Brian de Haaff's Blog

Hey Product Manager: Do You Know Why You Are Building That Feature?

People love sharing their opinions. Customers and teammates are usually willing to tell you what they think you should do with your product if you ask. This is a good problem to have. The hard part is deciding which of those ideas will have the biggest impact.

Ideas are plentiful great product managers know exactly how to determine which ones customers really love.

You make decisions every day that impact not just your product, but also the company as a whole. This is true always. But...

Project vs. Program vs. Portfolio Manager

Projects belong to programs as programs belong to portfolios. Sounds like a word problem from a school assignment to me. You might not think it is necessary to discern the differences between common project management roles. But the distinctions are important to understand.

Project, program, and portfolio managers play a crucial part in aligning complex cross-functional projects with broader company goals.

Recently I shared my perspective on the relationship between product, project, and...

5 Signs You Need an IT Roadmap

Be more agile. Create better user experiences. Plan for todays technical needs and the future unknown. Most IT teams are struggling with this juxtaposition. Addressing day-to-day tactical requests that need to be prioritized alongside adopting new technologies and improving infrastructure. Phew  that is a lot. It is not so easy to focus on the present while guaranteeing future success. 

But the success of the business does rely on strong technical systems and efficient processes both today...

How to Ask for What You Need to Be Successful

I need help. Showing vulnerability can be scary. You might worry that you are seen as weak or that others may exploit your openness for their own gain. This is understandable, especially at work you want to show the people around you that you are capable and resourceful. But self-reliance can only take you so far.

We all need help sometimes. This is true no matter what your role is or how many years (or decades) of experience you have. 

I know I often ask the team at Aha! for their...

The 6 Principles of Strategic Product Roadmapping

Strategy is not optional. I wrote this just a few weeks ago in a blog post about recent world events. The context was how to make clear decisions when the future is cloudy. I explained how I approach rationale evaluation of the unknown while acknowledging that it is not possible to predict the future. But while longer-term strategic thinking is important in challenging times, having a plan and taking action is mandatory.

When there are many paths you can take, you need guardrails to keep...

What Does a Program Manager Do, Anyway?

Program manager vs. project manager. I recently wrote a blog post describing these roles. Several folks took the time to thank me for digging into the differences between the two. But many of you wanted more. Specifically, for me to go even deeper into what a program manager does and how the role functions in different scenarios.

Program managers think strategically about how many different types of initiatives should be managed and coordinated.

When you have many big strategic efforts,...

6 Things I Learned From My First Product Management Job

The last five years have gone fast. In a few months, I will celebrate that milestone at Aha! in that time we have grown exponentially. We expanded our team to nearly 100 people, grown to serve over 5,000 customers, and delivered more than 250 major features or improvements. While I am looking forward to what is next, I am also reflecting on what was. Specifically, my very first role as a product manager more than a decade ago. I was working at a SaaS company that served human resources...

Product vs. Program vs. Project Management

What does discipline mean to you? I bet a few words come to mind self-control, punishment, or a system of rules. You might also conjure a field of study or branch of knowledge. This is how I most often think of it. Especially in the context of how our team at Aha! serves customers working in the disciplines of product, program, and project management.

Building breakthrough products, delivering successful initiatives, and overseeing cross-functional efforts requires deep knowledge and...

10 Tips From the Aha! Team on Working Remotely With a Full House

Everyone is asking me about remote work right now. I just spoke with a CIO who is deploying 5,000 laptops to employees who have never needed one before. COVID-19 is forcing many folks to adjust. Since Aha! has always been an entirely distributed company, people are naturally curious to learn how our team moves so fast and efficiently. Yes, our teammates all work remotely but there is also a new challenge for us too.

How do you stay productive working remotely when family members are also...

How to Work Remotely (If You Have Never Done It Before)

Aha! was far ahead of this remote work thing. A friend said this to me the other day. We were (as everyone is right now) talking about the latest COVID-19 news. In part, my friend is right  we were ahead of many as an entirely distributed company.

We have learned a lot since we founded Aha! in 2013 and are now about 100 people strong. But the choice to build the company with an entirely distributed team was not because of some prescient flash about future pandemic events. We wanted the...