Goldilocks was a Product Manager

Happy Tuesday everyone! There is lots going on in the Cleveland Product scene, so let’s get to it!

Article of the Week

Of all things a Product Manager is responsible for, the Product Backlog is the most important. It communicates what the team is working on, what others have asked the team to work on, and the priority of every item.

I recently read an article from Roman Pichler that dove into common Product Backlog mistakes, and I’ll let you read that to form your own opinions, but there is one aspect that has always challenged Product teams. What size backlog is appropriate?

There are many factors to help you determine what size of backlog is the perfect size, which is why Goldilocks was a Product Manager.

As you may know, Goldilocks is a character in an English ican fairy tale, who ate the porridge of three bears. One bowl of porridge was too hot, one was too cold, and one was just right. It’s an adage that gets applied to lots of things - room temperature, task difficulty, drink sweetness. I like to apply it to Product Management, because Product Managers have to find the perfect balance for lots of things, including the size of their backlog. If you have too many items in your backlog, it becomes daunting to manage and important things can get lost. If your backlog is not big enough, you may not be working on the right things or you may be caught by surprise when a stakeholder or leadership asks for your team to work on something.

Read the below article to see how to “right size” your backlog.

Recent Events

Thank you to Shannon Osborne, Digital Product Manager at Current Lighting, for a fun event last week, “Everything I Know about Product I learned in the Restaurant Industry”.

My favorite takeaway? A good restaurant has good culture. Roles are understood. New employees are trained. Communication is crisp. Menu experimentation is encouraged. Customer feedback is requested and acted upon immediately. And when things get busy, everyone - even leadership - jumps in to make things run smoother.

Product Jobs of the Week

The Product roles at Cleveland companies keep rolling in!

• Eaton - Product Owner, Sales Enablement and IT Product Owner Leader - Smart Manufacturing

• OxyGo - Product Manager, Specialty Gas Control Equipment

• Visa - Director, Product Management (Authentication and Identity)

Upcoming Events

• February 13th - Product Management in Practice - A Conversation with Matt LeMay

About the Author

My name is Shawn Leitner. I started the Cleveland Product networking group in 2017, which helps to connect Product professionals around Cleveland, providing them with a forum to network, learn, and share stories. For my day job, I'm a Product Consultant & Coach for Pathfinder Product and help clients implement strong Product practices so they can create products that their teams love building and their customers love using. Connect with me on LinkedIn or feel free to attend one of my events either virtually or in-person. Always up for meeting for a cup of coffee also!