Best Practices for Product Managers to Collaborate Effectively with Engineering Teams

The collaboration between engineering teams and product managers (PMs) is crucial to delivering high-quality products that meet both business and user needs. Successful collaboration isn't just about working together; it's about fostering a deep understanding, shared goals, and mutual respect. Recently I have had the privilege to speak with a multitude of senior experienced PMs across the industry. I enquired what their best models of collaboration with engineering teams looked like. Here is a distillation of some of the best thoughts on ensuring that engineering and PM teams work in harmony to create impactful software solutions.

1. Embrace the "4-in-the-Box" Model

One effective collaboration framework is the "4-in-the-box" model. This approach brings together Engineering, Design, Product, and Go-To-Market (GTM) teams from the outset, ensuring alignment from the very beginning. By involving all key stakeholders early, the team can collectively understand the "why" behind the problem, which fosters collaboration and informed decision-making. This model helps teams build a shared narrative and lay the foundation for a flexible roadmap that guides them through implementation. Note, there are naysayers for this model as well.

2. Partner in Technical Decision-Making

Collaboration goes beyond surface-level alignment; it involves deep partnership in execution and decision-making. PMs should challenge current methods and contribute to discussions on how to make impactful, collective decisions. For instance, when teams work together on significant product changes, the goal is to unify efforts for a successful launch while carefully balancing the risks of large, bundled changes versus incremental improvements. By partnering closely in these decisions, PMs can help engineering teams navigate complex trade-offs and ensure that the final product aligns with both technical feasibility and user needs.

3. Foster Future Optionality

Forward-thinking PMs encourage their engineering counterparts to consider the broader implications of their work. This involves thinking about how to platformize capabilities that could benefit other teams and support company-wide initiatives. By fostering this mindset, PMs can help engineering teams build solutions that not only address immediate challenges but also pave the way for future innovation and scalability.

4. Shift Scope and Reduce Efforts

Visibility and consolidation are key to effective collaboration. PMs should work with engineering teams to create transparency around ongoing projects and find ways to leverage existing components. This approach not only reduces duplication of effort but also aligns incentives to drive adoption and improve user experiences. By focusing on reducing scope and streamlining efforts, teams can deliver high-quality products more efficiently.

5. Build Relationships and Trust

At the heart of successful collaboration is trust. PMs should prioritize building strong relationships with their engineering counterparts, ensuring that they are tightly aligned and accountable to each other. This involves not only understanding the basic architecture of projects to empathize with the engineering team but also participating actively in day-to-day activities like outage calls and stand-ups. By being present and engaged, PMs can maintain alignment and unity across the team. PMs who are seen in the trenches with the engineers command a great deal of respect from their engineering counterparts. One essential ingredient here is for the PMs to be seen as absolutely knowledgeable on the product are they are building. That means being an expert on the product/feature at hand, as well as those of the competition.

6. Engage Early and Often

Effective collaboration starts early. PMs should engage with engineers from the start, focusing on building personal relationships and understanding their motivations, constraints, and technical challenges. While a PM might not have a technical background, they can still complement the engineering team’s expertise by providing clarity on business goals and customer needs. Acting as a thought partner and handling non-technical tasks allows engineers to concentrate on their core work, leading to better outcomes. PMs who are experts on the customers and their problems are a huge boon to the EPD triad (Eng, Product, Design).

7. Adapt to Individual Preferences

Finally, it’s important to recognize that engineers have different interests and career aspirations. Some may prefer diving deep into technical challenges, while others might be more interested in product strategy or even transitioning into a PM role. PMs should adapt their collaboration style to these individual preferences, which can lead to more effective and satisfying partnerships.

Conclusion

The collaboration between PMs and engineering teams is a critical component of successful software development. By embracing models like "4-in-the-box," partnering in decision-making, fostering future optionality, and building strong relationships, teams can create a working environment that promotes innovation, efficiency, and high-quality outcomes. Ultimately, it's about understanding and respecting each other's roles, working together towards shared goals, and continuously adapting to meet the evolving needs of the product and the business.