Zen of PM - Gathering information

Gathering Information

The first step isto ensure that you, the program manager, have access to the right informationto understand the landscape in which your product or service exists or willexist. There is a wealth of information available to any program managerwilling to make the effort to find it: customer studies and surveys, customersatisfaction indexes, personas, usability data, SQM/Watson data, onlinenewsgroups, customer advisory boards, partner feedback, product supportreports, industry analysis, competitive product reviews, focus group results,and more.

The need to groundyour work and your team’s work in information holds true whether you are agroup program manager responsible for defining a product vision or anindividual contributor designing a specific feature.

Don’t forget yourcolleagues in Product Planning, Product Marketing, MSR, and outside thecompany. They are great allies in collecting and distilling this information.If, however, you don’t have a planner or marketer to turn to, you are stillresponsible for getting this information for your team. Program managers mustbe resourceful in finding ways to collect this information. You ensure that theteam has access to this information early enough to provide the contextnecessary to frame the project.

A word of caution:There is an unlimited amount of information out there, but it can be tough tofind the answers you are looking for. Don’t get frustrated. Remember that youaren’t really looking for specific answers. You are looking to understand the spaceand gain context. What you learn may even lead to more questions andconflicting priorities. Gathering information is not like hunting for Eastereggs. If you think of this as a search for answers, you may find yourself on anendless quest. Gathering information is just a starting point—your work isn’tdone here, so take what you learn and move forward.