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Add Product Ops to make your team more efficient

One sure sign that your organization is in rapid scale mode is when you need to add a new team to make your product managers more effective. In most organizations, this team is referred to as product operations. Also known as prod ops, this team takes over the blocking and tackling of product management so that your product managers can focus on discovery and delivery.

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Product Operations: What it is & why it's more important than ever. Sales operations and marketing operations roles have been a staple at SaaS companies for quite some time. However product operations (or “prod ops”) is a relatively new role, and one that is less clearly well defined and understood. So what is the role of product operations and how does it help product teams? Casey Paxton explains what product operations is, the core responsibilities, examples of how some companies use product operations, why the role matters and some benefits of product operations.

(via @TeamParlor)

The 5 W's of product operations. Product operations, product ops, or prod ops has been gaining pace across organizations of different shapes and sizes of late. You’d be forgiven for thinking that product ops is a ‘mere’ support role, and while the primary objective of the function is to assist the product team, in reality product operations teams play a vital role in product development and delivery and can be a vital piece of the product-led puzzle.Max Duce gives you the lowdown on product ops and answers who, what, why, when, and where is product ops?

(via @PLEDalliance)

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Validating product decisions: tips from 8 experts
Data is an essential component of just about every software product. Some product teams use data to make product decisions (and yes, some ignore the data altogether). Other teams look to data to provide more value for their product. Whichever situation you’re in, it’s helpful to know the unique aspects of working with data in your product management efforts.

Entering the 4th Quarter...

Being from Ohio, I’ve always been a sucker for high school football. There’s nothing like those Friday Night Lights illuminating the field while the band is playing, the cheerleaders are chanting, and a full set of family-filled bleachers watches on. And when the score is close and the 4th quarter begins, you know you’re in for an exciting ending. 

Here’s the thing -- today is October 1st. That means that for most of our companies, the 4th quarter begins right now. The pressure is on to finish the year as strong as we’ve been pushing all year long. It’s time to do what we came here to do and win the game.
So what are some ways that you can do exactly that?

1. First, now’s the right time to rally up your team and make sure they know that the clock is ticking down. But no need to panic. You trust the team and the plan -- and you can let them know that. Instead, it’s time to get motivated to finish strong.
2. It may be time to do a reset on your goals. Maybe you’re already well on your way to exceed the goal you set in the beginning? That’s great! But it sure would be better to overdrive them, wouldn’t it? So, recalibrate and push yourself to finish the year.
3. Look ahead. OK, this doesn’t go well with the football analogy as no team wants to start thinking about the next team before the game is done. But in our world, we have to. The time is now to start the 2022 planning process. Don’t put this off for too long, as once Spooky SZN is over, the rest of the holidays will be right around the corner.

The clock is ticking down. The 4th quarter isn’t just here… it’s already started. Are you ready?

Product managers have way too much on their plates. It's time to hire product ops. It was only a matter of time before product ops became the next “ops” along the same lines as sales ops and marketing ops. But what exactly is product operations? How and when should organizations add it into the mix? And what does it take to make it work? Blake Bartlett spoke with Christine Itwaru about these exact questions. As the Director of Product Operations at Pendo (and someone who is deeply passionate about product operations), Christine offered some great insights.

(via @OpenViewVenture)

Product operations: From zero to one.  Before Joshua McLaughlin created a Product Ops function in his company, the product team at large had to absorb the responsibilities. Product leadership owned some duties while others fell to the Product Managers. Joshua liked being a Product Manager but he knew he wanted to work on more than a single product and have a broader impact across his team. As a result, Joshua felt the nudge towards product operations and decided to show what he’s doing and how he’s doing it as he goes.

(via @joshmcla)

Meet the team: Product operations at Robinhood.  Among the myriad teams that a company employs, product operations is one of the newer roles appearing in businesses with a human component to their daily operations. Broadly speaking, product operations dedicates itself to bridging differences between various functions within a company. Each team may work differently, be focused on discrete tasks, or have a different way of communicating. To give you an idea of what product operations looks like at one company, Marco Calderón shares his experience of working in product operations at Robinhood.

(via @RobinhoodApp)

In the early days of launching a product, it's important to set your product and team up to scale. To do that, though, it's important to build a culture that supports scale. Introducing product discipline in areas such as research, data, and user feedback is critical. We'll be discussing all of this, and more — plus, you'll have a chance to ask your own questions about what it means to scale product culture.