In this episode of the How to Succeed in Product Management Podcast, marketing professor Jeff Shulman and The Product Management Center advisory board member Soumeya Benghanem welcome Alex Selby (Amazon) and Swati Goel (Facebook) to talk about time management. Today’s focus is on how much time PMs need to allocate for structured and creative meetings, checking with customers to gather data on existing products, and breaking down your day strategically so you’ll have time to refresh your thoughts and replenish your creativity.

Support for How to Succeed in Product Management is brought to you by Apptentive, which enables product managers to measure shifts in customer emotion and gather actionable feedback across the mobile customer journey. To learn more, go to Apptentive.com/UW.

What to Listen For:

00:00 Intro
02:17 Why is time management and productivity important?
07:02 Breaking down your day with time bucketing
09:45 For PMs, unstructured, unfocused time is critical
11:47 Block out an hour for yourself everyday
14:29 Deciding how much time to put into strategy versus execution
18:45 Business priorities and where you’re product is at
20:41 From 90/10 to 60/40 time allocation with customers
28:33 Look for product adjacent roles or tasks that you can take on
33:20 Pick up patterns from the first customers and bring back to the team for planning
36:03 Learn more about the Inclusive Product Management Accelerator program
38:01 The writing culture in meetings is an artifact while building a product
42:07 Balance between outcome driven structured meetings and allowing creativity
44:23 Allow for creative sessions but facilitation is still needed
48:25 Start conversations with a wide approach first
49:20 Choose which meetings are mandatory for you
51:31 Time management takes a little bit of practice
53:02 How often should PMs check on customers
56:55 “Be specific and strategy in spending your time.” - Alex Selby
57:51 Listen to How to Be More Productive (Ep. 243)

Whose House? Swerve's House! Pt. 2