What is clear is that product management must first and foremost satisfy the customer or user group of people. They pass the ultimate judgement as to whether or not something that product management has done is successful or not. However, with that said, here are the other groups that are critical to the success or failure of product management: sales, sales engineering, marketing, engineering and software development, billing, implementations and professional services, and executives. Frankly the list could go on right? Everyone wants to have a say in product management and everyone wants to feel like their influence is driving the direction of the product.
It is impossible to please everyone...but that is not the point...you need to "include" everyone in the product management process. The only constituent that you need to please is the customer.
Include sales: obviously they want a product that is easy to sell, they want all of the features for the lowest price possible. I would suggest including sales in the selection process of prospects and beta customers for new product development or even research. Keep the sales team informed on the progress of product development month to month or quarter to quarter with regular roadmap updates. This will help include them...it may not please them...but they will love you for including them.
Include sales engineering: the people who really know the product inside and out and consult with the customer to solve their problems want to be included in the nitty gritty of the product. They are your best champion and mediator with the sales team. They can help the sales team understand the nuances of product decisions. Include them early and often.
Include marketing: Obvious, right? Well, all too often marketing is treated as simply a service bureau for marketing communications. However, including them early in the development of a product and helping them understand the whole portfolio will allow them to help develop even better messaging that is aligned with campaigns and overall brand management. The products are a huge influence on the brand and it isn't right to just throw new products over the wall at marketing when they are finished...include them early and take their advice as free consultation on messaging.
Include engineering: This goes without saying...however, scrum and agile shops fall into the traps of only feeding the engineering team the next sprint of work and focusing on the increments. Include the engineering team in the long term vision of the portfolio so that can see where they are going and not just work in the weeds from sprint to sprint. You will find that better architectural questions are asked and better engineering decisions are made to speed development rather than just delivering the next increment.
Include billing: Most of us aren't product charities. You need to generate revenue with your product. All too often, we ignore the billing aspects of our products and simply stick with the status quo of what we have been doing. Include the billing team early in product management processes to discuss new ways to bill, new pricing models, new metrics for usage and make it easy for the customer purchase your products. I think you will be surprised at the wisdom that comes from including your billing department in the product management process.
Include implementations and professional services: Many products are complex enough that it requires an implementation team to help the customer get up and running and professional services to help tailor the product to their needs. These groups are traditionally expected to just pick up the pieces and fill in the gaps on demand with the customer once the product has shipped. However, including these groups in the product management process will actually help flesh out requirements that aren't spoken by a customer, but absolutely make their life easier and more satisfying in the early stages of using a products and the ongoing customization and tailoring of the product to meet their changing needs. Include these groups to get this feedback specifically, and you will find that the customer satisfaction of your product implementations will go up.
Include executives: Without regular updates of the lifecycle of all product development projects, the executive team will begin to make assumptions and imagine for themselves where the projects are...and inevitably they are usually more optimistic than realistic. If it feels like you are always sharing bad news with your executive team, it means you aren't communicating regularly enough and their expectations have wandered into unrealistic territory. Communicate regularly and it will always seem like your projects is doing just fine.
With the need to include so many people in the product management process you wonder how a product manager can actually get his day job done. Or maybe, just maybe, that is your day job.
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