SoC #57: "Can I Be A Part-Time Product Manager?"

I'm Lisa 👋 Welcome to this week's edition of Stream of Consciousness - the newsletter for product leaders who want to build products and their careers more consciously, in ways that are inclusive, holistic, ethical, accessible, and sustainable. 

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Q: “Is it possible to be a part-time product manager?”

A: Yes - here’s a recap of my experience and why I probably wouldn’t do it again, unless…

Context:

I had just herniated 3 discs in my back and was dealing with a few other bizarre health issues. I had already left my job at Google and was looking for a part-time role that would help me keep my skills sharp, build something meaningful for users, and still allow me to dedicate a fairly high percentage of my day to rehabilitation and medical appointments.

I had actually started interviewing for full-time roles and after having a serious check-in with myself, decided it was not fair to jump back into a full-time job - both for myself and a potential employer - because I was dealing with so many unknowns.

I gracefully bowed out of the interview process at several companies and was very transparent about why.

One of the companies that I had been interviewing with had an immediate need for help with a sister company under the same venture firm and got in touch with me - their previous product lead had left and they needed someone to parachute in to bring their initial concept to market.

I accepted the offer with an arrangement to work only for hours a day on weekdays and spent three months working with the team to launch v1.0 of the health tech software platform. 

What was great:

• I set and managed expectations up front so all parties knew how long my contract was and what the hours were that I had committed to.

• Previous versions of myself would have been pushed to do more hours consistently to over-deliver (while moving my boundary and ultimately paying a price) but I kept this relatively rigid and stuck to my rehabilitation regime.

• The team got to work with was awesome.

What was challenging:

• The team was spread across several countries and I believe 3 major time zones - this meant that I had to be extremely diligent about my scheduling and it become incredibly challenging to figure out how to allocate my 4-hours each day based on these constraints.

• The team grew rapidly in the time I was there which meant more and more stakeholders to align and I had to make some really tough choices around priorities

• I’m typically an “all-in” kind of person and like to be passionate about the products I’m working on. It was a challenge for me to stay personally “bought in” when I knew I was only going to be there temporarily. My focus shifted to getting the product to the best place possible and leaving a positive legacy. 

• I had to find someone to backfill me in a fairly short-time frame on top of my day-to-day responsibilities - again, I needed to make some tough priority calls.

While the experience ultimately made me a better product manager because it forced me to be laser-focused on the highest priority items and totally changed my concept of time and leverage, I would only do it again if:

• The team is relatively small (read: limited stakeholders - every time you increase key stakeholders, the complexity of your role and the time needed to communicate with stakeholders will increase).

• The product is in a stage where it is stable-ish (nothing's ever really 100% stable)

• My spidey-senses give me signals that the team and culture are great.

Have you ever worked part-time as a product manager? What was your experience like? Are you considering it now?

Let me know!

Conscious Bytes 📰

AI DESPERATELY NEEDS GLOBAL OVERSIGHT: This is similar to my take a few weeks ago when GPT-4 was just released - check out this Wired article that covers why countries need an independent board to hold AI companies accountable to limit harms. 

TWITTER'S GETTING WEIRDER AND WEIRDER: Twitter has continued to be a rollercoaster with the logo being changed temporarily to a dog as a play on dogecoin, temporarily suppressing retweets, likes, and replies to Substack links (add this to the list that already includes Mastodon), allegedly forcing algorithm updates to promote his own tweets, and tumultuous relationships with prominent media accounts and verification. Will the walls that are trying to be built around Twitter help vs. harm the general population? My stance is the latter. 

THE THREE RULES OF HUMANE TECH: Listen to this episode of Your Undivided Attention to hear Tristan and Aza from the Center for Humane Tech cover "the three rules" of bringing new tech into the world.

Soulwork 💜

• 🎬 The Pursuit of Happyness: "Don't ever let somebody tell you you can't do something." This is one of my favourite movies. If you are off work today for Easter Monday, I highly recommend watching this if you haven't see it.

Thanks for Reading!

If you're looking to improve as a conscious product leader and achieve outcomes in your career and the products you are building more intentionally, there are 3 ways I can help you:

1. Personal Positioning for Aspiring Product Managers: The #1 course to learn how to position yourself as a product manager when transitioning from another career (🎁 Use code "EARLYACCESS" for $30 off).

2. Stitch: The Best Resources for Product Managers: Over 2000 resources organized by product area in a single .pdf. The most comprehensive resource for anyone in product looking to save hundreds of hours Googling.

3. 1:1 Coaching and Feedback: Schedule a 30-minute or 60-minute video session where we tackle the most challenging problem you are facing right now, or ask me for product-specific feedback on something you're building.

Have a great week!

-Lisa ✨

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