VP Product Challenges and Solutions

VP Product Top Challenges:

1. VP of Product needs to understand the business and the market to drive product innovation and delivery.

2. VP of Product needs to drive the product innovation process at enterprise level.

3. VP of Product needs to build a strong team of product managers with right domain and execution skills.

4. VP of Product needs to collaborate with other executives like CIO, CFO, COO, etc.

5. VP of Product needs to work within a multi-cultural team, across different units and geographical locations.

6. VP of Product needs to provide strategic direction and leadership to the product management team.

7. VP of Product needs to be an effective communicator and work closely with other stakeholders to build a strong product strategy and roadmap

The VP of Product can only achieve this by being a strategist who is deeply involved in the company’s core business functions

Solutions:

1. After speaking with top executives one of the key ideas is that the VP of Product should have a deep understanding of the business, market dynamics, competitive landscape, technology trends and customer insights. The VP of Product can only achieve this by being a strategist who is deeply involved in the company’s core business functions, so that he/she can generate new ideas on how to improve the product and create new revenue streams for the company.

2. The VP of Product will need to build a strong product management team with great domain expertise and execution skills. The best way to achieve this would be to get his/her hands dirty in product management and build a strong team of PMs who can deliver great products for the organization.

3. When building a new product, it is important to get the right domain expertise from all the product areas and also bring in the technical skills required to deliver new products. The VP of Product can achieve this by having a strong operational background in the company’s core business and also by collaborating with other domain experts across different departments and units.

4. A VP of Product can only drive a product innovation process if he/she can collaborate with other executives who are key decision makers in driving new initiatives in the company. The VP of Product will be required to deliver an enterprise-wide innovation process which can only be achieved by collaborating with other executives like CIO, COO, CFO, etc.

5. Collaborating with a multi-cultural team is not an easy task, especially when you will need to work with different units and geographical locations. The best way to overcome this challenge will be by bringing together all these different cultures into one single unit and ensure that all stakeholders are working towards one single goal – delivering great products for the organization.

6. The VP of Product will need to provide strategic direction and leadership to his/her product management team by clearly communicating the company’s vision, mission & values, as well as their goals and objectives for the upcoming period. The best way would be by visualizing long term plans through a strategic roadmap which will clearly define how the company plans to achieve its vision, mission & values along with their short term targets and goals for the upcoming year(s).

7. Communicating the product strategy and roadmap effectively is one critical success factor for the VP of Product. The best way to achieve this would be by clearly communicating the product strategy and roadmap to the organization, as well as educating the staff on how to influence and motivate them to achieve the company’s goals and objectives.