Should Product Managers Write Problem Statements? - YES!
Jul 9, 2024
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The podcast discusses the importance of problem statements for product managers, focusing on how they provide clarity, motivation, guidance for decisions, and engagement with stakeholders.
A good problem statement should provide focus, inspire team members, and inform criteria for evaluating ideas.
Writing an effective problem statement involves identifying the problem, root cause, ideal outcome, and proposing a solution using the 'grow' model.
Deep dives
Essential Characteristics of a Good Problem Statement
A good problem statement should provide clear focus, inspire team members, inform criteria for evaluating ideas, empower teams to make decisions, and capture the hearts and minds of people. It should be discrete, prevent mediocrity, and should be important as it examines issues from multiple angles.
Steps for Writing an Effective Problem Statement
To write an effective problem statement, one should identify the problem, put it into context, identify the root cause, describe the ideal outcome, and propose a solution. By following a structured approach like the 'grow' model, one can address the problem by analyzing its who, what, where, when, why, and how aspects.
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Writing Effective Problem Statements for Product Managers
Should Product Managers Write Problem Statements? - YES!
A problem statement is a concise description of an issue to be addressed or a condition to be improved upon. It identifies the gap between the current (problem) state and desired (goal) state of a process or product. The first condition of solving a problem is understanding the problem, which can be done by way of a problem statement.
A good problem statement:
Provides focus and frames the problem
Inspires your team
Informs criteria for evaluating competing ideas
Empowers your team to make independent decisions
Captures the hearts and minds of people you meet
Prevents you from creating concepts that are all things to all people