I think there are 4 ways to measure the performance of a product manager.

  1. OKRs - If a manager is leading an org then it is critical she gets the right goals and meets most of them. Is her organization fulfilling the delivery expectations?
    • I have a monthly career development 1-1 scheduled with my reports which is separate from the weekly 1-1 with my PMs. During this call, the first thing we check is how our OKRs are progressing.
  2. Core skills - How does she rate when it comes to core skills?
    • For improving in core skills, I make sure they are working on their IDPs with me.
  3. Org level expectations - Is she meeting the requirements for the level she is on the org ladder? If she is a senior manager is she meeting the requirements set for that role?
    • We do a gap analysis exercise for both the level they are in and the next level they want to get promoted to.
  4. 360 review - Is she meeting the goals for her as well as her organization but also meeting them in the right way? Meeting her org level expectations as well as delivering on her team’s OKRs does not matter if she is alienating her team and half of the team is on the verge of quitting. What is her review from peers, manager, reports?
    • I check peer feedback to evaluate if they are meeting their goals in the right way while collaborating in the right way vs just meeting their goals. I appreciate PMs in my team who share feedback they have got from other stakeholders without me even having to ask for it. One PM in my team shares feedback, both good and bad, as soon as he receives it from someone. To make this exercise comfortable, I share all the feedback I have got with my team.

Documents for all the above can be found in Career development plan for PMs.