Killer Tool
I have demo’d Feature Plan before, and been very impressed.
My major feeling is that Ryma (the company that builds the app) has a crystal clear understanding of what they want to accomplish. My demo was done via phone — I believe I had trial software, but am not 100% sure. I went back to their site as I thought about writing this post to see if I could find a trial or something so I could include screenshots, but alas, it was either not availalble or I failed to locate it.
There is something I’m saying, I think. Take my example — I’m evaluating how other products out there stack up to my homegrown spreadsheet / doc tools. Now, were I able to find a downloadable demo on the Ryma site, I’d have a much clearer view. Instead, if I want to check out the product, I can either get a candy-like 5 minute Flash-based demo (which is fine), or contact a Sales person, which not so fun. The last thing I want to do is answer questions such as, “why are you interested?” and “what did you like and not like?” and all that stuff. Blech.
I just want to check the product out again, see if it’s changed at all since I saw it over a year and a half ago. I’d reckon to think that others feel the same way, but can’t be 100% sure. If anyone from Ryma reads this blog, is that a metric involved in determining the success of the cross-channel sales strategy?
I have nothing against Ryma — they are a fanstastic group. I’ve met their VP of Marketing at a TPMA event and even had some contact with one of their product managers; these guys are on the ball, no question.
One thing I do remember from the demo was how stuffed the user interface was when I first saw it — option and function happy a litlle. Maybe it’s not in their target definition to go after smaller orgs, but I’d look at it much more carefully if there was a stripped-down, low-cost version that I could grow into my companies day-to-day product management and program management activities.
Anyone out there that’s gone through a similar reality check on what they are using for an ongoing product management tool? If so, any interesting findings?
Scoble Heading to Podtech
Robert Scoble is leaving Microsoft and headed for PodTech.net. This is just broke tonight across several blogs. Amazing, this inter-connected World we have here.
I don’t know Robert personally, but I have to say he seems very cool and down-to-earth. I wish him nothing but the absolute best of luck, and know he’ll keep on delivering the same oustanding content he has for many years.
I always love to see exciting and cool things happen to those with nothing but class and a true passion for what they do.
Congrats, Robert!
Push It Forward
When in a small company it is easy to get tied up and fall into traps / pitfalls. These may include things like running long release cycles, creating too much documentation, worrying about everything becing in sync, and more.
The key is pushing products forward — especially if you are in a scenario where you’re hunting for that first / next catch. Explore business problems in detail, and ask questions. You might be surprised what you find, and the shape the next innovation takes.
Just Because It’s There
Always strive to make your products / communication / marketing / pricing / sales better. Always strive to make them the best they can possibly be. If you think they are perfect and can’t be changed, something is wrong and you’d better evaluate. Just because they are there doesn’t mean their working in the market.
A big part of my thinking and headspace is occupied by vision. It’s a strength. I tend to think in broad, high-level strokes and keep abstracting up — for example, I’ll visualize things in my head as really large building blocks and move them around. I find it works. At the end of that, I’ll take it down to an effective level of detail.
It’s crucial that your message is crystal clear. Know who you are selling to and start building offerings (a “product” is not always essential) around them and tweak as the need to is identified. And by tweak I don’t meant that you sit down every quarter to do a complete re-vamp. Especially in emerging markets, people can easily get confused - potentially even confusing your services / products / offering with your competitors. Make sure this does not happen.
Identify the vision, identify who it’s going to, clarify the objectives, and craft the message. And make sure that how clients are going to do business with you is in there somewhere too.
Above all else; make sure you keep it simple. It’s inevitable someone will think it’s a “bad idea” or “we should be doing something else”. Get the vision in place, sell people how it’s going to work and point at the objectives and make sure they are measured regularly.
You want the vision to become the de facto “thing” that everyone is pushing for and sticking behind - at least, in my brief level of experience to this point.
P2P (1): What is Necessary Right Now?
I have been working on a toolkit that will help out with “program management”. I wanted to jot down some things that I’ve discovered along the way that I thought others may find useful.
As I wrote this first entry, I realized that I had more to say than I originally planned. Thus, I’ve decided to split these apart into the first series on this blog. “P2P” stands for “Product to Program”. But, I digress.
The largest piece here is knowing that, yes, while you are establishing a whole big vision and set of things that you know are really going to help out, make sure you are clear on what’s short-term and what’s long-term. This is especially true if you are in a small, start-up environment. The last thing that’s needed is lumbering process and unncessary steps / tools that are going to bog down development and cause people to feel constrained and generally crappy. Blech.
With that out of the way, I’ve found that starting off with a simple set of goals is the best way to go. Yes, they can be lofty, but within the understanding of all parties involved in creating and using the tools being constructed. The communication of these goals, and the inherent vision, gets everyone on the same page and working together (fingers crossed).
Once you know what you want to do, the items that follow are a little interpretive. That may sound like a cop out, but it’s not — there are plenty of things that can be done, but it depends on the situation at hand. As opposed to using a specific example, I figured going through a set of questions that have helped me could be interesting.
- What is necessary immediately?
This first one can mean many different things. From my experience, it usually relates to having a bunch of stuff going on that key folks within the organization are unaware of, but should know about? If so, the solution is simple: write down what’s being worked on - the key stuff — nothing that a developer hasn’t touched and is still six months down the pipe. List creation is fun; a summary of each task, which can come right from your defect tracking system, a percentage of completion, who owns the task, its priority, and estimated timelines.
To be honest, if it’s the first time you are implementing this in a company, the list will go a long way — both up and down the line — and help out day-to-day. However, it’s critical to remember that once you’ve started to execute, expectations have been set. You will need to continue to execute regularly. We’re not talking every single day, in a regimented “same bat time, same bat channel” type deal. Casually works best, every 2-3 days, chat with those that have priority tasks being worked on.
Next post is question 2: How is the workload handled?
