Product Managers & Engineers – How to collaborate?
When you work in a cross-functional product team, a collaboration between Software Engineers and Product Managers is crucial. In theory, everybody feels that agile and lean start-up is the right approach, but how does it work out on a daily basis?
The core team at Digital Product School Munich (DPS) consists of AI Engineers, Software Engineers, Product Managers, Interaction Designers, Agile Coaches, and Product Marketing Managers. Some of them their learnings regarding collaboration in a cross-functional environment in this episode of the »Scrum Master Toolbox« podcast, hosted by Vasco Duarte.
The podcast:
https://scrum-master-toolbox.org/
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Verdict:
Shared Ownership Over Dictation: The entire team, not just the PM, is responsible for the product and its user experience
. At the Digital Product School (DPS), they intentionally use the title "Product Manager" instead of "Product Owner" to emphasize that the product belongs to everyone, rather than being "owned" by a single person
. The PM's role is to manage the workflow, establish a clear vision, and bring out the best in the team without dictating tasks or relying solely on their domain expertise to lead
.
Walking in Each Other's Shoes: A major challenge in cross-functional teams is miscommunication and mismatched expectations
. The verdict is that teams perform best when they actively experience each other's roles to build a shared vocabulary
. For instance, engineers are encouraged to engage deeply in user research—which they often end up enjoying and championing
. Conversely, PMs are tasked with contributing basic code via platforms like GitHub so they can understand the developers' workflow and tools
.
Environment Trumps Hard Skills: The speakers note that creating an environment that encourages trust, learning, and failing fast is more important than putting together a team with superior technical abilities
. They found that virtually any team can achieve exceptional results if they have a shared understanding, conduct one-on-one check-ins to align personal development goals, and constantly visualize their work on whiteboards to avoid misconceptions