5 Remote Product Management Methods for Seamless Product Life

With the advent of 2022, if there is one thing that we can be sure of is our work has bound us to move to a remote situation a lot more than we are used to - whether we like it or not! Working remotely has its perks - which can arguably outweigh the negatives for the individual on her own. However, when it comes to the management, remote working models are more often than not a cause for concern.

Just in the general track of working through the day, managers have multitudes of concerns to take into account - coordination, conversations, concurrence of issues, just to name a few. Throw working remotely into that mix, and you have a recipe that will call for a few glasses of wine after work, if you get my drift.

Remote management of various teams becomes an additional liability that you are now required to take into account.

Remote managers are required to find a way in which they can keep tabs on their team as well as keep them raring to go when it comes to achieving company goals. They also need to keep the team motivated in an altruistic way due to the overwhelming feeling of solitude that working remotely brings with itself.

A remote roadmap can be an instrument of importance in such conditions. This will help you achieve some of the issues of working remotely with relative ease. Further, to be productive in the true sense of the word, you might look into getting a customized virtual roadmap which can help you find the path to achieving your collaborative goals.

How has roadmapping come to be such an integral part of remote product management?

Having laser focus on what you have set as your goals is the dream. However, we are all human, and being laser focused all the time is simply not an attainable dream. On top of that, having a remote team could throw you in for a spin in the tumble dryer.

If you are able to create a good roadmap with clear and consistent progress paths, you will save a lot of time and effort in coordinating your ideas with every stakeholder present in the development process of your product. Everybody will be aware of the expectations and will be able to manage their time efficiently and productively in the long run.

Even if there are some obstacles or directional changes that occur during the development process, you can be sure that everything will be recorded for documentation purposes and people will find it easier to work around any hold-ups or glitches.

What are some of the ways we can create a clear remote roadmap?

1. Easy access

One of the easiest ways to have everyone follow your ideas is to make sure that you have an easy access online roadmap. When working remotely, the internet is our friend. This much has been established. You want to make sure that your roadmap and the instructions that come with it are in a shared cloud space online. We need to remember that this is a collaborative effort, therefore all details of the effort must be provided where required and as required.

If you are to provide the roadmap to the public, every stakeholder involved in the process of the development of the product.

It will also be helpful if it were present over a virtual platform since it will serve as a memo for each member of the team and allow you to coordinate the progress of every member equally.

2. Organize and prioritize

They say the task is half done once well started. Before the initiation of any task at hand, if you take out the time to go through what you are aiming to achieve and what you need to be prioritizing.

This can be made simple by classifying through the tasks at hand so that it is easier to keep a track on the progress being made.

You can regulate this by identifying each line of work as high, medium or low priority and tagging each on the roadmap as so. Next all you have to do is work through the prioritized tasks and keep up the progress.

3. Value the work that has been done

One thing that tends to slip through the cracks is appreciation of the work done so far. This also becomes one of the downfalls of working remotely - letting each member of the team know that their work is valued and appreciated.

Of course it is important for us to produce results and have tangibly unlocked goals. However, by working together, that too online, what is more important is that we are able to motivate each other in what we have already achieved. Remember, some people working from home might not have the requisite conditions to work in a peaceful environment. Apart from a peaceful environment, sometimes just working with team members ensures that you are able to pull yourself together and focus on the tasks at hand, instead of being distracted. These liberties are not always available while working remotely. You might be privy to construction noises, soiled nappies, leaky faucets - all perfectly understandable tasks that could be tempting you to work on before sitting down and completing your office work.

Milestones are important in an office setting however, any task picked up can be perfected with time. It is imperative that said task is picked up. Hence, do not worry yourself or your team about what has or has not been perfected. For now, focus on what has been done.

4. Evaluate as you go

Even after following every rule in the book when it comes to a roadmap, it might not be possible for every member of your team to have a look at the roadmap and review their details as much as you as the manager would like.

Scheduling regular meetings with your crew will be very beneficial as you will get to talk through your targets and backlogs. It might be a good idea to have these in a regular manner so that everyone gets on the same page and remains committed to the collaborative process.

5. Be flexible

Your roadmap is going to be a document that will help you keep an eye on the long term goals of your product. This is almost always a high level document that is created using collaborative effort on everybody’s part.

However, it is almost a given that through the process of your development, there will be several points which you did not anticipate. These hold ups must be accounted for and updated in your roadmap. Not only this, your roadmap should be flexible enough to include any other changes that are taking place throughout the process. Apart from procedural changes, it is also a good idea to keep flexibility over people involved in the process.

A well-presented roadmap will allow you to keep your processes under control and allow your team members to have their responsibilities and roles under their own discretion and control .

As we have discussed before, a roadmap should be a collaborative effort between every stakeholder involved in the product development process.

Using a roadmap software will allow you to keep tabs on the tasks at hand and their progress.

Our platform Hellonext will allow you to update and improve your roadmap, but cutting down on manual efforts and having one place to document all the progress. Let us give you the base as an opportunity to create your roadmap and allow your team and your organization to excel in the product development process.

What is most important is that there is a roadmap that is present for your team to work through and stay productive through.