A product team can be focused on different targets or results. This makes each team unique. Let me restart; Yes! There is more than one type of product team and you need to choose what type of product team is best suited for your company based on your needs.
Before we look at the types, let us quickly who all make this product team. For all SaaS or digital products, the product teams are the same. The starter pack comprises of,
Developers:
Developers or, as some call, the engineering team is responsible for building the products. All product teams have developers but the question for each team is how many developers should there be? It depends on how big the product is and the complexity of it.
Designers:
A good design takes the product a long way. A lot of customers appreciate the UI/UX of the product and it plays a key role in the growth of the product.
Marketers:
Marketers are important for a product from a lot of perspectives. Positioning, messaging, marketing, taking the product to different potential users, identifying new areas of acquisition, enabling growth, etc are all done by the marketers.
Product Manager:
The product manager is what ties all the teams together. They are at the intersection of engineering, design, and business. One product manager per product or if the features of the product are highly complex, then per feature is how the team is generally structured.
These are the four types of team members a product team comprises. As the company or product grows, the teams will expand to include product consultants, customer support, BDE, etc.
Types of a product team
Each product team, though built with a similar structure, can act differently based on the purpose.
- Core
- Growth
- Platform
Core product team
A core product team is built to focus on what the user needs. To put it simply, the core team is what keeps the show running and is the main crowd puller. The core product is fully a user-based product team.
Responsibilities:
Some of the responsibilities include,
- Identifying user needs to analyze and plan the product development with the engineering team
- Focus on the product strategy and product roadmap more as they involve a lot of base planning and form the core of the product
- Interact with a lot of stakeholders to understand how the product works and is received
Platform product team
Platform product teams are more like the team enabling other teams to function. While the core team focuses on the users and their needs, the platform team works on tools, systems, and programs that will enable them to do their job. To simply put a platform, the team provides a platform as a service.
Responsibilities:
Some of the responsibilities include,
- Interacting with multiple stakeholders to understand their needs as their platform is going to be used by various teams and customers.
- Building platforms that teams can use by considering factors like future growth, expansion, and requirements ahead of time.
Growth product team
The growth product team is more business-focused. Instead of focusing on one type of product here, the main goal is to make all products to the end-user and identify new areas for the product to reach.
Responsibilities
- Work with numbers to analyze the growth of the product and plan a new strategy
- Analyzing what works and what doesn’t to improve the overall growth model
- Prioritize tasks that have better turnout with the numbers
What is your type?
It is okay not to build the right product team immediately. But, as you identify the direction you want to head towards, you can start shaping your team. The teams can change according to the stage a product or the company is in. Getting the team structure wrong at the start and gradually building the right team is totally human and practical. You learn as you grow and correct your mistakes.
To start with you can structure your team based on the size, product portfolio, culture and other factors. See how it works and scale it as you grow.