The PM’s Dilemma: Influencing Execution Without Direct Control

Effective Techniques for Steering Projects From the Sidelines

During a video call with a senior PM friend from my Google days, we discussed his struggle with a project delay. Despite ‘handing off’ a mini Product Requirement Document (PRD) to his team three months ago, a feature estimated to take a few weeks was still incomplete.

In the chat before our call, he asked,

“When do you know it’s time to expand your engineering team?”