Prod Ops as your partner-in-crime

Yana explores whether the product team needs a Prod Ops and shares her past experiences

A few years ago I stumbled upon the Product Operations Manager (or Prod Ops) role for the first time. Curious to learn more, I did some googling but couldn't quite figure out why organizations would hire these roles when they already had Product Managers. Based on my findings and the work setup at the time, I concluded that a "normal" organization didn't need Prod Ops. Oh boy, was I wrong. And here's why.

Who is the Prod Ops anyway?

Before we dive into the “why?”, let’s get on the same page about  who we’re talking about. Product Operations - a term buzzing around the tech sphere, yet often wrapped in ambiguity. What exactly does it entail? While some say “Product Ops operates differently at every company”, other thought leaders argue that Prod Ops is yet another ridiculous and unnecessary role. 

I think part of the problem is that there is no single definition of who Prod Ops really is. Having experience of working with Prod Ops at two companies, the definition by Melissa Perri resonates with me the most: 

“Product Operations are surrounding Product Managers with the inputs they need to define strong product strategy, as well as enable faster and better-quality decision making”.

If you take the core PM competences (strategy& vision, analytics, customer & market expertise, communication & leadership, execution), execution is where Prod Ops thrives. So why are there so many definitions then? Well, have you seen two similar PM roles descriptions? Same applies here.

The diagram created in Whimsical - Dina’s favourite tool, and Yana’s least favourite tool

The thing is, execution differs depending on two things: (a) product you’re working on, and (b) teams and org structure. I won’t list Prod Ops responsibilities here - neither have I done extensive research in the area, nor do I have enough credibility to establish a common list. Instead, I’ll list a few crucial things they’d do if I were working with Prod Ops:

• Recruit the right users for right use cases - those who’d benefit from the product more yet provide great feedback for us to improve.

• Consolidate dozens of channels of user feedback into a single knowledge base across the pillar or company, and enable PMs to self-serve the data.

• Streamline operations by designing new processes, fixing broken windows, and introducing or deprecating tools and guides. 

• Manage cross-functional projects and initiatives. 

What’s possible to achieve when PM and Prod Ops make a great team

I worked with Prod Ops on a very complex, zero to-one product that involved both hardware and software components, terabytes of imagery and video data collection and transfer, establishing new processes in a large organization and much, much more.  We made our own map! Having Prod Ops in the team was crucial for the project’s success. Non exhaustive list of enablement Prod Ops brought to the team and long-term product strategy:

• Conducted an extensive research of hardware tools for data collection

• Interviewed drivers to join the pilot of the product

• Channelled feedback from the pilot which was absolutely crucial for us to improve (who knew that hardware installed in the car got overheated in Texas in 20 min!)

• Introduced new tools for reporting and admin work

• Scaled operations of data collection in more than 20 US cities

• Brought so much fun to the team! 

Could we launch the product without a Prod Ops? Possibly yes. Could we do it  that fast? Absolutely not. 

Does it mean every product team needs Prod Ops?

I don’t think so. In my view, an organization will benefit from the Prod Ops role the most when operations can’t be easily automated and there are lots of cross-functional dependencies. At the same time, I’ve heard a lot of complaints when the PM<>Prod Ops spark didn’t ignite, and the collaboration brought more friction than streamlining. While I don’t have the exact recipe to work that magic, I’d like to highlight several important things to set up Prod Ops for success: 

• It’s vital for Prod Ops to understand the business goals and overall product strategy.

• Set expectations right. Prod Ops enable teams and product strategy, and not taking over product decisions. More importantly, Prod Ops are not here to take over nitty-gritty tasks from PMs

• PM to Prod Ops ration shouldn’t be 1:1. Vice versa, Prod Ops help many product teams to scale operations.

I am as curious to hear Dina’s 2 cents on this (I know she had a different perspective) as you are. So let’s check it out! 

Dina’s 2 cents

I attribute my initial scepticism around Prod Ops role to the fact that I was in the company during a fast growth time and I am very used to scrappy processes and new ones felt like a huge and unnecessary overhead.

However, I've realized that such makeshift methods don't scale well in a company with over 1,000 employees.
A key distinction between effective and ineffective Prod Ops professionals is their deep understanding of both the product strategy and business goals, coupled with thorough product knowledge. Effective Program Managers (definition of Program manager is different everywhere as well, but at Vimeo Program Managers are a part of Prod Ops team) deeply engage in the product development process, participate in bug hunts, and display genuine curiosity, which makes them adept at identifying operational bottlenecks and implementing the right solutions. They ask the right questions at crucial times and swiftly connect the dots, sometimes even helping to shape a more compelling narrative around the projects.

Unfortunately, I also had an experience working with Program Managers who were doing process for the sake of process. That resulted in frustrations, wasted time and sadly broken trust between Product and Prod Ops. That trust is hard to mend.

So, my take is this: give Prod Ops a chance. They might be able to help you in ways you can’t yet imagine, breaking free from existing habits and improving efficiency in unexpected ways.