Communication with Multiple Products

There’s a major trick to having a product portfolio that spans both business and consumer and includes, not only several major products, but also a lot of little utilities that go into those products being successful.

One of the hardest parts about this that I’ve found thus far? Communication.

How much is enough? How much is too little? When you’re working within a smaller environment, what’s overkill?

All these questions are tough ones to answer, especially when you are just building out the portfolio. There are so many tools out there that can be leveraged for effective communication, but what’s going to ensure that the important messages get through?

A lot of it lies with the sender / communicator (you).

Garbage in, garbage out, right? If you find yourself sending several product updates in a day, chances are, they aren’t really that meaningful. I’ve tried out several tools over the years, and am finally starting to think I’ve hit on good combination. Chances are, that will change again in another few months.

I tried Pownce out during the testing cycles for a v1.0 to get it out the door. It worked OK, but then some folks on PC’s at the office had the desktop client just crap out on them. Gross.

I’ve been using Twitter to announce releases and link to release notes. That’s going pretty well so far - especially since there’s not a ton of volume when it comes to releases.

I communicate with management internally using e-mail. However, that’s going to have to change soon, I think. Having a weekly product meeting is probably more effectively, however, more meetings is definitely not the answer. Trying to make sure everyone has the information they need at any given time is more conducive to an effective environment than meetings; that is, if I’ve learned anything by reading Peter Drucker.

I’ve been demo’ing Version One in recent weeks, and am very close to buying out a license. It’s probably the best PM software I’ve used thus far, and I have tried several products. We’ll see how things go. For a tool like this to be successful (and like any internal management tool) people need to use it regularly.

Would this circumvent weekly meetings? Chances are, probably not. But, maybe. Shouldn’t everyone be able to login, or get an e-mail they can read as their schedule permits, with key data regarding product releases / activities going on for that week? Maybe a cross-functional product meeting stems from having a weekly staff meeting with your folks.

I think that might work more effectively. And, I’m realizing now that I’m doing this stream-of-conciouness. Sorry.

So, to sum up, here’s how I’ll be managing product communications more effectively over the next couple of months, and we’ll see how it goes:

As I bring some more product manager’s in to the mix at the company, we’ll see how this progresses. I definitely don’t want to do things “just because” other people have done them other places. With this stuff, you really need to find what works for your team at this specific company. It might be the same, but chances are, it’s not.

Use what you know / have done in the past as a baseline, but not the rule. I’ll be sure to post back to record details on how this goes and where it sucks and where it works.

Sep 28, 07 | Filed Under Business, Management, Product Management

 

Comments

One Response to “Communication with Multiple Products”

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