Steve Johnson on product management

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Product management evangelist and guitar player.

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product management

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ProDuct manager != proJect manager

As the Wikipedia definition states, the product owner cannot be the ScrumMaster. For non-agile folks, that also means that the proDUCT manager cannot also be the proJECT manager. It’s the fox in the henhouse. It says the person who owns the scope of the project cannot also determine the schedule. And besides, it’s a different skill set. Project managers typically work with a product for one iteration or release; product managers work with a product throughout its life cycle.

ProJECT managers focus on scheduling the deliverables for a single release.
ProDUCT managers focus on the business over the product's (multiple) releases.

Need help selling the idea in your organization. Download one of our free ebooks. The Strategic Role of Product Management focuses on the strategic role. Living in an Agile World reexamines the role of product management in an agile environment.

Filed under  //  product management  
Posted by Steve Johnson 
 

Customer Centric Market Model | Tyner Blain

A market can be thought of as the collection of contexts in which you might sell your product. You can split your market into a set of market segments. Each of those segments represents a group of customers, each of whom shares a set of problems for which they would pay for solutions.
via tynerblain.com

Scott Sehlhorst at Tyner Blain offers a nice article on markets and segments of customers. The key (of course): customers who have a problem that willing to pay to solve.

Filed under  //  product management  
Posted by Steve Johnson 
 

A Product Management Elevator Pitch - Travis Jensen on Product Management and Development

I am a product manager, but what that really means is that I produce software. Just like a producer in the entertainment business, my job is to understand what the consumer is going to buy, make sure that it gets built, and ensure it is done for a profit.
via softwaremaven.innerbrane.com

The producer vs director analogy is powerful. In the entertainment business, a producer owns the business while the director owns the art. The strategic product manager is a business leader while the team lead in development focuses on the art of the product--the innovation. Whether you call it a product manager, a product marketing manager, a product owner, or any number of other titles, the one who knows the market and defines the business is the product producer. It's a strategic role.

What's your role in creating great products? Are you the producer or the director... or the janitor?

Filed under  //  product management  
Posted by Steve Johnson 
 

5 steps to building a great Product Management organization | On Product Management

Given the critical cross-functional role Product Management plays, having a well structured, scalable and properly staffed team can make a huge impact on the top-line of a company’s balance sheet.

via onproductmanagement.net

Yes, product management is a critical role. Saaed has some good points for those of you who manage product management. 

For more on product management as a strategic function, download The Strategic Role of Product Management.

Filed under  //  product management  
Posted by Steve Johnson 
 

Rich Mironov on team assessment

PM leaders, such as VPs or Director of Product Management, worry about the health of their teams and processes, not just the health of their products.  (See my recent post on metrics.)  There’s a shortage of tools to help us evaluate how well we’re doing as PM organizations.
via mironov.com

Need help evaluating your product management team? Rich Mironov has created this simple but effective assessment tool with a nice RADAR display to show the results. Try it out!

Filed under  //  product management  
Posted by Steve Johnson 
 

Rich Mironov Product Bytes articles judgment

All of this is to remind us that we lead through credibility, marshalling of market insights, maintaining the long view, and appreciating functional experts for what they can do.  And a strong daily dose of humility.
via mironov.com

Rich offers some tips on convincing others and using your judgment. I always look forward to a new issue of Product Bytes. If you aren't reading it, you should! Sign up; it's free but very valuable.

Filed under  //  product management  
Posted by Steve Johnson 
 

Outsourcing Product Management

Len Lipkin of techprodo.com comments on the idea of outsourcing product management:
 What great new ideas can an outsider bring in that you shouldn’t be able to do internally.  There are only two circumstances that I can think of where I can see outsourcing PM as a good long-term idea.

I agree with Lipkin on this: outsourcing product management is outsourcing a distinctive competence. Surely no one outside your organization can understand your business and market domain better than one inside. But of course, some companies feel that product management is more janitorial work than leadership work. And sure, janitorial work can be outsourced. But shouldn't product management be more?

I've written about the strategic role of product management. In your organization, is product management about markets and problems or is it only prioritizing the feature list? If the latter, then sure, you can outsource it. But if product management is about understanding markets and problems, and arming the company with these market facts--in requirements, positioning, and sales tools--then you must keep product management inside.

The 2010 product management survey shows that product managers and product marketing managers are becoming more strategic and working more closely with senior management. Are yours?

Filed under  //  product management  
Posted by Steve Johnson 
 

Jeff Bezos on Amazon's success

I always tell people, if we have a good quarter it's because of the work we did three, four, and five years ago. It's not because we did a good job this quarter.
via slate.com

Amazon knows that good product management is focused on the future, not the next 30 days. And is focused on the customer. As Bezos puts it, "We start with the customer and we work backward." (Sounds like the right formula.)

The article has some insights into the way Amazon has grown and about the creation and success of the Kindle ebook. (Hey, did you hear that I have a Kindle?)

Filed under  //  product management  
Posted by Steve Johnson 
 

Word of the day: cosmeticize

Main Entry: cos·met·i·cize
Pronunciation: \käz-ˈme-tə-ˌsīz\
Function: transitive verb
Inflected Form(s): cos·met·i·cized; cos·met·i·ciz·ing
Date: 1824

: to make (something unpleasant or ugly) superficially attractive

via merriam-webster.com

to use the power of marketing to "create the need" for a product people ought to want, (see also "perfume the pig.") More at www.pragmaticmarketing.com/srpm

Filed under  //  product management  
Posted by Steve Johnson 
 

AppleInsider | Microsoft loses patent appeal, must halt sale of Office by Jan. 11

Microsoft now has until Jan. 11, 2010 to stop selling all version of Word and Office that infringe on the patents owned by i4i. In a statement, Microsoft said it is "moving quickly to comply with the injunction.
via appleinsider.com

What would your company do if it had to stop selling a flagship product in a month?

Filed under  //  product management  
Posted by Steve Johnson