{"id":4263,"date":"2016-08-24T15:20:12","date_gmt":"2016-08-24T14:20:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.prodpad.com\/?p=4263"},"modified":"2023-12-05T11:06:16","modified_gmt":"2023-12-05T11:06:16","slug":"building-effective-product-teams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.prodpad.com\/blog\/building-effective-product-teams\/","title":{"rendered":"Product Teams: What Highly Effective Ones Are Doing Differently"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Someone asked me recently: <\/span>\u201cWhat makes an effective product team?\u201d <\/b>

Good question \ud83d\ude42<\/span>

ProdPad has been a product-focused team from the start – after all, ProdPad is a product for Product Managers to do their product management… built by Product Managers. <\/span>

It\u2019s so very <\/span>meta<\/span><\/i>.<\/span> Rick and Morty would be proud.

But as our team grows, it\u2019s helpful to look back at what\u2019s helping us stay product-oriented so we can double down on what’s working for us. <\/span>

Here are my observations:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. An effective product team makes product discussions accessible to everyone else at the company<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

One day, a deeply annoyed Elon Musk sent all of SpaceX <\/span>a memo<\/span><\/a> titled \u201cAcronyms Suck.” It was\u00a0an executive order to stop using acronyms in the workplace because it was hindering\u00a0basic communication among employees.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cExcessive use of made up acronyms is a significant impediment to communication and keeping communication good as we grow is incredibly important.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Individually, a few acronyms here and there may not seem so bad, but if a thousand people are making these up, over time the result will be a huge glossary that we have to issue to new employees. No one can actually remember all these acronyms and people don\u2019t want to seem dumb in a meeting, so they just sit there in ignorance.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

He was right. When you start to speak in your own language, in team speak,\u00a0others can’t meaningfully participate in the conversation.\u00a0<\/span>

The\u00a0product mindset\u00a0requires everyone at the company to be able to discuss the product in terms everyone can understand. <\/span>

A truly effective product team communicates with sales, support, marketing, development, QA, and so on, in a way that is meaningful to each of those teams.<\/span>

We do two things to keep our product conversation open to everyone on the team<\/a>: <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  1. We give everyone access to our product backlog<\/a>. Everyone\u00a0can drop in\u00a0ideas, suggestions, and comment on existing ideas.\u00a0(We review and respond on an ongoing basis.)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. We don’t accept ideas without a short 1-2 sentence business case, a high-level argument for moving that idea forward. This filters out frivolous ideas. <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n
    \n
    \"ProdPad
    ProdPad’s idea canvas: where we build the business case for each product suggestion<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

    This process forces everyone to think about their suggestions in terms of business value rather than personal preferences: <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n