Product Development (part 1); "The hard aspects" (English Version)
An innovative way to a new product
Product development it often starts with an idea, a thought of something new, in the sense of; “Wouldn't it be great if… ..”. How do you deal with this within an organization. Since it is a big topic, I want to devote four blogs to it. The first part is about the "hard" aspects and conditions. In the second I want to discuss the creative aspects. Then, in the third part, I want to discuss making production worthy. As an encore, I would like to pay attention to further development in a fourth part.
Product development, part 1, “The hard aspects”.
In order to develop something new, a good climate must be created. It depends a bit on the organization, but you can choose to develop the product outside your organization. If your organization is agile and there is sufficient knowledge available, I would quickly make the choice to develop the product within the organization, with support. It's much more fun and it also aids acceptance and the life cycle within the existing organization. More about that in parts three and four. It also requires a bit of the creativity of your employees and how to organize that is included in part two. In this part I focus on the hard aspects. What are those hard aspects? And why are they so important. I mean by hard aspects; strategy, budget and process. They are so important that these things provide guidance in the winding road of innovative product development. They are the beacon to get to "something" or "nothing", actually the only point of reference.
Strategy.
Provide a clear strategy, a vision that inspires people. Make sure that this strategy offers room for interpretation, otherwise the strategy will become more of a work instruction and that is a shame. Remember that a strategy or vision must be coaching. The team has to do it themselves, just like in the sport. Take plenty of time as an organization to set up a well-supported strategy and vision. It will save you a lot of time in the rest of the processes. Build in benchmarks to adjust strategy and vision. After all, no one knows what the future will bring or which disruptive innovations will be on the way. Also, don't be afraid to adjust the strategy or vision, but think about it carefully.
Budget
Product development costs money. I repeat it again: Product development costs money! After all, costs precede the benefits, so the saying goes. Plan product development well. Make sure your organization is and remains healthy so that you can free up budget. I do recommend, if the concept idea is good, to get started with it "All-in". If you do something, do it well, don't skimp. You will always see that, or worse, your competitors. And if they do go 'All-in' you can just be overtaken.
Process
The process is the third important pillar. Product development has various (main) phases. Do not confuse these, because then you run the risk that the team or the organization no longer understands it. Your "Buy-in" organization then rapidly crumbles and your team no longer feels supported.
Which phases can you roughly distinguish;
- Start; In this phase it is trial and error. "POCs" (Proof Of Concept). Fall and rise. Don't think about security or management.
- Prototype; Build a prototype based on the first phase. So don't convert a POC, but start with a really good structure. Do your research.
- Elaborate; Find allies, "Launching Customers", to try out and improve the prototype together with the team. Do further research.
- Pilot; The first careful steps to a real product. Use the new product in a controlled (pilot) environment. Call it "beta" or something to that effect. And collect data to combine with your research. Is it still correct? Are expectations still realistic? Adjust.
- Integration; Now it gets serious. Prepare your organization for a new product. Adjust line processes if necessary and create focus in the line organization. Use your research and the data from the pilot phase to create and maintain support.
- Going live. Make sure everything comes together. Technology, organization and media moments. The child is born. Celebrate the moment. Make sure you have an eye for aftercare. If necessary, make adjustments if necessary.
By sticking to the above phases a bit, it is clear and the expectations are much better to manage. This will certainly benefit the atmosphere in the team and the organization. After all, product development must be a party!
Casper.
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