Diversity in Product: Tim Woodson
Hi! I’m Tim. I’m a Product Manager at Moss Adams, working on improving their audit software applications. I’m originally from Texas, but moved to Seattle for work in 2018.
Outside of work, I’m mostly busy being a new dad to a 6-month old, then using the little bit of extra time to exercise and deepen my technical acumen.
We’d love to hear about your journey into product management. How did you become a PM, and what were some of the challenges you faced in securing your first PM role?
In a nutshell, I started in consulting before moving to product management, and wanted to make the move to focus more on building and creating the new features my customers were using, not implementing them.
While in grad school, I was working for Shell on an Excel application that tracked over $800M in oil being moved around the country in trucks. This was the first “product” I worked on, and first PM role. My main responsibilities were to troubleshoot any issues with the macros, and make improvements to it so the analyst team could work better. I worked closely with the analysts, and I also became really close with Shell’s internal Process Improvement team. They worked like consultants, so I went that route after finishing grad school. [Note: at the time, I had never heard of the Product Manager role.]
Halfway into my consulting career, I knew I wanted a change. IT consulting was great. I enjoyed improving processes, and using software to measurably impact people’s lives, but I was ready to make two big changes: 1) to be slightly removed from the customer and focusing on improving the software/product that’s being implemented, and 2) to work on a project/product for longer than 6 months to improve on my improvements. This is when I discovered Product Management.
While still consulting, I learned more about this role. I took a few Coursera and Udemy courses online, and went to a few different Product Management Meetups. In early 2020, I took an in-person bootcamp. I casually started my job search then, but I refocused on finding a PM role in Jan 2021. I didn’t get an offer until April, which would become my first official Product Manager role. The role was only a 6 month contract, but was a fast-learning and eye-opening 6 months. I’m currently in my second Product Manager role, and I’m really happy with the team and product I’m working on.
What are some ways hiring managers can make that first PM role easier to obtain for people who don’t look or think like them?
I don’t have advice here. Studies show that more diverse teams are more innovative and successful. Almost every company lists diversity as a priority.
If the hiring manager still can’t attract diverse talent then they simply don’t want to, and shouldn’t be allowed to make those decisions.
Hire them. Make sure they are successful. Pay them more.
Hire them. Hiring managers can always find a reason to not hire a junior-ish level resource if they wanted to. The excuses range from “They are missing [insert technical requirement]” to “Just not sure they were the right culture fit for us” or “We really need someone that can do [this thing] on day 1”. Hire them anyways. Very few employees can step into a role on day 1 and do everything.
Make sure they are successful. One challenge diverse talent has in workplaces is that they aren’t supported in ways that make them successful. Your new hire may have unique needs that you as their manager need to be sensitive to and account for. Give the new hire everything they need to be successful, and then more. Purposefully go above and beyond for them.
Pay them more. Just like the studies on how diverse teams are more successful, we’ve all read the articles on how underpaid diverse talent is. Don’t let your company exacerbate the problem.
Looking back on that first PM experience, what advice would you give yourself?
You have to be more proactive than you think. Product Managers have a good amount of autonomy, and oftentimes get to choose what to spend time on. It’s a radical shift from other types of roles where your work is handed down to you.
It’s all about relationships. Get to know the people that you work with. Deeply understand their pain points and opportunities. Figure out how to make their job a bit better by doing your job better.
Similarly, know your customer. Your team should have some personas already created. If not, creating them formally is a great way to know who you’re building for. Then learn the pain points and opportunities.
Know your metrics. Your performance is being measured, and so are your products. Do the activities that move the needle the most in both areas. Manage your manager so you’re getting the most out of them to be productive in your role.
Challenge conventions, even if you agree with the norm. You can uncover a lot of new information this way.
Product management can sometimes be an isolating role. What are some approaches you’ve taken to get support?
I’m naturally extroverted, so I talk with people a lot. I also realize that it can feel lonely when you’re deep into an initiative and it feels like no one can really answer your questions. What works for me is staying collaborative throughout the process. I look for ways to include other teams in my work, and I build in quicker feedback loops to increase communication and remain on track. I also build and maintain relationships with other PMs and share the projects we’re working on.
What do you find frustrating about being underrepresented in product management?
Don’t be offended by this, but these types of questions are the most frustrating part of being a minority in product management, in tech, in corporate America, etc.
Our jobs are hard to do well. Strictly speaking to the Product role, getting buy-in, prioritizing your feature over another PM’s features, and working across the company with varying levels of support are issues all PMs face. People can be less responsive or receptive to our ideas for a plethora of reasons. (If any of the above are true for me because I’m a minority then that’s a different issue – one that HR or management will resolve, not me.)
White and Asian men are not underrepresented in tech, so they haven’t been asked this question before, nor do they have to think of themselves as being the sole representative of a vastly large group of people. I do.
In a best case scenario, this is a well-meaning gesture to ensure that other perspectives were considered. In all other scenarios, it ends up adding more work to our plate, and that work isn’t measured in our quarterly or semi-annual reviews.
For example, a LatinX friend of mine was working at a tech company, and they have the 80/20 rule in place (80% of your time on your primary work, 20% on other company-related initiatives). They were passionate about diversity and inclusion, and being one of the few LatinX employees at the company, they ended up using their 20% on these diversity and inclusion programs. Their white counterparts spent their 20% building and testing new features and expanding their technical acumen.
When reviews came around, the white counterparts’ 20% was looked upon more favorably than my friends. That’s frustrating.
Why? My friend’s work was invaluable to the company goals, but because it wasn’t directly related to her role, it wasn’t seen as valuable as the others.
The whole point of the 20% is to give freedom for company related initiatives, and expanding inclusion is literally that, and should carry the same weight.
From your perspective, what’s one thing people should be more aware of?
It’s everybody’s responsibility to make sure Product Management is an inclusive and welcoming space. Our teams should be as diverse as the backgrounds of that team. If the entirety of your PM team has an engineering background, your team is not diverse and will not perform to its potential. Similarly, if your team is at or below the company and industry average for diversity, then it will not perform to its potential.
I’ll go one step further, especially if you’re a PM, or aspiring PM for a consumer facing company/product. Black and LatinX women are years ahead of current trends. If you don’t have their input when decisions are made and they aren’t in leadership positions, you will inevitably fall behind.
What’s an overlooked path into product management that you’d recommend people consider more seriously?
My first PM role was a contract. There are a ton of risks in taking on contract work with companies. The pay can be variable, you may not get holiday pay, benefits or any other perks that a FTE would. BUT what I got was an official experience being a Product Manager, and that helped more than any other experience listed on my resume.
Don’t be afraid of contracts if the opportunity presents itself. Do your due diligence, but know that being a PM, even for a shorter time, might be the exact thing you need to become a PM as an FTE. An added bonus is that the contract-to-hire pipeline can be pretty strong.
There’s a gap in access to effective resources for breaking into product management, especially for underrepresented communities. Which organizations would you recommend we work with to increase access to product management?
I like to think that multiple paths exist to get into product management. By far the most common path is through engineering/technical track. A distant second would be through consulting. Marketing, Sales, Operation, and even IT are all viable paths into the career. I think resources should be made more personal for each of those paths.
We as existing PMs should also think of ourselves as resources to be used so more people can join our career. A common thread in many PM stories is that the person worked with the PMs while in their current role before transitioning to a PM role. Since that’s the case, we as PMs need to be very intentional about the non-PM resources we work with. Make sure that cohort is diverse and inclusive, and provide opportunities to showcase skills that managers will look at favorably when it comes to their review cycle.
A third gap lies in tangible projects that non-PMs can add to their portfolio. What would I want to see in a portfolio that proves PM acumen? Engineers can go to HackerRank or create new apps or programs, and Designers can post designs/wireframes, but I struggle to recommend meaningful projects to aspiring PMs that showcase that unique skill. I’m still looking for portfolio-worthy projects!
For organizations, try:
What’s the best way for readers to reach out to you and stay on top of what you’re doing?
Add me as a friend on LinkedIn or Twitter!
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/timothywoodson
Twitter: @tim_woodson
We’re always looking for new perspectives to highlight, to bring more diversity into product management! If you have someone you’d like to nominate, please send us an email at admin@productteacher.com, we’d love to hear from you!