Change, whether in personal life or business, can be challenging and comes with its own set of difficulties. Just as individuals may experience stress and uncertainty when moving or facing significant life changes, businesses also encounter similar emotions and obstacles during periods of transition or change.
Recently, I was entrusted with the responsibility of overseeing the migration of a complex legacy platform to a modern, scalable solution. This new platform supported multiple line of businesses and recognising the potential benefits of a migration, I took charge of this critical project, leveraging my expertise in project management, technical knowledge, and product management.
Actions & Outcomes as a Product Manager
Comprehensive Planning and Strategy
I initiated the project by conducting a thorough analysis of the existing platform, its limitations, and the desired outcomes of the migration. Through close collaboration with key stakeholders, I defined clear objectives, established a roadmap, and set realistic timelines and milestones for the project.
Key Action: Started off with an excel sheet where I list all the features currently available on new platform and legacy
Key Outcome: This helped to compare the platforms from the top and and consider trade-offs wherever applicable
Cross-Functional Collaboration
Recognizing the cross-functional nature of the project, I had to foster strong collaboration between various teams, including IT, operations, marketing, and customer support. This wasn't easy but very important to establishing effective communication channels, addressing concerns, and aligning goals
Key Action: Connected 1:1 with the migrating team stakeholders to understand their concerns and their challenges. Also, conducted meetings with other product managers on the new platforms.
Key Outcome: This helped to build trust, mitigate risks and minimize disruptions
Cost Savings and Efficiency Gains
Through careful planning, diligent execution, and effective project management, this project's objective is to eliminate unnecessary infrastructure costs, reduced maintenance expenses, and streamlined operations, resulting in significant annual savings.
Key Action: Noting & reviewing the impact of every requirement/ask by teams well in advance
Key Outcome: This helped to prioritize the workflow and build the necessary requirements effectively on the new platform in order to move to the scalable and much effective platform
Challenges & Resolves as a People Manager
Guiding the project from inception and by closely managing the migration process I have learnt a great deal of skills along the way and what come next such as conducting post-implementation reviews to ensure user adoption and maximize the platform's potential.
Above all, it taught me how change can take various forms in "Business Emotions" and it can disrupt established routines, create uncertainty, and requires adaptation to new ways of working.
Here are some key challenges that the teams felt during the time of change with this project:
Resistance
People naturally resist due to the fear of unknown and concerns how this change would impact them.
Resolve: Requires effective communication, being transparent and involving the key stakeholders during such discussions
Disruptions of Operations
Change can temporarily disrupt operations that can affect productivity and even the financial performance
Resolve: Plan ahead with the team to manage transitions, propose workarounds wherever available to ensure not too much is changing too soon
Skill Gap & Training
This migration required training to the teams on the new platform as it is very new with different processes across board.
Resolve: Identify the gaps to provide adequate training and development
Manage Expectations
Misaligned expectations can lead to frustration and dissatisfaction.
Resolve: Being clear and realistic regarding outcomes and timelines can help ease the discomfort among the teams and stakeholders and would be able to have open conversations throughout the project
So for an effective leadership, empathy, and open communication are key to managing and harnessing the power of business emotions for the benefit of both individuals and the organization as a whole.
Final Conclusion
As a product manager my focus should be on managing the impact of the change on the product and its strategy while also playing a vital role as a People Manager by supporting the individuals on the team and help navigating the complexities of change as a Product Manager. Both these roles are essential during change, working in tandem to drive successful outcomes for the product and the people involved.
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