The Art of the Handoff
Taking an idea from inception to a product that can be shipped takes more than just coding skills. It begins with doing market research …
Taking an idea from inception to a product that can be shipped takes more than just coding skills. It begins with doing market research to identify customer segments, validating that one or more segments has a problem through customer interviews, and then finally translating customer needs into features.
Initially, much of this work can be done individually by either a startup founder or a product manager. If they are initially creating a concierge MVP, then there isn’t much that needs to be built. However, there comes a time in every product’s lifecycle where a team is needed to take it to the next level. The next level being shipping a software product, collecting feedback from customers, and then iterating based on the feedback.
The first time around, team’s can expect to go through a labyrinth. After all, they are dealing with uncertainty when it comes to product adoption, and learning how to work with each other. However, if each time they iterate they stumble through a labyrinth, teammates will surely get burnt out, frustrated, and lose motivation for building the product. Hence, a team needs to figure out how it can ship consistently. And if one of the goals is to become real business then it needs to put a process in place.
Process is a scary word, because it often implies structure and bureaucracy. However, that’s only the case when teams are unwilling to adapt it.
Despite the connotations, process is what is needed to ship consistently, because there is a great deal of coordination amongst designers, engineers, and product managers that has to take place.
However, gone are the days where each individuals comes to the table to discuss requirements and specs. Nowadays teams have become more asynchronous due to remote and contract workers. As a result, there are a number of challenges that teams have to overcome if they want to create a smooth and repeatable process:
- Understand that complexity contributes to delays, and that people cannot be expected to come up with precise estimates.
- Opt for a flexible process rather than a rigid one, and being open to adapting it as teammates come and go.
- Take stock of the tools and technologies used during integration, which can also contribute to delays in shipping. These may need to be swapped out or upgraded overtime.
- Link infrastructure, features, and enhancements to business goals.
- Convey the need for process changes in terms of how it will benefit and lead to achieving business goals.
