The Product Manager's Desk Reference, Third Edition

Publisher's Note: Products purchased from Third Party sellers are not guaranteed by the publisher for quality, authenticity, or access to any online entitlements included with the product. The definitive guide to product management—updated for a more digital, more global, more competitive business landscape The digital age is here to stay. That means the pace of business change will only increase and competitive forces will challenge you, and your role as a product manager.  This is the book that provides the only definitive body of knowledge of product management that you and your product teams can use to optimize your product’s business. The Product Manager’s Desk Reference has long been the go-to resource for product managers who seek to deliver quantifiable benefits to their company. In this fully revised edition of this bestseller, veteran product management thought leader Steven Haines lays out a repeatable process for product management organizational transformation, providing a clear roadmap you can follow to become the entrepreneurial strategic thinker who can drive your organization (and your career) into the future! As an added benefit, all readers will have access to digital tools, templates, and guides to help them on their career journey, simply by going to www.sequentlearning.com/community.   Packed with important updates and revisions, The Product Manager’s Desk Reference, Third Edition provides essential advice on: Companies with portfolio of digital and traditional products Utilization of various development methods (waterfall and agile) Product design methods to deliver better user experiences Strategic thinking and business analysis Cross-functional product team collaboration Product portfolio management and product discontinuation Room for error in today’s fast-paced business environment shrinks by the minute. Packed with an array of new tools, techniques, and best practices—along with an explicit emphasis on data, analytics, and product performance—this new edition of the definitive product management resource is a timely and actionable guide to kicking your product management strategies into high gear.

Table of Contents:
Illustrations  Preface  Introduction  MODULE 1 Foundations of Product Management Introduction to Module 1  CHAPTER 1 What Is Product Management?  Question 1: What Is a Product?  Product Lines  Product Portfolios  Solutions, Bundles, and Systems  Product Elements and Modules  Platforms  Question 2: What Is Management?  What Does a Product Manager Really Do?  The Product Management Life Cycle Model  Question 3: What Is Product Management?  Product Management: A Holistic Activity  Summary: Why Product Management Matters  CHAPTER 2 The Product Master Plan  The Purpose of a Master Plan  Plans Change  The Format of the Product Master Plan  The Value of a Product Master Plan  An Insurance Policy for Consistent Communication  The Basic Construction of the Product Master Plan  Product Business Documents  Organizational Information  Product Business Information  Customer and Market Data  Financial Information  Resources and Tools  A Personal Library  A Product Management Library  Summary  CHAPTER 3 Leadership: Creating Influence  You Are Always on Stage  Stay Calm, Even When Your Hair’s on Fire  Transformation  Important Leadership Values  Leadership Behaviors and Mindset  Your Leadership Experiences  Evaluation and Personal Development  Summary  CHAPTER 4 Leveraging Teams to Get Things Done  Product Teams vs. Project Teams  Agile Project Teams  Team Membership  Teaming Is Not Always Easy  Building Blocks of a Cross-Functional Product Team  Team Membership  Multicultural Product Team Issues  Distributed Development Teams  Product Team Responsibilities  Cross-Functional Product Team Membership  Clarifying Roles and Responsibilities  The Functional Support Plan  Team Membership Across the Life Cycle  Cross-Functional Teams in the Global Arena  Cross-Functional Team Leadership  Summary  CHAPTER 5 Problem-Solving, Decision-Making, and Prioritizing  The Importance of Decision-Making  Decision-Making and Problem Solving  Saving Grace: a Case Study About Decision-Making  Decision-Making Techniques  Combining Options  The Morphologic Box  The Decision Matrix  The Decision Tree  Analysis Paralysis and Rational Ignorance  Gut-Feel Decision-Making  Business Intelligence  Summary  CHAPTER 6 Finance for the Product Manager: Keeping Score  The Language of Business  The Basic Financial Statements  The Income Statement  The Balance Sheet  Cash Flow  Demystifying Discounted Cash Flow  Financial Planning for Product Managers  Creating Business Cases for Product Investments  Assembling Forecasts  Testing Planning Assumptions Using Sensitivity Analysis  Deriving Product Cost Models  Establishing Pricing Models  Preparing Product Budgets  Managing the Business  Making Sure the Product Is Achieving Its Financial Goals  Financial Ratios  Last Words on Ratios  Maturity Assessment: Placing the Product on the Life Cycle Curve  Using Scorecards and Other Evaluative Tools  Summary  MODULE 2 Building Insights and Driving Strategies by Making the Market Your Primary Focus Introduction to Module 2  Market Data Matters  Customer and Market Insights Are Vital  A Market Insights Development Process  CHAPTER 7 The Playing Field and the Players: Analyzing the Industry and Competition  Becoming the Expert  What Is an Industry?  Putting Industry Evolution into Perspective  Carrying Out Industry Research  Securing Additional Data  Competitive Environment  Competitive Positioning  Gaining an Edge: Performance Counts  Competitive Intelligence in Your Company  Competitive Intelligence in Your World  Ethics in Competitive Intelligence  With Whom Do You Compete?  Competitor SWOT  How Do They Do What They Do?  Sizing Up the Competitive Landscape  The Final Analysis  Summary  CHAPTER 8 Finding Markets to Conquer by Understanding Customer Needs and Market Segments  The Common Denominator in Segmentation: Customer Needs  How Markets Are Segmented  Market Segments Are Dynamic  Describing the Target Market  They Don’t Know What They Don’t Know  Planning and Carrying Out Customer Visits  Capturing the Voice of the Customer  Conducting Customer Interviews  Using Personas and Customer Narratives to Capture Needs  Capturing the Customer’s Journey  Associating Customer Needs with Product Features  Summary  CHAPTER 9 Preparing to Set Your Mileposts: Forecasting for the Product Manager  Forecasting and Market Potential  Forecasts Are Built on Beliefs About the Future  Validating Assumptions and Applying Customer Preferences  Forecasting Is a Cross-Functional Exercise  Sales Forecasting  Validating the Forecast  Demand Planning  Summary  CHAPTER 10 Product Strategy Formulation  Strategy Is a Dynamic Continuum  Strategizing Is Like Solving a Puzzle  Cascading Strategies  Dynamic Strategy for the Product Manager  Strategy in Your World  The Product Strategy Formulation Process  Using the Product Strategy Formulation Process  Baselining the Business of the Product  Organizing the Data  External Data: Industry and Competition  Customer Activity  Organizational Capabilities and Financial Health  Capturing Product Performance Data  Life Cycle State  The Marketing Mix  Company Resources That Contribute to the Product’s Business  Synthesizing Data and Identifying Opportunities  Your Product’s Future  Establishing Goals  Identifying Strategic Options  Linking Your Strategy to a Roadmap Did We Get There?  Summary  MODULE 3 The Start of the Product’s Journey Introduction to Module 3  Limits and Benefits of Processes  Importance of the Right Cadence  Faster Is Not Always Better, but It Can’t Hurt  Organization of the Chapters in This Module  CHAPTER 11 Making a Molehill Out of a Mountain: Linear Product Planning and Prioritization  Linear Product Planning  What’s the Big Idea?  Categorization of Product Ideas  Sorting Out Opportunities  “So What?”: The Value Proposition for the Opportunity  Clarifying Your Identity with a Positioning Statement  Selection and Prioritization  Managing Rejected Opportunities  Securing Approval to Move to the Next Phase: The Concept Review  Is There Really a Business Here? Assessing Feasibility  Clarifying Roles, Responsibilities, and Deliverables  Marketing  Product Development/Engineering/IT  Finance  Customer Service  Sales/Account Management  Operations  Supply Chain  Legal/Regulatory/Compliance  The Business Case  Characteristics of Strong Business Cases  Activities and Sequencing  Business Case Structure  Section 1: Framing  Section 2: Customer Context and Problems  Section 3: Industry and Competitive Environment  Section 4: Overall Market Context  Section 5: Product or Solution  Section 6: Forecast and Pricing  Section 7: Scenario Planning  Section 8: Financial Analysis  Section 9: Operations and Integration  Section 10: Go to Market/Launch  Section 11: Risk Assessment  Section 12: Review and Recommendation Make Versus Buy  Carrying Out a Make Versus Buy Analysis: An Example  The Decision Matrix for the Feasibility Phase  Summary  CHAPTER 12 Appearances Are Everything: Defining and Designing the Product  Product Definition Documents  The PRD Outline and Template  Managing Requirements  Eliciting Requirements  Defining Requirements  Organizing Documents  Managing Requirements from Beginning to End  Prioritizing Requirements  Inspections and Peer Reviews  Requirements Management and the Product Life Cycle  The Evolving Product Design  The Product Definition Phase Review  Summary  CHAPTER 13 Product Planning and Prioritizing in the Digital World  Perspective  Customers First  Designs and Prototypes  Customer Value Drivers  Verification of Strategic Fit and Prioritization of Features  Staging Features for Development and Release Planning  Summary  CHAPTER 14 Execution and Oversight During Product Development  The Product Manager’s Role During Development  Truth Mixed with Humility  Product Managers Must Understand Execution and Mitigate Conflicts  Surfacing Conflicts and Realities with “How” Questions  Linear Product Development  Managing Project Plans Helps Manage Risk  P rogress Validation Is Essential  Product Testing  The Beta Test  Product Documentation Managing Change and Scope: Trade-Offs and Prioritization  Iterative Product Development  Priming the Pump  Kanban  Product Managers Versus Product Owners  Connecting the Processes  Summary  CHAPTER 15 To Market, to Market: Launching and Releasing Products  Launch Benchmarking Outcomes  Putting the Launch into Perspective  The Launch Plan  Launch Execution  Executive Champions Need to Lead Important Product Launches  Confirm the Market Window  Review Market and Beta Tests—or Conduct Them If Necessary  Prerelease/Early Adopter Review Product Availability Ratings  Provide Adequate Sales Training  Sales Goals and Compensation  Ensure Readiness of Marketing Collateral, Website, and Promotional Programs  Leverage Digital Marketing  Arrange Coverage by Industry or Market Analysts  Make Sure Distribution Channels Are Able to Sell and Deliver the Product  Ensure Readiness of Operational Systems  Preparing for the Internal Launch  Launch Metrics Must Be Assembled and Ready to Track  Risk Management  Be Willing to Recommend Go or No-Go for Launch  The Announcement  Summary  MODULE 4 Continuing the Journey: Post-Launch Performance Management Introduction to Module 4  CHAPTER 16 Auditing Results After the Launch  After the Launch  Using an Impartial Auditor  Market Window Compliance  Executive Sponsorship  Business Case Synchronization  Adequacy and Timing of Marketing Material  Adequacy of Sales Training  Reviewing Operational Readiness  Conformance to Launch Metrics  Make Sure to Capture Lessons Learned  Win–Loss Audits  Internal Win–Loss Auditing  External Win–Loss Auditing  Assembling a Report Summary  CHAPTER 17 Post-Launch Performance Management  Running the Business  The Importance of Measuring Performance  Creating a Data-Driven Fact Base  Data and Metrics  Market Metrics  Financial Metrics  Sales, Service, and Operations Metrics  Evaluation: What’s Happening Now with the Product?  Assessing the Impact of Your Cross-Functional Product Team  Identifying the Life Cycle State of the Product  Evaluating Financial and Business Data Using Product Scorecards  Using a Product Dashboard and a Product Health Report  Pricing and Product Performance  Updating Your Product Roadmap  Summary  CHAPTER 18 Product Portfolio Management  Dispelling Some Myths About Product Portfolio Management  What Is Life Cycle Product Portfolio Management?  A Portfolio Reference Model  The Ideal Work Structure for Product Portfolio Management  The Cross-Functional Product Review Board  A Life Cycle Product Portfolio Model Methodology  Further Analysis: Current Products  Create Your Own Product Portfolio Model  Portfolio Decision-Making  Availability of Data Is Critical  Summary  CHAPTER 19 Enough’s Enough! Discontinuing the Product Barriers to Discontinuation  The Discontinuation Decision  Product Discontinuation Documentation  The Cross-Functional Team  Other Types of “Discontinuation”  The Discontinuation Notice  Summary  Index 

About the Author :
Steven Haines is the founder of Sequent Learning Networks, a global product management training and advisory services firm based in New York City. He's also the founder of The Business Acumen Institute, a training firm dedicated to business acumen excellence. He is the author of several bestselling books, including The Product Manager's Survival Guide (2nd edition), The Business Acumen Handbook and Managing Product Management.