How to Navigate Your First 90 Days as a Product Manager
Onboarding playbook for PMs
👋🏻 Hey there, welcome to the #29th edition of the Product Space Newsletter, where we help you become better at product management.
Starting a new role as a product manager can be both exciting and overwhelming. The first 90 days as a product manager are crucial for setting the foundation of your success in the role. This period is about learning, building relationships, and starting to make an impact.
A strong start can accelerate your effectiveness and impact, while a poor one can set you back significantly.
This guide will walk you through a strategic approach to your first three months, helping you focus on the right areas at the right time. We'll break down this period into three distinct phases, each with its own focus and goals.
First 30 Days Focus: Learn and Listen
Your primary goal in the first month is to absorb as much information as possible about the product, the team, and the company. This is your time to be a sponge - soak up every bit of knowledge you can.
Understand the product
Deep dive into the product's features and functionalities. Spend time using every aspect of the product. Try to break it, find its limits, and understand its quirks.
Review product documentation, roadmaps, and metrics. Study past product decisions, understand the current direction, and familiarize yourself with how success is measured.
Use the product extensively as both a user and an admin. This dual perspective will give you insights into both the user experience and the backend complexities.
Meet the team
Schedule 1:1s with team members across departments. This includes engineering, design, marketing, sales, and customer support. These meetings are crucial for building relationships and understanding different perspectives on the product.
Understand each team's goals, challenges, and expectations from product. This will help you align your work with their needs and identify areas where you can add value.
Know your customers
Review customer feedback, support tickets, and user research. This data is gold for understanding user pain points and desires.
Listen in on sales and customer support calls. This gives you direct insight into how customers perceive and use the product.
If possible, directly interact with a few key customers. Nothing beats first-hand conversations for understanding user needs.
Understand the market and competition
Study market trends and competitor products. Know where your product fits in the larger ecosystem.
Analyze the company's positioning and unique value proposition. Understand what sets your product apart and why customers choose it over alternatives.
Learn the processes
Familiarize yourself with the product development lifecycle. Understand how ideas become features, from conception to release.
Understand how decisions are made and priorities are set. Know the key stakeholders and the criteria used for decision-making.
Next 30 Days Focus (30-60): Analyze and Plan
In the second month, start synthesizing your learnings and developing your strategy. This is where you begin to form opinions and create plans based on your observations.
Identify key metrics
Determine which metrics are most important for your product's success. These could include user acquisition, retention, revenue, or specific feature usage.
Understand current performance and set initial goals. Benchmark where you are now and where you want to be.
Conduct a SWOT analysis
Assess your product's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. This framework helps you think strategically about your product's position.
Use this to inform your strategic thinking. The SWOT analysis should guide your product strategy and prioritization.
Review and refine the product roadmap
Understand the current roadmap and its alignment with business goals. Ensure that planned features and improvements support overall company objectives.
Start forming opinions on potential adjustments based on your analysis. Your fresh perspective might identify new opportunities or necessary pivots.
Develop relationships
Build stronger connections with key stakeholders. Move beyond initial introductions to form working relationships.
Start establishing yourself as a go-to person for product-related questions. Demonstrate your growing knowledge and willingness to help.
Contribute to ongoing projects
Begin actively participating in product discussions and decision-making. Start small, offering insights where you can add value.
Offer insights based on your fresh perspective and analysis. Your outsider's view can be valuable in challenging assumptions and bringing new ideas.
Next 30 Days Focus (60-90): Execute and Influence
In the final month of your first 90 days, start making a tangible impact. This is where you transition from learning to doing.
Lead a product initiative
Take ownership of a small but significant product update or feature. This is your chance to demonstrate your product management skills end-to-end.
Guide it through the entire product development process. From ideation to launch, own the process and learn from it.
Refine and communicate product strategy
Present your insights and proposed strategy to key stakeholders. Synthesize what you've learned into a coherent vision for the product.
Align your vision with overall company goals. Ensure your product strategy supports and advances broader business objectives.
Optimize processes
Identify areas where product processes can be improved. Look for inefficiencies or pain points in how product work is done.
Implement small changes to enhance efficiency. Start with quick wins to demonstrate the value of process improvement.
Deepen customer understanding
Conduct your own user research or customer interviews. Direct interaction with users will deepen your understanding and credibility.
Use insights to inform product decisions. Apply what you learn to make user-centric product choices.
Measure and communicate impact
Start tracking the impact of your contributions. Use data to show how your work is moving the needle on key metrics.
Communicate wins and learnings to your team and leadership. Regular updates build trust and demonstrate your value.
Comprehensive 90-Day Checklist
First 30 Days: Learn and Listen
Product understanding:
Complete a thorough review of all product documentation
Use the product extensively as both a regular user and admin
Create a list of product strengths and areas for improvement
Team and stakeholder engagement:
Schedule and complete 1:1 meetings with all key team members across departments
Create a stakeholder map identifying key decision-makers and their priorities
Attend at least one meeting of each core team (Engineering, Design, Marketing, Sales)
Customer and market insights:
Review last quarter's customer feedback and support tickets
Listen to at least 5 customer support or sales calls
Analyze top 3-5 competitors and their unique selling propositions
Create a summary of current market trends affecting the product
Process and workflow:
Document the current product development lifecycle
Understand the decision-making process for feature prioritization
Familiarize yourself with all tools used in the product development process
30-60 Days: Analyze and Plan
Metrics and goals:
Identify the top 5-7 key performance indicators (KPIs) for the product
Analyze current performance against these KPIs
Set initial goals for improvement in at least 3 key areas
Strategic analysis:
Conduct a comprehensive SWOT analysis of the product
Review the current product roadmap and its alignment with business goals
Develop at least 3 strategic recommendations based on your analysis
Relationship building:
Follow up with key stakeholders identified in the first 30 days
Contribute meaningfully in at least 3 cross-functional team meetings
Identify mentors or go-to people for different aspects of the business
Product contribution:
Actively participate in the prioritization process for upcoming features
Contribute to at least one ongoing product initiative
Present your initial insights and observations to your direct team
60-90 Days: Execute and Influence
Product leadership:
Take ownership of a specific product feature or improvement initiative
Develop and present a proposal for a new feature or product enhancement
Lead at least one sprint planning or product review meeting
Strategy and communication:
Refine and document your product strategy based on your analysis
Present your product strategy to senior stakeholders
Develop a quarterly plan aligned with your product strategy
Process improvement:
Identify at least 2-3 areas for process improvement
Implement at least one process improvement initiative
Document and share best practices you've identified or developed
Customer engagement:
Conduct at least 3 customer interviews or feedback sessions
Incorporate customer insights into your product planning
Present key customer feedback and insights to the broader team
Impact measurement:
Establish a system for tracking the impact of your contributions
Make a "90 day reflection and outlook" document
Set personal and product goals for the next 90 days
Continuous learning:
Identify areas where you need to deepen your knowledge or skills
Create a personal development plan for the next quarter
Join a product management community or forum for ongoing learning
By the end of 90 days, you should have checked off the majority of these items. This checklist will help ensure you're making steady progress and covering all crucial aspects of your new role as a product manager.
Most Common Mistakes Made by New PMs
Trying to change too much too quickly -
New PMs often feel pressure to make an immediate impact, leading them to propose sweeping changes before fully understanding the product ecosystem. This can create resistance from team members and stakeholders who have historical context you might lack.
Example: A new PM immediately pushing for a complete redesign of the user interface without understanding the reasons behind the current design decisions.
Not spending enough time listening and learning -
In their eagerness to contribute, new PMs might skip the crucial phase of absorbing information from team members, customers, and stakeholders.
This can lead to uninformed decisions and missed opportunities.
Example: Making product decisions without taking the time to understand customer pain points or the rationale behind existing features.
Failing to build strong relationships across the organization Product management is inherently cross-functional. Neglecting to build rapport with teams like engineering, design, marketing, and sales can lead to communication breakdowns and lack of support for your initiatives.
Example: Proposing features without consulting the engineering team about technical feasibility, leading to unrealistic expectations and potential project failures.
Ignoring the importance of data in decision-making While intuition has its place, overlooking data can lead to subjective decisions that don't align with user needs or business goals. New PMs might rely too heavily on their own assumptions without validating them with data.
Example: Prioritizing a feature based on personal preference rather than user analytics or customer feedback data.
Focusing too much on features and not enough on outcomes New PMs often fall into the trap of equating success with shipping new features, rather than focusing on the actual impact these features have on key metrics and user satisfaction.
Example: Celebrating the launch of a new feature without establishing clear success metrics or following up on its actual usage and impact.
Underestimating the complexity of the product or market Every product and market has its nuances and complexities. New PMs might oversimplify problems or solutions, leading to inadequate strategies or unrealistic timelines.
Example: Assuming a competitor's feature can be easily replicated without understanding the underlying technical or UX complexities involved.
Not aligning product strategy with overall business goals Product decisions should support broader company objectives. New PMs might focus too narrowly on product-specific goals without considering how they fit into the larger business strategy.
Example: Pursuing a product direction that improves certain metrics but doesn't contribute to the company's primary revenue streams or strategic initiatives.
Neglecting to establish clear communication channels Effective product management requires clear, consistent communication. New PMs might not set up proper channels for updates, feedback, and decision-making, leading to information silos and misalignment.
Example: Failing to establish a regular cadence of product updates to stakeholders, resulting in surprise and potential pushback when decisions are made.
Failing to manage stakeholder expectations effectively Different stakeholders often have varying (and sometimes conflicting) expectations. New PMs might struggle to balance these expectations or fail to communicate limitations and trade-offs clearly.
Example: Overpromising on delivery timelines to please stakeholders without fully understanding the development process and potential roadblocks.
Overlooking the importance of understanding technical constraints While PMs don't need to be technical experts, a basic understanding of technical limitations and possibilities is crucial. Ignoring these can lead to unrealistic feature requests or missed opportunities for innovation.
Example: Proposing features that seem simple from a user perspective but are actually extremely complex or unfeasible from a technical standpoint.
Best Practices and Tips
Continuously ask questions and seek to understand deeper aspects of the product and business.
Remember that product management is about collaboration. Build strong, positive relationships across teams.
Keep stakeholders informed about your progress, insights, and plans. Transparency builds trust.
Prioritize initiatives that drive meaningful results for users and the business, not just features.
Make data-driven decisions whenever possible, but also know when to trust your intuition.
Keep your manager informed about your progress, challenges, and wins. Seek their guidance when needed.
Regularly engage with users to maintain a deep understanding of their needs and pain points.
Be prepared to adjust your plans as you learn more about the product, market, and organization.
Don't wait for direction on everything. Look for opportunities to add value and take action.
Stay updated on industry trends, product management best practices, and new methodologies.
This 90-day roadmap will set you up for long-term success. You’ll be able to balance learning with proactive engagement, and progressively taking more ownership over the product.
That’s a wrap for today!
How did you navigated your first 90 days as a PM? We’d love to hear from you!
Share in the comments below or reply to this email.
Until next time, keep innovating, keep iterating, and above all, keep being awesome.
Cheers!
Product Space