Overcoming the 7 Traps that Demotes Product Managers to Backlog Managers
Simple actions you can take today to ensure you DO NOT become a backlog manager.
How can you be a product manager when everyone wants you to be a backlog manager?
It’s hard to drive value when features are all that matters.
Honestly, who cares about value?
You care.
That’s why you’re reading this post. You do want to drive value despite everyone distracting you. Let me help you fix the bloody mess of creating digital products.
Here’s what you will get from this post:
Clarity on the 7 most dangerous traps setting you and value apart
Actionable insights to ensure you can drive value instead of features nobody needs
Clear hints on what to pay attention to so you avoid painful experience
The 7 Traps That Demote Product Managers to Backlog Managers
Bloated backlog: The bigger your backlog becomes, the more expectations you have to handle, which means more distractions and less value. Ultimately, this forces you to manage promises instead of adapting according to learnings.
Waiter behavior: Taking orders from stakeholders will ensure you do what they want while missing what customers truly need. You cannot lead teams when all you do is follow orders.
Calendar-driven-framework: Letting your calendar define your routine has become the most common way of working. Yet, that makes no sense. You become the victim of your calendar instead of determining how you use your time.
Fear of saying no: The more you resist saying no, the longer you postpone conflicts. Ensuring you load yourself with responsibilities you shouldn’t take on in the first place.
Consensus decisions: When everyone weighs in, you master the art of creating the worst option possible that wasn’t even on the table. It takes a long time to decide with poor results. Everyone agrees because they’re tired of discussing it.
What if? That is the most dangerous question I know. It forces teams to reflect on problems they don’t have and may never have. Yet, they ignore the challenges staring at their faces.
Failure avoidance: The more you prevent failures, the less you can innovate. Your strategy to learn from setbacks is essential to how much value you can drive.
Take a minute to process the above and answer the following:
How present are such traps in your daily business?
How much do they distract you from doing what truly matters?
No matter your situation, you can gradually change it for the better. It’s about being the hero of your story, not the victim of your circumstances.
We will discuss how you can solve the 7 dangerous traps in a bit. Yet, I want to present you with an offer. You can benefit from my self-paced course, Anti-BS Product Management. It’s a four-hour investment that enables you to beat BS management. Product folks who know how to defeat traps become ultra-valuable in the market, and 6-figure salaries are a reality. How does that sound?
Check out the course to become a bullet-proof product manager.
Clarifying the Differences Between Product Managers and Backlog Managers
The product manager is responsible for driving value. That’s the real job where value means improving customers’ lives while collecting business value.
The backlog manager is a sad deviation from product managers, leading to undesired outcomes. Let me be clear. Backlog manager isn’t a job. It’s a trap. We need to change that. Yet, you may end up here by chance, which I did a few times. The good news is that you don’t have to remain a backlog manager forever. The bad news is that it’s as hard as it gets to break free from. No worries, I will help you out.
Here are the main differences when it comes to reality:
Product managers focus on uncovering value drivers. Backlog managers focus on writing detailed backlog items.
Product managers continuously measure outcomes and decide what to do next based on evidence. Backlog managers put their energy into increasing velocity.
Product managers strive for partnerships with business people and don’t shy away from conflicts. Backlog managers do their best to please as many stakeholders as possible while being afraid of stepping on their toes.
Product managers inspire teams and empower them to solve meaningful problems however they see fit. Backlog managers plan by capacity, micromanage the team, and provide no overarching vision.
Product managers cause discomfort with the company leadership because they don’t let anti-patterns get in their way. Backlog managers follow orders from management and strive to make them happy in the short term.
Product managers are authentic leaders. Backlog managers are uninspiring managers.
Product teams create value with product managers. Product teams create features with backlog managers.
We need more product managers.
Don’t be afraid of being an unconventional product manager.
Be afraid of being a boring backlog manager.
To be a product manager, you must overcome the 7 deadly traps. Let’s tackle now one by one:
1. Bloated backlog: The best way to be distracted
Your job isn’t to load the backlog with everything.
Your job is to drive value.
When you have an extensive product backlog (anything beyond 100 items), you will:
Have to handle unbearable expectations
Be distracted by irrelevant items
Prioritize past promises instead of current learnings
Drive forward, looking backward
Miss the big picture
If you want to be demoted to a backlog manager, keep your backlog extensive.
To remain a product manager, you need to be unconventional.
“Backlog items age like milk, not wine.”
Do you know who’s your best friend as a product manager? The trash bin.
Make your trashbin bigger, not your backlog.
Set a due date for your backlog items and delete them whenever they are due. This will help you focus on learning instead of getting distracted by the past.
If you haven’t touched something in the last three months, it’s good to go. If deleting scares you, archiving would be an option.
I know your arguments to avoid deleting (or archiving) items:
I may need that in the future
Why would I delete something I worked hard on?
Stakeholders will go nuts with me
I can just put it at the backlog bottom and ignore it
I had the same excuses. Yet, I learned that my job isn’t to manage the backlog but to create a product that drives value. Context matters. The older your backlog becomes, the less context-related it is and the more irrelevant it becomes.
When you’re brave enough to delete outdated backlog items, you create mental space to focus on what truly matters. You stop driving forward, looking backward. You can drive forward, looking forward. You adapt according to your learnings. You use the current context and figure out how to create value instead of delivering old promises.
Ultimately, whatever is necessary will come back to you.
Remember, the trash bin is your best friend. Get rid of whatever doesn’t serve you now.
2. Waiter behavior: Doing what the business wants without knowing what customers need
Has anyone told you that your job is to gather requirements?
I call bullshit.