What is Product Ops?

Jun 10, 2025

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Key Topics Covered:

What product ops is not—and why the role is often misunderstood
Different models of product ops across organizations
Product ops vs. product leadership: where’s the line?
When to hire a product ops person (and when not to)
The enabling team model from Team Topologies
Why Teresa and Petra are wary of “methodology police” in discovery
How product ops can support skill building, analytics, and communication standards
The shipyard metaphor: keeping the environment healthy for empowered teams
Coaching as a product ops responsibility—helpful or risky?

Key Takeaways:

Product ops isn't a checklist hire—it’s a strategic move to fill specific gaps
The best product ops folks blend a product mindset with another core strength (e.g. analytics, L&D, change management)
Not all gaps should be filled by product ops—sometimes it’s about enabling HR, data, or leadership to step up
Product ops is a great career path for senior PMs who don’t want to move - into people leadership but still want to shape the organization

Resources & Links:

Mentioned in the episode:

Product Operations by Melissa Perri and Denise Tilles
Strong Product People and Strong Product Communities by Petra Wille
Learning and development (L&D)
Team Topologies by Matthew Skelton and Manuel Pais
Petra’s Coaching Cards (DIY Edition) / Purchase the DIY kit
Petra’s related blog posts on leading effective one-on-ones: - Struggling to Find the Time to Develop Your Product Managers? Start Here, - The Ultimate Coaching Question: What Are You Going to Do Differently?, and - The Product Leader’s Guide to Giving Feedback
A note from Petra: “In case people own my first book, 'Strong Product People, ' these chapters talk about 1:1s and coaching: Chapter 6: Identifying and Closing Product Manager Gaps, Chapter 7: The Power of Coaching, Chapter 8: Monitoring Performance and Giving Feedback (a good read for one-on-one prep), Chapter 10: Building Individual and Team Alignment, and Chapter 11: How to Find the Time? (especially helpful for busy leaders)."