Cross-Functional Productivity

"Marketing bolse eta banate hobe" is not a brief. If you’ve worked cross-functionally, you’ve heard some version of this. A request is passed along word-for-word, with no added context. But just acting as a courier rarely moves work forward. What actually helps is connecting the dots. For example – let’s say Marketing asks Sales for a new report. If you just pass the line “Marketing wants this,” Sales has no reason to treat it seriously. But if you add: Context: “Marketing wants to understand which channels are underperforming.” Impact: “Without this, we risk overspending next month.” Success: “The report should show conversion by channel, weekly.” Options: “We could start with last 3 months’ data only, or run the full year – here’s the trade-off.” When: “Needed by next Monday for the budget review.” Now the other team knows why it matters, what’s at stake, and how to help. If you’re on the receiving end, don’t accept vague asks either. Push back gently: “What’s the risk if this doesn’t get done? What’s the main outcome you need from this?” That not only protects your priorities, but also forces the person asking to frame the impact clearly. Authority can push. But clarity pulls. Have you seen “courier-style” requests in your org – and how did you handle them? #Collaboration #Leadership #Productivity #WorkingBetter

Over the years, I've discovered the truth: Game-changing products won't succeed unless they have a unified vision across sales, marketing, and product teams. When these key functions pull in different directions, it's a death knell for go-to-market execution. Without alignment on positioning and buyer messaging, we fail to communicate value and create disjointed experiences. So, how do I foster collaboration across these functions? 1) Set shared goals and incentivize unity towards that North Star metric, be it revenue, activations, or retention. 2) Encourage team members to work closely together, building empathy rather than skepticism of other groups' intentions and contributions. 3) Regularly conduct cross-functional roadmapping sessions to cascade priorities across departments and highlight dependencies. 4) Create an environment where teams can constructively debate assumptions and strategies without politics or blame. 5) Provide clarity for sales on target personas and value propositions to equip them for deal conversations. 6) Involve all functions early in establishing positioning and messaging frameworks. Co-create when possible. By rallying together around customers’ needs, we block and tackle as one team towards product-market fit. The magic truly happens when teams unite towards a shared mission to delight users!

Your engineers should annoy your PMs (I say this now as a product leader). As a senior product manager, I launched a new onboarding flow that boosted trial conversions by 25%. I was riding high on success…and then an engineer on my team suggested removing an extra step. Sure, it would further reduce cognitive load and drive even more conversions, but I was so in love with the design of the onboarding flow that I got annoyed. I pushed back—despite clear data! In the end, that engineer (rightfully) sidestepped me, ran the experiment, and proved me wrong. My self-indulgence almost cost our team another win. Now, as a product leader, I can see that customer- and data-centric engineers who help define product are a product manager’s gold mine. They enable PMs to scale out of the day-to-day and drive more impact across the organization. Leading tech companies and high-growth startups already encourage engineers to act like PMs. With AI making customer, competitor, and market insights more accessible, product-centric engineering will soon be standard everywhere. Product leaders, here’s how to embrace and empower these cross-functional teams: 1️⃣ Foster a culture where engineers, designers, and customer success teams don’t just share ideas, but actively shape product definitions. This allows PMs to act like air traffic controllers rather than pilots, guiding multiple “flights” simultaneously so more initiatives can land successfully. 2️⃣ Provide the right tools broadly—including direct access to customer feedback and data—so every role can make informed recommendations. 3️⃣ Encourage PMs to delegate and scale beyond their core responsibilities, taking on broader, more cross-functional work while peers step up with product insights. Your PMs and your organization as a whole will benefit. How have you encouraged your PMs to scale themselves? #productmanagement #productleadership

Sales: “You need to build this thing a client asked for” PM: 😥 Sales: “Don’t worry, it’s a quick fix” PM: 😱 Fielding incoming client requests is the curse of many PMs. You never get to work on your strategic plans. Triaging, prioritising and responding is a pain.  😫 Some thoughts on how to deal with this from my time as CPO at FutureLearn 1 IT'S A JOINT CONVERSATION • We made it clear that product plans were flexible. • If the Partnership team wanted something different, that was totally possible. • It’s not about sticking to the plan, it’s about getting the best results for the company. • That usually means an ongoing, and joint decision with the Partnership team.    2 BATCH RESPONSES • When I joined, PMs were responding to incoming requests in real time. • It was hugely disruptive for everyone. • We quickly started doing triage in batches every 2 weeks. • Much better. 3 SEGMENT YOUR CLIENTS • We had partner segments (gold, silver, etc.), but this wasn’t in the partner requests. • It wasn't clear whether the partner was really important or not. • Once we started logging partner segments in requests, we started to prioritise much more effectively 4 UNDERSTAND THE SEVERITY • We created 4-5 ratings for the importance of requests. • Some were nice ideas that had popped up on routine calls. • Some were must-have-this-now-or-we’ll-churn situations. • We just needed to make this visible, and factor it into prioritisation. 5 JOINT PRIORITISATION • Once we understood partner segment and request severity, we could do sensible prioritisation. • We did this with the Head of Partnerships, so she understood the opportunity cost and trade offs we were making. • The the roadmap was co-own between Partnerships and Product. • The Head of Partnerships cascaded decisions to her team, so they didn't complain to PMs. • Again, it’s a joint conversation. 6 STANDARDISED RESPONSES We came up with ~4 standardised responses for clients, along the lines of: a. we’re already working on this (release date X) b. we’re going to work on this (X timeframe) c. we might work on this, but it’s not planned d. we will probably never do this • Every time we triaged responses, we put each request into one of the four buckets. • The Partnership team knew exactly the message to give people, and why. • Time writing explanations became minimal, but everyone was (more or less) happy because we removed uncertainty. And here’s one thing we didn’t do, but I would next time 7 CONVERT TO £££ AMOUNTS • I always say £1m a year is a good rule of thumb for the cost of a product team. • If you take that, you can work out the cost in £ of any length of development. • I suspect that telling Partners that something would cost £50k rather than take 3 weeks would lead to much better conversations. *** Hustle Badger is the best place to accelerate your product career with a wiki, courses and community.

🚀 How I transitioned from Mechanical Engg. to Robotics Software Engg.🌟 (Full video https://lnkd.in/eE8pt9mh Blog post with resources and roadmap- https://lnkd.in/eMpKPihc) 🔍 In this post, I share my journey from mechanical engineering to robotics, diving into the projects, decisions, and challenges along the way. Here's what helped me transition into this dynamic field! 🛠 Mechanical Design Beginnings 🎓 Education: Bachelor's in Manufacturing Process and Automation Engineering. 🌟 Key Projects: 🚙 Building an off-road vehicle. 🚴 Participating in a human-powered vehicle challenge. 🚑 Designing a motorcycle ambulance with INMAS DRDO. 🏢 Experience: Worked as a Mechanical Design Engineer at Honda R&D, contributing to designs for trunk, tailgate, and automotive doors. 🔄 The Transition to Robotics 🎓 Master's Program: Pursued a Master's in Robotic Systems Engineering at RWTH University. 🤖 Robotics Projects: 🛸 Visual SLAM for drones using ROS and Python. 🔬 Machine learning for smoke segmentation with TensorFlow. 🤲 Deep learning for robotic bin picking at a startup. 🧵 Deep reinforcement learning for fabric manipulation (Master's thesis). 🌟 Key Experiences: Hands-on work with computer vision, machine learning, and robotic manipulation across startups and research projects. 💡 Overcoming Limiting Beliefs 😟 Challenges: Lack of robotics background. Doubts about handling advanced topics like machine learning and dynamics. Financial and academic hurdles of a Master's program. 🎯 Breakthrough: Focused on my passion, highlighted relevant mechanical projects, and demonstrated willingness to learn. 📋 Step-by-Step Guide to Transition 1️⃣ Cultivate Your Mindset: Believe in your ability to learn and grow. 2️⃣ Define Goals: Be clear on what you want to achieve in robotics. 3️⃣ Technical Self-Assessment: Strengthen math and foundational skills. 4️⃣ Learn the Basics: Take foundational courses in robotics and AI. 5️⃣ Engage in Projects: Build a portfolio showcasing practical experience. 6️⃣ Network: Connect with industry professionals and attend webinars. 7️⃣ Apply for Jobs: Use your skills and portfolio to land roles in robotics. (Full video https://lnkd.in/eE8pt9mh Blog post with resources and roadmap- https://lnkd.in/eMpKPihc) 🌟 Key Takeaway Transitioning into robotics is challenging but achievable. With the right mindset, skill-building, and practical experience, you can carve a successful path in this exciting field. #Robotics #CareerTransition #MechanicalEngineering #AI

𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗙𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗟𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗡𝗲𝗼 😎 Prospect: "Can your product do XYZ? That would be awesome!" 🤪 In my early days in #sales and #presales, I struggled with separating ideas from actual problems. Whenever prospects mentioned feature requests, I eagerly took them as buying signals. Three days later, I'd explain in-depth how that feature works in our software 🙃 The result: empty pockets... 🤷 When you hear a feature request or idea, don't assume it's a sign to close the deal. Instead, understand the prospect's motivation behind the request. Is it a "nice-to-have" or a "must-have"? 𝗘𝘅𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲: Prospect: "Do you provide an API or Excel export? That would be awesome!" 𝗕𝗮𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗲: Writing down to showcase CSV export during demo 🤓 𝗕𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗲: Prospect: "Do you provide an API or Excel export? That would be awesome!" You: "What would the API or CSV export allow you to do?" Prospect: "It would be nice to prepopulate some of our compliance reports now and then automatically." ⏩ "It would be nice" often means "We are never gonna spend any money on this!" You've successfully deflected a false positive. 𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝗶𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗴𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗮𝘆: Prospect: "Do you provide an API or Excel export? That would be awesome!" You: "What would the API or CSV export allow you to do?" Prospect: "It takes us forever to complete the security assessment with every release. If we can automate the replicable work here, we can significantly increase our release frequency." ⏩ Baaam! This response is pure gold for your business case. Dig deeper into the ripple effects of money wasted on replicable tasks or lower release frequency. 💯 Key Questions to Dig Deeper: -Why do you want that feature? -What would that let you do? -How are you dealing with this now? -What else have you tried? Digging around feature requests helps you focus on business needs and avoid getting sidetracked by false positives. Always ask the right questions to understand the real problem.

What do you do with a customer who asks for a new feature… every single month? Not bugs. Not onboarding help. I’m talking about ongoing enhancement requests, complex edge-case use cases, and one-off "must-haves" that somehow become your team's priority. You’ve probably seen it: – The team is constantly escalating their asks – Product is getting pulled into one-off builds – The customer renews, but your roadmap suffers – And the CS team feels stuck between being helpful and being used Here’s the uncomfortable truth I had to face as a CS leader: If you don’t draw a line, these requests will shape your product and your burnout. So we made a shift: Every enhancement request now goes through a filter: Is this core to our product vision? Or is this custom work? If it’s custom, we scope it and price it. Not to upsell. To separate real business needs from “it would be nice if…” We even productized it. In QBRs, we walk in with a menu of paid engagements: advanced integrations, roadmap accelerators, and custom reports. The conversation changes when the customer sees: 1. We take their need seriously 2. We have a structured way to support it 3. It comes with investment and clarity Not everything should be free. Not everything should be built. Some requests are actually an opportunity for revenue, for partnership, and for focus. What’s your move when feature requests get out of hand? Do you price them? Or absorb them quietly?

We were pushed to become specialists. We need to become polymaths. We haven't seen many polymaths in my lifetime. I thought that was curious. I've just published an analysis examining how AI is fundamentally reshaping professional value and why the future belongs neither to pure specialists nor broad generalists, but to "professional conductors." https://lnkd.in/eSGA9PuF These are polymaths for the current moment who understand disparate fields and develop an extraordinary capacity to synthesize data across disciplines. I These professionals combine deep expertise in one domain with strategic literacy in 2-3 adjacent fields. They don't compete with AI, they orchestrate with it alongside human intelligence to create novel solutions. The data is compelling: 📌 Analysis of 847,000 tech job postings shows 312% growth in cross-functional roles 📌 Companies pay 15-20% premiums for professionals with validated cross-domain expertise 📌 Patent analysis reveals 34% more citations for inventions bridging multiple domains 📌 Cross-functional teams with "conductors" show 23% faster project completion But this isn't a universal prescription. My research identifies clear boundaries: ✅ HIGH VALUE: Innovation ecosystems, "wicked problem" domains, emerging industries ❌ LOWER VALUE: Regulated professions, network-effect platforms, mature technical fields The article provides a practical framework including: 📌 Assessment criteria for your sector 📌 3-year implementation roadmap 📌 ROI calculations 📌 Common pitfalls and how to avoid them Key insight: In an AI-augmented economy, the ability to synthesize, translate, and orchestrate across domains becomes as vital as deep expertise, not for everyone, but for those positioned to leverage these capabilities. We're in the midst of a renaissance. What a time to be alive. I hope this helps. Thank you for making the time to read. What's your take, is your industry rewarding depth, breadth, or strategic integration? ♻️ Repost and follow John Brewton. Do. Fail. Learn. Grow. Win. Repeat. Forever. __ 🧠 Subscribe to Operating by John Brewton for weekly deep dives on the history and future of operating companies.

𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐒𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫-𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐝𝐞 𝐨𝐟 '𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐎𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐞'? Let’s get real: Sales and Marketing clash. Salespeople often see marketers as idealists who have no grip on the realities of the business world. On the other hand, sales folks think that marketing only cares about numbers and doesn’t understand what it takes to close deals. So, we know there’s a problem here, right? Right. And when things are out of sync — such as when these two teams aren’t working together or don’t have a shared understanding of how they should support each other — several unfortunate things can happen: ❌ 𝐌𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐎𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬: Whenever Sales and Marketing fail to collaborate, leads get dropped. ❌ 𝐈𝐧𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲: Teams waste resources because they’re not aligned in their goals; this also creates redundant work. ❌ 𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐆𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬: When people start pointing fingers instead of working towards solutions, nothing good comes from it. ❌ 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐣𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐞𝐬: Without unified strategies, customer experiences will be all over the place; this causes confusion among potential buyers who might end up feeling ignored or misunderstood by both sides. At Wildnet Technologies, we saw this gap and took it head-on. Below is our game plan: 🔄 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐞 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: Regular structured meetings between sales and marketing became the norm. We talked about key opportunities and challenges, set action items, and made sure to follow up on them. 🤝 𝐂𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐉𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐀𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 & 𝐑𝐨𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐉𝐨𝐛𝐬: We implemented cross-functional projects and job rotations. Marketers got on sales calls; salespeople contributed to marketing plans. This immersive collaboration helped both teams understand each other’s craft. 📝 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐒𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐅𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤: We had to make feedback more efficient. We created shorter info forms, analyzed CRM data, and incentivized reps to share insights. This way, we could tap into valuable knowledge without disrupting selling time. 📊 𝐃𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬 & 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐅𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐥𝐬: Marketing was fully integrated into the sales funnel. Lead generation through contract negotiation – it was all done in sync by both departments to ensure a seamless customer journey and a united front. 🚀 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐎𝐮𝐭𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞? 𝐀 𝐒𝐲𝐦𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐲 The change was amazing. Here’s what we accomplished: 📉 30% 𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐒𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐂𝐲𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐬: Deals closed quicker. 💸 20% 𝐒𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭-𝐄𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐲 𝐂𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐬: Penetrating new markets more efficiently. 📈 15% 𝐋𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐂𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐬: Resource allocation optimized. What more can we do to improve Sales and Marketing alignment? Share your strategies and let’s learn from each other! #SalesAndMarketing #BusinessStrategy

Early in your career, people talk about growth like it's a climb. One job leads to the next. One skill levels you up. But my wins came because I said yes to things that didn’t make perfect sense in the moment.   What you build in those early years matters more than just your next title. The paths you choose narrow or expand your future options in ways that aren't immediately obvious.   You're building a toolbox. And more importantly, you're deciding which rooms you'll be allowed in later.    Some doors only open when you've demonstrated competence across multiple disciplines.   That's how I approached every career move, often to the confusion of my peers.   I started in engineering. Shifted into sales. Took on analytics, then commercial. Then leadership.    I said yes because I knew those moves would pay dividends later. Some roles felt like a lateral move at the time, but expanded my perspective exponentially.   The result? I can now lead cross-functional teams because I've been on every side of the table.    I can shape product strategy and understand what sales needs. I can zoom out to business strategy and zoom in to technical architecture. I speak multiple organizational languages.   At this stage in my career, what I value most is optionality. The ability to contribute wherever needed, to bridge gaps between specialized teams, to see connections others miss.   And that doesn't happen by accident. It happens by intentionally taking roles that round out your experience, even when they don't fit neatly into a traditional career ladder.