So let's see... in January 2007 I predicted that 2007 would be a big year for product management. I think it was. The number of blogs and product management associations increased and people were generally motivated to work smarter. In December 2007 I made a few rather snarky predictions about 2008. To recap...
- You will be asked to do more with less as the screws tighen
- You will update and present your roadmap at some point then neither deliver it or keep it up-to-date for the remainder of the year
- If you didn't change jobs in 2007 you will in 2008
- You will attend too many meetings and continue to support sales
- If not already, someone will suggest that you become more Agile and if already ... welcome to your new title of Product Owner
Not bad. Screws are tight and you will continue to be asked to do more when more cuts happen in the new year. I trust you know this already. Not sure how you made out with your roadmaps (I could make an educated guess) and suspect a lot of people changed jobs. And last but not least... Agile. Rarely do I meet anyone who is not playing with it in some way. If you are, I suggest you read James Shore's recent post "The Decline and Fall of Agile". James is seeing what I am seeing. Doing a release every two weeks is not Agile and is only going to lead to frustration and failure. Sorry. To get back on topic... 2008 was generally a pretty positive year, again, for product management types. The PMAs continue to rock and we attended three unconferences with the inaugural P-Camp in Silicon Valley and two ProductCamps in Austin and Toronto. With 4 scheduled for 2009 (including Boston), we need to find a way to launch more through the year. 2008 saw some new Product Management type books published, most notably Tuned In, The Art of Product Management and others. The Cranky PM continues to entertain and help understand that we are laughing at ourselves. Everyone I meet loves her and yet no one knows her. Despite one grumbler, a bunch of us are now on Twitter. I am following and networking with hundreds of Product Managers all day. I understand the attraction and repulsive force of the service. For me it works.
So what is in store for 2009... economic grief for one... this will result in more job cuts. So we need to work smarter. If I could offer one suggestion... be able to answer why for everything you do. Why am I going to this meeting? Why is this feature on my roadmap? Why is the sales team struggling to sell my product? If you can answer why to everything and directly link it to a strategy, either corporate or product you will achieve in 2009. Make 2009 the year of measurable achievement and 2009 will be the year of the Product Manager.
Stewart, the Cranky Product Manager thanks you for the shout-out and the love. And who knows, maybe you DO know me but aren't aware of it....
;-)
I think 2009 needs to be the year that PMs become known more for their focus on the business and less for being the demo monkey and product expert.
@Bob - It is a fair point Bob. Product Managers have a hard time saying NO and this leads in many different directions and lacks the focus required to run a product. CEO's (sorry Adam) say no and delegate all the time.
Stewart