Managing Product Management

Why did I choose this resource?
We’re transitioning from a service company to a product company.Managing a product company is not dissimilar to managing a service company, but there are key differences.

What did you learn from it?

Product Management is the critical link through which products and portfolios are planned, developed, launched, managed, and retired. When product management is well understood, properly positioned, and empowered with competent professionals, it can be the heart and soul of innovative businesses that create winning products and solutions.

Key Knowledge

Module: Context of Product Management

1. Close connections between product managers and customers are necessary.
2. Open lines of communication between product managers, the CEO, and senior executives are critical.
3. The product management team must be competent.
4. The product management process being consistent.
5. Whether the product management organization is situated in Marketing and Engineering is less important.

Module: Clarify

Product management is the business management of product, product line, and product portfolio.  The Product Lifecycle Model that “organizes” the three integrated product management processes and “clarifies” how they map to the new product development NPD stage-gate process are:

1. New Product Planning
2. New Product Introduction or NPI
3. Post-Launch Product Management

Module: Cultivate

Role of the product manager is to improve staffing strategies. There are seven competency areas required for high performance product management:

1. Developing marketing insights
2. Crafting effective strategies
3. Planning and executing product launches on time and under budget
4. Managing and monitoring the financial and market performance of products and portfolios
5. Translating and interpreting data and information from various sources into cohesive decisions
6. Driving action through the organization and building shared accountability
7. Using basic project management skills

Module: Continuity

This module covers three key topics for continuous improvement of the product management function. It is primarily targeted for large corporations:

1. Building a knowledge-based community of practice for product management
2. Designing and sponsoring cross-functionality product teams
3. Embedding a governance model to sustain product management

How are you using what you learned?

We will start using this information during our transition into a product services company. The information in this books is valuable, and some general information can be used immediately, but the greatest impact will be realized when we begin to establish the structures and practices required for consistently delivering an excellent product.

Key Changes / Key Actions

• Name : Managing Product Management
• Author : Steven Haines
  
• Safaribooksonline.com: Link to Book