The Refactoring Guide for PMs Tired of Endless Tech Discussions

Moving from tech discussions to value alignment

Clarifying Refactoring

“We need to refactor the code before implementing this feature.”

I’d be a millionaire if I’d get a dime whenever I heard this sentence. Yet, understanding why that was necessary and how to deal with it wasn’t always easy.

Despite having a technical background, dealing with refactoring from a product manager’s perspective often disturbed me. Here are some reasons:

• Developers say it will take two days, and then it takes two weeks
• We refactored a piece of code and broke something unrelated to it
• Management continuously challenged why we had to do it
• Intense debates between refactoring and adding product capabilities

Have you ever stumbled upon the above? Let me help you understand it. Here’s what we will cover in this post:

• What’s refactoring, and why does it matter?
• Real-world examples of refactoring done right and done wrong
• When to refactor
• Refactoring techniques
• Refactoring vs. rewriting

Let’s get into it.