Keep the big picture top of mind

As digital product managers, we often find ourselves at the intersection of vision and execution. Here's a story that demonstrates the power of strategic planning and team collaboration.

Laying the Groundwork with the E3 Framework

This story is about a product manager and her squad embarking on a new project. Utilizing the Product Protégé Guide's E3 Framework, the product manager began her process, as always, by connecting with our customers. This customer-centric approach guided her discovery phase and informed her pitch deck creation. Following the alignment on the project's objectives and scope, she prioritized the initiatives on our roadmap, culminating in a kickoff where stakeholders and team members converged to align on goals and deliverables.

Everything in this story checks out so far!

Translating Pitch Decks into Action

Having a clear roadmap is pivotal, but empowering your team to take action requires granular planning. With a well-defined epic and its associated user stories, she collaborated with the scrum master to facilitate a Refinement session. The aim was to ensure clarity on user stories, eliminate ambiguity, and foster a shared understanding among team members. There were inevitable questions during the session, but through collaborative dialogue, she ensured that the team was aligned, tasks were estimated, and they were sprint-ready.

She clearly has a strong process that sets her up for success!

Addressing Implementation Challenges

During one of the sprints, a developer faced a common challenge: a decision point in a user story that wasn't black and white. This situation highlights two critical paths:

Option 1 - Await Clarification: The developer, technically, can pause all work until guidance is provided. This could be until the developer reaches out to the product manager (if she even responds!) or a potential standstill until alignment can be reached, often during the next stand-up.

Option 2 - Drive Forward with Strategic Insight: If a developer is embedded in the project's vision, strategy, and roadmap, they can make informed decisions that align with larger business objectives. They understand where the squad is heading with this project, they recognize the goals of the project, and they can’t get the product manager’s words out of their head about the approach, the strategy, the vision, the roadmap, and how it all comes together (she’s repeated it every other standup for months now! This is where consistent communication about the bigger picture proves invaluable.

My hope is that the approach leans heavily on the latter. Regular touch points, immediate availability on platforms like Slack, and quick turnarounds on Jira comments to ensure minimal roadblocks.

It's imperative for a product manager to continually highlight how granular tasks align with overarching business objectives. This keeps the team not just informed but also empowered to make decisions in between meetings and not wait for further clarification.

Key Takeaway: Prioritizing Accessibility & Strategic Alignment

The tale underscores a pivotal message for every product manager: Always be accessible and consistently echo the product's vision, strategy, and roadmap. These should be non-negotiables. This dual-pronged approach ensures that every team member, from developers to UX designers, has a solid understanding of the journey ahead.

Remember, clarity breeds efficiency. An informed team is an empowered one.

Stay tuned for more insights next week!

Product Protégé

P.S. Fellow product managers, how frequently do you loop back to your vision and strategy with your team? Share your best practices and insights.