Product Collective - ❓ What's the status?

Product Status Updates

How to write a product status report (with template and examples). Communication is essential for successful project outcomes. Distributing product status reports is a great way to keep team members and stakeholders informed about the product’s progress and enable senior stakeholders to make data-driven decisions. Uju Ezeanyagu explains what a product status report is and how to create interesting reports that effectively communicate where your development projects stand. (via https://www.linkedin.com/company/logrocket/) 

Why your team needs a weekly metrics review. With data, most teams inherently understand that to get familiar with data, you need direct and frequent exposure. That is why product teams build dashboards, share their links, and remind stakeholders to “please bookmark it and check it often.” Unfortunately, people rarely look at those dashboards and the dashboard death spiral begins: dashboards go unused, dashboards become unmaintained and as a result they’re broken and useless. Julie Zhuo tackles one of the single most impactful practices of building a data-informed team: the weekly metrics review. (via Julie Zhuo) 

How to write a product status report. As a product manager, you’ll probably need to write a status report of some form. In larger companies, the format may be provided to you - whereas in smaller companies you may have to create something. To ensure a product status report is valuable to the reader, you need to know who it’s for and what they’re looking to see in it. Ben Barden explains how to write a product status report once you know that key information. (via Ben Barden) 

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There's an AI for that

Imagine a world where, instead of saying "There's an app for that," we're saying "There's an AI for that." That's exactly where we're heading with OpenAI's latest announcement about enabling custom GPTs powered by the broader community. It's a big leap forward from the one-size-fits-all AI we're used to, moving towards something that you can tailor to your specific needs, whether that's for business, education, or just for fun.

In my experience, the best tech solutions are those that anyone can use and customize. OpenAI nails this by making it super easy to create your own GPT – no coding skills needed. Think of it like molding clay into any shape you want. It's that flexible.

There are already examples of custom GPTs existing in our world of product management. Past INDUSTRY speaker, Claire Vo, even built an on-demand Chief Product Officer – training it up on all things product. It’s worth a test drive!

For us product folks, this opens up a world of possibilities. We're talking about customizing AI to fit our product's unique voice, or to solve specific customer problems we couldn't tackle before. It's like having a Swiss Army knife for AI.

So, what's the big takeaway? We're at the beginning of an AI revolution, much like the early days of the App Store. It's a chance for us to shape how AI integrates into our lives and our work. And remember, you don't need to be a tech wizard to be part of this – it's about ideas, creativity, and solving real problems.

To me, OpenAI's custom GPTs aren't just a new feature. They're a sign of how AI is becoming more personal, more accessible, and more integral to our daily lives. And just like the App Store did, this could change everything.

How to send internal product updates stakeholders will read. Keeping stakeholders and coworkers informed and engaged with what you’re building is an essential part of product management. And one way in which some product teams do this is by sending regular, internal updates to the rest of the company. Sometimes, team updates can be interesting and insightful. Other times they can be a little dull and your intended readers will politely skip them entirely. Richard Holmes shares a few ideas on how you can spice your product updates up so that your stakeholders feel energized and excited the next time you update them on all the wonderful work the product team is doing. (via Department of Product) 

How to update internal stakeholders on a weekly basis. A common question Matthew Ho gets asked is “how do I update people in my organization on a product I’m working on?” CXOs want to know how to get their teams to report to them. Product managers want to know how to report to their stakeholders. Matthew discusses why to provide updates, principles, cadence and a template that you can use. (via Matthew Ho) 

The Product Manager’s Guide to Status Updates. Creating status updates can feel like a tedious, thankless, endlessly recurring task. With so much on a product manager’s plate, are status updates the best use of a product manager’s time? The folks at ProductPlan dive into why status updates are not only essential but helpful to your overall workload, as well as the best ways to approach them efficiently and effectively. (via ProductPlan)