Transcription
GETTING TO MILESTONESIN A VIRTUAL WORLDA PRACTICAL GUIDE FOR PRODUCT WORKE-BOOK
02 Getting to Milestones in a Virtual WorldGETTING TO MILESTONESProduct Development Requires E xtensive CollaborationFrom idea generation to sunsetting, the design, creation, launch,maintenance, and planned obsolescence of one product can involvemultiple teams, various stakeholders, a network of partners and suppliers,and thousands of hours of work. Economic and political disruptions,unanticipated industry shifts, and a move to remote work can all posethreats to your product timeline.Drawing from case studies, customer successes and lessons learned, andexpertise within Arena, we have resources on how to build a stronger, more»b,ee a9d, 5Esesex,e9Esa9 aE9cI9BxeBEE),xBe asedeaxE9BE Eeffc·e, 5a9ae sEdcd·ee ,E 5e9 sEcexxexxEBa Ecan reach y our milestones.Information UseInformation sharing that leads tointeraction with the informationleads to better decisions.INFORMATION SHARINGSUBOPTIMALDECISION OUTCOMEINFORMATION USEOPTIMALDECISION OUTCOME
03 Getting to Milestones in a Virtual WorldGOOD PRODUCT DECISION PRACTICESExamine your information sharingpractices.Take a step back and think about the ways in which you,your team, and your company share information bothinside and outside of your organization. Mapping out yourproduct development information flows—from requirementsgathering to auditing—will enable you to examine yourpractices. Ask yourself: What’s information? What’s actionableinformation? What’s noise?Know who needs to be in the loop when.Another part of the equation in effective information sharing isconsidering who needs to know what, when. Oversharing canbe as ineffective as undersharing, and it’s really informationuse that determines success. If your team is distributed, youwill need to over-communicate, but that doesn’t mean Zoommeetings and Slack messages all day every day.Think about how different channels are best suited todifferent kinds of information sharing and make sure you usethem to close loops and address specific gaps with intent.I have this blue award ribbon hanging onmy bulletin board at home. It was one ofBesx s9edBcacBe BsaxeoI#xsurvived another meeting that should havebeen an email.’ I feel like I’ve won that blueribbon ten thousand times.—Ben Locwin, SVP of Quality, LumicellA TOOLKIT FOR TEAMSManaging Organizational Communicationfrom Society for Human ResourceManagement
04 Getting to Milestones in a Virtual WorldBETTER PRODUCT DECISION PRACTICESFoster a shared understanding to drivedecision-making.For example, during customer interviews, invite a memberof the engineering team to sit in so they can hear feedbackdirectly from the customer, or be explicit about how you willmake a decision when there are disagreements.Resolving ameeting roomCONFLICTSelecting aflavor ofKOMBUCHAUnblocking aPRODUCTLAUNCHFinalizing aHIRING PLANIMPORTANTSometimes individuals and teams can get lost in the weedswhen working on specific tasks. But, by fostering a sharedunderstanding, you can create a culture in which teams arealigned when it comes to your organization’s identity andpurpose. There are practical ways to do this.URGENTChampion the one-page PRD.Creating a one-page dashboard (or roadmap) for yourproduct requirements documents helps to remindeveryone of the big picture. This kind of artifact can serveas an important point of reference—a touchstone—so thateveryone can remember who the customer is and themotivation for their work.A PROVOCATIVE PODCASTGokul Rajaram on How to Defang DifficultDecisions, sharing about his time at Square,an Arena CustomerET Ee EEdcxE9xedsxeB 5e,you need participatory buy-in from thebe999cBs9a,,xa)eBE,desx9a9dget input. There is danger in rushing aheadto develop a solution or reach a decisionwithout everyone’s involvement.—Tony Bairos, Director of Global Documentation& Training Compliance, Insulet
05 Getting to Milestones in a Virtual WorldBEST PRODUCT DECISION PRACTICESEvolve your change control board.It’s essential to have a change control board (CCB)—a groupof subject matter experts who make decisions about thedirection of your product and what will and, more importantly,will not be addressed in any given iteration. But relying on thesame people and processes without evolving will make youmore vulnerable to changes in leadership (e.g., M&As), drasticshifts in your supply chain, and unexpected competition.By incrementally evolving your CCB, you broaden who canparticipate and diversify the expertise present. For example,consider how you might take your CCB virtual so thatyou have more voices in the room or use design thinkingpractices to get a new perspective on processes.Document your entire product lifecycle in one (digital) place.Finally, document every decision—and why it was made—inone place that is accessible to each relevant stakeholderregardless of where they work. Doing this will ensure notonly that you have a plan to follow moving forward butthat stakeholders are accountable for implementing andmanaging changes on time.B ,d Es sEcexxexa9dBexeEf Essystems t o include everyone needed.When people onboard, identify what theyare involved in, get them in the processes,and train them. When people leave,identify who replaces them in processparticipation and make the changes.—Cindy Lalowski, Senior Quality Systems Manager, AEyeCHALLENGE READAtlassian’s Agile Coach, a deep dive intoall things agile development
06 Getting to Milestones in a Virtual WorldBUILDING THE SOLIDFOUNDATION FOR CHANGEIn summary, consistently hitting your milestones requiresyou to make informed, intentional decisions from informationmanagement to organizational norms and practices. Adoptinga systems-thinking approach can help your organization to bestronger, more resilient, and more flexible—no matter whatkinds of challenges arise.LISTEN TO ARENA CUSTOMERSIndustry Experts Talk Virtual ChangeControl Practices
07 Getting to Milestones in a Virtual WorldHELPING INNOVATIVECOMPANIES CHANGE THEWORLDAt Arena, we help you design, produce, and deliver complexproducts to market by connecting your product record,quality processes, and supply chain partners. This helps youcreate innovative, safe products to change the world.For more on Arena and to discover a wealth of resources andbest practices, visit ArenaSolutions.com.When it comes to PLM solutions, Arenais better than any system I have usedin the past. The value Arena providescompared to other commercial systemsis remarkable. And because it is cloudbased, we have a system that can scale asour needs change and our business grows.We know that Arena PLM can take usthrough the next two generations ofour evolution.—Mark Hanna, Vice President of Operations,FreeWire TechnologiesSEE ARENAIN ACTION›SCHEDULE A DEMO TODAY
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Getting to Milestones in a Virtual World A Practical Guide for Product Work. Getting to Milestones From idea generation to sunsetting, the design, creation, launch, maintenance, and planned obsolescence of one product can involve multiple teams, various .
