For those of you wondering why it took longer to introduce the ProdBOK Guide in ebook format – the answer is that file conversion into ebook format is a bit nuanced. It required additional effort on the part of the editorial team to ensure that the original file format is faithfully reproduced in Epub and mobi.

I would also like to take a moment and say thank you to our first Kindle customer –  in India. 

Thank you for your purchase! 

* Kindle is a registered trademark of Amazon.com

Greg Geracie is a recognized thought leader in the field of product management and the President of Actuation Consulting, a global provider of product management consulting, training, and advisory services to some of the world’s most well-known organizations. Greg is also the author of the global best seller Take Charge Product Management. He is also an adjunct professor at DePaul University’s College of Computing and Digital Media where he teaches graduate and undergraduate courses on high-tech and digital product management.

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An incredible amount of work has gone into this effort and its a cornerstone that we can continuously build upon. Today the vocabulary and practice of product management is highly variable from one organization to another. The goal of the ProdBOK Guide is to explain WHAT product management is as well as the terms, process steps, and tools that all product managers should know to be successful.

The Guide is not intended to be prescriptive. But it is a valuable resource that you can rely upon in your daily practice to learn new things – I know I did as I led this effort – and expand both your knowledge and skills. I am sure that not everything in the approximately 350 page body of knowledge will be applicable to your organization or your day-to-day. There is a tremendous amount of knowledge contained between the front and back covers.

The book’s contents were supplied using an approach that is different from most BOK’s. We asked contributing writers to develop content that aligned with their areas of expertise. For instance, Roman Pichler and Greg Cohen contributed material on Scrum and Agile respectively. This is in many ways a best-of-breed BOK, drawing on those with the most knowledge of a particular aspect of product management to provide material that all of us can learn from.

Product management is an expansive field ranging from the creation of an idea to managing a product’s end-of-life. Each stage of the product management lifecycle requires a different mix of skills. Every product manager tends to be strong in some areas and weaker in others. The ProdBOK Guide can help you fill in the blanks as you face new challenges.

In the ProdBOK Guide‘s first week of publication the book has been selling off the shelves rapidly. We hope you will check it out and help us to increase the level of understanding about the profession of product management. All of us care deeply about the profession and want to see it thrive going into the future.

Once again I want to take a moment and thank all the dedicated professionals that contributed to this effort!

Editors Note: Many folks have been asking when the book will be available on Kindle. The answer is  – very shortly. We hope to have it in ebook format in the next 7 to 10 days.

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On one hand, it’s a tremendous privilege to collaborate with a wide swath of industry thought leaders inside and outside of the product management community (more on that in a moment). On the other hand, three years is a long time, so you really have to be committed to trying to advance the product management profession.

In a nutshell, today the product management community is a robust, thriving community of very intelligent and talented people that are rarely ever content with the status quo and who strive to change their industry’s and their organization’s for the better. We face significant business challenges every day and develop thick skin and laser-like focus – necessary traits for success.

We do this in the face of those who don’t clearly understand our profession (with good reason!), ever-changing market dynamics, and a whirlwind of internal and external challenges that conspire to upend our best laid plans. Successful product managers have to be smart, flexible, and savvy leaders.

We also are often successful in spite of the fact, that unlike other professions, there is little academic training for product managers, we are forced to learn as we go, and there is no industry consensus on what product management is and does.

So for the last three years approximately sixty of the industry’s leading professionals banded together and contributed to the development of the ProdBOK Guide. The goal? To distill a collaborative cornerstone that can be built upon to ensure that the product management profession better supports the needs of the product community at large.

The roster of contributors is one most folks reading this post will likely recognize. While there is not enough space to name everyone, I would like to list a few of the many contributors so you can get a sense of how deep and wide industry collaboration reached.

The ProdBOK Guide was sponsored by AIPMM, edited by MIT professor Steven Eppinger and myself, and developed with the support of many of the leading voices in the product management community. We also benefited significantly from the contributions of our counterparts in the adjoining professions and academia (e.g. Cambridge University, DePaul University and the University of Calgary).

The various types of contributors can be grouped into the following categories: authors, academics, analysts, associations, bloggers, consultants, industry thought leaders, and practitioners.

You’ll likely recognize many of these contributors. Here’s a sample; John Armstrong (former SVPMA board member), Nick Coster (Brainmates), Greg Cohen (Agile Excellence/280 Group), Linda Gorchels (Author/Faculty UW-Madison), Steve Johnson (Under 10 Consulting), Jeff Lash (How To Be A Good Product Manager),  Linda Merrick (Pivotal Product Management), Rich Mironov (Mironov Consulting), Roman Pichler (Pichler Consulting), Steven Starke (Actuation Consulting), Adrienne Tan (Brainmates), Don Vendetti (Product-Arts), and many more.

The project also enjoyed wide support from the adjoining business analyst, project and program management, and user experience professions as well. Contributors include: Kevin Brennan (IIBA), Jack Duggal, Stacy Goff (IPMA), David Heidt, Rich Gunther(UXPA), Ken Hanley, Gary Heerkens, Lee Lambert, Richard Larson, Johanna Rothman, and Frank Saladis.

So a day after pushing the publication button, as I sit here and reflect upon the journey of the last three years, I want to express my sincere appreciation to ALL of the Contributors to this effort. As Steve Johnson wrote to me a couple days ago – publication is not the end of the journey, but a new beginning.

So as we begin the next leg of the journey, I want to thank each and every contributor to this effort for their commitment and passion to improving our profession. It has been an honor to work with each and every one of you!

Editors Note: The ProdBOK Guide is now entering distribution and will be available within the next three weeks, if not sooner. Check Amazon’s website as it typically shows up most quickly in their distribution channel.

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Obstacles that Undermine the Product Team  Copyright Actuation Consulting. All rights reserved.

The most frequently cited obstacle that product teams report was “not having enough resources to get the job done properly.” These resources could be either human or financial. This should not be too much of a surprise as organizations are still struggling to overcome the macro economic impact of the great recession – particularly upon staffing levels and hiring. However, what is striking about this response is that over a third of organizations report that resources remain their primary challenge in achieving higher levels of performance. This was also the most frequently cited obstacle in last year’s study.

The second most common challenge was “hand-offs between the functions”. Almost 22% of organizations said that cross-functional hand-offs were challenging and leading to performance related issues. Organizations frequently indicate requirements and product launch as particularly troublesome areas.

The third area that product teams point to is a “lack of executive leadership and direction.” Interestingly, only 37% of product teams state that there is a clear and coherent corporate strategy that they can tether to in terms or product development. In fact, 54% of organizations told us that while their organization has a corporate strategy – it is either poorly communicated or changing so frequently that the product team views it as useless. Respondents point to less active involvement by executives as a significant factor contributing to low levels or product team performance.

The final area that product teams call out is “poorly defined roles.” Lack of role definition, particularly in the areas of who does what and when impacts the effectiveness of product teams. This can lead to leadership boundary issues, duplicate efforts, conflicts between different perspectives and functions, and a wide range of other issues that have a meaningful impact on performance.

So how does your product team stack up? Do you see reflections of these issues in your organization and on your product team? If so, you are not alone.

Greg Geracie is a recognized thought leader in the field of product management and the President of Actuation Consulting, a global provider of product management consulting, training, and advisory services to some of the world’s most well-known organizations. Greg is also the author of the global best seller Take Charge Product Management. He is also an adjunct professor at DePaul University’s College of Computing and Digital Media where he teaches graduate and undergraduate courses on high-tech and digital product management.

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The study findings are detailed in a 21 page white paper that fully explores the factors that empower high performance product teams, as well as the landmines that undermine successful performance.

Our survey approach focuses on three principles. The first is to build on the findings from the prior year’s regression analysis and to flesh out key findings in ever greater levels of detail. The second is to have a core set of questions that remain the same year-over-year so that we can trend the data. Our third principle is to introduce new questions that uncover an aspect of product team performance that we did not delve into in the previous year’s study. For example, this year we added a question about which product development method product team members perceive as leading to the increased profitability of their product (ex. Agile, Waterfall, Blended Methods, etc.).

One of the questions we asked in this years survey was “Does your (product) team engage with a single executive stakeholder or more broadly with a wide variety of executives?” This question builds on one of our key findings the prior year’s study. Here is what this year’s respondents told us.

Product Teams are More Likely to be High Performing if they Engage with a Wider Swath of the Executive Team

The reason we asked this question is that in the 2012 study we found that product teams that engaged more broadly with a team of executives, rather than a single executive stakeholder, were more likely to be high performing. No surprise as teams that have direct involvement with a wider swath of executives are more likely to have access to needed resources, an increased understanding of the company’s strategy and direction, and garner more trust with the wider executive team.

The good news in this year’s findings is that 53% of organizations are operating in a manner that bodes well for fostering a high performance product team. An additional 23% of respondents seem to indicate that they are also headed down this path but have not yet fully adopted the executive team approach. Finally, 21% of organizations engage with a single executive stakeholder which our data suggests increases the odds for lower levels of performance.

Our research clearly shows that product teams that have increased levels of engagement with the executive team (as opposed to a single executive stakeholder) are significantly more likely to attain higher levels of performance.

How does your product team stack up?

If you want to know which executive stakeholders product team members are most actively engaging with you can download a free copy of this year’s study here.

Greg Geracie is a recognized thought leader in the field of product management and the President of Actuation Consulting, a global provider of product management consulting, training, and advisory services to some of the world’s most well-known organizations. Greg is also the author of the global best seller Take Charge Product Management. He is also an adjunct professor at DePaul University’s College of Computing and Digital Media where he teaches graduate and undergraduate courses on high-tech and digital product management.

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Over the coming months I will be sharing some of the data in my blog posts as will several of the study’s co-authors. The fact is that we typically collect more information than we can infuse in the white paper.

If you would like to hear our interpretation of the findings in a live setting we are presenting the data in a wide variety of webinars, podcasts, and live presentations. If you’re interested in attending any of these presentations you can find a calendar of events on the training page of Actuation Consulting’s website. We are in the process of laying out the schedule for the back half of 2013 and we will be presenting the findings from coast to coast. With so many requests for our time it may be a couple of weeks until the calendar of events is fully updated.

If you would like to download a free copy of the study you can do so here.

I would like to extend our thanks to all those who participated in this years study. A big thank you to our sponsors, promotional partners, co-authors, and the individuals that helped ensure that we received a robust response from organizations world-wide.

Thanks to each of you for making this year’s study a smashing success!

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Several weeks ago Steven and I, along with David Heidt IIBA Chicagoland chapter president, were presenting to the Project Management Institute’s (PMI) Chicago chapter. After our presentation our hosts collected the questions that we were not able to address as the clock ran out. The question that was on everyone’s mind was “what is the difference between a project manager and a product manager?”

To understand the difference between the roles we need to look closely at two things. First, we need to understand the phases of the product management lifecycle.* We can then highlight the difference between these two critically important roles. So let’s start with the product management lifecycle.

Imagine for a moment a horizontal plane that has seven phases shoulder to shoulder. The seven phases are Conceive, Plan, Develop, Qualify, Launch, Deliver and Retire. All products universally, and without exception, move through each of these phases sequentially. The only difference is the amount of time it takes to move from one phase to the next.

With an understanding of the product management lifecycle in hand we can then look at the specific roles of project and product managers. Product managers are responsible for optimizing results throughout the entire product management lifecycle. In other words, to optimize the creation and maintenance of VALUE throughout each unique phase of the lifecycle.

This is different than project management where, rather than staying with the product from conception to ultimate retirement, project managers typically are involved from the Plan Phase of the product management lifecycle to the Launch Phase where they roll off and take part in the next project. |

Another way of thinking about this is to say that project managers have a defined span of vertical leadership (working closely with the product manager or owner) for a specific length of time (the project) with a focus on effectively managing the scope, schedule, and cost of the project. While product managers focus on optimizing the VALUE of the effort and lead horizontal activities (e.g. throughout the product management lifecycle).

Both of these roles enhance each other and the effectiveness of the overall product development team and are in fact separate and distinct functional roles with different focuses and objectives. However, the more tightly these two roles can be aligned around VALUE the more success the product development team and ultimately the product and the organization will enjoy. It’s important to point out that while effective collaboration between these two roles drives tremendous organizational benefit these two roles should not be co-mingled as this creates a conflict of interest.

You can learn more about how to effectively drive collaboration between these two roles and improve organizational effectiveness in our popular training course Creating Value Through Collaboration. This course was jointly developed with Lee Lambert of the Lambert Consulting Group and offered regularly by Actuation Consulting and the Association of International Product Marketing and Management. The course offers 16 PDU’s.

* See page two for an illustration of the product management  lifecycle

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Why did you choose to support the development of the ProdBOK?

(Lee Lambert) After almost 50 years in the project management profession I read the draft version and the “light” went on — brightly. I suddenly realized how important pre-project and post project delivery planning and involvement in the project management lifecycle was.

It was clear that there are two separate job classes: Project Manager and Product Manager. The jobs are different in content, but MUST be tightly interfaced. I remembered many projects that never really reached their potential value add and now I can see clearly why. This document will eventually become a vital addition to every project manager’s library and will sit proudly on the shelf next to the PMBOK.

(Gary Heerkens) At least three reasons cross my mind, actually:

– Like most people, it’s important to me that the things I work on be worthwhile endeavors; in my view, development of a product management body of knowledge —particularly one that seeks to include project management — is a VERY worthwhile endeavor
– I have a soft spot for the field of product development because I spent a considerable amount of my days at Eastman Kodak managing product development-type projects
– I’m at the stage in my career (and life) when I’m seeking to do things to “give back” to the profession

Any lessons learned from your involvement with the ProdBOK project that you would like to share?

(Gary Heerkens) Collaboration is a key component of a high quality effort. There were a few points during my efforts contributing to the ProdBOK where I submitted what I believed was a flawless piece of project management prose. But after a couple of reviewers examined it and offered their comments, it occurred to me that variety in perspective is a wonderful thing indeed!

(Lee Lambert) One: Project Managers must also sometimes think like a Product Manager. They need to understand how important this interface is to the long-term organizational success of their project. Project Managers need to understand you can’t just “throw it over the fence” and run.

Words of wisdom indeed!

Greg Geracie is a recognized thought leader in the field of product management and the President of Actuation Consulting, a global provider of product management consulting, training, and advisory services to some of the world’s most well-known organizations. Greg is also the author of the global best seller Take Charge Product Management. He is also an adjunct professor at DePaul University’s College of Computing and Digital Media where he teaches graduate and undergraduate courses on high-tech and digital product management. 

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Project Management, Product Management it’s all basically the same thing, right?

Well, I’m embarrassed to admit that I have actually considered this to be true for years. I always practiced what I called “womb to tomb” project management, which meant that a project manager had to consider and manage “everything” that needed to be done to assure that the project was a success.

The challenge, it turns out, was I never really understood exactly what “everything” includes. I managed a medical diagnostics project ($26 million) but my primary focus was on Cost, Schedule, and Quality – as a project management professionals should be!

In retrospect, I realize I didn’t give much thought to the myriad of “other” critical activities that would ultimately decide whether my project was truly a complete success. Things like, sponsor awareness, market analysis and marketing, logistics, user interaction and involvement, pricing, life expectancy, government agency approvals, insurance acceptance/coverage, competitive conditions, etc.  After all, these were not the job of the project manager!

Then I met Greg Geracie.

Given my “expertise” in project management, he recruited me to contribute to his effort to publish a Product Management Body of Knowledge Standard document and the rest is history. Through my research and the creation of material to support the collaboration and cooperation of two roles – project management and product management – I had an epiphany: traditional project management, as I had known it for four decades, was clearly NOT the same as Product Management.

Now I recognize why my medical diagnostics project had encountered so many difficult challenges. At that time I was managing the project, but nobody was actually managing the product. Had I comprehended then what I know now the importance of these two distinctly different, but frighteningly similar roles, would have been clear and my time could have been much more productively spent focusing on managing the Project, while someone with a much more holistic view would have been managing the Product and all the nuances associated with its successful completion.

Both roles exist. Both roles have distinct responsibilities and both roles add substantial value enroute to delivering SUCCESSFUL outputs. BUT, it’s my opinion that it’s time to recognize the importance of these two roles and to admit that they exist and that they must establish and maintain carefully orchestrated communication and collaboration processes throughout the distinct but overlapping project and product management life cycles.

The upcoming publication of a Product Management Body of Knowledge will finally enable people to understand these two roles and how they must coexist to assure a steady stream of useful and profitable products continue to find their way to the market.

Lee is a Past President  Central Ohio PMI. Lee authored two books and more than 30 professional articles/whitepapers. He is also PMI SME for the EVMS Practice Guide and the Project Estimating Practice Guide. Educated in Engineering Design at Utah Technical College. He’s a holder of a Master’s Certificate in Project Management from George Washington University. As the creator of the “Stealth Learning” concept, no other educator/speaker can contend with his uncanny technical knowledge, unique material content and refreshingly entertaining delivery. Lee takes the saying; “Been there, done that, got the T-shirt” to the next level as he continues to “make a difference” in his chosen field. 

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Sure we know that effective collaboration leads to improved outcomes and more effective teamwork. But what specific functional collaborations are key in triggering creativity, problem solving, fostering further team communication, and ultimately improving project outcomes? Just putting everyone together in a room at project inception doesn’t necessarily guarantee success.

From my experience, the most successful product development projects were those that had the product manager and project manger tightly coupled from the very beginning. Spending more time developing this relationship from the onset will pay dividends and increase the likelihood of project success.

If we can agree that the goal of a product development project is to create, develop, and deliver a product to the market, maximizing its value – the customer benefit and experience – while ensuring the return on investment (ROI). Then, nothing ensures maximizing ROI more than getting the definition correct at the onset of a project. Knowing where you’re going and how to get there, at the beginning of the life cycle, eliminates waste by avoiding unnecessary course corrections throughout a project.

Leveraging the expertise of project managers at the earliest phases of a project helps to get this definition correct by bringing their best practices and lessons learned to the table at a critical juncture – the start of the project. Engaging project managers early has additional benefits: (1) Project ownership is now ingrained into its leaders because they have helped shape the execution approach; (2) By working together to form the overall project definition in the beginning of its life cycle, the foundation of a team dynamic is put in place that spills over into the rest of the project organization as it is put together.

Product managers and project managers can strengthen this relationship by understanding three fundamental concepts from the beginning of every project:

1. The product development and project life cycles are deeply intertwined
2. The product’s production process needs to be collaboratively defined with clarification of the major deliverables  and resources required to get the job done
3. Shared incentives, performance objectives, and success criteria establish common ground for the entire team

Each one of these three concepts warrants its own discussion so I’m going to treat each one of these as separate blog postings. This should allow for more focused commentary allowing the concepts to be completely hashed out.

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