Recent Blog Posts

I wrote two posts for the Forrester blog that touch on popular subjects in recent client discussions:

• Roles and Responsibilities for Product Management and Portfolio Marketing: How Much Do They Matter?: I often field questions like “Who should be responsible for [X]?” (where X is a specific activity or deliverable like market sizing, launch planning, or creating a product growth plan). In this blog post, I address whether the answer to these questions really matters, and what you maybe should be asking instead.
• Four Secrets Of Successful Upskilling (That Youâ€re Probably Not Doing): I speak with a lot of product management leaders who want to improve the skills and competencies of the product manager on their teams. While this is an admirable area on which to focus, so many of them focus on the wrong things and don’t actually end up improving skills, at least not nearly to the level that they could or should. This blog post covers some of the keys to success that I’ve found from working on upskilling with lots of product management leaders.

Upcoming Presentations and Events

It’s great to see that even with the pandemic there’s no shortage of great product management webcasts, virtual meetings, conferences, and other events. It’s easier than ever to access great product management insight regardless of your location or ability to travel. Here’s just a few of the events where you can find me in the coming months:

• Tuesday, February 9: I’ll be presenting on The Evolving Product Management Function as part of a series of online presentation. Tickets are free, and here’s the description: “Product management is maturing at a fast rate, and the nature of product management work is evolving. This means that the function no longer consists of one-size-fits-all product managers; different types of product managers, sub-functions, and roles/specializations are emerging. This session will look at the new roles and sub-functions within product management and define what a modern product management organization looks like.”
• May 3-6 is the annual Forrester B2B Summit North America. This is our flagship B2B event, bringing product, marketing and sales leaders together to highlight ways they can work together better to accelerate growth. Like last year, we’ll be 100% virtual, but we’ll still have fantastic sessions like World-Class Product Management: What It Looks Like And How To Get There; Leveraging Product Management Technology For Digital Product Success; Stake Your Claim: How To Position Offerings To Gain Market Advantage; and Success Through Product Portfolio Management: Strategically Defining And Managing An Offering Portfolio. I’ll be presenting in two sessions: one looking at how product management needs to think beyond just products and look at the overall product experience; and another that dives into what “value-add” products are and why they’re so important to drive growth and customer obsession.

Product Management Tip-A-Day

I started a few new habits for 2021 (I don’t like calling them resolutions). One of them was to try and post a product management tip every day in 2021. I’m 35+ days in and keeping up the streak so far.

You can see these by following me on Twitter (@jefflash) or following the hashtag #ProdMgmtDailyTip. You can also follow me on LinkedIn (here’s how to follow someone on LinkedIn) via my profile page, or you can follow the #prodmgmtdailytip hashtag there too.

The post Upcoming Presentations; Recent Blog Posts; Product Management Tip-a-Day appeared first on How To Be A Good Product Manager.

I’ve done a lot of different types of presentations, but this Wednesday, August 26 I’ll be participating in my first ever LinkedIn Live session. The event — Customer Research in the COVID Era — is at 12pm US Eastern time / 9am US Pacific and will feature a live video conversation where you can join in by posting questions and comments in real-time.

I’m excited to be co-hosting this session with my Forrester colleague Kelly Price, a senior analyst serving customer experience (CX) professionals. Part of Kelly’s research focuses on customer research practices, and she and I have had several great conversations about customer research and the role that CX professionals, user researchers, and product managers play. I’m looking forward to continuing that conversation live on video and taking your questions, particularly around how to continue to research customer needs in a socially distanced way.

The LinkedIn Live event is free and open to all — learn more and sign up here.

Product Momentum Podcast: Take An Objective Approach to Prioritization

I was honored to be a guest on Episode 32 of the Product Momentum podcast, where I spoke with hosts Sean Flaherty and Paul Gebel about a wide range of topics. While the main focus was on approaches to prioritization — and whether it’s possible for product manager to be truly objective when prioritizing enhancements or items on the roadmap — we also discussed how to find unspoken customer needs, the importance of vision and strategy, and why the role of product manager is so often misunderstood. You can listen online on the Product Momentum website or wherever you get your podcasts.

Whatâ€s Hot on Twitter

Here are some of my tweets that have generated the most interest recently. To read more, or get these in real-time, join the 10k+ others who follow me at @jefflash:

Customers are unlikely to remember exactly WHEN you launched a product, but they are very likely to remember IF you released a product that wasn’t ready to be launched.#prodmgmt #prodmktg

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) August 18, 2020

Very cool sketchnote of my @ProductCampRTP session on Product Roadmaps (and 2 other sessions); thanks to @drawinginsight for the great graphic recording! More #productcamprtp #prodmgmt visuals at https://t.co/2hoTlwI7ES pic.twitter.com/A4OPI2fmTV

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) July 9, 2020

What do world-class #prodmgmt teams do differently? @jefflash shares the results of his extensive research at #producttank, & helps us excel 🥇 https://t.co/COZD0vaexC

— Mind the Product (@MindtheProduct) August 3, 2020

The post LinkedIn Live session; Product Momentum Podcast appeared first on How To Be A Good Product Manager.

My last post on this blog was February 9, 2020. A lot has changed in the world in the last 4 months. Part of the reason that I haven’t posted here is I’ve been so busy with helping product management leaders and product managers deal with the impact of COVID-19 on product management — hosting virtual discussions with product leaders, giving advice 1-on-1 product management clients, and doing a lot of research and writing.

If you’re not a Forrester SiriusDecisions client, that’s okay — I’ve published two posts on the SiriusDecisions blog on this topic, including one that provides access to a complimentary copy of a recent research report:

• Seven Areas for Product Management to Lead in a Time of Crisis
• Product Management During a Market Crisis: Seven Actions to Take

Upcoming Presentations: Summer 2020

Though in-person events are put on hold, that hasn’t stopped my speaking schedule.

• I recorded a webcast with John Hurley, Product Marketing Director at Amplitude: How to Make Smarter Product Bets with Customer Insights. If you missed it, not to worry — you can watch the recorded webcast.
• Next week, I’ll be presenting at Forrester CX North America; my session on Tuesday, June 16 is titled What Your Future Customer Will Want and covers how you can start to identify future customer needs. Tickets are still available!
• On July 2, I’ll be part of what (I think) is the first-ever “virtual” ProductCamp; ProductCampRTP is hosting a virtual unconference spread out over 4 consecutive Thursdays. I’ll be covering an always-popular topic Best Practices for Product Roadmaps. Register for this free event now; the sessions start this Thursday, June 11.

What’s Hot on Twitter

Here are some of my tweets that have generated the most interest recently. To read more, or get these in real-time, join the 10k+ others who follow me at @jefflash:

Product leaders: what has changed for you in the past weeks? I’m curious about the implications of the pandemic on #prodmgmt (besides working remotely).

Have you moved planned launches? Adjusted pricing? Changed your roadmap? Or has not much changed from a #product perspective?

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) March 31, 2020

Unfortunately there are a lot of great product management professionals out of work due to the coronoavirus crisis, so I want to do what I can to help. If I hear about any open *remote* #prodmgmt roles, I’ll share them and tag them with #remoteprodmgmtjob.

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) May 8, 2020

Companies focus so much attention on NEW products when the bulk of the revenue (& expense) is on growing EXISTING products. @Lisagsinger said existing products are “the middle child” (oft forgotten); @RobinWhiting1 has a write-up of her #SDSummit session https://t.co/gL9OyqcGC0

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) May 6, 2020

I think “A Quiet Place 2” should be a feel-good movie about a post-COVID world where a guy works from home the entire day in complete silence while his kids are at school and his spouse is at her office job.

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) May 6, 2020

– Sales is focused on this month/quarter
– Marketing is focused on this year
– Product management is focused on next year

Agree or disagree? Should it be this way?

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) May 12, 2020

“A 10xer is someone who brings 10 times the value to their company as compared to their peers.” There are some great tips in here – particularly for new graduates, these are great practices (and attitude/mindsets) to adopt as you enter the workforce https://t.co/6isbAmq5x0

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) May 22, 2020

Great term I learned today from @mbbaustin. “Accordion” topic: (n) an item on an agenda that could take as much or as little time as is available; also works for presentations that can be done quickly or stretched out to fill time.

[Aside: How have I not heard this before?]

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) May 22, 2020

“We have no competitors” is a lame excuse for #prodmgmt. You’re always competing against something — even if you have a revolutionary innovation, you’re competing against the status quo, which is sometimes the toughest competitor.

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) June 3, 2020

Great practical and timely tips from Kelly Price of @forrester on how to conduct customer research remotely; highly recommended for #prodmgmt, #ux, #cx https://t.co/DXH4cgjKDd

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) May 1, 2020

My solo vibraphone cover of the (social distancing-themed) “All By Myself” (yes, the Eric Carmen song, though you may know the Celene Dion version) is featured today as part of the @forrester/@ForresterLife #TinyConcert series. #FridayFeeling https://t.co/ENCpZsT5eW

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) April 3, 2020

The post COVID-19’s Impact on Product Management; Upcoming Presentations appeared first on How To Be A Good Product Manager.

You may remember me posting last fall about some research we were working on at SiriusDecisions/Forrester to understand the biggest challenges and priorities of product management leaders. We had a great response — thanks to all who participated! — and the results are now available.

You can read a summary of the findings in this blog post — What Are The Top Product Management Leadership Priorities For 2020? — which was published on Forbes.com (pretty cool!). Weâ€ve also summarized some of the key findings in the free e-book â€œProduct Management Leadership Priorities for 2020.”

Your Input Needed: What Product Management Loves (and Hates!) About Marketing and Sales Leaders Sales

Think of the best/worst marketing and sales leaders you ever worked with. What was so great/bad about them?

I’m working on some research at Forrester/SiriusDecisions that focuses on what product/marketing/sales leaders do to hinder each other and how they can help each other be more effective.

I’d love to hear your stories about great or horrible sales/marketing leaders (no need to share the names of the people/companies!) you’ve worked with and why you loved or hated them.

You can share your stories by commenting on these LinkedIn posts where I put out the call for stories about sales leaders and stories about marketing leaders and stories about marketing leaders. If you don’t want to comment publicly, you can also contact me directly. I greatly appreciate anything you’re willing to share!

Upcoming Product Management Events this Spring

My schedule is filling up with some good events this spring. Some more things are in the works, but here’s definitely where you’ll be able to see and hear me in person:

• ProductCamp St. Louis (Saturday, March 7, 2020): We’re on track for record-breaking registration (250+ participants already!) for this 9th annual event which I help organize.
• SiriusDecisions Summit (May 3-6, 2020): Our big annual event will be back in Austin, TX for the second year. It’s the must-attend event for 3500+ b-to-b product, marketing and sales leaders in the most well-respected, high-performing companies in the world today. The full agenda is now available; I’m helping to coordinate the Product Management track, and I’ll be presenting a number of sessions, including one on the new ecosystem of product management and what a modern product management organization looks like.

Whatâ€s Hot on Twitter

Here are some of my tweets that have generated the most interest recently. To read more, or get these in real-time, join the 10k+ others who follow me at @jefflash:

Thereâ€s a big difference between selling your product in a way thatâ€s easiest for you as the supplier/vendor and selling your product in a way thatâ€s best for your buyers. pic.twitter.com/nb6kkT3VoV

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) September 23, 2019

What are the core responsibilities of a #product manager?
How is #b2b #prodmgmt different than #b2c?
What skills does a good product manager need?
How is #agile used in #productmanagement?@jessica_lillian + I tackle these questions and more https://t.co/InnSeW1ddu

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) November 12, 2019

Roadmap tip for #prodmgmt: Don’t “name” your launches based on dates (e.g. “March 2020 Release”).
a) Many (most?) teams aren’t great at hitting dates; what if your “March” release is late?
b) Dates don’t describe value. Customers care more about “Improved Security” than “March”

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) January 31, 2020

Smart move, @cvspharmacy, putting chicken soup on an endcap, at eye level, right across from the Pharmacy counter, just above the cold/flu medicine. pic.twitter.com/K68xmMoou6

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) December 4, 2019

Should you make your #B2B product #pricing public? @siriusdecisions†@Lisagsinger explains what #prodmgmt & #prodmktg should consider when making the decision https://t.co/pG8mgzxbMf

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) December 5, 2019

A very cool sketchnote of my “Best Practices for #Product Roadmaps” presentation at the @productizedconf #prodmgmt conference last month in Lisbonhttps://t.co/r1O4sYGbv9

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) December 20, 2019

According to the @LinkedIn 2020 Emerging Jobs Report (https://t.co/uuarb1vRCO), #Product Owner is one of the top 15 emerging jobs in the U.S. It’s a good time to be in #prodmgmt!#productmanagement #agile #scrum pic.twitter.com/x3qg3FGSxE

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) December 19, 2019

This is a fantastic + super-detailed guide from @jkolko to the customer research process; I especially like tips around “atomizing” the notes + getting them out of .doc form (hat tip to @steveportigal for the heads-up). Good for #ux #cx #prodmgmt #prodmktg https://t.co/yxu6NCSb77

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) November 22, 2019

The post Top Product Management Leadership Priorities For 2020; Working Better with Sales and Marketing Leaders; Spring Events appeared first on How To Be A Good Product Manager.

As part of some ongoing research I’m leading at SiriusDecisions to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of b-to-b product management organizations, we’re conducting a short 5-question survey of product management leaders to gather more data on their challenges and priorities. We conducted a similar survey in 2014, so this will allow us to see trends and changes over the past five years.

Will you take 3 minutes to participate?

We’ve already received a ton of great responses, but we’re keeping the survey open through Thursday, September 12, 2019. In return for your participation, you will receive a summary of the research findings. Please respond now before the survey closes!

Product Management Excellence: What World-Class Product Management Teams Do Differently

In my last post, I mentioned that I was going to be presenting at the August 22 ProductTank SF meeting, as part of an evening focusing on product leadership. There was a great turnout and lots of interest in the topic. If you weren’t able to make it, a summary of what I presented — and some more “bonus” material! — is available in the free SiriusDecisions e-book Product Management Excellence.

Whatâ€s Hot on Twitter

Here are some of my tweets that have generated the most interest (or Iâ€ve enjoyed the most) recently. To read more, or get these in real-time, join the 9900+ others who follow me at @jefflash:

Realization yesterday as I was explaining a concept to a #prodmgmt client: If a picture is worth 1000 words, then a good metaphor is worth 1000 pictures.

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) August 8, 2019

"Data Scientists Arenâ€t Just About The Numbers — And Other Lessons From IDEO About The Collision Between Design And Data Science." Interesting insights from my @forrester colleague @ahhogan; relevant not just to #ux and #datascience but #prodmgmt too https://t.co/aPY8aDhJDo

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) August 23, 2019

The post 2020 Product Management Priorities; Product Management Excellence E-book appeared first on How To Be A Good Product Manager.

The team that I lead at SiriusDecisions — our Product Management Research and Advisory service — is growing! We’re looking for an experienced product management leader who is ready for the next stage and challenge in their career. If you….

• Have a passion for b-to-b product management
• Love to solve challenging product innovation and lifecycle management problems
• Get a sense of accomplishment from helping others

…. then you could be the next addition to the SiriusDecisions product line team at Forrester. Read more about what the job entails and what we’re looking for in the full job description. If you’re interested and think you could be a fit, apply today!

Leveling Up Your Product Leadership Skills: August 22 in San Francisco

I’ll be in San Francisco in a few weeks to present at the August 22 ProductTank SF meeting, covering Product Management Excellence: What World-Class Product Management Teams Do Differently. Here’s a summary of the presentation:

Product management has not always been one of those evidence-focused fields. Product managers have historically “fallen” into the role, learning on the job by watching others who also learned on the job. Although product management leaders recommend and coach their teams on certain approaches that seem logical, the reality is that there has been little evidence to support certain product management practices or shed light on important aspects that may have gone unnoticed — until now.

We conducted research to identify the characteristics that drive product management excellence – product management teams that perform at a higher level than their peers. This session is for anyone leading or part of a product management team who wants to know what are the factors that are truly important in creating a product management function that can repeatedly produce products that achieve commercial success.

If you’re in the area, I hope you’ll join me at ProductTank SF meeting on August 22!

What’s Hot on Twitter

"Our #product managers are spending too much time understanding customer needs and not enough time discussing technical details with developers" is not a phrase that I hear that often from #prodmgmt leaders.

Just sayin'.

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) June 5, 2019

Instead of #prodmgmt as CEO, think about it as the conductor of the #product orchestra. Here's a recap of my presentation at the inaugural @Product_Craft conference that explains why. https://t.co/wJoHljTxUc

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) June 21, 2019

Faster delivery is all the rage. ("Let's push out new features/updates weekly… daily… hourly!")

BUT… this ONLY matters (A) if you monitor/learn/adjust post-launch & (B) if customers/users are actually aware of what's new.

Otherwise, it's just a vanity #prodmgmt exercise.

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) June 6, 2019

Iâ€m just a little bit too excited about this kit I (finally!) put together to use for client #prodmgmt workshops. So much facilitation/collaboration goodness in one little container. pic.twitter.com/ysToOGjtgY

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) May 30, 2019

Organizational characteristics that support #innovation, according to @guyraz
1) Problem to be solved
2) Culture that encourages risk-taking
3) Shared sense of mission built around a shared story#ProductCraftConf #prodmgmt

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) May 9, 2019

The easiest way to improve velocity of an agile development team is to have them work on features that customers actually want, will use and value.

Potential gains from operational/process improvements likely pale compared to gains from stopping work on low-value enhancements.

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) July 9, 2019

The post SiriusDecisions is Hiring; Join me in San Francisco in August appeared first on How To Be A Good Product Manager.

Many product teams – especially those working on software-as-a-service offerings – spend most of their time and energy enhancing existing products. Unfortunately, randomly adding features to products without a plan for making sure users know about and get value from them is a common mistake I see product managers make. My post on the SiriusDecisons blog — Three Tips for Getting More Value From Product Enhancements — provides some simple recommendations to make sure that all of the hard work to add enhancements is worth it to your customers and your business.

Minimum Viable Products: I Do Not Think They Mean What You Think They Mean

I’ve said this before here and I’ll say it again — minimum viable product (MVP) is one of the most misused and misunderstood phrases in product management. Many product teams apply the term MVP incorrectly, leading to confusion and frustration from colleagues and customers, as well as missed opportunities. My post on the SiriusDecisions blog — Minimum Viable Products: I Do Not Think They Mean What You Think They Mean – describes what distinguishes good MVPs from bad ones, and how product managers can structure MVPs appropriately to get better results.

Product Management Events in the Next Two Weeks

The end of April and beginning of May is a busy time for me — here’s where you can catch me live and in person…

• Monday, April 29: Twin Cities Product Conf. At this one-day conference in Minneapolis, MN, I’ll be presenting “How Can Product Managers ‘Be More Strategic’? Foundational Behaviors of Strategic Product Management.”
• Sunday-Wednesday May 5-8: SiriusDecisions Summit. Our big annual event (in Austin, TX this year!) is coming up soon and there’s still time to register! It’s the must-attend event for 3500+ b-to-b product, marketing and sales leaders in the most well-respected, high-performing companies in the world today. We have a ton of great content for product management leaders and you can learn more about Why Product Management Leaders Should Attend SiriusDecisions 2019 Summit.
• Thursday, May 9: ProductCraft The Conference. I’ll be heading to San Francisco for this first-year conference, where my presentation The Maestro: What Orchestra Conductors Can Teach Us About Product Management will offer up an alternative to the analogy of “product manager as CEO of the product” and highlight the parallels between orchestra conductors and product managers.

What’s Hot on Twitter

Here are some of my tweets that have generated the most interest recently, including one that is my most popular Tweet to date! To read more, or get these in real-time, join the 9600+ others who follow me at @jefflash:

Understanding needs is more than just randomly talking to customers or “doing a survey.” To truly understand buyer/user/customer needs, identify the outcomes a persona cares about and the value they get when those outcomes are realized or improved.#prodmgmt #prodmktg #ux #b2b pic.twitter.com/56t0JI0k5G

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) April 17, 2019

Schrödinger’s opportunity: (n) A potential sale that may or may not still be alive because the sales rep hasn’t heard anything from the prospective buyer.

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) March 26, 2019

Here’s a preview of some new research I’ve been working on related to using #agile not JUST in #prodmgmt/#productdevelopment, but how it can help improve alignment in #b2b orgs across #marketing & #sales (and other functions!) too. https://t.co/AYtefPqyS2

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) March 27, 2019

Great tips from @bethcaplow for #prodmktg (and #prodmgmt!) — 3 Ways to Avoid the Tug of War Between #Agile Development and #Product Launches https://t.co/YGjRHcTDl1

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) April 1, 2019

The post Getting Value from Product Enhancements; Good MVPs; Upcoming Product Management Events appeared first on How To Be A Good Product Manager.

I’m conducting some research related to the current state of agile adoption within b-to-b organizations — please take 10 minutes to take part in this survey.

My SiriusDecisions colleague Cristina De Martini and I are looking at agile adoption — not just within product management, but across multiple functions/departments including marketing and sales. Cristina and I will present the results of this research (and more!) during our presentation Aligned Meets Agile: Secrets to Putting Speed and Strategy to Work Across the Revenue Engine at the SiriusDecisions Summit 2019 (May 5-8 in Austin, TX).

We’d love to have you join us in Austin (see more details below), but also in exchange for your participation in the survey, SiriusDecisions will provide you with a summary of the results, if you’re interested.

If you’ve benefited from any of my writing and research on product management, I hope you’ll take a few minutes to participate in the survey. While you’re at it — if you have any colleagues in other functions (particularly marketing and sales) who are leveraging agile or involved in agile projects, please pass the survey along to them!

Product Management Events This Spring

My schedule is pretty packed participating in some great product management events this spring; here’s just a few of the places you can find me over the next few months.

• Thursday, March 28: Product School Webcast on Competitive Analysis. This free 30-minute webcast (with Q&A) will cover common mistakes that product managers make when conducting competitive analysis and a recommended approach for more useful and impactful competitive product analysis.
• Monday, April 29: Twin Cities Product Conf. At this one-day conference in Minneapolis, MN, I’ll be presenting “How Can Product Managers ‘Be More Strategic’? Foundational Behaviors of Strategic Product Management.”
• Sunday-Wednesday May 5-8: SiriusDecisions Summit. Our big annual event (in Austin, TX this year!) is the must-attend event for 3500+ b-to-b product, marketing and sales leaders in the most well-respected, high-performing companies in the world today. You can learn more about our dedicated product management track and other benefits for product leaders in this 1-minute video I recorded and on this page which covers Why Product Management Leaders Should Attend SiriusDecisions 2019 Summit. In addition to the Aligned Meets Agile session above I mentioned, I’ll be presenting a few times, including new research on how to succeed with minimum viable products (MVPs) and guidance for product teams to get more value out of enhancements.
• Thursday, May 9: ProductCraft The Conference. I’ll be heading to San Francisco for this first-year conference, where my presentation The Maestro: What Orchestra Conductors Can Teach Us About Product Management will offer up an alternative to the analogy of “product manager as CEO of the product” and share how product leaders can benefit from thinking like orchestra conductors.

Whatâ€s Hot on Twitter

Here are some of my tweets that have generated the most interest recently, including one that is my most popular Tweet to date! To read more, or get these in real-time, join the 9500+ others who follow me at @jefflash:

The post Agile Across the Organization; Product Management Events this Spring appeared first on How To Be A Good Product Manager.

The Four Key Factors That Drive Product Management Excellence

Product management has long been practiced based on “gut.” Few product managers have ever taken a course in product management and many have never even attended a training class. Product managers have historically “fallen” into the role, learning on the job by watching others who also learned on the job. Although product management leaders recommend and coach their teams on certain approaches that seem logical, the reality is that there has been little evidence to support certain product management practices or shed light on important aspects that may have gone unnoticed.

Until now.

At SiriusDecisions, we’ve identified the characteristics that drive product management excellence – product management teams that perform at a higher level than their peers. The results are summarized in my blog post The Four Key Factors That Drive Product Management Excellence and our new e-book, Product Management Excellence: The SiriusDecisions 2019 Playbook which you can download now.

SiriusDecisions Product Management Learning Library

Speaking of learning how to be a good product manager (which is one of the reasons you’re reading this blog, right?) one of the most common things I hear when talking to product management leaders is that they have a need to upskill and improve the competencies of their product management teams. Often this is because there are people new to product management, but in many cases it’s because there is a need to get a consistent set of knowledge, processes, and terminology in place among all product managers in the organization.

Upskilling doesn’t take place just in one hour or one day or one week; it’s an ongoing process that requires reinforcement. And, even when product managers learn (and adopt) best practices in one specific area, there is of course a lot more to learn given the wide range of product management responsibilities.

I spend most of my day every day helping product management teams understand and adopt best practices, but as I said, learning is an ongoing process. Over the past few months, we’ve been hard at work at SiriusDecisions building a new approach to online learning — not just a one-time course, but a library of resources that can help product managers learn best practices across the range of product management responsibilities and guide them through the adoption of those in their day-to-day work.

In this short (only 90 seconds!) video, I introduce the SiriusDecisions Product Management Learning Library and how it can help product managers at all levels of experience. You also see what’s included in the Learning Library, sign up for a demo, or purchase access online.

Moving from Products Towards Solutions
One other priority I hear from a lot of product management leaders — and CMOs, CEOs and others — is the desire to move from a model selling only standalone, one-off products to a model where the company is developing solutions. This has implications for product management, of course, but also for marketing, sales, and other functions that need to adjust.

That’s part of the reason I helped put together the new SiriusDecisions e-book Moving from Product to Solution Innovation, which reviews the benefits and challenges of moving to a solution-centered go-to-market strategy, introduces the SiriusDecisions Go-to-Market Architecture Model and explores considerations for product, marketing and sales teams!

What’s Hot on Twitter
Here are some of my tweets that have generated the most interest recently, including one that is my most popular Tweet to date! To read more, or get these in real-time, join the 9400+ others who follow me at @jefflash:

Happy “Update the Copyright Date on Your Website” Day!

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) January 1, 2019

Today is Jan 2, which means that if #prodmgmt did a *poor* job documenting/communicating the #product roadmap, customers/stakeholders are already asking why things on the roadmap for Q1 2019 aren't available yet, all the while #prodmgmt is planning on delivering them on Mar 31

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) January 2, 2019

I'll be there — will you? https://t.co/bqCAbSLZ1Q

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) January 11, 2019

It's that time of the year when #prodmktg is finalizing content for 2019 sales kickoffs (and many in #prodmgmt may be helping!). @Fabiszak offers some tips on how to do sales kickoff content right https://t.co/6qwNDAjXP6

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) December 24, 2018

The post Factors That Drive Product Management Excellence; Product Management Learning Library; Moving from Products Towards Solutions appeared first on How To Be A Good Product Manager.

â€Twas the night before product launch, when all through the team
Not a developer was coding, nor crafting a meme
The landing pages were posted on the website with care,
In hopes BANT-qualified prospects soon would be there;

The support staff were waiting on call at their desks,
While hoping the launch would not be a big mess
And marketers with personas, and I with my roadmap
Were hoping for revenue, acclaim and a nap.

And so begins my 2019 holiday-themed blog post: â€Twas the Night Before Product Launch: A SiriusDecisions Holiday Poem. If you enjoy the beginning, you’ll hopefully enjoy reading the rest of this holiday tale about a product launch that almost went off the rails.

Moving From On-Premises to SaaS: Product Management Implications
Though many newer organizations are building their products as software as a service (SaaS) from the beginning, many of the organizations I work with at SiriusDecisions still have a large number of their clients (and a large percentage of their revenue) dependent on on-premises versions of their software. For most of these organizations, a major priority is to migrate their technology – and customers – to the SaaS platform and put more focus and resources toward their SaaS offerings.

Companies transitioning legacy products from on-premises to software-as-a-service platforms must consider the impact on product management. In my blog post Moving From On-Premises to SaaS: Product Management Implications, I address some of the major considerations: an increased focus on agile, a new approach to launch, a new pricing/packaging strategy, and changes in metrics and measurement.

Product Management Planning for 2019
At the end of every year, at SiriusDecisions we look ahead to the major trends and areas that b-to-b leaders should be mindful of for the coming year. As we look ahead to 2019, we see increased recognition of product management as a key function, and growth in the discipline, though there are still challenges, and there is certainly room for improvement. My blog post Product Management Trends and Predictions for 2019 summarizes five of the key trends that product management leaders should focus on to enable improvements in the product management function – and the growth and success of the company – during the coming year.

You can also download a copy of the SiriusDecisions†Product Management: Planning Assumptions 2019 to learn more about these trends — plus a “bonus” sixth trend — and learn how to stay ahead of the curve, or listen to a recorded on-demand webcast to hear my colleague Lisa Singer and I discuss these trends in more detail.

What’s Hot on Twitter
Here are some of my tweets that have generated the most interest recently, including one that is my most popular Tweet to date! To read more, or get these in real-time, join the 9300+ others who follow me at @jefflash:

A product manager saying they are too busy with internal meetings to spend time with customers is like a doctor saying they are too busy with picking out the magazines for their waiting room to spend time with patients.#product #prodmgmt

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) September 27, 2018

Agile product management tip of the day: Don't write user stories that start "As [persona X]" unless you've agreed on and documented "persona X."

Otherwise, you're passing yourself off as "user/customer-centric" but without shared understanding of the user.#prodmgmt #agile

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) September 10, 2018

Every Bad #ProdMgmt #Product Research Survey Iâ€ve Ever Seen (part 1) pic.twitter.com/9j73624sYc

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) September 13, 2018

My kids werenâ€t impressed by the fact that I did a #prodmgmt presentation to ~1000 people at #industry18 yesterday but they were impressed by this “addition” I brought home to one of their favorite books (thanks @bjnovak!) pic.twitter.com/Ke0FTD3GDM

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) October 3, 2018

Getting on my grammar soapbox for my pet peeve phrase of the day: "New and Improved."

Something can't be both new AND improved; it can only be one or the other.

If it's NEW, it *didn't* exist before; but if it's improved, it must be better than something that already existed.

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) October 4, 2018

It's not enough to have metrics to gauge your product's success; you need a way to MEASURE those metrics.

Is the data you need being captured? Can you access it?

These #prodmgmt decisions need to happen as the product is being defined, not as you're preparing to release.

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) October 16, 2018

Russian Troll #HappyHalloween #dadjoke pic.twitter.com/omFVpOgUwP

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) October 31, 2018

Since it's Oct 1, this is a friendly #prodmgmt reminder to check your #product roadmap to see if what you said you'd deliver by the end of Q3 2018 is live.

If not… oops! Maybe you need a better way of documenting and communicating your roadmaps. https://t.co/DcfCQlr6ws

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) October 1, 2018

My neighbor is ushering in the holidays in his usual wonderful way; and then thereâ€s my house. pic.twitter.com/LERWT0Hbj5

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) November 27, 2018

If you've ever looked at something in the backlog and wondered "how did that get there?" from https://t.co/dIrSIo6mml #prodmgmt #prodmktg #product #agile #ux pic.twitter.com/k3MDPJG6M2

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) November 2, 2018

A turkey is just the minimum viable product version of a peacock.#prodmgmt #mvp #leanstartup #DeepThanksgivingThoughts

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) November 26, 2018

A big day and a new chapter for @SiriusDecisions and #prodmgmt leaders and their teams https://t.co/cM372HfBaH

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) November 27, 2018

The plural of anecdotes is not data, but a bunch of unsubstantiated opinions isn't data either, and I'll take anecdotes over opinions pretty much any day.#prodmgmt

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) December 6, 2018

The post Twas the Night Before Product Launch; Product Management Implications of Moving From On-Premises to SaaS; Product Management Planning for 2019 appeared first on How To Be A Good Product Manager.

You can also download a copy of the SiriusDecisions†Product Management: Planning Assumptions 2019 to learn more about these trends — plus a “bonus” sixth trend — and learn how to stay ahead of the curve, or listen to a recorded on-demand webcast to hear my colleague Lisa Singer and I discuss these trends in more detail.

Product Management Podcasts
I recently was a guest on two different product management podcasts, and it’s a complete coincidence I guess that both of them are hosted by guys named Eric:

• On The Schmidt List podcast, I talked with host Eric Schmidt about topics including the role of the product manager and why there’s often a lack of clarity, how agile is impacting product management, and some trends in tools and technology for product managers.
• On the Product Love podcast, host Eric Boduch and I had a wide-ranging discussion including how product management leaders need to support the product managers on their team, the most important traits of product managers, and some simple practical ways to be “customer-focused.”

Upcoming Product Management Events
Fall is a busy event season, and here are three product management events where you’ll be able to find me:

• Saturday, September 22: ProductCamp Pittsburgh. I’ll be delivering a lunch keynote on Creating a Best-in-Class Product Management Organization at the first-ever ProductCamp in Pittsburgh, plus potentially presenting on other topics if my session proposals get selected, of course!
• Tuesday, October 2: INDUSTRY (Cleveland). The conference itself runs from October 1-3, though I’m on the agenda for Tuesday, presenting on Leading Product Management Product Management Leadership: “Beyond just ‘what does good product management look like,’ this talk is for product leaders looking to build, develop, manage and organize a world-class product management organization. Perfect for VPâ€s and CPOâ€s, this session will focus more on the teams and organizations that build product vs. the product itself.”
• Saturday, November 3: ProductCamp Twin Cities (Minneapolis). I’ve been to Minneapolis many times but this will be my first time at this long-running ProductCamp.

Hope to see you in person at one of these events!

What’s Hot on Twitter
Here are some of my tweets that have generated the most interest recently, including one that is my most popular Tweet to date! To read more, or get these in real-time, join the 9100+ others who follow me at @jefflash:

Every Bad #ProdMgmt Competitive Analysis Comparison Grid Iâ€ve Ever Seen pic.twitter.com/6CXS8z1pFd

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) August 23, 2018

It never ceases to amaze me how companies will spend days/weeks/months developing new product capabilities, but say they "don't have time" to first check whether customers actually want those capabilities or not.#prodmgmt 🤦

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) August 22, 2018

Product manager walks into a bar and orders a popular, well-known, easy-to-serve drink. Bartender instead spends hours responding to all of the salespeople who came later & demanded drinks no one else will ever order.#prodmgmtbarjoke #NationalTellAJokeDay

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) August 16, 2018

Product manager walks into a bar, sees someone who looks thirsty, offers to buy them a drink. #prodmgmt orders, pays, spends 30 mins describing drink.

Person responds they weren't actually thirsty & don't like half the ingredients anyway.#prodmgmtbarjoke #NationalTellAJokeDay

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) August 16, 2018

"We don't need a plan. We're an #agile company." 🤦https://t.co/8BN9uX4kXa pic.twitter.com/RlOwAzhNKo

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) September 4, 2018

I just updated the Facebook iPhone app and somethingâ€s off with the alignment of the icon and I canâ€t put into words how much this is bothering me pic.twitter.com/xUAqCmQTHW

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) August 30, 2018

The post Planning for 2019; Product Management Podcasts; Upcoming Events You Can Find Me At appeared first on How To Be A Good Product Manager.

August 8 in Denver: Product Strategy on a Page
Next Wednesday, August 8, I’ll be in Denver to present at a meeting of Colorado Product, being held at General Assembly Denver. The topic I’ll be covering is Product Strategy on a Page:

Many product managers have an incomplete understanding of the various elements that make up a well-constructed product strategy. A product strategy that is unclear and incomplete – or overcomplicated – causes a company to waste resources and reduces the chance of product success. In this session, we will share a common definition of product strategy and its key elements and share with you a template for summarizing your productâ€s strategy on a single page. Attendees will have a chance to use and apply the template in the session itself.

It’s free to attend and from what I hear we’ve got a big crowd already registered, but there’s still room for more. Register for free via the General Assembly website and hope to see you there!

October 2 in Cleveland: Product Management Leadership
My “between the coasts” tour continues this fall (and I’m not complaining at all, given that I live in St. Louis) as I’m on the agenda for the INDUSTRY conference, which is held in Cleveland from October 1-3. There’s a great lineup of speakers, including actor, entrepreneur, and, as he’s known best in my household, children’s book author (yes, really!) BJ Novak. I’ll be talking about Product Management Leadership:

Beyond just “what does good product management look like,” this talk is for product leaders looking to build, develop, manage and organize a world-class product management organization. Perfect for VPâ€s and CPOâ€s, this session will focus more on the teams and organizations that build product vs. the product itself.

That’s a tall order, but I’m up for it! Learn more on the INDUSTRY website.

Preparing for the Board: What Boards of Directors Want From the Head of Product Management
If you’re a product leader, you’ve probably been given advice on how to present to salespeople, customers, and executives. But what about the board of directors of your company? With product management having a “seat at the table” in the executive ranks of more and more organizations, this means product leaders are often in the position of interacting with board members, though many have never been given any coaching or guidance on how to best work with the board. This new ebook I helped put together — Preparing for the Board: What Boards of Directors Want From the Head of Product Management — is based on research we at SiriusDecisions did with board members themselves.

What should product management executives do to prepare for board meetings? What should they include (or not include) in board presentations? How can product leaders best leverage the board outside of quarterly meetings? We cover these questions and more; clients have access to our full research on this topic, but anyone can download our ebook for a summary and our top recommendations.

What’s Hot on Twitter
It’s been a while since I’ve posted a summary of some of my tweets that have generated the most interest recently. To read more, or get these in real-time, join the 9000+ others who follow me at @jefflash:

"Minimum Viable Product" does not mean "a product that's missing key features but we can get it released & not feel too ashamed of it". Learn how MVPs *should* work in my blog post @ https://t.co/6CIqrpPZst & download @SiriusDecisions research on MVPs @ https://t.co/O9FqdqY1bD pic.twitter.com/T3WkpUA5kt

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) July 12, 2018

Posting this picture here so I can find it later, because I know I'll use it in a #prodmgmt presentation at some point (likely one on #agile)

[found at https://t.co/KsDScFcjeW] pic.twitter.com/t7wVWbkgsH

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) July 31, 2018

"Failing fast" isn't a goal.
LEARNING fast is the goal.

You want to learn so you don't waste unnecessary time/resources on something that doesn't meet customer/prospect needs.

But if you ignore what you learned previously & fail b/c of that, that's not success – it's a waste.

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) July 5, 2018

Product managers should be focused on customers/their needs, not on technology.

A "machine learning product manager" makes as much sense as a "screwdriver carpenter."

Focus on the customer NEED first, then figure out the best solution, THEN figure out what tech to use.

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) April 30, 2018

Having #product managers spend MORE time with customers isn't a GUARANTEE that they will better understand customer needs, but having #prodmgmt spend little-to-no time with customers is a pretty good way to guarantee that they WON'T.

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) April 25, 2018

People generally don't want a product that is "flexible" or "adaptable." They want a product that solves their needs.

When a buyer/user asks for "flexibility," they're really saying "the product as you've designed it won't meet my needs, so let me change it so it does."

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) May 24, 2018

Sure, #product management may be *interacting* with customers frequently… but is #prodmgmt

talking AT customers
or
listening TO customers?

There's a BIG difference between the two…

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) April 5, 2018

The post Upcoming Presentations in Denver and Cleveland; Product Management and Boards appeared first on How To Be A Good Product Manager.

Webcast: the SiriusDecisions Agile Engine for Product Management
Speaking of agile: in my work at SiriusDecisions, I interact with many companies that have implemented or are considering agile development approaches. However, many of them struggle to effectively integrate the day-to-day tactical agile activities with the broader strategic product management process and responsibilities.

This Tuesday, March 27, I’ll be hosting a webcast to share the SiriusDecisions Agile Engine for Product Management — a model we created to describe how product management’s strategic and lifecycle management responsibilities need to adapt and mesh with an agile product development approach. This webcast is intended for product management leaders who have already adopted or are considering adopting agile and are looking to improve the effectiveness of their product management team in an agile environment.

The webcast will start at 12 noon ET (9am PT / 5pm GMT); if you’re unable to attend it live, you can still register for the webcast and we’ll provide a link to the recording afterwards.

Why Product Management Leaders Should Attend the SiriusDecisions 2018 Summit
The SiriusDecisions Summit is our annual event where more than 3,000 b-to-b sales, marketing and product leaders gather for three full days packed with data-driven research, witness new innovations across the b-to-b space, and network with an elite community of their peers. The conference itself is composed of general sessions that will unveil the latest b-to-b insights, intimate breakout sessions with SiriusDecisions analysts on niche topics, and customer case study presentations, and we’ve added even more for b-to-b product management leaders this year including more product management-focused sessions and dedicated networking breakfasts.

We have a page dedicated to Why Product Management Leaders Should Attend SiriusDecisions 2018 Summit, or, if you prefer, you can watch this short YouTube video where I describe all that Summit has to offer.

Register now and use the code PMGMT_100OFF for $100 off your registration. Hope to see you there!

What’s Hot on Twitter
Here are a few of my recent tweets that have generated the most interest recently — including the return of the Product Management Bar Joke! To get these in real-time, join the 8700+ others who follow me at @jefflash:

A product manager walks into a bar. Well, it may eventually be developed into a bar, but since they're doing things lean, it's just a cardboard box acting as a table, a single plastic cup, a half-empty bottle of whiskey, and a cushion on the floor.#prodmgmtbarjoke #prodmgmt

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) March 13, 2018

Product manager walks into a bar.

BARTENDER: What'll you have?
#PRODMGMT: As a drinker, I want a beverage made w/fermented grain, water, yeast & hops so I feel refreshed, improve my mood & confidence & decrease my anxiety
B: Huh?
P: 1 beer
B: Coming right up
#prodmgmtbarjoke

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) March 14, 2018

Product manager walks into a bar, orders a drink from a developer, asks how much it'll cost & when it'll be ready. Dev refuses to answer. #prodmgmt gets upset, but forgets that when the dev's last estimate was off, the prod mgr threw a drink in the dev's face. #prodmgmtbarjoke

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) March 13, 2018

Pushing out releases more frequently (several times a month/week/day) DOESN'T MATTER if
– they include the WRONG features/changes
– customers/users DON'T KNOW about the changes
– customers/users (& sales, marketing, support, partners, etc) CAN'T HANDLE changes that frequently

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) February 12, 2018

New blog post: "Value-Based Pricing: What Is It? What Are the Benefits? How Do I Get Started?" Perspectives from @Lisagsinger on one of the most misunderstood elements of #b2b #prodmgmt https://t.co/xAjKuhmk0P pic.twitter.com/gYTrprZ3Aw

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) March 19, 2018

Spending time with customers who LOVE your product is gratifying, but spending time with customers who HATE (or don't use) your product can be much more beneficial. You may not always want to appease/convert them, but you'll certainly learn a lot. #prodmgmt

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) March 15, 2018

This is posted in my daughterâ€s classroom. Helpful reminders for 4th graders…. and for work environments too😉 pic.twitter.com/o6qqH2G6zv

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) March 16, 2018

A Shift from Engineering-Driven to Design-Driven Business Models; interesting perspectives on @uxmatters https://t.co/J5ebYZWIKw

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) February 12, 2018

"Most people don't actually think. They just take their 1st thought and go. Most people schedule themselves like lawyers & work in 5-8-minute increments, scheduled back to back. I actually schedule time to think. My 1st thought is never my best thought." https://t.co/oL0SQJstgA

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) February 21, 2018

The post Agile’s Impact on Product Management; SiriusDecisions 2018 Summit appeared first on How To Be A Good Product Manager.

While the priorities of product management leaders are fairly consistent, there are a four trends that are taking on increased importance for healthcare-focused product management that I cover in this post on the SiriusDecisions blog: increasing focus on solutions; compliance with a defined product lifecycle process; Better understanding of users, and the various types of users; and increased focus on value-based pricing.

Read more about these trends and the implications for product management teams and product leaders in the full blog post Four Healthcare Product Management Trends for 2018

Twitter Chat: February 13
Speaking of product management trends, I’ll be part of a SiriusDecisions Twitter Chat on Product Management Trends for 2018 on Tuesday, February 13 at 1pm ET / 10am PT / 18:00 GMT.

If you’ve never participated in a Twitter Chat, here’s how it works:

1. Log in to your Twitter account and go to the Twitter account @siriusdecisions on Tuesday, February 13th at 1pm ET.
2. We’ll pose a series of questions related to product management trends, and you reply with your answers. Make sure to use the hashtag #SiriusChat when you tweet so we (and others) can easily see your responses.

I’ll be answering the questions too, responding to your answers, and probably posing more questions. Follow the #SiriusChat hashtag to see all the action. We’ve got more information — and you can sign up to get a calendar reminder — on our Twitter Chat page.

What’s Hot on Twitter
Here are a few of my recent tweets that have generated the most interest recently; to get these in real-time, join the 8600+ others who follow me at @jefflash:

Product managers should care LESS about what features their competitors' products have and MORE about whether those competing products solve customer needs better than their own.

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) February 8, 2018

I made @danasolomon/@productplan's list of "2017â€s Most Interesting #Product Management Tweets": https://t.co/tVtQqH8Int. Other good #prodmgmt Tweets from @johncutlefish @ttorres @lissijean @destraynor @christianism & @jimsemick on the list too. Thanks for including me!

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) February 7, 2018

See the latest stats on #b2b buyers†#content preferences and #interaction preferences https://t.co/km0mDuU6AA via @SiriusDecisions

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) February 5, 2018

Upcoming Webcast: Agile Marketing: How Marketing Organizations Are Deploying Agile Marketing. Register for this Feb 22 @SiriusDecisions webcast featuring @cramoore https://t.co/yUtKctfAfz #agilemarketing #agile

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) January 30, 2018

The post Healthcare Product Management Trends; Twitter Chat appeared first on How To Be A Good Product Manager.

Helping Product Managers Triumph in an Agile World: The SiriusDecisions Agile Engine for Product Management
Many product management leaders in organizations that use agile as a product development process express that theyâ€re challenged to get their people to not just act as product owners in an agile/scrum sense, but as product managers who are responsible for the overall commercial success of the product. On an almost daily basis, I’m talking to product management leaders who find that agile is causing their product managers to focus too much on short-term tactical activities that are isolated from the broader product strategy and lifecycle. This isn’t a failure of agile but it is due to the lack of a structured way of getting product managers to connect whatâ€s happening at the sprint level to releases and product strategy. In this post on the SiriusDecisions blog — Helping Product Managers Triumph in an Agile World: The SiriusDecisions Agile Engine for Product Management — I explain more about how product teams can overcome these challenges and unveil our new framework that describes how product management’s strategic and lifecycle management responsibilities need to adapt and mesh with an agile product development approach.

Help! Sales Is Trying to Change My Product Roadmap!
Another topic that we’re hearing about regularly in our work with b-to-b product teams is the challenges of making progress on a strategic roadmap when salespeople are always “requesting” features or capabilities that threaten to derail your roadmap. In my post on the SiriusDecisions blog Help! Sales Is Trying to Change My Product Roadmap!, I offer some advice on how to shift your thinking (hint: It’s not your roadmap) and offer four specific tips to improve your innovation and product management processes to better leverage customer and sales feedback.

Upcoming Events
Spring is always a big season for events, and this is shaping up to be another busy one. There are a number of things on my calendar, but here’s a select few where you will be able to find me in person:

• SiriusDecisions Summit Canada: Thursday, March 1: I’m excited to be part of our first-ever Canadian Summit, being held at the Hyatt Regency Toronto. We’ve got a great lineup of presenters — both SiriusDecisions analysts and client guest keynotes. I’ll be presenting with my colleague Monica Behncke on The Audience-Centric Imperative: What Marketing and Product Leaders Must Do to Make the Critical Transformation to Audience-Centric Go-to-Market Models. You can get some other perspectives from our analyst presenters or just go ahead and get your tickets today!
• ProductCamp St. Louis: March 3: I’m helping to organize our 7th annual ProductCamp in the Gateway City. Last year we had over 400 registrants for a fantastic (and free!) day of learning and sharing among product people of all kinds.
• SiriusDecisions Summit: May 8-10: We’ll be back in Las Vegas this year for the biggest SiriusDecisions event, bringing more than 3,200 sales, marketing and product leaders together for three full days of data-driven best practices research, unveiling of new innovations across the b-to-b space and networking with an elite community of sales, marketing and product leaders. This year we’ll have a dedicated Product Management Track, featuring presentations on implementing value-based pricing, moving “beyond” agile, and product management infrastructure (a.k.a. tools and technologies for product management). Early bird pricing is good through February 28, so register now to secure a great deal!

What’s Hot on Twitter
Here are a few of my recent tweets that have generated the most interest recently; to get these in real-time, join the 8600+ others who follow me at @jefflash:

A product manager who doesnâ€t regularly spend time with customers is like a teacher who doesnâ€t regularly spend time with students.

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) October 10, 2017

Product roadmaps are still required in agile.

When you're agile, you may adjust aspects like
– the level of detail/fidelity in your roadmap
– time horizon
– frequency of updating

But anyone who says #prodmgmt shouldn't have a roadmap when using agile is just plain wrong.

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) November 16, 2017

I've been thinking about Design Thinking.

Should it just be called "Thinking"? The qualities of design thinking are how many children think naturally: observe, ideate, test, etc.

At some point, however, business/linear thinking becomes default, & "design thinking" is novel.

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) November 30, 2017

Dilbert on business cases: If reliable financial projections require ability to see into the future, but no one can see into the future, why do we ask for them? https://t.co/X3jeqBM75L #prodmgmt pic.twitter.com/uaHd3XfZh2

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) November 13, 2017

#Product #innovation processes should be FUNNELS not TUNNELS. Some ideas should get screened out so not everything going in gets approved.

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) November 8, 2017

Without a product strategy and roadmap, #prodmgmt is just committing random acts of enhancements.

(Even in agile.)

(*Especially* in agile.)

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) December 21, 2017

What It Takes to Become a Great Product Manager; nice to see #prodmgmt featured in @harvardbiz but the importance of product managers understanding customer needs / market opportunities seems to get downplayed/lost in here https://t.co/Cwa8UqqWYW

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) December 15, 2017

Launching a Minimum Viable Product without a plan to learn post-launch is like planning for the birth of the baby with no thought at all for how you're going to take care of it once it's born.

Learn the right way to use and leverage MVPs: https://t.co/O9FqdqY1bD#prodmgmt #MVP

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) December 4, 2017

There's a lot of talk how #prodmgmt needs to learn to say NO (to features that only benefit 1 customer, ideas that don't address customer needs, etc.); but also, executive teams need to learn to say NO to (some) new products, business cases, investment ideas that don't make sense

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) January 10, 2018

Processes are important. They give people guidelines, consistency on what to do & how.

But the best process in the world doesn't matter if people don't follow it.

Don't think only about the process/steps; think about HOW you will get people to adopt and operationalize it.

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) January 18, 2018

Results of a new @SiriusDecisions Study: Audience-Centric Marketing Most Impactful For Each Buying Scenario https://t.co/9lCYMwmmAb #prodmktg #b2b #marketing pic.twitter.com/XoQdMjevWI

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) January 26, 2018

And I know it’s well past the Holiday season, but in case you missed it…

My neighbor 2 doors down puts on an amazing Christmas light display every year. I decided to join in the festivities this year too. Guess which is his house and guess which is mine. pic.twitter.com/V6qy9zEVPf

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) December 1, 2017

The post Helping Product Managers Triumph in Agile: What to Do When Sales Wants to Change Your Roadmap; Spring 2018 Events appeared first on How To Be A Good Product Manager.

September brings about the return of kids to school, cooling temperatures, and, for product managers, an opportunity to review plans for the next year’s roadmap. While SiriusDecisions recommends reviewing product roadmaps regularly – most often quarterly – the look ahead to the new calendar year is often the time when there is a more concerted effort to refine and revise the future roadmap, especially when it is tied into annual product planning and budgeting. Read more in my post on the SiriusDecisions blog: Three Tips for Planning Next Year’s Product Roadmap

SiriusDecisions 2018 Product Management Planning Assumptions

Speaking of looking ahead to 2018, every year at SiriusDecisions we publish research on new trends and important areas that deserve additional focus for the coming year. Our 2018 Product Management Planning Assumptions cover topics like merging agile concepts with product lifecycle management, cross-product coordination, and clarifying the range of product management responsibilities, and provide guidance to product management leaders on the actions they should take. You can download the 2018 SiriusDecisions Product Management Planning Assumptions to read the full list.

Upcoming Events
If you’re in the Seattle area, please join me the evening of Thursday, October 19 for this (free!) presentation I’ll be doing on Product Strategy on a Page. An effective product strategy needs to be well-thought out and comprehensive enough to cover all of the key elements while still being concise and focused enough to be easily communicated and understood. In this talk, I’ll define product strategy and share a template for developing, documenting and communicating product strategy. Learn more and register today!

Looking ahead to 2018, if you’re starting to look at your calendar and wondering what conferences you should attend, there’s two I’d (selfishly) recommend.

First, our annual SiriusDecisions Summit (May 8 – 11, 2018 at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas), where you can join more than 3,200 b-to-b sales, marketing and product leaders for four full days of data-driven best practices research, unveiling of new innovations across the b-to-b space, lots of networking and some fun activities as well. The schedule will be announced soon, but I can share that we’re planning some new things for the product management audience this year that you won’t want to miss. There’s even an early-bird discount if you register before December 31!

Second, our first-ever SiriusDecisions Summit Canada is happening March 1, 2018 at the Hyatt Regency Toronto. In one day, you will learn how leading Canadian companies address growth, innovation and operational challenges. You’ll leave the event with a unique perspective on whatâ€s working right now across the b-to-b space in Canada. There’s an early-bird discount through December 31 for this event too!

What’s Hot on Twitter
Here are a few of my recent tweets that have generated the most interest recently; to get these in real-time, join the 8400+ others who follow me at @jefflash:

"For the love of God, please tell me what your company does" https://t.co/pPeS5QVHFM (JL: Amusing and insightful thoughts on #prodmktg)

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) September 8, 2017

If you want #Product Managers to "own P&L," then you need to give them some way to control COSTS, not just impact revenue/growth. #prodmgmt

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) September 18, 2017

How too many companies budget for customer research… from @Dilbert_Daily https://t.co/xXu7hUlxnI #prodmgmt #prodmktg #ux pic.twitter.com/Y8tdNnoGjy

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) August 14, 2017

Minimum Viable Product DOESN'T = "lousiest product we can get away w/launching." Learn the right way: https://t.co/5GoY8n4Unh #LeanStartup pic.twitter.com/CxSP9xTayW

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) August 29, 2017

If you feel your product needs to fill lots of needs for lots of users, I ask: how many times a year so you actually USE a Swiss Army Knife?

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) August 22, 2017

I often get asked "How many hrs/wk should #prodmgmt spend on customer research/understanding?" My answer is usually "More than you are now."

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) July 26, 2017

Product managers need to make decisions based on imperfect or incomplete information. You can complain about it or embrace it. #prodmgmt

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) June 14, 2017

Telling #prodmgmt "get out of the office, talk w/customers" isn't useful unless they can do them WELL. Learn how: https://t.co/LnJO16Bku8 pic.twitter.com/ETGY6zDFtv

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) September 11, 2017

This is great reading for any #b2b #prodmgmt, not just #startup: "Dear PMs: Rethink #Agile at Enterprise Startups" https://t.co/MXSq17ldJc

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) June 12, 2017

The post Planning for 2018 appeared first on How To Be A Good Product Manager.

Normally this research is only available to clients of the SiriusDecisions Product Management advisory service, but we’ve made a version of this report available to non-clients – click here to download the SiriusDecisions SiriusView: Product Planning, Prioritization and Roadmapping 2017.

Podcast: B2B Product Management with The Everyday Innovator
I was a guest on The Everyday Innovator podcast, talking about b-to-b product management and some of the specific differences and considerations. We covered questions like “How do B2B sales models impact product management?” and “How can product managers avoid the ‘one-off’ practice that some B2B organizations find themselves in – customizing a product for each customer?” You can listen to the episode online or find it through iTunes or your favorite podcast app.

Upcoming Webcast — SiriusFoundations: Product Management
One popular set of sessions from our recent SiriusDecisions Summit were our “SiriusFoundations” sessions, where we covered foundational elements of different b-to-b product, marketing and sales roles and provided an overview of core SiriusDecisions concepts, frameworks and terminology. We’re doing a repeat of the SiriusFoundations: Product Management session as a webcast on Tuesday, June 20, 2017 at 12pm ET. My colleague Lisa Singer will be covering some of the key priorities for b-to-b product management leaders and product teams as well as relevant SiriusDecisions research and models. Sign up for the webcast today!

The post SiriusDecisions SiriusView: Product Planning, Prioritization and Roadmapping 2017; B2B Product Management podcast; SiriusFoundations Webcast appeared first on How To Be A Good Product Manager.

Summer is shaping up to be a busy one for me, with lots of presentations and events already booked. Here’s some of what’s coming up in the next few weeks — hope you can join me at one of them!

• June 7 webinar: The Perfect Product Team. You can listen in when I’ll be a guest on the Product Lunch webcast series, talking about what a best-in-class product management team looks like. You’ll have the opportunity to ask me questions in this free live video Q&A discussion.
• June 9: Product Marketing Community Boston. I’ll be delivering a keynote presentation on “Sorting Out Product Marketing and Product Management” in this one-day event. Use the special discount code SIRIUSDECISIONS for $75 off registration.
• June 10: ProductCamp Boston. Two sessions I proposed for ProductCamp Boston were selected, so you can join me as I talk about Understanding Customer Needs: What You’re Doing Wrong and How To Fix It and How Can Product Managers “Be More Strategic”?

I also have trips planned (and some more public presentations that will be announced soon) for London, Austin, Atlanta, Toronto and San Francisco over the summer, so if you’re in one of those locations and want to meet up in person, get in touch and hopefully we can make that happen!

What Tools Are Product Managers Using? Results From The SiriusDecisions 2017 Study

My latest post on the SiriusDecisions blog – What Tools Are Product Managers Using? Results From Our 2017 Study — summarizes the findings from our 2017 SiriusDecisions Product Management Tools and Technology Study, which looks at what tools and technologies are being used by b-to-b product managers. There are a few findings that are particularly noteworthy, including

• Most product managers primarily use tools designed for purposes other than product management.
• The number of product managers using purpose-built tools is growing.
• Product management applications are new for most product managers and are a growing trend.
• Awareness is increasing and interest is growing, but time to evaluate is a barrier.

More details are shared in the blog post: What Tools Are Product Managers Using? Results From Our 2017 Study

Whatâ€s Hot on Twitter: SiriusDecisions 2017 Summit Recap
We’re hot off the SiriusDecisions 2017 Summit, and you can check out all of the tweets with the hashtag #sdsummit. Here are a few of my tweets from Summit that have generated the most interest recently; to get these in real-time, join the 8000+ others who follow me at @jefflash:

Buyers/customers/users usually can't/won't/don't tell you what their needs are; you need to do the right research to understand #SDSummit pic.twitter.com/HfTPhsSY1i

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) May 16, 2017

Only 12% of companies in Fortune 500 in 1955 still exist. Listen to customers to continue to stay relevant. –@billstolpe #sdsummit

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) May 16, 2017

Only 12% of #SDSummit attendees say their measurement of target market is accurate. For others, the @SiriusDecisions #Prodmgmt can help

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) May 17, 2017

5% of #SDsummit attendees say that when their #b2b org misses their $ number, #Prodmgmt is blamed vs. 82% for sales & 14% for Marketing pic.twitter.com/hFGvUxhT1W

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) May 17, 2017

How many times does @tjaros need to say it at #SDSummit, folks?!?! Align #product, #marketing & #sales on the right market segments/targets! pic.twitter.com/o93b7lw2j8

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) May 17, 2017

Given the #SDSummit talk of buyer needs, how do you UNDERSTAND what the needs really are? @SiriusDecisions can help: https://t.co/fRBa2KaWQF

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) May 17, 2017

"List price is $1000. How come we're not making that much?" Ouch. This is why you need to consider channel as part of yr biz case #SDsummit pic.twitter.com/zQJcsSdo2o

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) May 17, 2017

Some great results shared by @MaryJBackstrom at #sdsummit about improvements @PAREXEL saw after implementing the @siriusdecisions PMM Model pic.twitter.com/Q1KPI2SBJ7

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) May 18, 2017

Good tip from @CWvanOrman to instill buyer-centric thinking in #prodmktg: instead of taking a personal day, "take a persona day" #SdSummit

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) May 18, 2017

.@siriusdecisions Portfolio Marketing client @CAinc / @CWvanOrman shares the impact we've been able to help them achieve. Awesome! pic.twitter.com/wbijyC6402

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) May 18, 2017

"A plane going from NYC to CA is off course 99% of the time." –@TheSharkDaymond. Goals are key but you need to constantly adjust. #SDSummit

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) May 19, 2017

And, if you made it to the end of the blog post, you get a special treat — a photo of my Vegas-themed outfit for our annual SiriusDecisions Green Tie Gala (with extra bonus points for the fantastic expression on the face of Christina McKeon, SiriusDecisions Service Director for Portfolio Marketing)

@jefflash wins the Green Tie Gala best dressed award. #SDSummit pic.twitter.com/a1Sjcbzl0I

— Christina McKeon (@ChristinaMcKeon) May 18, 2017

The post Upcoming Events; Product Management Technology; SiriusDecisions 2017 Summit recap appeared first on How To Be A Good Product Manager.

I’ll be in Las Vegas next week for the SiriusDecisions 2017 Summit, which runs from May 16-19. If you’ll be there, let me know and it will be great to meet up in person. If you’re not attending — why not? It’ll be a great experience for product management leaders — in fact, it’s been named one of “7 events no product manager should miss this year” and a “product management conference not to miss.” I’ll be presenting on a few topics, including Product Strategy on a Page: Possible, and Practical and Next Generation B-to-B E-Commerce, and participating in an analyst panel on Friday morning. If you’re still not convinced, even after looking at my picks for the top sessions that product management leaders should attend, then maybe you’ll be enticed by our opening keynote speaker Jewel and our Green Tie Gala featuring Counting Crowes!

If you can’t make it for the whole 4 days, we have a special discounted 2-day (Wednesday and Thursday) pass available for product management leaders — contact the SiriusDecisions events team for more information.

Hope to see you there, and if you can’t make it, you can still follow along at home — follow me at @jefflash and follow the hashtag #sdsummit.

2017 SiriusDecisions Product Management Tools and Technology Study

Iâ€m pleased to announce the findings from our 2017 SiriusDecisions Product Management Tools and Technology Study, which looks at what tools and technologies are being used by b-to-b product managers. While product managers traditionally have not used technology nearly as much as their counterparts in product development, marketing and sales – nor have they had as much technology available to them – the results from this study show that this is changing.

You can download a copy of the 2017 SiriusDecisions Product Management Tools and Technology Study to see the full results, which includes information on what technologies are used most often by product managers, how many product managers are using product management-specific tools, their satisfaction level with such tools, and much more!

Whatâ€s Hot on Twitter
Here are a few of my tweets that have generated the most interest recently; to get these in real-time, join the 8000+ others who follow me at @jefflash:

Also applies if you change "founders" to "product managers" and "business" to… well, you can probably keep that nowthatIthinkaboutit https://t.co/YDSNfHuhzq

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) April 21, 2017

"Focus on users—but don't forget the buyers"; I'm featured in this post on Expert Opinions on User-centred #prodmgmt https://t.co/V0iQMzfjph

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) April 13, 2017

Just updated: Top Priorities for #b2b #Product Management Leaders, from @siriusdecisions https://t.co/qBgiswBuyd #prodmgmt

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) April 10, 2017

If I had $1 for every time MVP was used incorrectly, that would actually be a great way of learning a lot w/little investment. #leanstartup

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) April 10, 2017

A #prodmgmt haiku:

An awesome product
people love but won't pay for
is not that awesome.

#prodmgmthaiku

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) April 6, 2017

A #prodmgmt haiku:

"Talk to customers"
works only if you know HOW
to interview them.

(And if not @SiriusDecisions can help)

#prodmgmthaiku

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) April 5, 2017

A #prodmgmt haiku:

Product strategy:
Audiences and their needs
first, BEFORE product.

#prodmgmthaiku

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) April 5, 2017

A #prodmgmt haiku:

If you want USERS
to love your product, make sure
first BUYERS buy it.

#prodmgmthaiku

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) April 4, 2017

A #prodmgmt haiku:

If you boast and say
"We have no competitors"
you're in for a shock.

#prodmgmthaiku

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) April 3, 2017

A #prodmgmt haiku

The best way to learn
About your customers' needs
Is not a survey

#prodmgmthaiku

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) March 31, 2017

Buyers don't care whether your product is "new" or not; they care whether your product solves a pressing need. #prodmktg #prodmgmt

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) March 13, 2017

Some design the best user experience & build #product to support it. Others figure out tech, then design product. I can tell which is which.

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) March 9, 2017

Aah, the fun of managing parallel development efforts for a new platform and a legacy platformhttps://t.co/K1rYr5ZQd3 #prodmgmt pic.twitter.com/9Va1aaciey

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) February 23, 2017

The post SiriusDecisions 2017 Summit is Next Week! Plus, 2017 Product Management Tools and Technology Study appeared first on How To Be A Good Product Manager.

Hereâ€s just a few of the places you can meet me in person in the next few months (more to come!)

• Saturday, February 25: Iâ€ll be at ProductCamp right here in my very own St. Louis. There are over 50 proposed sessions, including two of mine: Agile Marketing: How to Apply Agile Concepts to Marketing and Best Practices for Product Roadmaps.
• March 7-8: I’ll be at Pendomonium: A Product Experience in Raleigh, NC, which will feature two days of sessions on product management, UX and customer success. On Tuesday I’ll be delivering a keynote presentation on SaaS and the Consumerization of Enterprise Software, and then on Wednesday I’ll be leading a breakout session on Product Management: What’s Changing and What Needs to Change? Use the code PendoSaaStr2017 for a 20% discount on registration.
• May 16-19: Iâ€ll be Las Vegas for the SiriusDecisions Summit (one of “7 events no product manager should miss this year“). The Product Marketing and Management track will have a number of great sessions, and you can see my picks for sessions that product management leaders should attend.

Podcast Interview: Design Your Thinking

I was interviewed by Karthik Vijayakumar (@kartvee) for a recent episode of his Design Your Thinking podcast. You can download or stream the episode (~38 minutes long) where we cover everything from the importance to empathy to mistakes product managers make in understanding customers to how to develop a “product mindset.”

Reminder: Survey about use of Product Management Tools

What tools and technologies do you use for product management? How well do they work? This is a reminder that at SiriusDecisions we are conducting a survey of b-to-b product managers and what applications they do (and donâ€t) use. The survey takes only about 5 minutes to complete, and everyone who takes this survey on product management tools will receive a complimentary copy of the forthcoming SiriusView report on Product Planning, Prioritization and Roadmapping tools. The survey will remain open until March 8, so take the 2017 SiriusDecisions Product Management Tools Survey now!

Whatâ€s Hot on Twitter
Here are a few of my tweets that have generated the most interest recently; to get these in real-time, join the 7700+ others who follow me at @jefflash:

On sharing #Product Roadmaps w/customers: They don't care about how long dev will take; they just want to know when it'll be live. #prodmgmt

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) February 2, 2017

3 Obstacles That Could Be Holding Your Org Back From Audience-Centricity; required reading for #b2b #marketing https://t.co/E2jLDVRuYT pic.twitter.com/XkNMrOG4Zj

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) February 6, 2017

Great discussion last night about how #prodmktg can better transfer knowledge to and enable a sales team https://t.co/0eFGwrD8Kd

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) February 9, 2017

Can you guess our #SDSummit Opening Day Keynote? Hint: Sheâ€s sold 30 million+ albums & is a NYT best-selling author: https://t.co/WKmlXk8X3Q

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) February 8, 2017

The post Speaking at Pendomonium; Design Your Thinking Podcast; Reminder — Tools Survey appeared first on How To Be A Good Product Manager.