Four elements of product project management

Good project management, you can try to go from the four aspects of the text.

The fast-paced development of the internet has put forward high requirements for efficient product project management. it can be said that product demand is the strategy, product projects are tactics, and whether the tactical implementation is quick and effective is the key to determining the timeliness of the strategy.

The internet is very particular about "time and place", once the tactical implementation is not in place, it is easy to miss the opportunity and make the strategy invalid. especially for operation-oriented product projects, this requires strict project management to ensure that the requirements are completed in a timely manner.

Of course, some people say that the amount of advance and the amount of project margin can be arranged to avoid uncontrollable risks, and these methods can only treat the symptoms but not the root causes. excellent project management must be efficient coordination of resources of all parties, timely feedback, rapid adjustment, while allowing all parties involved in the whole project process to be tense and orderly, cooperate happily, and ultimately maximize the benefits of product projects.

Narrow project management refers to a specific phased project, such as product launch, and his corresponding role is project manager. project management in a broad sense refers to the management of the whole life cycle of a product, from project establishment to launch to operation, and his corresponding role is product director or product owner. the two are similar, and there are common methods to do a good job.

Good project management can start from the following four aspects: goals, rules, culture, and human supervision.

Target

Goals are the primary element of information that needs to be instilled in the team in project management. first of all, we must clarify what the goal is, and then organize everyone to run to a goal, which is the binary decomposition of project management. so goals are important.

How much data the project wants to complete, what effect should be achieved in the operation, when the project will be launched, and what standards the product will meet can all be the content of the goal. first of all, the big goal is clear, and then decomposed into each collaborative unit layer by layer, what tasks are completed at each time node, the finer the goal, the easier the rhythm is to control, and the overall risk is more controllable.

The goal is both a guide and a wake-up call for the project. let everyone run towards a goal, and work with a clear sense of direction. at the same time, the goal can consciously spur the team to move forward in the established direction, once behind the plan, the goal is a wake-up call, so that it understands the current situation and severity of the situation, through self-motivation to correct and move forward.

Rules

The rules are the boosters that drive the project. the rules determine how the whole project works together, especially for large projects, which require an efficient project collaboration rule that everyone agrees on. the goal is only the first step, after all, it is impossible for everyone to run to the goal in their own way, that will be a mess, and the strength will not be able to go together.

The content of the rules is a full set of internal and external processes, which can include project collaboration, product development processes, product team management, and so on. of course, the most basic is what the process of doing things is, how to make everyone agree on the rules to avoid the unknown risks of the project.

The two goals of the rule-making are to improve efficiency + reduce risk. there are two dimensions of formulating rules: collaboration rules + execution process, the two dimensions are the breadth of business collaboration and the business vertical execution process.

For example, what kind of rules are project collaboration, how to communicate across departments, what methods or tools to use, how to clarify the priority of things and project risk control strategies, etc., vertical business execution level such as what links to go through in the requirements review, requirements proposal, research, review, design, review, etc. In front of the execution process, the process may need to be determined according to the product project, or formulated with the product manager. Rules involve both business rules and management methods, and require a grand pattern and experience.

Culture and human resources are two forces that play a supervisory role in the work links that cannot be touched by the rule process in the case of a clear goal, and the role is to make up for omissions.

Culture

The culture is often an invisible factor in advancing projects. rules will cover most of the project scenarios, but there will still be many scenarios that cannot be covered, especially in the case of sudden situations or rapid development of the project, the rules will appear very weak.


At this time, culture will be a good auxiliary force, such as the Open mentality, which will make everyone wrestle and may be noisy in the process of project collaboration. Many times, without an open mind to these seemingly negative things, it is easy to affect the working atmosphere of the whole team.


for example, the culture of execution, no matter how good the rules are set, the implementation is not in place, and everything is in vain. as for what kind of culture is needed, it is necessary to combine the project, combine the understanding of the project and the understanding of the company culture of the product leader or project manager, and constantly summarize and instill in the actual implementation to form a systematic theory.


and the culture needs project managers to practice to guide, to combine with the company culture to promote the landing of the project. this must be a company-level thing, and it also needs to be paid attention to and passed on for a long time. a good team with cultural gene cultivation can do things with less effort. the culture of a project team can be an important factor in determining how far the project can go.

manpower

the last item is the indispensable manpower. if culture is the invisible driving force, human power is the explicit supervisory force.


manpower is essential, even the highest priority. although many times we pursue "autonomy" and let people automatically move towards the goal in the coordination of rules and culture, the reality is obviously impossible. many times the communication and coordination of human beings is due to tools and rules, and cold tools and rules cannot replace the invisible positive impact of human coordination and supervision!


project managers need to observe the status of the project and even the status of work by observing various information in a timely manner. progress is the appearance, and the working state is the hidden image. all of them need to be paid attention to as a project management. sometimes the progress problem is solved, and the team is only a symptom, and the root cause is either the process or the work status. these require human supervision to observe, to think, to reflect, to promote change. whether it is a project manager or a product owner, avoid the "everything must be done" manpower management method, manpower is to fill in the leakage management.


many people may go into the strange circle of manpower is constantly pushing others to do things, in fact, that is the most terrible. constant urging will not only make others irritable, cause tension in interpersonal relationships, but also make yourself very tired.


manpower is a key factor in the overall goals, rules, and culture. but it does not mean that the most important thing for human beings to do is supervision. instead, the role of people in project management should be to clarify goals and directions, respond to change, and provide support. not a push.


as a project manager, if there is a problem, you must think about the root causes and solutions of the problem from these aspects. there are only four aspects to exchange about the project management landscape. perhaps these four points can also be used in management, throwing bricks and stones.