Delivering Impact as an Internal/Platform PM by Booking.com Sr PM

Summary

Zena Ashra, a senior product manager at Booking.com, shares insights on creating impact as an internal product manager. She emphasizes the role of internal PMs in building products that enhance efficiency, growth, and competitive advantage within businesses. Zena discusses the challenges faced, such as understanding diverse user needs, balancing priorities, and managing resistance to change. She outlines strategies for directing products and teams, focusing on user-centricity, engaging with customers, and measuring outcomes to ensure continued relevance and success.

Takeaways

• 🌟 Internal Product Managers (IPMs) build products to increase business efficiency, scale, and competitive edge without directly generating revenue.
• 🛠️ IPMs face challenges like understanding diverse user needs, balancing conflicting priorities, and managing limited resources.
• 📈 To overcome these challenges, IPMs should direct the product and team towards impactful outcomes, align with the organization, and focus on user-centric product development.
• 🎯 Clearly defining a business case, product vision, and strategy is crucial for securing investment and stakeholder support.
• 🤝 Effective stakeholder management involves identifying key people, establishing communication channels, and setting realistic expectations.
• 👥 Focusing on the user base involves leveraging internal customers (colleagues) for requirements, involving them in the development process, and maintaining engagement.
• 🔄 Prioritize features based on customer value and chase outcomes over milestones to ensure the product aligns with user needs and company objectives.
• 🚀 Market the internal product to users by educating them on its benefits and leveraging various communication channels to build awareness.
• 🔍 Stay current by evaluating and benchmarking against external competitors and being vigilant to evolving user needs and internal processes.
• 📊 Measure the product's impact through clear metrics tied to goals, collecting feedback, analyzing usage data, and tracking performance.
• 💡 Demonstrate the product's value by showcasing success stories, user satisfaction levels, and how it contributes to the company's strategic objectives.

Q & A

What is Zena Ashra's current role and how long has she been in product management?

Zena Ashra is currently a senior product manager at Booking.com, and she has been in product management for six years.

What does a design system do and how does it benefit designers and developers?

A design system is a product that helps designers and developers build consistent user experiences efficiently by providing reusable components and guidelines.

How does an internal product manager contribute to a company's growth and success?

Internal product managers build products that help businesses become more efficient, grow at scale, and gain a competitive edge by supporting teams and departments to be more productive and deliver more value.

What are some examples of internal products?

Examples of internal products include automation of recurring operational tasks, tools that display customer information and performance metrics, and systems that integrate work streams and data flows between departments like marketing operations and finance.

What challenges do internal product managers face when understanding user needs?

Internal product managers face challenges such as gathering and understanding the diverse needs of users, prioritizing these needs, and dealing with limited resources like time, budget, and team members.

How does Zena Ashra recommend managing multiple stakeholders across various functions and management levels?

Zena Ashra suggests identifying all key stakeholders, establishing clear communication channels, building relationships, setting realistic expectations, prioritizing feedback, and addressing concerns promptly and effectively.

What is the importance of building a business case for an internal product?

Building a business case is crucial for articulating the product's value proposition, describing the problem it addresses, outlining the recommended solution, and demonstrating the business value it provides, which helps secure investment and support from the company.

How does Zena Ashra advise internal product managers to stay current with their area of operation?

Zena Ashra advises internal product managers to periodically evaluate and benchmark against external competitors, listen to and observe their users for evolving needs, stay updated on internal processes, and ensure alignment with the company's direction.

What are some key trends that will shape the future of internal product managers?

Key trends include the adoption of agile methodologies, increased focus on user-centric design, integration of emerging technologies like AI and IoT, cross-functional collaboration, increased importance of data analytics, and the emergence of no-code and low-code solutions.

How can internal product managers demonstrate the value of their products?

Internal product managers can demonstrate value by defining clear metrics, collecting feedback, analyzing usage data, tracking performance, and sharing success stories and positive feedback from users.

What is Zena Ashra's advice for internal product managers to ensure their product's continued relevance within the organization?

Zena Ashra advises internal product managers to monitor the product's impact smartly, demonstrate its value regularly, and ensure that the product aligns with the company's goals and objectives.