Developing a Winning Product Strategy and Plan
Creating Product Plans that Beat Objectives and Ensure Satisfied Customers
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Product planning is one of the most important activities a company endures. The product planning process results in a strategic roadmap that directly translates the company’s strategy to the set of products, services, and technologies that drive a company’s vision and business results. As a product leader in your company: Can you create a product strategy that almost guarantees you meet your business objectives? Do you understand the factors that create new opportunities for your organization? Can you effectively define and communicate a vision for your product line and defend it? Product strategy and planning are not individual activities, but individuals with these skills quickly become leaders of any organization dependent on innovative new products. Workshop Description This two-day, intensive workshop is specifically developed for product development leaders to provide a solid foundation in product planning using applied tools and the latest innovation techniques to create a winning product strategy. We use an interactive workshop format including exercises, lecture, case studies, and real world projects to improve participants understanding and application of: 1. Techniques to develop a winning product strategy that is right for your products, markets, and goals 2. Portfolio management techniques to create a product portfolio that exceeds company objectives 3. Opportunity identification, evaluation, and decisionmaking tools and skills 4. Market sensing and customer input techniques to ensure a customer and market-driven plan
This seminar answers the following key questions:
1. What are the product strategies used by the
most successful companies?
2. How can you make fast, accurate decisions
with little information?
3. What is the best way to kick off a product
planning process?
4. How can you obtain senior support for your
plan before it’s developed?
5. How is market risk accounted for in product
planning?
6. How do other functions participate in the
product planning process?
7. How and when should customers be brought
into the product planning process?
8. How do you get support for opportunities that
aren’t currently part of your business?
Who Should Attend? Product Strategy and Planning skills are critical for any product professional who needs to identify and define new products and services, including: Product Managers and Marketers who must identify and define new products and programs and optimize return on investment Engineering Managers, CTOs, and architects who must work with others to develop new technologies and support the product planning process Project Managers and others in product development who must create and support new product strategies
New Product Strategy and Planning
Course Outline
Day One
Foundations of New Product Success 1. The drivers of profitable new products o Key measures of product performance and success criteria 2. Elements of strategic product planning o Highly effective planning processes o Initiating product planning – setting up for success o High-impact planning teams 3. Creating a product vision to guide the planning process 4. Preparing for strategic planning o Finding the right business intelligence o Seeing trends and asking the right questions Creating a New Product Strategy 1. Establishing the groundwork for successful product strategy o Portfolio thinking in product planning o Planning goals that ensure success 2. Creating a strategic framework o Identifying your driving strategy o Strategic framework tools o Applying innovation principles to product strategy 3. Identifying winning new products o Effective techniques to identify highvalue opportunities o Specific tactics to increase value for new products 4. Obtaining and using customer input o Applying voice of the customer techniques o Gathering true customer requirements
Day Two
Making the Right New Product Decisions 1. Evaluating new products and plans o The role of market research – when to use it and when not to o How to forecast products that have no market history o Impact of risk - how assumptions and uncertainty impact results 2. Decision-making processes for new product planning o Making fast, accurate decisions with little information o Building consensus for new products and plans 3. Building the business case for new product plans o Applying financial concepts in new product planning o Portfolio planning and product tradeoffs Putting It All Together 1. Creating the Winning Product Roadmap o Establishing a roadmap that matches corporate goals o How to communicate product plans and roadmaps to get support 2. MRDs and PRDs that get used o Establishing relevant documentation o Cross-functional collaboration techniques 3. Presenting a winning plan o The product roadmap success checklist o Removing executive obstacles o Developing a clear and compelling story
Planning Innovations Group • www.planninginnovations.com • 971-235-4905