Cover image for The Product Manager's Desk Reference, Third Edition, 3rd Edition

The Product Manager's Desk Reference, Third Edition, 3rd Edition

Release Date: 2021/04/01
ISBN: 9781260468557
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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!

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

  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright Page
  4. Contents
  5. Illustrations
  6. Preface
  7. Introduction
  8. Module 1 Foundations of Product Management
    1. Introduction to Module 1
    2. Chapter 1 What Is Product Management?
    3. Question 1: What Is a Product?
    4. Product Lines
    5. Product Portfolios
    6. Solutions, Bundles, and Systems
    7. Product Elements and Modules
    8. Platforms
    9. Question 2: What Is Management?
    10. What Does a Product Manager Really Do?
    11. The Product Management Life Cycle Model
    12. Question 3: What Is Product Management?
    13. Product Management: A Holistic Activity
    14. Summary: Why Product Management Matters
    15. Chapter 2 The Product Master Plan
    16. The Purpose of a Master Plan
    17. Plans Change
    18. The Format of the Product Master Plan
    19. The Value of a Product Master Plan
    20. An Insurance Policy for Consistent Communication
    21. The Basic Construction of the Product Master Plan
    22. Product Business Documents
    23. Organizational Information
    24. Product Business Information
    25. Customer and Market Data
    26. Financial Information
    27. Resources and Tools
    28. A Personal Library
    29. A Product Management Library
    30. Summary
    31. Chapter 3 Leadership: Creating Influence
    32. You Are Always on Stage
    33. Stay Calm, Even When Your Hair’s on Fire
    34. Transformation
    35. Important Leadership Values
    36. Leadership Behaviors and Mindset
    37. Your Leadership Experiences
    38. Evaluation and Personal Development
    39. Summary
    40. Chapter 4 Leveraging Teams to Get Things Done
    41. Product Teams vs. Project Teams
    42. Agile Project Teams
    43. Team Membership
    44. Teaming Is Not Always Easy
    45. Building Blocks of a Cross-Functional Product Team
    46. Team Membership
    47. Multicultural Product Team Issues
    48. Distributed Development Teams
    49. Product Team Responsibilities
    50. Cross-Functional Product Team Membership
    51. Clarifying Roles and Responsibilities
    52. The Functional Support Plan
    53. Team Membership Across the Life Cycle
    54. Cross-Functional Teams in the Global Arena
    55. Cross-Functional Team Leadership
    56. Summary
    57. Chapter 5 Problem-Solving, Decision-Making, and Prioritizing
    58. The Importance of Decision-Making
    59. Decision-Making and Problem Solving
    60. Saving Grace: a Case Study About Decision-Making
    61. Decision-Making Techniques
    62. Combining Options
    63. The Morphologic Box
    64. The Decision Matrix
    65. The Decision Tree
    66. Analysis Paralysis and Rational Ignorance
    67. Gut-Feel Decision-Making
    68. Business Intelligence
    69. Summary
    70. Chapter 6 Finance for the Product Manager: Keeping Score
    71. The Language of Business
    72. The Basic Financial Statements
    73. The Income Statement
    74. The Balance Sheet
    75. Cash Flow
    76. Demystifying Discounted Cash Flow
    77. Financial Planning for Product Managers
    78. Creating Business Cases for Product Investments
    79. Assembling Forecasts
    80. Testing Planning Assumptions Using Sensitivity Analysis
    81. Deriving Product Cost Models
    82. Establishing Pricing Models
    83. Preparing Product Budgets
    84. Managing the Business
    85. Making Sure the Product Is Achieving Its Financial Goals
    86. Financial Ratios
    87. Last Words on Ratios
    88. Maturity Assessment: Placing the Product on the Life Cycle Curve
    89. Using Scorecards and Other Evaluative Tools
    90. Summary
  9. Module 2 Building Insights and Driving Strategies by Making the Market Your Primary Focus
    1. Introduction to Module 2
    2. Market Data Matters
    3. Customer and Market Insights Are Vital
    4. A Market Insights Development Process
    5. Chapter 7 The Playing Field and the Players: Analyzing the Industry and Competition
    6. Becoming the Expert
    7. What Is an Industry?
    8. Putting Industry Evolution into Perspective
    9. Carrying Out Industry Research
    10. Securing Additional Data
    11. Competitive Environment
    12. Competitive Positioning
    13. Gaining an Edge: Performance Counts
    14. Competitive Intelligence in Your Company
    15. Competitive Intelligence in Your World
    16. Ethics in Competitive Intelligence
    17. With Whom Do You Compete?
    18. Competitor SWOT
    19. How Do They Do What They Do?
    20. Sizing Up the Competitive Landscape
    21. The Final Analysis
    22. Summary
    23. Chapter 8 Finding Markets to Conquer by Understanding Customer Needs and Market Segments
    24. The Common Denominator in Segmentation: Customer Needs
    25. How Markets Are Segmented
    26. Market Segments Are Dynamic
    27. Describing the Target Market
    28. They Don’t Know What They Don’t Know
    29. Planning and Carrying Out Customer Visits
    30. Capturing the Voice of the Customer
    31. Conducting Customer Interviews
    32. Using Personas and Customer Narratives to Capture Needs
    33. Capturing the Customer’s Journey
    34. Associating Customer Needs with Product Features
    35. Summary
    36. Chapter 9 Preparing to Set Your Mileposts: Forecasting for the Product Manager
    37. Forecasting and Market Potential
    38. Forecasts Are Built on Beliefs About the Future
    39. Validating Assumptions and Applying Customer Preferences
    40. Forecasting Is a Cross-Functional Exercise
    41. Sales Forecasting
    42. Validating the Forecast
    43. Demand Planning
    44. Summary
    45. Chapter 10 Product Strategy Formulation
    46. Strategy Is a Dynamic Continuum
    47. Strategizing Is Like Solving a Puzzle
    48. Cascading Strategies
    49. Dynamic Strategy for the Product Manager
    50. Strategy in Your World
    51. The Product Strategy Formulation Process
    52. Using the Product Strategy Formulation Process
    53. Baselining the Business of the Product
    54. Organizing the Data
    55. External Data: Industry and Competition
    56. Customer Activity
    57. Organizational Capabilities and Financial Health
    58. Capturing Product Performance Data
    59. Life Cycle State
    60. The Marketing Mix
    61. Company Resources That Contribute to the Product’s Business
    62. Synthesizing Data and Identifying Opportunities
    63. Your Product’s Future
    64. Establishing Goals
    65. Identifying Strategic Options
    66. Linking Your Strategy to a Roadmap
    67. Did We Get There?
    68. Summary
  10. Module 3 The Start of the Product’s Journey
    1. Introduction to Module 3
    2. Limits and Benefits of Processes
    3. Importance of the Right Cadence
    4. Faster Is Not Always Better, but It Can’t Hurt
    5. Organization of the Chapters in This Module
    6. Chapter 11 Making a Molehill Out of a Mountain: Linear Product Planning and Prioritization
    7. Linear Product Planning
    8. What’s the Big Idea?
    9. Categorization of Product Ideas
    10. Sorting Out Opportunities
    11. “So What?”: The Value Proposition for the Opportunity
    12. Clarifying Your Identity with a Positioning Statement
    13. Selection and Prioritization
    14. Managing Rejected Opportunities
    15. Securing Approval to Move to the Next Phase: The Concept Review
    16. Is There Really a Business Here? Assessing Feasibility
    17. Clarifying Roles, Responsibilities, and Deliverables
    18. Marketing
    19. Product Development/Engineering/IT
    20. Finance
    21. Customer Service
    22. Sales/Account Management
    23. Operations
    24. Supply Chain
    25. Legal/Regulatory/Compliance
    26. The Business Case
    27. Characteristics of Strong Business Cases
    28. Activities and Sequencing
    29. Business Case Structure
    30. Section 1: Framing
    31. Section 2: Customer Context and Problems
    32. Section 3: Industry and Competitive Environment
    33. Section 4: Overall Market Context
    34. Section 5: Product or Solution
    35. Section 6: Forecast and Pricing
    36. Section 7: Scenario Planning
    37. Section 8: Financial Analysis
    38. Section 9: Operations and Integration
    39. Section 10: Go to Market/Launch
    40. Section 11: Risk Assessment
    41. Section 12: Review and Recommendation
    42. Make Versus Buy
    43. Carrying Out a Make Versus Buy Analysis: An Example
    44. The Decision Matrix for the Feasibility Phase
    45. Summary
    46. Chapter 12 Appearances Are Everything: Defining and Designing the Product
    47. Product Definition Documents
    48. The PRD Outline and Template
    49. Managing Requirements
    50. Eliciting Requirements
    51. Defining Requirements
    52. Organizing Documents
    53. Managing Requirements from Beginning to End
    54. Prioritizing Requirements
    55. Inspections and Peer Reviews
    56. Requirements Management and the Product Life Cycle
    57. The Evolving Product Design
    58. The Product Definition Phase Review
    59. Summary
    60. Chapter 13 Product Planning and Prioritizing in the Digital World
    61. Perspective
    62. Customers First
    63. Designs and Prototypes
    64. Customer Value Drivers
    65. Verification of Strategic Fit and Prioritization of Features
    66. Staging Features for Development and Release Planning
    67. Summary
    68. Chapter 14 Execution and Oversight During Product Development
    69. The Product Manager’s Role During Development
    70. Truth Mixed with Humility
    71. Product Managers Must Understand Execution and Mitigate Conflicts
    72. Surfacing Conflicts and Realities with “How” Questions
    73. Linear Product Development
    74. Managing Project Plans Helps Manage Risk
    75. Progress Validation Is Essential
    76. Product Testing
    77. The Beta Test
    78. Product Documentation
    79. Managing Change and Scope: Trade-Offs and Prioritization
    80. Iterative Product Development
    81. Priming the Pump
    82. Kanban
    83. Product Managers Versus Product Owners
    84. Connecting the Processes
    85. Summary
    86. Chapter 15 To Market, to Market: Launching and Releasing Products
    87. Launch Benchmarking Outcomes
    88. Putting the Launch into Perspective
    89. The Launch Plan
    90. Launch Execution
    91. Executive Champions Need to Lead Important Product Launches
    92. Confirm the Market Window
    93. Review Market and Beta Tests—or Conduct Them If Necessary
    94. Prerelease/Early Adopter Reviews
    95. Product Availability Ratings
    96. Provide Adequate Sales Training
    97. Sales Goals and Compensation
    98. Ensure Readiness of Marketing Collateral, Website, and Promotional Programs
    99. Leverage Digital Marketing
    100. Arrange Coverage by Industry or Market Analysts
    101. Make Sure Distribution Channels Are Able to Sell and Deliver the Product
    102. Ensure Readiness of Operational Systems
    103. Preparing for the Internal Launch
    104. Launch Metrics Must Be Assembled and Ready to Track
    105. Risk Management
    106. Be Willing to Recommend Go or No-Go for Launch
    107. The Announcement
    108. Summary
  11. Module 4 Continuing the Journey: Post-Launch Performance Management
    1. Introduction to Module 4
    2. Chapter 16 Auditing Results After the Launch
    3. After the Launch
    4. Using an Impartial Auditor
    5. Market Window Compliance
    6. Executive Sponsorship
    7. Business Case Synchronization
    8. Adequacy and Timing of Marketing Material
    9. Adequacy of Sales Training
    10. Reviewing Operational Readiness
    11. Conformance to Launch Metrics
    12. Make Sure to Capture Lessons Learned
    13. Win–Loss Audits
    14. Internal Win–Loss Auditing
    15. External Win–Loss Auditing
    16. Assembling a Report
    17. Summary
    18. Chapter 17 Post-Launch Performance Management
    19. Running the Business
    20. The Importance of Measuring Performance
    21. Creating a Data-Driven Fact Base
    22. Data and Metrics
    23. Market Metrics
    24. Financial Metrics
    25. Sales, Service, and Operations Metrics
    26. Evaluation: What’s Happening Now with the Product?
    27. Assessing the Impact of Your Cross-Functional Product Team
    28. Identifying the Life Cycle State of the Product
    29. Evaluating Financial and Business Data Using Product Scorecards
    30. Using a Product Dashboard and a Product Health Report
    31. Pricing and Product Performance
    32. Updating Your Product Roadmap
    33. Summary
    34. Chapter 18 Product Portfolio Management
    35. Dispelling Some Myths About Product Portfolio Management
    36. What Is Life Cycle Product Portfolio Management?
    37. A Portfolio Reference Model
    38. The Ideal Work Structure for Product Portfolio Management
    39. The Cross-Functional Product Review Board
    40. A Life Cycle Product Portfolio Model
    41. Methodology
    42. Further Analysis: Current Products
    43. Create Your Own Product Portfolio Model
    44. Portfolio Decision-Making
    45. Availability of Data Is Critical
    46. Summary
    47. Chapter 19 Enough’s Enough! Discontinuing the Product
    48. Barriers to Discontinuation
    49. The Discontinuation Decision
    50. Product Discontinuation Documentation
    51. The Cross-Functional Team
    52. Other Types of “Discontinuation”
    53. The Discontinuation Notice
    54. Summary
  12. Index
3.140.185.123