Competition between product department and business department

Competition between product department and business department

 

Out of curiosity, I asked Zhou Yang how he had such a profound understanding of product management in a short period of time. He had to deal with it, and if he didn't work hard, how can we work with the product department.

I asked him a few times about his attitude. Later I thought about how it seemed like I was doing. Forget it. I 'd better take care of others after I have done my own thing.

Zhou Yang said that the essence of the reform is actually the redistribution of existing interests. Therefore, as the Department that is about to divide the interests of other departments, after the first confrontation, naturally, it began to become the target of various business departments.

Fortunately, Zhou Yang handed in with us, and Han's boss was eager to carry out product management. Although this is a good news for the product department, it is like the next game, at the beginning, the layout was used to predict the outcome. It was either a layman or a conceited person.

I am not a layman and I am not at your own risk. Therefore, the product manager playing the chess piece has no chance of luck, but as a pawn that cannot control the game board, I only hope that Zhou Yang and Han do not make the game too bad.

The country has always said that it should not only make the reform a big cake, but also do a good job. The meaning is to handle the relationship between the distribution of reform interests. In fact, from past to the present, both in China and abroad, all unsuccessful reforms ultimately fail to be caused by the inconsistency of the interest distribution relationship.

Currently, there are only two common methods to solve this problem:

1) constant compromise: this is a typical wishful thinking. The innovators hope to pay more for their own benefits in exchange for support from opponents, but they forgot a little bit, instead, their own compromises will allow the opponents to demand without fear, and ultimately put all the achievements of the reform on their own.

2) continuous suppression: this is a typical idea of putting it all at once and for all. The innovators hope to reduce the resistance on the road to reform by suppressing the interests of opponents, but they forgot one thing, people have the idea of protecting their own interests by nature. The suppression may seem to have cleared the obstacles temporarily, but the result is that more obstacles have been accumulated, in the end, too many obstacles will be overcome.

A bubble was lucky. In my product manager's career, both of these situations even met me.

The first company I work for belongs to the kind of company that develops rapidly after one product has obtained the first barrel of gold.

With a stable source of funds, the company began to expand rapidly. The founder was a good turtle, who had the idea and ability to stay abroad for a long time, I forgot that I started my business in China and led a group of genuine bandits. Therefore, after implementing product management, there was no major problem at the beginning, because everyone is not familiar with what product management is, other departments feel that they are simply adding a department, and this department is nothing more than writing documents, so everyone is at ease in the early stage.

However, as the implementation of product management continues to deepen, business departments that did not agree with the product department began to sit down. For example.

At that time, our work relationship with the R & D department was in the form of an internal contract. Simply put, the R & D department and the product department were in a contractual partnership, departments need to sign an internal contract for each specific product version, which will stipulate what should be done by each department, what results should be delivered, when results should be delivered, and how should they be punished if the contract is breached, in short, everything is the same as a real contract.

At the beginning, the R & D department did not take the case seriously. I always felt that it was just like the various system reforms that I had previously experienced.

But when it was really time to deduct performance, they were dumpfounded. I didn't expect this to be the best turtle boss. At that time, the biggest problem with the R & D department was that almost no product version could be completed according to the agreed time of the project, if it fails, it will naturally affect performance. This is naturally reflected in the monthly salary.

After about four months, the R & D department finally offered a showdown to the boss, either canceling the system or leaving the R & D department.

It is said that this turtle was studying in USA and learned a great style of USA. Therefore, after a symbolic discussion several times, the turtle waved, leaving freedom is the final result.

When the R & D department really did not stay much, the turtles discovered that the domestic market, which claims to be rich in human resources, was not so rich, especially in his eyes.

The final result of the R & D department's force is that the R & D department won a battle and the enterprise lost the entire war under the banner of reform.

After leaving the company, I inquired about the situation of this company. Turtles have no longer mentioned any product management, and the product management system that has been gradually improved has also vanished and become yellow yesterday.

The company has returned to the status before the product management system was established.

The second company is an authentic local enterprise or a family-style company.

With the opportunity of Informatization Construction in 1990s, the company seized a business opportunity and achieved rapid development. In just a few years, it has grown to the scale of thousands of people, at that time, he became one of the top information service providers in China.

However, many problems also follow.

The most concentrated problem is that the elders who followed the boss in the world were far behind the practical requirements, both in terms of ability and consciousness. But as the boss, I couldn't make up my mind to "Release the weapons of war in a cup of wine". Therefore, two kinds of interest factions were formed in the company:

1) The old school and the young school compete.

2) Dispute over management right and business right.

In fact, these two kinds of interests are usually intertwined. As a member of the newly established product department, I have a deep understanding of this.

The first is the selection of the product department owner. The boss has worked hard to balance various interests.

First, it cannot be the representative of either of these two kinds of interests. Second, it cannot have a deep background in the company. Third, it is also the most important point. You must listen to the boss. Therefore, finally, the product department manager, known as "the most obedient in the company", was selected. That is to say, the boss of our department is not outstanding in ability, but not proficient in business, however, it is impossible to listen to the boss.

Secondly, when we conduct business work, we do not first consider how to do a good job with colleagues in relevant business departments, instead, we must first figure out who we are working ".

This is because it is clear that the other party's faction belongs. Even if something goes wrong at work, the boss above will keep you safe.

Also, as a product manager, you don't have to work too much on your business capabilities. You just need to cultivate your "skills? Of course, it is the technology of playing the ball.

What should I do if something goes wrong? It's easy to put the responsibility on other related personnel. The project is delayed. It's the responsibility of the Technical Department, and the demand is wrong. It's said that the marketing department is so demanding, and it will eventually be attributed to high-level complaints, the result of the competition is to make 50 huge orders, and then everyone will come back together.

As for the penalties imposed on specific executors, there is usually no penalty, because your direct old Conference protects you. After all, the boss considers how to make his team grow stronger and stronger.

Of course, the company sometimes kills chickens in symbolic form to show new monkeys, but as soon as the company sticks down, your boss will immediately hand the carrots over. Its name is: this is the backbone of the business, stability!

Fortunately, I haven't been killed as a "chicken" for "monkey" for more than a year.

As a result, the whole company is very cool, but behind it is a float, idle.

Whether it's a "high pressure" or "appeasement" policy, I personally think it can be used as a technology, but it can never be regarded as a strategy.

You can use these technologies at a specific stage at a specific time, but if you use this technology as a strategy to deal with the relationship between the product department and other departments, there will inevitably be a big problem.

So what is the relationship between the product department and other departments?

Is it true that, as some colleagues in the company's business department think, the product department is a department that directs other departments? If this idea only exists in the minds of individual people, once a group consciousness is formed, bubble will not be optimistic about the development of the product department.

My experiences and concerns are what I told you the next day after the meeting.

After that, everyone was silent for a moment. Zhou Yang took out a cigarette and took out a cigarette. The main point was that he suddenly remembered something. So he pulled another one and handed it to me. I looked at Liu Yu and Xiao Juan, resolutely say, "I don't smoke!"

Zhou Yang paused and said, "Hum, it's really a wolf in Yangcun !"

I was stunned, Xiao Juan smiled, and Liu Yu was silly.

Zhou Yang pushed the cigarette back to the smoke box and lit his own cigarette. Then xiaojuan opened the window and hid in his work station.

"What is the relationship between the product department and other departments ?" Zhou Yang took a deep breath and asked slowly.

Liu Yu thought for a moment and said, "From my personal experience, let me talk about my views on this issue. In my previous company, the main task of the product department was to process the feedback from various business departments, and then hand over the processed information to the corresponding Execution Department, just like the CPU in the computer, in charge of processing all input data, I think the relationship between the product department and other departments is like the relationship between the CPU and I/O devices. Although the CPU is small and inconspicuous, however, the product department plays the most important role, and the unit value is also the largest. Or, it can be said that the product department is like the same person's brain, and other departments are like the same person's limbs, the sensitivity of the limbs depends entirely on the brain's response speed. Well, that's what I understand."

"Well, Liu Yu said well !" Zhou Yang said with a smile, "Fortunately, you didn't answer this question at the meeting. Otherwise, the elders will surely be impressed with you. They have a strong self-esteem. They thought they were the first in the company, as a result, the product Department became all four limbs. Haha, Liu Yu, this metaphor is for internal discussion only."

Zhou Yang turned his head to me again: "A bubble, what do you think ?"

"I agree with Liu Yu's point of view, but for our product department, the relationship is secondary. What I am worried about is how to deal with this relationship, to be precise, it is a matter of interest."

Xiao Juan did not agree: "What is difficult to deal with is to work for the company. If you do well, everyone has an interest. If you do not do well, everyone's interests will be affected. Are you still considering this ?"

Xiaojuan is still young. If everyone in a company or country thinks this way, the company will be well managed.

Theoretically, xiaojuan's point of view has nothing to do with, but in reality, such a point of view can only exist in expectations.

We usually use "grasshoppers tied to a rope" to compare the consistency of interests. However, the real result is that every grasshopper always wants to fly first to cover other grasshoppers.

"Xiao Juan, you are right. As a company manager, we certainly hope that everyone will share the same interests, because only when the same interests are consistent can we do a good job, but we must admit that, even in the case of eventual consistency of interests, There will be various small groups of interests in the final interest. Before the final interest is realized, the first consideration is to ensure the realization of the interests of small groups.

Let me give you an example. It is my own experience. One year, the company's sales department made an annual sales plan. After the plan was handed in, it was quickly laid down, saying that the sales index was not in line with the market development, and then it gave an indicator, according to this indicator, the Sales Department suddenly blew up, and colleagues in the sales department thought it was almost impossible to complete the task. After several attempts, the results were rejected, the requirement is based on the above indicators. At that time, although the product manager did not directly back the sales indicators, it was required to support the sales work. I did not expect that the gap between the sales department and the two indicators that have been constantly discussed above was so big that I felt it was really difficult for the sales department to complete the indicators set above. However, as a product manager, I had to work based on this indicator. Therefore, I had to offend many colleagues in the sales department that year ."

Xiaojuan was puzzled: "No, is it so serious ?"

"Of course, through this incident, I have summarized two points. As a product manager, how can we deal with the relationship between ourselves and colleagues in other business departments?

1) unbiased;

2.

What is impartiality? A simple principle: seeking truth from facts. Only by seeking truth from facts can we be impartial.

I also said that the sales department said that the above indicators are too high, and the above said that the sales department has set too low indicators. Who made them reasonably?

I think it is very easy to analyze the reasons for this situation first. For the sales department, they should first consider whether the sales indicators can be completed in the new fiscal year, because their income is directly linked to performance, they will develop a more conservative indicator, because no one will be stupid enough to develop an indicator that they cannot complete.

The top management is usually responsible for the board of directors or the general meeting of shareholders. They expect a beautiful financial report to shareholders and the board of directors in the new fiscal year. Therefore, they tend to develop optimistic or even non-objective indicators, not to say that these indicators cannot be completed, but to complete these indicators, the increase in investment may not be considered by the senior leadership.

Therefore, this is actually the relationship between output and input. What should we do as a product manager? It's easy to balance this relationship.

For example, you must have your own judgment on the sales indicators proposed by both parties. Of course, such judgment must be based on scientific computing. This is also a necessary skill for product managers, is the prediction of sales indicators."

"Isn't it really cool for you to be honest ?" Liu Yu asked.

"I will answer your question ." Zhou Yang said, "This is fundamentally different from the case. There is no perceptual compromise between the case and case. Specifically, this kind of behavior ultimately coordinates the interests of different departments, bubble is talking about rational judgment based on principles. Specifically, this behavior will ultimately solve the balance between the company's input and output, making the input-output ratio the most reasonable. Is that what it means, a bubble ?"

I nodded, and Zhou Yang summed up a little better.

I continued: "This job is a prerequisite for handling the relationship between the product department and other departments, and even the management level. Because the product manager has the responsibility to take care of the company's development, I believe that one person has a sense of responsibility, fair product managers will be recognized by everyone."

Everyone nodded and agreed. Actually, I know that, but it is quite difficult to do it, because you need to make a lot of effort to enter others' hearts, what I'm talking about is the real walk-in, rather than the power stuff.

I went on to say, "Let's take a look at the second point. It means that the implementation of the established plan and the completion of the established indicators must be uncompromising.

Liu Yu must have had such an experience. When a demand you submit is rejected by the R & D department, they usually use various reasons to explain the reasons, such as the difficulty in implementing the demand, they don't feel like they really need the user. Wait. In short, they tell you that the R & D department doesn't accept the requirement you submit, or they need to follow their requirements, many product managers are default."

Liu Yu nodded, not just Liu Yu. I believe that almost all product managers have encountered such embarrassment.

"This is a typical discount execution process. Many times we think that it doesn't matter if you get a discount, as long as it doesn't hurt your muscles and muscles. But this is a big risk. How do you determine whether the discount will hurt your muscles?

There are no opportunities to make mistakes on the battlefield. Similarly, the market also shows that success comes from the execution without compromise, while failure often comes from one discount followed by another discount.

What is the impact on the relationship between departments?

If impartiality is the premise for handling departmental relationships, it is the goal of handling departmental relationships without compromise, because we all know that product departments and product managers generate performance through other departments, how can we generate performance through other departments? There is only one way to let other departments implement the plan developed by the product department without compromise, and this plan must be unbiased.

The product department is completely built for the old man, just like the second company I mentioned earlier. The relationship between the product department and other departments is a mess.

Therefore, the Department relationship cannot be handled simply by 'loan' or 'highly'. Boss, don't be angry if I say something ." I looked at Zhou Yang.

Zhou yangle: "If you close the door and say something, you can still scold me for not doing it, huh, huh ."

"Although you said Mr. Han is very supportive of the implementation of product management, my opinion is that we should not pin our hopes on Mr. Han, and the product department should make a place in the company, we can only rely on our own efforts, especially the handling of complicated departmental relationships such as interests. It is often counterproductive to rely on external forces."

When Zhou Yang did not speak, Xiao Juan asked: "isn't Han always able to help the product department at all ?"

"No, maybe there are only two points ."

"What ?"

"Spiritual encouragement and resource support! But these are all based on power. Otherwise, we will first break down the rules of impartiality ."

The memories of past events and exchanges with other people have made the implementation prospects of product management more calm. if the relationship is not well handled, it will be difficult for any business to proceed smoothly. After all, it is a new department, other departments are still observing the changes, and they cannot predict how they view the product department and how they coexist with the product department in case of any conflict.

No, ah bubble knows that many problems can be predicted, but more problems are unpredictable. We strive to plan ahead, but we still need to be prepared to remain unchanged.

"Zhou Yang, when we talked about it just now, what do you mean by saying that I am a 'big wolf in Yangcun ?"

Zhou Yang laughed: "xiaojuan, what do you mean by telling bubble !"

"A bubble, Zhou Yang said you're 'goat (like )'." Xiaojuan is no longer happy.

Hum, I also said, Zhou Yang, you are the wolf, xiaojuan, you are, right, the wolf's wife, the Red wolf.

 

Apao say:

After all, there is no relationship between the product department and the business department and the individual. It is completely the reason for the two desires to express themselves.

1) expressive desire. For an individual, it is called an individual expression desire. For a department, it is a group expression desire. The product has been well developed on the market. All departments must think about how to put their strengths to themselves, however, there is only one major achievement. Therefore, the competition for interests is inevitable.

2) desire to govern: in fact, the sub-line of this desire is: who plays a core role in the company's business process. The market will say that I have found an opportunity for the company, and the R & D department will say that without us, your chances will not be met, so the competition for interests will come again.

But I don't know why they are fighting for it. In the end, they always need to pull in the product department. The product department has no desire to express itself. They are all a group of low-key people. Second, they cannot control any department, only some suggestions and strategies can be put forward. Is it because the product manager is involved in every aspect of the business?

If it is for this reason, it is really difficult to solve the problem, and we can't help it. The product manager is so demanded, unless you ask Mike erlo to modify his mind.

As a result, bubble has no good ideas for this problem. He can only propose some ideas for individuals to deal with such disputes based on the actual situation, but I can make it clear, the product manager handles this situation not because the individual wants to participate in this competition, but is completely in consideration of business development. After all, the product manager is responsible for the success or failure of the product.

The product manager does not want to participate in any disputes on the benefit level. He just wants to do his own thing well. Really!

 

 

This article is from yes! Product Manager.

Book details: http://blog.csdn.net/broadview2006/article/details/6873929