Product Management

Product Camp Session: Putting Agile on Trial

outsidenview.comFor the upcoming Product Camp South Florida (June 8 in Ft. Lauderdale, FL,) I plan to propose a session. I need your help.

The session is (tentatively) titled “Agile vs. Product Management,” and the idea is to have a 45 minute courtroom scene. One side, an esteemed colleague (played by W. Alejandro Polanco) who has agreed, will argue that Agile is a benefit to the field of product management while the other side (played by me) will argue that Agile is killing product management.

First, we need to propose the session and it needs to be voted in. But, as we both prepare for the “trial,” we would love your feelings – from both sides. Please present your argument in the comments below. Who knows, you may be asked to call-in as an “expert” witness.

 

Have fun with this! We plan to!

By |May 15th, 2013|Appreciation, Communication, Development, Humor, Product Camp, Product Management|4 Comments
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Get Over Yourself

outsideinview.comWhether you are a product manager or a product marketer, you need to get over your product. I know, you spend your days – and nights – thinking how wonderful your product is, how you can improve it, and why others haven’t seen the same vision you do. Maybe, just maybe, the answer is – your product is not what they seek.

What?!? Heresy you say! Of course they need, and want, my product. Well, maybe not. Think about it. It’s about the customer, the buyer, the market – not you. (more…)

By |April 8th, 2013|Appreciation, Buyers, Communication, Personas, Product Management, Product Marketing|2 Comments
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The Pendulum has swung to the other side

outsideinview.comTraditional new product launch has included catching a new product as the development organization tossed it over the fence. Product marketing would dust off their launch check list and make sure that all the tactics were accomplished. They would book appearances at trade shows, write press releases, design data sheets, plan direct mail campaigns to current customers, research advertising opportunities in trade publications and other assorted tasks on the checklist. (more…)

By |March 28th, 2013|Buyers, Communication, Management, Marketing, Personas, Product Launch, Product Management, Product Marketing, Sales, Uncategorized|0 Comments
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This is Simple

outsideinview.comThis is a simple post….

But, imagine how much more we could all accomplish – for ourselves and our companies – if we stopped the bickering and territory battles!

If politics were taken out of the corporate world, and we all worked together - no matter what department you sat in or work you performed, no matter what you were paid or how long you’ve been in the role, no matter who was your boss or what hours you worked – wouldn’t we all accomplish more?

Think about it.

 

By |January 11th, 2013|Appreciation, Business Culture, Communication, Management, Marketing, Product Management, Product Marketing, Sales, Service|1 Comment
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Stop the Madness

outsideinview.comYour phone rings. The caller ID shows it’s from Nancy, the sales manager. You cringe!

As a product professional, we are all too familiar with horror stories initiated by our sales teams. Remember the one where the sales leader promised a feature, and then put it in the contract so it is legally binding and then, afterwards, tells you – meaning you have to disrupt the scheduled release to accommodate this. Or, how about the one where the sales person doesn’t know the product so you are called to do the demo, at the very last minute, day after day.  Even the one where you found that the feature document that you spent weeks agonizing over was changed to “better meet our needs” and has already been used by the field force, of course, meaning more questions, since they are making claims that just aren’t real. (more…)

By |October 15th, 2012|Business Culture, Marketing, Product Management, Product Marketing, Sales|3 Comments
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