Product Leadership Culture: How to Get It Right

Product leadership culture is built on open, honest, candid feedback that is freely given, with the right intention.

Without this kind of culture, your company will never be able to create an environment where people feel safe to speak up when they think something is wrong.

So, how can you get it right? Here are some of the best tips to improve your product leadership culture.

Tips for More Effective Product Leadership Culture

Build and mentor the right team

If you have the right team, the rest of it is easier. One of the biggest reasons why people are not comfortable speaking up is because they are not sure if they will be supported. 

That’s why the first thing you need to do is to ensure you have the right people in place, making sure that your team can feel safe to speak up.

You should also encourage your employees to share their ideas with each other and with you. It’s important that your team can trust each other and you so they can freely share ideas without feeling scared or inhibited.

Make expectations clear

People need to understand what kind of behaviors or actions merit feedback or conversations around improvement. 

For example, you can create a list of behaviors that will help everyone on the team avoid having these kinds of conversations by default.

Also, there should be no single moment when someone feels like he or she has ruined things forever after one small mistake.

You should also understand the importance of making sure there is trust first, Otherwise, it will be very hard for people to speak up honestly. 

There must be trust within a team before employees feel safe giving each other direct feedback.

Develop practices that improve teamwork

It’s important to make sure that your team feels well-supported and comfortable to give each other feedback. 

When you have a team full of people who are able to give each other feedback, the entire team will benefit because they will be able to work together more effectively. 

Make sure that everyone on the team can work together to improve the product instead of only looking at what they are individually responsible for. 

Highlight your team’s wins and celebrate them together

Furthermore, if the team has a shared goal and is working together to achieve that goal, then they will feel more comfortable giving each other feedback. 

They will also feel like they are part of something bigger than themselves and that they can collaborate to build a better product.

Empower your employees to make decisions

If you want your team to be able to make decisions and give feedback without having to ask for permission, you need to make sure that they know their responsibilities and understand what’s expected of them. 

When you give your employees too many rules and restrictions, it can lead to frustration and resentment.

If you want your team members to feel more confident about their responsibilities, you have to let them know what they are responsible for. 

The Bottom Line

If you want your team to produce better results, you need to create an environment where everyone feels safe and comfortable giving and receiving feedback. 

It’s important to understand that not all feedback is created equal. Take the time to recognize, appreciate and reward the feedback that’s actually helpful.

If you would like to learn more about building a product leadership culture, check out our other blogs.