How do you manage multiple product expectations and dependencies?

Managing expectations would be the first line on any job description for a Product Managers role. PMs must take into account: 1. Customer 2. Market 3. CXOs 4. Internal stakeholders 5. Data governance, privacy, legal and compliance teams 6. Engineering teams And many others When all of the teams have their set of requests, a great PM brings his expertise in navigating through it. He must clearly 1. Spell out the reasoning for product roadmap list 2. Attribute business value to each feature ask 3. Loop in customer and market asks accordingly 4. Business needs - short term vs long terms gains 5. Stakeholder management fool proof reads #ProductManagement #KPKR

In my experience, it pays dividends to involve the stakeholders early on and align them on the goals of the product. Next be very judicious in prioritizing the scope and defining the MVP. As part of the scoping and prioritization exercise, ensure that whatever is in scope contributes to the product goals and define the KPIs. This exercise does not need to be done in isolation, in fact, involve the various stakeholders to get their input and their commitment.

As a PM one should never underestimate other stakeholders inputs during the early stage in defining the scope & goals. Especially when you have limited understanding of the product in technology front or the domain expertise. Many a times one will get some amazing ideas from engineering, or sales team. So as a PM no one expects that every idea to be coming from you. The expectation is to validate whether it really solves the problem of end users.

One thing I've been mentored and found useful in defining product scope is to be ready with either primary or secondary data from your prospective users with an understanding of their pain points and aspirations from your product or app. Once we have that we avoid perception battle which may occur with senior stakeholders in the room. Also it is important that we define MVP really well in the roadmap and it should solve all must have features and pain points and not just a bare bone offering. MVP should excite users to play, come back again, refer to the friends and provide feedback.

Setting clear boundaries allows you to focus on deliverables whilst offering you a place (outside the boundaries) to place objectives that do not fall within the scope of the project.

Often we are not given the latitude to do our dependencies before we are given a general timeline, so we need to work our dependencies into the timeline. Only then will we be able to push back against the timeline because outside issues beyond our control will dictate how our timeline will flow. For instance, if you are making a product that requires a part from China, the minimum amount of time to get that product is six months to get the best value, you've checked everything and this is the best-case scenario. Then based on that information your dependencies flowing from that reality will be fixed, for now.

Whatever you do, do anything in your power to avoid or at least minimise dependencies. Dependencies means complexity, and your life is complex as it is already - reduce scope as much as you can, avoid integrations. Add them later as separate features - try to minimise any input from other teams, but if you must, do your best to ensure their work is well encapsulated, and you know when it will be delivered. - Pursue every effort to keep each individual deliverable as small, simple, and dumb as practically possible, especially in big and complex projects - work on appropriate detail level and force others to do so. Don’t talk about edge cases when discussing provisional architecture. Start at high level, add details later.

Often we are not given the latitude to do our dependencies before we are given a general timeline, so we need to work our dependencies into the timeline. Only then will we be able to push back against the timeline because outside issues beyond our control will dictate how our timeline will flow. For instance, if you are making a product that requires a part from China, the minimum amount of time to get that product is six months to get the best value, you've checked everything and this is the best-case scenario. Then based on that information your dependencies flowing from that reality will be fixed, for now.

Make sure to map out your key stakeholders and establish trustworthy and collaborative relationships with them. These strong relationships can make your life easier and also help you see things you might miss locally. My personal favorite tool for managing product expectations is using simple rolling roadmaps, typically projected six months ahead. Be sure to always communicate promptly when things don't go as planned. This demonstrates your awareness of the products for which you are responsible.

Using toolsets such as a RACI matrix will help you to define your key stakeholders whilst also being transparent with their involvement on the project.

My rule is that I want to hear about prospective features from at least one end user (preferably at least five) on how the product/feature helps them to solve their problems. A request from a single customer/user, no matter how large, is only tailored to their requirements, and standard products should always include requirements from the majority of customers who buy the product. Of course, I listen to my sales team, stakeholders, and dev staff, but sales' role is to get the order, and dev teams often focus on the tech and not the product business. And yes, that means that I say no far more often than I say yes.

Another advantage to keeping on top of stakeholder views is that you can more easily identify risks as they relate to territorialism, ego, wavering commitment, and passive-aggressiveness as change obstacles.

Open communication and collaboration create a synergy between the company and its stakeholders. This collaborative approach ensures that the platform stays relevant, efficient, and user-friendly, driving continuous improvement and providing a solution that truly meets the needs of its users. As a user or stakeholder, actively participating in this communication and collaboration process allows me to have a direct impact on shaping the platform and maximizing its benefits.

You might not have access to all the tools, bells and whistles you need to make your job easy. When all else fails, get creative to maximize the tools at your disposal to communicate your product's value. There are a host of open source tools available to create mockups, collect user feedback, record and present demos, and document progress. Remember that teams have been innovating and building great products well before the automation and AI tools we are beginning to use on a daily basis. A great product will speak for itself if you can bring forth the value offering your customers need. From there, the growth, and necessary tools to iterate and scale your product, will often follow.

Please note, it does not matter what tool you use if you are not ensuring the message is being received. The only way one can make sure this happens is by following up with key stakeholders by having individual discussions. Through this method of in-person follow-up, I have managed to avoid and circumvent many pitfalls that were unforeseen in the planning of the projects. Remember every tool and process is iterative.

Just like your product should be adaptable, so should you. It helps to take a breather and reset sometimes. It’s easy to get lost in the weeds when a tool isn’t working as expected or specific requirements weren’t met, but zoom out and remember the end goal instead. How else can you achieve a similar outcome? How much does this particular speed bump impact the overall mission? Get scrappy and pivot where needed.

One thing many PMs deal with is the mindset of management/stakeholders. Try continually honing expectations, and one of the biggest things: always be reinforcing that (most of the time) an MVP will always continue to be improved upon. Often, both internal stakeholders (especially executives) and external customers are at risk of being caught off guard if a feature or product doesn’t look the way they expect right out of the gate. It happens all the time. Reiterate that the end of a Sprint doesn’t mean they get what they get. In software, we never stop iterating.

When managing multiple product expectations and dependencies, the product team at Linkz AI must carefully consider factors such as speed, quality, cost, scope, features, design, usability, performance, security, and compliance. For instance, adding more features might enhance the platform's capabilities, but it could also increase complexity and development time. Striking the right balance between offering cutting-edge functionalities and maintaining user-friendliness is crucial to avoid overwhelming users with unnecessary complexity.

Managing diverse expectations and dependencies involves a nuanced approach. A Product Manager serves as the linchpin connecting various stakeholders, each with their own unique perspectives and needs. PM's primary responsibilities include understanding the 'why' and the 'what' of the product we're building. A PM prioritizes features based on strategic goals and dependencies, negotiates trade-offs, and communicates a cohesive product vision to all involved parties. This ensures that everyone is aligned with a singular focus, minimizing conflicts and streamlining development. Open dialogue and regular updates help maintain this alignment, even as conditions change.

Vision and Business strategy should come from founders.. I believe to be stubborn on Vision and flexible on strategy based on Jeff Bezos principals implemented in Amazon. Any new demands come from multiple stakeholders, having two thumb rules helps in managing the complexity. Is it a first of all a problem ? Whether solving the problem helps in attaining my business strategy by improving revenue or decreasing customer costs or improving user experience.? Other than above are all noise and will stop you from achieving the short term goals. This may not apply to early stage as the business strategy is more likely to keep the customers engaged and help them realise wheher they are finding value in the product

It works well if stakeholders from multiple products are communicated well else it create chaos and delays or even destroys the product goals. This is one of the many major actionable item. And the 2nd most important one is be flexible enough to explore dive deep in requirements been developed.

Resistance. With all change comes resistance to that change. In particular with those users who find the current product to be a near-perfect fit. Or the necessity of adding complexity to add features. Imagine as you start managing the project there will be multiple points of conflict, not just the obvious, and often with people not able to truly articulate their issues.

Create a culture of transparency and accountability as much as possible. Having a shared roadmap (preferably focused on outcomes rather than features) available to all stakeholders goes a long way in reminding people that product is never idle.