🎙️ Pod Shots

This week we feature another 20VC podcast, this time with the Linktree CPO Jiaona Zhnag (JZ) talking about mastering metrics, running planning, strategy and rituals as well as a her take on career advice.

⚒️ Jiaona Zhang: Why All Product Teams Should Have a Scorecard & How to Use It

🎥 Watch the full episode here 

📆 Published: May 17th, 2024

🕒 Estimated Reading Time: 3 minutes. Time saved: 55 minutes🔥 

🎯 The Role of a Product Leader

Key Takeaways:

• Chameleon Role: Product leaders must adapt to different functions within the company, acting as a bridge between various departments.

• Customer-Centric Approach: The best product managers deeply understand and prioritise user needs and feedback.

Product management is a dynamic and multifaceted role. Jiaona Zhang, affectionately known as JZ, emphasises the importance of adaptability for product leaders. She compares the product role to a chameleon, highlighting the necessity for product managers to wear multiple hats and bridge gaps across different functions within an organisation.

Understanding and prioritizing user needs is at the heart of effective product management. JZ's journey from consulting to product management underscores the importance of being passionate about the product and continuously learning from user feedback.

🚀 Entering the Product Management Field

Key Takeaways:

• Gaining Experience: Seek opportunities that provide frequent learning cycles, such as roles in gaming or fast-paced startups.

• Non-traditional Pathways: Focus on building analytical skills and demonstrating value through data-driven insights.

• Passion Projects: Work on products you are passionate about to gain deeper insights and drive meaningful contributions.

For aspiring product managers, JZ advises gaining experience in environments that offer rapid learning cycles. Her experience in mobile gaming, where new iterations are shipped weekly, provided invaluable insights and honed her product management skills.

Non-traditional pathways into product management can be highly effective. JZ leveraged her background in economics and analytics to break into the field, proving that a Computer Science degree or elite university pedigree is not a prerequisite for success. Demonstrating value through data-driven insights can be a significant advantage.

Working on products you are passionate about is crucial. Passion fuels dedication and a deeper understanding of user needs, ultimately leading to better product decisions and outcomes.

⚖️ Balancing Speed, Quality, and Scope

Key Takeaways:

• Trade-offs are Inevitable: Recognise that achieving speed, quality, and scope simultaneously is challenging. Prioritise speed for faster learning and iteration.

• Quality vs. Scope: Maintain high quality by focusing on fewer features but executing them well. Understand your market and customer needs to balance these aspects effectively.

• Customer-Centric Metrics: Different customers have varying definitions of quality and scope. Tailor your product to meet these diverse needs.

JZ emphasises that trade-offs between speed, quality, and scope are inevitable in product development. Prioritising speed allows for faster learning and adaptation, which is critical for staying competitive. However, quality should not be sacrificed, as a product that fails to meet market standards will not succeed.

Balancing quality and scope is a delicate act. Focusing on fewer features but executing them exceptionally well can lead to better user experiences and market acceptance. Understanding the unique needs and expectations of your target customers is key to making these decisions effectively.

📊 The Importance of Data and Metrics

Key Takeaways:

• Leading Indicators: Identify and track leading indicators that provide early signals about product performance.

• KPI Trees: Develop a KPI tree to link business metrics with product metrics, ensuring alignment across the organisation.

• Qualitative and Quantitative Data: Use both qualitative feedback and quantitative metrics to inform product decisions and validate hypotheses.

Data plays a crucial role in product management. JZ advises product teams to identify and track leading indicators that provide early signals about product performance. This approach enables quicker adjustments and more informed decision-making.

Developing a KPI tree is an effective way to link business metrics with product metrics. This hierarchical structure helps ensure alignment across the organisation and provides a clear understanding of how different metrics contribute to overall business goals.

Combining qualitative feedback with quantitative metrics offers a holistic view of product performance. Engaging with users directly and gathering their feedback, alongside analyzing data, allows for better validation of hypotheses and more robust product decisions.

📝 Documenting and Sharing Learnings

Key Takeaways:

• KPI Tree Structure: Use a KPI tree to document and share the connections between business metrics and product metrics.

• Cross-functional Collaboration: Ensure that data and learnings are shared across teams to promote alignment and collective progress.

• Transparency: Foster a culture of transparency by regularly updating and communicating the status of key projects and metrics.

Effective documentation and sharing of learnings are vital for product teams. JZ uses the KPI tree structure to document and communicate how business metrics relate to product metrics. This structured approach ensures that everyone in the organisation understands how their work contributes to overall business objectives.

Cross-functional collaboration is essential for leveraging data and learnings effectively. Sharing insights across teams promotes alignment and collective progress towards common goals. Regular updates and transparent communication about the status of key projects and metrics help maintain focus and accountability.

📅 The Role of Rituals Over Processes

Key Takeaways:

• Rituals vs. Processes: Focus on establishing rituals that build organizational muscle and foster a culture of continuous improvement.

• Scorecard Ritual: Implement a scorecard ritual to track and communicate the status of key projects, promoting transparency and proactive problem-solving.

• Product Jams and Demo Power Hours: Use product jams for collaborative problem-solving and demo power hours to showcase progress and foster pride of ownership.

JZ distinguishes between rituals and processes, advocating for the former as a means to build organisational muscle and foster continuous improvement. Rituals are habitual practices that reinforce desired behaviours and outcomes.

One such ritual is the scorecard, which tracks and communicates the status of key projects. This promotes transparency and allows teams to proactively address risks and challenges. A good scorecard highlights areas that need attention and encourages timely intervention to keep projects on track.

Product jams and demo power hours are other valuable rituals. Product jams facilitate collaborative problem-solving and rapid iteration, while demo power hours showcase progress and foster a sense of pride and ownership among team members.

🚪 Engaging with Users

Key Takeaways:

• User Proximity: Encourage product teams to engage directly with users to gain deeper insights and build empathy.

• Cross-functional Data Sharing: Leverage insights from sales and support teams to understand user needs and feedback.

• Prioritisation: Use a structured approach to prioritise user feedback and focus on the most impactful improvements.

Engaging directly with users is crucial for product teams. JZ stresses the importance of maintaining close contact with users to gain deeper insights and build empathy. This direct engagement helps product teams understand user pain points and identify opportunities for improvement.

Leveraging insights from sales and support teams is another effective way to gather user feedback. These teams often have valuable data on user needs and experiences that can inform product decisions.

A structured approach to prioritising user feedback ensures that the most impactful improvements are identified and addressed. By focusing on the intersection of needs across different user segments, product teams can develop solutions that provide the most value to the widest range of users.

🛠️ Structuring Growth Teams

Key Takeaways:

• Growth vs. Product Teams: Clearly define the roles and responsibilities of growth and product teams to avoid overlap and ensure effective collaboration.

• Hypothesis-Driven Approach: Encourage growth teams to develop and test hypotheses for achieving step-function improvements, rather than focusing solely on incremental optimisations.

• Strategic Alignment: Ensure that growth initiatives align with the overall product strategy and contribute to long-term business goals.

Structuring growth teams effectively is essential for driving meaningful growth. JZ emphasizes the importance of clearly defining the roles and responsibilities of growth and product teams to avoid overlap and ensure effective collaboration.

A hypothesis-driven approach is critical for growth teams. Rather than focusing solely on incremental optimisations, growth teams should develop and test hypotheses aimed at achieving step-function improvements. This approach encourages innovation and drives significant advancements.

Ensuring that growth initiatives align with the overall product strategy is crucial. Growth efforts should contribute to long-term business goals and support the broader vision and mission of the company.

🔄 Flexibility in Strategy and Planning

Key Takeaways:

• Strategy Over Planning: Focus on developing a clear and concise strategy rather than rigid plans. This allows for greater flexibility and adaptability.

• Two-Page Strategy Document: Create a two-page strategy document that outlines the vision, mission, unique value propositions, and key investment areas.

• Adaptive Rituals: Implement adaptive rituals that provide structure without rigidity, enabling the organisation to respond to new information and changing circumstances.

In a rapidly changing environment, flexibility in strategy and planning is essential. JZ advocates for focusing on developing a clear and concise strategy rather than rigid plans. A well-defined strategy provides direction and allows for greater flexibility and adaptability.

A two-page strategy document is a practical tool for articulating the vision, mission, unique value propositions, and key investment areas. This concise document serves as the foundation for all decision-making and ensures that everyone in the organisation is aligned.

Implementing adaptive rituals provides the necessary structure to guide the organisation while allowing for responsiveness to new information and changing circumstances. These rituals, combined with a clear strategy, enable teams to navigate uncertainty and capitalise on emerging opportunities.

In summary, effective product management requires a balance of speed, quality, and scope, a deep understanding of user needs, and a flexible yet structured approach to strategy and planning. By adopting rituals that promote transparency, collaboration, and continuous improvement, product teams can navigate the complexities of modern product development and drive meaningful growth.

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or if you prefer, 🎥 Watch the full episode here 

📅 Timestamps:

• (00:00) Intro

• (00:40) Entry Into the World of Product

• (02:28) Advice for Entering Product Management

• (03:10) Balancing Speed, Scope & Quality

• (06:01) Managing Feedback Cycles

• (07:51) Documenting Data & Learnings

• (10:34) Creating a KPI Tree

• (13:12) Different Metrics for Different Teams

• (16:40) The Paradox of Planning

• (26:01) Building Successful Product Teams

• (30:27) Rituals for Effective Product Development

• (37:52) Hiring Product People

• (43:16) Navigating a Rapidly Changing Landscape

• (53:06) Quick-Fire Round