D.I.Y. Product Ops Handbook
How to build your Product Ops sense - with Antonia Landi, Product Operations Consultant & Coach
Last month, I had a conversation with Antonia Landi, Berlin-based Product Operations Consultant & Coach, whom I had the chance to meet at last yearâs Product at Heart in Hamburg. Together, we thought about preparing something special for the Easter Edition of the Product Zine. đ°
In fact, this edition features a practical and actionable list of recommendations that every individual can start implementing right away, no matter your previous experience, or your organisationâs maturity level.
But why a DIY attitude for building our own Product Ops sense?
Product jobs are specialising more and more, and subsets of the main discipline are increasing. At the same time, not all organisations have at their disposal the resources and capacities needed to set up a Product Ops team or hire professionals in this field.
For that reason, every Product professional should be able to develop their own Product Operations sense, to be equipped against difficult situations, unrealistic requests and expectations coming from all over the place.
Some intro questions to Antonia
Q: Whatâs your career journey towards product, and then transition into Product Ops?
A: My journey towards Product started back in 2017 when my then-CEO told me I had a âgood product senseâ. From that point on it still took me two years to get my first âofficialâ product owner title, but those two years were filled with intense hustling, learning on the job, teaching myself the fundamentals of product management, and applying them wherever I got the chance.Â
In mid-2020 I first heard of âProduct Operationsâ by coming across a job description on LinkedIn - and realised that I had been doing the job for years without even knowing. I immediately applied, almost certain that I wouldnât even pass the first round, and to my amazement I got the job. Ever since then I made it my mission to talk to as many people about Product Ops as possible - because I genuinely believe in the value it can bring to product organisations.Â
Q: What are the challenges of the two roles, and what the main differences?
Product Management lies somewhere between art and science. There are a huge number of factors that affect the success of any one feature, and figuring out what path to take requires an analytical mindset backed by creativity. If that sounds counterintuitive itâs because it is, and this wide range of skills is exactly why good product managers are like a rare gem.Â
Product Operations on the other hand requires the same basic skillset, but itâs much more people focused. Not only do you need to understand how to solve a given pain point, you also need to ensure that everyoneâs on your side as you ask them to change. The level of mutual trust and commitment needed for successful Product Operations is high, and itâs not easily established. Remember: youâre asking people to change, and change is uncomfortable at the best of times. Product Operations only works if everyoneâs on board and understands the challenges that lie ahead.Â
Donât worry if that looks somehow like you, Antoniaâs recommendations will help you mitigate the problems, no matter your previous Product Ops experience level.
So letâs dive into it! đ¤ż
Letâs start with the pains đ¤
Often, the urgency of improving or changing the way we work has to come from a rather painful or uncomfortable state. Itâs no exception for our work processes and team dynamics.
The following is a list of major pain points that Product Ops could help with and eventually solve if done properly over a longer period of time:
Team and org silos
When teams work in silos, communication and collaboration is almost absent, and that leads to duplication of efforts, inefficient processes, and delays in delivery. Teams might experience a lack of transparency and alignment, as they might work towards different goals and priorities.Â
No access to data
Data should be visible, accessible, and available to everyone in the organisation, not just the product team. Decision-making not informed by data might be based on assumptions and gut feelings rather than facts or usersâ behaviours.
On the other hand, data should be also actionable, and follow a clear and defined strategy. Most importantly, the team should know what to (not) measure, why measuring is important, and what they plan to do with the relevant data. The team needs to know how the available data can be used to achieve their goals.
Bad discovery work
Product discovery done poorly can be more detrimental than no discovery at all. Cognitive biases can obscure our judgement and lead us to selectively perceive and interpret information.
Bad mistakes like Confirmation Biases, the tendency to interpret the data according to what we want to prove, or cherry picking, the act of consciously choosing what to look at and what to exclude to prove a certain thesis.
All of those mistakes could ultimately hinder the teamâs ability to discover and build successful products!
And the list goes onâŚ
In general, an overall Low Product Management maturity level, is the main issue organisations experience, and that leads to then the various problems that we listed.
The lack of a well-defined, consistent, and effective approach to manage one or multiple products results in an undefined product strategy, the absence of prioritisation, poor communication, and insufficient UX Research and customer feedback.
The painkillers đˇ
Kickstart a Product Ops function and make it successful
Before jumping into the action points there is some prep work that needs to be done on a team and company level to make sure the product ops function is set up for success. You donât want to fight this battle alone and find yourself in the same situation once again, after having wasted lots of time setting up processes.
Buy-in from the whole organisation
Getting buy-in is the first step to ensure that all stakeholders are aligned with and supportive of what the function's goals and initiatives are. This will enable the function leading to a smoother and more efficient product development/delivery processes.
Open communication
Make sure team and cross-team alignment and communication is always open, transparent and on point. If communication happens in private and closed channels, not accessible by the rest of the team, make sure you commit to reporting and making this information universally accessible, or it could lead to teams working in silos - see the list of pain points.
Patience
Transforming the way things are done takes time and patience. It's not something that can be rushed or forced, especially if you want to see long lasting results and changes towards product maturity.
Trying to implement changes too quickly, without proper planning and preparation, can result in resistance from team members, lack of buy-in, and ultimately, failure to achieve the desired outcomes. Instead, see transformation as a Product itself: change is an iterative process, and it will take several iterations and adjustments before you will start to see the desired results.
Having a long-term vision for the product organisation, together with the commitment to implement the change, is the way to start seeing results.
Actions you (the reader) can take
Once you have the green light from your stakeholders and your team is aligned, itâs the moment to start thinking about how to get there!
Think Lean
Especially when youâre implementing new processes. As we said, change comes with time and patience, and itâs better to start small and address one single and concrete pain point at time, rather than trying to fix all the problems in one go.
Craft success criteria for your Operations initiatives.
Always make sure you have defined what success means for you and your team, and how to convert failures into learnings and opportunities.
Make sure youâre working cross-departmentally to break down silos, and work collaboratively to solve pain points.
Some last recommendations from Antonia
Q: How do your side-projects and initiatives help you grow in your professional life?
People have asked me how I managed to advance my career and get a leadership position after only a few short years in product, and I ascribe most of that to my continued passion for and contributions to the Product Management and Operations community as a whole. Books never tell the whole story, and learning from other PMs and Ops Managers is the single best way to get an accurate view of what the industry is going through. All throughout my career Iâve strived to share my learnings as freely as others have with me, and itâs my ambition to be the voice I wish I had when I was younger. Community involvement isnât about getting something in return, or being able to call in favours - itâs about lifting each other up and having a space to make sense of the industry at large.
Q: Any recommendation for PMs interested in following your path?
Get involved in Product communities
Find opportunities to apply new learnings - even if theyâre outside of your job role or title
If youâre looking for a promotion, prove you can do the job before getting the jobÂ
Read liberally, but think (and apply) criticallyÂ
Remember to nurture your whole self - not just the one that shows up for work
Where to find Antonia:
Thanks a lot for this article !
I like your approach. It's remind me a mix of Pendo's method and John Kotter book.
I'm wondering if you kwon the People Ops approach ?
I discovered it few days ago. Did you ever work on an organization with People ops manager ?
What kind of collaboration a Product Ops Manager can have with a People Ops Manager ? Is it is the future of Product Ops Management ?
Happy to read your point of view.