The Product Manager's Desk Reference, Third Edition, 3rd Edition

The Product Manager's Desk Reference, Third Edition, 3rd Edition

by Steven Haines
Released April 2021
Publisher(s): McGraw-Hill
ISBN: 9781260468557

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Book description

The definitive guide to product management—updated for a more digital, more global, more competitive business landscape

The digital age is here to stay. That means the pace of business change will only increase and competitive forces will challenge you, and your role as a product manager. This is the book that provides the only definitive body of knowledge of product management that you and your product teams can use to optimize your product’s business.

The Product Manager’s Desk Reference has long been the go-to resource for product managers who seek to deliver quantifiable benefits to their company. In this fully revised edition of this bestseller, veteran product management thought leader Steven Haines lays out a repeatable process for product management organizational transformation, providing a clear roadmap you can follow to become the entrepreneurial strategic thinker who can drive your organization (and your career) into the future!

Packed with important updates and revisions, The Product Manager’s Desk Reference, Third Edition provides essential advice on:

  • Companies with portfolio of digital and traditional products
  • Utilization of various development methods (waterfall and agile)
  • Product design methods to deliver better user experiences
  • Strategic thinking and business analysis
  • Cross-functional product team collaboration
  • Product portfolio management and product discontinuation
Room for error in today’s fast-paced business environment shrinks by the minute. Packed with an array of new tools, techniques, and best practices—along with an explicit emphasis on data, analytics, and product performance—this new edition of the definitive product management resource is a timely and actionable guide to kicking your product management strategies into high gear.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright Page
  4. Contents
  5. Illustrations
  6. Preface
  7. Introduction
  8. Module 1 Foundations of Product Management
    1. Introduction to Module 1
    2. Chapter 1 What Is Product Management?
      1. Question 1: What Is a Product?
        1. Product Lines
        2. Product Portfolios
        3. Solutions, Bundles, and Systems
        4. Product Elements and Modules
        5. Platforms
      2. Question 2: What Is Management?
        1. What Does a Product Manager Really Do?
        2. The Product Management Life Cycle Model
      3. Question 3: What Is Product Management?
        1. Product Management: A Holistic Activity
      4. Summary: Why Product Management Matters
    3. Chapter 2 The Product Master Plan
      1. The Purpose of a Master Plan
        1. Plans Change
      2. The Format of the Product Master Plan
      3. The Value of a Product Master Plan
      4. An Insurance Policy for Consistent Communication
      5. The Basic Construction of the Product Master Plan
      6. Product Business Documents
      7. Organizational Information
      8. Product Business Information
      9. Customer and Market Data
      10. Financial Information
      11. Resources and Tools
        1. A Personal Library
        2. A Product Management Library
      12. Summary
    4. Chapter 3 Leadership: Creating Influence
      1. You Are Always on Stage
      2. Stay Calm, Even When Your Hair’s on Fire
      3. Transformation
      4. Important Leadership Values
      5. Leadership Behaviors and Mindset
      6. Your Leadership Experiences
      7. Evaluation and Personal Development
      8. Summary
    5. Chapter 4 Leveraging Teams to Get Things Done
      1. Product Teams vs. Project Teams
      2. Agile Project Teams
      3. Team Membership
        1. Teaming Is Not Always Easy
      4. Building Blocks of a Cross-Functional Product Team
      5. Team Membership
      6. Multicultural Product Team Issues
      7. Distributed Development Teams
      8. Product Team Responsibilities
      9. Cross-Functional Product Team Membership
      10. Clarifying Roles and Responsibilities
      11. The Functional Support Plan
      12. Team Membership Across the Life Cycle
      13. Cross-Functional Teams in the Global Arena
      14. Cross-Functional Team Leadership
      15. Summary
    6. Chapter 5 Problem-Solving, Decision-Making, and Prioritizing
      1. The Importance of Decision-Making
      2. Decision-Making and Problem Solving
      3. Saving Grace: a Case Study About Decision-Making
      4. Decision-Making Techniques
        1. Combining Options
        2. The Morphologic Box
        3. The Decision Matrix
        4. The Decision Tree
      5. Analysis Paralysis and Rational Ignorance
      6. Gut-Feel Decision-Making
      7. Business Intelligence
      8. Summary
    7. Chapter 6 Finance for the Product Manager: Keeping Score
      1. The Language of Business
      2. The Basic Financial Statements
      3. The Income Statement
      4. The Balance Sheet
      5. Cash Flow
      6. Demystifying Discounted Cash Flow
      7. Financial Planning for Product Managers
        1. Creating Business Cases for Product Investments
        2. Assembling Forecasts
        3. Testing Planning Assumptions Using Sensitivity Analysis
        4. Deriving Product Cost Models
        5. Establishing Pricing Models
        6. Preparing Product Budgets
      8. Managing the Business
        1. Making Sure the Product Is Achieving Its Financial Goals
        2. Financial Ratios
        3. Last Words on Ratios
        4. Maturity Assessment: Placing the Product on the Life Cycle Curve
        5. Using Scorecards and Other Evaluative Tools
      9. Summary
  9. Module 2 Building Insights and Driving Strategies by Making the Market Your Primary Focus
    1. Introduction to Module 2
    2. Market Data Matters
    3. Customer and Market Insights Are Vital
    4. A Market Insights Development Process
    5. Chapter 7 The Playing Field and the Players: Analyzing the Industry and Competition
      1. Becoming the Expert
      2. What Is an Industry?
      3. Putting Industry Evolution into Perspective
      4. Carrying Out Industry Research
      5. Securing Additional Data
        1. Competitive Environment
      6. Competitive Positioning
      7. Gaining an Edge: Performance Counts
      8. Competitive Intelligence in Your Company
      9. Competitive Intelligence in Your World
      10. Ethics in Competitive Intelligence
      11. With Whom Do You Compete?
      12. Competitor SWOT
      13. How Do They Do What They Do?
        1. Sizing Up the Competitive Landscape
      14. The Final Analysis
      15. Summary
    6. Chapter 8 Finding Markets to Conquer by Understanding Customer Needs and Market Segments
      1. The Common Denominator in Segmentation: Customer Needs
      2. How Markets Are Segmented
      3. Market Segments Are Dynamic
      4. Describing the Target Market
      5. They Don’t Know What They Don’t Know
      6. Planning and Carrying Out Customer Visits
      7. Capturing the Voice of the Customer
      8. Conducting Customer Interviews
      9. Using Personas and Customer Narratives to Capture Needs
      10. Capturing the Customer’s Journey
      11. Associating Customer Needs with Product Features
      12. Summary
    7. Chapter 9 Preparing to Set Your Mileposts: Forecasting for the Product Manager
      1. Forecasting and Market Potential
      2. Forecasts Are Built on Beliefs About the Future
      3. Validating Assumptions and Applying Customer Preferences
      4. Forecasting Is a Cross-Functional Exercise
      5. Sales Forecasting
      6. Validating the Forecast
      7. Demand Planning
      8. Summary
    8. Chapter 10 Product Strategy Formulation
      1. Strategy Is a Dynamic Continuum
      2. Strategizing Is Like Solving a Puzzle
      3. Cascading Strategies
      4. Dynamic Strategy for the Product Manager
      5. Strategy in Your World
      6. The Product Strategy Formulation Process
      7. Using the Product Strategy Formulation Process
        1. Baselining the Business of the Product
        2. Organizing the Data
        3. External Data: Industry and Competition
        4. Customer Activity
        5. Organizational Capabilities and Financial Health
        6. Capturing Product Performance Data
        7. Life Cycle State
        8. The Marketing Mix
        9. Company Resources That Contribute to the Product’s Business
        10. Synthesizing Data and Identifying Opportunities
      8. Your Product’s Future
        1. Establishing Goals
        2. Identifying Strategic Options
      9. Linking Your Strategy to a Roadmap
      10. Did We Get There?
      11. Summary
  10. Module 3 The Start of the Product’s Journey
    1. Introduction to Module 3
    2. Limits and Benefits of Processes
    3. Importance of the Right Cadence
    4. Faster Is Not Always Better, but It Can’t Hurt
    5. Organization of the Chapters in This Module
    6. Chapter 11 Making a Molehill Out of a Mountain: Linear Product Planning and Prioritization
      1. Linear Product Planning
      2. What’s the Big Idea?
      3. Categorization of Product Ideas
      4. Sorting Out Opportunities
      5. “So What?”: The Value Proposition for the Opportunity
      6. Clarifying Your Identity with a Positioning Statement
      7. Selection and Prioritization
      8. Managing Rejected Opportunities
      9. Securing Approval to Move to the Next Phase: The Concept Review
      10. Is There Really a Business Here? Assessing Feasibility
      11. Clarifying Roles, Responsibilities, and Deliverables
        1. Marketing
        2. Product Development/Engineering/IT
        3. Finance
        4. Customer Service
        5. Sales/Account Management
        6. Operations
        7. Supply Chain
        8. Legal/Regulatory/Compliance
      12. The Business Case
        1. Characteristics of Strong Business Cases
        2. Activities and Sequencing
      13. Business Case Structure
        1. Section 1: Framing
        2. Section 2: Customer Context and Problems
        3. Section 3: Industry and Competitive Environment
        4. Section 4: Overall Market Context
        5. Section 5: Product or Solution
        6. Section 6: Forecast and Pricing
        7. Section 7: Scenario Planning
        8. Section 8: Financial Analysis
        9. Section 9: Operations and Integration
        10. Section 10: Go to Market/Launch
        11. Section 11: Risk Assessment
        12. Section 12: Review and Recommendation
      14. Make Versus Buy
        1. Carrying Out a Make Versus Buy Analysis: An Example
      15. The Decision Matrix for the Feasibility Phase
      16. Summary
    7. Chapter 12 Appearances Are Everything: Defining and Designing the Product
      1. Product Definition Documents
      2. The PRD Outline and Template
      3. Managing Requirements
      4. Eliciting Requirements
      5. Defining Requirements
      6. Organizing Documents
      7. Managing Requirements from Beginning to End
      8. Prioritizing Requirements
      9. Inspections and Peer Reviews
      10. Requirements Management and the Product Life Cycle
      11. The Evolving Product Design
      12. The Product Definition Phase Review
      13. Summary
    8. Chapter 13 Product Planning and Prioritizing in the Digital World
      1. Perspective
      2. Customers First
        1. Designs and Prototypes
        2. Customer Value Drivers
        3. Verification of Strategic Fit and Prioritization of Features
        4. Staging Features for Development and Release Planning
      3. Summary
    9. Chapter 14 Execution and Oversight During Product Development
      1. The Product Manager’s Role During Development
      2. Truth Mixed with Humility
      3. Product Managers Must Understand Execution and Mitigate Conflicts
      4. Surfacing Conflicts and Realities with “How” Questions
      5. Linear Product Development
      6. Managing Project Plans Helps Manage Risk
      7. Progress Validation Is Essential
      8. Product Testing
      9. The Beta Test
      10. Product Documentation
      11. Managing Change and Scope: Trade-Offs and Prioritization
      12. Iterative Product Development
        1. Priming the Pump
        2. Kanban
      13. Product Managers Versus Product Owners
      14. Connecting the Processes
      15. Summary
    10. Chapter 15 To Market, to Market: Launching and Releasing Products
      1. Launch Benchmarking Outcomes
      2. Putting the Launch into Perspective
      3. The Launch Plan
      4. Launch Execution
      5. Executive Champions Need to Lead Important Product Launches
      6. Confirm the Market Window
      7. Review Market and Beta Tests—or Conduct Them If Necessary
      8. Prerelease/Early Adopter Reviews
      9. Product Availability Ratings
      10. Provide Adequate Sales Training
      11. Sales Goals and Compensation
      12. Ensure Readiness of Marketing Collateral, Website, and Promotional Programs
      13. Leverage Digital Marketing
      14. Arrange Coverage by Industry or Market Analysts
      15. Make Sure Distribution Channels Are Able to Sell and Deliver the Product
      16. Ensure Readiness of Operational Systems
      17. Preparing for the Internal Launch
      18. Launch Metrics Must Be Assembled and Ready to Track
      19. Risk Management
      20. Be Willing to Recommend Go or No-Go for Launch
      21. The Announcement
      22. Summary
  11. Module 4 Continuing the Journey: Post-Launch Performance Management
    1. Introduction to Module 4
    2. Chapter 16 Auditing Results After the Launch
      1. After the Launch
      2. Using an Impartial Auditor
        1. Market Window Compliance
        2. Executive Sponsorship
        3. Business Case Synchronization
        4. Adequacy and Timing of Marketing Material
        5. Adequacy of Sales Training
        6. Reviewing Operational Readiness
        7. Conformance to Launch Metrics
      3. Make Sure to Capture Lessons Learned
      4. Win–Loss Audits
        1. Internal Win–Loss Auditing
        2. External Win–Loss Auditing
        3. Assembling a Report
      5. Summary
    3. Chapter 17 Post-Launch Performance Management
      1. Running the Business
      2. The Importance of Measuring Performance
      3. Creating a Data-Driven Fact Base
      4. Data and Metrics
        1. Market Metrics
        2. Financial Metrics
        3. Sales, Service, and Operations Metrics
      5. Evaluation: What’s Happening Now with the Product?
        1. Assessing the Impact of Your Cross-Functional Product Team
        2. Identifying the Life Cycle State of the Product
        3. Evaluating Financial and Business Data Using Product Scorecards
        4. Using a Product Dashboard and a Product Health Report
      6. Pricing and Product Performance
      7. Updating Your Product Roadmap
      8. Summary
    4. Chapter 18 Product Portfolio Management
      1. Dispelling Some Myths About Product Portfolio Management
      2. What Is Life Cycle Product Portfolio Management?
      3. A Portfolio Reference Model
      4. The Ideal Work Structure for Product Portfolio Management
        1. The Cross-Functional Product Review Board
      5. A Life Cycle Product Portfolio Model
      6. Methodology
      7. Further Analysis: Current Products
      8. Create Your Own Product Portfolio Model
      9. Portfolio Decision-Making
      10. Availability of Data Is Critical
      11. Summary
    5. Chapter 19 Enough’s Enough! Discontinuing the Product
      1. Barriers to Discontinuation
      2. The Discontinuation Decision
      3. Product Discontinuation Documentation
      4. The Cross-Functional Team
      5. Other Types of “Discontinuation”
      6. The Discontinuation Notice
      7. Summary
  12. Index

Product information

  • Title: The Product Manager's Desk Reference, Third Edition, 3rd Edition
  • Author(s): Steven Haines
  • Release date: April 2021
  • Publisher(s): McGraw-Hill
  • ISBN: 9781260468557