EL-SIG: How Engineering Works with ProdMgmt
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The document discusses the collaboration between engineering and product management, highlighting the roles and responsibilities of product managers in software development. It outlines the challenges faced by product managers, particularly in agile environments, and provides strategies for improving their effectiveness. Additionally, it emphasizes the importance of communication and understanding customer needs in driving successful product outcomes.
EL-SIG: How Engineering Works with ProdMgmt
- 1. How Engineering Can Work Better with Product ManagementRich MironovApril 21, 2011
- 2. About Rich MironovCEO of a stealth startupVeteran product manager/strategist/execBusiness models, pricing, agileOrganizing product organizations“What do customers want?”Author of “The Art of Product Management” and Product Bytes blogFounded Product Camp, chaired product stage at annual Agile conferences
- 3. Agenda3Sharing: your good and bad product management experiencesWhat does a product manager do, anyway?Agile product managers, agile product owners7 ways to help your product manager
- 4. Sharing Your Good And Bad Product Management Experiences
- 5. Agenda5Sharing: your good and bad product management experiencesWhat does a product manager do, anyway?Agile product managers, agile product owners7 ways to help your product manager
- 6. What Does a Product Manager Do?For commercial / revenue software…PM drives delivery and market acceptance of whole productsPM targets market segments, not individual customersFor strategic internal development…PM resolves competing prioritiesPM drives acceptance and adoption
- 7. ProductManagementExecutivesDevelopmentWhat Does a Product Manager Do?strategy, forecasts, commitments, roadmaps,competitive intelligencebudgets, staff,targetsmarket information, priorities,requirements, roadmaps, MRDs,personas, user stories…Field input,Market feedbackMktg & SalesMarkets & CustomerssoftwareSegmentation, messages, benefits/features, pricing, qualification, demos…
- 8. Product Mgmt Planning Horizonsmany yearsExecStrategyyearsPortfoliomany monsPMProduct2-9 monReleaseDevTeamSprint2 wkDaily
- 9. Pragmatic Marketing® FrameworkDir, Prod StrategyProd Mktg MgrTech Prod MgrBusinessPlanMarketingPlanPositioningPricingMarket ProblemsCustomer AcquisitionBuyingProcessMarket DefinitionBuy, Build or PartnerWin/Loss AnalysisCustomer RetentionBuyer PersonasDistribution StrategyProduct ProfitabilityDistinctive CompetenceProgram EffectivenessUserPersonasProduct PortfolioBusinessMarketProgramsPlanningStrategySupportReadinessBusinessMarketProgramsPlanningStrategySupportReadinessInnovationCompetitive LandscapeLaunchPlanRequire- mentsProduct RoadmapPresentations & DemosSalesProcessTechnology AssessmentThought LeadershipUseScenarios“Special”CallsCollateralLead GenerationStatus DashboardEventSupportSalesToolsReferrals & ReferencesChannelSupportChannel Training© 1993-2009 Pragmatic Marketing, Inc. All rights reserved
- 10. Nature of PM RoleNo natural sequence for PMMust work all aspects in parallelEntire planning onionIntensely interrupt-drivenBottoms-up shapes top-down, top-down shapes bottoms-upProduct Management must provide strategy, judgment and integration as well as execution
- 11. Good product managers drive decisions despite uncertainty and contradictory goals
- 12. “How Hard Could It Be?”Imagine that I create a two-day seminar for “Senior Enterprise Software Architects”Anyone can enrollWe talk about enterprise architectureAll attendees get a “Senior Enterprise Software Architect” certificateAre they senior architects?
- 13. Agenda13Participants: good and bad product management experiencesWhat does a product manager do, anyway?Agile product managers, product owners7 ways to help your product manager
- 14. Disjoint CommunitiesProduct ManagersAgile CommunityNearly empty, very lonely
- 15. Discussions about Agile…Part philosophy and religionPart process, tools, techniques, methodsPart organizational design
- 16. Why Not Waterfall?Requirements and estimatesDesignCoding and unit testSystem integration & QAOperation and maintenanceWaterfall projects rarely deliver according to plan
- 17. Agile’s Inner Loop (Development)After: Mike Cohn
- 18. Agile’s Strategic Outer Loop (PM)Markets
- 19. Customers
- 20. Biz Models
- 21. Strategy
- 22. Portfolios
- 23. Funding
- 24. Customers
- 25. Sales
- 26. Marketing
- 27. Support
- 28. Upgrades
- 29. EOL/EOSProduct Owner’s CalendarBorrowed from Catherine Connor, Rally
- 30. productownerExecutivesMarketing/SalesCustomersDevelopment“small p” product ownerpriorities, requirements,personas, user stories…software
- 31. Product Manager Failure ModesSolo Product Manager fails the agile team if…Part-timer, not fully engaged in teamLack of detail on stories, acceptance testsStale items in backlogHandwaving and blusterBest of intentions, but pulled in too many directions“Build what I meant”
- 32. Product Owner Failure ModesSolo Product Owner fails the market if…Weak onreal-world value: pricing, packaging, upgrades, servicemodels,discounting, competitive dynamicsDisconnected from cross-functional teams(Marketing, Sales, Support…)Belief in rational users and accurate ROITrading off company-wide product strategy for product-level featuresAssuming that a few customers at showcase (demo) represent the market
- 33. Agenda23Participants: good and bad product management experiencesWhat does a product manager do, anyway?Agile product managers, product owners7 ways to help your product manager
- 34. 7 Good Ways to Help Your PMAsk about use cases and customer problemsDon’t demand PMs as technical as you areNot every user story gets its own ROI Expect PMs to translate features into customer-relevant benefitsAsk about forecasts, shipments and revenueQUIETLY sit in on some customer meetingsChannel your inner Product Manager
- 36. How Engineering Can Work Better with Product ManagementRich MironovApril 21, 2011
Editor's Notes
- #5: Who has PMs? Who doesn’t?Where does PM report up through?What distinguishes good PMs from weak in your org?Categories: technical skills; org power; reporting path; customer knowledge; work products; who’s driving/deciding?; title confusion…
- #11: No natural sequence for PMMust work all aspects in parallelPlanning onion as simultaneous equationBottoms-Up Shapes Top-DownCustomer visits inform market viewCompetitive price points drive business modelFeature complexity shapes release planTop-Down Shapes Bottoms-UpMarket segmentation determines customer selection and benefitsProduct strategy drives backlogProduct Management provides strategy, judgment and integration as well as executionOwning market success is an unbounded problem
- #13: Dev consistently wants to promote good engineers into PM roles. Mostly they lack relevant field experience, organizational savvy, customer skills, ability to handle uncertainty. Ideally, new PMs should have a mentor to get through the first 6 months.
- #25: Ask about use cases and customer problemsVs. wanting PMs to settle internal technical/architecture disputesDon’t demand PMs as technical as you areYou have architects and senior devs to be the most technicalNot every user story gets its own ROI Not every field, button, featurelet can be independently justified. Customer-relevant value may roll up dozens of small bits.Expect PMs to translate features into customer-relevant benefitsThey have to turn your how-it-works into a sales team’s why-you-careAsk about forecasts, shipments and revenueShows you care about the business as well as the tech, and you’ll learn somethingQUIETLY sit in on some customer meetingsIf you talk out of turn, you won’t get invited back.Channel your inner Product ManagerOnce in a while, pretend you’re the PM and consider how you’d think through whole product issues. WWPMD?