In this kickoff episode of season two of Practical Product Management, Leah and Marilyn dive into New Year’s resolutions and their parallels to product management practices. They tackle the common resolutions people set—like losing weight, spending more time with family, and getting out of debt—and reframe them for PMs as trimming backlogs, improving customer and stakeholder relationships, and managing tech debt. The conversation emphasizes the importance of intentionality in meetings, strategic time management, and learning new skills to grow personally and professionally. Leah and Marilyn reflect on flexibility, experimentation, and the value of creating leaner processes in both life and product management.

Key Takeaways

1. Trimming the Fat: Clean up your backlog by removing unnecessary items and outdated features, and keep MVPs truly minimal.
2. Building Relationships: Spend more time with the “family” of your work—customers, stakeholders, and engineering—by breaking down barriers and improving collaboration.
3. Managing Debt: Address tech and relationship debt by honoring commitments, mending connections, and being strategic with budgeting.
4. Intentionality Matters: Reevaluate meeting cadences and communication habits to improve efficiency and focus on high-value activities.