It goes without saying that the roaring 20s 2.0 stopped many things in its tracks. The one thing it didn’t stop was the daily grind and hustle of work. Like a flapper on speed, work only seemed to intensify; hours became longer, days off were in short supply, and the thin line that separated work life balance dissolved. What we all collectively seem to realize is time is a precious commodity, and an absolute necessity, especially in the workplace.
In Product, time is inextricably linked to another element in the lifecycle process. When there is not enough time, something has to give, be it key features, budget, or unrealistic expectations. Product is not grey area, it’s negotiation, compromise, and a healthy dose of realism. Here are some of the most common time constraints I’ve observed where time + insert-lifecycle-step converge and how to combat them:
- Project goals + time: Goals and deadlines will almost always cause time constraints. When a project objective has to be met (whatever the reason), prioritization of features or fixes is key. In short, you want to meet that Q3 deadline, this is all we have time for the meet all the project milestones.
- How to combat this time constraint? Know the projects goals, sub goals and how they rank. Maybe hitting the deadline is more important than delivering everything originally desired/in scope. Knowing the project goals and what the business and stakeholders want to hit will help to prioritize the most important features or fixes that align to those goals and also which blocks can be cut out if needed.
- Budget + time: More often than not, budgets will dictate what can be in scope and out of scope of a project. Maybe there is not enough time to get more funds or money must be used within a certain time frame such as a quarterly end or fiscal close, but it tends to be “here is how much money I have, how many bells and whistles will this buy me?”
- How to combat this time constraint? Know what the budget is and who are the major line holders. How much budget is allocated to people vs resources? Does the budget reflect the amount of work estimated? What features or fixes does the budget cover? Knowing what budget is allocated will help to trim potentially expensive and costly feature and allow for more to be in scope.
- Prioritization + time: What people want to see from a product is not always in the cards (see project goals and/or budget). It takes time for product to meet with stakeholders, research markets and product landscapes, roadmap, and storymap, and requirement breakdowns.
- How to combat this time constraint? Use the prioritization methods that work for you. The business or your team might have a model that works for them but there are dozens out there: Kano, MoSCoW, Quadrant, etc. Knowing what’s always top of mind and what ultimately is most desired sought after, and more importantly why they are most desired and sought after, will aid dramatically when time is of the essence. In other words “knowing what we know today, here are the biggest must haves today” will be the best asset when time is constrained.
- People + time: Did you know that people only have so much time to give? Really, corporate daddies, it’s true! People only have two hands and so many hours in a day to meet, ideate, plan, work/produce, etc. People need time to not only recharge physically but also mentally. People should never be expected to produce at 100% every single day, especially when work gets in the way.
- How to combat this time constraint? Take your lunch hours, your vacation time, your mental health days. Encourage and allow your teams do the same. Countless studies have proved that healthy people work better and ultimately produce better. Be sure time for these activities is accounted for in budgets and project plans because if your people go, you lose a lot of time trying to bring newbies up to speed and get back on track. Work will always be there so take the time you need to be healthy and well, deadlines, budgets, and all be damned.
- Ideas + time: I debated about this one but it needs to be said- people need time to create and think of new ways of doing things. At the very least, people need time to process the copious amount of meetings, data points, analysis, and feedback and synthesize it into a tangible and easily distilled idea. If you’re into brainstorming, you know the number one thing you need? Time! Brainstorms don’t always produce quality ideas so time is absolutely needed.
- How to combat this time constraint? Appreciate people’s time. Not everyone in the business is afforded it with deadlines and marks to hit, and not everyone thinks creatively on an 8-5 clock. Also allow yourself time to decompress and especially sleep. Some of the best ideas and thoughts come from minds drifting off to sleep or after having a restful night’s sleep. Best way to combat this time constraint is to take as much control over your time as possible and respect other’s time to do the same.
Time ultimately is a social construct. Not everyone or everything is meant to work within tight time confines. The best developers I know work best around midnight. Problems can be solved and lessons can be learned, ideas can be born and beautiful products can be created. All we need is the time.
If time cannot be bought, and it’s the one thing we don’t get back, then following that logic we should know time is precious and use it well and realistically.
Product Offensive 