Blackblot^® Product Management Expertise™

Question: "What is the recommended process of implementing the PMTK product management methodology? How would you overcome in-house resistance and political interference?"

The recommended process of implementing Blackblot's Product Manager's Toolkit^® (PMTK) methodology hinges on first evaluating the company's current product management practice by utilizing the PMTK methodology as a benchmark, followed by identifying gaps in roles, responsibilities, processes, procedures, tools, and techniques, and then developing an implementation plan to address the identified gaps and improve the overall product management process.

The goal of this plan is to help companies improve their product management processes through the effective execution of product management processes and tasks that are based on the Blackblot PMTK methodology. The process of implementing Blackblot's product management methodology is extensively detailed in the PMTK Implementation Plan template - a phased process for introducing and implementing PMTK methodology within a company.

In-house resistance and political interference are a natural force and will always occur because employees are wary of any change at their workplace. A change, especially the introduction of anything unfamiliar such as a new employee, new executive manager, new software, new machine, new process, etc', is viewed by the existing staff by its possible effect on their own personal employment situation. People fear whether the proposed change will adversely affect their job description, their scope of responsibility, their career advancement, and their necessity to the organization. There is no universal measure that could be enacted in order to quell such concerns because it does not exist and indeed some individuals will inevitably be affected to a certain degree by any change at the workplace.

Consequently, when implementing Blackblot's PMTK product management methodology, several key points must be communicated to the existing staff in order to try to alleviate any legitimate concerns and help people realize their importance in implementing the PMTK methodology and understand the potential benefits of the newly introduced methodology. Following are these key points:

1. A conscious and continuous effort to improve the company's product management processes must be made for continued success.
2. Commitment from employees and executive management to enact product management process improvement activities must be secured.
3. Employees are officially empowered to improve the product management process by being granted the authority, training, and resources.
4. Realization must be present that product management process improvement is driven by the adoption of current best practices.
5. The company's product management processes are to be compared and evaluated without prejudice to industry best-practices and established product management methodologies.

• Product Management

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