Product Management at TAV Technologies (Part-2)

In Part-2 we will continue with the product management organization and culture in TAV Technologies, and give insights about how we are developing a large portfolio of software applications introduced in Part-1.

ORGANIZATION / WORKING ENVIRONMENT

TAV Technologies takes pride in handling every aspect of the product development process, from the idea phase to market release, using our internal resources. Our responsibilities encompass a range of activities such as user research, product management, requirement analysis, software development, quality assurance, and release and deployment. Given the importance of the aviation industry, we understand that having product knowledge and expertise in this field is essential. Therefore, we view our employees as invaluable assets for both our product and engineering teams.

Regarding our working mode, our product management team operates fully remotely, with the exception of the leadership team. This remote setup offers a great level of flexibility for our individual contributor (IC) employees. Furthermore, we occasionally gather a few times per month at the office for strategy and alignment meetings.These meetings provide an opportunity for our team members to build relationships, share ideas, and discuss the progress of ongoing projects. Face-to-face meetings can also help to foster a sense of unity and teamwork among our remote team members, which can ultimately lead to improved performance and productivity. Additionally, by coming together periodically, we can ensure that everyone is on the same page regarding our product development goals, which is crucial for maintaining alignment and moving forward as a cohesive team.

Our Product Management team consists of several teams including Core Product team and additional departments such as Product Presales, UX Design and R&D teams. Core product team consists of the Product Managers who are responsible for one or multiple products depending on their seniority level. Product Presales team is responsible for handling tedious tender and customer demo processes, where our R&D team is handling advanced topics such as Computer Vision, Machine Learning and Optimization.

In terms of the execution, we are using Agile practices and employing Scrum practices and Kanban is some of our projects. Agile teams are formed by combining product team and engineering team resources such as PM(s),Developers(FE,BE), Test Engineers and UX designers. The team is ultimately responsible for the success of their product.

THE PRODUCT MANAGER

We believe in Product Managers who have great technical ability combined with a market-driven eye. Fundamentally Product Manager's one foot should be on the customer/market side and the other foot should be with the technical team, where he/she can spend valuable time with designers and engineering team members.

In principle, we don’t believe in handovers, where completely business minded Product Managers are handing over wishes to internal technical teams somewhere deep down in a room in the office. In our approach Product Manager is a fundamental part of the agile team, and technical to the degree to outline a solution, write a story for the development team. That is why we don’t have any Business Analyst (BA) role on purpose.

We are trying to refrain from bad practices such as SAFe which is overly prescriptive, or a traditional business analysis approach where product management is something intangible or dispersed among the company management hierarchy. These are all anti-patterns to modern product management approaches.

On the strategy side, we are very intentional in our roadmap planning and trying to create the best products in the market, rooted from a bright and well-founded vision while maintaining our balance with the competition and key customer requests.

PRODUCT MANAGEMENT CULTURE

Laying out the core principles of the team, handshaking on them and repeating them relentlessly have profound importance. We have created our own unique version of a Product Management Manifesto, signed by all of the members, then put on the wall in the office. We also delivered a mini version to all of our team members in a framed version, so that they can put it somewhere at home or on the desk to remember the core foundations of our craft and culture.

TAV Technologies Product Management Manifesto

Our Vision:

As TAV Technologies Product Management team we are creating our products with a global vision and a professional mindset to take care of the needs of our stakeholders in aviation domain.

We are the ones who know our customers best, who listen to them, who care about them. Nobody knows our customers better than us. We know what they are looking for and even envision the future of how business is done even if doesn’t exist today.

In this department, we aim for quality over quantity, and well-crafted products as well as a comfortable/transparent environment where each team member can reach their highest potential.

We are the owners of Product

We are not just a team of people who collect and define requirements and handover to the development teams. We are not just postmen who act as a liaison. We are not just problem solvers. We bring value, we create the vision, we drive the development.

We are not just firefighters who are saving short-term projects or problems, we always think about the strategy, the long-term roadmap, and bigger vision. We never let ourselves drown in the vortex of daily streams of matters.

Our teams are not just feature factories who just produce features. We care about outcomes rather than outputs. We understand why we are building features and how they are going to impact our customers and our business.

We compete globally and understand our market

We follow our market and competitors closely. We respect and value our competition and understand at what level we are competing. We are not just an IT department satisfying the requirements of internal customers, but we are explorers who are not afraid to sail into the unknown oceans of global competition.

We have high standards for our team culture

We are a great group of people who enjoy learning, growing, sharing, and innovating. We want to build and maintain a team that cares adding value to the products we are building. We actively encourage self-development and cultivating new people with product mindset.

We value kindness and professionalism and use the best form of communication in all circumstances. We do not tolerate toxic behaviour and bad attitude in our interactions. We have a lean-minded approach on our ongoing practices and strive for a better and healthy working environment.

We value open feedback

We embrace our faults and failures and see them as growth and learning points. We praise and compliment great work and celebrate our achievements. We trust each other, have fun together, and treat our teammates as professional friends.

We are a group of people who appreciate giving constructive feedback in an open–democratic environment. We believe in the motto of best idea wins in our conversations instead of HiPPO (highest paid person’s opinion, highest paid person in the office). We are open to critiques from customers and stakeholders and see feedback as gold in every circumstance.

Empowered teams over top-down decision making

We believe the best work gets done by small, cross-functional, highly collaborative teams with shared objectives and the authority to make decisions for themselves. The best outcomes do not come from the leaders making the decisions, rather from leaders creating the right environment for decisions to be made. Good decisions are born when there is free flow of information, open debate and respect for others’ opinions, clear roles and ownership, trust between team members, and risk tolerance by leadership.

A TYPICAL DAY OF A PRODUCT MANAGER IN TAV TECHNOLOGIES

Before we jump into a discussion about the tasks and events that fill up a day in the life of a product manager, I first want to give you a clear definition of the role. What does a product manager do? Here’s our one-sentence answer.

A product manager identifies market problems worth solving and then leads the group that will solve those problems.

The ultimate objective can also be stated as:

“Building the right product, building the product right”

Different companies and industries have varying definitions of the responsibilities of a product manager. With that in mind, let us examine a typical day in the life of a product manager at TAV Technologies. Broadly, the responsibilities can be divided into several categories:

Product Execution:?This includes guiding the team through sprints without formal authority, formulating user stories and product specifications, collaborating with the engineering team lead to develop effective solutions, working with UX team members to refine the user experience, carrying out tests in the UAT environment, and creating user manuals. The product manager is responsible for ensuring successful execution, considering all factors for the delivery of a high-quality product to customers.

Prioritization and Strategy:?Having a large customer base has its benefits, but it also comes with challenges. Multiple clients make numerous requests, including from key accounts with differing priority levels. Prioritization is the most crucial aspect of our craft as a product manager. A sharp focus on balancing requests from operations, customers, and the product roadmap/vision is required. A product manager is akin to a micro-investor who determines what will be developed next sprint. Product Manager is also key responsible person for quarterly roadmap planning.

Presales Support:?One of the fundamental areas where product managers can expand their knowledge is by assisting in sales activities. Product managers present their products and solutions during demo sessions with potential clients. They may also actively participate in tender processes, where they work through a compliance matrix issued by an airport seeking to purchase a system, detailing all the features. Product managers can help the product presales team by providing deep product information when required.

Operational Support:?As we work with a vast customer base, operational teams may require assistance from time to time for implementations or post-implementation processes. Providing training and high-quality documentation to our operational teams eliminates future operational overheads.

Market and Competition:?Although not a daily task, product managers are responsible for monitoring the market, keeping a competition inventory, preparing battlecards, and following key organizations and individuals on web and social media.

Reporting and Communication:?Effective and timely communication is a highly sought-after trait in successful product managers. Writing weekly reports, managing product KPI dashboards, and keeping product roadmaps up-to-date are critical.

HOW TO MEASURE SUCCESS:

As Product Management team, we follow a balanced approach when it comes to defining our yearly and quarterly objectives. We encourage an open and democratic environment where the Product Management team can identify pain points and assess our maturity in different areas of product management. This approach allows us to gather feedback from all levels of the organization and leverage diverse perspectives to define our objectives.

Once we have identified our pain points and objectives, we ensure that they are aligned with the strategic topics defined by upper management. This top-to-bottom approach ensures that our objectives are in line with the overall goals of the organization. We also strive to strike a balance between the top-to-bottom and bottom-up approach by giving the Product Management team enough autonomy to set their own objectives while ensuring that they align with the strategic goals of the company.

In order to measure the progress towards our objectives, we set KPIs that are aligned with the overall goals of the organization and track it down quarterly. By following this approach, we are able to define objectives that are ambitious yet realistic, and enable us to track our progress towards achieving them.

Product Managers in particular are expected to excel in multiple dimensions such as effective roadmap execution, technical analysis quality, product strategy, effective communication & visibility, market analysis & benchmarking and presales support.

Apart of the organizational goals we also keep track of personal growth and development dimensions, where each Product Manager is assessed in different capability and skill sets with personal coaching. This proactive method of 1 on 1 coaching enables an intentional growth track for Product Managers, and enables them to get prepared for their next role.

SELF-DEVELOPMENT:

Training for product managers is essential because it provides them with the knowledge and skills needed to effectively manage the development and lifecycle of a product. As a product manager, it is crucial to have a deep understanding of the market, user needs, and the product development process. Through training, product managers can learn how to create a product strategy, set priorities, and work with cross-functional teams to deliver a successful product. Additionally, staying up-to-date with the latest trends and best practices in product management is crucial to remain competitive in the market.

As TAV Technologies we support our Product Managers with the best product management trainings in the market. We also believe in promoting continuous learning and growth for product managers. We guide our team to read key books in the product management area, also encourage them with the essential sources such as Marty Cagan's "Inspired," which is considered the bible of this area. By investing in training and education, product managers can enhance their skills and drive success for their products.

We will continue in Part-3 about other key responsibilities of Product Manager role and delve into the Product Presales and User Experience(UX) domains.