The way we work and organize is changing. And so is the mindset around productivity and team structure. In the traditional project-centered model, companies are organized around tasks, with each group focused on one element of a project. But greater emphasis is being placed on moving from project to product, which focuses on enabling teams to become end-to-end experts. Before you embark on the project to product journey, you first need to know your starting point. Each step on the journey builds upon itself to successfully implement a new business focus, workflow, and organizational structure. Take the assessment to see how far along you are in the five-stage journey. From that point, you’ll be able to understand what you’re already doing right and where improvements can be made to advance to the next stage. In the Age of Software, will your business dominate and maintain relevance—or will it become a digital relic?

A product-focused strategy and mindset can create agile organizations, increase productivity, and drive innovation. In this article, we’ll take you through what it means to move from project to product and how to navigate your way through the journey. What Does Moving from Project to Product Mean? Risk. Software delivery risks, such as poor market fit, are more likely with project management because specifications are set and strategic decisions are made at the start. The product-oriented approach spreads risk across a longer timeframe and multiple iterations, creating opportunities to adjust product features if initial assumptions prove incorrect or strategic opportunities arise.Companies in the first stage are just beginning their journey of moving from project to product. But without a strong foundation and the right metrics in place, they run the risk of a challenging and inefficient transition. In this stage, determine why you need to change and set a vision for the positive business outcomes you want to achieve. Stage 2: Experimentation Moving from project to product can signal a significant paradigm shift. It’s no longer about measuring activities but about driving outcomes that bring revenue and growth. The journey is typically broken down into five stages. 5 Stages of the Project to Product Journey A useful tool for benchmarking your organization’s project to product maturity is the Tasktop Product Maturity Assessment. Budgeting. Project management typically assigns funding according to milestones defined during initial project scoping, and new budget requires the creation of a new project. Product-oriented management, meanwhile, funds based on business outputs, with new money allocated as needed and based on the delivery of incremental results.

Organizations can measure those four flow items at a business level and optimize accordingly,” Kersten says. “Using this approach, software teams can move from a world in which an upfront project plan specifies everything to a product development budget that allows for reallocating between value streams and adapting according to where leaders are seeing business results.” ***** Transitioning to a product-based approach can be challenging, but you aren’t alone. While the five-stage journey is well defined, the road to get to your destination can be difficult and nonlinear. In Dr. Mik Kersten’s book, Project to Product, that path is charted using the Flow Framework®, a lean and prescriptive framework for technology leaders to guide and measure the journey.Digital transformation brings numerous changes, but among the most important is transitioning to a product-focused model. When it comes to increasing productivity, creating value, developing agility, and driving customer-centricity, there’s simply no better approach than the product-oriented model. For an in-depth understanding of what each question means and how to evaluate your responses to ensure your transformation is moving in the right direction, watch the on-demand webinar, The 7 Dimensions of a Project to Product Transformation. Product Focus is the Future A 2018 Gartner survey found that 85% of companies prefer a product-centric model. And with the acceleration of digital transformation and technology in recent years, that number has likely increased. Changing long-held assumptions about how work gets done isn’t easy but could be key to competing effectively in today’s market. By transitioning from an IT project management mindset to a product-oriented approach, organizations can define success according to the areas that truly matter to users and design software that delights and engages their customers. Timelines. Projects typically have a defined end date, with little focus on the performance of the software after the initiative ends. A product-oriented approach emphasizes the software’s multiyear lifecycle, including ongoing maintenance and health activities.

Moving from project to product is a fundamental shift in how teams are organized and how work gets done. Mik’s experiences working with some of the largest digital transformations in the world has led him to identify the critical disconnect between business leaders and technologists. Since that time, Mik has been working on creating new tools and a new framework for connecting software value stream networks and enabling the shift from project to product.In the second stage, companies start implementing changes. But the transition is still limited to certain areas, resulting in unevenness and inconsistencies. Moving past the experimentation stage requires eliminating process and product dependencies and creating cross-functional product teams around the new business perspective. Stage 3: Expansion According to Kersten, the following are the main differences between IT project and product management: