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Understanding how your engineers work doesn’t mean you need to write code, but it does mean learning how to communicate effectively with your technical team. By grasping key engineering concepts, you’ll improve collaboration, set more realistic expectations, and make better product decisions. Here’s how to bridge the gap without a formal technical background.
Learn the Basics of Software Development
You don’t need to become a developer, but having a fundamental understanding of how software is built will make you a stronger product manager. Start with these key concepts:
- Programming languages – Learn what languages your team uses (e.g., Elixir, JavaScript, Python) and why.
- APIs – Understand how different systems communicate and the role of APIs in connecting services.
- Databases – Get familiar with how data is stored and retrieved.
- Deployment & Infrastructure – Know the basics of cloud services, CI/CD pipelines, and how updates are rolled out.
Online courses, developer blogs, and even documentation from your engineering team can be great starting points.
Ask Questions and Listen Actively
The best way to learn is by engaging directly with your engineers. In meetings, ask questions to clarify technical decisions and understand their impact. Some useful questions include:
- What are the biggest technical challenges we should consider?
- How will this feature affect system performance?
- What trade-offs are involved in different implementation approaches?
Engineers appreciate when product managers show curiosity and a willingness to understand their work, as it leads to better alignment and decision-making.
Familiarize Yourself with Common Engineering Terms
Technical conversations often include jargon that can feel overwhelming. Learn common terms to follow discussions more effectively. Some essential ones include:
- Tech debt – The accumulated complexity from short-term solutions that need to be addressed later.
- Scalability – The ability of a system to handle increased users or data efficiently.
- Latency – The delay in processing a request.
- Load balancing – Distributing workload across multiple servers to improve performance.
Keeping a glossary of frequently used terms can help you stay on top of discussions.
Join Engineering Discussions
Participate in stand-ups, sprint planning, and technical retrospectives when possible. Observing these conversations will help you gain context on how engineers think and work. Even if you don’t understand everything, you’ll start picking up patterns and concepts over time.
Build a Simple Project or Use No-Code Tools
A hands-on approach can deepen your understanding. Consider:
- Building a simple website – Free resources like Codecademy or MDN Web Docs can guide you through HTML, CSS, and JavaScript basics.
- Exploring no-code tools – Platforms like Bubble or Webflow allow you to experiment with app-building logic without writing code.
- Using API tools – Postman is a great tool to test APIs and understand how they interact with products.
- Browse open-source libraries - get to know what is out there for independent developers. Check out libraries like React.js and ONNX (Open Neural Network Exchange).
Develop Empathy for Engineering Constraints
Engineering isn’t just about writing code, it’s about balancing trade-offs. Understanding constraints like time, technical feasibility, and security will help you set more realistic goals and avoid asking for impossible features. Take time to understand how technical debt impacts the day-to-day tasks of the team. Understand which pieces should be addressed first.
Align on Business and Technical Goals
Ultimately, product and engineering teams have the same goal: delivering a great product. By understanding technical considerations, you’ll be able to align business objectives with what’s feasible, leading to smoother collaboration and stronger products. Knowing what accomplishing the technical goals buys the business helps you negotiate the roadmap for sustainable growth.
By taking these steps, product managers can become more effective at working with engineers, making informed decisions, and contributing to the technical success of their products, without needing to write a single line of code.
