Product Management During a Market Crisis
My last post on this blog was February 9, 2020. A lot has changed in the world in the last 4 months. Part of the reason that I haven’t posted here is I’ve been so busy with helping product management leaders and product managers deal with the impact of COVID-19 on product management — hosting virtual discussions with product leaders, giving advice 1-on-1 product management clients, and doing a lot of research and writing.
If you’re not a Forrester SiriusDecisions client, that’s okay — I’ve published two posts on the SiriusDecisions blog on this topic, including one that provides access to a complimentary copy of a recent research report:
- Seven Areas for Product Management to Lead in a Time of Crisis
- Product Management During a Market Crisis: Seven Actions to Take
Upcoming Presentations: Summer 2020
Though in-person events are put on hold, that hasn’t stopped my speaking schedule.
- I recorded a webcast with John Hurley, Product Marketing Director at Amplitude: How to Make Smarter Product Bets with Customer Insights. If you missed it, not to worry — you can watch the recorded webcast.
- Next week, I’ll be presenting at Forrester CX North America; my session on Tuesday, June 16 is titled What Your Future Customer Will Want and covers how you can start to identify future customer needs. Tickets are still available!
- On July 2, I’ll be part of what (I think) is the first-ever “virtual” ProductCamp; ProductCampRTP is hosting a virtual unconference spread out over 4 consecutive Thursdays. I’ll be covering an always-popular topic Best Practices for Product Roadmaps. Register for this free event now; the sessions start this Thursday, June 11.
What’s Hot on Twitter
Here are some of my tweets that have generated the most interest recently. To read more, or get these in real-time, join the 10k+ others who follow me at @jefflash:
Product leaders: what has changed for you in the past weeks? I’m curious about the implications of the pandemic on #prodmgmt (besides working remotely).
Have you moved planned launches? Adjusted pricing? Changed your roadmap? Or has not much changed from a #product perspective?
— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) March 31, 2020
Unfortunately there are a lot of great product management professionals out of work due to the coronoavirus crisis, so I want to do what I can to help. If I hear about any open *remote* #prodmgmt roles, I’ll share them and tag them with #remoteprodmgmtjob.
— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) May 8, 2020
Companies focus so much attention on NEW products when the bulk of the revenue (& expense) is on growing EXISTING products. @Lisagsinger said existing products are “the middle child” (oft forgotten); @RobinWhiting1 has a write-up of her #SDSummit session https://t.co/gL9OyqcGC0
— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) May 6, 2020
I think “A Quiet Place 2” should be a feel-good movie about a post-COVID world where a guy works from home the entire day in complete silence while his kids are at school and his spouse is at her office job.
— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) May 6, 2020
– Sales is focused on this month/quarter
– Marketing is focused on this year
– Product management is focused on next yearAgree or disagree? Should it be this way?
— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) May 12, 2020
“A 10xer is someone who brings 10 times the value to their company as compared to their peers.” There are some great tips in here – particularly for new graduates, these are great practices (and attitude/mindsets) to adopt as you enter the workforce https://t.co/6isbAmq5x0
— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) May 22, 2020
Great term I learned today from @mbbaustin. “Accordion” topic: (n) an item on an agenda that could take as much or as little time as is available; also works for presentations that can be done quickly or stretched out to fill time.
[Aside: How have I not heard this before?]
— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) May 22, 2020
“We have no competitors” is a lame excuse for #prodmgmt. You’re always competing against something — even if you have a revolutionary innovation, you’re competing against the status quo, which is sometimes the toughest competitor.
— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) June 3, 2020
Great practical and timely tips from Kelly Price of @forrester on how to conduct customer research remotely; highly recommended for #prodmgmt, #ux, #cx https://t.co/DXH4cgjKDd
— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) May 1, 2020
My solo vibraphone cover of the (social distancing-themed) “All By Myself” (yes, the Eric Carmen song, though you may know the Celene Dion version) is featured today as part of the @forrester/@ForresterLife #TinyConcert series. #FridayFeeling https://t.co/ENCpZsT5eW
— Jeff Lash (@jefflash) April 3, 2020