A product spec template for empowered, autonomous teams
Today I’d like to share the process we use to kick off projects at Postmark, as well as the project plan template we use (some might call this a product spec or PRD) to ensure our teams have all the context they need to operate autonomously. The first thing we do when we kick off a new project is to assign the “DACI” roles for decision-making. That framework helps us make decisions efficiently because each team member has a clear understanding of their roles, responsibilities, and expectations. It makes it easier to ask for help and clarification, and also to give and receive feedback. We added a few of our own “rules” to make this work well for our team:
Once we have that sorted we start on the project plan, and here’s where things might sound a little controversial from a product management perspective… it is not always the product manager who writes the first draft of the project plan. This started as a matter of necessity, because I frequently got overwhelmed with spec writing as the (then) only PM on Postmark. Our experiment to help relieve some of that pressure was to make it the Driver’s responsibility to write the first draft of the project plan. The rest of the team (including me) comes in afterward to ask questions and polish the doc. The added benefit? Drivers have a way better understanding of the work they’re about to do, and they also feel a strong sense of ownership. For this to work well we needed a good template to help with the scary “blank page” phenomenon. Of course there is no shortage of “product spec” templates out there, so the one our team uses isn’t particularly groundbreaking or new, but I like it for a couple of reasons:
If you’re interested you can view the template on Github. Feel free to send me feedback or questions! What I’m readingJosephine Conneely asks Why do companies over-hire? and provides some good suggestions for how to avoid that trap:
In ChatGPT Is Dumber Than You Think Ian Bogost makes this excellent observation:
I know you’re probably sick of ChatGPT screenshots, but as a big Phil Collins fan who gets a lot of flak for it, I have to say I’m pretty proud of this one. In Challenging the status quo at work—a good post that you should read mostly for the excellent framework for how to challenge ideas in the workplace—Hebba Youssef writes:
My parents never had an argument in front of me and brother, and it made me really scared of conflict. My wife’s family was… quite the opposite. So one thing I have learned from her over the years that is important to remember is this: it’s not the public argument that matters, it’s how you publicly repair afterwards. That’s the part that teaches kids about healthy conflict. Or, to quote Pink Floyd, “all we need to do is make sure we keep talking.” Some stray links
Farewell tweets |
Key phrases
Older messages
The Friday Edition // Dec 9, 2022
Friday, December 9, 2022
5 links for your weekend
When shutting down a product is the right thing to do
Tuesday, December 6, 2022
Also a new book on the product design process.
Online connection should happen on occasion, for justified reasons, and in moderation
Friday, December 2, 2022
Also tips on how to experiment with a “no meetings” week
So where should we post now?
Wednesday, November 30, 2022
Also some good advice for giving and receiving feedback
Welcome to annual planning season
Friday, November 18, 2022
Also why are we so obsessed with closing rings?
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