Another essential element of managing a product and project team is up-keeping good, clear documentation. These documents are vital for making sure all members of the team are on the same page in terms of project goals and features. Clearly thinking through and outlining a product's goals, features, and timeline before a project begins is extremely important for ensuring the purpose of the product is fulfilled. See below some of the most important types of documents and things to think about when developing documentation as a PM.
Functional Specifications, sometimes known as Product Requirements Documents (PRDs) are intended to specify the product or feature a software team is planning to build. It is the primary “work product” of a product manager. The PRD is the holy bible of the product, as it contains product features, functions, user bases, use cases, timelines, success metrics, and more. The PRD is created before the conception of a project. Here are some things to think about.
Think about it
There are a number of reasons for developing PRDs, the first of which is that it makes you think critically about your product and what you want to accomplish. It often happens that certain projects or features seem relatively straight forward and don't require 'specking,' as it takes a decent amount of work. However, while working through a spec doc, fewer stones are left unturned and new issues are thought about that wouldn't have been considered if you skipped this step.
Avoid repeated mistakes
Having a good spec template prevents you from repeating mistakes over and over. Figuring out exactly what information should be included, and changing your template after discovering what it was missing is a great way to streamline product generation process.
Update PRDs
This is up to the company, but for DAML, updating the PRDs is a must, as project goals, timelines, and other factors often change. By consistently updating your PRD, your team will know what is going on and stay up to date with any changes. Plus, this will force your team to use it for what it's meant for. An all encompassing document!
Competitive research involves capturing information on competitors' metrics that matter most to your own business. Product managers should begin by identifying who and what the product is up against in market. This gives them a strong understanding of how unique their idea truly is. This is also an important first step towards understanding whether their idea warrants more of their valuable time and effort.
Competitive research can help answer these core questions:
Looking at how competitors are tackling a feature (or how they aren't) will help sales and marketing teams sell product, by equipping them to clearly articulate how the product is better than the competition. It’s the pm's job to help them stay up to date on how you win/lose.