Improve With Improvisation by Spotify Group Product Manager

•

0 likes•125 views

Key takeaways: -Learn active listening skills to ensure you understand stakeholder needs. Develop conversation framing techniques to ensure stakeholders understand you. -Employ 'if this is true, what else is true' to expand the scope of your discovery efforts. -Qualifications: Barry has run product management teams at large startups and now Spotify, and also runs an improvisational theater company.

www.productschool.com
Improve With Improvisation by Spotify Group
Product Manager

CERTIFICATES
Your Product Management Certiﬁcate Path
Product Leadership
Certiﬁcate™
Full Stack Product
Management Certiﬁcate™
Product Management
Certiﬁcate™

Corporate
Training
Level up your team’s Product
Management skills

Free Product Management Resources
BOOKS
EVENTS
JOB PORTAL
COMMUNITIES
bit.ly/product_resources
COURSES

Improve with Improvisation
Barry Wright Group Product Manager at Spotify

A B O U T M E
2005-2009
Teaching: 😀
Research: 😒
2009-2012
Product: 😀
Edtech: 🐢
2012-2021
Product Teams: 😀😀😀
Adtech: 💻🤖
2021+
Product Teams and
Impact: 🚀🚀🚀

A B O U T M E
2005-2009
Teaching: 😀
Research: 😒
2009-2012
Product: 😀
Edtech: 🐢
2012-2021
Product Teams: 😀😀😀
Adtech: 💻🤖
2021+
Product Teams and
Impact: 🚀🚀🚀
2017+
Improv: 😂

A G E N D A
2.
1.
A formula for teamwork - listen, agree, add
Improv and Product Management?
4.
3.
If this is true, what else is true?
Communicate better with framing
5. Summary

Improvisation and Product Management?
Isn’t improv just funny people making things up?

Improv is:
1. A team activity
2. where exceptional communication
3. and free creativity
are applied to the domain of comedy.

Product Management is:
1. A team activity
2. where exceptional communication
3. and free creativity
are applied to the domain of business problems.

A formula for improved teamwork and trust.
👂 🤝 ➕

Frame with emotion, repetition, and rephrasing.
JOFIFBOAELAWKABAJEJLLKASBBIULBDKJDSLAUFEFAIE
WBEWALOILOBIFHELITUYEQTOIUEHAFLDSNVSALDIFL
DWABSZIFEW.JFDINALDIALDSKJZNCLOIDSANFPOUAF
NLIESDHFNLEZOIDSFBEIDSBVDLSZIUVNDSJFDKSLAIW
EOPNOWEDONOTSHAREFILESBYEMAILFEBOWIEOIWJ
OWIFEWNFWOIDNCWOCIEBCOEWIFJEWOFAWELKRJE
OWIABEUIWJWOIREJWOIRBEWOWIEJWROIEJWPPIEEW

2.
1.
S U M M A R Y
Build trust by listening and understanding
before you add in
Product Management is improvised business
problem solving
3. Get the right information by framing
conversations emotionally and verbally
4. Explore the problem space by asking, ‘if this is
true, what else is true?’

www.productschool.com
Part-time Product Management Training Courses
and
Corporate Training

Main Takeaways: Listen & not solve: I personally was always very eager to jump in and solve a problem the moment I heard about it - and I learned the hard way, that it doesn't work. This takeaway is about removing the need to solve and just learning to listen, ask questions, and understand the customer. Data as a compliment, not a replacement: It is easy for PMs to resort to data to understand problems. Data is usually the first indication of a problem, but it would rarely tell us what exactly the problem is. Share and tell customer stories: I've personally seen how this transforms the entire product team - they care about the customer and their problems, and that gives rise to really great products & features.

Live it to Weave It: PM & Storytelling by Microsoft Product Leader

Product School

Lead a Tech Team Without a Tech Past by Google Product Leader

Product School

Crafting Effective Presentations by PayPal Director of Product

Product School

Live it to Weave It: PM & Storytelling by Microsoft Product Leader

Product School

Best Practices on Platform Product Management by PayPal Sr PM

Product School

Pivots by Spotify Product Manager

Product School

Main takeaways: - User retention and engagement, Product suite expansion, Partnerships, and adjacent Products are possible approaches to extend Product life cycle - When branching out from your core Product, relevance to your current user base and relevance to your core competencies as well as minimizing the effort involved are the most important keys to success - The challenge of pivoting in a successful way to extend the Product life cycle or launch on a new tangential cycle is a question of strategy and product discovery. With each exploration, you learn something new which increases your odds of a successful pivot for the next attempt

Main Takeaways: - What is qualitative research? Provides a definition of qualitative data and an overview of qualitative research methods. - Why use qualitative research methods in product management? Includes a discussion of qualitative vs quantitative, the different purposes that each serves, and why it's good to use both. - When to use qualitative research methods? Know when to use qualitative research methods depending on where you are in the product development cycle and the questions you are asking about customers. I'll include examples of using qualitative data to generate user insights from my past experience. - How to conduct qualitative research? Discuss thinking through the research plan, articulating research objectives and key research questions, choosing the right method for collecting data, thinking through sampling methods, and interpreting the data.

Product Mindset for Building Early-Stage Startups by Gympass PM

Product School

Main Takeaways: -Problem and Business modal Copycat insights: be inspired by other companies models to increase changes of attacking the right hypothesis and reduce workload at the discovery phase for early-stage startups -Business as a product - Inspiring Journey Managers: applying product mindset/culture at a General Manager Level in different sectors of a company such as operations, marketing, sales, and customer experience -Dealing with high-risk environment of Early Stage startups - high complexity, full-time job and consistency; all mixed up; bringing pattern to chaos

What's Growth PM and How's it Different to PM Types by Dropbox PM

Product School

Your product ideas and analyses are only as valuable as your ability to put things into action. And putting things into action is all about working with others in the organization. This process involves a number of soft skills, like communication, persuasion, negotiation, and evangelism. The art of influencing without authority involves understanding and empathizing with different sets of people. And to do that, you need to develop certain soft skills that will help lead your team and make your stakeholders understand any decision you’re taking. It's time to learn from top PM leaders!

The Importance of Coalition Building in Product by PayPal Sr PM

Product School

How Do You Get More of Product Insight by Heap Director of Product

Product School

Help Customers Become Data Storytellers by Yellowfin Product Leader

Product School

Confidence as a Product Manager by Dropbox Product Leader

Product School

Product Development Cycle by Farfetch Principal PM

Product School

The Tipping Point of Enterprise AI Product by Salesforce Sr Dir PM

Product School

Main takeaways: - It is a tipping point for Enterprise AI products. We have reached phase one of Enterprise AI adoption and are now transitioning an S curve towards adoption phase two. - Understanding AI nativeness and setup complexity can be critical as we look towards the wider adoption of AI products. - There are four key hurdles to implementing and adopting enterprise AI products and the talk will address mitigation strategies around them.

Transitioning to Product from Marketing by Amazon Product Leader

Product School

Many Software Engineers, UXs and other professionals want to transition to Product Management but do not know how. There are several areas of a product focus including strategy, roadmap, development, launch, metrics, financials and research that are needed from a Product Manager. In this session, the speaker will walk us through their journey to Product Management. They will also highlight their own product as a success story and provide tips on how to transition into Product Management to anyone who is interested.

Career Transformation Mindset by fmr LinkedIn Product Leader

Product School

Crafting Effective Presentations by PayPal Director of Product

Product School

Hacking Your Way into PM by eBay PM

Product School

My Journey Into Product Management by Hubspot Sr PM

Product School

Carving Your Own Product Management Path by DocuSign Sr PM

Product School

Product Management Myths by Booking.com Product Leader

Product School

Main Takeaways: -A lot of what we read online is either describing the ideal or a very specific situation but the advice is presented as a one size fits all solution. -Literature tends to focus on satisfying the customer while ignoring the people and the technology that contributes to building, but agile provides tools to do both. -Product management is part art part process. While a good toolkit is important, adapting to the reality of your product and company is equally important.

Leading in Unprecedented Times by Uber Head of Product, Maps

Product School

The document discusses how product leaders can navigate unprecedented times by evolving their product and teams. It recommends recognizing changes in the market, identifying emerging opportunities, adapting products accordingly, and communicating growth strategies. It also stresses the importance of empathy within teams, connecting across teams, and empowering global teams to evolve company culture. The overall message is that with analysis of consumer trends, leaders can pivot and adapt their strategy, products, and operations to realize lasting opportunities even during adversities.

Synergy in Leadership and Product Excellence: A Blueprint for Growth by CPO, ...

Product School

This document discusses synergy between leadership and product excellence. It provides a blueprint for growth with three pathways: 1) an agile, retrospective culture, 2) rapid learning and experimentation, and 3) transparency and feedback culture. Ultimately, career fulfillment comes from aligning skills and passions, whether as an individual contributor or manager, by embracing what brings joy and taking a holistic approach to growth.

Using Data Within Your Company by Chartio Product Lead

Product School

The document discusses using data within companies and avoiding cognitive biases. It summarizes a presentation by Matt David from Chartio about improving data analysis. The presentation recommends investigating statistics deeply by looking at distributions and segmenting data. It also suggests evaluating trends over multiple timelines. To avoid biases like confirmation bias, selection bias, and survivorship bias, the presentation advises considering multiple metrics before drawing conclusions, ensuring representative samples, assuming normal distributions, and evaluating what data may be missing.

What's hot

Feature Prioritization Frameworks by Spotify Sr PM

Product School

Importance of Continuous Learning for PMs by Amazon Sr PM

Product School

CX Facing Role & Analytics to Product by PayPal Product Leader

Product School

Qualitative Research 101 by Amazon Manager, PM

Product School

Product Mindset for Building Early-Stage Startups by Gympass PM

Product School

What's Growth PM and How's it Different to PM Types by Dropbox PM

Product School

The Importance of Coalition Building in Product by PayPal Sr PM

Product School

How Do You Get More of Product Insight by Heap Director of Product

Product School

Help Customers Become Data Storytellers by Yellowfin Product Leader

Product School

Confidence as a Product Manager by Dropbox Product Leader

Product School

Product Development Cycle by Farfetch Principal PM

Product School

The Tipping Point of Enterprise AI Product by Salesforce Sr Dir PM

Product School

Transitioning to Product from Marketing by Amazon Product Leader

Product School

Career Transformation Mindset by fmr LinkedIn Product Leader

Product School

Crafting Effective Presentations by PayPal Director of Product

Product School

Hacking Your Way into PM by eBay PM

Product School

My Journey Into Product Management by Hubspot Sr PM

Product School

Carving Your Own Product Management Path by DocuSign Sr PM

Product School

Product Management Myths by Booking.com Product Leader

Product School

Leading in Unprecedented Times by Uber Head of Product, Maps

Product School

What's hot (20)

Feature Prioritization Frameworks by Spotify Sr PM

Importance of Continuous Learning for PMs by Amazon Sr PM

CX Facing Role & Analytics to Product by PayPal Product Leader

Qualitative Research 101 by Amazon Manager, PM

Product Mindset for Building Early-Stage Startups by Gympass PM

What's Growth PM and How's it Different to PM Types by Dropbox PM

The Importance of Coalition Building in Product by PayPal Sr PM

How Do You Get More of Product Insight by Heap Director of Product

Help Customers Become Data Storytellers by Yellowfin Product Leader

Confidence as a Product Manager by Dropbox Product Leader

Product Development Cycle by Farfetch Principal PM

The Tipping Point of Enterprise AI Product by Salesforce Sr Dir PM

Transitioning to Product from Marketing by Amazon Product Leader

Career Transformation Mindset by fmr LinkedIn Product Leader

Crafting Effective Presentations by PayPal Director of Product

Hacking Your Way into PM by eBay PM

My Journey Into Product Management by Hubspot Sr PM

Carving Your Own Product Management Path by DocuSign Sr PM

Product Management Myths by Booking.com Product Leader

Leading in Unprecedented Times by Uber Head of Product, Maps

Similar to Improve With Improvisation by Spotify Group Product Manager

Synergy in Leadership and Product Excellence: A Blueprint for Growth by CPO, ...

Product School

Using Data Within Your Company by Chartio Product Lead

Product School

Product Operation in Practice by Pendo Head of Product Ops

Product School

Product & Development Collab Tactics by Workday Dir of PM

Product School

The document discusses developing effective relationships between product managers and developers. It outlines that building trust and mutual respect is key. The product manager must treat developers as early stakeholders, choose battles wisely, and think beyond just the product owner role. A successful product manager has qualities of an engineer, designer, and diplomat to effectively coordinate projects. The website advertises part-time product management training courses and corporate training.

The Skills to Become a Director, VP, or CPO by Facebook VP of Product

Product School

Choose a PM Role That is Right for You by Google Product Lead

Product School

Work on the Same Page With: Product Canvas by Twilio Product Lead

Product School

The document discusses using a Product Canvas to help product teams work on the same page. It introduces the Product Canvas as a way to document product ideas, assumptions, and risks on "tickets". The canvas can be reviewed and debated by the team to decide on the best path forward. Using the canvas ensures ideas are written down and the team reviews and makes decisions together rather than working in silos. It maximizes the canvas' value by tailoring it to each team's specific needs.

Crafting Effective Presentations by PayPal Director of Product

Product School

How to Leverage the Power of 'Yes And...' by WeWork PM

Product School

How to Change Your Domain in the PM Role by Salesforce Sr PM

Product School

Think Outside the Box by Amazon Product Leader

Product School

How to Link Your Product to Business Outcomes by Intercom Sr PM

Product School

Product-Market Fit in a Nascent or Emerging Area by Amazon Alexa Head of Product

Product School

Take Risks, Break Into & Dominate Product by fmr Affirm Prod Mkt

Product School

Webinar: Key Learnings From 20 Years in Product by fmr Adobe Principal PM

Product School

Webinar: Product Management & Passion by Deezer VP of Product

Product School

3 Tips to Execute Like a Rockstar PM by eBay Group PM

Product School

The document provides 3 tips for product managers to execute like rockstar PMs: 1. Write everything down in a shareable document, including background, hypothesis, data, team details, timelines, experiments, success criteria, and notes. This helps alignment across teams. 2. Setup regular agile ceremonies like discovery meetings and ship meetings to bring the whole team along the journey. 3. Make sure engineers understand the impact of their work by sharing why they are working on specific stories and sharing learnings and metrics regularly.

The CorporateTube Revolution - BDI 11/12/13 The Future of Collaboration & Int...

Business Development Institute

Kaltura's CorporateTube is a video portal solution that allows companies to create, manage and share video content internally and externally. It provides tools for uploading, editing and publishing video as well as viewing, commenting and sharing capabilities. The document discusses how CorporateTube can be used for executive communication, training, HR functions, collaboration, marketing and more. It is presented as a way to simplify knowledge sharing, improve productivity and engagement, and help businesses grow through more effective use of video.

Defining Success Metrics for Your Product by Google Product Leader

Product School

How to Effectively Collaborate as a PM by Twitch Sr PM

Product School

Similar to Improve With Improvisation by Spotify Group Product Manager (20)

Synergy in Leadership and Product Excellence: A Blueprint for Growth by CPO, ...

Using Data Within Your Company by Chartio Product Lead

Product Operation in Practice by Pendo Head of Product Ops

Product & Development Collab Tactics by Workday Dir of PM

The Skills to Become a Director, VP, or CPO by Facebook VP of Product

Choose a PM Role That is Right for You by Google Product Lead

Work on the Same Page With: Product Canvas by Twilio Product Lead

Crafting Effective Presentations by PayPal Director of Product

How to Leverage the Power of 'Yes And...' by WeWork PM

How to Change Your Domain in the PM Role by Salesforce Sr PM

Think Outside the Box by Amazon Product Leader

How to Link Your Product to Business Outcomes by Intercom Sr PM

Product-Market Fit in a Nascent or Emerging Area by Amazon Alexa Head of Product

Take Risks, Break Into & Dominate Product by fmr Affirm Prod Mkt

Webinar: Key Learnings From 20 Years in Product by fmr Adobe Principal PM

Webinar: Product Management & Passion by Deezer VP of Product

3 Tips to Execute Like a Rockstar PM by eBay Group PM

The CorporateTube Revolution - BDI 11/12/13 The Future of Collaboration & Int...

Defining Success Metrics for Your Product by Google Product Leader

How to Effectively Collaborate as a PM by Twitch Sr PM

More from Product School

De-mystifying Zero to One: Design Informed Techniques for Greenfield Innovati...

Product School

How world-class product teams are winning in the AI era by CEO and Founder, P...

Product School

Unsubscribed: Combat Subscription Fatigue With a Membership Mentality by Head...

Product School

Designing Great Products: The Power of Design and Leadership by Chief Designe...

Product School

From Siloed Products to Connected Ecosystem: Building a Sustainable and Scala...

Product School

From Daily Decisions to Bottom Line: Connecting Product Work to Revenue by VP...

Product School

Mission to Decommission: Importance of Decommissioning Products to Increase E...

Product School

AI for Every Business: Unlocking Your Product's Universal Potential by VP of ...

Product School

Webinar: The Art of Prioritizing Your Product Roadmap by AWS Sr PM - Tech

Product School

The document discusses prioritizing a product roadmap by selecting parameters, scoring features, and mapping them on a value vs effort framework. It recommends clearly defining roadmap objectives, choosing a customizable framework like value vs effort, selecting parameters like revenue and customer needs for scoring features, and categorizing investments as strategic, easy wins or maintenance based on the scoring to effectively set the product direction.

Harnessing the Power of GenAI for Exceptional Product Outcomes by Booking.com...

Product School

This document discusses harnessing the power of generative AI to improve product outcomes. It describes generative AI as a type of machine learning that allows computers to generate new and original ideas, like a creative chef using knowledge gained from recipes. The author discusses opportunities for generative AI across major business areas like demand generation, productivity, and products. Specific opportunities for Booking.com are explored, like better understanding customer intent and personalized recommendations. The author's vision is for systems that understand users in their natural language and help shape trip intent in a dynamic way that best serves customer needs.

Relationship Counselling: From Disjointed Features to Product-First Thinking ...

Product School

The document discusses how Adyen improved its products by shifting from disjointed feature development to product-first thinking. Previously, Adyen had too many OKRs, complex metrics, and local success metrics that led to isolated components and fragmented experiences. It moved to fewer prioritized OKRs, global metrics, and end-to-end product management. This unified its offerings, improved the customer experience, and increased full funnel conversion rates by up to 300 basis points through its integrated risk, authentication, and optimization products working holistically.

Launching New Products In Companies Where It Matters Most by Product Director...

Product School

This document discusses lessons learned from launching new products at large companies. It outlines three key lessons: 1) Figure out a clear strategic "why" for the new product that aligns with the company's overall strategy. 2) Really listen to stakeholders across the organization to understand their needs. 3) Assemble a cross-functional team that can get support and input from different parts of the organization, but isn't too large that it becomes unwieldy. The document emphasizes the importance of understanding strategic context, stakeholder needs, and effective team composition for successful new product launches at established companies.

Cultivating Entrepreneurial Mindset in Product Management: Strategies for Suc...

Product School

Revolutionizing The Banking Industry: The Monzo Way by CPO, Monzo

Product School

Monzo is revolutionizing the banking industry by taking a customer-first approach called "The Monzo Way." This involves starting from first principles, building products through constant dialogue with users, and piloting internally before growth. Monzo gathers extensive customer feedback and has conducted over 500 research interviews and reports. It strives for industry-leading customer service and uses this research to develop innovative new products for investments and home ownership tailored to customer needs. Monzo's community-focused approach has helped it become the UK's highest rated bank for overall service quality for four years running.

Act Like an Owner, Challenge Like a VC by former CPO, Tripadvisor

Product School

The document discusses how product teams can act like owners and investors to maximize returns. It recommends following three principles: 1) The investment principle - treat time as an investment that should generate ROI. 2) The capping principle - limit ambitions based on discovery. 3) The portfolio principle - allocate resources across a portfolio of high-risk/high-reward, medium-risk, and low-risk/low-hanging fruit initiatives based on their potential ROI. Managing product work like a VC portfolio can help product teams act like owners and challenge stakeholders to seek maximum returns.

The Future of Product, by Founder & CEO, Product School

Product School

Product teams will need to contribute directly to revenue growth, not just user value. They will sit at the intersection of technology and business. Artificial intelligence will allow product teams to do more with less people by automating tasks and providing insights. To succeed in this new era, companies must empower their product teams with the right skills and integrate them closely with other functions like marketing, sales, and customer success.

Webinar How PMs Use AI to 10X Their Productivity by Product School EiR.pdf

Product School

Explore AI tools hands-on and smoothly integrate them into your work routine. This practical experience is here to empower you, offering insights into the mindset of successful Product Managers. Learn the skills to become a more effective Product Manager. Main Takeaways: Hands-On AI Integration: Learn practical strategies for integrating AI tools into your workflow effectively. Mindset Insights for Success: Gain valuable insights into the mindset of successful Product Managers, unlocking the secrets to their achievements. Skill Empowerment for Growth: Acquire essential skills that empower your evolution toward becoming a more effective and impactful Product Manager.

Webinar: Using GenAI for Increasing Productivity in PM by Amazon PM Leader

Product School

Unlocking High-Performance Product Teams by former Meta Global PMM

Product School

The Types of TPM Content Roles by Facebook product Leader

Product School

Product Managers come from all kinds of backgrounds. Those who want to pursue this path often stumble upon it by chance or discover it during their well-established careers. If you are one of those looking to make a conscious transition, there are a few things you must consider first! Main Takeaways: - The different types of roles that exist and what they do - Which role is best suited for you? - How to succeed in your role

More from Product School (20)