workday.
The Times/Hours I Like to Work:
I’m an early riser and find mornings are best for multitasking between meetings and creative work. Afternoons are good for deep work, data analysis, strategy, and prioritization.
I am available for urgent matters throughout the day but prefer scheduling 1:1s (even if just for 15 minutes) to discuss important topics.
I like to stack all my 1:1s in one day and really focus in on the team, but i’m available on Teams for day-to-day support! Let me know how I can help.
The Best Ways to Communicate with Me:
Teams is the quickest way to get a response.
Ensure calendar invites always have agendas.
I prefer emails for detailed discussions and documentation.
The Ways I Like to Receive Feedback:
Direct and constructive feedback is appreciated. Face-to-face conversations work best for me.
I value examples and suggestions for improvement.
Things I Need:
At least two cups of coffee a day.
Invitations to brainstorming sessions.
Your OOO on my calendar.
Time for reflection and strategic thinking without interruptions.
A strong understanding of the big picture (mission/vision) to operate effectively in the roadmap/product requirement space when supporting product managers.
Things I Struggle With:
Excessive critique without constructive feedback can be demotivating.
Working in overly structured environments with rigid processes.
Emails after hours that are not of high severity or importance. If you work late, schedule your email to send in the morning.
Things I Love:
Celebrating team successes and milestones.
Creating a positive and collaborative team culture.
Evernote - I love organization.
Having a guitar within arms reach
Template for Your Personal “User Guide for Me”
Conditions I Like to Work In:
The Times/Hours I Like to Work:
The Best Ways to Communicate with Me:
The Ways I Like to Receive Feedback:
Things I Need:
Things I Struggle With:
Things I Love:
Questions to Ask Yourself:
What environments help you thrive?
What’s your ideal work schedule?
How do you prefer to communicate and receive feedback?
What do you need to be at your best?
What challenges you and how can others support you?
What are your passions and motivators?
Writing the onboarding document is an opportunity to tell the story of our organization, explain our business understanding, identify key individuals for connection, and describe our customer base and aspirations for deeper understanding.
By following the top five onboarding essentials and creating a personal "User Guide for Me," you ensure a smooth transition and build a strong foundation for future achievements.
-Product Protégé
