Here at Mando Group, we often talk about how to get the most from your strategy. One of the biggest changes you can make is to switch your focus from a project mindset to a product one.
The idea of constantly iterating on your ideas and developing your understanding of what works and what doesn’t is a big one. We know that businesses are often focused on getting the next ‘thing’ done before looking ahead – in truth this approach often stifles these businesses.
If you are truly agile in your thinking you should be able to build a backlog of optimisations to your workflow that allows for continuous progression.
As we have mentioned in the past, we are driving the message that brands and businesses need to align with a digital & IT consultancy and host their site with the best possible technology providers to ensure that they hit their KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) and develop in such a way that they remain ahead of the competition.
With that in mind here are just a few of the benefits of working in an agile, product-focused, way:
Customer satisfaction is a given for businesses operating in the digital space. The end user needs to be able to perform tasks with ease and on a platform that is accessible to all. Here at Mando Group, we know this, which is why we put so much emphasis on the user journey. We also understand the importance of analytics and how your data can help predict a shift in behaviour. A product mindset takes this into account and allows you to pivot quickly to deliver the best possible values without the need to factor in changes down the line. The more information you have the better the optimisation and therefore the better the experience.
Running a single project or a strategy that follows a rigid timeframe and set of objectives has historically worked for many, but in the current space where digital transformation is a cornerstone of progression product is the only way forward. Whatever the KPIs you set for your business, it is important that you have balance and flexibility. You need to be able to invest time and money into your offering and remain agile enough to grow the entire business, not just one arm. Product, as a theme of improvement, allows this – especially as you factor in dependencies on certain parts of your business and internal resources. This leads on to our next point…
Deriving business value from your team can be one of the hardest things to do, especially when projects, developments and optimisations are scheduled over a long period. Typically, with a product mindset, the workload is broken down into ‘scrums’ a practice of allowing dev teams to work concurrently using sprints. For example, these sprints could be designed to deliver an entire workflow over 6-8, 4-week sprints.
The main advantage of this methodology is its high development speed, making it a perfect choice if you need to launch your MVP (Minimum Viable Product) onto the market as soon as possible.
As we mentioned with the benefits around improved customer satisfaction, a product focus allows you to deliver against a meaningful backlog of tasks to drive value to your customers when they need it most.
If you can develop a roadmap that lasers in on the overarching goals you set as a business, then you are heading in the right direction. With competition fierce, speed is everything and offers you the greatest route to success – it also allows you to test in a live environment before iterating on your previous work and optimising again. In truth, this is the best example of ‘full circle’ development.
Speaking about the product mindset, Andy Pimlett, Product Director at Mando Group said: “The idea is simple. A property in your digital estate is a product. If you have a product, you can define a roadmap.
“If you can define a roadmap, you can build a backlog. Your product has a lifecycle, and the backlog represents all the continuous development of features and optimisations that can be done to ensure the product continues to be a vehicle of value.
“You invest in the evolution of that vehicle through its lifecycle, and it will continue to return value to its stakeholders. The better the product is managed, the better the outcomes, and the more value derived.
“The product approach isn’t a panacea, perfect for all scenarios. It’s an approach that works well in contexts where the scope isn’t fixed or is still emerging, where priorities will shift, where experimentation and user testing are used as a means to shape decisions through insight, and where there is a desire to invest in the total product lifecycle and maximise value throughout.”
The shift towards a product focus is obvious in many of the sectors we work in and as such forms a crucial part of our day-to-day messaging. There are many routes into experimentation and optimisation and we offer a number of touchpoints to get clients started on their product journey.
If this is something that interests you or there are ways in which you feel Mando Group could assist your forward planning, then why not get in touch?