Discussion Summary: Chief Product Officer (Ksenia) November 2024 - sanjaygupta-professional/test2 GitHub Wiki

Key Insights

Current State & Challenges

1. Product Leadership

   • Clear product vision exists for evolution from "Method Enabler" to "End-to-end Catalyst"
   • Strong leadership engagement but complex stakeholder landscape
   • Trust building with external stakeholders improving, internal team trust needs work

2. Organizational Structure

   • Two leaders (Jason/Nandita) creates governance complexity
   • Unclear decision paths due to dual reporting lines
   • Recent transition to ATCI/ATCP impacting delivery confidence

3. Delivery Challenges

   • Requirements often not ready before sprint starts
   • Experimentation and innovation getting deprioritized
   • Limited cross-team collaboration
   • Factory-like delivery approach limiting innovation

Pain Points

1. Process Issues

   • Collaboration between functions feels siloed
   • Too much emphasis on perfect requirements
   • Limited ability to experiment quickly
   • Innovation getting squeezed out by delivery pressure

2. Team Collaboration

   • Trust issues between teams post-transition
   • Need better integration between functions
   • Communication gaps across locations
   • Limited cross-team learning

3. Governance

   • Complex decision making with multiple stakeholders
   • Unclear escalation paths
   • Limited visibility into program health
   • Reactive communication patterns

Opportunities & Priorities

Immediate Needs

1. Establish clear governance structure

   • Decision making framework
   • Escalation paths
   • Review cadence
   • Stakeholder communication

2. Improve delivery framework

   • Streamline planning process
   • Enable faster experimentation
   • Strengthen cross-team collaboration
   • Enhance visibility

3. Build team capabilities

   • Cross-functional collaboration
   • Innovation practices
   • Technical excellence
   • Product thinking

Strategic Focus Areas

1. Product Development

   • Enable rapid prototyping
   • Build experimentation capability
   • Strengthen feedback loops
   • Improve market responsiveness

2. Team Evolution

   • Build trust across teams
   • Enable innovation culture
   • Strengthen collaboration
   • Develop capabilities

3. Process Optimization

   • Streamline governance
   • Enhance visibility
   • Improve predictability
   • Enable agility

Next Steps

Immediate Actions (0-30 days)

1. Establish governance framework

   • Decision rights matrix
   • Meeting structure
   • Communication plan
   • Metrics dashboard

2. Define ways of working

   • Planning process
   • Collaboration model
   • Review cadence
   • Feedback loops

3. Initialize improvements

   • Quick wins identification
   • Team engagement
   • Success metrics
   • Communication plan

Short Term (30-90 days)

1. Implement governance

   • Regular cadence
   • Clear processes
   • Metrics tracking
   • Stakeholder engagement

2. Strengthen delivery

   • Process improvements
   • Tool optimization
   • Team collaboration
   • Quality focus

3. Build capabilities

   • Training needs
   • Coaching support
   • Best practices
   • Knowledge sharing

Key Success Factors

1. Leadership Support

   • Active engagement
   • Clear direction
   • Resource commitment
   • Change support

2. Team Buy-in

   • Clear communication
   • Early wins
   • Regular feedback
   • Visible progress

3. Process Discipline

   • Consistent execution
   • Regular reviews
   • Continuous improvement
   • Measurable outcomes

Recommendations

1. Governance

   • Establish clear decision framework
   • Define regular meeting cadence
   • Create metrics dashboard
   • Implement communication plan

2. Process

   • Streamline planning process
   • Enable experimentation
   • Strengthen collaboration
   • Improve visibility

3. People

   • Build trust
   • Enable innovation
   • Develop capabilities
   • Foster collaboration

Follow-up Actions

1. Share summary with leadership
2. Detail action plan
3. Identify quick wins
4. Schedule follow-up
5. Begin implementation