Build Essential Product skills with the Human Skills Wheel
What makes one product succeed where another fails? Could be the design. Could be the analytics captured and dissected. Could be the technology behind it, or the features and functionality it offers. Maybe it’s the market. Or the customer. Or the brand.
I think that is just scratching the surface.
I say it’s the people behind all of these things. The way they think. The way they communicate and relate. The way they handle the tough times. The way they make decisions and show up.
As I talk about in my new book “Hiring Product Managers: Using Product EQ to go beyond culture & skills,” these human skills describe how a product person works and must go hand-in-hand with the technical skills that describe what a product manager does (e.g. conducting user interviews, pricing, prioritisation, roadmap development, OKR development, story-writing and much more.)
Human skills are different from technical skills, yet they are inexorably tied together. Putting a technical skill in action often means using a human skill. After all, without things like empathy, the ability to collaborate or influence - your roadmap isn’t going anywhere.
The Product EQ Wheel will help you start your journey to understand and build your own human skills (yes, just like technical skills you can grow and improve your levels of self-awareness, leadership, resilience and more).
The tool is based on a coaching tool called the Wheel of Life, and is created to help you identify areas of imbalance in your human skills practice and to set priorities for areas that you’d like to focus on for development and growth.
The skills in the wheel are some of the most essential to our work as product people, and I’ve included full definitions and examples of the skills in practice below.
I’ve also included a wheel without any skills included so that you can customise it to suit your needs. Perhaps you’re in a role where it’s crucial to have strong conflict resolution skills, or leadership - create your own version with these skills.
Or, if you’d prefer a virtual version of the exercise, check out my Miro board
Here’s how to use the Human Skills Wheel:
For each segment ask yourself, “On a scale from 1-10 (with 10 being the ideal), how would you describe your level of ___________ (Self-awareness, Resilience, Empathy, etc)?” This initial score should be a general representation of where you think you are. It’s a place to start, so don’t overthink it. Definitions of the human skills in the wheel are below as are questions to consider to help you determine your score.
Rate each segment on the canvas, and draw a line that connects the points until you have a second ‘inner’ wheel. This can help you to visually understand where you are compared to your ideal.
Identify your “satisfaction” score for each segment. This doesn’t mean that every segment has to be a 10; what score would you be satisfied with?
List out those segments that are bright spots; that you feel good about.
Next move on to the areas that you’d like to improve and list them out.
For those areas that you’ve decided to focus on, what could you do to move up one point between your score today and your ideal? For example, if you’d like to focus on increasing self awareness, can you challenge yourself to ask five colleagues for feedback in the next two weeks? If you’d like to work on your ability to influence, can you push yourself to set-up meetings with two tricky stakeholders to understand their own challenges or concerns on a recent project?
Decide on an achievable action to bring you one step closer to your target. Write it down, and note when and how you’ll come back to review your progress.
The great thing about the Human Skills wheel is its flexibility
The Human Skills Wheel can be used as a:
Tool for self-reflection to help you better understand human skills and your opportunities for growth.
Conversation starter with your manager or team to help uncover areas of development.
Team exercise to find out where you as a group may be lacking in human skills (It’s a great pre-cursor to the Role Canvas workshop to help your team better identify priorities for a new role that you’re hiring for.)
Human Skills Definitions
To get you going, here are:
Definitions of the human skills included in the wheel
Questions to help you consider what your score might be
A prompt at the end of each section, encouraging you to write down a brief story that brings your self rating to life. This is especially helpful to provide some context to your score when sharing with a partner/coach/manager/peer.
Self-awareness: Organisational psychologist Tricia Eurich defines self awareness as: “The ability to see ourselves clearly — to understand who we are, how others see us, and how we fit into the world around us.” Self awareness is the foundation for how we make decisions; our moral compass.
Questions to consider:
How accurately do you believe you understand your strengths and areas for growth?
(0 = Not at all, 10 = Extremely accurately)How often do you consider how your actions or words may impact others?
(0 = Rarely, 10 = Consistently)How comfortable are you receiving constructive feedback and reflecting on it without defensiveness?
(0 = Not comfortable at all, 10 = Extremely comfortable)Share a brief story that shows your level of self-awareness.
Resilience (or resiliency): The ability to adapt and bounce back when things don't go as planned. Instead of dwelling on failures, resilient people can acknowledge the situation, learn from their mistakes, and then move forward.
Questions to consider:
How quickly can you adapt and move forward after a setback?
(0 = Very slowly, 10 = Almost immediately)How effectively do you learn from past mistakes and apply those lessons?
(0 = Rarely learn from them, 10 = Always learn and apply lessons)How often can you stay focused and productive even in challenging or stressful situations?
(0 = Rarely, 10 = Almost always)Share a brief story that shows your resilience.
Emotional Self-Control: The ability to keep your disruptive emotions and impulses in check and stay clear-headed and calm in stressful conditions. This doesn’t mean suppressing your emotions, but rather understanding and managing our disturbing emotions, and supporting the positive ones that make life rich.
Questions to consider:
How often do you feel able to keep your emotions in check in stressful or triggering situations?
(0 = Rarely, 10 = Almost always)How well do you manage your emotions, so they don’t interfere with your professional interactions?
(0 = Very poorly, 10 = Very effectively)How frequently are you able to process and let go of negative emotions constructively?
(0 = Rarely, 10 = Very frequently)
Share a brief story that shows your emotional self-control.
Adaptability: The ability to adjust to changes in their environment. Being adaptable in your career can mean you are able to respond quickly to changing ideas, responsibilities, expectations, trends, strategies and other processes at work.
Questions to consider:
How easily do you adapt to new responsibilities or unexpected changes at work?
(0 = Not easily at all, 10 = Very easily)How open are you to adopting new tools, strategies, or processes?
(0 = Not open, 10 = Very open)How often do you embrace change as an opportunity rather than a disruption?
(0 = Rarely, 10 = Almost always)
Share a brief story that illustrates your adaptability.
Empathy: The ability to see another person’s perspective and their point of view. In the world of product management, we talk a lot about being empathetic to our customers. But what about empathy for our teammates, managers and colleagues?
Questions to consider:
How effectively can you understand and relate to the perspectives of others, even if they differ from yours?
(0 = Not effectively, 10 = Extremely effectively)
How often do you actively listen without interrupting or immediately offering advice?
(0 = Rarely, 10 = Almost always)How comfortable are you with showing empathy for your colleagues’ challenges or setbacks?
(0 = Not comfortable at all, 10 = Very comfortable)
Share a brief story that highlights your empathy.
Influence: The ability to have a positive impact on others, to persuade or convince them to gain their support. With the Influence competency, you're persuasive and engaging, and you can build buy-in from key people.
Questions to consider:
How often do you succeed in persuading or inspiring others to support your ideas?
(0 = Rarely, 10 = Almost always)How frequently do others come to you for guidance or insight?
(0 = Rarely, 10 = Very frequently)How effectively can you adapt your communication style to build rapport and trust with others?
(0 = Not effectively, 10 = Very effectively)
Share a brief story that demonstrates your influence.
Communication: The ability to communicate clearly, present ideas and tell compelling stories is ever more critical to one’s success. People get energy from other people, they can hear and feel the passion and commitment in the spoken word.
Questions to consider:
How clearly and effectively do you convey your ideas in a group setting?
(0 = Not clearly at all, 10 = Very clearly and effectively)How well do you match your tone and energy to the message you’re delivering?
(0 = Not well, 10 = Very well)How often do you receive positive feedback on your communication skills?
(0 = Rarely, 10 = Very frequently)
Share a brief story that reflects your communication skills.
Collaboration: The ability to work with others toward a shared goal, participating actively, sharing responsibility and rewards, and contributing to the capability of the team. You empathise and create an atmosphere of respect, helpfulness, and cooperation. You can draw others into active commitment to the team’s effort.
Questions to consder:
How actively do you contribute to shared goals within a team?
(0 = Rarely contribute, 10 = Very actively contribute)How often do you support or offer help to team members when needed?
(0 = Rarely, 10 = Almost always)How comfortable are you with sharing responsibilities and credit in a team setting?
(0 = Not comfortable at all, 10 = Very comfortable)
Share a brief story that illustrates your collaboration style.
To continue the learning, check out this reading list:
Self Awareness: https://www.kateleto.com/articles/what-is-self-awareness
Resilience: https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/resilience.html
Emotional Self control: https://www.kornferry.com/insights/articles/how-emotional-self-control-impacts-your-work
Adaptability: https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/adaptability-skills
Empathy & Communication:: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/6-essential-human-skills-differentiate-you-todays-betsy-ziegler/
Influence: https://www.kornferry.com/insights/articles/influence-emotional-intelligence
Collaboration: https://www.kornferry.com/insights/articles/teamwork-emotional-intelligence
Emotional Intelligence: https://hbr.org/2017/02/emotional-intelligence-has-12-elements-which-do-you-need-to-work-on
Wheel of Life: https://www.inside-out-coaching.com/uncategorized-en/how-to-use-the-wheel-of-life-coaching-tool-to-create-a-balanced-life/
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