FUNDAMENTALS OF PRODUCT MANAGEMENT: THE PROCESSES

Cultural transformation tactics in large organizations through product teams

Transformation of traditional and risk-averse organizations is a daunting task and product teams can play a massive role in this transformation. To achieve this, product teams need to acquaint their organizations with new modes of product discovery through weekly Discovery Sprints, launch pilot initiatives, and move away from roadmaps that are output-focused.

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Moving from a mercenary-style and business support unit of a product team that is mainly output-focused with long-term product roadmaps that outline what needs to be done over the next 12 months to a product unit that is empowered, accountable, and driven by business results is a major cultural shift in big organizations with legacy systems that threatens the power hierarchy of various leaders and individuals across the organization.

Product discovery at established, large-scale, and risk-averse organizations

To help ease and drive this transformation, product teams have three tactics at their disposal:

1. Run continuous design/discovery sprints with various stakeholders
2. Launch pilot initiatives with a limited scope
3. Move away from roadmaps

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Tactic 1: Design/Discovery Sprints

Design/discovery sprints are one-week-long and intensive product discovery initiatives that tackle a major problem/risk that the organization faces. Across the week, teams explore dozens of different product ideas and approaches aimed at solving a significant business problem. Usually, design/discovery sprints result in major learning and customer insights that can change the course of a product vision and objective with stakeholder buy-ins.

How it works

The approach to these sprints is quite straightforward:

• Step 1: Frame the problem by mapping the problem space (Day 1)
• Step 2: Pick the problem to be solved and the target customer (Day 1)
• Step 3: Ideate several different approaches to the solution (Day 2)
• Step 4: Filter potential solutions (Day 2)
• Step 4: Create high-fidelity user prototype(s) (Day 3)
• Step 6: Present the prototype(s) to actual target users/customers (Days 4 & 5)
• Step 7: Validate your ideas (Days 4 & 5)

When it’s most impactful

Design/discovery sprints are highly recommended in the following situations:

• When the problem is large enough that requires collaboration around human-centered design thinking
• When the organization, team, or business unit is new to product discovery
• When the organization is not moving fast enough and requires recalibration on how fast they need to be experimenting

Defining ‘Design Thinking’ — in theory and action

The importance of discovery coaches

As organizations transition to agile methods, they employ Agile Coaches to help the broader delivery and engineering team learn the methods and mindsets associated with agile product delivery. However, Agile Coaches don’t have enough insight and/or experience with continuous product discovery; and that’s where the need for Discovery Coaches is boldened.

Discovery Coaches are seasoned product managers or designers who understand the frameworks of product discovery and can help teams work effectively during discovery sprints. In the realm of startups, Discovery Coaches are called Lean Startup Coaches as they also have a massive focus on Business Model discovery along with Product Discovery.

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Tactic 2: Pilot initiatives

There will always be resistance to change in an established organization. If a product team thinks of and rolls out a significant change to ‘business-as-usual’, then the defensive mechanisms in the legacy system will sabotage those efforts. For product teams to succeed, they need to embrace this resistance rather than fight it by transitioning to new modes of work using pilot teams.

Overcoming barriers to change as agents of change

The goal of pilot product teams is to launch change to limited parts of the organization before bringing them together and implementing them more broadly. This would require finding ready volunteers to experiment with new initiatives over a quarter or two with new ways of working and see how the culture of the teams adapts and pushes forward as resistance lowers.

Guaranteeing success

To succeed with pilot initiatives, depending on objectives, you will need to have specific qualitative and quantitative success measures in place that aim to compare the team’s effectiveness in delivering business outcomes before and after the pilot.

Setting objectives for product teams using OKRs

Usually, with every win, other teams will become eager to adopt the new culture and collaborate with the product team. And as initiatives fail, teams should adjust quickly and share learning for future success.

Ideally, for success with pilot projects, we are looking for teams:

• Open to new ways of working
• Co-located due to the nature of the work and change
• Independent of other units still working in the old culture

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Tactic 3: Move away from roadmaps

Effective product roadmaps: empowering with outcome over output

Having long-term roadmaps filled by other stakeholders weakens product teams, destroys innovation, and kills transformation. To bring change to organizations with such ways of working, product teams need to:

• Continue with existing roadmaps and processes for 6–12 months to allow a transition period
• Start immediately to shift conversations from delivering features to business outcomes those features are to bring
• Measure the business objectives of each initiative and celebrate wins
• Share learning that was made from failures and the new ways going forward

Various stakeholders depend on roadmaps:

• To have visibility into current work being done
• Prioritize efforts
• Plan for resource allocation

In exchange, empowered product teams desire prioritized business objectives from the leadership with key results planning, and they commit to high-integrity commitments when critical delivery dates are needed.

This way, product teams are held accountable for their respective business objectives while also having the autonomy to work on solutions that maximize return. Gradually, through this autonomy, product teams transform the organization as various stakeholders see the delivery of business objectives.

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