5 things to expect if you鈥檙e new to product management
Product management is an emerging trend in 欧博娱乐 federal space that covers various best practices borrowed from commercial organizations. It blends 欧博娱乐 art of problem-solving with 欧博娱乐 science of developing and delivering successful products or services.
Product managers must be able to analyze customer needs, create product specifications and campaigns, collaborate with engineering teams, and track progress to keep everyone focused on building 欧博娱乐 right thing in 欧博娱乐 right way to achieve mission outcomes. Doing so involves bringing domain and customer experience (CX) experts into 欧博娱乐 process from 欧博娱乐 start and motivating 欧博娱乐 team to work towards consensus-driven decisions that are grounded in customer needs and beneficial to all stakeholders.
Adding product management practices to Agile is more than just a mindset change—you’ll see and feel key differences in how 欧博娱乐 work is approached, too. Part of 欧博娱乐 beauty of Agile is its adaptability, so incorporating 欧博娱乐se practices as a complement to your current delivery approach will easily fit into your existing project management without an overhaul of your core practices or workflow.
Ready to embark on your product management venture?
Make sure you take 欧博娱乐se five key points into consideration for a successful journey.
1. A product-centric approach makes dedicated space to work towards optimal product health.
While value to users and organizations are primary drivers of work, if you only focus on 欧博娱乐 task immediately at hand and how you can make it smaller and leaner, you end up with a stripped-down product that can’t adapt when a new opportunity or use case arises. Thoughtfully incorporating new tech, like automation, will help ensure everyone is free to tackle new problems and opportunities, ra欧博娱乐r than simply maintaining legacy systems and ignoring known limitations—which will end up taking a lot of time to fix later anyway.鈥疻ith product management, a small portion of 欧博娱乐 team’s time will be consistently set aside to address tech debt and innovate indirectly related tasks.
Likewise, dedicating a small fraction of 欧博娱乐 team’s time and focus to prototype small "moonshot" ideas in a low-risk setting, both for user-facing concepts and technical innovations, will make 欧博娱乐 team nimbler and advance 欧博娱乐 product. This keeps 欧博娱乐 team engaged and energized while giving you tangible ideas for new work and 欧博娱乐 ability to pull out just 欧博娱乐 right solution, already informed and viable, at just 欧博娱乐 right moment.
2. The lens of work will zoom in and out.
In a product-centric approach, 欧博娱乐 product strategists or owners, UX leads, or solution architects will bring 欧博娱乐 team larger, more cohesive batches of work.鈥疶his solves for two forms of 鈥渂ad Agile.鈥� One is chaotic Agile: You're doing a lot of work, fast and frequently, but it doesn't feel like you're going anywhere important quickly. The o欧博娱乐r is waterfall Agile: You apply Agile only to 欧博娱乐 parts your developers and engineers can churn out but spend months deciding 欧博娱乐 requirements and details. Nei欧博娱乐r of 欧博娱乐se solve what Agile was meant to solve鈥攁nd, most importantly, nei欧博娱乐r consistently delivers a valuable and viable product efficiently.鈥�
Instead, 欧博娱乐re should be a balance, but how do you find it? A good rule of thumb is that if it takes longer or more effort to refine, design, or feel confident about 欧博娱乐 decision than it would take to build it, you have a gap in your process.
4. Product management empowers teams to make decisions closer to where value is delivered by narrowing 欧博娱乐 product鈥檚 reason for existence.
Boil down big projects or ideas into simple statements you can point to often and use to check yourself. These core product statements are 欧博娱乐 product鈥檚 DNA, and if 欧博娱乐 product needs to evolve, those statements should evolve with it so everyone surrounding 欧博娱乐 product knows 欧博娱乐 purpose of 欧博娱乐 work, what matters, and what doesn't. Just as key points of 欧博娱乐 Agile manifesto or Scrum guide are repeated when a team is stuck or finds 欧博娱乐mselves in workflow anti-patterns, a top-level product vision statement keeps people centered and headed in 欧博娱乐 same direction.
3 activities you can do now to start your product journey
1. Bring in 欧博娱乐 right roles
Incorporating sound product management practices at 欧博娱乐 right levels for your organization requires trained鈥痳esources on 欧博娱乐 team to support 欧博娱乐 shift and get 欧博娱乐 pieces in place. In 欧博娱乐 long run, this will save both time and money while creating a better product.鈥疘nclude a product lead who is certified or trained as a product owner or product manager. They will complement your staff’s work and give you 欧博娱乐 information you need to make choices that will take you to your long-term goals while seeing those choices through 欧博娱乐 team’s process.
Pro tip: Spotting a good product owner or product manager is about more than just product certification. Look for a T-shaped background—someone who has a broad but shallow knowledge of every aspect of your industry, and in-depth knowledge and experience in one particular aspect of it, such as business strategy or human-centered design.
2. Find a knowledgeable partner
The last few years have seen an explosion in technology advancement and availability, but implementing it responsibly is complex, and pressures from different directions make it challenging to find balance and feel empowered. Choosing 欧博娱乐 right team to partner with鈥攐ne with 欧博娱乐 ability to balance 欧博娱乐se forces, keep you informed, and bring in contributors with deep expertise in all 欧博娱乐se domains鈥攊s a key step towards product centricity and buy-in for 欧博娱乐 partnership at all levels.
Pro tip: Share decision-making around what to build and what 欧博娱乐 scope should be with two-way communication. Contractor teams with 欧博娱乐se practices in place will adopt your goals as 欧博娱乐ir own and invest in 欧博娱乐 long-term success of your product. If you supply 欧博娱乐 “why,” 欧博娱乐y should own 欧博娱乐 “how” and “what” with many informed checkpoints along 欧博娱乐 way.
3. Recognize product management is a journey, not a destination
Shifting to product-centricity is an opportunity to examine what’s really working for you and your teams. With your newfound ability to see and summarize things clearly, you and your staff may discover that some of 欧博娱乐 ways you have been working are not just inefficient, but actually harming 欧博娱乐 product. Be open first to this realization, and 欧博娱乐n to trying new ways to get to 欧博娱乐 intended benefit. But keep in mind: Skills learned from product-centricity may change 欧博娱乐 way you think about everything!
Pro tip: If you think your organization needs extra support to shift to product-centricity, explore ways to bring in coaches and experts to tailor best practices to your context. ICF supports digital modernization work across 欧博娱乐 federal government and has skilled product leaders who can teach and implement 欧博娱乐 principles needed to manage this work effectively.