Attending an “All Hands Meet” is absolutely irritating

I thought I was the only one frustrated with meetings until my colleagues also mentioned they were not able to get work done because most of the day was spent on meetings Plus our boss (CEO) loves talking, anyway the meetings are agenda-less. He stretches 30 min calls to 2 hours and then has the audacity to question the productivity. Cannot tell me this, he gets very touchy when feedback is negative for him. And then writes sarcastic messages. Also, who wants to take up fights with person who pays your salary What to do in this case? I'm tired of working 12 hours each day

So it's that time of the year when variable payouts are being processed. Everyone’s excited, checking their bank accounts. I get the email from HR - "Your annual bonus is..." I open it It’s enough to buy me a nice lunch I go to my boss and ask him about it He says "We had a tough year, need to tighten our belts" I look at his belt - it’s designer Meanwhile, I’m tightening mine to skip meals. I said "Thanks" and left. He says "Keep up the good work" I leave the meeting room and start Googling jobs - CONFESSED NO ONE

Mine was okay, started managing a new product/platform (matured one), lots of moving pieces. Kuch samajh nahi aa raha hai 🤷‍♂️ Still leading the calls with clients 😬 and leadership 🫤 Living each day as it comes

It's getting dirtier by the day and sure some orgs are still up to their dirty tricks. The models: - Appraise and then Lay Off: Why bother putting bandaid on a stab wound? Anyways the folks are going to fight how to answer the ..why were you laid off war, and now you are adding another twist.. why were you appraised and then laid off? - Low appraisals to force quit: Undervalue them so they leave on their own. It’s a leeches way to cut costs. Kill morale 100%. Severance penny spent $0. - Trap them in PIP: Dress it up however you want - very very few escape this death sentence. - Silent treatment: No assignments, No meetings. Watch them spiral into anxiety and leave to save their sanity. - Workload overload: Drown them in work until they break. No need for layoffs list until they make it to your collapse list first. - Strategic reorg: Re-organize them out of existence. Offer a demotion or a proxy role in a random team that you know they dont want as an alternative. - Sudden policy changes: oh! I have seen so many I can't keep up with this one. New policies that make their life hell. People leave to escape your pettiness. - Mandatory relocation: Demand they move to an undesirable location. Then you treat remote employees like outsiders. Exclude them from key projects, conversations until they feel like foster care kids, second-class citizens. You know the outcome from there on. - Use the "Culture Fit" excuse: Call out how they’re not a culture fit. Vague, unchallengeable, and forces them out without severance. And don't sell me "the org has got to do what it has got to do to survive" line. I don't buy that If you have seen this being done, I understand your silence, but I don't value it. If this has been done to you or someone close to you, I am sorry. Orgs and the people failed you. We could be 1000x better than what we are operating as.

Just when you thought it couldn’t get worse, the HR is trying to impose a 9 hour work day, which is mapped using biometrics. Anything less and you’re marked a half day. Lol.

Hey GV folks, long-time lurker, first-time poster here. I'm a product leader at Zomato, managing a team of 8 PMs. Today, I want to share a practice that's become the cornerstone of our product philosophy - and it all started with me being "punished" by my first manager. At the cost of self praising, this is some really good advice so I hope you’re able to extract the maximum value out of this. Five years ago, I was a cocky new PM, fresh out of a fancy consulting gig. I thought I knew everything about our users based on data and surveys. My wake-up call came when I royally screwed up a feature release. Instead of firing me, my manager did something unconventional - she made me spend a week as a delivery partner. I was pissed. Riding around Bangalore in the March heat, navigating traffic, dealing with hangry customers - how was this supposed to make me a better PM? But on day three, while waiting for an order outside Truffles (fellow Bangaloreans, you know the wait I'm talking about), I struck up a conversation with a few seasoned delivery partners. What I learned in those 30 minutes blew my mind. They shared hacks they'd developed, pain points I'd never considered, and insights about customer behavior that no amount of data could have revealed. I realized I'd been building features in a vacuum, completely disconnected from the real world our app operated in. That week changed everything. I rewrote our entire product roadmap based on what I learned. The results? Our delivery partner satisfaction scores shot up, and our order completion rates improved significantly. Since then, I've made it a point to spend one day every month doing deliveries. It keeps me grounded, provides constant insights, and reminds me who we're really building for. When I started managing other PMs, I knew I had to institutionalize this practice. Now, it's mandatory for everyone on my team to do a delivery day once a month. No exceptions. At first, there was resistance. "We have data for this," they'd argue. "I can't waste a whole day delivering food!" But after their first experience, they got it. Now, our team meetings are buzzing with insights from the field. Here's why I believe every product manager should regularly step into their users' shoes: 1. Data doesn't tell the whole story: Numbers can show you what's happening, but not why. Real interactions reveal the context behind the data. 2. Empathy drives innovation: When you experience user pain points firsthand, you're more motivated to solve them creatively. 3. It challenges assumptions: Nothing humbles you faster than realizing your "brilliant" feature is actually a pain to use in the real world. 4. It builds credibility: When you can say "I've done this myself," your team and stakeholders listen differently. 5. It's a reminder of impact: In the daily grind of KPIs and metrics, it's easy to forget that we're affecting real people's lives. This practice keeps that front and center. Some practical tips if you want to try this: - Don't just observe. Actually do the job. - Engage in conversations. Users (and front-line workers) are usually eager to share their experiences if you show genuine interest. - Look for workarounds and hacks. These are gold mines for product insights. - Pay attention to the environment and context in which your product is used. - Reflect on the experience immediately after. What surprised you? What frustrated you? To my fellow PMs out there: when was the last time you truly stepped into your users' shoes? If it's been a while, I challenge you to give it a try. You might just find your next big product breakthrough while waiting to pick up someone’s 1 am order from Empire :) P.S. Took a photo while waiting for my order, would probably have been fired long back had it not been for this evening!

I know sometimes we refrain from saying too much about our company. But exes can usually be talked about, since there's not much holding back. Maybe it helps someone else avoid a mistake you did, or gain a new learning :p Shoot.

When will the undeclared Hire Freeze gonna end? Most companies have been saying they will fix an interview, and ask me dates as well. But the expected meeting email will never come. It's not about rejections, companies filter soley via expected salary in the first step. In addition to this, companies arent preferring candidates who are ok to relocate as well. FYI: Ive been looking for APM role for past 2 months. Fine with generalists roles as well. Appreciate with any leads. Thanks

What are some common stereotypes you've all encountered in Indian corporate culture? I'll go first; the meetings that are never ending (and could have easily been an email).