#36: Balancing Resource Allocation in Multi-Product Strategies
Nov 15, 2023
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In this podcast, they discuss resource allocation in multi-product strategies, creating separate product visions, visualizing resource allocation decisions, developing and prioritizing product goals, motivation and challenges of different product teams, and balancing expectation management and iterative strategy.
Having a clear and compelling vision is essential for shaping product strategy and driving innovation.
Balancing resource allocation and prioritization is challenging when working with multiple products, but setting strategic themes and regularly revisiting the strategy can help.
Deep dives
The Importance of Vision in Strategy
The podcast episode emphasizes the significance of having a clear vision in shaping product strategy. The guest discusses how the company's vision and product vision are interconnected, allowing them to set priorities and determine where they want to be in the future. By having a compelling vision, they are able to make strategic decisions about which problems to solve and how to drive innovation in their products. The guest also highlights the importance of creating a memorable storyline around the product vision, as stories are easier to remember and evoke emotions, making it more impactful for the team.
Balancing Resource Allocation and Prioritization
The podcast delves into the challenge of balancing resource allocation and prioritization when working with multiple products and a limited team. They discuss the importance of setting strategic themes or pillars based on the company's vision and goals. Additionally, they mention the necessity of revisiting the strategy regularly, adjusting priorities based on customer feedback, market changes, and the company's growth trajectory. The guest also highlights the use of business cases to evaluate different options and make decisions based on the potential ROI and strategic impact.
Managing Stakeholder Expectations
The podcast episode explores the complexity of managing stakeholder expectations during the strategic decision-making process. They discuss the inclusion of different perspectives from teams such as customer success, sales, and marketing to gather insights and ideas. While it is crucial to consider these inputs, the guest explains the challenge of balancing them against the overall strategy and priorities. They highlight the importance of effective communication and expectation management, ensuring that stakeholders understand the decision-making process and the considerations involved.
The Iterative and Adaptive Nature of Strategy
The podcast emphasizes that strategy is not a fixed and rigid process, but rather an iterative and adaptive one. The guest shares the view that strategy evolves and can be shaped based on experimentation, learning, and continuous improvement. They discuss the value of trying different approaches and frameworks, learning from others' experiences, and adapting strategies based on outcomes. The guest also emphasizes the importance of being open to change and being willing to experiment and refine the strategy over time to achieve better results.
To focus on the most critical problems or opportunities which will help us get closer to our vision.
And the first step of putting that focus into action is concentrating our resources there.
This is easier said than done, and the complexity becomes more evident when we have more than one product, at different maturity stages, and with very different strategic paths ahead of them.
While this problem can fall into the Portfolio Strategy space for larger corporations, startups also face this challenge when expanding.
In this episode, I had the chance to speak with Iryna Struk, who is running product management at HandsHQ, a startup with a mature product and another trying to find product market fit.
We discussed not only resource allocation but also a broad set of topics, starting as usual with how they create strategy, how they handle context switch, and how they balance the different levels of uncertainty when planning.