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Tools and techniques to scale product teams – Charlotte King (Lead Product Manager, eBay)

Fred is a Product Manager at the BBC. He's also worked in product and technology management roles in Autotrader UK and at the London 2012 Olympic Games. He loves to learn new things and is deeply passionate about doing the best he can to make the world a better place. This article represents Fred's personal views.

Product Manager

Fred Esere

<p>In this talk from <a href="https://www.mindtheproduct.com/mtpengage/manchester/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">MTP Engage Manchester</a>, Rachael Shah, Delivery Lead at the <a href="https://www.coop.co.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Co-op</a>, challenges us to think holistically about scaling our products, and that means including our teams in our thinking. She draws from her own experience to illustrate just how critical it is to think about scaling the team as an activity that runs in parallel with scaling a product. She provides practical examples on how to both measure our teams&#8217; life-stage and the support needed for each stage.</p>
<h3>Key Points:</h3>
<ul>
<li>To scale a product holistically, we have to scale the product and the team alongside each other</li>
<li>To scale a product and team well, we need to be clear about what stage the product is in its lifecycle and what stage the team is in its development</li>
<li>Armed with a clear view of the team and the product’s maturity, we can watch out for key behaviours and apply specific strategies to help the team and product go from surviving to high performing</li>
</ul>
<p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class=" wp-image-19531 aligncenter" src="https://www.mindtheproduct.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Rachael-Shah-at-MTP-Engage-3-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="824" height="550" srcset="https://www.mindtheproduct.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Rachael-Shah-at-MTP-Engage-3-300x200.jpg 300w, https://www.mindtheproduct.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Rachael-Shah-at-MTP-Engage-3-768x512.jpg 768w, https://www.mindtheproduct.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Rachael-Shah-at-MTP-Engage-3-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://www.mindtheproduct.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Rachael-Shah-at-MTP-Engage-3.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 824px) 100vw, 824px" /></p>
<h3>How Mature are we?</h3>
<p>We often talk about scaling our products. We’re concerned with how we take our products and make them better, acquire more customers, and deliver more value. However, Rachael argues that thinking only about scaling the product is failing to think holistically about product growth. She posits that to scale a product well, you have to grow the product and team alongside each other deliberately.</p>
<p>Rachael works on transformational digital innovation for the community at the Co-op and says it’s harder than ever to make things happen in your local community.</p>
<p>Her product is in the early adoption stage, and she shows how the product adoption lifecycle sits alongside the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuckman%27s_stages_of_group_development" target="”_blank”" rel="”noopener” noopener noreferrer">Tuckman model for group development</a> of Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing. Her team has grown over the course of the year &#8211; 450% in six months &#8211; but has kept consistently high happiness scores. She shares some stories about how they made this happen.</p>
<p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class=" wp-image-19529 aligncenter" src="https://www.mindtheproduct.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Rachael-Shah-at-MTP-Engage.-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="812" height="542" srcset="https://www.mindtheproduct.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Rachael-Shah-at-MTP-Engage.-300x200.jpg 300w, https://www.mindtheproduct.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Rachael-Shah-at-MTP-Engage.-768x512.jpg 768w, https://www.mindtheproduct.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Rachael-Shah-at-MTP-Engage.-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://www.mindtheproduct.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Rachael-Shah-at-MTP-Engage..jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 812px) 100vw, 812px" /></p>
<h3>The Stages and Signs of Team Growth</h3>
<p>At the Forming stage, everyone is excited and nervous. They need clear structure and goals. Rachael says that, in her case, tasks like volunteering in the community were helpful, and the development of a team canvas was especially helpful.</p>
<p>At the Storming phase, people can feel frustrated and confused, and they can be critical of the mission and direction. They need to refocus on the goals and any conflict needs to be addressed. Rachael used retros &#8211; even in the pub! &#8211; to uncover concerns, and she focused on building a safe space, and on product statements and OKRs.</p>
<p>At the Norming stage, we start to be comfortable about sharing our ideas and there is some consensus and harmony. In-jokes are always a sign of the Norming stage she says, plus she found the sharing of feedback and ways of dealing with stress were great ways to get the team ready for the next stage. Most important was the building of processes around constructive feedback. She recommends reading <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Radical-Candor-Revised-Kick-Ass-Humanity/dp/1250235375" target="”_blank”" rel="”noopener” noopener noreferrer">Radical Candor by Kim Scott</a> to learn more about this.</p>
<p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-19530 aligncenter" src="https://www.mindtheproduct.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Rachael-Shah-at-MTP-Engage-2-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="884" height="589" srcset="https://www.mindtheproduct.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Rachael-Shah-at-MTP-Engage-2-300x200.jpg 300w, https://www.mindtheproduct.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Rachael-Shah-at-MTP-Engage-2-768x512.jpg 768w, https://www.mindtheproduct.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Rachael-Shah-at-MTP-Engage-2-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://www.mindtheproduct.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Rachael-Shah-at-MTP-Engage-2.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 884px) 100vw, 884px" /></p>
<p>In the Performing stage, people become quite satisfied with the progress and they’re confident. Roles become more fluid and we start to recognise strengths in other members of the team. Accomplishments are measured and celebrated. The Co-op team has a regular team health check, and Rachael uses activities like celebrating success to help to maintain team performance. They also use the <a href="https://www.amazon.ca/Discuss-Decide-engagement-decision-support/dp/0991771303" target="_blank" rel="”noopener” noopener noreferrer">Discuss, Decide, Do framework </a>to ensure the team is aligned.</p>
<p>Building a product team is hard work, she says, it takes a lot of effort. You can get stuck in a loop and you need to find experiments or tests to help you to move forward.</p>


core/freeform

Making product magic with cross-functional collaboration by Ebi Atawodi

10 years Wiser: Lessons learned from scaling Wise by Nilan Peiris

Breaking down misconceptions to create healthier teams by Adrian Howard

Creating courageous product teams with Yi-Wei Ang

Mastering perspective – zoom in, zoom out as a product leader by Navya Rehani Gupta

Building healthy and high performing teams with West Monroe

The importance of psychological safety for remote teams by Diana Stepner

Common transformation pitfalls by Marty Cagan

Building a digital product organisation, brick by brick by Nils Michaelis

Product, dance, and pockets of brilliance by Pippa Topp

Scaling the Product and the Team by Rachael Shah

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