Strategies for working effectively with managers and executives drawn from 35 product leaders.
Create detailed user stories, acceptance criteria, and feature specs
Example: Generate user stories for 'password reset feature' with acceptance criteria, edge cases, and test scenarios
Reduce spec writing time by 50%, ensure comprehensive coverage
Research competitors, compare features, identify gaps
Example: Analyze 5 competitor products, create feature comparison matrix, suggest differentiation opportunities
Complete competitive research in 2 hours instead of 2 days
Evaluate features using frameworks (RICE, ICE, Kano) and create prioritized backlogs
Example: Score 20 feature ideas using RICE framework, generate prioritized roadmap with rationale
Make data-driven prioritization decisions faster
Draft PRDs, status updates, and stakeholder presentations
Example: Create executive summary of Q3 roadmap, monthly progress report, feature launch announcement
Save 3-5 hours/week on communication overhead
Submit your Claude Code skill and start earning
epx add refoundai/lenny-skills --skill managing-upCompatible with
Supported agents
Proactively communicate upward with regular updates on priorities, blockers, and progress rather than waiting to be asked, using consistent formats like weekly emails
Bring recommendations and point of view to your manager instead of just problems, reducing their cognitive load and positioning yourself as an ally
Understand your manager's priorities and two levels up to tailor communication
AI-first code editor with Composer
Before installing skills in Cursor, ensure your development environment meets these requirements:
node --versionmanaging-upExecute the skills CLI command in your project's root directory to begin installation:
epx add refoundai/lenny-skills --skill managing-upFetches managing-up from refoundai/lenny-skills and configures it for Cursor.
The CLI shows a list of agents. Use arrow keys and space to select Cursor:
Confirm successful installation by checking the skill directory location:
.cursor/skills/managing-up
Restart Cursor to activate managing-up. Access via /managing-upin your agent's command palette.
Learn more:View source on GitHubSkills CLI docsAbout CursorWhat are agent skills?
Time estimate: 30-60 minutes to see productivity improvements
Prerequisites
Steps
Common Pitfalls
✓ Do
✗ Don't
💡 Pro Tips
✓ Use when
Use for user story writing, competitive research, roadmap prioritization, stakeholder communication, and PRD drafting. Best for reducing repetitive documentation and research work.
✗ Avoid when
Avoid for strategic product vision (requires deep customer empathy), pricing decisions (needs market and financial expertise), or when face-to-face customer discovery is more valuable than speed.
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Registry listing for managing-up matched our evaluation — installs cleanly and behaves as described in the markdown.
Solid pick for teams standardizing on skills: managing-up is focused, and the summary matches what you get after install.
managing-up fits our agent workflows well — practical, well scoped, and easy to wire into existing repos.
Useful defaults in managing-up — fewer surprises than typical one-off scripts, and it plays nicely with `npx skills` flows.
I recommend managing-up for anyone iterating fast on agent tooling; clear intent and a small, reviewable surface area.
We added managing-up from the explainx registry; install was straightforward and the SKILL.md answered most questions upfront.
Keeps context tight: managing-up is the kind of skill you can hand to a new teammate without a long onboarding doc.
managing-up reduced setup friction for our internal harness; good balance of opinion and flexibility.
Keeps context tight: managing-up is the kind of skill you can hand to a new teammate without a long onboarding doc.
Solid pick for teams standardizing on skills: managing-up is focused, and the summary matches what you get after install.
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