This talk was presented at the Agile Arizona 2017 conference where various tools were discussed around the vision, strategy, design and execution side of product management. The constellation activity is used to help attendees assess the effectiveness of their respective product management area.

1. Product toolbox
Nirmaljeet Malhotra
Principal Agile Coach – Improving
Product Manager (Advisor) for India based startup
@mnirmaljeet
Nirmaljeet Malhotra

2. “If you could get all the people in an organization rowing in the same
direction, you could dominate any industry, in any market, against any
competition, at any time.”
The Five Dysfunctions of a Team

3. Product Managers drive the vision, strategy, design
and execution of the product with inspirational
leadership

5. Vision
Execution
Strategy
Design

6. Elon Musk, SpaceX
Humans become interplanetary species
Vision

7. • There is a clearly defined vision for the product we are creating and
the team is aligned with it
• Every action we take or decision we make is in alignment with the
vision
• Vision is frequently repeated to reinforce the problem we are trying to
solve or the opportunity we will create
Vision

8. Product Vision
• Motivation behind the product
• Differentiate between product vision and the product
• Distinguish between product vision and product strategy
• Shared vision
• Choose an inspiring vision
• Short and sweet
• Use vision to guide decisions

9. Elevator Pitch / Vision
For (target customers)
Who are dissatisfied with (the current market
alternative)
Our product is a (new product category)
That provides (key problem-solving capability).
Unlike (the product alternative),
Our product (describe the key product features).

10. Your margin is my opportunity
Jeff Bezos, Amazon
Strategy

11. • Problem we are solving is understood and there is clarity about how
will we win
• The target customer(s) is known
• Value proposition for the target customer(s) is clear
• Defined KPIs to measure value
• We use KPIs to revisit strategy
Strategy

12. Source: Strategyzer.com

13. Workshops
• Psychological safety
• Encourage groupthink
• Introverts Vs Extroverts
• Staying motivated and engaged
• Ensure progress
• Intelligence of individuals
• Handoffs
• Customer/User pet peeve
• Encourage productive conflict

14. Keep things clean to make them simple
Steve Jobs, Apple
StrategyDesign
Get your thinking clean to make things simple
Steve Jobs, Apple

15. • Emotions of stakeholders/customers are understood and their
emotional intelligence drives our designs
• We put ourselves in the end user’s shoes observing in an empathetic
way
• We focus more on “why” our customers want something versus
“what” they want
Design

16. Develop Personas
Personas are fictional characters developed to
represent the different archetypes of users of
your product

17. Empathize
Customer research toolbox
Users not yet conscious of need
Prototype
Test It
Diagram it
Card sort
Get creative
Guided tour
Show me
Focus group Tell me
Survey/Questionnaire
Video observation
Watch & Listen
Users can articulate need
Ask the
user
Observe the
user
Empathy is understanding customer needs. It
involves:
1. Recruiting participants
• Who? Extreme users, diverse mix,
non customers
2. Interview & Notes
• Be sure to capture emotions,
tensions, surprises and
contradictions

18. Execution
Stewart Butterfield, Slack

19. • Relentless execution take precedence
• Business value is the only measure of success
• Constant calibration is practiced
• Decision making is done across the board
• We are always solving today’s/tomorrow’s problems
Execution

20. Iterate
Vision
Strategy
Design
Execution

21. Wildly
Important
Goal
1. Focusing on the Wildly Important Goal
2. Acting on Lead Measures
3. Keeping a Compelling Scoreboard
4. Creating a Cadence of Accountability

22. Progress
(circumstantial)

23. Value

24. Lead
Indicators

25. Lagging
Indicators

26. $$
Project
Budget/Cost
vs
Product
Revenue/Cost

27. Team Impact
• Leader, not manager
• Focus on the problem
• Stop, collaborate and listen
• Engineers are creative problem solvers
• Everyone owns the product

28. Wrap Up
• Product Management
– Vision
– Strategy
– Design
– Execution
• Inclusive approach
• Holistic view of metrics and impact
• Inspect and adapt

29. Thank you