As part of introducing the service-based framework, we need to step back and understand why this is needed.
First, yes it is true that there are no solid models of a framework for services, but there are other reasons that are actually more important. Let’s start with a core foundation that developing a service framework is about driving BUSINESS value. This is not just about developing another model to throw into the mix. Far from it. In business, it no longer is just about the classic “Return on Investment.”
We need to change our model to look at services as how value is delivered. A new model, to look at the product mix of services based on feedback that addresses the needs/problems of the market while validating that the services are desired, is the basis for delivering this value.
Once the market need is validating the business value and driving the product ideation/development, then it is time to look and say that product management principles and discipline can play the role for which they are intended. And, success at building a market-driven organization will be on its way.
Neal St. Anthony writes in the Minneapolis Star Tribune, about companies cutting staff to preserve short term profit margins. He quotes Brian Lassiter, president of the Minnesota Council for Quality who wrote in a recent newsletter,
“Today, more than ever, organizations need systematic ways to listen to customer requirements, develop offerings that satisfy customers’ needs … and create value for the buyer,” Lassiter wrote. “An organization’s workforce is still the key asset in creating value for your customer and shareholder. Yet, during recessionary times, it’s easy to reduce your investment in your people (by cutting training, employee benefits and jobs). Resist the urge … and find a way to engage your workforce as a part of the solution.”
This succinctly describes the role of a Product Manager. Looking in from the outside, it appears that all too many senior leaders show us that they misunderstand the strategic nature of the role, by chopping the entire function as if it is a luxury. But, who else will listen to customer requirements? Who will lead the efforts to develop offerings that satisfy customer needs? It is the Product Manager.
Week 2 is officially starting in a few hours.
The first official week was spent finishing separation paperwork, informing more people in my network of my new status, and starting to look.
Of course, and responding to The Cranky PM post! (Still getting over the fact that there is quality competition out there. Dang it!)
But, I’m still feeling positive. One of the separation benefits was access to an executive coach. This is a first for me. But, since I’ve done this before, I learned I was better prepared than the average job seeker. To her credit however, the coach did make a few suggestions to my resume (design edits to highlight accomplishments more,) and offered to service as a “check-in,” someone to help me be accountable. I know me. This is good.
I have still been focused on using my network, and LinkedIn, to identify contacts within companies where there are positions. There is so much potential in doing this. I know it, but it still amazes me.
So, off I venture into week 2…with a positive attitude, several coffees and lunches scheduled, and a desire to make this transition time as short as possible.
From you looking in from the outside, what ideas do you have? Do you know anyone with whom I should be speaking? Can you offer any great words of wisdom?
(And, I am excited that I should have time this week to introduce the first phase of my service-based product management framework! Yippee!)
So, as if the fact that unemployment is at its highest level in umpteen years isn’t bad enough…And, as if the fact that while Cranky does a much better job at her attitude than I will ever do…now she’s done it!
I’ve enjoyed reading her guest articles the past week from Paco. Paco, as you have learned, is an out of work Product Manager who has quite a similar attitude as Cranky. It’s been great to read. Not surprising to read, but entertaining as I also begin my quest.
But, now Cranky has gone too far!
From the outside-in, I am the only Product Manager in the Twin Cities that should be blasting across these boundaries! I’ve been committed to this blog for a longer time than Paco – he was only a guest writer – and I’m adding more value than a similar job search post. I’m talking about substance here!
So, with all respects to Paco (and Cranky,) if you send him any interesting postings, I ask that you send them this way as well. This is after all, a battle. A quest that we are both taking.
So, I’ve been here before. You know, on the job quest where I am looking for a great product management role out there with a company who gets it and understands the value of the discipline of product management. And, along my journey I’ve come to realize that there are two types of folks to network with – those in transition, and those with jobs.
The first group are those like you, who are in transition and are sympathetic to your cause, able to meet most any time, willing to share their network with you.
The second group are those people with jobs and these people tend to be somewhat less sympathetic to your situation, have tighter time commitments and some may hesitate to share their network with you.
Who should you network with? I guess some of each type. Those in transition can help to expand your network quickly. But, they really are not in any sort of position to hire you.
How do you interest an employed person to open their network to you? Be flexible and ask them “what can I do for YOU?” Think this way. Even if you get some time with the employed person, they are likely to forget about you within a week. How do you stay in the forefront of their mind? Send them links to articles that may be of interest to them, that perhaps they haven’t had time to read. Open your network to them. Ask them who they’d like to meet and do some leg work on their behalf. Think of it as planting seeds for the future. Some day they too will be in transition and will remember the model behavior that you set for them.
Looking in from the outside-in, or in this case looking out from the inside, the policy of “Pay it Forward” is the one in which I believe. Try it and watch the effect.
As you may have figured out, I am a HUGE fan of Pragmatic Marketing. I think the Framework model developed by Craig Stull and Steve Johnson is amazing. I love it! I sleep it. I breathe it. I have it posted on a board above my desk. I keep two copies at all times in my portfolio (you never know when you’re going to have to give one away.) I even made a jpeg of the framework to use as wallpaper for my computer. Love it, love it, love it.
For products.
Products that are defined as tangible; what you are able to hold (or put on a disk to hold.) But, for services, the framework doesn’t hold as true always. (This isn’t blasphemy, it’s reality.) Of course, you can simply look at the framework elements (those little boxes on the famous chart) and simply “skip” the tasks of doing one. But, then you start to second guess yourself and wonder what the knowledge gained by skipping that box would add.
Readers of this blog know that many questions and writings have been posted about what framework or methodology is used by those who are in service-based product management. Do you use the pragmatic grid and modify? Did you find the list from 280group? What about the AIPMM training?
From the outside-in view, I learned that what I needed to do was look within my environment and see how it would work. I played with modifying the pragmatic grid (since I am a huge fan and know it by heart,) but it wasn’t enough. It didn’t let me focus on what was important.
I mentioned a few posts ago that I would start to introduce this framework here. So, here it goes…
The Pragmatic Framework hold that their activities in the grid align to the following “tasks”:
My proposed framework for services, holds that the following activities are what is needed:
The major difference? Simply, there is a defined order for working on services in a disciplined way.
More details to follow in upcoming posts.
Today is my first “official” day of being unemployed. While I was informed last week, when I wrote the introduction to this series, it takes effect today, with the start of a new pay cycle.
And life moves on.
So, what did I do in the first week? Like everyone else who first hears the news, I checked in on other friends at my now former company, to learn what I could. I have to admit that while the reduction was a surprise, me being on the list was not. Though I do find it ironic that a company that charges – and receives – BIG money for talking about best practices eliminated the product management function. But, c’est la vie. We move on.
I started this new quest by letting a few strategically placed allies know I was back in the market. My friends Steve Johnson and Rich Nutinsky at Pragmatic Marketing are great, and since they are in the field every day, every week, they hear loads. Now, while getting them to pass on what they hear may be a little harder, I remain optimistic that they will remember me.
I also told a few other leaders in the Product Management field. Jim Holland and Tom Grant also are incredible resources. And, by pinging them on a regular basis, maybe something will set off a bell.
And, like everyone else, I updated my resumes on the job boards. I’ve been asked what I think of boards like monster.com and careerbuilder.com. To be honest, I think they are necessary evils in the job search process. While I have in the past received calls from applications submitted on those sites, these positions tend to be more “practice” for me than anything else. But, with practice comes refinement, and with refinement comes success. So apply I must, and apply I shall.
I did have one example of how to make your network work for you, the way we all want it to work. My spouse received an e-mail from a local geographic networking group which mentioned as company. I looked on LinkedIn, found a person with a Director of PM title and found I was connected to him through a connection. Using my connection, I requested a meeting, and it was scheduled. The whole networking thin took 40 minutes from start to schedule. While my new connection didn’t know about the specific openings, he took the time to explain more about the company and how they viewed Product Management as a discipline. 30 minutes well spent.
And, of course, I stayed on top of my reading. I am proud to be well-versed in the news of the day, and my product management blogs are finally caught up. I find it humorous that today The Cranky PM is featuring a guest blogger who is talking about his job hunt. He is approaching this at a different level, but it didn’t make me feel better hearing from yet another voice competing with me right now.
Tomorrow? Well, this week it’s all about getting my job quest plan in manageable shape. I need to remember my own writing, and treat my quest as a product. What are the market demands/needs? Where are they? How do you size them? How do you identify the buyer (hiring manager)? And, how do you market yourself in a way that resonates to that buyer?
In the meantime, I keep writing. (And cooking great dinners, and reading books that have been on my sidetable for months, and catching up with friends on Facebook, and …)
From the outside-in view, I’m now on the inside-view out. I’m optimistic, but not happy about being here.
What do you think I need to do? What would you do next?
Congratulations, you just got laid off. I know the politically correct term is to express how you have been impacted by the Reduction in Force that the company is undertaking in these times. But, any way you say it, your paycheck will end in x weeks.
Aarrgghh! Go panic! Wait.
First, think about why you’re panicking. Yes, we know you have a mortgage/rent to pay. And, yes, you probably have some debt (even though we keep being told we shouldn’t.) And, yes, you most likely don’t have the six to nine month cushion that the “experts” say we should have put aside. And, yes, you may even have other concerns like tuition for your college-age child. But, will the panic help?
I write this as I have joined the masses in this category this week. Yep. Me and oh, what about 3 million of my closest friends? I liked my job. I liked my company. I liked the people. I wanted to stay for awhile, but my wants and likes are irrelevant.
So, now I hit the pavement. I will be chronicling the effort and the learning as I move forward. Look for the “series” here on this blog under the title “The job quest of a PM.”
[Oh, and, if you are in need of a great product manager, with marketing experience and service definition to boot, leave a comment so we can talk.]
Today Adam Bullied at Write That Down put out a statement which he fears will have the “pitchforks and torches” coming out to get him.
Well, if they do, they will be headed my way as well.
Adam contends that there is really no such role as an Agile Product Manager. He defends this by saying that the work required for product managers – “you have a market, and they have a problem. You are charged with crafting the most ideal way to solve that problem, and then making that vision a reality.” – is needed regardless of the development methodology or framework that is followed.
I agree.
In fact, about 18 months ago I had the same conversation with Jeremiah Owyang about online marketing. Jeremiah feels that the tools that are now available create new opportunities and need a different way of looking at the way you do business. To support that, David Meerman Scott wrote a book about this, The New Rules of Marketing and PR.
But, in reality, the basics are the same. We, as product managers and product marketers, are simply doing our job. Product managers are listening to the market needs, understanding the problems that they hear and assembling the information in a cohesive way to pass it on to the solution developers. Product marketers are taking the problems and arriving at ways of communicating with the market to help them understand how the product will solve those stated problems.
The tools have changed. The methodologies and frameworks behind the development have changed. The technology has changed.
But, the roles, and what we need to do, have not changed.
Having spent the majority of my career in a product-based business, hawking technology innovations to the masses, it was a change to go into the biz of hawking services.
Services are different. Both, looking in from the outside, and from the inside.
Services are based on individual knowledge. Productizing that, in a repeatable manner has reminded me of the EDS commercial where the ranchers are herding cats. To share knowledge means that you give up being the exclusive domain, the one source of all. But, not to share knowledge means you can’t make it repeatable.
After spending the last several months creating and refining a framework for Service-based Product Management, there is a draft proposal that will be presented here for blog followers.
But, looking from the outside-in, it is requested that you comment – for it is only with assistance from others who have also tried to manage services that this framework can work.
