How to Introduce Product Management to Your Organization
So now you know what a product manager is and you’ve made the decision to add product management. Now it’s time to introduce the role to your organization. It’s important to get this right, so let’s talk about how to prep your team and set up your new product manager to start gaining traction from day one.
1. Prep Your Team
Let everyone in on the thinking that went behind this decision. Start with vision casting on where your business is going and how this effort is meant to help evolve processes, roles and collaboration. Give your group a high level sense of the benefits; product management will empower the entire team to better focus on customers, develop the right products and design an effective go-to-market strategy.
Share the current state, summarizing today’s pain points. (Make sure to reinforce that these are growing pains and/or the result of your team not having all the support it needs–not a reflection of poor performance by a group or individual.) Examples may be:
- Today we are not the market leader
- Our latest new products are not gaining traction
- Our marketing is broad and doesn’t generate leads
- We have so many products, it’s confusing our customers
- There are too many R&D projects without prioritization on which ones will drive more revenue
Now it’s time to explain how to get to the next level, by working more effectively as a team. A product manager can integrate engineering, design, marketing and sales so the whole team can more successfully deliver value to customers better–and likely faster–than competitors.
Get people excited about the specific types of tools and opportunities that will come with the introduction of a product manager, such as:
- Aligned product market fit
- Increase customer satisfaction
- Clear roadmap for R&D
- Speed of sales
- Research-informed decision making
2. Set Up Your New Product Manager for Success
To begin, your new product manager is going to need to understand your products, your customers, your processes, your sales, your profitability and your channel. As you talk with this new team member, it’s important to communicate challenges or roadblocks you experience and discuss ways they can help.
A great starting point is to select a market that the product manager can focus on. They’ll dissect the portfolio to understand the product market fit. They will begin compiling and/or analyzing data on the market, talk with customers, and learn how current and new products meet customer needs. Be patient–they will ask a lot of questions, and ultimately, that’s a great thing.
3. Be Ready to Troubleshoot
It’s common for some people to resist product managers. It’s usually because they feel it will slow them down or they don’t understand the need for more people in the mix. They may even feel a little threatened, especially if there is some overlap with their own role.
Remind these team members who may seem hesitant that at the end of the day, everyone wins if the company is the market leader, acquires customers faster and can prove measurably higher customer satisfaction.
As with any shift in an organizational structure, it’s going to take time to work effectively as a team. However, in as little as a few months, I’m confident that you’ll see your tea, working better together–and making the progress you set out to see.
Looking for more insight to kickstart your product management team? Here are some ways I can help.
Posted in Integrating Product Management | Tagged Communication, Leadership, Management
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