Notes : PM Time Management & Principles for PMs and Leaders @ShreyasDoshi
Notes from Workshop on Time management for PMs and Product Leaders
Contents:
LNO
Eisenhower Matrix
Radical Delegation framwork
Avoid Proof of worth task
Books
Introduction:
Recently I attended my very first webinar by one of the best PM and Product Leader - Mr. Shreyas Doshi, whom I admire and trying to learn his methodology as a product leader. This article is more like notes from his webinar, all credit goes to Shreyas, I’m writing this so that others can read and learn the great LNO and Delegation framework for time management working as PM. I’m the co-founder of @huddleup and @bytezee so there I have to work as CTO and as PM also, it is my responsibility to learn from the best in the industries so that I learn and also I can pass it on to others as well.
As a reader try to read and implement it right away so that you can absorb it very quickly, if you are reading the LNO section, take out a pen and paper write out your tasks and arrange it that way, if you are reading the delegation framework read and stop for a minute and think what is your current priorities and tasks that need to delegate. Try to absorb as much as you can.
The LNO Tasks:
All your tasks are not created equally, understand LNO and tackle them accordingly.
L → Leverage ~10x
N → Neutral ~1x
O →Overhead <1x
Leverage (L): L tasks are that leverage tasks, what they do is they give every high return Vs. the amount of effort you put in, 10x return or 100x returns
Do a great job, and let your inner perfectionist shine. If you do a great job you will get a large return.
Neutral (N): N tasks are basically kind of breakeven, you put X and get 1X or 1.5X
Do a strictly good job.
Overhead (O): Tasks where you actually get less than you put in, but you have to do them.
Just get it done.
Examples of LNO applied
After applying LNO
The Eisenhower Matrix
Eisenhower’s strategy for taking action and organizing your tasks is simple. Using the decision matrix below, you will separate your actions based on four possibilities.
Urgent and important (tasks you will do immediately).
Important, but not urgent (tasks you will schedule to do later).
Urgent, but not important (tasks you will delegate to someone else).
Neither urgent nor important (tasks that you will eliminate).
That’s it no complex theory or anything, just four quadrants, decide on your own while creating tasks, what’s the level of Urgency and priority of the task.
The most important quadrant and hard is to eliminate - Elimination Before Optimization.
There is no faster way to do something than not doing it at all. That’s not a reason to be lazy, but rather a suggestion to force yourself to make hard decisions and delete any task that does not lead you toward your mission, your values, and your goals.
Radical Delegation framwork
After some time Eisenhower matrix is at the limit, then comes the delegation framework, consider this framework for work that must be done.
On the X axis, there is delegation - whom you should delegate it, and on the Y axis the leverage of the task, High and Low.
Delegate and forget:
If many people could do this work even though it may fall in your lap, but if many people could do it, and the leverage from this work is low, then just delegate and forget it.( Delegate to someone in your team and forget about it, open up that mental space. But always clear when you’re delegating to your team member that you’ll always be available for help)
Delegate to the most suitable person:
Many people can do this work or some people can do this work, you’re not the only person who can do it, but the leverage is very high. Delegate it to the most suitable person but monitor it actively and closely, so here you are proactively asking for status. ( I will let my team member know that, hey look, I’m delegating this to you, it is a very high leverage task, so I’m very interested in knowing about how it goes, and at times you will like I’m micro managing, and you have to be okay with that because it’s not that I don’t trust, but because it’s very high leverage task and I’m trusting you for this task.)
Focus Deeply on yourself:
High Leverage tasks, that only you can do it, focus deeply and be a perfectionist here.
Set up the essential foundation:
Low leverage task but that only you can do it, so here you coach your team member very closely for the task and get it done, set up the foundation, next time they will be there to help you with this kind of task.
Avoid Proof of worth task
Let me first give an example of mine, as CTO and also working as PM my responsibility is to create product strategy, and product features, write PRD and also decide on the tech stack and architecture, but the mistake while building the product was I was too much involved with design sitting with designers 3-4 hours on Figma choosing images, designing wireframes even though I have clearly explained the vision and product requirements, then I also sit with backend and frontend team 2-2 hours initially it’s okay but, once your product is ready and if your role is CTO you have to get a strong grasp of codebase but don’t code line by line, If you’re product leader you should have a stronghold of the whole product.
Early PMs are told to do:
“You should fix a bug so engineers begin to respect you” Or
“You should create wireframes so your designers know you empathize with them”
these are proof of worth tasks, I mean they have no or small impact but as a Product leader, you should not focus on these things, because as PM the hands and time blocks are never empty.
Books Suggestions :
1. Super Thinking: Mental models for better decisions
2. The War of Art: PM is a creative job, need to break creative blocks
3. 100 Things Every Designer Needs to Know About People: For improving design intuition
4. Alchemy: Role of psychology in building & Mktg products
5. The Cartoon Guide to Statistics: Refresher of stats concepts PMs need
6. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: IMO the most important book for PMs (read 2 or 3 times)
