How to execute product strategy [As a PM]

I’ve heard the term product strategy thrown around a lot, with lots of opinions or frameworks used to create one, but nobody ever really knew how to execute or deliver on one, including myself!

It was more like a tick of the box to say that we’ve created a strategy and now we can go back to the day-to-day delivery.

When in reality strategy and delivery need to be highly aligned.

So I decided to do a bit of research and found a great framework by Roman Pichler, ‘The Product Strategy Cycle’ which helps connect strategy and execution.

The Cycle

The process is iterative which links the strategy > the roadmap > the backlog> the development > the measurement

> The Strategy

The process starts at the top by creating a new or existing product strategy, which should explain on a basic level how you’re going to bring value to your customers, product and company. But sometimes what you decide or think is a strategy may not get validated and hence this needs to be an iterative process.

> The Roadmap

Once the strategy has been validated, you then need to translate this into a product roadmap which can be very difficult. So you need to iterate on the strategy till it's simplified enough that you can derive a product roadmap and categorise items that need to be built. Once simplified, you then start to map your roadmap based on your strategy.

> The Backlog

With a roadmap in place, you will most probably have quite large themes or goals within your roadmap. These now need to be broken down into features, user stories or tickets in order to meet the requirements of a product roadmap. Once completed, you can then start to prioritise these and start planning your sprints.

> The Development

You’ll naturally then go into development via various sprints which again will be an iterative process with lots of testing, bugs and change requests. This will involve lots of versioning of the product in order to reach an MVP whereby the team are happy to release the product to customers.

> The Measurement

Once released out into the wild, you will want to measure how your product is performing and to do this, you will need to use KPIs to measure performance. A prerequisite for measuring would be to have all your analytics and events set up which would be related to your product goals and to see if your strategy is working or not. In terms of KPI framework, I like to use Dave McClure’s (500 startups) 5-step framework called Pirate Metrics — Acquisition, Activation, Retention, Referral & Revenue (or AARRR….get it? :)

> The Tweaking

You can then utilise your metrics to understand how your product is performing and tweak it accordingly. This step is vital to know whether your product roadmap is able to meet the goals and hence to test if the strategy is working or not.

As you develop more, you will know if goals are being met or not -> use this information to either double down on the approach or change the product strategy (little pivot or complete change depending on how much of it could be validated)

The Team

But one thing to remember is that all of the above is pointless if you don't have the right people involved at the start and more importantly the buy-in from the team. You need your team to believe and get motivated by your vision and strategy and be able to add or iterate on it.

Key Stakeholders

You need to involve key stakeholders when creating and validating the product strategy, developing the product roadmap, tracking the KPIs and development progress, and updating the plans. Naturally, people like to be involved in important decisions such as strategy and so if you invite people to contribute, their more likely to understand and support them.

A Workshop

There's no better way to make decisions than to hold a workshop where all key stakeholders can take part, express their opinions and everybody come to a consensus on the best way forward. Preparing all attendees in advance always helps as they will all come prepared with their ideas and their approach. This way, you won't waste a lot of time during the workshop.

To conclude, you should always be measuring progress as soon as the product is released and trying to tie it back to your product strategy and goals. If it isn't working, then tweak or iterate.

And lastly, you should be constantly discovering, and speaking with customers or team members to gather data and understand the best way forward.

Ok so that's how you execute a product strategy, but how do you create one? Find out in ‘How to create a product strategy [As a PM]’

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