Welcome to Product Management Challenges!

06006 Software Development Pitfalls: Requirements

Note: I am pleased to announced that I am a nominee for the 2006 Excellence in Product Management award for Thought Leadership given by the AIPMM. I will be at the AIPMM conference this April 19-21 (see www.aipmm.com) and hope to see some of you there.

Every culture has its blind spots and weak points that can trip it up despite its strengths and clear-sightedness. So, too, every industry struggles with common shortcomings that seem to grow out of misperceptions and failings learned at many companies and steadily spread across the industry.

For a Product Manager, who is usually deeply involved in all the major workings of a company, from sales and marketing to product development and the business model, it can be a sobering experience to try to overcome widespread weaknesses with few positive examples for guidance. Like personal failings, a company’s flaws, especially when typical of the whole industry, can prove fiercely resistant to improvement.

Today’s issue is an ambitious – perhaps overly ambitious? – discussion of common pitfalls that I have seen in the software industry when it came to attitudes towards and understanding of product requirements.

Read on below for a discussion of how to better understand software requirements - and how to misunderstand them a little less.

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06005 Creating a Great Trade Show Playbook

Exhibiting at trade shows is a staple of marketing a software product. As part of a mix of marketing activities to reach your target market, trade shows provide visibility for your product, build familiarity, and bring in sales leads.

Trade shows are also costly, not only in terms of sheer dollars but also in terms of time spent by skilled employees to plan for the show, prepare for it, and man the booth. Because of the cost, your company has to limit the number of shows where it exhibits, so it has to make the most of each show.

One tactic that I have used to get the biggest payout from a trade show is to create a Playbook. Like a playbook for a football team, this document succinctly provides all the information your trade show team needs to act effectively. While having a written guide seems like a no-brainer, I have only seen a small number of the most organized and focused trade show planners who took the trouble to create one, much to everyone’s benefit.

Read on below for advice on what to include when you create a Playbook for your trade show team in order to maximize your company’s return on a trade show.

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