How do you connect product goals to business strategy?

How many of us have experienced poor leadership with poor vision or no vision at all? And how many of us have cared/dared to ask for it? Because, without that, rest of the steps to align product goals to business strategy fall through the cracks. So, let's start there first!

Understand your company's mission to ensure your product is aligned with the needs of customers and deliver on the company's promises. Companies like Google and Meta exemplify how a clear mission guides product development. For e.g every product initiative in Meta forwards its mission of giving people the power to build community and bring the world closer together. Specific steps to take: 1.Read and understand mission statement, the core values that your company is committed to & the problems that your company is trying to solve 2.Identify the key customer needs, their goals and objectives 3. Prioritize the problems that align with your company's mission 4. Finally, measure the success of your product against your company's mission

Connecting product goals to business strategy involves a structured approach. I start by translating overarching business objectives into specific product outcomes. This alignment ensures that the product not only fulfills user needs but also contributes to the organization's broader vision. One effective method for this translation is using a KPI Tree. For instance, if the business goal is to increase revenue, the KPI Tree helps break this down into measurable product objectives, such as user retention or feature adoption rates. This granular view enables us to focus on targeted product enhancements that directly impact business performance.

Well, before planning your steps ahead, I believe, three questions are best to ask and understand. 1. What: What is the business problem (Requirement) ? 2. Who: Who is affected by the problem (requirement) and whom the solution would help? Who are the key players? 3. Why/How? Why/How is this a problem? Why/How this product will be a solution? Why this problem needs to be resolved.? The fundamentals of your product is entirely Based on these 3 questions. Once these are clear, you already have the base, purpose, vision and goal of the product. Then comes the steps of identifying the right approach, using the correct set of tools, identifying the gaps, planning for the sprints, developing OKRs and perfroming several analysis like SWOT.

Primary way business strategy connects to product goals is through 2 levers: 1. Business plan 2. Organization structure and behaviors Every solution design follows how the organization is set up and organization gets deeply embedded in every product decision, often without anyone consciously realizing it.

Product Vision should be set by Product Leadership, connect to Enterprise objectives, and be 3-5 years out. Product Strategy can be 1 year out. The Roadmap to meet this shouldn’t be “what are we delivering” with dates, but rather “here are customer problems and the features to solve them.” An Objective-Based Roadmap, coined by SVPG, is a helpful way to accomplish this.

Once business alignment is completed, establishing the product vision through data-driven decisions becomes critical. This approach allows for a comprehensive analysis of the big picture, identifying growth areas, enhancing customer experience, and expanding customer base. Conducting thorough backend research is recommended, including validating findings with end-users to gain insight into their perspective. Finally, ensure these results are confirmed with business stakeholders, promoting transparency and keeping all parties informed. Collaborating on a single board and visualizing plans effectively is made possible by using tools such as Confluence, Miro, Mural, Microsoft Whiteboard, and the like.

It is crucial to set product goals that are both demanding and attainable. One effective approach is to define the desired outcomes clearly and establish precise metrics and value indicators. One key way before implementing/identifying a SMART goal is first: - Gain a clear understanding of the As-is state of the process - Identify the next desired to-be state -Now analyze the challenges or risks involved between the as-is and to-be. Apply the above three easy steps to establish clear, well-defined goals. After that, you should determine if they are measurable. If so, identify the core metrics that will define the product's success and then use the SMART framework to identify the next steps.

As PMs, we often chase OUTPUT over OUTCOMES. However, we need to be conscious of the efforts we put in as merely releasing or rolling out new products and product features is not sufficient without considering the impact they are making on the bottom-line of the organization. Thereby, it is suggested to set SMART goals for measuring success. It not only helps in measuring the individual / team's impact over a period but it also makes sure that we are aligned with the over-arching goal set by the organization.

This can be helpful so that members of your team understand how what they're working on ladders up to the wider business goals and mission.

The alignment of product goals with business goals allows the product to have the desired direction in terms of its development and also ensures that value creation gets tracked over a passage of time. Product development can take time but the ROI on value creation with business goals will help define how the product team is performing and also benefit the company overall

This one is as much tricky as it is needed. It’s not always easy to have a primary focus. Companies often go wrong at certain intersections believing they can tackle it all at once: For instance: - user growth - product maturity - profitability - market expansion Usually you can’t have all of them, ad user growth and expansion will heavily hit into profitability and maturity and vice versa. Be very clear and distinct of what you truly want to achieve and offset the other metrics.

When creating a value proposition remember you need to be able to touch the heart and minds of the stakeholders internally and your customers. They need to feel why they cannot live without this product update or entirely new product. We all buy on a curve from completely emotional on one end to dogmatically practical on the other. Most of us fall somewhere in between but it all depends on the day, the hour, and sometimes even the weather.

The ultimate validation of your product in whether or not the buying audience is willing to pay for it. That's why you should be laser-focused on communicating a value proposition that resonates with your target market. Although this is obvious in itself, the challenge is that there will always be stakeholders that aren't part of the buying audience, yet solicit well-meaning advice on what to communicate, and how. Be selective with this feedback.

One of the key roles of a PM is to work with cross-functional teams (engineering, design, analytics, sales, marketing, business development, legal, etc.) and keep internal / external stakeholders updated on the product progress. Hence, communication skills are very essential for a PM. They should know their audience well and craft the messaging accordingly, eg. Marketing team does not need to know backend infrastructure design, engineering team does not need to know about marketing mailers, legal team do not care about UI/UX implementation etc. Effective communication helps in the following: - Providing clarity on the product goals - Optimizing process workflows - Prioritizing asks - Team coordination - Navigating challenges

Iteration of product goals is essential. Product goals and roadmap should be reviewed in the following manner Stakeholders: Review artifacts that are planned and define the what to be delivered Customers: Feedback on how the goal or product deliverable will improve them from their existing state Product Team: Iterate on product goals to match the What with How to ensure that the right artifacts get delivered

Instead of "aligning" your product goals with business goals, you need to start from the business outcomes that the organization needs to achieve. Understand the key outcomes, business priorities, and why those matter, and only then work backward from those outcomes to define product priorities and goals. Developing product and business goals separately and then aligning them will always lead to a disconnect and tension. The product supports the organization's vision, business goals, and desired outcomes - it doesn't have a value or meaning without those. There is some work that needs to be done to support scale and operational needs, but even those need to be ultimately aligned with desired business outcomes.

Identifying the dependencies when working on goals and keeping everyone informed is essential. Here is a simple way/template to get this laid out: ??bligated: The team member responsible for performing/executing the tasks. ??eported: The person to whom the obligator reports and is accountable for the team deliverables. ??pdated: The list of senior leaders and business stakeholders should be updated with the progress and results. ??ackup: It's important to have a backup contact in case the main point of contact is away on vacation or out of the office. Don't hesitate to ask your cross-functional team for a backup contact - it will save you time and stress in the long run.

Perhaps the most important thing you can do as a product manager is to really understand your customers. As a startup, you often start out with a small audience so it's enough to sit down with prospective customers and discuss what they need. As a larger organisation, you might like to carry out or contract in-depth market studies and analysis. Either way, nothing in this article will help in creating the winning product if you don't understand your customers, their buying criteria, and the underlying emotions driving their decisions. For more info: INSEAD emeritus professor Jean-Claude Larreche has done excellent pioneering work on these topics with the value wedge he developed along with other practical tools.

To connect product goals to business strategy: 1. Understand the business strategy. 1. Align product goals with business objectives. 1. Conduct market analysis. 1. Define measurable product goals. 1. Identify key performance indicators (KPIs). 1. Develop a product roadmap aligned with the business strategy. 1. Continuously evaluate and adjust goals based on market feedback and business needs.

Rather than creating organisation and product goals in isolation, it is critical to create a cohesive approach that ensures everyone is working towards the same outcomes. This requires one to: 1. First define organisation goals and objectives 2. Convert the objectives into measurable metrics - e.g. revenue, transacting customers, traffic, etc. 3. Communicate these metrics across the organisation 4. Build Products / Features which are contributing to these metrics This enables to build a transparent, focused and synchronised organisation strategy and ultimately leads to products that actively contribute to the organization's success.