The world around Product Teams.

Greetings, dear reader! Here is a bit of space to think from Zefi.ai ??

Today, we are going to approach the wonderful world of product teams. Ah, yes, product teams. The unsung heroes of the business world. They are the ones who bring our favorite products to life, and make sure they don't fall apart like a Jenga tower during a tornado.

Intro

So, what exactly is a product team? Well, it's not just a bunch of people who sit around and brainstorm ideas all day (although, that does sound like a pretty sweet gig). A product team is made up of several key players, each with a unique role to play.

?? First up, we have the product manager. Think of them as the captain of the ship. They are the ones who steer the team in the right direction and make sure everyone is on the same page. They are also responsible for setting goals, creating roadmaps, and making sure everything is running smoothly.

?? Next, we have the designers. They are the ones who make the product look real. They take the product manager's ideas and turn them into visual masterpiece. They create the user interface, design the experience, and make sure everything is user-friendly and effective.

?? Then there are the developers. They are the ones who bring the product to life. They take the design and turn it into a functioning product. They code, they test, and they debug. They are the ones who make sure everything is working as it should.

In an agile system, these figures do not work in silos but they form a strong cooperation, improving the product simultaneously. By working together, product teams can adapt quickly to changes, identify and resolve issues in real-time, and deliver high-quality products that meet customer needs and expectations.

So there you have it, folks. Then, of course, it varies depending on the organization, but this is the product team in a nutshell. They may not have capes or superpowers, but they are the ones who make sure we can enjoy our favorite products without any hiccups. And if you think about it, that's pretty darn impressive. They interact with a wide range of departments within an organization, working cross-functionally.

Product Teams Stakeholders

Due to the cross-functional nature of the role, some companies have product teams that collaborate with different stakeholders, other companies have product roles within each vertical. Here are some of the departments that product managers may interact with:

• Sales: PMs may work with sales teams to identify market opportunities and gather feedback on customer needs and preferences.
• Marketing: product teams collaborate with marketing teams to develop product positioning, messaging, and promotional materials for the product launch.
• Customer support: they work together to address user inquiries, technical issues, and other customer needs, improving the product based on their feedback.
• Finance: PMs may work with finance teams to manage the product budget and ensure that the product is delivered within budget.
• Legal: product teams collaborate with legal teams to ensure that the product complies with regulatory requirements and is legally protected.
• Operations: PMs may work with operations teams to ensure that the product can be manufactured, distributed, and supported effectively. Some companies have a Product Operation position to support the product teams' operational activities.
• Data and analytics: PMs may work with data analysts to gather insights on user behavior and product performance, and to use data to inform product decisions.

Of course, which department product people are interacting with depends on the specific tasks a product team is working on. What is certain is that they have a lot of stakeholders and each of them with different competencies and points of view, but also different tools. It is not easy at all to make them all align; some companies (for ex. Airbnb) introduced a Head of Stakeholders with this purpose. In the next articles, we are gonna expand on all the different product team duties and the best tools per each, this was just an initial warm-up.

Stay tuned to deep dive in the next episode!

Zefi.team