How to Structure and Lead the Most Effective Product Development Team

A product team collects customer information about their needs and then designs, creates, tests, and promotes the product based on those needs. The team is made up of people who are adept at these functions and who work together to ensure the best possible result for the client.

Product development software provider Ah! notes that good product development teams share some common characteristics. The first is transparency, which reflects open communication without hidden agendas. Effective product development teams are also curious and always strive to understand the “why” behind product requirements. These teams also empathize with each other and the customers or clients they are developing for.

Furthermore, high-performing product development teams are creative – using innovative thinking to solve problems – but pragmatic, looking for practical solutions that deliver maximum value for the team, the customer and the company. In the following sections, we look at the role of product development teams, the various team structures, and how to ensure teams do their best work.

What is product development?

Product development is the process of creating a new product, from idea to launch and beyond. The product development cycle includes the following steps.

• Set goals. The first step in product development is defining what the final product should achieve. Is it to solve a business problem, like a business management system, to help streamline operations? Is it to produce a budgeting app that is useful to customers? Knowing what the application should do is essential to ensure the success of the project.
• Flat. The next step is to get more details about the stated objectives. For example, what features will the budgeting app have? How will the team make it easier to use? This phase is also the right time to talk about resources. What team members will be needed to develop the product and how long will it take to complete the project?
• Project. The design phase involves creating a prototype of the app so that interested parties can start to see how it will work in real life. The prototype can also be presented to potential end users to do some initial testing and determine any major flaws that should be corrected. The planning and design phases are critical. A recent Forbes Business Council post notes that one of the keys to success for product development teams is not to get into engineering too early. He states, “We often see passionate people envision a finished product before development even begins. This is problematic when there are misunderstandings regarding what the end user cares about and how they will interact with the product.”
• Ramp up. Then developers take the information from the previous stages and start coding accordingly. Developers choose from a variety of languages ​​depending on the specific needs of the project. They can work according to a methodology like Agile to ensure an efficient and streamlined workflow. The Forbes Business Council post notes that successful development teams often use rapid development cycles, stating: “To be successful here, you must be prepared to prototype frequently throughout development to test various aspects of the product, such as configuration, software interface and (and) functionality.”
• Test. Once an initial version of the application is ready, it must be tested to ensure that it works according to initial requirements and user needs. Different types of testing can be performed, including functional testing, which ensures that the application meets functional specifications, and performance testing, to ensure good performance.
• To throw. After all, the tests have been completed; the application can be considered ready for its intended use. If this use includes sales to companies or the general public, the project requires the launch of the product. Activities include making the product available for sale and promoting it in ways determined by the target market, its needs and its habits.
• Promote. After the product launches, marketers on the development team must continue to promote the product to ensure continued sales. Ongoing promotion may include social media posts, blogs, contests, advertising, or publishing a white paper or e-book. The objective of all these activities is to draw attention to the product, generate interest and facilitate purchase.
• To maintain. The application must be supported by the development team for an appropriate period of time based on the intended lifecycle of the product. The maintenance phase may also include ongoing promotion and availability of customer service functions.

Meeting customer needs

The high-level goal of any product development team is to develop applications that meet the criteria of the customer requesting the project. The customer can be any of the following:

• Internal to the same company where the development team works, with the intention of using the application internally (as a proprietary customer management program)
• Internal to the same company where the development team works, with the intention of selling the application to other users (such as small business accounting software for sale)
• A separate company that hires the team to create an application that the company will use for its own purposes (such as a proprietary inventory management system)
• A separate company that hires the team to create an application that the company will sell to its own customers (like a video game)

The key to meeting the needs of any type of customer is collecting requirements, that is, discussing in depth with customer representatives what features and functions the application should have. Part of this discussion is the process of prioritizing requirements according to their importance and business value. The initial list of prioritized requirements serves as a starting point for designers and should be updated and changed throughout the duration of the project.

The next step in product development is to create an estimate of how long it will take to build the product and how much it will cost. Then, designers start designing the product. Eventually, your efforts are passed on to developers, who implement the design. After development, testers test the product to ensure it meets the updated list of requirements. Finally, if the app is sold outside the company that commissioned it, marketers launch and promote the product.

Team Roles

Let's take a closer look at the product development team roles described in the previous section. They include the following positions:

• Managers. While the product manager tracks overall project progress, assigns tasks to others, and ensures the team has all the resources needed to complete a project, they are not more important than any other team member. Each person has unique skills that contribute equally to the success of the project. Product managers are the main representatives of development teams with customers. They ensure the team meets deadlines and milestones, relay information between customers and team members, and take responsibility for resolving any issues and ensuring all requirements are included in the final version of the application.
• The Owners. Along with product managers, product owners are responsible for collecting user requirements, which are the features and functions an application must have to be considered successful by the customer. On smaller projects, the product manager and project owner may be the same person. But for larger projects or situations where the company has many projects underway at the same time, a product owner may be assigned to each product under development.
• Designers. Product designers are responsible for ensuring that the app's end users can use it seamlessly, with an appropriate and pleasing appearance. These professionals have in-depth knowledge of how applications are used and how user experience (UX) principles should be implemented. Designers often work closely with engineers to create prototypes and test products among potential users.
• Engineers. Product engineers do the coding that actually creates the application. Engineers are responsible for including the features and functions that have been determined by product managers and owners and described by designers. Engineers have several working models to choose from, including the Agile approach, which helps ensure issues are detected and resolved before they become larger problems.
• Testers. Ideally, testers are individuals who do not serve as engineers on a specific project, because this gives them a useful level of objectivity. However, engineers can also act as testers for their own applications. Either way, testers run tests on the app to ensure it works as expected.
• Marketing professionals. No product for sale can be successful without promotion, and this is what product marketers specialize in. Before the product is completed, they prepare promotional materials, develop a promotional plan, and advertise the product once it is ready. After launch, they deploy the prepared promotional materials and continue to find potential customers and increase distribution. Even before these steps, product marketers collaborate with other members of the development team, learning about the product, researching the market, and creating new ways to bring them together. This step is critical to developing your promotional strategies, such as determining how to package the product, for example, through service or subscription.

The size of development teams varies depending on the complexity of the project. It could be just one person per role or multiple people per role, with sub-teams working on different parts of the project. More complex projects may also require additional roles, such as operations, innovation, and user experience (UX) specialists.

Team Structures

Larger product development teams can be structured in a variety of ways.

• By product or product line. While all team members contribute to the company's success and work to create high-quality products, subteams can be established for each product.
• By product characteristic. Here again, all team members work toward the same high-level goals, but subteams can be established based on areas of specialization for specific product features.
• By team role. Groups of team members can work independently on functions such as design, development, and marketing.
• By type of customer. Teams can be established to work on projects aimed at a customer segment, such as young gamers or decision makers in a particular industry.
• By stage of the customer journey. Teams can be established to work on product features and functions for specific stages of the customer journey: awareness, interest, desire, and action.

The following video offers some “rules of the road” to consider when structuring product development teams.

How to choose the right team structure

There is no right team structure, so organizations should create teams based on how their company is organized, their business objectives, the nature of the project and the needs of the client. Organizations in the process of determining the right team structure can ask themselves a few questions to help with the process:

• What are the project objectives? Project objectives range from creating internal software to improve operations to developing consumer products to generate revenue. These objectives require very different team dynamics and actions. For example, creating consumer products should be done with the end in mind, including how to launch, promote, and maintain the application. Therefore, marketers must be involved throughout the process.
• Who is the project client and what are their needs? Whether the client is internal or external also makes a big difference in how a project should proceed. For example, working with an internal client may also mean taking into account input from various other teams, as well as executives and other stakeholders.
• What resources are available to the development team? If the development team has everything they need, they can continue the project without having to create workarounds or special workflows in order to complete it on time. If a team (like within a startup) doesn't have an ideal situation, it may need to figure out ways to create the desired outcome within narrower parameters.
• Is there more than one team or project to be managed? Teams working on multiple projects have more freedom to expand into team structures, such as “by product feature” or “by product or product line.” The more projects being worked on, the more likely these structures will be considered.

How to manage a product development team

No matter which structure is selected, team leaders must provide ongoing support and guidance. This part of the team's operations is critical because issues that are not resolved can cause larger problems, such as delays in product launches, unhappy customers, and lost revenue or market share. Managing product development teams well is based on using a few key principles, such as seeing the big picture, ensuring each team member knows how they fit in, trusting team members to use their best judgment, and being available to guidance and support.

Even the most effective product development team structure won't function well without strong leadership. Here are some tips to ensure the best results.

• Communicate clearly. At the beginning of the project, tell team members what you expect of them. Your expectations should include not just the results of the product, but also things like work hours, communication practices, meetings you'd like to hold, and how to raise concerns or ask for assistance. During the project, be available and let team members know how to contact you. Provide regular progress reports on the project as a whole and on the performance of individual team members.
• Trust your team members. Established teams may have built trust, but new teams will take time to build it. While trust can't be forced, there are things team leaders can do to build it. For example, team members who see leaders owning up to their mistakes will be more likely to do the same, creating an environment in which problems can be resolved more easily. Leaders must also have the attitude of allowing these mistakes to happen from time to time.
• Provide guidance. While it may not be appropriate to coach team members on every aspect of their careers, you can provide the right guidance to ensure they are successful on their current project and the company in general. This guidance can take the form of introducing new skills, using project challenges as teachable moments, holding one-on-one meetings, and helping team members consider what their next role might be and how to acquire the skills to fill it.

Business consultant Innovation Mode further recommends that leaders inject some entrepreneurial spirit, stating, “Modern project/product managers and leaders must think, feel and act like entrepreneurs… This startup and innovation mentality must be inherited from every team member .”

Replicate past success

As with most things in business, there is no right way to choose the right development team structure. Development companies can look to competitors, former employers, and industry consultants to find projects that have turned out exceptionally well and ask: What elements were put in place to make this happen, and how can the organization replicate some of these factors?