{"id":23693,"date":"2020-05-19T17:26:57","date_gmt":"2020-05-19T16:26:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/?p=23693"},"modified":"2022-05-18T14:55:32","modified_gmt":"2022-05-18T13:55:32","slug":"reading-list-product-teams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/reading-list-product-teams\/","title":{"rendered":"Reading list: Analyzing great product teams"},"content":{"rendered":"

As a product-led company, we have put great thought, time, and energy into how we organize our product teams.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After all, excellent design and engineering can only come from product teams that are empowered to solve hard problems and build great software. In our model, product teams effectively own a piece of the product, and consist of a Product Manager, Designer, and a few Product Engineers.<\/span><\/p>\n

“We have written a lot about the alchemy of great product teams, the ingredients that make them succeed, the flaws that can make them fail, and the characteristics that differentiate the merely good from the genuinely great”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Over the years we have written a lot about the alchemy of great product teams, the ingredients that make them succeed, the flaws that can make them fail, and the characteristics that differentiate the merely good from the genuinely great.<\/span><\/p>\n

In this latest Reading List<\/a>, we collect some of the most popular and insightful pieces we have published on the topic over the years, covering everything from achieving alignment to encouraging tension, from cultivating empathy to fostering reflection. We hope you find it informative.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lessons learned from scaling a product team<\/span><\/h2>\n

This in-depth essay<\/a> by our SVP of Product, Paul Adams, explains the processes we use to build product, and details how product teams operate. What\u2019s fascinating is that even though the post is five years old now and a lot of our thinking has evolved, it demonstrates how many of our ideas around product teams have endured<\/a>, despite our rapid growth since then.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Key takeaway:<\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cProduct building teams have natural grey areas and collaboration often means a better end result. So people within teams work this out themselves. But when it comes to analyzing what we spent our precious time building, the lines of accountability need to be very clear.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Alignment on great product teams<\/span><\/h2>\n

This fascinating talk<\/a> by one of our Principal Engineers, Eoin Nolan, dives into the ideal balance on a high-performing product team<\/a> between the three disciplines of strategy, design, and engineering. Core to that balance is a diversity of skill sets and vision on the team working in alignment.<\/span><\/p>\n