pca13 product camp - product council

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PRODUCT COUNCIL Dave Deitering & Lance Ellisor For ProductCamp Austin AUGUST 2014 @LanceEllisor

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Page 1: PCA13 Product Camp - Product Council

PRODUCT COUNCILDave Deitering & Lance Ellisor

For ProductCamp Austin

AUGUST 2014@LanceEllisor

Page 2: PCA13 Product Camp - Product Council
Page 3: PCA13 Product Camp - Product Council

What is Product Council?

Executive guidance committee for Product Management –Fully empowered to make financially-impacting decisions–Product Management does the research, makes evidence-

backed recommendations, and PC approves and advises

Cross-functional involvement in critical company decisions

A forum for setting common, company-wide expectations on product priorities, status, and outlook

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Page 4: PCA13 Product Camp - Product Council

Why have a Product Council?

Where are we on the update to the ABC product?

Why is the 2.0 release behind

schedule?

We should build a Confabulator for

our market

Our clients are screaming for the

Flux Capacitor feature. How do we get it done faster?

Will version 3.3 run on Firefox? or

Do we support IE6?

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Page 5: PCA13 Product Camp - Product Council

Who makes up Product Council?

Product Management, as leader/facilitator

Leadership team–Voting rights –A fully empowered individual from each key department,

typically: Dev/QA, Marketing, Sales, Support, Ops, Services

Non-voting attendees / interested parties–SMEs, key account reps or project managers, etc.

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Key lessons learned • Product Council must be a decision-making body, fully

empowered to make big decisions; realistically, this usually means the CEO or GM needs to be there

• Keep it small ; establish participation criteria upfront and stand firm

Page 6: PCA13 Product Camp - Product Council

How often is it held?

Depends on several factors–Velocity of your market –Expectation of capital–How much you’re trying to manage

Biweekly or monthly are often best candidates

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Key lessons learned Cadence must strike a balance between need for quick

decision-making and ensuring critical stakeholders attend Minimize reschedules; let the importance of the decisions

drive attendance

Page 7: PCA13 Product Camp - Product Council

What specifically happens in Product Council?

Standard agenda itemsRelease dashboard reviewCurrent program schedule reviewNew program approval

Less frequent agenda itemsPrioritization change decisionsProduct policy introduction or changeRoadmap approvalAllocation

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Key lessons learned Follow a regular agenda for predictability and efficiency Anything really big or controversial should probably have

a dedicated “Ad Hoc" meeting

Page 8: PCA13 Product Camp - Product Council

Release dashboard review

Review of the current status of scheduled releases, with key progress indicators by program

Clear visibility into the status of releases, key risks and blockers, and responsible people/teams

Should ensure 100% clarity across the company regarding the next release(s): the progress status, the expected release date(s), key risks, and the confidence level

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What it is What it looks like

Key lessons learned Spend time upfront to understand

what key progress indicators are both meaningful and practical to track

It’s a dashboard: keep it as simple as possible

Page 9: PCA13 Product Camp - Product Council

A visual capture of the product development work, both current and scheduled

A reminder of where the approved programs fall in the schedule

Based on the most recent approved product roadmap

Should ensure 100% clarity across the company as to what is scheduled to be delivered

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Current program schedule review

Key lessons learned Review this every time to remind all

that any changes or additions have a cost

Caveat all dates

What it is What it looks like

Page 10: PCA13 Product Camp - Product Council

Presentation of business case (or other decision vehicle) for stage-gate approval of a program

Ensures all new programs are rigorously vetted – qualitatively and quantitatively – and inclusively approved or rejected

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New program approval

Key lessons learned Ensure no surprises; all key

parameters should be vetted by the SMEs and key leaders in advance

Members should review material and prepare questions/remarks in advance of the meeting

What it is What it looks like

Page 11: PCA13 Product Camp - Product Council

Proposal of – and decision on – a change to current schedule by changing priorities

Release dates and/or scope changes as a result

Confers some level of corporate agility to change priorities, while enforcing notion of finite resources/time

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Prioritization change decisions

Key lessons learned Limit scenarios to 2 or 3 Ensure all scenarios are vetted in

advance by the resources who will do the work

Ensure the right resources are in the meeting to respond to questions

OR

What it is What it looks like

Page 12: PCA13 Product Camp - Product Council

Product policy – change to, or addition of, a product-related policy, e.g. product support lifecycle, supported platforms, backporting of new features, etc.

Roadmap approval – formal annual roadmap gates

Allocations – agreeing on product work categories and allocation of resources thereto to improve prioritization

Ad hoc meetings – acquisitions, partnerships, EOLing a product, entering a new market, change of scope or timing of a major release

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Other occasional Product Council topics

Key lessons learned Remember the PC meeting is

for decisions and quick updates only

Education takes too much time

What they are What they look like

Page 13: PCA13 Product Camp - Product Council

Practical & logistical lessons learned

Prepare, prepare, prepare–Send out review material a few days in advance, but –Present minimum in meeting (e.g. summary w/backing slides)

Clearly distinguish updates from decisions –and ensure they know what they're deciding

Be careful with agenda–Keep it light –Order agenda in urgency order

Maintain focus on facts and figures over opinions and suppositions –yet keep it simple and brief

Consistently follow up with meeting summary–circulate & publish meeting notes, emphasizing decisions made and

action items

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