3 tools for world class product management

| 1 of X |© Product Focus 1
Cambridge Product Management Network
3 tools to make your product
management world class
Ian Lunn
Thanks to our sponsors

© Product Focus www.productfocus.com 2
Product Focus – who are we?
Europe’s leading product management & product marketing
training business with a focus on Telecoms, IT and software
Ian Lunn
Founding Director

Product Management Journals
Sign up for free at www.productfocus.com/journal.php

Our experience …
 Product Management reviews and assessments
run by product Focus
 Around a dozen over the last 3 years
 Reviews with the Head of Product Management
prior to training
 In-depth assessments of the whole product
function

Key learnings …
5

The product management role is not
clearly understood
 Roles and responsibilities are not clearly defined
 Interfaces with other departments are fuzzy
 No-one really knows what to expect from product
managers
 Senior management often don’t have a lot of
experience
 The way it’s done is different from business to
business (and even within the same business)

Three tools we use …
7
Product Management
Maturity Model
Product Management
Activity Framework
Product Management
Audit Framework

Product Management
Maturity Model
8

The value of maturity models
 Maturity models help us know what ‘good’ looks
like
 Provide guidance
 Areas of product management to consider
 Typical behaviours to look out for and how these
change as companies mature
 Provide a start point
 One model doesn’t fit all businesses
 Performance will vary over time and across the
company

Product Management
Maturity Model

Vision, strategy and leadership
Level 1 : ad-hoc
PM lacks leadership
Senior management
have little PM
experience
Weak vision from
above and regularly
changing priorities
Tactical focus and a
lack of product
strategy
Level 2 : managed
Head of PM in place
Insights from PM are
regularly sought by
senior management
PM team
understands
company vision
Product strategies
based on market
insights
Level 3 : Leading
PM on the Board
PM leading within
the business
Full alignment of
vision & strategy
down the business
PM seen as the
'voice of the market'

Structure, organisation & governance
Level 1 : ad-hoc
Lack of structure -
confusion on who
does what
Not all products are
managed
Work overloads and
unmet commitments
Little governance
Level 2 : managed
Roles and
responsibilities clear
PM in place for all
products.
Things get done
Governance
approach is 'one
size fits all‘
Level 3 : Leading
Well established
roles &
responsibilities
agreed with all
interfacing
departments
PM driving product
performance
improvement
Decision making
process is clear &
appropriate to size
and risk

People
Level 1 : ad-hoc
Reactive and
tactical. Lots of fire-
fighting by "heroes"
PMs not valued by
rest of the business.
Lacking influence
and authority to say
'no'
No PM training
Level 2 : managed
Strategic focus as
well as tactical work
PMs accepted
across the business
Some PMs trained in
some areas e.g.
marketing, Scrum
Product Owner
Level 3 : Leading
High-performing,
benchmarked and
well-balanced team -
measured &
rewarded on KPIs
PMs well respected -
everyone wants to
work here!
All PMs trained on
Product
Management.
Ongoing learning
and development

Systems, templates, tools and checklists
Level 1 : ad-hoc
Few tools, templates
& systems to support
activities
Market insight and
product knowledge
held in individuals'
heads
Level 2 : managed
Templates, tools &
checklists in place
for all key activities
Systems to store
information on
market insights,
projects and
products
Level 3 : Leading
Tools evaluated
against best practice
and revised to keep
optimal
Market insights,
project and product
information
systematically
collated and actively
disseminated

Processes
Level 1 : ad-hoc
Few standard
processes - often
sacrificed under
pressure
Few (or no) reports
Level 2 : managed
Processes defined
and used for key PM
activities
Product reporting in
place
Level 3 : Leading
Processes well
established,
monitored and
continually improved
Reporting
systematically used
to track performance
and inform decision
making

Product Management
Maturity Model

Product Management
Audit Framework
17

Product Management Audit Framework
 Is based on the
 Product life-cycle
 Product management enablers
 A structured framework to help businesses
 Recognise the things they should be doing
 Decide what could be done better
 Communicate findings
 Target their efforts

Product Management Audit Framework

Product Management
Activity Framework
20

Product Management Activity Framework

The 3 fundamentals for world
class product management
24

World class product management
1. Providing a balanced view for the business
2. Leading rather than responding
3. Driving product performance
Operational
Commercial
Technical
TacticalStrategic

Wrap-up
 I’ve shown 3 tools you can use to understand, explain
and improve product management in your business
 They will help you to …
 Identify issues
 Clarify roles
 Decide what you can do better
 Make your product management team world class
 If you’d like some support or an independent view we can
help

What we offer…
Product Management and Product Marketing for
Telecoms, IT and Software
 3 day course – runs regularly in London
 A thorough grounding in all aspects of the roles
 Tools, templates and checklists and best practice
 Certification
Reviews and Assessments
 Looking at the whole product function
 Helping to make sure that things are
set up for success

Q&A
ian.lunn@productfocus.com
www.productfocus.com
+44 (0) 207 099 567

3 tools for world class product management

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