# Coaching Tools – The Assessment  ## Metadata - Author: [[Marty Cagan]] - Full Title: Coaching Tools – The Assessment - Category: #articles - Summary: This article presents a coaching tool for assessing the skills and competencies of product managers, which is the foundation for coaching them to success. The tool covers three pillars: people, process, and product. The assessment is structured in the form of a gap analysis, where the manager rates the importance and the current capability of each skill on a 1-10 scale. The coaching plan focuses on the top three areas with the biggest gaps, and the manager provides coaching, training, reading, or exercises to develop the product manager's skills in each area. - URL: https://www.svpg.com/coaching-tools-the-assessment/ ## Highlights - I have always been a big believer in the old adage that “people join a company, but leave their manager.” ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01hnfz2k91ct81fz4qxb5yxwsy)) - Tags: [[favorite]] - the taxonomy I like to use when talking about product management is the three pillars: people, process and product. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01hnfz3t3daxze5mkf0ae0drbm)) - **Product** Knowledge: • User and Customer Knowledge – Is the product manager a company acknowledged expert on her target users/customers? • Data Knowledge – Is the product manager skilled with the various data tools and considered by her product team and her stakeholders as an acknowledged expert in how the product is actually used by users? • Industry and Domain Knowledge – Is the product manager knowledgeable about the industry and domain? Does she understand the competitive landscape and the relevant industry trends? • Business and Company Knowledge – Does the product manager understand the various dimensions of your company’s business – marketing, sales, finance (both revenue and costs), services, legal, privacy, etc.? And do the stakeholders believe that the product manager understands their concerns and constraints? • Product Operational Knowledge – Is the product manager considered an acknowledged expert on how her product actually works? Would she be able to effectively demo to a prospective customer, train a new customer on how to successfully use, and handle live customer support inquiries? ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01hnfz4phpndfpef0rasqttwdj)) - **Process** Skills and Techniques: • Product Discovery Techniques – Does the product manager have a strong understanding of the product risks and how to address each of them? Does she understand how to tackle risks up front, before engineers are asked to build? Does she know how to solve problems collaboratively? Does she focus on outcome? Does she understand and utilize both qualitative and quantitative techniques? • Product Optimization Techniques – Once a product or new capability is live and in production, does the product manager know how to utilize optimization techniques to rapidly improve and refine her product? • Product Delivery Techniques – While the product manager’s primary responsibility is discovery, she still has an important supporting role to play in delivery. Does she understand her responsibilities to the engineers and to product marketing? • Product Development Process – Does the product manager have a solid understanding of the broader product development process including discovery and delivery, as well as the product manager’s administrative responsibilities as the team’s product owner? ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01hnfz5m7kwmndnek319dx6d2g)) - **People** Skills and Responsibilities: • Team Collaboration Skills – How effectively does the product manager work with her developers and product designer? Is it a collaborative relationship? Is there mutual respect? Is the product manager involving the developers and designer early enough and providing them direct access to customers? Is the product manager fully leveraging her team’s skills and minds? • Stakeholder Management Skills – How good is the product manager at managing her stakeholders across the company? Do they feel like they have a true partner in product that is genuinely committed to their business success? Has she established mutual respect and mutual trust with each stakeholder, including the senior leadership of the company? • Evangelism Skills – Is the product manager able to effectively share the product’s vision and strategy, and motivate and inspire her product team, as well as the various stakeholders and others in the company that must contribute to the product in one way or another? • Leadership Skills – While the product manager does not actually manage anyone, she does need to influence and inspire people, so leadership skills are important. Is she an effective communicator and motivator? Do her team and her stakeholders look to her for leadership especially in stressful situations? ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01hnfz76q4f22ecwwf31382fyf))