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2015 Year In Review – Hardcore Product Management

The Secret PM Handbook

Looking back over 2015 on this blog, I see quite a lot of meaty content! The post 2015 Year In Review – Hardcore Product Management appeared first on Hardcore Product Management. The topics have been hardcore product management-related. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading it as much as I’ve enjoyed sharing it.

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Organizing a Large Product Backlog

Folding Burritos

Trying to organize a large product backlog is a tough thing to do. As times goes by, and the product grows, what was once a simple list of prioritized items gets unwieldy. Working from a huge list makes it very difficult to navigate and very easy to get “lost” in it. You lose track of what’s going on, what should come next and what’s really low priority. Duplication abounds.

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Prioritizing Features; Three Questions About Product Management; SiriusDecisions 2015 Summit

Good Product Manager

SiriusDecisions Summit 2015. We’re less than 30 days from the SiriusDecisions Summit 2015 , our annual conference where over 2000 b-to-b product, marketing and sales leaders will get a chance to see data-driven best practices research, unveiling of new innovations across the b-to-b space and networking with an elite community of business leaders. There’s plenty of more information on our SiriusDecisions 2015 Summit website.

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Customers value Results, not Tools

Folding Burritos

Daniel Zacarias (@listentodaniel) April 28, 2015. As toolmakers , we tend to often be thinking (and talking) about the tools we make and the process of making them. We are Product Hunters , Thinkers , People , etc. It is critical for us to have those conversations and try to define and improve what is a very empirical craft; but it’s also imperative that we don’t forget what drives all of it: providing results to our customers.

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Benefits (and Caveats) of a Simple Estimation Process

Folding Burritos

We’re all aware that we pretty much suck at estimating how long it will take to build a given piece of software. There are many reasons we fail at this. However, the core of the issue is simple. In general terms, if we want to know how much time some task will take, we need to be pretty sure about What to do, How to do it and to Have done it multiple times.

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The Product Kata

Melissa Perri

A while ago, I was introducing the Kanban Kata by Hakan Forss to a team that was struggling to meet their deadline. They had failed twice before and their jobs were in jeopardy. Implementing Continuous Improvement and Kata helped the teams create better processes and remove bottlenecks. I was the coach that took them through the motions that Hakan eloquently teaches, which is based on the Toyota Kata by Mike Rother.

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A Trello template for your Product Backlog

Folding Burritos

Since publishing my article on how to organize a large product backlog , I got a lot of questions from readers that wanted more details on the workflow and how to set it up in Trello. That’s why I decided to create a set of template/example boards that you can copy to your own account and tweak as you wish, as well as a sort of FAQ from a couple exchanges I had with readers.

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Deadlines are evil. Deadlines are our friends

Folding Burritos

Deadline. Even if you didn’t know what it meant, the word surely sounds ominous. And then, when you look up the origin of the term , it gets even nastier. The word comes from US Civil War prison camps, where guards would shoot any prisoner that crossed a line about 19 feet from the wall. That is the kind of inspiration for one of the most common concepts that we have to deal with on our products and projects. Just lovely.

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13 Myths And Misconceptions About Product Managers

Street Smart Product Manager

The good news: product management is now being seen as a legitimate profession and increasingly critical to a company’s growth strategy. (Ok, Ok, maybe it was always thus in Silicon Valley, but the rest of the world is now catching up.) The bad news: There are still many myths and misconceptions folks have about our profession. Here … Continue reading 13 Myths And Misconceptions About Product Managers.

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5 Indispensible Habits Of Great Product Leaders

Street Smart Product Manager

As a product management leader, there are many demands on your time. It’s easy to get sucked into working on the most pressing issues and on meeting other people’s expectations. As “do-ers”, it’s in our nature to jump on these issues immediately. We pride ourselves on our competence to tackle these right away. But when we do … Continue reading 5 Indispensible Habits Of Great Product Leaders.

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Product Managers: Let’s Keep our Role in Perspective

Folding Burritos

Here’s a pun on Martin Eriksson ‘s now classic diagram. As Product Managers we must always remember that our role is to look outwards at least as much as we look inwards. Although the product delivery process is noisier and demands a lot of attention, let’s keep in mind that our job is to create value for our customers and consequently, for the business. The post Product Managers: Let’s Keep our Role in Perspective appeared first on Folding Burritos. Product Management

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Book Review: “Badass: Making Users Awesome”

Folding Burritos

Kathy Sierra’s latest book is a must-read for any product person. The book’s premise is this: if we want to create bestselling, sustainably successful products or services, we have to shift our thinking from “making awesome products” to “making our users awesome” The path to long-term success and customer satisfaction is forged by giving our users the tools to succeed not just in using our product, but in the context in which they’re using the product.

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Hi Fly: A Lean Airline Story

Melissa Perri

This past year I took six trips to London. Five of those round trip flights were on Norwegian Air. I HATE Norwegian Air. Without fail, every one of my Norwegian Air flights were delayed at least 2.5 hours. But on one trip back from London, I got a surprising test message. I had never heard of this HiFly airline before. I was incredibly skeptical but I needed to get home. The plane I boarded was a completely white, unmarked jumbo jet that looked like it came back through time from the early 90s.

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7 Ways To Growth Hack eCommerce in 2015

Bryce York

A lot of e-tailers discovered CRO in 2015. 2015 will be the year where most people know what CRO is and the way to differentiate your store, will be to actually start doing it! That’s my top 7 predictions for 2015.

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The Keys To Productive Brainstorming

Street Smart Product Manager

Let’s face it: brainstorming has gotten a bad rap. And deservedly so. How many of us have been part of a “brainstorming meeting” that turned out to be a total waste of time? Too many people. A purposeless agenda. Meandering conversations that go nowhere. And no follow-up afterward. Sound familiar? In fact, doesn’t “brainstorming meeting” … Continue reading The Keys To Productive Brainstorming.

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Interview With Hubert Palan, CEO of ProductBoard – Podcast Season 2, Episode 2

The Secret PM Handbook

Here is the second episode of our new podcast season of All The Responsibility, None Of The Authority, crossposted from alltheresponsibility.com. I will be crossposting the new episodes from the new site to this feed as they are published (I’m a little behind now but will catch up!). Introducing Hubert Palan. Nils first met Hubert Palan in November 2014 at the Product Management Summit in San Francisco.

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Interview With Hubert Palan, CEO of ProductBoard, Part 2 – Podcast Season 2, Episode 2

The Secret PM Handbook

This second part of our interview with Hubert Palan is the third episode of our new podcast season of All The Responsibility, None Of The Authority, crossposted from alltheresponsibility.com. I will be crossposting the new episodes from the new site to this feed as they are published (I’m a little behind now but will catch up!). This is part two of our interview with Hubert Palan, found and CEO of ProductBoard, and long time product management leader and executive.

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The 15 Most-Loved UserTesting Articles from 2015

UserTesting

In celebration of everything we’ve learned together, we’d like to share our top content from 2015. If you haven’t had a … The post The 15 Most-Loved UserTesting Articles from 2015 appeared first on UserTesting Blog. It’s been another great year here at the UserTesting blog, and we’ve been honored to have you join us! CX Design Marketing Popular Product Research

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Product Camp Boston 2015 Sessions!

Product Manager in Heels

For those of you looking for information on Product Camp Boston 2015 at the Microsoft NERD Center in Cambridge, take a look ! PCampBoston. product camp

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Congratulations 2015 STAR Awards Winners!

TSIA

Thank you everyone for helping make the TSW 2015 Service Transformations conference an unforgettable experience with record high attendance and valuable lessons learned about Growing Customers Successfully. We’d like to take a moment to congratulate the winners of this year's TSIA STAR Awards who were announced on the final day of the conference at the Awards Gala and acknowledge their dedication to excellence

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What are the major product management trends of 2015?

AlphaHQ

Our 2015 Product Management Insights report provided clarity on the common challenges product managers face, and the latest trends in strategy and execution of new products within the enterprise. The post What are the major product management trends of 2015? What does it take to be a successful product manager? What exactly do product managers do on a daily basis? What are the latest trends and best practices throughout the product lifecycle?

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What are the major product management trends of 2015?

AlphaHQ

Our 2015 Product Management Insights report provided clarity on the common challenges product managers face, and the latest trends in strategy and execution of new products within the enterprise. The post What are the major product management trends of 2015? What does it take to be a successful product manager? What exactly do product managers do on a daily basis? What are the latest trends and best practices throughout the product lifecycle?

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What are the major product management trends of 2015?

AlphaHQ

Our 2015 Product Management Insights report provided clarity on the common challenges product managers face, and the latest trends in strategy and execution of new products within the enterprise. The post What are the major product management trends of 2015? What does it take to be a successful product manager? What exactly do product managers do on a daily basis? What are the latest trends and best practices throughout the product lifecycle?

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SiriusDecisions 2015 Summit Recap

Good Product Manager

SiriusDecisions 2015 Summit: Recap. The 10th Annual SiriusDecisions Summit was held May 12-15, 2015 in Nashville, with 2300+ delegates getting together for 4 days of discussion on best practices and emerging trends for business-to-business sales, marketing and product leaders. OpenView Labs: Debunking the Myth that Buyers are 67% Through the Buying Process Before Engaging Salespeople and Infographic: Top Stats From SiriusDecisions Summit 2015.

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SiriusDecisions 2015 Summit Recap

Good Product Manager

SiriusDecisions 2015 Summit: Recap. The 10th Annual SiriusDecisions Summit was held May 12-15, 2015 in Nashville, with 2300+ delegates getting together for 4 days of discussion on best practices and emerging trends for business-to-business sales, marketing and product leaders. OpenView Labs: Debunking the Myth that Buyers are 67% Through the Buying Process Before Engaging Salespeople and Infographic: Top Stats From SiriusDecisions Summit 2015.

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10 Things To Do To Appear ‘Innovative’

Street Smart Product Manager

Being “innovative” is all the rage nowadays. Companies big and small, tech and non-tech, are striving to seem innovative to employees and customers. I’ve worked at such companies, and I’ve helped many product managers working at such companies through my product help calls. As such, I’ve seen companies that are actually trying to be innovative, and those that seem more interested […].

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The State of Knowledge Management: 2015

TSIA

I am currently working on the findings, and will be publishing two research reports as well as presenting the findings in my Power Hour presentation at our upcoming TSW 2015 Service Transformations conference in Las Vegas this October. TSIA's third annual knowledge management survey is complete, and the results clearly show how difficult it is for companies to get the people, process, and technology of knowledge management (KM) right.

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The Alternative to Roadmaps

svpg

I have always loved the General George Patton quote: “Don’t tell people what to do; tell them what you need accomplished, and you’ll be amazed at the results.” ” Unfortunately, typical roadmaps do just what the General warned against – they tell the team what to do.

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The Secret Ingredient To Getting Product Innovation Done: “Internalvangelists”

Street Smart Product Manager

So you’ve probably heard of “earlyvangelists” (No? Read this post by Steve Blank, who coined the term.) In Lean Startup circles, we hear a lot about finding these special breed of customers. Because they’re the ones willing to make the initial bet on the startup, because they’ve bought into the startup’s vision and potential. They’re … Continue reading "The Secret Ingredient To Getting Product Innovation Done: “Internalvangelists”".

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From Products to Subscriptions: Q1 2015 Recap

TSIA

In Q1 of 2015, the market gave off very mixed signals about the state of the global tech economy. The short story is that tech company revenues are down, and as a whole, our industry is shrinking. But there are some bright spots. Technology services produced another solid quarter of financial performance and continues to represent tremendous growth potential for our industry.

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Top Takeaways from TSW 2015 Best Practices

TSIA

Here is a snapshot of some of the key takeaways from TSW 2015 Best Practices that John observed, in his own words TSW conferences are a great way to get a top-level view of the latest trends in the industry, and how leading organizations are rising to meet emerging challenges as well as their best practices.

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Missionaries vs. Mercenaries

svpg

One of my all-time favorite quotes in our industry comes by way of the legendary VC, John Doerr , where he argues that "we need teams of missionaries, not teams of mercenaries.” ” This point captures so much, and gets right to the heart of the most important trait of strong leaders, strong organizations, and strong product teams. This is not hard to spot, either way.

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Product Management Technologies; Five Essentials for Strategic Product Management; Planning Assumptions for 2016

Good Product Manager

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) November 11, 2015. “A — Jeff Lash (@jefflash) November 6, 2015. — Jeff Lash (@jefflash) November 11, 2015. "the — Jeff Lash (@jefflash) November 13, 2015. — Jeff Lash (@jefflash) November 20, 2015. — Jeff Lash (@jefflash) November 11, 2015. — Jeff Lash (@jefflash) November 20, 2015. — Jeff Lash (@jefflash) November 18, 2015.

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Creating Effective MVPs coming to NYC!

Melissa Perri

Creating Effective MVPs Full Day workshop is coming to NYC on July 16, 2015! Full Day Workshop on July 16, 2015 in Manhattan (9:30am - 5:00pm). Only 20 tickets available! Buy Tickets Now. Traditionally there is usually little validation before work begins on a new product; and teams end up wasting time building something that no one wants. User Experience suffers and companies are left with products and features that remain unused.

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Minimum Viable Products and Product Requirements; Upcoming Webcasts; Competitive Analysis Workshop in Boston

Good Product Manager

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) July 20, 2015. — Jeff Lash (@jefflash) July 13, 2015. — Jeff Lash (@jefflash) July 10, 2015. — Jeff Lash (@jefflash) June 26, 2015. — Jeff Lash (@jefflash) June 19, 2015. — Jeff Lash (@jefflash) June 10, 2015. — Jeff Lash (@jefflash) June 2, 2015. Minimum Viable Products Don’t Replace Product Requirements – They Help Identify Them.

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What Distinguishes the Top 1% Product Managers from the Top 10%?

Rahul Abhyankar

I came across this question on Quora and it got me thinking. It’s useful to understand what distinguishes the top 1% from the top 10% in any field. The top 10% in any field are likely some of the top notch performers in that field. The margin of difference is very small. Yet there must be that … Continue reading What Distinguishes the Top 1% Product Managers from the Top 10%? → Career/Leadership Product Management product management

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Lean Product Management Manifesto

Melissa Perri

If you want to read the story behind the Lean Product Management Manifesto, you can find it here. Over the past few months I have been working with people in the Lean and Agile community to figure out how we can communicate the benefits of a Lean approach to Product Management. I expect this to evolve and change as we continuously integrate these principles into our own practices and learn. I welcome your feedback and contributions.

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What I Heard at the CRM Evolution Conference 2015

TSIA

Last week I attended the CRM Evolution Conference in New York, which is always a good show to hear the latest trends in marketing, sales and service automation. I gave presentations on social support with B2B companies, and the impact of mobility on field service , as well as participating in a panel discussion on launching and managing successful communities. Here’s a recap of some of the most interesting conversations I had or session topics I sat in on

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From 0 to $1B - Slack's Founder Shares Their Epic Launch Strategy

First Round Review

“HELL YEAH WE'RE USING @SlackHQ AT WORK I. SLACK

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Product Manager and Product Owner; SiriusDecisions Webcasts; BPMA Competitive Analysis Workshop

Good Product Manager

— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) August 10, 2015. — Jeff Lash (@jefflash) August 9, 2015. — Jeff Lash (@jefflash) August 17, 2015. Product Manager and Product Owner: One Person or Two? As more organizations adopt and look to optimize agile development approaches, one of the questions that is most pressing relates to roles and responsibilities — specifically, about how the role of product owner compares to the role of product manager.