By now, we all know that emotional intelligence (EQ) belongs in the workplace.
And in todaysmore competitive product landscape, businesses have to prioritize meaningful relationships between products and people.
Id argue that as Product Managers, our roles naturally demand a level of emotional intelligence.
We have to communicate, empathize, and diffuse conflicts on a daily basis.
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These are a few of the ways Ive personally brought EQ into product management:
1.
Build with accessibility in mind
An appreciation for inclusion is directly linked to EQ.
COVID-19 has meant many demographics who were not using online tools before, are now active users.
Its us Product Managers who bear the responsibility of ensuring the tools of today work for everyone tomorrow.
With such an expansive user base to cater to, accessibility cant be an afterthought.
We test with a range of people who have different capabilities and we use accessibility tools like Stark.
At the end of the day, we recognized that accessibility benefitsallusers.
I recently traveled to Madrid to meet my colleagues for the first time.
Going for lunch and having after-work drinks was when we shared the most with each other.
I got to thinking: how can I recreate these moments in a remote environment?
Sharing is an inherent part of healthy, productive work culture.
The more we know about each other, the more we can empathize and cater to everyones needs.
Were more conscious of the people were trying to serve, and if what we build reflects them.
And what does that mean for PMs…?
It means we have to emotionally prepare teams to cope with 180 scenarios.
Unshipping, where features are killed, can be just as valuable as shipping new features.
Still, we need concrete ways to measure this feedback and iterate accordingly.
