Using strategic vision statements to set priorities

Sorting through the cacophony of feature requests to determine which one(s) come next, which come after that and which ones never get done is one of the most challenging aspects of product management.   Product Managers are lobbied, bribed, bullied and threatened to include this sales manager’s pet feature or this developers bright idea.   Big, valuable customers demand changes.   Market leaders bring out new versions and you immediately want to hit back.

After the dust settles and the lobbying and heated discussion are done, how do product managers call the plays?

Product Management solutions, like Ryma’s FeaturePlan or Accept’s Innovation Management Solutions are great for providing the analysis and data behind feature and function decisions.  As the foundation for all decisions though, Product Managers need to go back to the fundamental questions:

1. “What do we do?”
2. “For whom do we do it?”
3. “How do we excel?”

Knowing the answers to these strategic questions is critical and the team, at every level, needs to know the answers, too.  I don’t know what Flickr’s strategic plan says but I bet it’s something like:

We provide online tools for photographers of every level to show, edit and share their photos with others.  We excel by offering affordable, simple to use, reliable and fun solutions.

When everyone in the company knows the strategic vision, prioritizing features get easier.    Would Flickr partner with a company that provides super expensive digital storage systems that require encrypted devices?  Probably not.   Will Flickr build or partner for features that require users to have expert HTML skills?  Probably not.  Did they add one-click functionality so users can publish photos to blogs?  Yup.   They did.

So often the strategic vision statements are created, laminated, presented at a company meeting and then left in a drawer or fading on a wall.   Product Managers who resurrect them, dust them off and use them as drivers through the organization can align every member of the team, streamlining feature selection and reducing conflict so you can deliver products that people use and value for your company.

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