Completely agree that this should be cross-functionally supporting and the work essentially being product management of the internal workings by focusing on the customers.
I discussed realities of this with a number of peers in the field as part of MBA research into considering whether to implement at my current org. which has an Integrated Product Team concept). The realities seemingly push against this working method as there remains a functional hierarchy. Having a group within the product structure that are looking to engage and understand whats really going on invokes defense mechanisms within the other functions making getting to the real crux of the problems difficult. In some cases the engagements can be combative and not collaborative. I conclude that if you consider the Product Ops function the first tasks in initiating needs to be analysis of the culture as if such barriers exist changing those dynamics will be key to any successes. Indeed, I have completed said analysis at my org. and am about to embark on my first experiment to gauge how viable Product Ops really is.
I also have a point on your summary "ProductOps solves problems for product teams that single teams and individuals cannot solve (and does so thoughtfully, keeping the long-term health and goals of the teams and organization as a top priority)". It's a great way to put it. I have seem many remits focusing on "making things easier", but some org. goals will require times of sacrifice (as you put it), so adding that 'thoughtfuly' notion in there speaks volumes - to me at least.
This is great and I agree that Product Ops' key "customer" is the product management team, and, done effectively, Product Ops creates leverage (like any other platform team). I would have loved to have seen more examples. Or is there a list of common functions that Product Ops typically performs?
- Streamlining and scaling efficiencies, be it through improving planning methodologies or implementing tooling to reduce distractions for PMs (eg building a flexible but reliable process to collate customer or employee product feedback)
- Creating and maintaining a continuous library of all product areas, their maintainers, owners and influencers, so that no part of your product remains unmapped and that your product can be maintained with greater ease for all tech teams
- Implementing style guides and taxonomy guidelines for your product documentation, to ensure people refer to the same features and share the same understanding
- Build feedback loops to easily identify how iterative product builds can be and how success can be defined
- Pave the way to make PMs more sensitive to release management and product marketing through process improvement and simplification of definitions of done
Though the definition of product ops can greatly vary based on your organisation
Hi John, thank you for this article. I still do not feel that comfortable with this role at all. May be it‘s because I am not working in a very big enterprise, where this role seems to be applicable the most (from what I understood).
My main concern is, if „ProductOps“ is just a fancy name with a blown up so-called purpose for what I would simply call „product assistant“ role (again, from what I understood from reading, not experiencing yet). What would be wrong with „product management assistance“ as role name?
And another thing to bear in my mind: in some companies these help is scattered around different existing functions and so they will need to be onboard so that the new ProductOps team is not considered redundant or a duplicate. Is the sum really greater than the parts?
How do you see the relationship between ProductOps and Product coaching teams?
Is it like ProductOps solves problems(e.g., Scheduling Customer Calls) that single teams can not, and Product coaching team helps teams to solve their problems(e.g., strategic alignment with persistent model and OKRs)? Are they separate entities that pursue different ways to support product teams?
Coaching and knowledge transfer is generally deemed one of the product ops pillars, though as John rightly points out this differs dependant on a company's needs. I have seen JDs for a Prod Ops Manager who focuses only on coaching and others where it doesn't get a mention.
Thanks for this John! The mindset of Product Ops as a platform product, internally facing, to serve product managers and, by extension, the cross-functional teams they work in every day makes a lot of sense. Just this week I was talking with my team about how "making things easier" is important in helping create leverage (making a product manager's time well spent and output even more valuable) but not confusing "easier" with assuming responsibility (or worse, product decision making) away from product teams. Like Julian mentions below, I would love to see even more examples / common functions you've witnessed.
The foundation of ProductOps is to support other teams for the maximum collective leverage. In a way, our incentives frameworks are also to be blamed because we are (primarily) rewarded for our work in our assigned role. If only I know how my work supports others' work in the product system, ProductOps could have a stronger base.
Completely agree that this should be cross-functionally supporting and the work essentially being product management of the internal workings by focusing on the customers.
I discussed realities of this with a number of peers in the field as part of MBA research into considering whether to implement at my current org. which has an Integrated Product Team concept). The realities seemingly push against this working method as there remains a functional hierarchy. Having a group within the product structure that are looking to engage and understand whats really going on invokes defense mechanisms within the other functions making getting to the real crux of the problems difficult. In some cases the engagements can be combative and not collaborative. I conclude that if you consider the Product Ops function the first tasks in initiating needs to be analysis of the culture as if such barriers exist changing those dynamics will be key to any successes. Indeed, I have completed said analysis at my org. and am about to embark on my first experiment to gauge how viable Product Ops really is.
I also have a point on your summary "ProductOps solves problems for product teams that single teams and individuals cannot solve (and does so thoughtfully, keeping the long-term health and goals of the teams and organization as a top priority)". It's a great way to put it. I have seem many remits focusing on "making things easier", but some org. goals will require times of sacrifice (as you put it), so adding that 'thoughtfuly' notion in there speaks volumes - to me at least.
This is great and I agree that Product Ops' key "customer" is the product management team, and, done effectively, Product Ops creates leverage (like any other platform team). I would have loved to have seen more examples. Or is there a list of common functions that Product Ops typically performs?
As a Product Ops Lead, here are some:
- Streamlining and scaling efficiencies, be it through improving planning methodologies or implementing tooling to reduce distractions for PMs (eg building a flexible but reliable process to collate customer or employee product feedback)
- Creating and maintaining a continuous library of all product areas, their maintainers, owners and influencers, so that no part of your product remains unmapped and that your product can be maintained with greater ease for all tech teams
- Implementing style guides and taxonomy guidelines for your product documentation, to ensure people refer to the same features and share the same understanding
- Build feedback loops to easily identify how iterative product builds can be and how success can be defined
- Pave the way to make PMs more sensitive to release management and product marketing through process improvement and simplification of definitions of done
Though the definition of product ops can greatly vary based on your organisation
Thank you for sharing, is there an opportunity to exchange and deepen the conversation?
Hi John, thank you for this article. I still do not feel that comfortable with this role at all. May be it‘s because I am not working in a very big enterprise, where this role seems to be applicable the most (from what I understood).
My main concern is, if „ProductOps“ is just a fancy name with a blown up so-called purpose for what I would simply call „product assistant“ role (again, from what I understood from reading, not experiencing yet). What would be wrong with „product management assistance“ as role name?
And another thing to bear in my mind: in some companies these help is scattered around different existing functions and so they will need to be onboard so that the new ProductOps team is not considered redundant or a duplicate. Is the sum really greater than the parts?
PM the PMs hey
How do you see the relationship between ProductOps and Product coaching teams?
Is it like ProductOps solves problems(e.g., Scheduling Customer Calls) that single teams can not, and Product coaching team helps teams to solve their problems(e.g., strategic alignment with persistent model and OKRs)? Are they separate entities that pursue different ways to support product teams?
I could see a product coaching function living within a ProductOps team. Coaching is a tactic to deliver support.
Coaching and knowledge transfer is generally deemed one of the product ops pillars, though as John rightly points out this differs dependant on a company's needs. I have seen JDs for a Prod Ops Manager who focuses only on coaching and others where it doesn't get a mention.
Thanks for this John! The mindset of Product Ops as a platform product, internally facing, to serve product managers and, by extension, the cross-functional teams they work in every day makes a lot of sense. Just this week I was talking with my team about how "making things easier" is important in helping create leverage (making a product manager's time well spent and output even more valuable) but not confusing "easier" with assuming responsibility (or worse, product decision making) away from product teams. Like Julian mentions below, I would love to see even more examples / common functions you've witnessed.
The foundation of ProductOps is to support other teams for the maximum collective leverage. In a way, our incentives frameworks are also to be blamed because we are (primarily) rewarded for our work in our assigned role. If only I know how my work supports others' work in the product system, ProductOps could have a stronger base.
PS: A related comment on one of your tweets: https://twitter.com/vingar/status/1538358639450554368?s=20&t=kewdh8U9lDt4iX-fqyYyeg