One of the tactics that I have found success with is the idea of the Product Success Team. This is a cross-functional team made up of co-leaders from various departments. The goal is to create alignment across the organization on actions to drive product success.

Problem

Imagine that you are a product manager inundated with feedback: the customer is struggling to use X or sales have been killing it on Y. You know that you have to speak talk to engineering, marketing, customers success, sales, or even technical support to resolve issues promptly. However, as navigate these conversations, you find yourself repeating the same information to each stakeholder.

Solution

Enter the Product Success Team. Picture a recurring weekly meeting specifically designed to bring co-leaders from across the organization. The aim? To align on the actions needed to drive product success.

Objectives of the Product Success Team are:

1. To remove impediments to product success
2. To promote alignment of action to maximize the team’s effectiveness
3. To maintain broad awareness of product performance and market sense, supporting quality decision making

This team is intentionally designed to leverage each team member’s expertise to ensure successful delivery of the work – in this case, The Product.

The Product Success Team is dedicated to supporting the delivery of product objectives, which stem from the product strategy, to achieve the product vision.

Caveats

It’s important to note that this meeting is not intended to be a status update session. Status reports can be shared asynchronously. To keep the meeting productive and prevent it from becoming a status meeting, focus discussions on product objectives and what is required to enhance performance.

By centering conversations around these goals, the Product Success Team ensures that every action taken contributes directly to the overall success of the product.