WATCH THE REPLAY OF THE WEBINAR HERE: https://www.userlane.com/webinars/managing-stakeholder-relationships-the-key-to-successful-product-features As a product owner, not only are you required to know the ins and outs of your own product but you are also expected to strategically manage internal and external factors that can influence your product vision. This is why flawless cross departmental collaboration among stakeholders is paramount to develop successful product features and to productively manage your tasks as a product manager. Expert Product Manager Megan Bubley shows how you can: Properly manage stakeholders and deliver winning features Utilize organizational relationship management to support your product roadmap Prioritize feature requests based on business objectives Fine-tune critical communications across various departments Align on metrics and develop realistic timelines

2. Table of Contents
1. Background
2. Defining the role of a PM
3. Overview of the software development lifecycle
4. Identifying your stakeholders.
5. Getting everyone on the same page
6. Reporting feature performance and next steps
7. Rinse and repeat the process
8. Q&A

3. The Many Different Flavors of Product
Management
● Many different types of Product Managers,
to name a few:
○ B2B
○ Infrastructure/Data
○ Marketing
○ B2C
● Product Managers are responsible for:
○ Prioritization
○ Identifying the “User” need
○ Assessing risk + rewards
○ Alignment
○ Communication - all of it!

4. The Role of The Product Manager
“As Product Managers we must
always remember that our role is
to look outwards at least as much
as we look inwards.
Although the product delivery
process is noisier and demands a
lot of attention, let’s keep in mind
that our job is to create value for
our customers and
consequently, for the business.”

5. The Development Process
Defined by PMs
The Development Process
Defined by Everyone Else

6. The Main Players in Successful Feature
Development and Delivery
Identify the user need you’re
solving for.
The Customer The Business The Future
Align on business priorities and
metrics.
What does this feature require
and can we support it?

7. Align On User Need To Prevent Scope Creep
● What’s the user need and is solving it worthwhile?
● How can we validate this is the right user need to solve
for?
○ Consider complexity vs. value
○ Craft your hypothesis
○ Consider the support costs
● What will we cut if we run into blockers?
● How will we iterate on this feature going forward?
Focus on the user need you’re trying to solve for, so you can achieve the desired
outcomes with the least amount of added complexity.

8. Crafting a Compelling
Feature Story
● Circulate ideas with stakeholders early on
to ensure they feel informed and included
in the process.
● Use data to highlight the user need you’re
solving for to build a compelling feature
story.
● Focus conversations around the learnings
and insights you will gain from testing, less
on performance outcomes.
● Anticipate departmental concerns and be
ready to address them using the language
they find most meaningful.

9. Define the Business Value For Stakeholders
Be prepared to speak to the following:
● What does success look like?
● How much time and effort is required to build
this feature and why?
● What does this feature “touch” and what’s
required to support it going forward?
● How confident are we that this is the right
solution - how will we know and what if it’s
not?
Prior to project kick off, circulate your ideas and loop in stakeholders individually to
share your plan and gain their buy in.

10. Schedule kick off meetings with
stakeholders and provide regular
status updates.
Timeline + Key DatesProject Scope and Phases A/B Testing + Release
Make sure everyone is aligned on
the plan and scope of the project.
Discuss test and roll out strategy
regularly.
Predicting Success
(No Magic 8 Ball Required)

11. Use Project Kickoffs and Task Force Meetings to
Align and Manage Expectations
Make sure all stakeholders are clear on the project
goals by:
● Sharing a meeting agenda before meeting.
● Using project kick offs to share updates and align on
strategy - Find the format that works best for your
team!
● Identifying which metrics you will be impacting and
reviewing them regularly as a team.
● Share out your hypothesis and test validation strategy
frequently so everyone knows what to expect.
● Communicating key dates and aligning on
communication cadence.

12. Aligning on Project Scope + Terminology
● Have one source of truth for status updates, and
make sure that everyone knows what the status
actually means!
● Call out what’s in scope and what’s out of scope,
and be prepared to speak to how and why that
feature was prioritized.
● When reducing scope of a project, prevent issues
with stakeholders by looping them into the
conversation early on.

13. Tips For Providing Status Updates
● Build trust with stakeholders by establishing your communication process early on.
○ Regular updates are key to building trust and credibility with your team.
○ Don’t be afraid to change up the format or cadence for delivery if something isn’t working.
● Review project status, goals, and performance metrics regularly.
○ Keep stakeholders updated on the status of the build process, especially when things are going
wrong!
● Missing a deadline is no cause for panic!
○ The more proactive you can be in your communication, the better.
○ Understand the impact and be able to address concerns on a departmental level.

14. Reporting Your Results
Assess performance and next steps
based on test success metrics.
Analyze The Data Share Key Learnings Define Next Steps
Document and share out in a
format that works best for your
team.
Address the learnings and next
steps so everyone is aligned.
A Little Art + A Little Science

15. Celebrate The Wins
No Matter The Test Outcome
✔ Document results
✔ Communicate the key learnings
✔ Celebrate wins
✔ Use learnings to drive product
strategy

16. Thank you for joining!
May 29, 2019