The Product Management & Product Marketing Backlog
Will a backlog drive strategic thinking and provide clarity?
It’s my hypothesis that product management and product marketing teams can be more effective, increase strategic actions and build cadence when they identify, prioritize and build a backlog focused on their roles.
From a Historical Perspective
Whether you work in an organization where Agile or Lean principles (SCRUM, Kanban, etc.) have been adopted, I’d bet most of your product management and product marketing thinking is still list or task-driven or formulated on-the-fly.
And forget about priorities. They change with the whim of the organization or the latest Flying Monkey.
Most product management practices, training and tools are focused on non-iterative actions. While their tenants and intentions are good, it’s been my experience that product management and product marketing mask their organizations engineering process and it cascades into their thoughts, actions and focus.
The Hypothesis
My hypothesis was to test this with a diverse group of product professionals (preferably ones I didn’t know) and together surface where we’re spending our time and build a backlog of new thinking.
I attended the DFW Product Camp and led a session of 26 people. The session was represented by the following categories:
- Product Management (8)
- Product Marketing (4)
- Marketing (8)
- Those leading Product Management and/or Product Marketing (3)
- Other (Included a CEO and consultants) (3)
The Exercise
With limited time, we decided to choose Product Management to test the hypothesis. In a PowerPoint-free zone, (thanks Seth Godin) we began by identifying four themes that included:
- Planning and Strategy
- The Now Product
- Communications
- Tools and Process
In each of these areas, I asked the group to identify and write down topics where they spent most of their time and post them under the themes.
It’s no surprise that topics such as; Crisis Management, Tools Implementation, Sales Demos, Customer Issues and Product Features surfaced most often. The picture below represents the number of items that appeared.
I then asked the group to think about and prioritize the areas they would (and should) spend more time. From the image to above, it’s evident that more strategic areas focused on Strategy and Planning, as well as The Now Product were desired.
The highest number of votes included:
- Strategy development and alignment
- Market definition
- Clarify strategic vision
- The Compelling Why
- Market Research
- Keep your backlog simple
- Define both strategic and tactical areas
- Prioritize your backlog (The most important is where you start)
- Select one to three items to focus and work on
- Infuse these in your daily schedule (If you have to block time, do it)
- Look to peers for knowledge and help
- Infuse your strategic actions into your culture
The Results
While the hypothesis is yet to be validated in a live organization (I’d like to hear from the attendees in the future), it shared consistent ideas and challenges. Product Camps are a great place to gather input and test ideas like this. Have you committed to attend a PCamp in 2011?
As a product professional, would a prioritized backlog improve your thinking and execution?
I welcome any experiences as well as comments. If you’d like to post this on Twitter or LinkedIn, please share:
Tweet or Link this: The Product Management & Product Marketing Backlog a new post for #prodmgmt #prodmktg #leadership http://wp.me/pXBON-2yK
Related posts:
- Good Bye “Product Owner”, Hello “Backlog Manager”
- That Product Owner (er…Backlog Manager) debate again….
- Should Product Management and Product Marketing be parts of the same department?
- Why the “Backlog Manager” fits best for Scrum focused ISVs
- Guest Post: If Product Marketing is so Strategic, why do I always get stuck in the weeds?
The Product Backlog, if managed well does the backlog balance strategic initiatives & features? #prodmgmt #agile http://wp.me/pXBON-2yK
The Product Backlog, if managed well does the backlog balance strategic initiatives & features? #prodmgmt #agile http://wp.me/pXBON-2yK
Saeed,
I did not quite understand your comment that PM ‘masks’ their organizations engineering organization. Can you say a bit more?
Thanks,
Paul
Paul, Perhaps mask wasn’t a good choice. I meant they copy or align themselves. More like adopt the attributes of the methods in place.
Thanks for asking.
Jim
New post by @Jim_Holland on The value of managing a #prodmgmt & #prodmktg backlog http://wp.me/pXBON-2yK #leadership
New post by @Jim_Holland on The value of managing a backlog for #prodmgmt & #prodmktg ! http://wp.me/pXBON-2yK -interesting thought.
RT @onpm: New post by @Jim_Holland on The value of managing a #prodmgmt & #prodmktg backlog http://wp.me/pXBON-2yK #leadership
New post by @Jim_Holland on The value of managing a #prodmgmt & #prodmktg backlog http://wp.me/pXBON-2yK #leadership
The Product Management & Product Marketing Backlog a new post for #prodmgmt #prodmktg #leadership http://wp.me/pXBON-2yK @Jim_Holland
The Product Management & Product Marketing Backlog a new post for #prodmgmt #prodmktg #leadership http://wp.me/pXBON-2yK @Jim_Holland
The Product Management & Product Marketing Backlog a new post for #prodmgmt #prodmktg #leadership http://t.co/Bdr1Yx6
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http://bit.ly/ifGjS8 The Product Management & Product Marketing Backlog — On Product …
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The Product Management & Product Marketing Backlog http://t.co/4kkTALQN
The Product Management & Product Marketing Backlog http://t.co/4kkTALQN