Lean Communication - Product Camp Silicon Valley 2014

Lean Communications
Accelerating Revenue by Aligning
Diverse Teams in High Tech Companies
Saeed Khan
www.OnProductManagement.net
Twitter: @saeedwkhan, @onpm

What is the biggest
barrier companies
face in effectively
executing their plans?

Strategy
Communication
Marketing
ResourcesBudgets
PartnershipsPricing
TechnologyPlanning
Awareness Economics

Poor communication leads to:
– misaligned teams
– poor or delayed decisions
– increased expense
– reduced revenue

And what happens when
communication isn’t
always timely, complete
or accurate?
Copyright © Saeed Khan 2010

Creating Successful Products
Let’s analyze the
communication that
occurs during the product
development process

Inter-Team Communication
Product
Strategy
Product
Management
Start with product and business discussions

Product
Strategy
Product
Management
Engineering
Product
Marketing
Include Engineering and Product Marketing

Product
Strategy
Product
Management
Engineering
Product
Marketing
Marketing
Sales &
Alliances
Professional
ServicesTechnical
Support
Technical
Presales
Other internal groups join in

Product
Strategy
Product
Management
Engineering
Product
Marketing
Marketing
Sales &
Alliances
Professional
ServicesTechnical
Support
Technical
Presales
Industry
Analysts
Technology
Partners
Offshore
Developers Customers
System
Integrators
OEM
Partners
PR
Agencies
VARs
Distributors
External groups also participate

Product
Strategy
Product
Management
Engineering
Product
Marketing
Marketing
Sales &
Alliances
Professional
ServicesTechnical
Support
Technical
Presales
Industry
Analysts
Technology
Partners
Offshore
System
Integrators
OEM
Partners
PR
Agencies
VARs
Distributors
It’s actually rather complex

Product
Management
Offshore
Developers
Technology
Partners
Industry
Analysts
VARs
Distributors
OEM
Partners
System
Integrators
Customers
PR
Agencies
Product
Strategy
Engineering
Technical
Support
Technical
Presales
Product
Marketing
Professional
Services
Sales &
Alliances
Marketing
Each “Team” includes many people and interactions

And those people are likely spread across the globe

How do people “manage” this today?
• Tracking Software
• Status meetings
• Emails, Spreadsheets
• Shared Folders, Portals
• Dashboards, Webinars
• Conference calls
• “It’s up on Sharepoint”

This happens
for every release
of every product
your company sells

Is this communication
model timely, complete
and accurate?
Possibly.

Is this communication
model efficient,
adaptive and scalable?
Absolutely not!

Communication is like
Manufacturing.
So what can we learn from
Lean Manufacturing?

Lean Production
• Lean is a production practice that
considers the expenditure of
resources for any goal other than the
creation of value for the end
customer to be wasteful, and thus a
target for elimination.
Source: Wikipedia

Lean Production
• Working from the perspective of the
customer who consumes a product or
service, "value" is defined as any action
or process that a customer would be
willing to pay for.
• Basically, lean is centered on preserving
value with less work.
Source: Wikipedia

Principles of Lean
• Focus on the (information) customer
• Empower the team
• Optimize the whole
• Plan for change
• Build Quality In
• Continuously improve
• Eliminate waste

Creating a Lean Process
1. Specify what creates value from the customers
perspective
2. Identify all the steps along the process chain
3. Make those processes flow
4. Make only what is pulled by the customer
5. Strive for perfection by continually removing
waste

Who does what and when?
Product
Research
Product
Design
Product
Development
Pre-Beta Beta
Pre-
Launch
First
Customer
Ship
General
Availability
Sustaining
Product Strategy
Product Management
Engineering
Product Marketing
Technical Support
Technical Presales
Direct Sales
Marketing
Channels/Alliances
Professional Services
Technology Partners
OEM customers
Direct Customers
System Integrators
Distributors/Vars

Product
Research
Product
Design
Product
Development
Pre-Beta Beta
Pre-
Launch
First
Customer
Ship
General
Availability
Sustaining
Product Strategy
Product Management 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 2 1
Engineering
Product Marketing
Technical Support
Technical Presales
Direct Sales
Marketing
Channels/Alliances
Technology Partners
OEM customers
Direct Customers
System Integrators
Distributors/Vars
3
2
1
Heavily Involved
Moderately Involved
Loosely Involved
Not Involved

Product
Research
Product
Design
Product
Development
Pre-Beta Beta
Pre-
Launch
First
Customer
Ship
General
Availability
Sustaining
Product Strategy
Engineering
Product Marketing
Technical Support
Technical Presales
Direct Sales 1 1 1 2 3 3 3
Marketing
Channels/Alliances
Technology Partners
OEM customers
Direct Customers
System Integrators
Distributors/Vars
3
2
1
Heavily Involved
Moderately Involved
Loosely Involved
Not Involved

Product
Research
Product
Design
Product
Development
Pre-Beta Beta
Pre-
Launch
First
Customer
Ship
General
Availability
Sustaining
Product Strategy
Engineering
Product Marketing
Technical Support
Technical Presales
Marketing
Channels/Alliances
Technology Partners
OEM customers
Direct Customers 1 1 1 2 2 2 3 3 3
System Integrators
Distributors/Vars
3
2
1
Heavily Involved
Moderately Involved
Loosely Involved
Not Involved

Product
Research
Product
Design
Product
Development
Pre-Beta Beta
Pre-
Launch
First
Customer
Ship
General
Availability
Sustaining
Product Strategy 3 2 2 1 1 1 1
Engineering 1 2 3 3 3 2 2 1 1
Product Marketing 1 1 1 1 2 3 3 3 3
Technical Support 1 2 2 3 3 3
Technical Presales 1 1 1 2 3 3 3
Marketing 1 2 3 3 3
Channels/Alliances 1 1 1 2 2 3 3
Professional Services 1 1 1 2 3
Technology Partners 1 2 2 2 1 1
OEM customers 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 3 3
Direct Customers 1 1 1 2 2 2 3 3 3
System Integrators 1 1 2 2 3 3 3
Distributors/Vars 1 1 1 2 2 3 3
3
2
1
Heavily Involved
Moderately Involved
Loosely Involved
Not Involved

Flow of Information and Communication
Product
Research
Product
Design
Product
Development
Pre-Beta Beta
Pre-
Launch
First
Customer
Ship
General
Availability
Sustaining
Product Strategy 3 2 2
Product Management 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 2
Engineering 2 3 3 3 2 2
Product Marketing 2 3 3 3 3
Technical Support 2 2 3 3 3
Technical Presales 2 3 3 3
Direct Sales 2 3 3 3
Marketing 2 3 3 3
Channels/Alliances 2 2 3 3
Professional Services 2 3
Technology Partners 2 2 2
OEM customers 2 2 2 3 3
Direct Customers 2 2 2 3 3 3
System Integrators 2 2 3 3 3
Distributors/Vars 2 2 3 3
3
2
1
Heavily Involved
Moderately Involved
Loosely Involved
Not Involved

Map out key cross-team
activities and define
necessary deliverables at
each stage for each team

Who needs information?
What do they need?
When do they need it?
Who must provide it?
How is it optimally delivered?

Product
Strategy
Product
Management
Engineering
Product
Marketing
Marketing
Sales &
Alliances
Professional
ServicesTechnical
Support
Technical
Presales
Industry
Analysts
Technology
Partners
Offshore
System
Integrators
OEM
Partners
PR
Agencies
VARs
Distributors
One Information Chain

Product
Strategy
Product
Management Product
Marketing Sales &
Alliances
Customers
Information Needs along the Chain

Product
Strategy
Product
Management Product
Marketing Sales &
Alliances
Customers
Does the product meet my needs?
Will it work in my environment?
What are the costs?
What are the benefits?
Start with the end “customer”

Product
Strategy
Product
Management Product
Marketing Sales &
Alliances
Customers
What are the costs?
I need a data sheet and
technical collateral
I need SKUs and pricing
information
I need an ROI calculator
Who are the reference
accounts I can provide?

Product
Strategy
Product
Management Product
Marketing Sales &
Alliances
Customers
What does the product do?
Who can benefit from it?
What are those benefits?
How is it licensed?
How is it positioned versus
the alternatives?
information
What are the costs?

Product
Strategy
Product
Management Product
Marketing Sales &
Alliances
Customers
information
What market problems do we address?
How can we outflank our competitors?
What product changes do we make to
maximize revenue?
What are the objectives of the release?
How is it licensed?
the alternatives?
What are the costs?

Product
Strategy
Product
Management Product
Marketing Sales &
Alliances
Customers
information
maximize revenue?
How is it licensed?
the alternatives?
What are the costs?
Do the product goals
support overall business
objectives?
How can we grow our
existing customer base?
What market changes
will we have to react to?
What go-to-market
strategy do we need?

Product
Strategy
Product
Management Product
Marketing Sales &
Alliances
Customers
Deliverables Created In the Chain
information
maximize revenue?
How is it licensed?
the alternatives?
What are the costs?
Market Assessment
Product Strategy
Technology Strategy
Competitive Landscape

Product
Strategy
Product
Management Product
Marketing Sales &
Alliances
Customers
information
Market Requirements
Problem Statements
Competitive Analysis
Product Roadmap
Release Overview
How is it licensed?
the alternatives?
What are the costs?
Market Analysis
Product Strategy
Technology Strategy

Product
Strategy
Product
Management Product
Marketing Sales &
Alliances
Customers
information
Market Requirements
Problem Statements
Product Roadmap
Release Overview
What are the costs?
Market Analysis
Product Strategy
Technology Strategy
Product Positioning
Data Sheets
White Papers
Price books
Success Stories
Sales Tools

Product
Strategy
Product
Management Product
Marketing Sales &
Alliances
Customers
Market Requirements
Problem Statements
Product Roadmap
Release Overview
What are the costs?
Market Analysis
Product Strategy
Technology Strategy
Product Positioning
Data Sheets
White Papers
Price books
Success Stories
Sales Tools
Product Presentations
ROI Analysis
Customer Business Case
Proof of Concept

Product
Strategy
Product
Management Product
Marketing Sales &
Alliances
Customers
Product Presentations
ROI Analysis
Customer Business Case
Proof of Concept
Market Requirements
Problem Statements
Product Roadmap
Release Overview
Product Positioning
Data Sheets
White Papers
Price books
Success Stories
Sales Tools
RFI/RFP
Business Justification
Implementation Plan
Market Analysis
Product Strategy
Technology Strategy

Implementing the Lean
Communication Model

Implementing Lean Communications
• Start with the Product Management and
Product Marketing teams
– These two teams have the most downstream
impact on other teams
• Analyze what you are producing and for
whom?
• Understand the information gaps
– Is information needed by others? When? Why?
– How can other teams reuse content and
information you create?

• Map out deliverables for each stage
of development process
• Introduce changes to other teams
during the product development and
release cycle
• Track the flow of documents, if
possible
Implementing Lean Communications

Product Management Deliverables
Product
Research
Product
Design
Product
Development
Pre-Beta Beta
Pre-
Launch
First
Customer
Ship
General
Availability
Sustaining
Product Strategy
Engineering
Product Marketing
Technical Support
Technical Presales
Direct Sales
Marketing
Channels/Alliances
Technology Partners
OEM customers
Direct Customers
System Integrators
Distributors/Vars
3
2
1
Heavily Involved
Moderately Involved
Loosely Involved
Not Involved

Product Management Deliverables
Product
Definition
Product
Design
Product
Development
Pre-Beta Beta/Post
Beta
Pre-Launch FCS/GA Sustaining
Statements of
Direction
(SODs)
Product
Requirements
Document
(PRD)
Release
Overview
Beta
Requirements
Document
(BRD)
Beta
Customer
Training
Closing Beta
Customers
Launch
Assistance
User Group
Participation
Market
Requirements
Document
(MRD)
Features
Requirements
Documents
(FRD)
Product FAQ
Beta
Recruitment
Manage
Beta
Process
Final
Platform
Availability
Matrix
Early
Customer
Tracking
Product
Strategy
Planning
Product
Roadmap
Preliminary
Platform
Availability
Matrix (PAM)
Updated
Product
Requirements/
User Stories
Beta Training
(Internal)
Beta
Findings
Report
Final
Release
Overview
Requirements
Gathering
Internal Beta
Release
Feedback
Internal
Training
Competitive
Analysis

Define each Deliverable
Release Overview
• A Release Overview is a cross-functional document aimed to provide
necessary release information to downstream groups. The Overview
should include the following information:
– Key dates including Beta, FCS and GA
– PAM changes for the given release
– High level description of the release, major themes and key features
– Major issues to be aware of WRT the release, including licensing
changes, product repackaging etc.
– Within reason, detail on each of the features that are in the release,
along with key benefits of those features
– Listing of any physical materials that will be created/updated for
the release. This applies primarily to CDs and printed
documentation, but could include other packaging items such as
boxes etc.
• This document is the primary resource for release information for groups
such as Product Marketing, Sales Consulting, Education Services,
Support, and Alliances.

Characteristics of Deliverables “Grids”
• Deliverables “Grids” define a set of
standard, necessary cross-team
deliverables (and sometimes
activities) for each group across all
stages of the product development
cycle

• Deliverables “Grids” are product and
release neutral.
i.e. they can be used to standardize
communication processes across
teams regardless of product or
release

• They inform others of what must be
delivered by them and what will be
produced for them in any given stage
of the product development cycle.

What are the benefits of
explicitly implementing a
Lean Communication Model?

Benefits of Lean Communication
• Bring teams into better alignment through
out Product Development and Release
process
• Ensure all parties have timely information to
make optimal go forward decisions that are
within their area of responsibility
• Enable better training and communication
for those customer facing teams in a timely
manner
• Minimize time to revenue

Lean Communications
Accelerating Revenue by Aligning
Diverse Teams in High Tech Companies
Saeed Khan
www.OnProductManagement.net
Twitter: @saeedwkhan, @onpm

Lean Communication - Product Camp Silicon Valley 2014

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