Robbing banks with high performing teams

Put your team members first with protection, transparency and trust: you'll become almost criminally effective

Now I've never robbed a bank, and frankly I don't plan to. But Googling the biggest bank robberies of all time, one thing is clear: it's a team sport.

There are good teams and bad teams. In this article, I’ll share 6 tips I've learned during my time as a Product Manager that cultivates a highly effective team, setting the stage for long term success. Whilst I cannot promise that these topics translate to pulling off the next big heist, I'm confident that they're winning themes for building a strong product team.

Let’s set the scene…

CRASH! Bulletproof glass comes roaring down, alarms ring, and you and your squad of 5 are trapped in the lobby of the bank.

You look around at the sea of handcuffed hostages on the floor, heads covered with KFC takeaway bags. Lost. A wicked variety of faults shower your thoughts.

Every. single. step, executed perfectly. What went wrong?

As the police sirens crescendo, you have that sinking realisation that these new panic alarms can also be voice activated.

Why designer outlets make me want to pee

My dad, he's a man of few words. For all his virtues, He's not the best communicator.

When I was younger, I'd frequently be ordered into my Dad’s car on a Saturday morning.

"Where are we going?" I'd ask.

"Swindon" He'd reply.

Where the f*** is Swindon.

"Why do we have to go to Swindon?"

"Because I said so".

How did I respond to the useless response? Perpetually asking him "Are we there yet?" until I got the answer I wanted.

Now I’m older, and arguably wiser, I understand it was a frugal shopping trip to the designer outlet for Mum’s birthday gift. She’s got expensive taste, and we never had the money to afford the Regent Street price tag.

But if Dad had just taken the extra minute to explain with patience, and attentiveness, why we were going where we were going, that would have made all the difference.

“He, who has a why to live for, can bear with almost any how”
- Friedrich Nietzsche

Often, as Product Managers, we are bombarded with tasks that at times can be overwhelming, losing ourselves to the myriad of tasks that make up our days.

But it is a heinous crime not to let your team know what's coming up, and why you're doing something.

This is more of a reminder than a how to guide, as plenty of material already exists in this space. But for those of you who like eggs, let me tell you how to suck them.

The Mission gives us purpose

The Product Mission. Often overlooked and blurred together with the Vision statement, there's a benefit in untangling these as part of your strategy.

Product visions are short, snappy aspirational punchlines to what your product is trying to achieve. Let's have a look at Microsoft's Vision & Mission statements.

Microsoft Vision Statement: We strive to create local opportunity, growth, and impact in every country around the world.

Microsoft Mission Statement: To empower every person and every organisation on the planet to achieve more.

The mission statement is inspiring, it's customer/user centric. It's the product team's raison d'etre. A purpose worth getting out of bed for on Monday morning.

Without a strong mission statement, product teams lose their sense of purpose. 

Ignite the flame of your passionate team members, it can mean more to them than their salary.

Quick tips on Mission statements.

• Make it about your users: Customer centricity is key here, whose lives are you improving?

• Outline the improvement: How will the users benefit from your product? What's the problem that you're solving for them?

• Has to be now: It's immediate, it's something you can work towards now, it's not something you'll consider working towards when your team's budget gets refreshed next quarter.

The roadmap gives us orientation and focus

The roadmap is a fantastic communication tool to align not only stakeholders, but your team as well. Share this frequently with them, and make it accessible 24/7. This should be the artefact of truth when it comes to what we're working towards now, what's coming up just over the hill, and what's coming up in the future. Never underestimate the power of the roadmap.

Top tip on Roadmaps: keep it up to date.

If my dad had given young Rich an idea of where we were going, a little roadmap for that day, then I would have known to pee before setting off, I could have gathered the right tools for the job (Gameboy colour - fully charged), and I could have come up with practical suggestions along the way such as stopping off at Reading town centre - they have a TK Maxx.

A lesson from a banana souffle

Growing up, my best friend Chris spent most Sunday’s baking cakes with his mum who was a beast in the kitchen. Delectable magic found between sugars and creams that would have Greg Wallace weeping.

Reminiscing about this with Chris, I admired how much he had learned from his mum. His recollection was the opposite.

He talked about his frustration with his mother who would promise every week he could take the lead, then at every cut of the greaseproof paper, every knead of the dough, there was something he wasn't doing quite right. She’d take over.

Chris would then lose interest, and goof around instead, throwing chocolate chips at his younger sister. Double points if it went in her mouth.

Questioning his frustrations he said it made him feel small, and less empowered. He felt that he wasn't growing. Why bother trying if someone else will take over when you're just getting momentum.

OK. Lets snap back to the world of product.

You're fortunate to work with people of talent holding a variety of skill sets. Now you may have been an engineer in a previous life, you may design websites as a side hustle. However, you have teammates who dedicate their entire working day to these crafts.

Products are living things, they evolve, they morph, and so do customer needs and desires. Nothing in Product is stationary. As a response to this, every single teammate must remain engaged, they must continue to be challenged and autonomous, in order to grow.

Who knows, if Chris was given the freedom to do the job himself, he may have become 10x the baker his mum was.

Let your team grease their own papers.

If you don’t care for your team, they won’t care for the product

Let me cut to the chase here.

Your team's wellbeing is your greatest priority.

You have the responsibility to cultivate a working environment where everyone has the confidence to suggest, challenge and raise issues without prejudice.

Dialling up the volume 

Not all your team members are going to ooze confidence, they're not going to be as forthcoming with their ideas and opinions. It doesn't mean their voice is less valuable to the team. If someone is quiet in a debate, ask for their advice. If you see their body language change, consult them and hear them out. But listen. Listen and understand their point. Play it back to them.

I recently worked in awe alongside a Delivery Lead I learned a lot from. Working remotely he was exceptionally good at reading facial cues from team members on zoom. He always remained calm, polite, and always treated each and every team member with respect. Over the next few months, I realised I operated in one of the most open, honest and inspired teams, despite other challenges. I encourage all of us to raise the voice of all of our team members, and unlock the team’s collective genius. 

Under Pressure

Looming deadlines and dependencies are a reality of the space we work in. You feel the heat, it doesn't feel great, but it's no reason to propagate it into the team.

I've yet to see the planet be destroyed from missing the Q1 milestone.

I've seen teams crumble to overbearing deadlines. It's fine to share the observation that timelines are tight, but no one should be whipped into working unsociable hours to achieve a milestone. You keep this up for long enough, you're going to lose your talent, and then you've got a bigger problem on your hands.

Instead, work with your team to explore the unexplored solutions. Protect your team and do not overcommit to what you already know is achievable. Have their backs, and they'll have yours.

Attitude towards failure

You already know that failure is a good thing. It leads to greater successes later down the line. At least, that's what I've learned from Steve Jobs and Walt Disney.

What's important here though is our attitude towards failure.

“Success is the ability to go from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm”
- Sir Winston Churchill

The ability to maintain resilience, positivity, creativity and motivation are core ingredients to achieving long term success.

Do you know what kills all those abilities? Blame.

Like many animals such as dogs, humans are hardwired for self preservation. It's not nice to be at fault.

And there’s this thing psychologists call Fundamental Attribution bias which states that we like to believe that what people do is a reflection of who they are. For instance, if a teammate forgets to attach the latest deck to the client email, they’re forgetful. This is shortsighted, and completely disregards other extraneous factors such as society and environmental influences.Everyone makes mistakes. Learn to disassociate the error from the person who caused it.

The best that we can do is acknowledge this is true and innate in all of us, and try to curb this from corroding our product teams.

Be vigilant, blame culture can come cloaked in ways we’re not really aware of. If you’re reading this and thinking this was meant for someone else and not you, it might be for you.

Have your retros & PIRs, but remember to focus on the error, not the individual. 

This approach breeds a culture of Accountability. The team will highlight issues faster, and give everyone more lead time to course correct, over spending precious time burying the body. This is good.

Pay attention to behaviour. Is someone out of character? Reach out, check they're ok. 

Someone feeling the pressure? Lend them an ear. Empathise. 

Teammate down about a recent failure? Listen to them.

If there's one thing I want you to take away from this entire article. It's to listen, and care for your team. Everyone in it.

Having the title of a Product Manager may make you think you have to have all the answers and all the skills. Not true.

You work with a talented team of brilliant people, if they are kept engaged with a mission, are empowered and respected for their skills, and are allowed to work in an environment where they are cared for, Impossible is Nothing (that's an Adidas slogan).

The upshot here is: don’t let your ego get in the way, trust your team. Trust yourself. Build good products together. 

Oh, and if you’re robbing a bank, the outcome you’re looking to achieve is to prevent notifying the police, not to prevent the panic alarm being pressed.

What's your advice on building good teams? Please share in the comments section below.

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