Who do you typically obtain launch goals from within the organization, especially when matrixes. For example a GM of a business unit, the Product Manager for a Product and the Product Marketing Manager.

Question

Mary (Shirley) Sheehan · Accepted Answer

Ideally, it's a combination of the GM, product management and product marketing. The GM would set the overall business goals for the year or quarter including revenue. The PM often drives the product launch adoption and revenue goals for that product. PMM often builds the plan with the metrics to help back into those goals.

The important thing is that if you see a gap, make sure that someone is owning all of these goals, otherwise, it will be meaningless to have launch metrics.

Christy Roach · Answer

This is one of those times that PMM’s role as a “connector” shines most brightly. There are so many teams involved in a launch, and usually, they have differences in their POV on what the launch should do. I get goal ideas, questions, and suggestions from across the org, but I’ve worked to keep PMM from being a team that’s “given” goals, and instead made our team one that influences our priorities, connects work happening across the org, and leads the conversation around goal setting. There are a few different ways to think about this:

* Tie back to company goals: Your company should have a clear set of goals and priorities for the year. Rather than setting a goal for a specific launch that’s duplicative to the company goal, show how this launch reinforces that goal, and what metrics you hope to influence. I find that often we feel the need to set bespoke goals for something, rather than just making the connection that this big launch aids in your company-wide goal of increasing awareness or moving upmarket. You can point to the ways this launch influences that, without having to set a standalone goal.
 * Share goals across your organization: Not every goal needs to be owned by PMM. I’ve often had folks suggest goals around large companies using a feature, NPS improvements, and more. Those are great goals, but they’re not ones that the PMM can really own. If we want large companies to use a feature, bring your CSM team into the conversation to see what they think about that goal, and suggest that they create an action plan for hitting that goal. If you want to improve NPS, that’s a conversation for your product and support teams to lean in on. As PMMs we often think we need to take on all the goals, but instead, we need to make sure the right teams are plugged into the work to agree on a goal and set a plan for it. Often, when you bring those teams in, you’re able to tell quickly if a goal just doesn’t work or isn’t obtainable.
 * Keep in lockstep with product: Start talking about goals early with your PM partner. Get their POV on what success looks like, share yours, and come to an agreement on priorities. I’ve found that if my PM and I are aligned on what success looks like, what we want to track, and the goals we think we should have, the rest of the organization will feel less of a need to tack on a bunch of additional goals.

Of course, this doesn’t mean you’re not going to get goals from across the organization. When that happens, my suggestion is to clarify who needs to be in a room to discuss, and get alignment across everyone involved on a few (think, 3-5) clear goals that everyone can stand behind, as well as who will be on the hook for them so you can create a plan to hit those goals.

Carlos González de Villaumbrosia · Answer

I will answer this based on my experience as a Product Manager. All of them define goals for launches. The Product Manager will set the product vision and define the goals to achieve that vision. With the vision goal in hand, the Product Marketer will use the product strategy to develop the go-to-market plan. Both need to be integrated and have consistent communication. The ideal is always to align early on strategy, goals, and responsibilities and clearly define each. Here you can understand better the difference of both.

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