The War Between Product and Development
There is a common misconception by customers and leadership that product development should be easy, simple, and smooth especially if there is no hardware involved. This results in unrealistic expectations, unmeetable timelines, unforgiving attitudes, and unnecessary conflicts. Fingers start pointing in different directions, scapegoats are made, and people are thrown under the bus.
As most professionals in the product management and software development industry have more than likely experienced, a silent (and sometimes not so silent) war between the two sides of the team starts to take its toll. It starts with little things like making mistakes and making excuses. It grows into passive aggressive responses or even combative and defensive attitudes during meetings and discussions. As you can imagine, this is not healthy nor can true work really be accomplished in this sort of environment. The already difficult to manage deadlines in an already chaotic setting (that is the world of software) become impossible to meet. Leadership expresses their disappointment at yet another missed deadline, and the cycle starts all over again breeding even more negativity. At some point, it starts to feel like you are stepping on eggshells because you can’t seem to say one word before someone jumps in defensive mode.
Product development is a complex line of work that requires fine tuned cooperation and collaboration. We are all only human beings who have flaws and make mistakes. We are all unique and don’t always mesh as our thought processes and overall personalities can conflict. Thick skin, grit, and empathy are absolute must haves to allow imperfect human beings to work with each other efficiently. Each team member does not have to be best of friends by any means, but it would be helpful to remember that each work relationship is really a “working relationship”, one that requires time and effort to blossom.
“How do we solve this problem?”, you may ask. Everyone in the organization plays a major contributing role in the success of a product. Great product managers wear about 20 different hats, act as the bridge between every arm of the business, and manage the definition and delivery of the roadmap. It is definitely not a 9 to 5 job. Developers need to make sense of the requirements given to them that may have left room for interpretation, stay up overnight or work through the weekend for an emergency hot fix, and deal with being hounded for updates and meeting presence while trying to get the unending backlog of tasks completed. Leadership juggles operating the business, keeping the business afloat, strategizing for improvements, all while trying to maintain relationships and appeasing the board. Sales, marketing, support, customer success, and other members of the organization also all have their fair share of day to day mayhem as well. Simply understanding each other, understanding what each member does, and having compassion can really make a world of a difference.
Here are some other important points that can help:
Minimize competition for merit – There’s a fine line between healthy competition and toxic competition.
Read the room – Analyze the situation and respond according.
Do not react – Take time to respond instead of jumping to react to something.
Be both proactive & responsive – Yes, I just said not to be reactive. It seems contradictory, but it really isn’t. Being reactive in this context is meant for actions, not words. Changes happen by the day and sometimes even by the hour in software. Being actionably reactive allows you to be more agile. Being proactive allows you to be ahead of the game and can prevent mistakes, bridge some gaps, and see the bigger picture.
See the bigger picture – Many times while getting swept away into the hectic work day, your field of vision becomes narrower. Remember, it’s not about you. It’s everyone, together. What is the purpose of what you are doing? Who or what does it affect?
Make well-informed, pragmatic decisions – Depending on your personality type, you may or may not do this already. Leaving the emotions out of your decision making process can reduce tensions between people as well as preventing regrets.
Know your audience – This does not only apply to speeches, discussions, and verbal communications. This applies to decision making as well. Anyone can benefit from this rule of thumb, especially leadership. Taking time to know your team members, what they’re good at, what they’re not so good at, what is a reasonable ask for this person, etc can allow you to make better decisions. It can also boost morale. Your team members will respect you as a great and insightful leader.
Know when to stop – This does not mean you should quit your job. You just need to know when to stop talking, when to stop analyzing, when to stop insisting, etc. It’s really a combination of “stop being stubborn”, reading the room, and knowing your audience.
Egos have no business being in your business – This is something frequently talked about but seldom executed or enforced. Of course, it’s not easy to do. It’s great to have pride in yourself and what you do, but when that pride makes you blind and deaf to everyone and everything else around you it becomes a major problem. Humble yourself.
The list goes on. There are so many things (both little and big) that can make for a more efficient and productive software organization. No matter what method you choose, the most important thing is consistency, persistence, and agility. If you find yourself faltering, pick it back up. If you find that the method(s) you chose aren’t working, try something else.
At ProApptivity, we take a top down and bottom up approach to equip you with the best ways to create and maintain the peace so you can focus on what’s important – accomplishing your goals. Reach out to us today for a free consultation to see what we can do to help your organization minimize drama and maximize output. Be proactive, and get productive – with ProApptivity.
