Getting the Team Involved
Product Managers need to spend time with customers. On-site, where they can be observed. Alone and in groups, so that they can talk in confidence and have free-ranging discussions with each other. There's no better way to discover the customer's problems and identify product opportunities. Typically, a PM will visit customers and summarize the findings in a report or presentation. These findings generally find their way into a Market Requirements Document, and may even be read by the development team or executives. Or not. Isn't there a more effective way to share this information? How about taking team members along on customer visits? Sure, everyone's busy, and visiting customers isn't their primary job, but you may find that it's worth the effort. I've found that bringing including team members accomplishes two very important things: First, it gives them a firsthand, visceral understanding of customer problems. Listening to a customer describe th...