An early PM with only 22 people at a small B2B SaaS firm. For more than a year, we’ve been running profitably and developing gradually and sustainably.
We have a reputation for being a talented group of developers and designers who work hard and efficiently.
We’re beginning to have more projects and lines of work, so I need to start keeping track of our progress! We’ve never really kept track of how many hours various tasks have taken.
How do I facilitate the changeover of my team of five developers and three designers from our haphazard/just get things done manner of working to a more organized process? I don’t want to kill our ability to be nimble by living and dying by some metric.
Any suggestions?
– Jane Winfred
Discussion
A] Against what do you measure product development progress?
In my experience, the amount of work completed and the amount still to be done is determined by comparing progress to a set of work. While agile techniques recognize that you may have a notion of a short-term step or a few steps, work emerges and requirements change, doing that necessitates knowing how much work is left to be done. Instead of tracking progress, you show it frequently by demonstrating or even shipping your product to customers, obtaining their input, and then using that information to choose what to accomplish next.
Without understanding the details of your issue, I would advise that the cycle time and throughput of work items are the ideal process metrics to use. These are the most generally applicable, though you might want to group work items into other kinds or use a few different cycle times depending on specific process phases. Open (known) problems and escaping defects are among the greatest product metrics. It can be easier to determine whether you’re incorporating quality into your product if you are aware of how many known faults you have and how many defects were found outside of your development process.
– Gary Houston
B] As a new PM at a small B2B SaaS startup, it’s important to start tracking progress to ensure that your team can continue to grow sustainably. Here are some steps you can take to begin tracking progress:
Define project goals and KPIs: Start by defining clear project goals and key performance indicators (KPIs) that you can use to measure progress. For example, if you’re working on a new feature, you might set a goal to release it within a certain timeframe and measure progress by the number of bugs found during testing.
Use project management tools: There are many project management tools available that can help you track progress, assign tasks, and collaborate with your team. Some popular options include Asana, Trello, and Jira. Choose a tool that fits the needs of your team and start using it consistently.
Estimate project timelines: Work with your team to estimate how long different tasks will take to complete. This can help you create realistic timelines and identify potential bottlenecks or issues early on.
Track time spent on tasks: Start tracking the time your team spends on different tasks using a time-tracking tool. This can help you identify which tasks are taking longer than expected and make adjustments as needed.
Review progress regularly: Schedule regular check-ins with your team to review progress, identify any roadblocks, and adjust timelines as needed. This can help you stay on track and ensure that everyone is aligned on the project goals.
Remember that tracking progress is not just about hitting deadlines, but also about ensuring that your team is working efficiently and sustainably. By using these steps, you can start to establish a culture of continuous improvement and help your team achieve its goals over the long term.
– Bobby Duncan
C] Transitioning from a scrappy, just-get-shit-done mode of working to a more structured process can be challenging, but it’s important for ensuring sustainable growth and scalability. Here are some tips to help you make the transition without sacrificing agility:
Involve the team: Before implementing any new processes or tools, involve your team in the decision-making process. Ask for their input and feedback on what’s working well and what needs to be improved. This will help ensure that everyone is on board with the changes and invested in making them successful.
Start small: Don’t try to overhaul everything at once. Start with one or two small changes and gradually build from there. For example, you might start by implementing a project management tool to help track tasks and progress, or introducing a regular team meeting to discuss project status and roadblocks.
Set clear expectations: Communicate clearly with your team about what you expect from them in terms of processes and workflows. Be transparent about the reasoning behind any changes and explain how they will benefit the team and the company as a whole.
Focus on outcomes, not metrics: While metrics can be useful for tracking progress, they can also be a distraction if they become the sole focus. Instead, focus on the outcomes you want to achieve and use metrics as a tool to help you measure progress towards those outcomes.
Encourage experimentation: Just because you’re implementing more structure doesn’t mean you can’t still be nimble and innovative. Encourage your team to experiment with new ideas and approaches, and be open to trying new things yourself.
Remember that transitioning to a more structured process is a journey, not a destination. Be patient, stay flexible, and be willing to adapt as you go. With time and effort, you can help your team achieve sustainable growth while maintaining the agility and creativity that makes them great.
As an early Product Manager, I’ve taken over a product with more than 200 items in the product backlog, most of which will never be completed, but I still need to regularly begin the backlog grooming exercise with the sales, BD, and implementation teams. This means that I will be attempting to guide dialogue with more than 20 call resources. I worry that both the implementation team and the sales team may become pushy with their recommendations.
I’m seeking for methods that will help me accomplish this. I must first define the topic’s scope. Should I limit the scope by selecting the top 30 items that have a chance of ever being completed and asking the team to only prioritize those top 30 items during the call?
Second, how can I choose between other callers’ divergent viewpoints?
Is there a certain tool or action I should use to reach a groomed list in a scientific way?
Do you have any specific guidelines in place for backlog grooming exercises? What are the best strategies to accomplish this?
So, request to all the senior PMs in here, your expert viewpoints, insights and guidance shall be highly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
– Mario Romero
Discussion
A] What is your goal, or the objective you are attempting to impact? Increased adoption of a new module, or perhaps increased interaction with a particular feature. Your grooming and prioritization will be much easier and more objective once that is evident and your team is on the same page.
Also, you’ll be able to use the collective wisdom of the group to determine which epics or projects on the backlog will probably have the greatest influence on your goal. I usually do so by assigning each epic or initiative a score between 1 and 5, or I do that in groups. That will eventually bring the most effective projects to light.
If your coworkers share your vision and are committed to the same end result, they will be far more likely to challenge one another rather than you and you will be able to better utilize their expertise.
In order to have a meaningful conversation, you must first establish the goal and then make sure your team understands why it is important (for example, by connecting it to your company’s goals, such as growth within a particular segment). Hence, you will experience a much more comfortable ride:)
– Hannah Borges
B] Agree to what others have written to a certain extent. But I have my own opinion. Here’s my two cents.
Ignore the backlog. Don’t start with solutions. Start with problems. You are not a feature factory. Spend some time to understand your customers and the problems they face. Dive into data, talk to them directly.
For your stakeholders, divide and conquer in detail. Never hold a call with every stakeholder you have. You will empower those with louder voices to overtake those not willing to speak up. Setup time with each of your stakeholders independently to understand them and their needs. Do not promise them anything other than that you’re there to learn and listen.
Once you do that you’ll understand your users and stakeholders.
Then begin to list out the problems you’ve found and the user pain points those addresses. Opportunity size these based on your organizations vision and mission. I personally have my teams use ICE (RICE minus the R). So impact to the business (essentially reach plus impact, confidence in delivery, effort to deliver).
This gives you a systemic way to compare many initiatives.
Each of my teams probably have around 500 items in their backlogs. We will ignore the vast majority of those because we understand our users and bubble up the items we believe are the most impactful to them and the business.
Best of luck! You’ve got this.
– Dhiraj Mehta
C] Handling a large group of stakeholders during a backlog grooming exercise can be a challenging task. Here are some strategies that may help you to effectively facilitate the discussion and prioritize the backlog items:
Set clear expectations: Before the call, communicate to the stakeholders the purpose of the meeting, the scope of the discussion, and the expected outcome. You can also communicate the rules of engagement and the time limit for each discussion point. This will help to set expectations and keep everyone focused.
Prioritize the backlog items: As you mentioned, it may be helpful to focus on the top 30 items that have a higher chance of getting done. You can prepare a list of these items and share it with the stakeholders before the call. During the call, you can ask the stakeholders to prioritize these items based on the business value, effort, and feasibility.
Encourage collaboration: During the call, encourage the stakeholders to collaborate and share their opinions. You can ask them to share their perspectives on the items and listen to each other’s feedback. This can help to create a shared understanding of the items and identify any issues or risks.
Use a decision-making framework: In case of conflicting opinions, you can use a decision-making framework to help the stakeholders make a decision. For example, you can use a framework such as “Decide, Consult, Inform (DCI)” to determine who should make the final decision, who should be consulted, and who should be informed about the decision.
Document the outcomes: It’s important to document the outcomes of the call, including the prioritized items, the decisions made, and the action items. This will help to ensure that everyone is aligned and aware of the next steps.
All in all, the key is to facilitate an open and collaborative discussion while keeping the scope of the discussion manageable. By setting clear expectations, prioritizing the items, encouraging collaboration, using a decision-making framework, and documenting the outcomes, you can effectively facilitate the backlog grooming exercise with a large group of stakeholders.
I see that many PM positions are focused with product development.
Are there any PMs who primarily concentrate on product strategy?
– Anthony Smith
Discussion
A] As a PM, I conduct both of these. Depending on the size of your company. My companies have had fewer than 50 employees and either large or compact product teams. I have been in charge of both strategy and development. When I have a strong engineering counterpart, I am able to concentrate more on strategy.
– Karan Trivedi
B] A product marketing manager frequently enters the picture if by strategy you mean things like determining the target market, GTM and marketing tactics, pricing, etc.
There are positions out there that are in charge of deciding what product (or products) to develop and what features and functionalities they will have when they gain traction in the market.
Yet, depending on where you go, you’ll get a combination of the two aforementioned functions. Also, executive leadership will assign priorities and make strategic decisions for you to “supplement” whatever ideas you may have
– Marie Hamilton
C] Yes, there are product management roles that focus more on product strategy than product development. In fact, product strategy is an essential part of the product management function.
Some organizations may have separate roles for product strategy and product development, with the former focused on defining the overall direction and goals for the product, while the latter is focused on executing and delivering the product. In this case, the product strategy role may be responsible for conducting market research, analyzing customer needs, defining the product vision and roadmap, and setting business goals and objectives.
Other organizations may have a single product manager responsible for both product strategy and development. In this case, the product manager would need to balance strategic thinking with tactical execution to ensure the product is developed and delivered in line with the overall vision and goals.
Ultimately, the specific responsibilities of a product manager can vary depending on the organization and the product being managed. However, in all cases, a product manager must have a deep understanding of the market, the customer, and the competition, and must be able to develop and communicate a clear product strategy to drive success.
As Product managers, we are constantly gathering information from various sources to make decisions. So far, Google has been the way to go, but here comes the ChatGPT, its conversational interface makes it significantly efficient, and the answers it has produced to so many random and abstract questions are mind-boggling.
Product managers are expected to take the driving seat throughout the lifecycle of the products they manage. They are expected to make all the important decisions and navigate the direction of the product. But, along with leading the effort of identifying the problem that needs to be solved, unknowingly they tend to take charge of the actual solution-defining process i.e. sketch out the exact solution themselves, identify the approach, design the user experience, and in some cases decide the technology to be used. Ultimately they end up dictating every minute detail of the features that need to be built into the product to solve the problem.
As the Head of Product at Writesonic, a YC-backed multi-million dollar ARR AI startup, I rely on a range of tools to help me stay organized and manage products effectively. These tools allow me to communicate effectively, stay on top of tasks and deadlines, gather customer insights and feedback, track user engagement and revenue, manage customer support and feedback, and analyze traffic and competitors.
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