Everything you need to know about impact-first product teams - Matt LeMay (Product Consultant and Advisor)
Apr 30, 2025
48:51
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Quick takeaways
Impact-first product teams should prioritize aligning their initiatives directly with business objectives to enhance efficiency and clarity.
Fostering an environment of collaboration and open communication among diverse roles within product teams is crucial for achieving meaningful results.
Deep dives
Impact-First Product Teams
The concept of impact-first product teams emphasizes the direct linking of a team's work to the business's success. Traditionally, product teams often get lost in complex processes like OKRs and unnecessary layers of objectives, losing sight of the actual impact their work has on the organization. A significant revelation is that misalignment between objectives and initiatives can create confusion and inefficiency. By prioritizing impact over procedure and simplifying processes to ensure everyone understands their contribution to business goals, product teams can focus on what truly matters.
Navigating Dependencies in Teams
In product teams, decisions that drive impact involve more than just product managers; designers, developers, and other stakeholders also play crucial roles. Optimal collaboration among these diverse roles is essential, especially when navigating dependencies across different teams within an organization. Rather than isolating themselves, teams should leverage strong specific goals that encourage cross-departmental communication and collaboration. This interdependence fosters a more integrated approach to achieving mutual objectives, ultimately enhancing the team's ability to deliver meaningful results.
Understanding the Culture of Impact
Impact-driven work culture evolves from continuous individual and team actions directed toward achieving business goals. The shift towards an impact-first mindset should begin with recognizing the biases in existing structures and practices that can hinder effectiveness. While leaders often influence culture significantly, grassroots changes made by teams can catalyze a broader transformation in organizational behavior. By collaboratively fostering a supportive environment where difficult conversations about impact are normalized, teams can redefine their operational culture for the better.
The Importance of Commercial Awareness
Developing a strong commercial awareness within product teams is vital for justifying their contributions to the organization. Teams should frequently pose the question of whether they'd be funded if they were the CEO, encouraging reflections on their relevance. This approach not only aids in understanding their role but also clarifies the significance of their work in terms of business performance. Ultimately, establishing clear, measurable impact goals empowers teams to navigate potential fears and align their efforts with broader business strategies.
In this episode on The Product Experience, we welcome back Matt LeMay—author, consultant, and champion of no-nonsense product thinking. We dig deep into the ideas behind his new book Impact First Product Teams and explore how teams can focus on what really matters: delivering business impact.
Featured Links: Follow Matt on LinkedIn and his website | Buy Matt's new book 'Impact-first Product Teams' | Sudden Compass | Randeep Sidhu's episode on The Product Experience: 'Lessons from building the UK's test and trace app'
Chapters 00:00 – The Myth of Rational Business 01:03 – Matt’s Accidental Journey into Product 02:20 – What Are “Impact-First” Teams, Really? 04:50 – Why OKRs Are Often Just Theatre 07:12 – Best Practices ≠ Business Value 10:00 – Who’s on the Product Team, and Why It Matters 12:30 – Dealing With Cross-Team Goal Conflicts 15:00 – Culture Change via Strategic Goal Alignment 17:00 – Proactive Conversations About Impact 20:00 – Commercial Awareness for Product Teams 24:00 – Platform Teams & Measuring Amplified Impact 27:00 – What Do Good Impact-First Teams Look Like? 31:00 – Customer-Centricity vs. Business Impact 34:00 – Discovery, Metrics & Mission-Critical Goals 36:00 – Culture, Strategy & Individual Leverage 41:00 – BAU vs. Innovation: Set Clear Expectations 44:00 – The Ego Trap in Product Work 46:00 – Matt’s Final Zinger on Capital and Feelings
Our Hosts Lily Smith enjoys working as a consultant product manager with early-stage and growing startups and as a mentor to other product managers. She’s currently Chief Product Officer at BBC Maestro, and has spent 13 years in the tech industry working with startups in the SaaS and mobile space. She’s worked on a diverse range of products – leading the product teams through discovery, prototyping, testing and delivery. Lily also founded ProductTank Bristol and runs ProductCamp in Bristol and Bath.
Randy Silver is a Leadership & Product Coach and Consultant. He gets teams unstuck, helping you to supercharge your results. Randy's held interim CPO and Leadership roles at scale-ups and SMEs, advised start-ups, and been Head of Product at HSBC and Sainsbury’s. He participated in Silicon Valley Product Group’s Coaching the Coaches forum, and speaks frequently at conferences and events. You can join one of communities he runs for CPOs (CPO Circles), Product Managers (Product In the {A}ether) and Product Coaches. He’s the author of What Do We Do Now? A Product Manager’s Guide to Strategy in the Time of COVID-19. A recovering music journalist and editor, Randy also launched Amazon’s music stores in the US & UK.
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