The Startup and Development Process - New Tips!

Blog Post #2 Revisited - The Startup and Development Process
As a company grows from 10 people to 50 and then to 200, processes have to adapt and complexity grows. The reality is that product managers can get sucked into the whirlwind of trying and figuring out the best development process. Should you be agile? What about this form of agile or that form of agile, sprint lengths, etc. It's very easy to get sucked into this whirlwind of decision making at the expense of other duties.

The Problem
As a company grows rapidly, job responsibilities start to shift to newly hired specialists. Where once you were part project manager, part developer, part QA tester....you are now in your natural state as the roles get filled in with other "experts". The challenge comes from the fact that expectations and responsibility change at different paces, thus resulting in the need for process to overcome confusion. As a product manager who sits in the middle of many processes and departments (marketing, finance, sales, technology, etc.) you often have to fill in the gaps cause by the separation.

Companies really struggle at this stage in their development as the folks that have been there since the beginning often times don't agree that there is a problem or struggle with all the change and sometimes see very little benefit (or even some slow downs).

Tips

• Remember that process serves a purpose - Think about the goal you want to accomplish and make that the center of your discussion. Once you get to shared vision regarding your goal, then the discussion can shift into the best way to achieve that goal. 
• It's about people and not process - Just because you have a process hammer, doesn't mean that everything is a process nail :). Don't forget the people element in changing your process. Impacts to morale can be real! Celebrate the wins and acknowledge the learnings. Be inclusive with the change! 
• Slow and steady wins the race - Change in how things are done can be jarring and there is always that urge to go faster! Take one change at a time and realize that your team is going through an adjustment period. Take note of what is working and what isn't and adjust accordingly. The key to being slow and steady is to ensure that you set and agree upon expectations ahead of time. Happiness is the difference between expectations and reality.

Thoughts?