Nafisa Abdurrahman Umar // SCA/APC1/PM/005

Case Study 1:

In a tech startup, two co-founders clash over their differing visions for the product. One wants rapid growth and market dominance, pushing for aggressive expansion and feature development. The other values user experience and product stability, preferring a cautious approach focused on quality and customer satisfaction. How would you, as the product manager, manage this situation while ensuring customer satisfaction and business success?

My Strategy:

  1. Adjust my mindset so I’m not framing it as an either/or problem. Take their two visions as considerations that are important to them.
  2. Have one-on-one conversations with them to clearly understand their priorities and reasoning without arguing.
  3. Look for overlaps and compromises. I would also look for an Agile development methodology that would allow for rapid development while being customer-centric such as Scrum which allows for recurrent feature prioritization and regular reviews.
  4. Present findings from number 2 to them (together) and facilitate discussion between them. Assure Stakeholder #2 that you can prioritize customer satisfaction and quality while iterating rapidly. Repeat discussions until we collectively come up with a product vision that aligns with both of their priorities.

Case Study 2:

Propose strategies for effectively managing a difficult teammate who consistently produces high-quality work but struggles to meet deadlines.

My Strategy:

  1. Figure out why. Explore whether they are overwhelmed with their work and require assistance. Have a conversation with them about how they estimate how long a task will take them to complete. Check that the problem is not from me giving unclear requirements and deadlines.
  2. Always ask for their estimates when planning around their tasks, and make allowance for extra time (without telling them).
  3. Check in with them regularly while they’re working on a task. Break down their tasks into milestones that they report/ demo during check-ins.
  4. If possible, pair them with a team member who consistently beats deadlines (even better if this team member struggle with detail and quality so that they can help each other).
  5. Motivate them by commending their work and incentivize team members to meet deadlines by giving a small treat or reward to those who beat deadlines (turn it into a game).