Product Stakeholder to Time Management

From Stakeholder to Time Management A Guide for Product Managers

Becky Yelland

BACKGROUND •  13 years of delivery & team management experience •  8 years in product management role, 4 senior level

EXPERIENCE •  InteracGve TV/Gaming and BeJng

•  Broadcast Media •  Personal Media/Publishing

•  SaaS/Mobile in Digital MarkeGng •  Financial Services/News

What are the keys to being a successful product manager?

RelaGonships

CommunicaGon

You are only as good as your last delivery.....

If your team look good – YOU look good

Looking busy does not mean you are being

producGve!

Product Manager Tool Kits for success: #1 – Stakeholder Management #2 – People Management #3 – Time Management

Stakeholder Management

SH: Engagement Cycle SH: Analysis SH: Managing SH

Time Management People Management

SH: Top Tips

IdenGfy Stakeholders

Document Needs

Analyse Stakeholder Influence/ Interest

Manage Stakeholder ExpectaGons

Review and Repeat

•  IdenGfying your Stakeholders: All stakeholders are individuals or organizaGons that are acGvely involved in the product, or whose interests may be affected as a result of the product or feature launch.

•  Document Needs: Knowing what all your stakeholders need in terms of reports/updates/informaGon in order to gain and retain their buy in

•  Analyse SH influence/interest: Do a RACI or similar

•  Manage SH expectaGons: in terms of what will be delivered and when and how thy will be kept informed and influence.

•  Review and Repeat: don’t sit on your laurels with this approach conGnue to assess if it’s working for the product team and for all your SH

WHY DO A STAKEHOLDER ANAYLSIS?

Low Interest High Interest Low Power/Influence

1 2

High Power/Influence

3 4

A stakeholder analysis can help a product team to idenGfy: •  The interests of all stakeholders, who may affect or be affected by the product or feature •  PotenGal issues that could disrupt the product delivery •  Key people to engage during rollout •  Individuals and groups that should be encouraged to parGcipate in different stages of the product

delivery •  CommunicaGon planning & stakeholder management strategy should be done up front •  Managing negaGve stakeholders •  Engaging stakeholders throughout the project life cycle is a key to (but not a guarantee of) success.

Stakeholder Management Time Management People Management

SH: Engagement Cycle SH: Analysis SH: Managing SH SH: Top Tips

Key: 1.  Monitor, Minimal Effort 2.  Keep Informed 3.  Keep SaGsfied 4.  Key Players, Manage Closely

Link to tools: www.pragmaGcproducteer/stakeholder-‐planning-‐template

Why do Analysis? What is RACI and how to use Different Stakeholders

RACI DEFINITIONS:

R – Who is Responsible The person who is assigned to do the work A – Who is Accountable The person who makes the financial decisions and has ul6mate ownership P&L owner of the product C – Who is Consulted The person who MUST be consulted before a decision is made or an ac6on is taken I – Who is Informed The person who MUST be informed before a decision is made or an ac6on is taken



Role Role Task R A

Task C I




WHERE CAN MY STAKEHOLDERS COME FROM?

Stakeholders

ExisGng Customers

ProspecGve Customers

Employees/ Internal

Customers

Partners/ Investors/ Shareholder

s

Strategic Partners/ Suppliers

Other Vendors CompeGtors

Regulatory Bodies

Professional AssociaGons

Industry Experts

Board of Directors


It is invaluable to know who ALL your Stakeholders are some will have more involvement than others: •  All external stakeholders should be

managed as much as possible in terms of their expectaGons

•  Customers as stakeholders sGll need to be kept informed/have their expectaGons managed

•  Vendors/Partners that will be impacted by your new product/feature also need to be kept informed or be involved depending on their relaGonship with your company....

...and so on

It is key to your success that you are acGve in managing your stakeholders expectaGons & ensuring their acGve involvement is crucial to the success of your product adopGon: •  It is indispensable for conGnuaGon of the product or feature launch •  It gives opportuniGes to individuals or groups to express their ideas/issues/concerns •  It gives all Stakeholders a sense of accountability and enhances their responsibility and posiGvity towards

the product •  It enables effecGve risk assessments •  It opens up excellent communicaGon channels between the product team and stakeholders •  Regular reports/status updates and meeGngs are crucial to ensure SH are informed and always have the

latest informaGon relevant to them.

If you remember one thing it should be this: COMMUNICATION COMMUNICATION COMMUNICATION



Managing ExpectaGons Supporters/Opponents

Managing your supporters and opponents differently is important to get right. •  For each type of stakeholder, there is a different set of strategies for gathering informaGon, maximizing

support and minimizing opposiGon



Very Opposed

Very SupporHve

Low Power/Influence

1 2

High Power/Influence

3 4

Key: 1.  Ensure they do not become acGve opponents 2.  Maintain their support 3.  Do what you can to lessen their potenGal opposiGon 4.  Mobilise their support, use them as champions

Note: There is a difference between an opponent and a blocker. The former has a high understanding but low agreement on the product and the laher has low understanding and low agreement There also exists a s

Managing ExpectaGons Supporters/Opponents

TIP #1 When planning a sign off meeGng or gate meeGng ensure you have engaged with all SH individually before the group meeGng so there are NO SURPRISES for any of the SH, get their individual buy in, and update the deck according to their input/advice/concerns etc TIP #2 If you are doing a presentaGon at a gate review or update, consider including individual SH views or opinion (or sound bites) in one of the slides – see this work it’s magic! TIP #3 Create regular 1:1 catch ups with your SH to inform them specifically of the product status (this should be on top of regular reports/emails you send to all SH If you do these your SH will all feel: •  Engaged •  Informed •  & part of the process



TRUST


PM: Trust & Influencing PM: Delivering PM: Top Tips

•  The best way to ensure that people trust you, is that you trust them •  Do not assume if you are product owner people will automaGcally trust that you know best – you need to

work hard to know your product beher than anyone else. •  You need to trust others to do the job they’ve been employed to do

INFLUENCING

•  In your product teams, as product owner you may by default have a level of influence. Never misuse this. •  If you are struggling to maintain a level of influence, ask yourself why? Have you wrihen clear specificaGons?

Have you built up and are you maintaining your keyrelaGonships adequately?

DRIVING DRIVING DRIVING


•  As product owner you need to be the one driving things forward, pushing and cajoling where necessary to keep the energy going. If you lose the energy you not only lose the control but risk the Gmely delivery of the product/feature

CONTROL

•  There are many ways you can maintain control: •  WRITE YOUR OWN SPECS/REQUIREMENTS – DO NOT be tempted to let your dev lead do these for

you.... •  The Devil is in the detail – as soon as you lose sight of the detail – you lose an element of control

•  MeeGng Minutes: it sounds boring, but if you take minutes/send out minutes and control the acGons and flow of informaGon – you are in the driving seat

NB – Control is not about ownership it’s about accountability – if you are accountable for the delivery of a product then you need to be in control .....there is no use blaming geJng lost on the back seat driver you are both the navigator and the one driving the car!




TIP #1 Be on Gme to meeGngs, prepare before meeGngs, take minutes and send out notes/acGons to all present as well as any necessary no shows/stakeholders TIP #2 Take the Gme to know your product beher than anyone else, both in terms of what you are delivering, what your compeGtors are delivering and what your customers are asking for.... Your influence as a product owner should be from ALL perspecGves that maher TIP #3 Build up and maintain your key relaGonships in your product team but also beyond. Take the Gme to get to know the support team, sales teams the people on the front line – get invited to customer meeGngs, spend the Gme looking at the BUGs and ERs coming through the support team

“If you can’t explain it simply, then you don’t understand it well enough” Albert Einstein

“It’s not that I am so smart, it’s just I stay with problems longer.” Albert Einstein

“The secret of my influence has always been that it remained a secret.” Salvador Dali

•  Use a tool for all your acGons is a great/free online tool for this. •  You can also consider using or other online collaboraGon tools to manage your Gme and your product

teams workload

•  Set reminders in Outlook or your email/meeGng tool to ensure you don’t miss a deadline

•  Block Gme out in your day to complete criGcal tasks, spec wriGng, SH presentaGons etc

LISTS LISTS LISTS:

TM: Self Mgt TM: MeeGng Mgt TM: PrioriGsaGon TM: Top Tips

Write everything down – no one can remember everything! •  Make daily to do lists and categorise them: Must do today, do today if have Gme, only do if finish

everything else or can stay late! •  Review your daily to do list at the start of the day, or the end of the day before.


TOOLS FOR THE JOB:

MEETINGS FOR MEETINGS SAKE:

•  Consider all your meeGngs carefully. Do not book meeGngs for the sake of having a meeGng •  All meeGngs should have a clearly defined purpose and agenda •  Only invite essenGal people to the meeGng •  If you need a decision made in a meeGng make sure you make this clear in the invite and up front in the

meeGng, review that you have the right decision makers present – if not don’t be afraid to cut the meeGng short and re arrange

•  If you finish early then call end to the meeGng don’t fill the full Gme allocated as a maher of course



•  Don’t over esGmate Gme needed for meeGngs and don’t be afraid to call 15 minute meeGngs •  Stand up meeGngs are a great way to cut out the chit chat – not all meeGngs are about relaGonship

building •  If you do not have a stand up meeGng room/area in your office then create one by the water

cooler/printer/recepGon area etc •  Start the meeGng on Gme, and try not to play catch up when people come in late – tell them anything

they missed will be in the meeGng notes including any of their acGons! They will soon learn and turn up on Gme...

MEETING LENGTH IS KEY:

PRIORITISE YOUR TIME:

•  Every day as your review your to do list make sure you prioriGse your tasks in accordance with: •  Quick Wins – High Impact •  More involved tasks – High Impact •  Quick Wins – Mid Impact and so on.... (Impact on product delivery and stakeholder expectaGons....

•  Move unfinished tasks to the top of the next days queue and always review the urgency day to day.



TOOLS FIT FOR PURPOSE:

•  Use online tools to prioriGse your work load e.g. •  Use Outlook to prioriGse emails you need to respond to.

•  Create rules to put into folders or colour emails from stakeholders differently •  Have a folder ‘Respond to Today’ make all emails ‘unread’ as you move them into here so you have a

full tally visible •  A ‘Read Later’ or ‘Respond to this week’ for less urgent tasks can also help



TIP #1 Don’t let your day be dictated by ad hoc requests – if they come in then put them into your prioriGsed list along with everything else....(so easy to NOT do this!) TIP #2 Everything in Gme management will go off kilter if your stakeholder management is not best pracGce. If you have not managed your stakeholder expectaGons well then your day/week/month could be adversely impact and spiral out of your control if you have to jump to respond to unreasonable requests or unplanned work TIP #3 Don’t be afraid to say no, as long as there is good reason people will understand and if not explain what you are doing takes priority and why

Any QuesGons?

Thanks

Becky Yelland

www.pragmaGcproducteer.com [email protected]

Business

Product Stakeholder to Time Management