1. Best Practices for Leading a Product Team

Hello everyone! In this session, we’re diving into best practices for leading a product area, focusing specifically on how you, as a leader, can make the most impact. Drawing from experiences across companies like Conta Azul, RD Station, Pipefy, and others, I want to share practical insights on effectively leading a product team.

Our agenda today will include four key sections: the role of a leader in product practices, product management practices, process practices, and people practices. We’ll focus on practical examples and real actions you can take to lead your team effectively. Let’s start with the role of a product leader.

The Role of a Product Leader

A product leader’s role is to create an environment where the team can thrive and make good decisions while continuously improving. I like to think of leading a team as managing your new “product.” Just as you work to build and refine a great product, you need to do the same with your team—finding the right balance between motivating people and generating business results.

The key is creating a work environment where your team feels engaged and connected to the larger vision. This balance involves providing clarity on the product’s vision—why we’re building it and the impact we want to have on the market—while also keeping a focus on practical results, such as revenue growth and user satisfaction.

The goal is to reach a point where your team understands its purpose, has a sense of belonging, and can see the impact of their work. When this happens, teams become more cohesive and motivated. It’s that sweet spot where everyone feels they are contributing meaningfully to both the company’s success and to solving customer problems.

Creating Systems for Good Decisions

One of the primary responsibilities of a product leader is to create systems that enable the team to make well-informed decisions and continuously improve. This involves:

Ensuring Alignment: Make sure that the team is working toward the right goals that align with the company’s vision and strategy. Misalignment can lead to wasted resources, so it's essential to revisit and validate this frequently.
Fostering Continuous Improvement: Whether it’s products, processes, or people, continuous improvement should always be a priority. Setting up regular check-ins, retrospectives, and performance evaluations are some of the ways to establish continuous growth.
Information Flow: Establish strong communication flows within the team, connecting strategy to day-to-day activities. Ensure everyone knows when they need to escalate issues, seek help, or share key learnings. Creating these communication triggers helps the team be more autonomous while also keeping you informed.
Removing Barriers: As a leader, you need to remove obstacles that may be preventing your team from moving forward. Finding the right level of involvement is crucial—you don’t want to micromanage, but you also don’t want to leave your team without direction. Constantly assess whether your involvement is empowering the team or hindering their growth.

Establishing Cadence and Culture

Leadership is also about setting the right cadence and culture for the team. Gibson Biddle, the former CPO of Netflix, suggests three key steps for new product leaders:

Define a Product Strategy: Even if it’s a draft, creating a strategy early on helps identify gaps, make improvements, and align the team around shared goals.
Assess and Build Your Team: Evaluate whether you have the right people in place to achieve your goals. It’s essential to identify who is excelling, who needs development, and if any tough conversations are needed.
Establish Cadence: Set a pace for the team by having quick wins, medium-term goals, and long-term milestones. This cadence keeps the team motivated and ensures progress.

It’s important to remember that your journey as a leader doesn’t have to be solitary. Seek out mentorship, network with other product leaders, and encourage knowledge-sharing within and beyond your organization. Learning from diverse experiences and sharing your own can accelerate your growth and provide solutions that would be difficult to achieve in isolation.

Key Takeaways

Motivation and Results: Create a balance between motivating your team and achieving practical business results.
Alignment and Improvement: Ensure your team’s goals align with the company’s strategy, and always push for continuous improvement.
Effective Communication: Set up clear processes for information flow, making sure your team knows when to seek help and how to improve.
Remove Barriers Thoughtfully: Find the right level of involvement to help your team without taking away their learning opportunities.
Foster Collaboration: Don’t go it alone—engage with your team, other leaders, and peers to enrich your leadership approach.

Leading a product team is about building a culture of continuous improvement, creating clarity, and helping your team deliver value to customers while feeling motivated and inspired. Take the time to reflect, iterate, and grow—both for your product and for your team.