Virginia Hughes

Product Manager at @Certn_

[Virginia Hughes @VHughes93]

@DerekBenjamin_ @DriveBC Yep. We're coming up on 3.5 hrs ourselves

[Virginia Hughes @VHughes93]

Thankful for DriveBC today as we make our way across the province. We relied heavily on website and X updates to find our fastest path, which we did ✅️ By far the best gov service I've used as of late!

[DriveBC @DriveBC]

✅ CLEAR #BCHwy1 - The highway is now OPEN in both directions between Revelstoke and Golden following a vehicle incident. Expect delays as congestion eases. #RevelstokeBC #GoldenBC

[Dave Portnoy @stoolpresidente]

Credit to Jake Paul + Mike Tyson for pulling off one of the great cons of century. I shoulda put 10 million on Jake. Not cause he's good but cause he fought a senior citizen. I would say everybody involved should be ashamed but I'd take the money it too if I could. #TysonPaul

[Virginia Hughes @VHughes93]

AI is feeling pretty invasive these days, and I certainly don't want Llama 3 using my FB & insta search history as part of its training.. @AIatMeta give us the option to opt out!! Auto opt in should never be the default.

[Carl Vellotti 🥞 @carlvellotti]

If your team always asks "why?", they don't get your strategy.

So what can you do?

(Hint: it's not showing them the roadmap.)

🧵👇

[Virginia Hughes @VHughes93]

My friend is experiencing burnout and thinking of leaving tech. She'd like to start a landscaping business instead, and just hit me with this tidbit of wisdom: "A bad day in the garden is still better than a good day in the office"🤯

Damn. Follow your heart girl!

[Virginia Hughes @VHughes93]

Hey @CheetosCanada, I know our cheetos shrank in recent years, but I didn't realize our American neighbours still had access to the delicious, puffy, BIG version! What gives?! #shrinkflation #grieving 😢 @ChesterCheetah

[Virginia Hughes @VHughes93]

I moved from a coastal city to a small town last month, and I'm cherishing this change. Instead of seagulls squawking at 4am, I get to watch bald eagles, robins, ravens, swans, mallards, and quail from my WFH office, and it is utterly peaceful. #wfh #slowpace

[Jared Spool @jmspool]

It’s easier than doing the hard work to find out what people want and need.

[Virginia Hughes @VHughes93]

Just saw @JCSTheMusical perform in Victoria, and it was an absolutely incredible performance. The vocal talent is unparalleled and the level of heart and passion is evident with each act. I'm blown away. All I can say is that rocked 🤘#JCS

[Virginia Hughes @VHughes93]

Entering winter means stovetop potpourri! My house is filled with the warm aromas of spice, citrus, and sugar. It's heavenly 🤤

[Chris Bakke @ChrisJBakke]

It will take us hundreds of years to recover from what HGTV did to us from 2010-2023

[Soren Iverson @soren_iverson]

Slack show total comp and revenue generated on employee profile

[Virginia Hughes @VHughes93]

"Success is rented, never owned, because the moment you stop paying rent, it could disappear".

https://t.co/D68eoTIXcR

[Virginia Hughes @VHughes93]

Being in a bar with @TouchTunes is like fighting for your life. Good vs Evil. David vs Goliath. Batman vs Joker. No one wants to hear metal on a Thursday night.

[Brian Colunio @hiringfirm]

My favorite interview question:

We're sitting right here 5 years from now and you tell me your career is amazing. Things are great. Couldn't be better.

What are you doing? How much are you earning? How big is your team? What is your day-to-day?

Then shut up and listen...

[Carl Vellotti 🥞 @carlvellotti]

Scrum dum dummmmmmm

[Pat Bergstresser @PatThePM]

Last year, I briefed our VP of product on our 3-year product strategy for sign-off and alignment.

We succeeded.

6 lessons that were key to our success.

In this post we'll cover:

1. Keep it simple
2. Send a pre-read
3. Don't be defensive
4. Leverage the appendix
5. Historical context helps
6. Pre-socialization w/ leaders
7. Presentation isn't the first time

1. Keep it simple

You're VP is likely a pretty smart person, capable of understanding complex topics. But they are responsible for a lot of things.

If you want sign-off or alignment, keep the presentation simple, concise, and to the point.

2. Send a pre-read

The goal of the presentation is to get alignment. That's very difficult to achieve in 30-60 mins.

Send the deck 48 hours in advance.

This will give them time to read and digest the information in advance. This turns your presentation into a discussion instead.

3. Don't be defensive

If they're good, they'll challenge your assumptions, judgement, and analysis.

The worst thing you can do is be defensive. Remain calm and professional. They aren't questioning you personally.

Your last resort is: "I don't know, but I'll get back to you."

4. Leverage the appendix

With decks for execs (hey that rhymes), every slide in the main deck should be core to the story.

If it isn't put it in the appendix.

These are slides you can reference if/when a deeper question is asked.

5. Historical context helps

You're in the weeds every day, they aren't.

Upfront, set the context of the situation you're team is in and why. This is a key step in the storytelling process to help them see your point of view.

They'll tell you to skip that part if they don't need it.

6. Pre-socialization w/ leaders

It isn't purely about getting the VPs sign off. You'll need other teams to support your team, and to be aligned.

Take your draft presentation to key leaders in your org to get their thoughts and feedback.

It will:

- Refine your presentation
- Get both teams strategies better aligned
- Build buy and support from them

And finally...

7. Presentation isn't the first time

This last part is perhaps the most important.

The presentation of this product strategy should not be the first time they are hearing about it. As you socialized it with other leaders first, they may have started to hear about it.

But snag a few 1:1s in the months/weeks leading up to completing it. Talk through a few key aspects live, make it clear your working on it and want their early feedback.

By the time you present to them (+ sending the pre-read) they'll be much better prepared to digest it all when presenting.

In summary, there's lots of advice out there on how to present to leaders. Specifically building buy-in and alignment with them.

But these are 5 key aspects that are sure to make a difference:

1. Keep it simple
2. Send a pre-read
3. Don't be defensive
4. Leverage the appendix
5. Historical context helps
6. Pre-socialization w/ leaders
7. Presentation isn't the first time

Hope this is helpful!

What else would you add?

[Virginia Hughes @VHughes93]

@oliviarodrigo's album SOUR is the teenage angst album I've been craving for YEARS. It's like being transported back to 17 again, and connecting, reflecting, and reminiscing on those younger emotions is therapeutic given I turned 30 this year. It's a beautiful, thank you ✨️

[Carl Vellotti 🥞 @carlvellotti]

Product managers, a dilemma:

Your team consistently takes 1–3 weeks longer to ship features than estimated.

Stakeholders are frustrated, beginning to believe your team has "slow velocity."

What do you do?