Product Operations Elevator Pitch
I was asked recently “Give me the elevator pitch of Product Operations” by a product veteran that was new to the term.
Unfortunately, my passion for the role quickly kicked in and I was off exploring all the benefits to all whose light Product Ops touches. Because it is difficult to concisely explain all the good the role does, not just for product teams, but for the business as a whole. This is because Product Operations is involved in so many loosely connected areas of product, tech and the business, focusing in on just one or two specifics both undervalues the role and can quickly become uninteresting to they who asked the question.
Product Operations at its heart is about business efficiency & improvement, with a focus around all aspects of the product function and those that interact with it. It is not a support service to product managers nor is it solely to help improve them. It is not a junior role to act as overflow for the things product managers cannot do or do not want to do.
It is a role to ensure the feed of information, resources & assets into and out from the product function in the business is as useful, efficient, accurate and providing as much value as possible to all consumers. This is achieved through efficient processes, building robust trust & reliance between teams, and facilitating individuals to get what they need to do their core job with minimal additional effort. Doing all this utilising good business improvement & change management strategies.
The Pillars of Product Operations
The core pillars of Product Operations, depending on who you speak with, range from 3 to 6, but overall there is good alignment on the themes. I work with 6 (which have been published on www.productopsprofessional.org):
Strategic Support
Product Operations teams assist and enable the Product Management teams, squads and tribes in the production and maintenance of product strategy, by ensuring effective, reliable communication, providing necessary resources & tools, and facilitating cross-functional collaboration to build, publish and execute the plan.
In practise: This means ensuring teams have access to good planing tools (i.e. Jira) configured well, facilitating meetings and schedules for planning sessions etc, good, simple communications providing updates on products, roadmaps, strategies, GTM details.
Business Alignment
Product Operations teams are not only concerned with supporting the product function, and by extension the technology function within a business, but are there to support and enable the entire business with what they need from the product teams to sell, support and market the product(s). Product Operations teams, like other Ops teams in modern businesses, support the business but through a Product lens and product focus.
In practise: This means working with the wider business to ensure they have access to everything they need to do their core jobs - selling the product, marketing the product. That there are simple and easy-to-use channels of communication and tools to feed back to the product teams. That there is good documentation hubs available containing whatever those teams need, on demand.
Data-informed Decision-making
Product Operations teams leverage and provide data and analysis to inform decisions, identify trends, and uncover insights that drive continuous improvement and help guide the overall product strategy. They facilitate the establishment of key performance indicators (KPIs) and ensure these metrics are tracked and reported consistently across teams.
In practise: This means investigating and providing data and dashboards for the product teams (primarily) and other areas of the business to support decision making - for roadmaps and strategy, product decisions, performance of the product, of the teams, etc. Product Operations provides the data and dashboard, for others to analyse and make decisions on.
Valued Communication
Product Operations teams ensure that product communicates clearly, efficiently and regularly with internal stakeholders with information and updates that have value and they can easily consume and reuse in their own roles. Communication guidance focuses on delivering value to the right audience at the right time with the right level of information. Formalised feedback routes for suggestions, ideas and opportunities support efficient, focused inbound communications
In practise: This means ensuring there are good quality communications, meetings, presentations, feedback sessions, etc from/to the product teams. That communication is useful, providing value, is not too technical, is aligned with business goals, is easy to consume, and overall is benefiting the individual in doing their job. That information is embedded and reinforced with simple strategies such as layering sessions and organising sequential meetings, etc.
Iterative Improvement
Product Operations teams ensure existing product operating processes, frameworks and methodologies are needed, add value or requirement iterative improvement. This usually focus on processes for data, communications, collaboration - other Product Operations pillars - but is applicable to the unique needs of each team and each business.
In practise: This means ensuring the processes and protocols being actioned, primarily by the product teams, is fit for purpose and adding value. If not, improving or removing them while ensuring changes have minimal impact on the teams and business. Changes implemented would be broken down into iterative stages and put in place, and giving colleagues time to get used to them (embed them into their daily lives) before making further changes.
Cross-functional Collaboration
Product Operations teams foster open communication and facilitate alignment between various groups, such as product management, engineering, design, and marketing, ensuring everyone works towards common goals.
In practise: This means helping teams work better, more cohesively and more efficiently together, through facilitating and supervising meetings, providing communication routes that are sustainable, encouraging sharing and transparency on the product & roadmaps etc. and building a mutual trust and respect between them by setting processes expectations to follow that everyone accepts and understands
The Elevator Pitch
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