In Paul Graham's essay "Makers vs. Managers," he highlights the differences between two types of work schedules: one for "makers," such as engineers, and the other for "managers," like product managers.

He has the following to say about the manager's schedule:

There are two types of schedule, which I'll call the manager's schedule and the maker's schedule. The manager's schedule is for bosses. It's embodied in the traditional appointment book, with each day cut into one hour intervals. You can block off several hours for a single task if you need to, but by default you change what you're doing every hour.

He has the following to say about the maker's schedule:

For someone on the maker's schedule, having a meeting is like throwing an exception. It doesn't merely cause you to switch from one task to another; it changes the mode in which you work.

Recognising these distinctions in schedules is essential for creating effective product trios, which consist of a product manager, a designer, and an engineer. This topics gains even more relevance in today's reality of globally distributed teams and remote workers.

Engineers & designers, as makers, require large blocks of uninterrupted time to focus and work efficiently. Frequent meetings or distractions can disrupt their workflow, making it challenging to produce high-quality work. Product managers, conversely, are adept at handling dynamic schedules, switching between tasks, and managing meetings throughout the day.

To create a "successful & happy" product trio, consider these key takeaways:

  1. Understand the different scheduling needs of engineers, designers and product managers
  2. Batch time for meetings (start of the day / end of the day). Batch meetings into specific days if possible i.e. have zero-meeting days (beyond the daily scrum)
  3. Limit interruptions and meetings for engineers, while also ensuring product managers can effectively coordinate with the team
  4. Get the team to up-level their written communication, which is crucial to async work and effective coordination
  5. As a PM, you would have your own "maker schedule" too (e.g. writing PRDs) beyond the "manager schedule" of coordinations, management meetings, "will-just-take-5-min" corridor conversations. Hence, all of the above would apply to the PM as well, where you have to balance your "maker" vs. "manager" time