Each company has different dynamics. Some let the teams decide, some let one leader decide, and some try to have no bosses at all. Below, I break down how Spotify, Airbnb, and Zappos handle it.
Spotify Fragments their large teams into smaller teams, and they call each team a squad. Each squad has a product owner who leads by setting priorities for all the work the team requires but they don’t provide any concrete instructions on how to do it. This allows for creativity to flow through in every workstream. POs also work together on a shared roadmap. Therefore, the product manager has more power over the priorities, but nobody has to report to them. I like that teams get freedom but can stay lined up and also directionally supported towards a shared vision. The only downside is that with lots of squad, they end up needing each other, and this causes things to slow down.
Airbnb is led by design. CEO Brian Chesky combined his product management and product marketing segments to consolidate each team. He says that all designers are equal to the PMs. The PM would not be the product boss, necessarily. They work next to the designers, and Chesky then has the final say. The cool part is that one person owns the whole story of a product. The risky part is that everything depends on one person’s taste.
Zappos tried holacracy, which uses roles instead of job titles and teams called circles. A PM only has the power their role gives them. It got messy: 210 of about 1,500 employees took buyouts, and later Zappos switched to teams that run like small businesses with their own profits and losses.
Where I’d work
Spotify: I’d want to own my worksteams and have teammates to share decisions with. But I’d make POs responsible for results customers actually notice. I’d also name someone to fix problems between squads.
