Feature

By Steve Czetli, Contributing Writer

If a company believes in product management, as does Vocollect, a provider of voice technology solutions, the challenge of staffing that post is going to present itself from time to time.  So how do you pick the perfect product manager? And once you do, how do you make sure that person sustains their enthusiasm throughout a product's lifecycle?  How does that candidate minimize the friction that inevitably arises between his or her department and the engineers, technicians, marketers and other experts involved in a successful product roll-out? And how do you know when it's time to bring a new product manager on board? Or for that matter, when it's time to roll out a new product?

Larry Sweeney, co-founder and VP of Product Management for Pittsburgh-based Vocollect, faces these issues almost daily. And in a recent interview, he discussed his approach to addressing these gnawing questions. His answers were both instructive and insightful to others charged with recruiting and overseeing product managers as well as their support personnel, the Product Specialists.  

Three keys

At Vocollect, Sweeney explained, product managers are picked on the basis of three criteria: technical expertise, business acumen, and imagination. Specialists usually work for a specific product manager and have expertise in one of the many phases a product goes through on its way to market, including technology, engineering, and marketing. One major reason for Sweeney's success in overseeing product managers is that he recognizes the magnitude of the task his people face.

"It's truly a big job," he said.  "It's strategic and tactical - strategic from the standpoint that it's a product manager's job to understand the customer's strategy at a deep level.  Then he or she has to develop a product development plan that supports our own company's strategy.  And they get help from our cross-functional teams of market researchers and product development engineers.

"Execution involves even more," Sweeney said.  "Performing market research, developing requirements for products and making sure they are consistent with the research coming in from the markets are all critical.  It entails creating specific requirements, communicating them to the development organization, and working with the developers to ensure that they deliver the right product on time and within budget. 

"The product manager is also working with the marketing group to ensure that the launch plan for the new product is executed with the right message, and that it gets out to all the sales channels.

"In essence, the product manager is responsible for managing that entire product lifecycle, understanding the bugs if there are any, generating enhancements in what may become a re-release or, if the changes are significant enough, introducing a new version.  Eventually, of course, it is the product manager who must ‘end-of-life it,' " Sweeney said.

Hands off

Vocollect, which employs about 350, makes a wearable voice computer used by people who work in warehouses and distribution centers preparing shipments to resellers.  Sweeney notes that they are pioneers in the field and dominate their market.  Their product frees the eyes and hands of warehouse workers to prepare palates for shipment, making them more productive, more efficient, more accurate, and safer.  Normally, warehouse workers have to manipulate a standard inventory style keyboard which requires both eyes and hands.

"Vocollect's products enable the worker to speak commands and hear feedback, instead of reading prompts on a screen and typing in information," explained Sweeney.  "They can now do the same job without diverting their eyes or tying up their hands."  In essence, their flagship product is a wearable voice computer.

You might think that such a narrow a product line wouldn't require a lot of product managers.  But when Sweeney begins explaining Vocollect's strategy, the complexity and variety of products and accessories become evident.

 "A good example is when we went to the wireless headset," Sweeney noted.  "That project took about two years."  And yet now, its headset gives Vocollect what Sweeney considers a two-year lead on competitors.  

"We also have other projects.  For example, we build a piece of middleware called VoiceLink^TM. Middleware bridges the gap between old legacy warehouse management systems, and the state-of-the-art, real-time voice terminals which are Vocollect's mainstay.  So we have a product manager and a product specialist right now working on our next generation middleware product which they hope to pull off in nine months," he explained.

Something new

New products are driven by market research.  But they must also fit the company's strategy.  And they include some that Sweeney characterized as quickly executed big products for which the market had a pent-up demand.  Such products can often be carried off quickly because they are clearly defined and demand is so great.  But other products take longer because they may be pushing the envelope of new technology.

For instance, the development of Vocollect's wireless headset was lengthy and complex.  And a whole portfolio of related products now supports the headset.  All of them are under the supervision of a single product manager while other more distinct products warrant their own overseer.

 "To help Vocollect stay ahead of the pack, one product manger is devoted exclusively to new markets," Sweeney said.  "They're looking beyond our four walls and seeing if we can get involved in an application that we are not in at the present time."

For example, Vocollect is looking into the feasibility of moving down a notch in the distribution chain to the retail level where their technology could help individual stores track their inventory and sales.  A Vocollect product manager is looking into that issue right now.

 "That's how we grow," said Sweeney. "Placing value on areas of the market we are not currently in, but where voice interface could play an important role."

The search

Sweeney's team currently consists of eight people, including himself and a couple of product specialists.  And two of those positions are currently unfilled.

So to find people who can manage the company's state-of-the-art products, Sweeney bases his hiring decisions on a triad of skills: technical know-how, business acumen and innovative thinking.  An MBA is nice, but it's not required if candidate for the job has sufficient relevant real-world field experience.  Even so, it's tough finding people who can walk the line between technology know-how and good business sense, he noted.

 "In our business, which deals with the hardware and software associated with voice recognition in distribution and warehouse operations, I'm looking for someone who has some sort of a technical background in either hardware or software or both.  And I am also looking for someone who has the requisite business background in the form of an MBA, and/or business management experience.  The tricky part is finding someone who can walk that line.  It is hard to find, but it's a blend that you really need to pull off the product management function," Sweeney observed.  And imagination or vision is required throughout the process. 

 "Product mangers work closely with market researchers to determine what the needs of the market really are," he said. "We are always looking for solutions they can use that also fit our company's own strategy.  We are constantly seeking to deliver value to our market.  And the chief question which determines that is: ‘Will they pay for it?' "

In addition, the product manager is concerned with service and support after the product is delivered.  So they have to understand and deal with the whole product life cycle.  "That's another reason it's such a big job," he said.

Big job

In fact, the job is so big that there are few if any departments within the company where product managers don't develop working relationships.  Ideally, the company's managers work things out among themselves.  But sometimes, the smart, opinionated, domain-specific people who work in those departments experience friction and disagreement.  That's when the VP Product Management must intervene.  And at Vocollect, it helps that Sweeney was also a co-founder.

To be successful, a product manager needs to know where the markets are going.  But they also need to know what new technologies are in the pipeline that could help to make their own product more efficient and marketable, according to Sweeney.  So a good product manager must stay on top of new developments, as well as of trends in the market. "They must be innovative and push the envelope on some things," he said. "That's the exciting part of the job."

As a result, the product manager's job has tremendous drawing power.  "When we have a product management opening, we usually get a lot of internal candidates.  I think they see the challenge," he explained.  "The people who are on the technical side may well be candidates for product specialist, hoping to learn the business side so they can move into the role of product manager."

Exactly when is the right time to create a new product manager position?  "It's a question that not only applies to product managers, it could be asked of any growing organization.  Since there's no special recipe for managing a product manager, what you are looking at is the growth potential of the company.  You're looking at your overall situation and saying: we have an idea for a new product and boy, this could grow into four or five possible product derivatives down the road.  So then you decide whether it's cost efficient to bring a product manager on board to see that potential fulfilled."

About the Author:

Steve Czetli is a Contributing Writer for Inside Product Strategy™. He has served as the founding editor and publisher of TechyVent, an online news publication for technology entrepreneurs and business professionals; editor of TEQ magazine; and the business editor of the Pittsburgh Business Times and Pittsburgh Press. He can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

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