Ask HN: PO of my team talks too much. What to do?
The PO talks too much in an endless loop and get on my nerves. Despite being super wordy and verbose, dude is a great person and professional but stakeholders get bored as hell, you can see in their faces. Sometimes he does it to fullfil time as well, when demand is low. What to do?
ps: we're remote
21 comments
Is the meeting scheduled or is it ad hoc? Set up an agenda for the topics to talk about using email. Then answer as many questions as possible through email. Chances are the meeting will be killed because most of the points have been answered.
Even if it's ad hoc. What's the meeting about? Then get specific. Then answer through text.
I think we covered everything. Is there anything else? Rinse, repeat.
Put constraints: topics, duration, time of day, day.
Put mutual exclusion: I'm working on this very important thing priority we agreed was next. Is the meeting more important than delivering this? Nope. If I'm on this meeting, I'm not working on this.
There must be a price to schedule a meeting so it's not free to waste everyone's time.
It works great with people who love to talk and can go on for hours without much signal.
The way I do it with the team for our platform is that we use the platform itself: it has a real-time collaborative notebook.
The team members will write down the topics and questions they'd like to address whenever they can (asynchronously).
Sometimes, someone will answer a question or clarify a point written by another, with references to issues or merge requests or external resources. All that is in the notebook.
The meeting time will be set collaboratively according to everyone's availability and agreed upon.
We get on a call and we all have the notebook open where we see each other's cursor and changes live.
We go over each issue. Sometimes, we'll add example code that can run right into the notebook (which is our minutes of meeting).
We come up with decisions. We prioritize. This is next. X will do Y. Z can help on that. W has answered that in issue U.
Meeting's over.
Even if it's ad hoc. What's the meeting about? Then get specific. Then answer through text.
I think we covered everything. Is there anything else? Rinse, repeat.
Put constraints: topics, duration, time of day, day.
Put mutual exclusion: I'm working on this very important thing priority we agreed was next. Is the meeting more important than delivering this? Nope. If I'm on this meeting, I'm not working on this.
There must be a price to schedule a meeting so it's not free to waste everyone's time.
It works great with people who love to talk and can go on for hours without much signal.
The way I do it with the team for our platform is that we use the platform itself: it has a real-time collaborative notebook.
The team members will write down the topics and questions they'd like to address whenever they can (asynchronously).
Sometimes, someone will answer a question or clarify a point written by another, with references to issues or merge requests or external resources. All that is in the notebook.
The meeting time will be set collaboratively according to everyone's availability and agreed upon.
We get on a call and we all have the notebook open where we see each other's cursor and changes live.
We go over each issue. Sometimes, we'll add example code that can run right into the notebook (which is our minutes of meeting).
We come up with decisions. We prioritize. This is next. X will do Y. Z can help on that. W has answered that in issue U.
Meeting's over.
A colleague says "Got it" a lot. It seems to work.
What does your colleague do when there’s a constant flow of words and endless sentences going for 15-20 minutes without a pause? And, when a “got it” gets ignored?
That’s far too late. You have to say it, with authority, at the first sentence that doesn’t add to your understanding.
I do. To one of my direct managers. Got reprimanded a few times in private as he sees it as an interruption.
Open to suggestions.
Open to suggestions.
Hahaha thats pretty much what happens in my case!
This actually seems like a great strategy.
Why not redirect him by asking pointed questions that moves the needle forward - that usually shuts up loopy people if they don’t have great answers.
Honest 1:1 conversation?
Outline the topics you expect everyone on your team to be familiar with. If they start describing something on the list, reestablish thay everyone knows. If you tire of hearing something, add it to the list.
Expectations. It's super super hard to guess where people are & what they get. A lot of people stay stuck in first gear because there's colleagues who never tune in, & being explanatory is a courtesy to keep reminding folks of basic shit. Raise the expectation & be explicit about what's known already.
Expectations. It's super super hard to guess where people are & what they get. A lot of people stay stuck in first gear because there's colleagues who never tune in, & being explanatory is a courtesy to keep reminding folks of basic shit. Raise the expectation & be explicit about what's known already.
If there is the option to do skip level or 1:1 with PO's manager and your company provides a safe environment to do so, let this be know in a polite and respectful way highlighting the PO's good attributes following that up with the endless loop habit which is a time sink for all. PO's manager will then take care of it in his 1:1 with the PO. Otherwise, if you are remote and not required to be on video, browse HN during his loops ;-).
Set time limits to meetings and require agendas.
Take everyone off paid zoom so it cuts you out after 40 minutes.
Take everyone off paid zoom so it cuts you out after 40 minutes.
When I talk too much, or out of context, it's a sign of my nervousness.
Sometimes because of the situation. Other times just too much coffee or sugar in my system that has hurried my breathing.
Sometimes because of the situation. Other times just too much coffee or sugar in my system that has hurried my breathing.
Go to his boss and tell the boss that this guy needs to work on his signal-to-noise ratio because he talks too much and says too little.
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zone out