I led two product teams within the Product & Tech division, transforming them from feature teams into impact teams to drive strategic initiatives, enhance processes, and deliver measurable business results.

The Story

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1. Transforming Product Teams

From Features to Impact

Inspired by Marty Cagan's concept of impact teams, my primary goal was to shift our focus from merely delivering features to achieving significant outcomes.

This involved empowering teams to solve real customer problems and align their work with business objectives.

By implementing best practices in product discovery and delivery, I reduced time-to-market.

I focused on developing the team's skills and capabilities, ensuring they could independently drive projects to success.

We need teams of missionaries, not teams of mercenaries.
John Doerr

2. Process Improvement

Enhancing Efficiency

To drive efficiency, I identified key areas for process improvement.

I standardized team rituals and delivery processes, streamlined minor enhancements and bug tracking, and established a weekly user interview system.

These improvements provided regular insights to inform product decisions, ensuring a user-centric design approach.

There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all.
Peter Drucker

3. Strategic Alignment

Defining and Prioritizing Requirements

Aligning technical and business objectives was critical for each initiative.

I led the definition and prioritization of product requirements, ensuring optimal resource allocation.

Clear and consistent communication with all stakeholders maintained alignment and informed decision-making.

I'm actually as proud of the things we haven't done as the things I have done. Innovation is saying no to 1,000 things.
Steve Jobs

4. User Research and Prototype Testing

De-risking Initiatives

I emphasized the importance of validating ideas before full-scale development.

We conducted user research and prototype testing with minimal investment, leveraging a test-and-learn approach to refine features based on real user feedback, thereby increasing the likelihood of success.

The only way to win is to learn faster than anyone else.
Eric Ries

Key Initiative

One notable initiative was the unitary classifieds service for B2B agents, which I led from concept to successful launch.

I spearheaded comprehensive user research to map out the entire user journey, identifying critical touchpoints to ensure a seamless experience.

By aligning and coordinating impacted teams and dependencies, I fostered collaboration and drove efficient project execution.

I strategically narrowed the project scope to prioritize essential features, enabling a swift launch despite ambitious business goals.

I established consistent reporting and communication mechanisms to keep all stakeholders informed and engaged throughout the initiative.

This approach resulted in significant business outcomes and immediate value, successfully launching the service in a shortened timeframe and proving the strategic focus's effectiveness.

Top 3 Takeaways

1. To successfully transition from a feature team to an impact team, define a process for addressing small requests and allocate only 20% of the team's efforts to these tasks, dedicating the remaining 80% to strategic initiatives. This method effectively prioritizes impactful work and aligns team efforts with business goals.
2. In a transforming company, it is crucial to anticipate dependencies by checking with multiple teams about potential impacts on legacy systems, even for seemingly simple features. Ensuring all affected teams are well-informed and aware of their responsibilities prevents unforeseen issues and fosters better collaboration.
3. As a leader, it is essential to introduce discovery and delivery processes at the right time, neither too early nor too late. Implement these processes just in time when the team needs them to ensure they provide real value and are embraced for effective product development.