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5 Game Changers in Product Management – Part 2

Published By Louise Allen
5 Game Changers in Product Management – Part 2

Hopefully, you’ve had the opportunity to read Part 1 of this 2-part blog series. Carrie Nauyalis began our series with 3 of the top 5 game-changing tools that you can take advantage of to improve product management in your organization and make your life much easier. The last 2 tools are equally important. Let’s look at more game changers in product management.

Social Product Management — “Are Product Managers going social?”

You bet we are. I follow a large number of blogs on a daily or weekly basis and post my own Tweets and blogs as well. Why? I can post questions and get great responses that help me better deliver products that I know customers want. Blogs also allow me to follow competitors, analysts and industry experts so I am first to know if there is an issue with our customers. It’s amazing what you can learn about your company when you follow Twitter! Industry experts reveal predictions and the next big trend, while competitors use blogs to make big announcements. I’m not waiting for a formal press release… I want to know what’s going on NOW.

Another key aspect for us at Planview in social product management is collaboration. If you’re in the middle of a product development or sprint, you need to communicate with your global team at a moment’s notice. What if you could click on a team member’s name and instantly video chat with them to ask a question or get a live update? If you could do that from your product management dashboard, that’s powerful. With Planview Enterprise, you can.

Product Management Analytics — “What data do I need?”

The most important question a product manager can ask themselves is ‘what data can I use to show we’re doing our job and the product is performing as expected?’ Real-time access to centralized data is crucial to answering this question and performing critical analysis.

Key data that we closely track at Planview:

  1. Analysis of product backlog
  2. Mix of Innovation vs. Enhancement vs. Customer Requirements of the product backlog or next release
  3. Cost release that includes capacity planning scenarios
  4. Revenue forecast by product and market
  5. Roadmap by release, product, technology and market

So what is the bottom line? You need to be able to automate everything from ideation through launch — and be able to see it and manipulate it in real-time. Product development is a key part of this automation. To be an effective product manager, you must have the analytics that back up each one of these stages. The impact of these 5 Game Changers in Product Management is the ability to take out the tactical, manual, day-to-day slogging we had to go through before Planview Enterprise and automate the process. Now it’s your turn to be a Game Changer in Product Management!

Related post: 5 Game Changers in Product Management – Part 1

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Written by Louise Allen Chief Product Officer

With more than 20 years of experience in all facets of bringing technology products to market, Louise leads the product management and solutions marketing teams for Planview, responsible for product strategy, positioning and roadmap for all three of Planview’s product lines. She is also a proud sponsor of Women at Planview, an initiative that champions diversity in the workplace and the community. Louise joined Planview from Quickarrow, where, as Vice President of Product Strategy, her efforts drove the company from self-funded startup to consistently profitable. Prior to this, she held leadership positions with companies including Tivoli Systems, an IBM company, and NetQoS. Louise received her BS in Business Administration from Trinity University, and her MBA from The University of Texas at Austin.