Many conversations and articles discuss the role of a Product Manager in an environment where the boundaries and norms between product and other functions are well established. Less discussed are the challenges Product Managers, at all levels, face when joining a rapidly growing team or organization, with no previous/failed product management in place. Guy Assedou, former Product Manager at PlayStation, shared his take of the product role and discuss what strategies and tactics to leverage when one finds himself in such a scenario.

1. What’s the Product Manager
Role Like by PlayStation PM
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7. Guy Assedou
Tonight’s Speaker

8. The Role of (the first)
Product Manager
All rights reserved. Guy Assedou 2018 ©

9. AGENDA
The PM Role
The Product Team
The Change Process

10. The PM Role
First things first – definitions
1

11. THE PM ANALOGY
◦ Does not decide which player
will be on the field
◦ Part of and with the team in
the action
◦ Calls the game plan and
strategy
◦ Continuously adapt to the
opponent, the playing field and
the conditions
◦ Motivate others

12. THE PM ROLE
“To deliver measurable business
results through product solutions
that meet both the market needs and
company goals”
Don Vendetti

13. THE PM SKILLSET
TechUX
Business
People

14. The Product Team
How PMs deliver
2

15. EVOLUTION
2. DESIGN
3. PRODUCT
1. ENGINEERING

16. GOAL
CURRENT STATE NEW STATE

17. GOAL
ENG.
Design
ENG.UX
PM
CURRENT STATE NEW STATE

18. The Change Process
What to expect and what can you do about it
3

19. THE JOURNEY
Loosely based on Kurt Lewin’s Force-Field Change Model
Unfreeze
Change
Assess

20. THE LEGO ANALOGY

21. BACKPACK
TRAITS
◦ Communication
◦ Conviction,
resilience
SURROUNDINGS
◦ Advocates
◦ Social pressure
INFORMATION
◦ Access to all
◦ Data
And in about 30m this deck too...

22. 1. ASSESS
◦ Business, Strategy
▫ Key to winning, Goals, KPIs, target market, pricing
▫ Do your own market research, competitive landscape
◦ Culture, Hierarchy (formal, informal)
▫ Who the team looks up to and go to for answers
◦ Product
▫ Why did it get to be the way it is
◦ Development Process
▫ Planning, quality of requirements
▫ Predictability - what's coming, when and what it'll be
◦ Common Challenges
▫ Communication, collaboration with other functions
▫ HiPPO and focus
▫ Mid term planning (i.e. roadmap)
▫ Forgetting about the customer

23. 1. ASSESS // PERSONAS
Blockers
◦ Oppose any and all
change
◦ Not all blockers are
overt
Bystanders
◦ Go with the flow
◦ Fly under the radar
Champions
◦ Embraces change
◦ Evangelize the
change initiative
25%
Blockers
50%
Bystanders
25%
Champion
s

24. 1. ASSESS // STAKEHOLDERS ANALYSIS
Eden and Ackermann (2011)
POWER-INTEREST GRID
High
Low
Low High
POWER
INTEREST
CROWD CONTEXT SETTERS
SUBJECTS KEY PLAYERS
Understand
& satisfy their needs
Senior Management
Engage
& manage actively
Core team, CEO/GM,
Manager
Monitor
& inform occasionally
Everyone else
Consider
& keep informed
Customer Support

25. 2. UNFREEZE
FRAME
◦ Create
urgency
◦ Benefits
◦ Expectations
FORM
◦ Vision
◦ Coalition
◦ Buy in from
manager,
execs
FORWARD
◦ Anywhere,
anytime
◦ Highlight
benefits

26. 3. CHANGE // REMOVE OBSTACLES
◦ Actively seek, listen and incorporate feedback
▫ Be vulnerable in 1:1
◦ Face time is irreplaceable, invaluable
▫ Go visit a remotely located teams
▫ Skype, Hangout, etc..
◦ Move friction and disagreements offline
▫ It WILL poison your team and hurt the change process
◦ Isolate blockers
◦ Define Roles & Responsibilities

27. 3. CHANGE // ROLES & RESPONSIBILITES
Product
(what, why, when)
• Market Research
• Priorities & Roadmap
• Use Cases
UX
(intuitive & efficient)
• Interaction Design
• Interface Design
ENGINEERING
(how & how long)
• Technical Design
• Technologies
• Architecture
QA
(verify & validate)
• Validate
Acceptance criteria
• Verify Deployment
Product Engineering
QAUX

28. 3. CHANGE // RACI EXERCISE
ENG. View UX View Product View
Activity PM UX ENG. PM UX ENG. PM UX ENG.
Accept User Stories A/R C C A/R C C A/R C C
Alpha scope C C A/R C C A/R C C A/R
Assign resources to tickets/tasks C I A/R C I A/R C I A/R
Beta scope & taking feedback A/R C C A/R C C A/R C C
Create, Apply and improve Definition of Done C C A C C A C C A
Define Acceptance Criteria (functional behavior) A/R A/R A/R A/R A/R A/R
Deliver features on time C I A/R C I A/R C I A/R
Prioritize and manage the backlog A/R C C A/R C C A/R C C
Project Management (Schedule/Risk) A/R C R A/R C R A/R C R
Provide Vision, Goals and Context for the product A/R C C A/R C C A/R C C
Sprint Planning A/R I R A/R I R A/R I R
Task Scoping & Breakdown C I A/R C I A/R C I A/R
Working with CS for rollout A/R C C A/R C C A/R C C

29. 3. CHANGE // RACI EXERCISE
PREPARE
◦ Control the list
◦ Involve parties in
coming up with
task list
◦ Include “easy”
items
◦ Make ample
time with no
distractions
PERFORM
◦ Don’t expect
immediate
resolution
◦ Mark items as
you go
▫ agree,
disagree,
strongly
disagree
◦ Start discussions
from orange
PERSIST
◦ Send a positive
recap email with
results
◦ Let it sink
◦ Keep key
stakeholders
informed of
progress
◦ DO NOT
DEVIATE FROM
AGREED ITEMS

30. 3. CHANGE // CELEBRATE QUICK WINS
◦ Data is power
▫ Build the analytics stack and leverage it
▫ Measure and report
◦ Provide context, lots of context
▫ Business updates, success/fail stories
◦ Know thy customer
▫ Customer feedback, interviews summary
◦ Bring it together
▫ Coordinate across departments
◦ Requirements
▫ Set the tone for quality of features

31. TAKEAWAYS
◦ It’s a team sport
◦ Know and lead the change process
◦ It’s a marathon, not a sprint
◦ Brush up on your negotiation skills

32. Thanks!
ANY QUESTIONS?
You can find me at
www.linkedin.com/in/guyassedou
All rights reserved. Guy Assedou 2018 ©

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