Articles by Jackie Bavaro
How to Learn Product SenseJackie explains that product sense can be trained and practiced, like most skills. She provides 5 activities to learn it: 1) Document product goals 2) Product teardowns 3) Read product reviews 4) Apply learnings from one product category to another 5) Learn from the successes and failures of other products
- The 3 Stages of a Product Manager's Career
The 3 Stages of a Product Manager's Career outlines the different stages of responsibility and focus over the course of a product management career. There are three stages - shipping products, product strategy, and building a strong team. As one advances, the job changes and requires adopting new responsibilities while becoming a beginner in that new role. Success looks different at each stage, shifting from shipping delightful products to developing winning strategies to helping a company succeed at scale. Jackie argues that being clear about the distinct stages is important for both career advancement and knowing when a promotion requires improving skills within a stage versus taking on responsibilities of the next stage.
- How We Build our Product Roadmap at Asana
Jackie explains Asana's roadmapping process. It's built through a process they call the "Pyramid of Clarity," which maps five levels: company mission, company strategy, (both of which rarely change), annual company-wide objectives, annual team/product-level objectives, and semi-annual key results.
- Stakeholder Management: How I get Everyone on the Same Page
Jackie covers three key areas of stakeholder management: • Focus on goals • Clarify the decision maker • Know when to escalate
- How to Write a Spec: Asana’s Spec Template & Spec Training
Asana's project template is more detailed than the Atlassian team poster. It starts with sections for Background, Problems, Goals, Vision, and Hypotheses, and then digs into a proposal with concept mocks.
- How to Hire Great Product Managers
Jackie walks you through how to identify what kind of PM you want, which skills are easier vs. hard to teach, how to structure an interview process, and how to create a great candidate experience.
- How we develop great PM / Engineering relationships at Asana
Jackie provides 4 keys to a healthy relationship between engineering and product management: Share Leadership and Credit Include Engineers in Product Decisions Clarify Roles and Reinforce them with Mutual Respect Clear Away Inefficiency and Help Your Teammates Succeed