Launch Clinic

The (un)cross-functional cross-functional team

With increasing frequency I’m encountering product marketing managers who are managing cross-functional go-to-market teams that never actually (or rarely) meet. Wait for it, wait for it…

Here’s what happens. They’re assigned team members by a committee. Each team member provides a level of needed expertise. The team leader uses them as resources on an as-needed basis, meeting with team members one-on-one to get input. Some team leaders will emphatically state that this approach is more efficient and wastes less time.

But they would be missing the entire point of a cross-functional team!

The interaction and crosstalk that occurs between members in a real-time, live, synchronous situation is the secret sauce of cross-functional teams. It brings context to everyone’s contribution, exposes problems, and mitigates risk.

I’ll admit that at a theoretical level you could make an argument it would require more time of the team leader to plan meetings, conduct them and distribute team status when they already have a full plate. But I can assure you the value gained is far greater than the hassle. You will discover it takes less time provided you’re organized and disciplined in your approach.

What type of cross-functional team leader are you? Synchronous or asynchronous?

How’s that working for you?

ProductCamp Austin Spring 2010

Pragmatic Marketing is thrilled to sponsor ProductCamp Austin – the 4th for Austin – on March 27.

ProductCamp Austin is being held a the AT&T Conference Center on the University of Texas campus. I stayed there in 2009. It's a fantastic facility.

1900 University Avenue
Austin, TX 78705
(512) 404-1900 

www.meetattexas.com

You can get more details at http://www.barcamp.org/ProductCampAustinSpring2010.

Register at http://productcampaustin0327.eventbrite.com/

Submit your session ideas at http://www.barcamp.org/ProductCampAustinSpring2010Sessions

Look for the Pragmatic Marketing guys. You can’t miss them. They have the distinctive Pragmatic Marketing Framework tattoo.

Repeatable Product Launch Process – Execute Phase

This is the final of four posts providing an overview of the Repeatable Product Launch Process which is delivered in the Product Launch Essentials seminar. So far I’ve covered the Organize Phase, Evaluate Phase and the Prepare Phase. In this post I’m going to share with you the Execute Phase which is about building the product launch plan and measuring the effectiveness of the product launch. 

Execute Phase

To recap, the Organize Phase is focused on getting agreement on what the product launch goals were and which of seven product launch strategies would be the most effective at achieving the launch goals.

The Evaluate Phase is about identifying the speed bumps that would get in the way of achieving the launch goals.

The Prepare Phase is the time to organize the product launch team and develop the plans/actions to address the speed bumps.

Build

By the time you’ve reached the Build step of the Execute Phase you will have established the launch goals, launch strategies, have a clear understanding of the barriers to success, and developed plans to mitigate the highest risk items. Now it’s time to build the product launch plan.

The Product Launch Essentials seminar includes a product launch toolkit that has a product launch plan template. The plan is designed to articulate the goals, strategies and plans to assure success.

Measure

One area that often gets ignored after the excitement of the launch date is how the product launch is progressing toward the launch goals. The realization of success or failure is determined many months after the fact when the details are erased from everyone’s memory.

I advocate monthly launch status reports for the management team to show progress against the launch goals. The problem with metrics in the marketing discipline is that there are just so many. Fortunately, it’s far easier to know what to report when the launch goals are determined up front. The key is to draw a straight line between what you’re measuring and your launch goals.

The final launch status report is the Launch Effectiveness Report. This is the opportunity to assess what has been accomplished, what was learned and what could be improved in future launches.

Going Forward

Product launch is not the end of development it’s the beginning of selling. That alone sets a entire value chain of activities in motion to assure a successful product launch. The Repeatable Product Launch Process helps you focus on the things that are most critical to the success of your next product launch.

If you have questions or comments about the Repeatable Product Launch Process, send me an email or add a comment. I’d love to hear from you.