product management dispelling the myths and getting it right
TRANSCRIPT
Product Management - Dispelling the myths and getting it right!
Sanchan Sahai Saxena
Presented at the “Speaker Series” for UCLA Anderson MBA Students
Myth # 1
Product managers facilitate things (likemeetings etc.) and do stuff that nobody elsewants to do.
Credit – Bug Bash
Have you heard this before?
Myth #1
Oh yeah, let’s ask our PM to set upand facilitate a meeting with theother team to get this resolved asap.He knows the right folks in the teamand can get the conversation going.
Have you heard this before?
Myth #1
Oh yeah, let’s ask our PM to set upand facilitate a meeting with theother team to get this resolved asap.He knows the right folks in the teamand can get the conversation going.
We got a request to provide documentation for our APIs. Let’s ask our PM to write it up and not randomize our developers.
Have you heard this before?
Myth #1
Oh yeah, let’s ask our PM to set upand facilitate a meeting with theother team to get this resolved asap.He knows the right folks in the teamand can get the conversation going.
We got a request to provide documentation for our APIs. Let’s ask our PM to write it up and not randomize our developers.
There are too many customer support requests coming in. Let’s have our PMs be the first point of contact so they can triage them before it gets to our developers.
So what do Product Managers really do?
Product Managers…
Myth #1Discover and launch the right product to the right customers at the right time.
Product Managers…
Myth #1Discover and launch the right product to the right customers at the right time.
Product Managers…
Myth #1Discover and launch the right product to the right customers at the right time.
Product Managers…
Myth #1Discover and launch the right product to the right customers at the right time.
Product Managers…
Myth #1
…act as the CEO of the product and are always willing to do whatever it takes tomake the product and the team successful.
Product Managers…
Myth #1
…act as the CEO of the product and are always willing to do whatever it takes tomake the product and the team successful.
Sometimes, that might include: Organizing meetings Circulating notes Organizing launch or morale events Testing their product Etc.
Product Manager Activities…
Myth #1
Credit – Pragmatic Marketing Framework
Reality # 1
Product Managers have real responsibilitiesbut are willing to do whatever it takes to makethe product successful.
Myth # 2
Product Manager is a cool job. All they do iscome up with crazy ideas and then askdevelopers to code them.
How many of you think this is how PMs work and come up with ideas?
So how do PMs decide what to build?
So how do PMs decide what to build?
There is no magic formula for this, but here are a few guidelines…
Understand customers
Research and identify the right target customers for the right products.
vs
Understand customers
Deeply understand target customer personas, their problems, their motivations, frustrations and desires.
Research and identify the right target customers for the right products.
vs
Understand customers
Deeply understand target customer personas, their problems, their motivations, frustrations and desires.
Act as a customer advocate and represent the customer’s voice through the product development process
Research and identify the right target customers for the right products.
vs
Balance Opinion, Data, Customer Voice
Opinion DataListening to
Customer
Balance Opinion, Data, Customer Voice
Successful PMs value opinions
Opinion DataListening to
Customer
Balance Opinion, Data, Customer Voice
Successful PMs value opinions
but
understand that building products based on opinions is light shooting in the dark and hoping that you hit the bull’s eye.
Opinion DataListening to
Customer
Balance Opinion, Data, Customer Voice
Successful PMs are data informed, not data lead.
Opinion DataListening to
Customer
Balance Opinion, Data, Customer Voice
Successful PMs are data informed, not data lead.
PMs understand that blindly following data will lead to finding a local maxima, resulting in a narrow focus and potentially missing the global maxima.
Opinion DataListening to
Customer
Balance Opinion, Data, Customer Voice
PMs listen to their customers, but know when not to.
Opinion DataListening to
Customer
Balance Opinion, Data, Customer Voice
PMs listen to their customers, but know when not to.
If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.- Henry Ford
Opinion DataListening to
Customer
Know your competition
Myth #1Understand the capabilities, market dynamics, and limitations of their competitors. Know where the competitors can go easily and can't go at all.
Know your competition
Myth #1Understand the capabilities, market dynamics, and limitations of their competitors. Know where the competitors can go easily and can't go at all.
Great PMs use their competition’s product with potential customers to understand what not to build.
Iterative and Experimental approach
Understand that their vision is a collection of hypothesis.
Iterative and Experimental approach
Understand that their vision is a collection of hypothesis.
Your Vision
Hypo-thesis1
Hypo-thesis2
Hypo-thesisN
Iterative and Experimental approach
Validating critical hypotheses early on in the product lifecycle through experimentation
Understand that a vision is a collection of hypothesis.
Your Vision
Hypo-thesis1
Hypo-thesis2
Hypo-thesisN
Iterative and Experimental approach
Validating critical hypotheses early on in the product lifecycle through experimentation
Understand that iteratively launching products early on and often is better than waiting until everything is right the first time
Understand that a vision is a collection of hypothesis.
Your Vision
Hypo-thesis1
Hypo-thesis2
Hypo-thesisN
Reality # 2
Product Managers bring a deep understanding ofthe customer, the market and the competition tothe decision making process.
Myth # 3
PM is a highly leveraged position. Having agreat PM is the difference between asuccessful product vs a failed product.
Great PMs…
Myth #1Understand that successful products are a result of a great team work and not one individual.
Decision making and accountability per discipline
Myth #1
Credit – Jeff Lash
Program/Project ManagersEnsuring things get done right
Great PMs…
Myth #1Understand that they manage products and not teams.
Great PMs…
Myth #1Understand that they manage products and not teams.
Understand that to be successful, they need to lead and influence a team.
Influence without direct authority
Myth #1
Credit – Cooper Journal
Influence without direct authority
Myth #1
Credit – Cooper Journal
PMs lead (not manage) different disciplines.
Influencing without authority requires leadership skills (beyond the scope of this presentation)
Reality # 3
PMs lead teams and manage products. Theyclearly understand where their role adds valueand where they need the complementaryskills of others to be successful.
Thank You!