Professional Documents
Culture Documents
PROCESS
Second Edition, by Brian Lawley, CEO and Founder, 280 Group LLC
If you are interested in having the 280 Group deliver the contents of this paper and/or a presentation on the Strategic
Importance of Product Management and Product Marketing to your executive team, please email us at
contact@280group.com or call (408) 834-7518. We also offer in-depth Product Management consulting, contractors,
assessments, training, certifications, templates and books. Go to 280group.com for more information.
All rights reserved. No patent liability is assumed with respect to the use of the information contained herein.
Although every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, the publisher and author assume no
responsibility for errors or omissions. Neither is any liability assumed for damage resulting from the use of the
information contained herein.
This publication describes the 280 Group Optimal Product Process, a methodology and framework that
allows companies to perform highly-effective Product Management and Product Marketing.
Creating a modern product process that reflects best practices for Product Management and
Product Marketing in 2014 and beyond
Clarifying roles and responsibilities for Product Management, Product Marketing and those
they interact with
Creating a complete and comprehensive solution that goes far beyond a basic training course to
include corresponding templates, books, certifications, coaching programs and foundational as well
as advanced courses.
The Optimal Product Process accomplishes all of these goals and more. It is a complete methodology
that includes all aspects necessary to build a world-class Product Management function:
Our hope is that companies worldwide will adopt the Optimal Product Process so that not only will the
professions of Product Management and Product Marketing advance, but their companies will thrive
and their customers will benefit from great products being delivered.
Those of you who know me know that I have a HUGE passion for what I
do. I have spent my entire career in Product Management and Product
Marketing, and have been able to work on some amazing products at
great companies (Apple, Symantec, Digidesign, Claris and Whistle as an
employee and hundreds of great companies as a consultant.)
Simply put, I love to create and market products that delight customers
and produce massive profits. Thats the vision for my company, the 280
Group. We help thousands of companies, Product Managers and Product
Marketers create and market GREAT new products that customers love
and that help their companies dramatically grow. This is what motivates
me and my team. The work on this project and this paper are driven by
this.
About the Author
The 280 Group has been in the Product Management and Brian Lawley is the CEO and Founder of
Product Marketing consulting and training business since the 280 Group. His 25 year career in
1998. Tens of thousands of Product Managers and Product Product Management includes working
Marketers worldwide use our methodology, books, for great companies like Apple, Symantec
templates, white papers and other resources, and have and startups, writing five best-selling
Product Management books, being
gone through our training and certification programs.
President of the Silicon Valley Product
Great companies like Cisco, Wells Fargo, E*TRADE, SAP,
Management Association and winning
Dell, Adobe, Microsoft, Intel and many others, ranging
numerous awards for thought leadership
from startups to Fortune 500 have benefitted from our in Product Management.
ideas and methodology.
We have been blessed with much success and have become well-known as a company that moves the
profession forward. We have published five best-selling books (two in the Amazon top 50 business
books on their first day of release), were ranked in the top 10 consulting firms by the Silicon Valley
Business Journal, have been featured on CNBC and Silicon Valley Business Report and have won
numerous awards for thought leadership and for our work and products.
Product Management is now also ranked in the top ten best jobs by Money Magazine. And the AIPMM
(The Association of International Product Marketing and Management) has been in existence for fifteen
years, representing the profession for its thousands of members. It sponsors Product Management
Education Conferences, and runs the worldwide-standard and vendor-neutral Certified Product
Manager (CPM), Certified Product Marketing Manager (CPMM) and Agile Certified Product Manager
(ACPM) exam and credential programs.
It was time for a flexible framework that would cover every aspect of the Product Lifecycle and could be
highly-effective regardless of which development methodology was being followed by engineering.
When we created the Optimal Product Process we were highly customer-focused. Through extensive
customer feedback and thousands of hours training and consulting with clients, we observed that the
following were challenges in the Product Management profession that needed to be addressed:
1. There was a lack of clarity on the roles and responsibilities between Product Management and
Product Marketing. In some companies there was only one person doing both roles. In other
companies there were two people (trying to do the same things some of the time), etc. And
often, critical parts of one or both of these roles simply were not being done at all.
2. Agile development was being adopted by many engineering organizations without the critical
strategic planning and other functions of Product Management being applied. When applied
to the right kinds of products, Agile can provide great benefits in terms of rapid software
development and staying close to the customer. However, when many companies shifted to
Agile development they stopped performing critical activities in the lifecycle, such as developing
business cases, crafting the market strategies, or planning for launches or end of life. Thus the
development and delivery benefits gained by going Agile were negated in many ways because
the strategic business aspects are no longer being taken care of. In many cases companies
adopted a hybrid approach (often jokingly called Wagile, Fragile or Agilefall because they
combine traditional waterfall
and Agile). The challenge in
Agile development was being adopted by many
doing this is that there is rarely
engineering organizations without the critical strategic
an underlying framework that
planning and other functions of Product Management
is well-thought-out. As a result
being applied
both the development and
strategic business aspects have
suffered.
3. Companies often werent adopting the materials and methods that they were trained on
because they werent flexible enough and not actionable. There was a need for flexible and
immediately actionable methodology that could be adapted to how the companies were already
doing business.
4. The training and other materials available were all woefully out of date. They had been
developed in the mid 1990s or early 2000s Product Management and Product Marketing
have completely changed since then. Between the Internet, social media, the ability to get
instant customer reactions and market research, Agile development methodologies, the
5. There was a lot of duplication of effort and wasted time by Product Managers and Product
Marketers. Despite our 280 Group templates and toolkits many companies and individuals were
re-inventing the wheel with each product cycle. And to make matters worse they ended up
focusing their time and effort on creating the templates and perfecting the documents rather
than doing what was MOST critical answering the key product questions and making the key
decisions during each phase.
6. None of the methodologies available dealt with ALL of the critical parts of the lifecycle, such
as ideation and innovation at the front end, or retirement at the back end. There are MANY
examples of companies that dont focus on all parts of the lifecycle and end up in severe trouble
without an innovation pipeline or with products discontinued in a way that alienates
customers and damages their brand.
7. There has not historically been a way to do post-mortem analysis on Product Management
and Product Marketing work to ensure continuous improvement. The result is that teams and
the function dont improve over time, and companies lose out on building Product Management
as a competitive advantage.
8. Product Managers and Product Marketers werent able to leverage their skills effectively if
they switched companies or industries. Because EVERY company was doing things differently
there wasnt a core set of skills and methods that could be used when starting at a new
company.
Taking these challenges into account, the 280 Group decided to leverage and dramatically expand upon
the base-level work that we had participated in during 2009-2010 when the AIPMM (Association of
International Product Management & Marketing) created the worldwide standard seven phase lifecycle
model in the Product Management & Marketing Body of Knowledge (ProdBOK). We took the seven
phase lifecycle, and built a comprehensive and complete framework, training program, coaching
offerings and the corresponding Product Management Office set of tools to match.
The result is a framework and methodology that can be widely employed. Now Product Managers and
Product Marketers can ensure their products are dramatically more successful.
The seven phase framework in the Optimal Product Process covers every phase that every product goes
through (whether a company/team realizes it or not.) Oftentimes one or more of the seven phases are
ignored, shortchanged or not focused on, resulting in a less-than-optimal result for the company and its
customers. In many cases Product Management and/or Product Marketing are only involved in one
phase, and no one is watching the Whole Product concept that the customer ultimately perceives as
what they are buying. By being aware of and prepared for all seven phases, a company maximizes its
chances for delighting its customers and increasing its profits.
The seven phase model uses a phase-gate approach (with Agile work tied in during Plan, Develop and
Qualify). Each phase consists of standard tasks that must be accomplished, and then to move to the next
phase a gate must be passed through. The gate is a decision based on the work in the phase as to
whether the company wishes to move forward with the concept or product. By using this approach, the
right information and data is gathered, analyzed, and the risk of investing significant money or resources
is managed appropriately.
In startups this is usually done by the founders, in technology companies by the engineers and in truly
market-driven companies by the Product Management and Product Marketing staff. In all cases Product
Management and Product Marketing can play a KEY role in this phase they arent necessarily
responsible for coming up with creative new ideas (though they should articulate the needs of the
customers and the problems that can be
solved), but they should be held
accountable for leading their teams in By applying ideation exercises and using prioritization
the effort. By applying ideation exercises techniques, Product Management can lead the company
and using prioritization techniques to identify and focus on new and innovative ideas that
Product Management can lead the can become the engine for future company growth and
company to identify and focus on new success.
and innovative ideas that can become
the engine for future company growth
and success.
Many companies either minimize or rush this phase, compressing the amount of time originally allotted
or deciding to ship a product that may not have been used in real-world scenarios. This omission can
cause a major catastrophe for the product and/or company if the quality level should prove to be sub-
par for their brand image. It can also result in spending significantly large amounts of money launching
and marketing the product without having verified that the quality and customer satisfaction levels will
be adequate to drive sales.
Note: as an example consider the Microsoft Kin phone. After spending hundreds of millions of dollars
(perhaps billions including acquisitions) developing it, they spent a huge amount to launch the product
and even had a launch party at their campus. Sales were so anemic they cancelled the product in LESS
THAN SIX WEEKS. Had they done testing with real users (in addition to their internal quality testing) they
could have avoided serious embarrassment.
The Optimal Product Process specifies the roles and responsibilities of Product Management and
Product Marketing, as well as all of the other parties they interact with: Engineering, Quality Assurance
and User Experience to name a few. This can vary from company to company, as some companies only
have one person performing both roles and the line between them can be blurred. As such, the Optimal
Product Process provides standards and guidelines that can be followed, and is flexible to allow for what
works best for each company.
In the Optimal Product Process the Product Manager is responsible for making sure that a great product
is built and brought to market, including all of the whole product components such as features, service,
warranty and anything else necessary for success. Product Marketing is then responsible for making sure
that the product sells as well as possible. This includes activities like positioning, messaging, pricing and
sales enablement.
Getting role clarity such as this ensures that all critical tasks in the Product Lifecycle have an owner and
that nothing falls through the cracks. It also ensures that companies can know what skills each role must
have so that each individual can get the training, coaching and tools to do the job effectively.
During each phase of a products life, there are critical questions that must be asked and assumptions
that must be challenged in order to ensure maximum success. Whether written down formally or not,
without taking key strategic and tactical factors into account, there is a risk of product failure.
The 280 Group Optimal Product Process identifies these questions in nine key documents associated
with the seven phases of a product lifecycle. These documents are included in the 280 Group Product
Management Lifecycle Toolkit, which is the basis for the 280 Groups Optimal Product Management
and Product Marketing Training that teaches the entire Optimal Product Process. Each of these
documents includes the critical questions, issues, decisions and considerations for products that must be
addressed in order to ensure success. They represent a comprehensive way of ensuring that nothing
falls through the cracks and that everything is thought through thoroughly and effectively.
The 280 Group nine key documents from the Product Management Lifecycle Toolkit.
NOTE: The documents can be used in very formal circumstances where a company culture or team
requires extensive written documentation for each phase. Equally important, if a company and/or
team is less rigid and formal, there may be no need to write the full (or any) documents. All that
matters is that the key considerations covered in each one are thought-through and addressed in a
satisfactory manner that will ensure product success.
The documents are also designed to ensure that there is no duplication of effort or content they are a
perfectly designed set of complementary templates that can help dramatically boost a Product
Managers productivity. Note: See the Appendices for the table of contents for each of these nine
documents.
The Optimal Product Process is also designed to drive continuous improvement of products and/or
support processes within any organization. Continuous improvement of products and the corresponding
process is an ongoing effort that can best be evaluated once a formal Product Management and Product
Marketing process is defined and implemented within an organization.
To support the notion of continuous improvement the 280 Groups Optimal Product Process includes
the ability to capture critical decisions and key assumptions about a product during each phase of the
lifecycle. This provides a record of what has happened over the life of the product that can be used as
data when looking for areas of improvement.
In addition to the nine key documents, the 280 Group has also created one document called a Master
Product Plan (MPP), which is included in the Product Management Lifecycle Toolkit. The MPP includes
all nine documents in one and can be iterated at each phase in the lifecycle. Only the parts that are
relevant to that particular phase for your company need be written or considered when passing through
the gate. By using the MPP you can iterate one document through all seven phases.
By using the MPP (or interim versions of the nine documents), you can also easily go back and do a post-
mortem to see how your assumptions and documents changed over the life of the product. And if you
are using MPPs for more than one product, you will have a standard way of determining where your
efforts need to be enhanced so that you become more efficient and effective.
If you would like to deploy the Optimal Product Process, or a variation of it at your company, there are a
number of services and offerings that the 280 Group provides to support you in the adoption of the
Optimal Product Process:
Optimal Product Management and Product Marketing Training. This is a three day
course that teaches the entire Optimal Product Process so that students can manage any
product, in any industry, successfully through any phase of the lifecycle.
Product Management Lifecycle Toolkit. Used as the basis for the training course and the
overall process, this toolkit contains templates for the nine key documents used in the process,
the Master Product Plan and also a variety of other useful templates and samples that can be
leveraged to produce better documents and make decisions more efficiently.
Product Management Coaching. Individual and team coaching to help you adopt and apply
the Optimal Product Process.
Product Management Certifications. These are offered by the 280 Group and administered
by AIPMM as a vendor-neutral third party. They ensure that Product Managers thoroughly
understand the core concepts of Product Management and the Product Management
Framework.
The professions of Product Management and Product Marketing will continue to evolve and become
even more important in the corporate world. New advances such as the Optimal Product Process,
additional tools and books as well as more organizations, conferences and resources will continue to
advance the profession. And the 280 Group will continue to be a leader in these efforts.
Make sure you join our mailing list and take advantage of the vast free resources that we offer in order
to leverage our work.
It is our hope that the Optimal Product Process will be embraced widely and will become the basis for
the advancement of the profession and excellence in many companies. With a standardized process,
certification exams, training, books and other resources, the professions of Product Management and
Product Marketing are poised to become even more important and relevant in the worlds greatest
companies.
If you want to increase your skills in Product Management or Product Marketing and rapidly accelerate
your career, the 280 Group has a comprehensive set of solutions you can take advantage of.
Clients include small and medium-sized companies as well as Fortune 500 companies such as Adobe,
SAP, Cisco, Intel, E*TRADE, Symantec, Dell, Hewlett Packard, Wells Fargo and others. The 280 Group was
ranked in the top 10 consulting firms by the Silicon Valley Business Journal and has won the AIPMM
award for Thought Leadership in Product Management. They have been featured on World Business
Review, the Silicon Valley Business Report and have several books in the top 150 business books on
Amazon.com.
Brian Lawley is the CEO and Founder of the 280 Group. He is the author three best-
selling books, The Phenomenal Product Manager, Expert Product Management and
42 Rules of Product Management and is the former President of the Silicon Valley
Product Management Association (SVPMA). He was awarded the Association of
International Product Marketing and Management award for Thought Leadership in
Product Management, and has been featured on World Business Review and the
Silicon Valley Business Report. He is the editor of the Optimal Product Management blog and newsletter
and also writes guest articles for publications such as the Software Development Forum newsletter,
Softletter and the SVPMA newsletter.
Prior to founding and running the 280 Group Brian spent many years working on innovative products at
world-leading companies, including Digidesign (acquired by Avid), Apple (Product Manager for the
MacOS human interface), Claris, Symantec and Whistle Communications. Brian is a Certified Product
Manager (CPM) and Certified Product Marketing Manager (CPMM) and has a Bachelors degree in
Management Science from the University of California at San Diego with a minor in Music Technology
and an MBA with honors from San Jose State University.
Pamela Schure is the Director of Products and Services with the 280 group and a 25
year Product Management, Product Marketing and international business veteran.
She has extensive full life-cycle experience in product definition, Product
Marketing, business development, team and relationship building and operational
management. Prior to the 280 Group, she worked for multi-national companies
such as Apple, Sun Microsystems and Adaptec. She also enjoys working with
smaller teams and companies to ensure that they create and maintain competitive differentiation with
their products. She combines strategic overviews with hands-on tactical execution expertise to deliver
excellent business growth results.
Her entrepreneurial leadership at companies of all sizes builds value in diverse industries for both
hardware and software solutions. Pamelas experience includes analyzing, positioning and delivering
both B2C and B2B products to global markets. Her success is a result of combining engineering expertise
and business skills to bridge the gap between technical knowledge and market awareness. She has
worked and managed in a range of functions including engineering, Product Marketing, Product
Management, sales and marketing. She has lived and worked in the US, United Kingdom, France and
South Africa and has conducted business internationally, including Europe, Africa, and Asia-Pacific.
Pamela has achieved the following certifications from the Association of International Product
Marketing and Management (AIPMM): Certified Product Manager (CPM), Certified Product Marketing
Manager (CPMM) and Agile Certified Product Manager (ACPM). Pamela has a BS in Applied Mechanics
from UC San Diego and an MBA in Marketing from Columbia School of Business. She communicates
fluently in French, and speaks conversational Italian.
Tom Evans
Senior Principal Consultant and Trainer, 280 Group
Tom Evans is a Senior Principal Consultant and Trainer at 280 Group and is an
internationally recognized authority in Product Management, Product Marketing,
international business, go-to-market strategies, business partnerships and
entrepreneurship. In his extensive experience, he has helped start-ups through
Fortune 500 companies create and launch winning products and has led go-to-
market and business development efforts in the US and global markets. Tom has
been responsible for successfully developing and implementing Product Management & Product
Marketing methodologies at multiple companies. Toms experience covers numerous vertical
industries, technologies, and international markets. His industry experience includes complex software
solutions for manufacturing, document management, call centers, financial services, and project
management. Tom lived and worked in Brazil and has conducted business internationally, including
Europe, Africa, Latin America, and Asia-Pacific.
Tom was a contributing author to the 42 Rules of Product Management and to the 42 Rules of
Product Marketing and speaks and blogs on the topics of Product Management & Product Marketing.
Phil Burton
Senior Principal Consultant and Trainer, 280 Group
He has executed assignments for US and non-US clients with B2B products and
services covering both applications and infrastructure. His projects have covered
the entire product life cycle, including portfolio management and pricing, writing
market requirements documents, planning product launches and creation of sales
tools. Phil has trained thousands of 280 Group customers in principles and best
practices of Product Management and Product Marketing. He is also a contributing
author to the best-selling 42 Rules of Product Management and a co-author of 42 Rules of Product
Marketing.
Phil has extensive full life cycle Product Management and Product Marketing experience, with a strong
understanding of how to tailor the product life cycle process to the specific needs and organizational
structure of a client. Phil has expertise in product definition, launch, messaging and positioning,
collateral creation, competitive analysis and sales tool creation. He is also an excellent public speaker for
both executive level and technical groups.
Prior to consulting Phil had more than 25 years of hands-on Product Management and Product
Marketing experience. He has worked for both established companies such as Sun Microsystems, Novell
Inc., Convergent Technologies (acquired by Unisys), Octel (acquired by Lucent Communications), as well
as startups at various stages of development. He has a Civil Engineering Degree from M.I.T, with an
undergraduate degree in civil engineering from City College of the City University of New York. He is a
member of several information security organizations and is a Certified Information Systems Security
Professional.
Greg Cohen
Senior Principal Consultant and Trainer, 280 Group
Greg Cohen is a Senior Principal Consultant with the 280 Group and a 15 year
Product Management veteran with extensive experience and knowledge of Agile
development, a Certified Scrum Master, and former President of the Silicon Valley
Product Management Association. He has worked and consulted to venture start-
ups and large companies alike and has trained Product Managers throughout the
world on Agile development, road mapping, feature prioritization, product
innovation, product lifecycle process, and Product Management assessment. Greg is the author of the
books Agile Excellence for Product Managers and 42 Rules of Product Management as well as a speaker
and frequent commentator on Product Management issues.
Greg earned an MBA with honor from Babson College and a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical
Engineering with second major in Electrical Engineering from Tufts University.
Jim Reekes
Senior Principal Consultant and Trainer, 280 Group
Jim Reekes spent the first 20 years of his career developing software. He has
extensive knowledge and experience with the entire software development
process ranging from very small to very large projects. During his 12 years writing
software at Apple Computer, Jim worked at every level of the operating system. As
a member of the QuickTime team, he created the companys innovative audio
architecture, earning him two patents and establishing the foundation for
countless multimedia products. His contributions include key benefits and innovations found in iTunes
and iPod.
Jim Reekes was the former VP of Product Management for Meeting Maker, Inc., creating the companys
product vision and strategy. His accomplishments include expanding into new markets while competing
against Microsoft. Jims efforts resulted in revitalizing the product through new positioning and an
exceptional product benefits. He reorganized the companys product line, and extended it by integration
and acquisition. Jim has been providing consulting services in Product Management to Silicon Valley for
a diverse set of clients ranging from software products to web sites. Jim is often described as
visionary. Jim has expertise in product strategy, competitive analysis, market driven requirements,
messaging and positioning, and brand building.
The Phenomenal Product Manager goes beyond the basics and teaches you how to work
more effectively with your teams, how to influence when you have no formal authority, how
to get the most important work done in less time, and how to manage and accelerate your
career.
Software companies are rapidly turning to Agile development to cope with fast changing
markets and borderless competition. Yet little has been written to guide Product Managers
through the transition to working with Agile teams and the huge benefits that doing so
affords. Agile Excellence is a plain-speaking guide on how to work with Agile development
teams to achieve phenomenal product success.
Covers advanced topics such as how to prioritize feature requirements, build product
roadmaps, plan and execute high-impact product launches, run more effective beta programs
and get great reviews for your products.
Optimal Product Management requires that you have the following elements in place:
To help you take Product Management to the next level at your company, the 280 Group offers an
Optimal Product Management Assessment and Optimization Program. This is a service where we
assess the Product Management function at your company (process, people and tools), provide concrete
recommendations for dramatically improving its effectiveness and assist you with implementing key
changes. The resulting deliverable is a specific plan for optimizing Product Management at your
company. By working with the 280 Group you can ensure that you are implementing best practices and
that Product Management will help drive your companys overall success.
The toolkits are also bundled together in the PM Office Professional, which includes all eight toolkits at a
discounted price. Toolkits and the PM Office are all single user license volume licenses are available.