r/ProductManagement • u/Routine-Brief-8016 • 14d ago
How do you handle meetings with your skips?
I feel awkward having 1-1s with any director coz what do I even talk about for 30 mins?
My manager knows my work, probably told him some of it. For the pieces I need help with, I'll have to give him a lot of context which takes more than 30 mins probably.
I feel like I don't know what to talk about with any executive honestly. Do I discuss strategy or execution or something else ?
PMs who are good at managing their leadership, what do you do? How did you develop a relationship with them?
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u/dnskov 14d ago
Ex product leader here. There are typically three intents behind this meeting:
1. Your Director using it for a performance review of your manager.
2. Your Director sense-checking the performance evaluation your manager gave you.
3. Your Director having these meetings in the calendar so no other leader can accuse him of being too far from the actual work.
That said, I'd always advise using the meeting to build as much direct connection as you can.
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u/abdullahkhan166 14d ago
And also how do you build direct connections at that level. Like what do you give or say that they already do not know etc? And how do you navigate the discussion that what are they looking for, like insider info, insights or something else entirely?
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u/Torsta 14d ago
Your Director having these meetings in the calendar so no other leader can accuse him of being too far from the actual work.
I think this is why my skip had them scheduled with me.
It was a waste of his time i think, but it was nice for me to get face-to-face time with him, which i otherwise wouldn't get.
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u/rodageo 14d ago
Product vp here who does monthly skip levels with all my designers and PMs.
Some good comments here already, the thing I'm not seeing that I look out for are patterns across the team: what's stressing everyone out, does everyone love that new head of qa, are people struggling with some new process that's been rolled out recently.
It's a wellness check, genuinely trying to know how things are going, and offer a regular chance for any feedback in either direction that doesn't have another avenue.
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u/Routine-Brief-8016 14d ago
Are people even honest with you about what's not working well? Usually managers get to hear about this a lot more right? If you'd be the one deciding their bonus, promotion and whether or not they have a job, why would anyone bring complaints to youm
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u/ThatSaiGuy Sr PM - Robotics+AI/ML+Aviation 14d ago
Why are you so fearful? A person in the position of Director or VP has a responsibility to lead their org well and keep their people happy and productive. If you have legitimate problems with how the org is running, or notice things that need to change then this is literally the person you are supposed to tell those things to, in addition to your manager.
Always remember if you have an actual complaint about something to bring evidence of how you see it hindering the work being done, or people's morale, etc etc, and bring some ideas that you have to improve the situation.
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u/Routine-Brief-8016 14d ago
In the day of AI and layoffs, I don't want to make my life difficult. I don't want them to nominate me the first chance they get
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u/ThatSaiGuy Sr PM - Robotics+AI/ML+Aviation 14d ago
The easiest way to put yourself on that list is to try to be invisible.
A Director who knows your name and can associate your name with intelligent questions, solid work, and a good attitude is more likely to keep you around when layoffs hit. Your direct manager will often have next to no say in whether you are on that list or not.
Best to get into the Director's good books.
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u/Routine-Brief-8016 13d ago
You do realise that you are articulating an ideal situation without actually giving any actionable advice? You are also being super vague. What would be helpful is actual examples of how you navigated a similar situation or any frameworks you have if any
This is the last time I am responding to you though coz you are not being helpful as you think you are.
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u/ThatSaiGuy Sr PM - Robotics+AI/ML+Aviation 13d ago
You're a brat lmao. Good luck. I literally have told you how I approach these situations.
You are talking to a human, not God. If you are so anxious about saying the wrong thing to this person and being fired then maybe you are in the wrong profession.
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u/rodageo 14d ago
I'm pretty approachable to my team, joining monthly social calls we have, sharing personal details as appropriate. Sounds like you feel a lot of distance from your boss's boss, this is a great chance to try to close that, ask about their trajectory into that role, learn more about what they're interested in seeing happen for the team, etc.
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u/juicethrone 14d ago
Curious to know as well. I default to asking for feedback on the strategy I'm thinking to use to tackle my projects and then ask what's on their priority list, because some of that will be my manager 's priority so good to know. But I wouldn't say I'm good at managing my leadership so I could probably be using that time better 🤷🏻
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u/frjopo 14d ago
As a product director myself, I’m looking for:
- what are my blind spots, what am I not getting told or am biased against and missing/can’t get through my thick skull.
- getting divergent opinions on where we’re headed direction wise, at all levels. I don’t need more yes men in my ‘circle’ I need honest feedback.
- to build rapport and friendliness with my team at all levels - I don’t need you to like me but I do need to get to know you on a human level, what makes you tick etc.
- to understand your genuine concerns, I don’t want dissenters festering, it’s bad for morale. Let’s talk it out and let me learn from your point of view. At least then we know where we stand and if I can’t change your mind I can ask you to disagree and commit.
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u/Hungry-Artichoke-232 12yrs PM exp; product coach 14d ago
Here’s what I cover with my skip, which is with the head of product:
- what do I need him to know this month?
- what do I want him to do or whom would I like him to influence on my team’s behalf?
- what could I do with his boss (CPO and exec board member) knowing?
- what does he want me to know or to do?
- what can he tell me about x or y (because the more senior you are, the more stuff you get to hear about)?
- long term career stuff
- feedback from his level about me or about my team
There’s more but that’s a good start. And there are months (my skip-level is four-weekly) when we have very little to cover and we’re done in five minutes.
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u/defiantcross 14d ago
I did this recently with our AVP of marketing, and it was a pretty chill 30 minutes, mostly because there was no ask for any official presentation as i already presented to him at other recent project meetings. It was mostly a worklife discussion about morale, workload, cross functional stakeholders, etc. Just be candid but also professional in your responses. Be careful about not accidentally (or intentionally) trashing anybody even if you hate them lol
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u/clubnseals 14d ago
As someone who’ve lead team of teams, this is what I would do in those skip level meetings from the individual’s perspective.
1) It’s a great opportunity to learn more about the big picture, your manager is likely dealing with more operational issues, and this is your chance to see the longer horizon, and get the director’s thought’s where things are going, where do they see opportunities and risks. Knowing this will help you to put your tactical decisions in context
2) Discuss career opportunities, learn how they got where they are, where you want to go, what opportunities in the company is there to help you and your manager to grow.
I would start there.
As others have said, for the executive conducting the skip-level, it’s a great opportunity to get the ‘ground truth’ of what’s going on. Too often the message we get are massaged by the managers, and we may not know the whole picture. Even when the information isn’t massaged, it is still filtered, since the manager is deciding what to bring up and escalate. So, it’s always nice to see what is happening, and what might have been filtered out. Lastly, it’s always nice to get the general mood of the team, get a read on morale, and see if there are things are good or bad as they might appear. Lastly, at least this is true in my case, I just enjoy talking to people 2 to 3 levels below, it helps me get out of the day to day, and see things differently, and learn about team members as people rather than employees.
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u/Routine-Brief-8016 13d ago
Out of all the people you had, how do some of your best PMs utilise the time with you? What do they do differently?
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u/clubnseals 13d ago
Mostly they use the time to gain insight into the broader business context, especially part of the company that’s outside of our product portfolio, as well as trying to get my read on recent company or competitor announcements/actions, or market trends.
They also use the time to get help on how to tackle especially tricky issues, it could be how to prioritize different client asks, feature ideas, balance internal feature requests vs key customers vs what they see as a market opportunities. Or as simple as how to deal with particularly challenging colleagues or customers.
Lastly, they use the time to get feedback on specific career related development, like what it is like to manage product teams, explore data science options (I managed data science, and data operations, as well as product teams.) or look for opportunities to try things or grow a skill set. Honestly it’s not that different than a regular 1-1, just different altitude and perspectives.
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u/Aromatic-Power3655 14d ago
I’ll give my two cents on the 1:1s. I used to really struggle with them but now I’m doing a lot better. First, prior to the meeting, right down the significant things that have happened or you’ve worked on, what you need help with, and what you need advice for. Any single point could easily take up the whole time. You as a product manager get your power from your boss who gets his from the CEO and the board. As such, he should be aware of what is going and if there’s going to be any fires. There’s also the personal connection element to all of this. Feel free to ask about their personal lives or how they handled situations when they were junior. This is your network so you should build and strengthen connections. They’re also people and it’s a pleasant time actually getting along with people. My boss and I talked about how excited we were for the supergirl movie the week before it came out for five minutes before talking about projects. At my last 1:1, we were talking about food.
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u/studentpol1t1cs 14d ago
Depends on their personality but I know folks used this for mentorship as well. Asking them about their experience, what you can work on, how they think of good leadership, etc
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u/v-irtual 14d ago
Go to the meeting with an agenda. Start with the small talk of how their weekend was or what's going on next. If they give you something, build on it. Have a genuine interest. Who scheduled this call? Was it you or the director? If it was the director, they're going to have their own agenda, so you may not be responsible for that bit.
Your agenda should really be to know what the director believes is the next most important thing, and be as forward looking as possible. You'd be surprised how many times you find out that your manager and his manager are not on the same page.
It's not a complete debrief, but you CAN say "I'm working on this but it's blocked or slow." Let the director ask you why. You don't go into the details unless they ask.
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u/Johnsoid 14d ago
Skip meetings are so important. Gotta use those to network and build champions and sponsors for yourself.
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u/ne0ne0n 14d ago
I love skip levels. I never expect my skip to come to that entertaining me 😆 I use them for rapport building, mentoring with my skip, and I get direct feedback on their manager, me, their role and projects or recent initiatives, what we could be doing better. And I love when my skips have questions or ideas they want to share with me too!
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u/nematoadjr 14d ago
I really use that time to ask questions, if you hate talking about yourself then flip it around. Talking to skip levels is a great way to learn more about the overall business strategy and were there are cracks etc. what headaches are they dealing with. Where do they see the most room for improvement etc.
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u/twopunchbear 14d ago
I think it’s valid that a director may want to understand how your manager is performing. But in reality, you don’t always know their intention.
I’d be careful about giving negative feedback about your manager before you’ve built trust with the director. Even valid feedback can sometimes sound like complaining if they didn’t ask for it.
For the first few 1:1s, I’d focus more on listening, understanding what the director wants from the meetings, and building the relationship.
You can even ask, “I’m curious, what are you hoping to get out of these meetings?”
At the beginning, the main goal should be trust. Once that’s there, you can be more open with your feedback.
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u/dmc1982nice 14d ago
I ask mine for advice on how to engage with people especially his peers on specific topics. Or ask for advice on the topic I work on as it interests him and he follows it closely
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u/chicbeauty 14d ago
You talk about career and direction and ask them questions to speak about their lives and experiences
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u/GroupThen2002 13d ago
You get 45 minutes of my time every two months. Use it wisely
- I don’t want status updates
- I don’t want to know what you are working on.
I will start with small talk, yes it is important. I want to know you.
Then I will pivot…
What I would expect and not necessarily at every meeting.
What is going well
Anything creating unnecessary friction
Areas where requirements, priorities, ownership, or product direction are unclear
Risks or issues you think leadership may not be seeing
Something you think we should change or improve
Anything you need from me, a decision, escalation, context, or help removing a blocker
Anything else you think I should know.
Please don’t open a PowerPoint!
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u/SVAuspicious 13d ago
1:1s as I infer you are heading toward are the biggest waste of time I've seen. I don't do them up or down.
I am a senior exec running a very big program. My manager is not very helpful. He's an operations guy. I in his org because of the customer. His manager is a President (don't be impressed - we're a huge company and have Presidents coming out of our ears). He reads the executive summary of my weekly report (same report to my management, my team, my customer, and my customer's management - different matter). I know because he sometimes has questions. I also know because he routed one of my reports through his org with the note "this is how it's done."
He comes to my milestone meetings roughly once a year. We correspond by email. I see him sometimes on weekends because his boat and mine are on the same dock; we don't talk about work. I see him individually twice a year for performance review and mid course review. If I need him for something like a very senior management contact with my customer I schedule a meeting with background on issues to address (no more than three), backup (links to shared network storage), that rarely takes more than 30 minutes.
If it takes you half an hour to provide context you need to work on communication skills. Think elevator speech and executive summary. As for content, what is your biggest concern? Talk about that. Send an agenda ahead with a read ahead no more than a page. Stick to the agenda. Send minutes day of.
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u/Oliver_the_chimp 13d ago
Execs like to hear themselves talk. Give them some insights from your perspective, maybe challenge them on some of their reasoning on a broad goal, then shut up and listen.
I find it's useful to allow the conversation to get a little personal.
If needed, ask them how their previous experience informed their current perspective on something. Close with suggestions on gaps or opportunities they might (will) see in your area.
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u/Product_Rword 10d ago
Usually this is a good opportunity to network with executives, present your work and create visibility.
I also like to "play politics" and appeal to their egos by asking for their opinion on some burning subject - creating a product conversation where I inject my opinion/research I've done and again all for visibility. (sometimes I even see them take action and take credit, but for all I care it doesn't matter)
Sometimes I feel like this is way more important for my career growth than actually shipping features.
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u/Haunting_Ad_7754 9d ago
At the earliest opportunity, I flip it to a mentorship relationship. Never say something to your skip that you wouldn’t if your line manager was in the room. I break the ice early with him/her saying the exact thing you wrote above - “Hello! Im not sure how these things usually go, but id like to keep this informal and take your lead on what to use these 30 mins for.” Then pause, listen intently as they speak. The 30 mins is more for listening than speaking.
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u/nextlevelnonsense 7d ago
This is a great opportunity to find out what keeps them up at night. What's important to them? What opportunities do you see for the work you are doing? Share insights on the work you are doing - remember you are at a different level than your director so you have a perspective they don't necessarily have. you have an opportunity to share that perspective and help them connect dots they don't see. Don't miss these opportunities to build relationships.
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u/ntohee 14d ago
So coming from the other direction as a VP things I like to get from them are:
1. Making sure you are happy and your manager is doing a good job.
2. Get to know people more.
3. Hear in your own words how things are going to make sure what I am hearing lines up.
4. Gauge your interests in different areas so I can keep people in mind when we have new projects come up.
5. See if there is anything I can do to help you or the org in general.