Is My Product Team Any Good - Bruce McCarthy.pdf

1. Is My Product
Team Any Good?
How to Measure + Evaluate Product Culture
in Organizations

2. @d8a_driven
ABOUT ME

3. @d8a_driven
PRODUCT MANAGER
DIRECTOR
VP
CHIEF PRODUCT OFFICER
PRESIDENT
CEO
STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS
ENGINEERING MANAGER
UX DESIGNER
DATA ANALYST
MARKETING
SALES
SCRUM MASTER
ENTERPRISE COACH
STARTUP ADVISOR
TRAINER
MENTOR
AUTHOR
SPEAKER
Bruce McCarthy
Founder, Product Culture

4. @d8a_driven

5. @d8a_driven

6. PRODUCT-MARKET FIT
100+ PEOPLE
SERIES B+
I FOCUS ON SCALE-UPS:
@d8a_driven

7. @d8a_driven
SUCCESSFUL
PRODUCT TEAMS

8. LEADERSHIP
STRUCTURE
CULTURE
SUCCESSFUL PRODUCT TEAMS NEED
@d8a_driven

9. @d8a_driven
LEADERSHIP

10. BUILDING YOUR PRODUCT TEAM

11. STRATEGY
DEVELOPMENT
GO TO MARKET
ALIGNMENT

12. Leadership Over Management
CPO NEEDS QUESTIONS
INFLUENCE
• PART OF EXEC TEAM?
• CONFIDENCE OF TEAM/OTHER EXECS
EXPERIENCE
• EXPERIENCE AT THIS STAGE + BEYOND?
• TEAM SIZE?
• B2B VS. B2C
FOCUS ON TEAM
• WHAT ARE YOU WORKING ON?
• WHAT’S YOUR WEEK LIKE?
• TELL ME ABOUT A FAILURE ON YOUR TEAM

13. @d8a_driven
STRUCTURE

14. Product Managers Gain Focus
RATIO PAST TREND
PM:PRODUCT 1:3 1:1
PM:PMM 3:1 1:1
PM:UX 5:1 1:1
PM:ENG 1:10 1:5

15. TEAMS EMPOWER CUSTOMERS
COMPANY CUSTOMER TEAMS
EBAY BUYERS
SELLERS
TRIPADVISOR HOTELS
RENTALS
THINGS TO DO
RESTAURANTS
ECOMMERCE PLATFORM CONSUMERS
STORE ASSOCIATES
MERCHANDISERS
OPERATIONS

16. Matrix Structure

17. @d8a_driven
PRODUCT
CULTURE

18. SKILLS+PRACTICES
TOOLS+TECH
OKRS+KPIS
PRODUCT MGMT
PRODUCT CULTURE IS NOT
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19. SHARED ASSUMPTIONS
ABOUT WHY WE’RE
HERE, HABITS OF MIND,
WAYS OF WORKING.
PRODUCT CULTURE IS
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20. MANY FUNCTIONS SHARE
A MISSION TO SCALABLY
MAKE THEIR MAKE THEIR
CUSTOMERS SUCCESSFUL
PRODUCT CULTURE EMERGES WHEN
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21. @d8a_driven
EVALUATING
THE TEAM

22. BEHAVIORS
• Focus on making your customer awesome
• Share a compelling vision of the future
• Empower teams to pursue that vision
• Leverage enablers of scale

23. Making Your Customer Awesome
LOOK FOR QUESTIONS
TARGET CUSTOMER + PROBLEM
• WHO IS YOUR TARGET CUSTOMER?
• WHAT PROBLEM DO YOU SOLVE FOR THEM?
REGULAR DISCOVERY
• TELL ME ABOUT YOUR MOST RECENT CUSTOMER
CONTACT
VALIDATION DISCIPLINE
• WHAT METRIC ARE YOU TRYING TO MOVE WITH YOUR
LATEST FEATURE/RELEASE?
• WHAT WAS THE LAST FEATURE/PRODUCT YOU KILLED?

24. A Vision of the Future
LOOK FOR QUESTIONS
MISSION OVER WORK • WHAT IS YOUR/YOUR TEAM’S CURRENT GOAL?
CLEAR DIFFERENTIATOR
• WHAT’S THE MAIN REASON PEOPLE CHOOSE YOUR
PRODUCT OVER ALTERNATIVES?
STRATEGIC ROADMAP • WHAT’S YOUR 3-YEAR PLAN?

25. Empowered Teams
LOOK FOR QUESTIONS
PRODUCT TEAMS • WHAT TEAM ARE YOU ON?
OWNERSHIP
• WHO DECIDES WHAT YOU WORK ON?
• WHAT DOES YOUR TEAM OWN?
AUTONOMY
• WHAT HAPPENED THE LAST TIME YOU CUT A FEATURE
OR SLIPPED A DATE?

26. Enablers of Scale
LOOK FOR QUESTIONS
BUILD ONCE, SELL MANY
• WHAT WAS THE LAST CUSTOMIZATION YOU DID FOR YOUR
PRODUCT?
• WHAT WAS THE LAST FEATURE REQUEST YOU GRANTED?
BUSINESS OBJECTIVES
• WHAT DOES YOUR PRODUCT CONTRIBUTE TO THE
COMPANY?
• WHO OWNS P&L?
BUY OVER BUILD
• WHAT WAS THE LAST BUILD VS. BUY DECISION YOU/YOUR
TEAM MADE?

27. BEHAVIORS
• Focus on making your customer awesome
• Share a compelling vision of the future
• Empower teams to pursue that vision
• Leverage enablers of scale

28. @d8a_driven
INTERVIEWING
THE TEAM

29. Interview Tips
• Don’t just talk to Product people
• Ask them to rate the awesomeness of their job right now + why
• Have followup questions ready
• Take detailed notes
• Use unattributed quotes as evidence
• Working on a measurable survey instrument

30. @d8a_driven
To learn more:
Visit productculture.org
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ONE THING on Product Culture

31. @d8a_driven
QUESTIONS?