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:
- Twitter for release notifications
- VersionOne for requirements / planning management
- Weekly status emails with a report exported from VersionOne
- Weekly staff meeting that doubles as a “product meeting”
- Irregular training sessions as the need arises
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.
Time for Help
It’s time for me to get some help.
Ha ha. No, not the white jacket, Lindsay Lohan kinda of help.
But a person to help me manage our existing product portfolio.
I’m starting to realize how drained my time is. And, I suppose, part of getting older is realizing when to put up your hand because you need some time with yourself, your friends, and your family. And start-ups can occupy every waking hour if you let them.
Now, I’m not saying “gee, I really don’t like my job and I want someone to slough stuff off on.”
I love my job. I love being a product manager and the trials and complexities that come with that role.
I also love team building, teaching, learning, and building things with others.
So, I’ll be working this week to build a justification / key points that I can present to the suits (sorry, just watched Entourage tonight) and seeing if I can get a budget to bring in another product manager to be a part of my team.
A large part of wanting this is to ensure that our products succeed and recognizing that I can only focus so much of my time on a certain set of them before burning out and letting them go to the dogs.
I don’t want that to happen. But another person that can actually work with me and learn the market and build cool / great stuff for those customers is very important.
Who’s helping you? I know Bob has made some posts about how he owes his life to his project manager. I’ve seen the light, Bob…
Focus and Vision
The title of this post is so reflective of two key things that are necessary for success. But there are definitely some others. Leadership. And another biggie - making and committing to bets.
In order to really drive a company forward, it needs to have a vision. Say what you will about buzzwords, this is really important, because with a lack of vision, you really do have a bunch of people wandering around wondering what on Earth to do, and how they fit in.
But vision isn’t the only thing.
You need to provide the team / company with the open-area, big room ability to stay focused. They need to have flexibility to respond to the customers and the market, but don’t fire off so many projects that they can’t be effectively managed, and “crap” starts to squeak through the release door because people aren’t paying enough attention to the right things.
Make a bet. Base it on the vision. And the drive that thing to execute. Get the team rallied behind it, and put out quality product.
And when you get a team working all on the same goal (releasing a product for a specific purpose), it’s a beautiful thing to watch everyone react when it’s a success. No kidding.
But where does it all start? Defining vision based on an identified problem and market. This isn’t news here. I’ve been preaching this stuff for a while — all the way back to my Party of Four model.
If you don’t have that excitement going yet around a focused, crystal clear vision, get one going. Foster not only creativity and innovation and market attention, but also quality in your products and what you’re putting out the door.
New People
There’s a lot of excitement when someone new joins a company.
For me, much of that comes from gauging the success of our products and associated halo to that point (docs, marcom, etc…). If someone fresh can figure out what it is we do, and what our products do based on our standard messaging and documentation, we must be on the right path.
The other element associated with this is, how should things be changed to make them more clear? What would have prevented the new hire from being confused? How can the materials and explanations be presented in a clearer way the next time round?
Chances are, if a new employee can’t figure out your products, your prospects and clients are having a hard time understanding them as well. Leverage the new resource to determine what can be improved and go forward from there.
Air Traffic Control
I’m really lucky to have some really great and smart people around me all the time. I have been since I got into the work force.
One lesson I learned this week? Effective management is about air traffic control.
Getting information in, devising what needs to be done, delegating, and then following-up. I’m not starting to realize this what all those books mean that effective managing is all about delegating. I just never thought about it this way.
This kinda ties back to my post a long while back about status reports & checking in using milestones as a gauge. Once some of the folks on my team are comfortable with the direction we are headed in, I want them to be able to set their own goals within the vision of what we’re doing.
Then, any inbound requests to me related to what’s going on are simply routed their way to be handled properly, and I can then provide any necessary communication or guidance on how it can be handled (if necessary or requested). I’d hate to turn into someone that was always saying, “this needs to be done, so go through steps 1, 2, 3″. I just want to say, “this needs to be done. I don’t care how you do it, I just care it gets completed and at a high quality. Ask me for help, and I’ll check in with you for a status at point X”.
It’s all very interesting. I love learning this stuff and then incorporating it into my behavior and how I work. It’s all a learning experience, and a damn good one.
