What is Product Ops?

Key Topics Covered:

• What product ops is not—and why the role is often misunderstood

• Different models of product ops across organizations

• Product ops vs. product leadership: where’s the line?

• When to hire a product ops person (and when not to)

• The enabling team model from Team Topologies

• Why Teresa and Petra are wary of “methodology police” in discovery

• How product ops can support skill building, analytics, and communication standards

• The shipyard metaphor: keeping the environment healthy for empowered teams

• Coaching as a product ops responsibility—helpful or risky?

Key Takeaways:

• Product ops isn't a checklist hire—it’s a strategic move to fill specific gaps

• The best product ops folks blend a product mindset with another core strength (e.g. analytics, L&D, change management)

• Not all gaps should be filled by product ops—sometimes it’s about enabling HR, data, or leadership to step up

• Product ops is a great career path for senior PMs who don’t want to move - into people leadership but still want to shape the organization

Resources & Links:

• Follow Teresa Torres: ProductTalk.org

• Follow Petra Wille: Petra-Wille.com

Mentioned in the episode:

• Product Operations (productoperations.com) by Melissa Perri (melissaperri.com) and Denise Tilles (denisetilles.com)

• Strong Product People (strongproductpeople.com/book) and Strong Product Communities (strongproductpeople.com/strong-product-communi…) by Petra Wille

• Learning and development (L&D) (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Training_and_development)

• Team Topologies (teamtopologies.com/books) by Matthew Skelton (matthewskelton.com) and Manuel Pais (manuelpais.net)

• Petra’s Coaching Cards (DIY Edition) (strongproductpeople.com/cards) / Purchase the DIY kit (petra-wille.com/shop/52questions-coaching-card…)

• Petra’s related blog posts on leading effective one-on-ones: - Struggling to Find the Time to Develop Your Product Managers? Start Here (petra-wille.com/blog/struggling-to-find-the-ti…), - The Ultimate Coaching Question: What Are You Going to Do Differently? (petra-wille.com/blog/the-ultimate-coaching-que…), and - The Product Leader’s Guide to Giving Feedback (petra-wille.com/blog/giving-feedback?rq=free%2…)

• A note from Petra: “In case people own my first book, 'Strong Product People, ' these chapters talk about 1:1s and coaching: Chapter 6: Identifying and Closing Product Manager Gaps, Chapter 7: The Power of Coaching, Chapter 8: Monitoring Performance and Giving Feedback (a good read for one-on-one prep), Chapter 10: Building Individual and Team Alignment, and Chapter 11: How to Find the Time? (especially helpful for busy leaders)."