If you consider product administration, you in all probability think about roadmaps, KPIs, and infinite Jira tickets. However for Karolina Kasnauskė, a Product Supervisor at Omnisend, the actual job is one thing completely different. It’s making sense of chaos.
“I like to consider myself as a LEGO creator,” Karolina says. “I don’t make the LEGO bricks or determine their shapes. My job is to verify we’re all constructing towards the identical image on the field — and that it’s one folks really need to play with.”
That picture of constructing from shared items towards a typical imaginative and prescient completely captures what it means to be a Product Supervisor at Omnisend. Past constructing new options, you attempt for connection, translation, and storytelling.
Storytelling as a software for alignment
Inside Omnisend, tales are the glue that holds groups collectively. Each characteristic begins as an issue, nevertheless it’s the answer that wants a narrative. A narrative helps everybody see not simply what we’re constructing, however why it issues. It connects the dots between the consumer, the issue, and the impression of the repair. That’s the place PMs are available in.
“My position is to inform tales and share the broader context — the place we’re going and why it issues,” Karolina explains. “ story helps the workforce care, not simply perceive. I do know I’ve carried out my job properly after I hear another person retelling the identical story. That’s when it’s alive.”
Turning complexity into readability
Karolina’s day-to-day includes translating summary, cross-functional concepts — enterprise targets, technical constraints, buyer wants — into one thing human and actionable.
“PMs stand on the intersection of so many issues,” she says. “Buyer insights, design, information, tech, enterprise technique. We’ve to talk all these languages, and storytelling is how we bridge the gaps.”
However readability doesn’t simply seem out of nowhere. It must be constructed intentionally.
When she wants to determine find out how to clarify one thing advanced, Karolina begins with two easy questions: “Who am I explaining this to?” and “What do they really want to know?” As soon as she is aware of that, she begins constructing the correct analogy, framing, and degree of element.
Her rule of thumb is definitely surprisingly easy:
“Readability begins with you. In the event you can’t clarify it to your self, you’ll by no means make it clear for anybody else.”
She avoids jargon, begins with the “why,” and makes use of metaphors wherever she will. Generally she’ll even take a look at her explanations out loud. If it sounds too formal or summary, she rewrites it.
The way it appears in follow
Karolina’s strategy got here to life lately when the workforce started rethinking the Companions Portal. It was new territory, filled with unknowns.
“I wanted everybody to see the larger image,” she says. “So I created a persona — an actual, vivid character primarily based on our company companions. It had traits, frustrations, targets, and habits. This easy but very highly effective software allowed the workforce to know why some issues matter, what the actual issues are, and who is definitely going to make use of the options that we’re going to create.”
Abruptly, it turned much less concerning the particular options, and extra about fixing issues for somebody the workforce might really think about. That shift modified every thing.
“As soon as understanding settles, you possibly can really feel the vitality shift,” Karolina remembers. “The room lights up. Folks begin developing with concepts. All the things begins shifting quicker as a result of we’re all picturing the identical story.”
Inner readability, exterior outcomes
Karolina believes the best way a workforce talks a couple of characteristic internally units the tone for the way prospects expertise it externally.
“If a workforce can’t clarify an thought clearly to one another, there’s no likelihood it should make sense to prospects,” she says. “As soon as the inner story is evident — the issue, the worth, and the result — it turns into a lot simpler to show that into messaging, onboarding flows, or launch notes,” Karolina explains.
That alignment reveals up all over the place downstream. “Design communicates it higher. Advertising tells the correct story. Gross sales use the correct promoting factors. Assist is aware of find out how to clarify it. Even the product itself begins reflecting the correct intent.”
The problem, after all, is understanding how far to go. An excessive amount of element overwhelms, too little loses that means. However Karolina has a technique for that.
“I don’t take away complexity that issues, I simply layer it,” she explains. “Begin with the core worth: why would I exploit this? Then present the principle motion: how do I get began? And solely add depth when somebody’s prepared for it.”
This strategy is how Omnisend shapes each new characteristic, whether or not it’s a small UX tweak or an enormous, technically advanced launch.
The PM as storyteller
On the finish of the day, Karolina sees storytelling because the essence of the PM’s position.
“If the PM doesn’t set the narrative, another person will, and it is likely to be improper, complicated, or diluted,” she says. “It’s our job to verify the story is intentional, not unintentional.”
So what recommendation would she give to anybody attempting to elucidate advanced subjects higher?
“Make it clear to your self. Perceive your viewers. And discover a good metaphor, because it makes your story stick.”
Her closing line sums all of it up, half-joking and half completely critical:
“Inform your story earlier than confusion spreads, rebel begins, and 5 new variations of the reality seem.”
Inquisitive about becoming a member of Omnisend? Take a look at our open positions here and see how one can be a part of the workforce!
Source link
