Lynsey has extensive experience leading international teams across a variety of industries. She is passionate about building great products that deliver real custo. After working with Asian startups, she moved to Europe to join Travix and Skyscanner, two of the leading CTrip companies.We all know that emotional intelligence, or EQ, is a key component of the workplace. It not only helps to create more connected and aligned teams but it is also one of the best ways to bring people together around a product. In today's highly competitive product market, businesses must prioritize meaningful relationships between people and products.After all, if the people who create the products don't believe in them, then how can we expect the users to?As Product Managers, I would argue that our roles require a high level of emotional intelligence. Every day, we must communicate, empathize and diffuse conflict.In a product world shaken by the pandemic we need to be more aware of how to project that intelligence onto teams and workflows that create our products, especially since emotional intelligence can equip people with the ability to manage disrupted processes and remote work.Emotional intelligence, like any other form of mental gymnastics must be practiced through habits. These are just a few ways that I have personally used EQ to improve product management.1. With accessibility in mind, buildEQ is directly related to an appreciation of inclusion.COVID-19 has made it possible for many people who didn't use online tools before to become active users. We Product Managers are responsible for making sure that the tools of today are available to everyone tomorrow. It is our responsibility to pay attention to the needs of people from all walks of life, including those with disabilities and mobility.Accessibility is a must when there are so many users to consider. My team and I constantly check that we are being inclusive, from the discovery phase through coding to the initial prototype.How do you explain? We use Stark accessibility tools to test with people with different abilities. Through interviews and courses on inclusive design, we are constantly trying to improve our knowledge of accessibility.We recognize that accessibility is a benefit for all users. We discovered that closed captioning was necessary in order to make our products more accessible for people with hearing impairments. The functionality can also be used by able-bodied people who live in noisy environments or are not native speakers.Emotional intelligence enabled us to see our products through many lenses. This allowed us to create better products and more ethical products.2. Encourage your teams (over)sharingEven though they have worked remotely for more than a year, it is still a difficult task for PMs to communicate progress, revised deadlines and takeaways with all stakeholders.Although we had some interpersonal skills before the pandemics, they were not necessary for keeping our teams productive and reassured in these difficult times.Recently, I traveled to Madrid to meet up with my colleagues. It was outside the office that made the most difference in our team bonding, which I discovered while there. We shared the most when we went out for lunch or had after-work drinks.Then I thought: How can I recreate these moments remotely? I began by creating meetings that were solely for people to share their thoughts and ideas: 15-minute coffee breaks, lightning talks, and 5.30pm beers on Zoom.A healthy and productive work environment is built on the principle of sharing. It is important to give people time to connect with each other, not just as employees or team members. We can understand and respond to each other's needs if we learn more about them.My team automatically extends deadlines when a colleague mentions that their child has been sick. We also limit the number of Slack messages they send.It is reflected in the products we create. We are more aware of the people we are trying to serve and how our products reflect them. We have started asking more emotional questions about our users to learn about their fears and new situations in the pandemic.We have learned to be more curious about customers and develop products that are meaningful to them by (over)sharing.3. You should be ready to modify your roadmap in a moment's noticeBeing able to pivot at a moment's notice in 2021 is not only a requirement, but also a sign of a mature team who can respond to changing markets.What does this mean for PMs? This means that we must emotionally prepare our teams to deal with 180 scenarios. Although it is not something that anyone wants to do, trusting teams will allow them to continue to work hard and be confident they are on the right path.Shipping new features can also be as valuable as unshipping, which is where features are lost. My previous company had an annual 2020 strategy, but it was destroyed by the pandemic. All technical plans were rendered obsolete.However, by quickly reversing these plans, teams were able to focus on the development of a COVID-19 insight system. This eventually became a product. Individuals were able to backtrack with confidence and produced a product that was more relevant and better than the original plan.4. Be comfortable using data and analytics toolsThe biggest EQ-inducing change that our team has witnessed is the shift to product-led growth and the reduction in our marketing efforts.Product-led means having a dialog with users. It's not about having one-sided conversations. We have to listen to their stories and then act.We want to provide value and not just a sales pitch. Customers should be able to tell us what works. We still need to have concrete methods for measuring this feedback and iterating accordingly.Enter your data.Team members don't have the luxury to sit next to a data scientist so they can't easily access metrics or ask for quick queries. We have invested in training individuals to use query language to reduce data handling bottlenecks.We have also held workshops on data tools such as Mixpanel and Amplitude, so that the entire team is able to analyze user behavior. Once the pandemic has passed, and users data undergoes drastic changes, we will be able to interpret the data faster and ensure our products have a place in this world.As a Product Manager, you have always had to spin many plates simultaneously. In the midst of a global crisis, more plates are being turned in different directions.We must move beyond the technicalities involved in making products in 2021 and place team management, inclusive design and agility at the forefront. This will keep plates from falling and ensure that both PMs as well as our products are balanced for the future.
