Category Archives: Business Analysis

Don Vendetti on the State of Product Management and ProdBOK

Bringing Needed Definition to the Product Management Profession

Part of the ProdBOK© Series

Don, thanks for joining me today.

I know that you’re very active doing product management consulting in the Seattle area. What are your observations about the evolution of product management?

(Don Vendetti) Greg, thanks for the opportunity. I started my career on the engineering side (eons ago), and was fortunate to get into a company with a strong development process that included product managers who managed the entire product lifecycle, and with a high level of collaboration. What was odd to experience – as I moved on – was how narrowly defined the product management role was in other companies. It was frequently reduced to a support role for either Development or Sales, or both. Over time as I evolved to leading the product management function, I was getting hired into organizations to “fix” the department, as the function wasn’t doing what the organization needed or expected. This is also often the case for why I’m hired as a consultant.

The success of product management in any organization is highly dependent on three key foundations. First, the executive team needs to view the function as strategic and realize the importance of linking the company strategy to the product strategy. Without this driver, the product managers will inherently be relegated to a tactical function. Next, clear roles and responsibilities need to be defined for the how the team works with the rest of the organization. Other complementary functions also need to also be appropriately defined and staffed, such as project managers, technical sales support, and technical architecture or planning resources. Without them, the product manager will be forced to pick up the roles and get spread thin or there will be a large gap that’s addressed in an ad-hoc manner. Finally, the product managers themselves need to have a broad skill base, both strategic and tactical, to span all of the needed tasks.

Unfortunately, while there are bright spots here and there where all these elements are in place and product managers are really making a difference, the overall industry situation has lots of room for improvement.

As you look back on the last five years what do you think the most significant changes to the product management profession have been?

(Don Vendetti) One thing that is clear is the need for product management is as strong as it’s ever been, and is continually misunderstood as to the value it can provide. As far as changes go, the two biggest that I’ve seen are both in the software branch of the product management tree.

Agile is the first and has been a double-edged sword. On one hand, the role of product owner that many product managers perform has enabled them to engage more with the Development team on a regular basis. What I hear from Development managers is they finally feel like the product managers are adding value to their organization more than in the past. However, on the flip side, this has often resulted in less ability for the product managers to focus on the longer term product strategy and also ensure proper delivery of the product to the rest of the organization. I’ve seen this work the best when a product manager is partnered with a dedicated product owner who’s more of a requirements specialist, like a business analyst. This allows the day-to-day interaction with the Development team while also ensuring the more strategic and broader cross-functional activities are being effectively covered.

The second change is in the user experience (UX) and design side, and I’ve seen the responsibility increasingly moving from the Development team to the Product Management team. While this is a positive change in my view, since the user interface (UI) is such a major part of a software product, it has created the unfortunate situation that many product managers are doing UI design with no formal training and without the help of qualified UX professionals. There is clearly a shortage of UX professionals to go around, so product managers that find themselves in this position would benefit greatly with some formal training in UX, and it would absolutely raise their value to any software organization.

Do you think the new ProdBOK will help to address any of the challenges we have discussed so far? If so, how?

(Don Vendetti) I do believe the ProdBOK can help create awareness about the importance and the potential of the role, and how it can deliver higher value to a company than just short term tactical deliverables. If you’ve never been in an organization with a fully functioning product management group well aligned with the other functions, then you probably don’t even know what the possibilities could be.

In writing sections of the ProdBOK, I tried to clearly identify where and how the product manager creates the most value, while acknowledging that they often also have to wear many tactical hats. I’ve also tried to point out the areas where others need to take the lead in the process so that the product manager can stay focused on the market need/problem and delivery of the whole product across the organization.

At this point of the profession’s continuing evolution, getting a consistent view of the role is probably the number one opportunity for the ProdBOK to achieve, even if the role is customized in various ways to meet the unique needs of each company. And, of course, executives and other functional leaders need to be exposed to it to understand the opportunity available to them.

Don, why did you choose to participate in the development of ProdBOK?

(Don Vendetti) As part of my consulting practice, I’ve also done a fair amount of product management teaching in a university extension program, and through formal training courses within my consulting practice. This has given me the opportunity to look at the entire product management lifecycle process, and especially the upfront product strategy piece, while experimenting with different ways of implementing it. I also enjoy writing and have written several articles which are available on my website. The opportunity to help on the project seemed like something that leveraged my background and could have a bigger impact than I could make directly through consulting.

I also thought I could get it done in a few months. Hah! Here we are a year later finally getting this industry-wide collaborative effort to publication. The whole project was very much like creating a new product, including the twists and turns you have to make along the way as you encounter trade-offs.

Any final thoughts?

(Don Vendetti) Just a couple of last comments. First, I’m certain this is just the beginning of a journey for product management to establish a strong footing and I expect the ProdBOK to evolve significantly over time. This is a first attempt and there is plenty of room to expand it and fill in the blanks going forward as product management is a dynamic profession. Of course it helps to have someone like you driving the vision and deliverables, and I enjoyed working with you Greg.

Second, in some ways, contributing to this publication has helped me realize that I do miss being actively engaged in the development of products, as consulting usually only gets me limited playing time in a part of the game. So, moving forward, I’ll be heading back into the product world to be an active participant running a marketing and product management function and attempting to apply the concepts described in the ProdBOK.

Onward!

Editors Note: Thanks Don. On behalf of the ProdBOK editorial team I want to express our appreciation for your significant contributions to the effort. I also want to offer my personal thanks as you’re great to work with as well! I look forward to future collaborations and best of luck with your new position!

Greg Geracie is the author of Take Charge Product Management©, the Editor-in-Chief of The Guide to the Product Management and Marketing Body of Knowledge (ProdBOK), and the leader of this initiative. ProdBOK is an industry-wide effort to standardize the practice of product management sponsored by the Association of International Product Management and Marketing (AIPMM).

ProdBOK is a registered trademark of AIPMM.

Frank Saladis on Leadership, Value and ProdBOK

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Frank Saladis on Leadership, Value and ProdBOK

Part of the ProdBOK© Series

Frank, thank you for joining me today.

Let’s begin by discussing the topic of project management leadership – a subject near and dear to your heart. How would you characterize the ideal leadership qualities of a project manager? And have you ever met anyone that had all of these characteristics?

(Frank Saladis) Ideal leader? Interesting question. I have learned that leadership is defined in many ways and there may not be a universal definition of the ideal leader. For me the best, most effective leaders have a few main qualities – integrity, willingness to listen to new ideas, admitting that they don’t have all the answers, and enabling people to succeed.

I have met many leaders in my career and have learned a lot from them. Many of them have the qualities I mentioned but most, as truly effective and savvy leaders know, leader mastery is difficult to attain and that self improvement is a continuous journey. Adapting to the changing business environment is essential and all leaders can find ways to improve.

Are project managers the only leaders on a product development project? Or do you see other functional partners also assuming collaborative leadership roles?

(Frank Saladis) It’s my understanding that anyone who’s creating value is a leader. A project manager may be the leader of the team but team members often assume leadership roles to achieve objectives and overcome obstacles. Product management requires the input and the innovation and creativity of the team. Functional partners usually provide technical expertise and apply their lessons learned and experience to bring a product to market. The project manager is a coordinator and an integrator and is basically a hybrid manager / leader. The manager side focuses on getting things done and the leader side focuses on developing the team. The leader side of the project manager also sees the leadership potential of team members and the abilities of the functional partners and looks for ways to collaborate in the leadership of the project.

It seems like each functional role has its own span of responsibility on a product development team, so what principle connects the various roles? Is VALUE one of the connection points?

(Frank Saladis) Value is the main element that connects the entire team. The issue here is to define what value is and what it means to each team member. Value goes beyond the financial meaning. Project managers were once taught that project success was based in the Triple Constraint – Time, Cost, and Scope. To achieve project success meant to complete on time within budget and according to specifications (scope).

Today, we refer to many more competing demands – quality, safety, aesthetics, timeliness, cost, availability, social acceptance, and reliability. It’s important to define value from the customer’s perspective and the producer’s perspective. A commonly understood definition of value will create the foundation for connecting the various roles.

Frank, how do you think the ProdBOK will help synchronize project and product managers?

(Frank Saladis) I think project managers and product managers are synchronized to some degree. The ProdBOK will enhance the understanding of roles from both perspectives. It was necessary to create the ProdBOK for a number of reasons. From a project manager’s viewpoint, it’ll help clarify the roles, integrate the terminology, and further unify the objectives of the project manager and product manager.

I believe many of the responsibilities of the product manager and product managers overlap. The differences or areas where there may be some disconnect is associated with methodology, sense of urgency, and the importance of milestones. Connecting the roles by providing explanations and guidelines in the ProdBOK about each specialty (project and product manager) should pave the way for improved communication and smoother delivery of products.

Why did you choose to participate in the development of the ProdBOK?

(Frank Saladis) When the opportunity was presented it seemed to be a great way to contribute to both professional disciplines. It also gave me a chance to explain the value of project management to a new audience. I thought it might be a significant challenge and to be very candid, I liked the idea of being a part of something that would connect me with the world outside the project management domain.

It helped improve my awareness of the product management process and the role of the product manager. It was a great learning experience, and I was both excited and honored to be selected to take part in the development of the ProdBOK.

You can learn more about Frank by clicking here.

ProdBOK is a registered trademark of AIPMM.

Scott Sehlhorst on Agile and ProdBOK®

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Scott Sehlhorst on ProdBOK and Agile

Part of the ProdBOK® Series

Scott, thanks for joining me today.

Let’s begin by talking about the growth of Agile and its impact on product managers. A recent study showed that the majority of organizations are implementing “blended” methodologies (e.g. blending Waterfall and Agile together). What has the impact of this trend been on product managers?

(Scott Sehlhorst) I’ve found there are really two main aspects of the impact.

The first is a “circle the wagons” moment. A blended organization is in the middle of transition – having some teams operating with Waterfall processes while others are trying to move or have completely moved to an Agile cadence of delivery. For teams that operate independently, this is largely a non-event. Each team uses their own process. But in large companies, teams don’t operate independently. Companies are looking for opportunities to solve problems for their customers that span product silos. Teams want opportunities to leverage and coordinate the work that other teams are doing. Product managers in these blended environments need to understand how they can – and can’t – rely on other teams, by understanding the different mechanics of delivery that come with different processes. The mindset that comes to mind first is “how do I protect my team from the weaknesses of that other team’s approach.”

The second aspect is one of figuring out how to contribute strategically to the improvement of the company, by leveraging the work being done by teams using the different processes. A product manager on an Agile team will try and figure out how to inform Waterfall teams and contribute to their development, based on the changes to which the Agile team is adapting. A waterfall team’s product manager will try and find ways to realize the benefits of executing against an established plan, while leveraging the contributions from the Agile teams.

For an individual product manager, this means understanding the nuances of both development processes, their strengths and their weaknesses. The best product managers will be able to contribute to the evolution of the organization – gaining both the benefits of Agile adaptation to changing requirements, and the leverage of contributions from multiple teams solving related problems and developing products in a coordinated fashion.

Is there a particular Agile method that you think has generated the most traction?

(Scott Sehlhorst) My experiences, confirmed by the research I’ve seen, indicate that Scrum has been the market leader in the last couple of years. In early 2013, I’m seeing signs of teams taking the “next” step and exploring Scrumban (a Kanban-infused approach to Scrum), and also some signs of flow – continuous development. Conceptually, as Scrum moved from large releases to smaller iterations as the units of delivery, flow is moving to discrete deliverables as the units of delivery. Development of individual capabilities or features is easier this way, while coordination of development is more difficult.

Flow provides the most benefit, but requires the most discipline from a software engineering point of view. It also has the greatest organizational complications, particularly around coordination and communication. We’ll see how it shakes out in the industry – some big thinkers are pushing on it, and at the end of the day, I expect to see teams that succeed wildly, and some that crash and burn trying to make it work.

What types of challenges do you think the growth of Agile and blended approaches has presented to product managers/owners?

(Scott Sehlhorst) In addition to the organizational complexities I mentioned above, working in an Agile way presents a change in how product managers manage their work. Instead of being primarily in a sequenced do this, then that mindset, product managers need to manage their activities with more parallelism; making incremental improvements across all aspects of their work. This provides the benefit of historically-sequential activities informing the historically-prior activities, making the overall work product better.

A product manager needs to be more cognizant of the interdependencies of their work products for this to gel. For example, getting insights into the feasibility and cost of delivering a capability will better inform the prioritization of that work; as will getting feedback from customers about the value they place on having that capability. It almost seems backwards – finding out how well received, and how difficult to build something is, before deciding when to build it. All product managers do this to some extent, by forming hypotheses in advance, and validating them later. An Agile product manager will be refining those hypotheses with data along the way.

Scott, why did you choose to contribute to the ProdBOK effort?

(Scott Sehlhorst) As a consumer, I want better products and services. Better product managers create products and services that serve the needs of their customers. I believe it’s a critically important role. One of the challenges we face is that product management is not well understood by companies. If we’re able to develop a body of knowledge that helps bring some standardization to the field, I expect that it’ll both help individuals get better at product management, and help companies better apply the practice of product management – thus improving their products and services, and ultimately, my experiences as a customer.

Any final thoughts?

(Scott Sehlhorst) There are several trends that are driving opportunity for products to differentiate and succeed in the market.

Companies are finally starting to get traction with developing insights through statistical analysis of the reams of data that are becoming available, and that trend is showing no end in sight with Moore’s law firmly exhibiting itself in the costs of computation, storage, and transmission of information. The challenge is in understanding how insights gained in one domain or problem space can be applied to others.

As we move from an economy of scarcity to one of surplus, the user’s experience becomes a more relevant factor in selecting products. It’s no longer enough to just solve “the” problem – you have to have a product that solves the problems well, and takes into account the emotional impact for the users. While this may sound fluffy, there are countless examples of products which appear identical on a checklist or a Harvey Ball chart but perform very differently in the market. This overlap of the worlds of user experience and product management will be particularly interesting.

Another big trend, although it may only be particularly relevant in the technology space, is the changes in where and when people do computing – and the resultant changes in the definition of what “computing” is. Mobile devices, form factors, operating systems, and contexts of use are overtaking the (recently) traditional desktop computing paradigm.

People no longer want applications that run on a computer, they want solutions that apply wherever it makes sense. In a way, this is an area where the intersection of Moore’s law impacting what’s possible with the increasing importance of differentiating through providing a better experience, is perhaps the most visceral. What appears to be fickle consumer behavior may just be rapidly evolving market needs intersecting slowly evolving product offerings.

We do live in interesting times!

ProdBOK is a registered trademark of AIPMM.

Richard Larson of Watermark Learning on ProdBOK, Business Analysis and Product Ownership

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ProdBOK, Business Analysis and the Product Owner Role

Part of the ProdBok® Series

Today I’m joined by Richard Larson the President of Watermark Learning. Rich is a well regarded thought leader in the business analyst community.

Rich you’re very actively involved in the Business Analyst (BA) community, as you look across the BA profession where do you see it headed?

(Richard Larson) The BA profession is still evolving. The trend our company is seeing is one of the BA playing a dual role. The first is the traditional one that involves eliciting and documenting requirements. That is still a needed and valuable role on projects, no matter what the methodology. The other role is that of a management consultant, advising and making recommendations to business leaders and decision-makers. Examples of this include creating a business case, guidance in prioritizing requirements on a product backlog, and assessing a system’s value and recommending replacement.

Do you encounter a lot of confusion between the business analyst role and the product manager role? If so, where is this most likely to occur?

(Richard Larson) The second role, which we just touched on, is one that might be a possible overlap. If the BA is acting as a consultant, that role can include devising new products. However, the product manager as we see it, represents the business and the BA complements that role with a systems or IT perspective. A business case for a new product should be “owned” by the business, but much of the analytical work can be accomplished by a BA.

How do you think the ProdBOK will help address these challenges?

(Richard Larson) My opinion here is that ProdBOK will help establish clearer boundaries between the BA and product owner. In the case of requirements definition, the BA may be responsible for eliciting, specifying, and documenting them. But, depending on the organizational structure, the product manager may be the person accountable for those requirements. Also, an aligning of terms and language between the ProdBOK, BABOK, and PMBOK would help the industry. IIBA and PMI worked to align the BOKs, and there is still work to be done there. Perhaps the ProdBOK could be aligned with the other two.

Do you think product development leads should encourage a tighter working relationship between business analysts and product managers?

(Richard Larson) Yes, and I’d add to that a closer relationship with the project manager as well. All three roles fulfill a different purpose and all three are critical for success.

Any final thoughts?

(Richard Larson) To repeat a thought, the product manager and BA roles complement each other. The business area that is responsible for a product “owns” it, including the business case, the product deliverables, and the business benefits accrued by a project. The BA plays an advisor role, analyzing business needs and recommending solutions. The basic relationship of business owner and BA advisor extends to any methodology or framework.

A current issue in our industry pertains to the roles on Agile projects. Some are of the opinion that the BA has no role on Agile projects, and some say the BA should play the role of product owner. We at Watermark Learning think that the product manager should play the product owner role, not the BA. As stated above, the BA adds value through the advisor role, grooming the product backlog, and analyzing and recommending solution options. The product manager is the decision-maker in the end, not the BA.

For more information about Watermark Learning, please visit www.WatermarkLearning.com.

Greg Geracie is the author of Take Charge Product Management©, the Editor-in-Chief of The Guide to the Product Management and Marketing Body of Knowledge (ProdBOK), and the leader of this initiative. ProdBOK is an industry-wide effort to standardize the practice of product management sponsored by the Association of International Product Management and Marketing (AIPMM).

ProdBOK is a registered trademark of AIPMM.

What’s the Difference Between a Project Manager and a Product Manager?

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Two Sides of the Same Coin – Collaborating to Create Value

Several weeks ago Steven and I, along with David Heidt IIBA Chicagoland chapter president, were presenting to the Project Management Institute’s (PMI) Chicago chapter. After our presentation our hosts collected the questions that we were not able to address as the clock ran out. The question that was on everyone’s mind was “what is the difference between a project manager and a product manager?”

To understand the difference between the roles we need to look closely at two things. First, we need to understand the phases of the product management lifecycle.* We can then highlight the difference between these two critically important roles. So let’s start with the product management lifecycle.

Imagine for a moment a horizontal plane that has seven phases shoulder to shoulder. The seven phases are Conceive, Plan, Develop, Qualify, Launch, Deliver and Retire. All products universally, and without exception, move through each of these phases sequentially. The only difference is the amount of time it takes to move from one phase to the next.

With an understanding of the product management lifecycle in hand we can then look at the specific roles of project and product managers. Product managers are responsible for optimizing results throughout the entire product management lifecycle. In other words, to optimize the creation and maintenance of VALUE throughout each unique phase of the lifecycle.

This is different than project management where, rather than staying with the product from conception to ultimate retirement, project managers typically are involved from the Plan Phase of the product management lifecycle to the Launch Phase where they roll off and take part in the next project. |

Another way of thinking about this is to say that project managers have a defined span of vertical leadership (working closely with the product manager or owner) for a specific length of time (the project) with a focus on effectively managing the scope, schedule, and cost of the project. While product managers focus on optimizing the VALUE of the effort and lead horizontal activities (e.g. throughout the product management lifecycle).

Both of these roles enhance each other and the effectiveness of the overall product development team and are in fact separate and distinct functional roles with different focuses and objectives. However, the more tightly these two roles can be aligned around VALUE the more success the product development team and ultimately the product and the organization will enjoy. It’s important to point out that while effective collaboration between these two roles drives tremendous organizational benefit these two roles should not be co-mingled as this creates a conflict of interest.

You can learn more about how to effectively drive collaboration between these two roles and improve organizational effectiveness in our popular training course Creating Value Through Collaboration. This course was jointly developed with Lee Lambert of the Lambert Consulting Group and offered regularly by Actuation Consulting and the Association of International Product Marketing and Management. The course offers 16 PDU’s.

* See page two for an illustration of the product management lifecycle

Let Your Voice Be Heard! Participate in The Study of Product Team Performance, 2013

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Participate in this year’s annual study and let your voice be heard!

The survey is open from January 15th through March 3rd.

Each year Actuation Consulting and Enterprise Agility undertake a global study of product team performance. This is the second year of our study and the amount of industry interest and participation continues to increase. Let me give you an example.

This year we doubled the amount of professional associations, vendors, and promotional partners supporting the survey.

The study is designed to closely examine the factors the improve or impede product team performance. Undertaking a study of this nature requires that we work hard all year round to develop a wide array of relationships that help support the goals of the study.

This year our sponsors include:

- The Association of International Product Management and Marketing (AIPMM)

- The International Institute of Business Analysis’s Chicagoland Chapter (IIBA)

- The International Project Management Association (IPMA)

- The Product Development and Management Association’s Chicagoland Chapter (PDMA)

- And Planbox (a provider of Agile project management software)

In addition to our sponsors, we also enjoy the support of a wide variety of promotional partners. These include: the Chicago Product Management Association and PCamp, Global Product Management Talk, Lee Lambert of the Lambert Consulting Group, Orange County Product Managers, the Project Management Institute’s Chicago Chapter, the ProjectTimes, Product Management Talk, the Silicon Valley Product Management Association (SVPMA), the Software and Information Industry Association (SIIA), and the User Experience Professionals Association (UXPA).

As you can see our ever expanding list of partners encompass product management, project and program management, user experience, business analysts, development managers and engineers. Wait a second, where do you cover development managers and engineers you ask?

We’re fortunate to have added Ron Lichty co-author of Managing the Unmanageable as the newest co-author of our study. Ron joins author Steven Starke, David Heidt, and I as the primary drivers of the study. Since joining our team, Ron has been working to ensure active participation from engineers and development managers. I want to take this moment to publicly welcome Ron!

So, as we enter our second year of conducting this study we now have all the core roles covered and we anticipate increasing last years level of participation significantly. Please take a moment and share your thoughts with us. We want to hear from you and learn more about the effectiveness of your product team!

You can take the survey today by clicking here. The survey is open through March 3rd.

The study findings will be made widely available through all of our sponsors and promotional partners and at Actuation Consulting’s website. You can download a free copy of last years findings by clicking here.