which role does product management work with to prioritize enablers

Daniel Parker

3 min read

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01-03-2025

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Product managers (PMs) are the conductors of a complex orchestra, ensuring all sections play in harmony to achieve product vision. A crucial part of their role is prioritizing enablers – those tasks and projects that don't directly deliver customer-facing features but are essential for long-term success and scaling the product. This isn't a solo performance; PMs collaborate closely with several key roles to effectively prioritize these critical enablers.

Key Collaborators in Prioritizing Enablers

Successfully prioritizing enablers requires a collaborative approach. Here's a breakdown of the key roles and how they contribute:

1. Engineering

The engineering team is central to determining the feasibility and effort required for enablers. They provide realistic estimates, identify technical debt, and highlight potential roadblocks. Discussions with engineering help PMs understand the trade-offs between various enablers and their impact on product development velocity.

• How they contribute: Providing technical feasibility assessments, effort estimations, identifying dependencies, flagging potential risks, and suggesting alternative solutions.

2. Design

Designers play a critical role in ensuring enablers align with the overall user experience. They help to identify enablers that will improve the design process, enhance developer workflows, or create a more scalable design system. Early collaboration ensures that enabler implementation won't negatively impact the user journey.

• How they contribute: Identifying design-related enablers, assessing the impact on UX, suggesting design improvements, and ensuring consistency and scalability.

3. Data Science/Analytics

Data scientists and analysts provide insights into product usage and performance. This data helps PMs prioritize enablers that address critical pain points or unlock growth opportunities. For example, data might highlight the need for improved monitoring tools or better data pipelines.

• How they contribute: Providing data-driven insights, identifying areas for improvement, and measuring the impact of implemented enablers.

4. Marketing & Sales

Understanding the market landscape and customer needs is essential for effective enabler prioritization. Marketing and sales teams provide insights into emerging trends, competitive pressures, and customer feedback. This information helps PMs focus on enablers that will improve market positioning or enhance the customer experience.

• How they contribute: Providing market insights, identifying customer needs, highlighting areas for improvement in sales processes, and understanding competitive landscapes.

5. Operations

The operations team often manages the infrastructure and processes supporting the product. They are crucial in identifying enablers related to scalability, security, and performance. Collaboration with operations ensures that enablers address operational challenges and prevent future bottlenecks.

• How they contribute: Identifying operational bottlenecks, suggesting improvements to infrastructure, and ensuring the product’s stability and scalability.

The Prioritization Process: A Collaborative Approach

Prioritizing enablers isn't a one-time event; it's an ongoing process requiring continuous collaboration and communication. Here's a typical process:

1. Identify Potential Enablers: Through brainstorming sessions with the teams mentioned above, a list of potential enablers is created.

2. Assess Impact and Effort: Each enabler is evaluated based on its potential impact on the product and the effort required for implementation. Engineering provides technical feasibility and effort estimates.

3. Prioritize Based on Value: Using frameworks like RICE scoring (Reach, Impact, Confidence, Effort), PMs, in consultation with stakeholders, prioritize enablers based on their overall value.

4. Roadmap Integration: Prioritized enablers are integrated into the product roadmap, ensuring they are scheduled and tracked effectively.

5. Continuous Monitoring and Iteration: The impact of implemented enablers is regularly monitored and evaluated, allowing for adjustments to future prioritization efforts.

Conclusion: The Importance of Collaboration

Successfully prioritizing enablers is crucial for long-term product success. It requires a collaborative effort between the product manager and various teams. By fostering strong communication and leveraging the expertise of each team, product managers can ensure that these essential, often unseen, tasks are given the attention they deserve, leading to a more robust and scalable product. Ignoring enablers can lead to technical debt, scalability issues, and ultimately, hinder the product's ability to achieve its full potential.