The ultimate guide to product operations | Melissa Perri and Denise Tilles
Melissa PerriNov 16, 20235 key advice
Melissa Perri and Denise Tilles, co-authors of 'Product Operations', explain what product operations is, why it matters at scale, what a product ops team does day-to-day, and how it enables product teams to move faster and make better decisions.
The ultimate guide to product operations | Melissa Perri and Denise Tilles
Before every team meeting, define in one sentence what decision you need to walk out with. No decision, no meeting.
"70% of the product meetings I observe end without a clear decision. That is time you never get back."
02
CareerMid
Replace your PRD with a one-page Product Brief: problem statement, target customer, success metric, key hypothesis. If it does not fit on one page, your thinking is not clear enough yet.
"A 40-page PRD tells me the PM is not sure what they are building. A one-page brief tells me they have done the hard thinking before writing a word."
03
PrioritizationSenior
The build trap is prioritizing output (features shipped) over outcomes (customer behavior changed). Once you are in it, every metric goes up while the product slowly dies.
"Companies fall into the build trap when they start measuring the team by velocity instead of value. Speed is useless if you are going in the wrong direction."
04
DiscoveryMid
Outcome-based roadmaps replace delivery dates with customer behavior targets. Instead of "launch feature X by Q3", write "increase activation rate by 15% in Q3".
"When you put a date next to a feature, your team optimizes for shipping the feature. When you put a metric next to an outcome, they optimize for solving the problem."
05
CareerSenior
Strategic clarity is a PM's first deliverable. If your team cannot explain the product strategy in one sentence, you have failed before writing a single line of spec.
"I always ask teams: what is your strategy in one sentence? If they give me three sentences, they have three strategies. That means they have none."
