Drive product like a business

Methodologies that fuel success

In the relentless pursuit of product excellence, PMs leverage powerful methodologies that keep their product on the cutting edge of development. Three prominent approaches are Agile, Lean Startup and DevOps.

Agile methodology: Despite some buzzword fatigue around the word “Agile”, it is a universal mindset that emphasises flexibility, rapid iteration and customer feedback. Agile PMs thrive in dynamic environments, breaking down development into sprints and delivering incremental value. This approach increases continuous improvement and responsiveness to change.

Lean Startup: The Lean Startup methodology is all about speed and efficiency. But it starts with defining the big/long-term vision and creating a road map of different release stages in order to reduce investment risk. It champions building a minimum viable product (MVP) to quickly test assumptions and gather user feedback. The development and life cycle investments are conducted based on the “metered funding principle”, exactly like a venture capital firm would invest in a promising startup. This lean approach minimises waste, accelerates learning and reduces the risk of developing expensive products that miss the mark.

DevOps: DevOps is a set of practices that combine development (Dev) and operations (Ops) to shorten the development life cycle and continuously deliver high-quality products and modifications. By establishing a strong culture of collaboration between developers and operations teams, DevOps enables faster releases, reduces downtime and improves overall product reliability. DevOps was pioneered in software development but is now spreading fast across physical/hybrid product companies in automotive, med-tech and consumer/industrial electronics.

How the best companies organise their product management

Top-performing companies understand that effective product management is crucial to their success. Here is how they typically organise their product management functions:

A: Clear targets and hierarchical structure: Leading companies establish a clear structure with defined roles, such as associate PM, PM, senior PM and director of product. This hierarchy helps streamline accountability and decision-making and provides a clear career progression path for PMs.

B: Continuous and frequent tracking of business impact: PMs must ensure the definition of impact hierarchies and impact tracking from the beginning of product development to “end-of-life”. Companies working with digital products often favour the OKR framework, but many other methods also work. The key is to track both lead and lag indicators.

C: Cross-functional teams: They form fixed cross-functional product teams that include members from engineering, design, marketing, sales and customer support. These teams work closely under the leadership of a PM, ensuring that all perspectives are considered in product development and the whole life cycle.

D Dedicated customer insights team: To maintain a customer-centric focus, the best companies have dedicated teams for market research and customer insights. These teams provide valuable data and feedback that inform the product strategy. The insights team is located close to the product teams to ensure that gathered insights are always relevant and validate key product development assumptions.

E: Regular training and development: Continuous learning is a priority. Top companies invest in regular training programmes, workshops and conferences to keep their PMs updated on the latest trends, tools and methodologies.

F: Empowerment, autonomy and accountability: Successful organisations empower their PMs with the autonomy to make decisions. This trust fuels innovation and allows PMs to respond swiftly to market changes. However, empowerment without accountability will generate confusion and waste. The best companies establish P&L accountability for PMs – perhaps shared with sales or other commercial units.

Survey: Assess the strengths of your product management system

Evaluate your company’s product management system by rating each of the following questions on a scale from 1 to 5, where 1 is the lowest (needs significant improvement) and 5 is the highest (industry best practice).

Scoring and improvement activities

Add your scores to assess the overall strength and improvement potential of your product management system:

The future of product management: Leading the charge

The landscape of product management is ever-evolving, shaped by technological advancements and shifting consumer expectations. Powerful trends like sustainability, localised supply chains, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) are revolutionising how products are developed and managed. AI and ML can provide deeper insights into user behaviour, automate routine tasks and enhance decision-making, giving PMs a strategic edge.

As remote work becomes the norm, PMs must adapt to new ways of leading distributed teams and leveraging digital tools. The ability to inspire and drive results across geographical boundaries is becoming increasingly important.

In this brave new world, the role of the product manager will continue to be central to driving innovation and navigating change. By embracing new technologies, driving a culture of continuous learning and maintaining a relentless focus on the customer, PMs can lead their products to new heights.

Keep pushing for the next level

Product management is crucial for growth and long-term relevance. It is a way to spread the business owner’s mindset much wider throughout the organisation. Winners win because even when they are good, they keep pushing for the next level. And in the spirit of excellence and continuous improvement, there is always a next right step you can take.

We wish you all the success in the world creating engagement, curiosity and ultimately unprecedented impact with your products and services.