📰 Invision, Pitch & CPTO's + 👩🏼‍💻 Navigating the Evolving Landscape of Product Operations with Melissa Perri and Denise Tilles

·46 min·4 clips

Melissa Perri explains that product operations arms teams with data and processes to make strategic decisions at scale.

The episode begins with hosts Michael Saka and Mike Belsito introducing a new segment called Product News, where they plan to cover tech stories from a product perspective. They discuss three news items: InVision shutting down after failing to bring its Studio product to market, Pitch reducing its workforce by two-thirds despite raising $130 million, and the emerging trend of Chief Product and Technology Officers. The hosts then transition to an interview with Melissa Perri and Denise Tilles, co-authors of 'Product Operations: How Successful Companies Build Better Products at Scale'. Melissa defines product operations as an enabling function that provides product teams with data and governance to make strategic decisions. Denise adds that it allows product managers to focus on their core work by handling tactical processes. They explain that product operations is not entirely new, citing examples from 2014 at Cision, but has gained prominence as companies scale. Melissa shares her experience implementing product ops at Athena Health with 350 product managers to ensure consistency and alignment. The conversation covers the three pillars of product operations: business and data insights, customer market insights, and process and practices. Denise advises starting with quick wins in the area of biggest need, such as data analysis or research repositories, to demonstrate value. She emphasizes the importance of winning buy-in from both leadership and product managers, noting that cultural friction can arise. Melissa describes the skills needed for product ops roles, including problem-solving, product mindset, and project management, and mentions that some product managers transition into these roles. Looking ahead, Melissa predicts product operations will evolve into a more coordinated function, almost like product managing internal tools for product managers. She also discusses AI's potential in product ops, highlighting Dovetail's use of AI to generate insights from research repositories while cautioning against replacing customer research with AI. The episode concludes with a reminder to check out the book and feedback on the new segment.

As heard by us

Rocketship.fm opens 2024 with a new Product News segment and a practical case for product operations.

Rocketship.fm opens 2024 with a new Product News segment and a conversation centered on product operations. The episode frames the function as an enabling layer for product teams, giving them the right data and inputs, along with enough governance and process to keep work moving…

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Press play if you want product ops explained as the enabling function for product management.

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