Reflections on Product Manager Remote Work at Ant Financial

Following the Chinese New Year, Ant Financial transitioned to daily remote work, prompting product teams to navigate new challenges. This article presents a typical day of senior product expert Zhang Wen, outlining his schedule from morning meetings to client calls and risk management.

Zhang, a product manager in Ant Financial’s Intelligent Technology Business Group, explains that his role involves three core activities: communication (linking internal development teams with external enterprise customers), planning (transforming business requirements into product specifications and managing iteration risks), and promotion (demonstrating product capabilities to clients).

The shift to remote work intensified communication difficulties, making face‑to‑face interactions impossible and requiring the product manager to act as a cross‑company technical project lead. Milestones that once relied on on‑site management now demand remote coordination, and live product demos must be replaced by online presentations.

To address these issues, the team adopted a multi‑pronged approach: clearly defining and breaking down product goals into small, independent teams; assigning weekly tasks to individuals for better manageability; using daily stand‑up meetings to monitor progress, risks, and mitigation strategies; and leveraging online collaboration tools such as DingTalk for video calls, task tracking, and file sharing, as well as Yuque for PRD authoring, asynchronous reviews, and design discussions.

Product demonstrations have moved to live‑stream formats, allowing customers to view best‑practice demos on public cloud platforms. The team also emphasizes disciplined meeting practices, setting time limits, preparing agendas, and defining actionable outcomes to improve efficiency.

Overall, the remote‑working experience has highlighted the need for strong project‑management fundamentals, a “three‑through” skill set (business, product, and technology), self‑driven teams, and robust online collaboration mechanisms. These adjustments have helped Zhang’s projects run smoothly despite the pandemic, providing valuable lessons for future remote work scenarios.