How to stay focused on key priorities
Author of the article: Kristina Kurdyumova
Product Mentor, Product Manager
In a fast paced environment with high competition and constant pressure from stakeholders, managing product strategy becomes a challenging task for any Product Owner.
Often, in an effort to please everyone at once, teams lose focus on long-term goals, which ultimately reduces the effectiveness of the product and its ability to meet strategic business goals. In this article, we will look at the importance of maintaining focus on key priorities, and how to avoid getting distracted by daily small and “on-the-fly” tasks, and discuss methods for working with roadmaps and a strategic vision for the product.
The Importance of Focusing on Long-Term Goals
A product strategy is a long-term plan aimed at achieving specific goals and solving user problems through product development. Focusing on long-term goals helps not only determine the direction of movement, but also aligns the team's efforts, avoids resource dispersion, and creates a clear understanding of what is truly important.
Among the main risks associated with loss of focus are:
Blurring of strategic direction. Without a clear focus, a product can become a collection of unrelated features that don't create a cohesive and valuable experience for the user.
Example: The team is constantly adding new features based on customer requests, but the product is losing cohesion and users don't understand how it's really useful.
Loss of competitive advantage: By trying to quickly respond to every tactical challenge or requirement, a team may miss opportunities to create a long-term advantage in the marketplace.
Example: By focusing on urgent minor improvements, the company misses the automation trend that competitors implemented earlier and captured the market.
Reduced team efficiency. Changing priorities and constantly switching between tasks leads to team fatigue and burnout, reducing their productivity and quality of work.
Example: Frequent changes in priorities and tasks “due yesterday” lead to employee burnout, which results in missed deadlines and a drop in the quality of the product.
How to avoid being distracted by constantly solving operational problems?
Current tasks and operational issues often distract attention from global goals. However, there are methods to minimize their impact and maintain focus on strategy:
Defining key priorities. The first step is to clearly define priorities that align with strategic goals. It is important to understand which tasks bring the greatest value and move the product towards goals, and which are just temporary solutions.
Using OKR (Objectives and Key Results). This methodology helps align goals across all levels of the organization. By defining key results, you set clear benchmarks for the team, focusing on what really matters.
Separation of strategic and tactical tasks. Develop a system that will help clearly separate tasks by their level of importance and impact on strategy. Tactical tasks should not dominate strategic priorities.
Regular checks and updates of the strategy. Constantly check in with your roadmap and strategic vision to ensure that your team's actions are aligned with your goals. This will help you make course corrections and avoid deviations.
Managing stakeholder requests. Be clear about which tasks fit into the strategy and which do not. This not only helps protect the team’s focus, but also manages stakeholder expectations.
Methods for working with roadmaps and strategic product vision
Roadmaps are also one of the main tools that help visualize the strategic vision and align the team's actions. However, using this tool requires a competent approach.
Let's look at the main methods of working with roadmaps and strategic vision of the product:
Create a results-based roadmap.
Traditional roadmaps often focus on features and tasks to be completed. However, this approach does not always help maintain strategic focus. Instead, Outcome-Based Roadmaps focus on achieving specific goals and key results. This keeps the team focused on the value they are creating for users, rather than just completing tasks.Using themes and epics to organize your work.
Grouping tasks into themes and epics helps keep the focus on the main directions of product development. Themes represent large areas that support the strategic vision, while epics contain more specific initiatives. This helps organize the work and avoid scattering into small tasks that do not significantly contribute to achieving the goals.North Star Metric.
This is an approach that focuses on one key metric that is the main indicator of the product's success. Choosing this metric helps align the team's efforts and direct them towards achieving a specific result. This could be an increase in active users, an increase in revenue, an improvement in retention, etc.Kanban boards for visualizing priorities.
Using Kanban boards helps visualize the flow of work and the team’s priorities. Dividing tasks into categories (e.g. strategic, tactical, current) allows you to clearly see where the team’s efforts are focused and which tasks require the most attention.Periodic review of strategic priorities.
A strategic review is a regular process of revisiting the roadmap and goals based on new data and changes in the market. These meetings help make timely course corrections and ensure the team is moving in the right direction.
Personal experience
Managing product strategy is a constant process of decision-making, adjustments, and adaptations. Based on my own experience, I want to share specific professional tips that will help you maintain focus on key priorities and successfully manage your product strategy:
1. Using OKR (Objectives and Key Results).
For me, OKRs help me clearly define where the team’s focus is and what key results need to be achieved. I use OKRs to set long-term and short-term goals, which helps the team see the big picture and stay on top of current priorities. It’s important to review OKRs regularly to ensure they remain relevant and aligned with strategic goals.
2. Filtering new tasks through the prism of OKRs and annual goals.
Every new task or request from stakeholders goes through the OKR and annual goals filter. I carefully analyze how the new task fits with current priorities and strategic directions. I compare the potential impact of the task on achieving the established goals. If the task does not support the strategic goals, I justify this to the stakeholders, showing why the resource should be allocated to higher-priority tasks. This approach helps manage expectations and does not allow the team to be distracted by non-priority tasks.
3. Preparing the team for change and turbulence.
In a constantly changing environment, it is important to prepare the team for the fact that priorities may change. I create an open culture where change is perceived not as a threat, but as part of the work process. I regularly inform the team about possible changes and explain their reasons, which reduces stress and helps the team adapt faster. This approach significantly reduces employee attrition, as they understand the big picture and their role in the changes.
4. Create a flexible but clear decision-making structure.
It is important for the team to have a clear structure that helps them make decisions quickly and efficiently. Sometimes, I change the processes that allow the team to independently assess tasks by their priority and compliance with the strategy, which speeds up the work process and reduces dependence on constant management intervention.
5. Regular strategic sessions and reviews.
Strategy is not a one-time decision, but a dynamic process. I hold regular strategy sessions with the team to review goals, assess progress, and adjust course if necessary. These meetings help maintain focus on long-term priorities and respond to changes in the external environment.
6. Using data and metrics to make decisions.
Data-driven decision making is a key aspect of strategy management. I use metrics to assess progress and the impact of tasks on overall goals. This allows me to not only justify decisions to the team and stakeholders, but also make the strategy more transparent and understandable for all participants in the process.
7. Actively work with feedback from the team and stakeholders.
I regularly collect feedback from the team and stakeholders to understand where there are misunderstandings or growth points. This helps to adjust the strategy in real time and maintain a high level of team engagement and motivation.
In conclusion, I would like to remind you that product strategy management is the art of maintaining focus on key priorities in the face of constant change and pressure. Strategic vision and well-designed roadmaps help guide the team toward long-term goals, minimizing the impact of tactical tasks.
These approaches help not only maintain focus on strategic priorities, but also create a flexible, adaptive team ready for any changes and challenges.
In September, as part of the “Senior Product Manager” course, there will be several open lessons, to which we invite everyone:
