As you might know I have been working as a product manager for quite a long time. The job’s funny, I really can achieve something and forge the future to some extent. However, I’m wondering where do the areas of responsibility start and end of a product manager.
What is product management all about in a business information setting where I’m responsible for products our customers consume. Am I responsible for the data to make it into my product? Am I responsible for customer complaints due to IT issues? Hang on……I guess as a holistically thinking PM I should be somehow responsible for such tasks. It’s not that I have to resolve the issue on my own but I suppose it’s my job to ensure that the necessary steps are taken. I can’t oversee all tasks due to the breadth but I have to rely on others to resolve them.
However, what happens if these “other people” are not recognizing that the issue has to be resolved by them? If they don’t recognize that basically they’re responsible for the issue? One of the things I like as a PM is the fact that I have to act holistically. I need proper understanding of how (in my case) we collect data, how we process it, how we package it and finally how we sell it. Additionally after the information has been sold to customers I have to understand what’s the feedback; be it negative or positive, to be able to use that information for future product development. Isn’t this holistic approach not applicable to others in a company as well? Is it really satisfying having knowledge about only one element of the supply chain? Apparently it is in many companies but I would say that productivity and therefore output leading to revenue could be drastically increased if people understood how important it is to think outside of the box.
This is something James L. Heskett mentioned in his brilliant article about “Putting the service-profit chain to work” (get it here) where he presents a fact that an increase in customer loyalty (due to increased employee satisfaction and therefore better performance) of just 5 percent might result in an increase of 25%-85% of your profit.
Putting the service profit chain to work (Heskett)
I guess the conclusion is the following: Yes, I have to feel responsible for some issues I’m not even responsible for.
Just for the reason to be a role model. Force others to see that this approach is not to my detriment as it results in more work or stress but it is the way the company which pays my salary is able to flourish making sure that I have a bright future outlook as well. Nevertheless, it’s not always an easy task to be a warrior.
So what are your experiences? Where do you set your boundaries of responsibility?
Strategic buy-in
Do you know the feeling when you get some orders to implement a strategy, project, whatever and haven’t been asked before? How was that? I guess you felt like somebody kidded you. Right?
So what could have been done better? It’s pretty obvious that whatever decision has to be implemented needs a broad acceptance among the key people. Therefore it’s pretty important to buy-in these people for ensuring the success of an undertaking. Means of dialogue, sense-making will definitely allow you to convince people about the importance and how you want to implement an action. If you got people in the same boat, it works out.
I have seen this approach several times. Projects many times failed where key people were not bought-in. According to Turner (Henley Business School), adults do not react favourably to being told to do something in an area where they regard themselves to have some knowledge or expertise.
The next time you want to implement a strategy, project, etc….keep this in mind for the sake of success.
In most cases, adults do not react favourably to being told to do something in an area where they regard themselves to have some knowledge or expertise.
Head and glowing brain
Have you recently thought about how your company is mastering the financial crunch? Don’t you think that the risk has dramatically increased over the last months or years? I guess when you were doing this you very quickly figured out that your company maybe has the wrong structure, the wrong culture or just a wrong paradigm. It needn’t be entirely wrong. But it could be that it would need some adaption.
An adaptation which is required to embrace the change. How open is your company with respect to change? Do ask yourself these questions. Is the “never change a winning team” approach still reasonable? Does a classical western paradigm which is based on scientific assumptions, measures, control, top-down structure and the approach that only 1 best solution exists, really do the job any longer? Is it the best way to go through these challenging times? To be honest, I don’t think so.
Exactly here, the quantum thinking jumps in. Quantum thinking describes a paradigm which is based on eight points (Trevor Long, Henley Business School)
- Holistic
- Following a vision
- Risk taking and forgiving and playful
- Self organising
- Participatory
- Flexible & determined
- Diverse
- Participatory
How many of these points describe your company? This could be a great starting point for a organisational analysis to cope with the credit crunch but also with all kind of contemporary changes. Nowadays, everything has reached an incredible speed. If I take a look at how quickly we have to fulfil customers requirements etc. it’s just scary how fast some changes happen. We’re expected to deliver in no time. If you don’t, then the customer is looking around for options. Assuming you’re not in a monopoly…. you just have to satisfy these needs.
What I want to end with is: BE OPEN. Embrace the change and question yourself in a critical way. In a way you never have done it before. You’ll see it’s really amazing and relieving.
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