Understanding the role of product ops | Christine Itwaru (Pendo)

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Key Takeaways

Product Operations (Product Ops) is a support function that helps product managers focus on strategic work by handling operational tasks.
Core Responsibilities: Voice of customer management, tooling optimization, content strategy, and process standardization.
Benefits: Reduces burnout, improves efficiency, and enables product managers to focus on high-impact strategic decisions.
Signs You Need Product Ops: Lack of transparency, misalignment across teams, and product managers spending too much time on operational tasks.
Career Path: Product Ops is a growing field, with many transitioning from roles like product management, customer success, and consulting.

Product Ops is a relatively new role that has gained traction in the last few years, especially in scaling tech companies.
The role aims to offload operational tasks from product managers, allowing them to focus on strategic work.
Christine Edward, a long-time Product Ops leader at Pendo, shares insights into the role and its evolution.

Voice of Customer Management:
- Aggregates feedback from customers, sales, and support teams.
- Provides clear conclusions and takeaways to product managers.
- Ensures transparency and alignment across internal teams.
Tooling Optimization:
- Manages tools like Salesforce, Looker, and Pendo to ensure product managers have the data they need.
- Ensures tools are set up for maximum efficiency and outcomes.
Content Strategy:
- Focuses on creating internal documentation and educational content for sales and customer support.
- Ensures content is part of the product development lifecycle.
Process Standardization:
- Helps streamline planning processes and ensures consistency across teams.
- Works closely with program management and agile teams to improve efficiency.

For Product Managers: Frees up time to focus on strategic work, reduces burnout, and improves decision-making.
For Companies: Increases efficiency, improves product quality, and aligns product teams with business goals.
For Executives: Provides better visibility into product performance and strategic alignment.

Fear of Role Overlap: Product managers may fear losing control over decision-making, but Product Ops is designed to support, not replace, their role.
Hiring the Right Person: The first hire is critical and should align with the most pressing need (e.g., data analysis, user research, or process improvement).
Scaling Product Ops: Start small, focus on high-impact areas, and scale as the organization grows.

Challenge: A bad product launch highlighted the need for better internal alignment and transparency.
Solution: Implemented Product Ops to streamline communication, improve tooling, and standardize processes.
Outcome: Improved product launches, better alignment across teams, and increased efficiency.

Product Ops is not a replacement for product management but a support function that enables product managers to focus on strategy.
Voice of Customer Management: Product Ops aggregates feedback from various sources to provide actionable insights to product managers.
Tooling Optimization: Ensures product managers have the right tools and data to make informed decisions.
Content Strategy: Focuses on creating educational content and internal documentation to support product launches.
Process Standardization: Helps streamline planning processes and ensures consistency across teams.
Signs You Need Product Ops: Lack of transparency, misalignment across teams, and product managers spending too much time on operational tasks.
Career Path: Many Product Ops professionals transition from roles like product management, customer success, and consulting.
Hiring the Right Person: The first Product Ops hire should align with the organization’s most pressing need.
Scaling Product Ops: Start small, focus on high-impact areas, and scale as the organization grows.
Impact of Product Ops: Improves efficiency, reduces burnout, and aligns product teams with business goals.

Pendo: A product analytics tool for tracking user behavior and product performance.
Salesforce: A CRM tool used for managing customer relationships and sales data.
Looker: A business intelligence tool for data analysis and visualization.
Zendesk: A customer support tool used for managing customer inquiries and feedback.
Miro: A collaboration tool for team brainstorming and planning.
Figma: A design tool used for creating and sharing product designs.
Seismic: A content management system for go-to-market teams.
Gong: A tool for analyzing sales calls and customer interactions.

Christine Edward: Long-time Product Ops leader at Pendo, transitioned from product management.

Ben Williams: Previous guest on the podcast, connected Christine to the podcast.
Marty Cagan: Influential product management thought leader, mentioned for his views on product teams.
Casey Winters: Previous guest on the podcast, known for his hot takes on operations roles.

Pendo: A product analytics company where Christine Edward leads Product Ops.
Salesforce: A CRM tool used by Pendo for managing customer relationships.
Looker: A business intelligence tool used by Pendo for data analysis.
Zendesk: A customer support tool used by Pendo for managing customer inquiries.
Miro: A collaboration tool used by Pendo for team brainstorming and planning.
Figma: A design tool used by Pendo for creating and sharing product designs.
Seismic: A content management system used by Pendo for go-to-market teams.
Gong: A tool used by Pendo for analyzing sales calls and customer interactions.