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Getting Enough Sleep

Sleep is extremely important, yet often not given the time it deserves. I’m often surprised when I talk to Product Managers about how little sleep they’re getting. The rule of thumb I like to use for a day is “8 hours for work, 8 hours for play, and 8 hours for sleep.” If you want to do more in any of these categories, you have to take time from one of the others. And yes, commuting to/from work is part of the 8 hours for play.

When mentoring a new Product Manager, it’s important to talk about sleep. Find out how much they’re getting, and if it’s less than 8 hours, ask if it’s due to work. Asking about sleep shows that you care about their health and well-being, and questions some of the common stereotypes that sleep must be sacrificed to be successful. If it does turn out that sleep is being lost due to too much work, it may be worth talking about how to say “no” more often to work requests and deprioritize tasks of little value.

If you’re not getting enough sleep, try getting at least 8 hours for a week and see how you feel. Be careful that you may feel great after one or two nights, and be tempted to get little sleep on the third night. Stick with the 8 hours for a week, and note how your health, energy, motivation, and creativity improve. If you think there’s no way you could try such an experiment, do an assessment of your work tasks, and stop doing the least important items. You’ll be surprised about how you’ll get creative about delegation and delay to make it happen, leading to better energy to focus on those items that are the most important on your list.

If you’d like to read about the origins of the 8/8/8 rule of thumb I use and where the 8-hour workday comes from, as well as why rest is so important, check out “The Origins of the 8 Hour Workday and Why We Should Rethink It.” It may also inspire a different experiment you want to run for approaching your days.

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Reference Checks

If you are hiring a new Product Manager, you may be tempted to skip what once was a venerable part of the interview process – the reference check. The popular rationale is that candidates will “stack the deck” by only giving references for people that will put them in a positive light, and thus it’s not worth the time to make the calls. However, there are several excellent reasons to do the reference checks. I’ve taken some of these from TopGrading and some from my own experience. They all come down to setting the goal for reference checks differently. Reference checks aren’t just about validating your assessment of a candidate’s interview. Reference checks also help:

Weed out C-Players: When choosing a candidate, it’s all about hiring A-Players. The common rationale for avoiding reference checks is based on a fact: hiring takes a lot of time. To get to one A-Player, the top 10% of candidates, there are at least 9 candidates that must be screened out. This takes time with no positive outcome. By being clear that there are reference checks as part of the interview process, you can help weed out C-Players with no work. State that you will be contacting former managers, not just the references that the candidate chooses, and C-Players will likely not apply or choose to not continue the process. An A-Player, however, will not see this as a obstacle and be happy to arrange these references if they are truly excited in your position.

Begin the mentoring process: A reference check isn’t just about making the hiring decision. References are also an invaluable jump start to mentoring your (hopefully) new Product Manager. By talking to former managers about a candidates strengths and weaknesses, you can learn where they need coaching and how you can leverage their strengths. You can even do these reference checks after the offer has been accepted. This can help you set the tone with the reference more clearly as one manager talking to another about how to best ensure their former A-Player is a star at your company.

Show the candidate you care: A-Players enjoy a challenge, and will rise to exceed your expectations. By doing reference checks, you are showing the candidate that you value getting the best talent, and spend the effort to ensure only top players work for you. They will thus have better impressions of their co-workers knowing that they all went through the same challenge and hiring rigor.Reference checks aren’t just the last gate in your interview process. They can set the tone for all the interviews and be the bridge between a great interview process and a great onboarding process.