Transforming Product Management through Strategic Leadership and Agile Practices
The sector of product administration has skilled important evolution, with growing significance positioned on efficient management, data-driven decision-making, and cross-functional collaboration. As industries more and more embrace agile methodologies and data-centric approaches, product managers should adapt to satisfy the rising demand for innovation, effectivity, and buyer satisfaction. This has led to a shift within the function, with professionals within the discipline taking over broader tasks that span technical, strategic, and operational domains. Agile ideas, specifically, have remodeled the best way merchandise are developed, examined, and scaled, guaranteeing groups can reply to modifications rapidly and successfully.
Semen Arslan, a Senior Product Supervisor, has repeatedly embraced new challenges all through her profession. Her journey from open-source improvement to product administration displays the multifaceted nature of the career. With expertise spanning roles equivalent to QA, agile teaching, and product administration, Semen has constructed a broad perspective on organizational development and staff dynamics. Her experience in leveraging frameworks, driving course of enhancements, and fostering collaboration has formed her into an influential chief within the discipline.
METRO.digital, the corporate the place Semen at the moment applies her experience, is a distinguished participant within the tech trade, with a give attention to delivering cutting-edge options that streamline enterprise operations and improve buyer experiences. The corporate’s dedication to innovation and agile practices aligns completely with Semen’s profession philosophy, which emphasizes continuous studying and the transformation of groups and merchandise by strategic management and efficient administration.
Let’s delve into be taught extra:
From Open-Supply Developer to Product Administration
Semen views her profession path as a tree fairly than a ladder, having taken on varied roles pushed by her ardour. This method has afforded her a broader perspective and a development mindset all through her profession. Her journey started with an curiosity in Open Supply. Whereas nonetheless in college, she volunteered as an open-source developer and later joined Turkey’s Open Supply Linux Distribution venture as a developer. Her rising curiosity in organizational effectiveness led her to transition into QA, the place she proposed a venture for Google Summer season of Code. This venture resulted within the improvement of a take a look at framework for the Linux distribution. Semen additionally improved the discharge cycle by introducing every day releases and enhancing the volunteer onboarding course of with a mentoring program. Moreover, she launched a bug overview system and constructed a volunteer take a look at neighborhood, giving talks throughout Turkey to draw extra contributors.
Along with Open Supply, Semen found a brand new ardour for Agile methodologies in 2008. Her curiosity in Agile grew over time, and he or she explored varied features of it, together with No-estimates, OKRs, Scrum, XP, and scaling frameworks equivalent to SAFe and LeSS. Over time, she delivered quite a few talks on Agile and, in 2017, developed a no-estimates system on Jira with an intern to foretell the timeline of comparable merchandise. Though few firms in Turkey had been adopting Agile on the time, Semen sought to work with the perfect. She continued her profession at a startup that employed a “waterfall-ish” Agile method because of its reliance on legacy programs. Annoyed by this limitation, she made the choice to transition to an organization that practices true Agile methodologies. And he or she joined one in every of Turkey’s largest telecom firms, the place she labored alongside Thoughtworks on Agile transformation, gaining intensive information by XP coaching and training. Looking for worldwide expertise, Semen turned a Scrum Grasp at one other telecom firm with U.S. and Canadian purchasers, main 9 groups. This function allowed her to scale Agile and earn her SAFe Practitioner certificates, finally advancing to Program Supervisor.
Semen considers herself framework-agnostic, believing that whereas SAFe is complete, firms ought to adapt it to swimsuit their particular wants.She holds a CMMI certification however doesn’t advocate for its full implementation, as it may be gradual and inflexible. Nonetheless, she values CMMI’s give attention to high quality assurance, significantly relating to non-functional necessities that Agile groups usually overlook. Throughout her time at Netas, Semen obtained the Agile and Digital Transformation Award in 2017. She contributed to a number of initiatives, together with educating Agile Product Administration at Bahçeşehir College from 2016 to 2018, making a “Minimal Viable Success” system for youngsters, delivering talks on Agile globally, running a blog on Administration 3.0, and taking part within the Agile Turkey and JavaDay Istanbul committees.
Semen’s discovery of OKRs additional formed her considering, main her to give attention to metrics that might enhance staff and product efficiency. Her ardour for Product Administration grew throughout this era, and as a Program Supervisor, she excelled at planning. Nonetheless, she was desirous to pursue product excellence and buyer satisfaction, which led her to completely embrace product administration. Her journey into product administration started at GE Aviation, the place she gained worthwhile expertise in product insights and analytics.
Remodeling Merchandise and Groups by Strategic Management
Semen’s profession at METRO.digital started in 2019 because the product supervisor for APIs and the principle product web page. On this function, she was accountable for overseeing all product knowledge, together with names, pictures, descriptions, variants, and suggestions. She performed a key function in redesigning the principle product web page by conducting consumer interviews, operating common assessments, and implementing A/B experiments. This course of led to the addition of recent options, equivalent to product suggestions, which considerably contributed to boosting cross-selling and upselling efforts.
Throughout her time on this function, Semen additionally led the staff’s transition from an exterior outsourcing mannequin to an in-house staff. Though she and a staff lead went on parental go away in the course of the last section of this transition, the staff’s robust maturity and technical proficiency allowed them to proceed efficiently and full the internalization course of. This end result highlighted the worth of constructing a self-managed and autonomous staff.
Upon getting back from parental go away, Semen shifted her focus to the pricing space. Her staff now manages pricing enterprise logic throughout 20 METRO international locations, offering knowledge through APIs to over 20 METRO purposes. Her preliminary focus was on FinOps, the place her efforts to cut back infrastructure prices resulted in thousands and thousands of euros in annual financial savings. She continues to scale these efforts. Semen is now main the internalization section for the pricing staff, leveraging her expertise to develop a team-building framework and set up clear communication buildings with each engineering and enterprise leaders.
Her strengths in high quality, planning, stakeholder engagement, and proactive danger administration have been essential in delivering essential tasks on time, spanning a number of international locations. Outdoors of product administration, Semen contributes by taking a portfolio-wide view, working alongside METRO communities to boost staff efficiency, metrics, and Agile practices.
Efficient Workforce Constructing and Management in Product Administration
In earlier roles and at METRO.digital, Semen has centered on internalization efforts for a few years. They acknowledge that staff constructing differs considerably from product administration, making use of situational management to regulate their method based mostly on the maturity of the staff and particular person members. Relying on the context, they make the most of a variety of management strategies, together with directing, mentoring, teaching, supporting, or delegating, tailor-made to the staff’s or particular person’s improvement degree.
Semen locations a powerful emphasis on constructing and sustaining belief throughout the staff, contemplating it an ongoing precedence. They imagine {that a} lack of belief can negatively influence each staff dynamics and total product efficiency. To make sure steady enchancment, they facilitate common suggestions and battle decision periods, conduct retrospectives, and take motion to deal with any areas that might improve the staff’s effectiveness.
Driving Change and Workforce Efficiency by Strategic Management
Semen has approached enhancements as a private ardour, having fun with the method of tackling challenges head-on. Recognized for his or her resilience and persistence, they’ve constantly demonstrated a capability to maneuver ahead no matter obstacles. This dedication has earned them the nomination as a METRO Momentum Maker for his or her “by no means cease, no worry” mentality.
When implementing change, Semen usually applies John Kotter’s change administration mannequin, a course of that features creating a way of urgency, forming a coalition staff, implementing incremental enhancements, gathering suggestions, reaching fast wins, and pushing ahead. In addition they give attention to managing resistance by decreasing political components and addressing affirmation bias throughout the group.
Not too long ago, Semen developed a imaginative and prescient and technique for a Workforce Efficiency Scorecard system, reworking it right into a product prepared for scaling and adoption throughout all groups throughout the firm. This achievement was made doable by the appliance of the change administration mannequin.
Information-Pushed Method to Threat Mitigation and Steady Enchancment
Semen is a data-driven skilled who constantly seeks out historic knowledge to establish areas for enchancment and proactively handle potential dangers. Upon becoming a member of any new staff or product, she prioritizes understanding the out there metrics and the way they are often leveraged to generate insights or drive enhancements.
For instance, her initiative on FinOps price discount started with an intensive overview of cloud billing metrics, which shaped the muse for subsequent enhancements. In all of her studies to senior administration, Semen ensures that knowledge helps her findings, making the studies concise and impactful whereas highlighting dangers, points, mitigations, and alternatives for enchancment.
Semen additionally understands the significance of environment friendly collaboration when working with knowledge. She acknowledges that a good portion of the trouble could go into preparation, however she values this course of because it results in efficient and mutually helpful outcomes.
Balancing Household Life and Skilled Tasks
Semen has two younger kids, a 3-year-old boy and a 2-year-old lady, sometimes called “Irish twins.” Balancing private {and professional} life could be difficult, however Semen is lucky to have the help of each units of oldsters, who help with managing family tasks. This help permits Semen to dedicate high quality time to spending with the youngsters, partaking in play, and nurturing them.
Balancing Introversion and Extroversion in Skilled Progress
Semen considers herself an ambivert, balancing each introverted and extroverted traits. Relying on her present pursuits, she usually immerses herself in books, coaching periods, and creating shows, which displays her extra introverted facet. Alternatively, to interact her extroverted nature, she actively submits proposals to related conferences, shares her information by talks, and connects with specialists from different organizations. This method not solely permits her to develop personally but additionally contributes to the event of her firm.
One in every of her latest areas of curiosity has been Workforce Topologies and working fashions for progressive fields like AI/ML. Semen has shared her insights on this topic by delivering two talks, and her experience on this discipline led her to grow to be a Workforce Topologies Advocate. By way of these endeavors, she repeatedly refines her information whereas fostering skilled development and collaboration.
Advancing in ML/AI Improvements and Folks Administration
Semen’s new ardour lies in growing working fashions for ML/AI improvements, and he or she goals to advance her profession on this discipline. Whereas she is expert and passionate as a person contributor, her subsequent profession step includes difficult herself as a individuals supervisor.
Learn Additionally: Most Influential Product Leader Revolutionizing Markets in 2025
