TEAMS

Choose Your Own Adventure

Inconsistent processes can derail product teams

Each one wrote their process with flair,
But confusion was left in the air.
With paths all askew,
No one really knew,
How to get from here to there.

In the Choose Your Own Adventure books, each person takes a different path and gets a different result. In product management, this approach results in chaos. Without a consistent, standardized approach to managing and marketing products, each person may take a different route, leading to inefficiencies, confusion, and misalignment. The absence of a standard process cripples a team’s ability to deliver products effectively and on time.

Symptoms

Inconsistent processes. Different team members or departments using their own approaches leads to confusion about the correct way to move forward.

Confusion over next steps. Without a clear process roadmap, team members are unsure of what comes next or how to proceed through the product development lifecycle.

Misaligned teams. Without a shared process, teams struggle to stay aligned on goals and progress. This results in miscommunication and duplicated efforts.

Executive frustration. Why do all deliverables differ from one another? Leaders and stakeholders become frustrated and confused when each product manager employs different templates, formats, and methods—and waste time trying to understand the presentation of information instead of concentrating on making business decisions.

Consequences

Inefficiencies and delays. A lack of standardized processes leads to inefficiencies, with teams spending time trying to figure out the right approach rather than focusing on delivering value. This results in delays and a slower time to market.

Increased Errors. Inconsistent processes lead to more mistakes, as there is no agreed-upon method to ensure quality or track progress. This increases the likelihood of features being developed incorrectly or products failing to meet user needs.

Lower team cohesion. When each team member follows their own process, it becomes harder to coordinate and collaborate. This can lead to frustration, miscommunication, and a breakdown in teamwork.

Unclear accountability. Without a consistent process, holding team members accountable for their work becomes difficult, as there is no agreed-upon standard to measure success.

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Recommendations

Implement a standardized process. Establish a consistent, repeatable process that the entire team can follow. This should outline each stage of product development, from ideation to launch, and provide clear guidance on roles, responsibilities, and workflows.

Ensure team alignment. Regularly communicate the process and ensure that all team members are aligned and following the same steps. This reduces confusion and ensures that everyone is on the same page.

Document and train. Provide documentation and training to help team members understand the process and how to apply it in their day-to-day work. Make sure everyone knows the tools, steps, and best practices to follow.

Iterate and improve. A standardized process should not be static. Continuously gather feedback from the team and improve the process to make it more efficient and effective as you learn what works best.

While "choose your own adventure" books are fun for creativity, they don’t work well for product teams trying to deliver consistent, high-quality work. A lack of standardized processes leads to inefficiencies, misalignment, and missed opportunities. Product teams can balance structure with flexibility and improve both efficiency and impact by creating clear frameworks, using tools to standardize workflows, and refining processes regularly.