Slides Jordan Bergtraum recently used in his discussion w/ mentees of The Product Mentor. Synopsis: The Product Management role is very broad. It requires an incredible variety of skills and can consume a human life. Is it time to break the role down into different functions? The Product Mentor is a program designed to pair Product Mentors and Mentees from around the World, across all industries, from start-up to enterprise, guided by the fundamental goals…Better Decisions. Better Products. Better Product People. Throughout the program, each mentor leads a conversation in an area of their expertise that is live streamed and available to both mentee and the broader product community. http://TheProductMentor.com

1. Product Manager vs Product
Owner
Jordan Bergtraum
Product Management Consultant
April 2019

2. 12 years of B2B SaaS experience
7 years leading Product Management teams
Education, Pharma, Legal, and Facilities Management
Twice introduced Product Management to an organization
Owned market research, product marketing, product roadmaps,
& product delivery
Who is Jordan Bergtraum?

3. Words of Advice
Benefits & Risks
The Solution
The PM Problem
What to expect from this presentation?

4. # 1
The Problem

5. The Problem
Product Management is broad
Hard to be a Yoda of it all
Execution stomps on strategy

6. Product Management is Broad
SME Interviews
Win/Loss Analysis
Competitive Intelligence
Ideation
Prioritization
Roadmapping
Communication
Product Messaging
Process Flows
Pricing / Bundling
User Research
Design
Backlog Planning
Estimating
User stories
Eng / QA Escalations
User Acceptance
Training / Demos

7. # 2
Can We Improve This?

8. Can We Improve This?
Product Management = What to build
Product Owner = How to build it right

9. # 3
Product Management:
What to Build

10. Product Management: What to Build
SME Interviews
Win/Loss Analysis
Competitive Intelligence
Ideation
Prioritization
Roadmapping
Communication
Product Messaging
Pricing / Bundling

11. # 4
Product Owner:
How to Build it Right

12. Product Owner: How to Build it Right
User Research
Process Flows
Design
User Stories
Backlog Planning
Estimating
User Acceptance
Eng / QA Escalations
Training / Demos
Communication

13. # 5
Benefits

14. Benefits
Fewer skills for 1 person to master
Match skills & interests to the roles
Dedicated attention to execution
Dedicated attention to strategy

15. # 6
Risks

16. Risks
Translation from “What” to “How”
Throughput & accuracy of ideation to PO
Throughput & accuracy of design to PM

17. # 7
Keys to Success

18. Keys to Success
Product Management owns the handoff to the PO
The Product Owner owns the user relationship
The Product Manager owns goal setter relationship

19. Keys to Success
Value both equally
Career paths for both

20. # 8
Which role is right for me?

21. PO, if you enjoy…
Interviewing users to design something they will love
Breaking down product design into small pieces
User flows / business processes
Making Engineering & QA highly efficient

22. PM, if you enjoy…
Researching a market opportunity
Prioritizing competing needs
Interviewing SMEs about goals and objectives
Creating impactful product messages

23. # 9
When is this the right thing?

24. When is this the right thing?
There is enough PO work for an FTE
Strategy & execution are not at an A-level
The PMs don’t enjoy both strategy & execution

25. Advice & Warnings
Consider your Product EnvironmentOne Size Does Not Fit AllWould this benefit your product function?

26. Summary
PM = What to build
PO = How to build it right
The right skills for the right job
PO<->PM Communication is key
It’s not the right structure everywhere

27. Jordan Bergtraum
Product Management Consultant
April 2019
Thank You!