Workshops

PR/FAQ Workshop

When it comes to product discovery and vision, the most successful technology companies in the world take an approach called ‘PR/FAQ’ (Press Release/Frequently Asked Questions).

By formalizing the PR/FAQ as the FIRST real artifact in any product lifecycle, you are able to ‘work backward’ from a high-probability of market fit, while ensuring all stakeholders are on the same journey as your product team.

In this workshop, you will learn why the PR-FAQ approach works in the real world, and you will see how to construct the three sections of ‘Press Release’, ‘External FAQ’ and ‘Internal FAQ’.

What you will learn

  • What the PR/FAQ approach achieves
  • What form a PR/FAQ takes
  • Who the PR/FAQ is targeted at
  • How to create the PR section
  • How to create the external FAQ section
  • How to create the internal FAQ section
  • How to communicate the PR/FAQ
  • How to maintain a PR/FAQ when external factors change

About the workshop approach

Our workshop approach is highly practical — we ensure you have a solid grounding in the key aspects under discussion, and we provide real-world examples of successful implementations. More importantly, the practical labs means you will work on the concepts for real — you can choose to use our scenarios, or you can bring your own project.

You will also receive valuable feedback and suggestions for improvement for your lab results after the workshop has been completed.

Contact us for private workshops

Foundations of the PR/FAQ Approach

Module 1
  • What the PR/FAQ approach achieves
    Presentation
  • What form a PR/FAQ takes

    Presentation

  • Who the PR/FAQ is targeted at
    Presentation
  • Reviewing a real-world PR/FAQ
    Lab

Constructing a PR/FAQ

Module 2
  • The PR section
    Presentation
  • The external FAQ section

    Presentation

  • The internal FAQ section
    Presentation
  • Creating a PR/FAQ
    Lab

Communicating the PR/FAQ to stakeholders

Module 3
  • PR/FAQs and the product team
    Presentation
  • PR/FAQs and the business stakeholders

    Presentation

  • Creating PR/FAQ communications
    Lab

Maintaining PR/FAQs

Module 4
  • Opening Up the PR section
    Presentation
  • Opening Up the internal FAQ section

    Presentation

  • Incorporating external feedback

    Presentation

  • Driving quarterly product boards (QPBs)

    Presentation

avatar

Martin Harwar

Product leader, conference speaker, lead instructor, successful entrepreneur

About Martin

Martin Harwar has a successful track record of founding Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) companies, defining product visions, putting in place execution stratgies, and taking software companies to successful exits.

He received the 'Microsoft Most Valuable Professional' (MVP) award for seven consecutive years, and has spoken at international conferences on behalf of the SharePoint and Office 365 product teams. When he is not delivering training classes for Oxford Product Group, he leads the Skills Copilot for Microsoft 365 team as Product Director.

QPB/Roadmapping Workshop

When it comes to managing product direction and roadmaps in response to changing market conditions and unanticipated events, the most successful technology companies in the world run Quarterly Product Boards (QPB).

By formalizing the creation, management, and feedback cycles of QPB events, you continually ensure a high-probability of market fit, while keeping all stakeholders engaged on the same journey as your product team.

In this workshop, you will learn why the QPB approach works in the real world, and you will see how to run the events, engage stakeholders, and adjust your living roadmaps in a way that your entire organization and customer base can understand.

What you will learn

  • What the QPB approach achieves
  • What form a QPB takes
  • How to engage stakeholders in QPBs.
  • How to run a QPB.
  • How to manage and validate outputs from QPBs
  • How to drive a living roadmap by QPB outcomes

About the workshop approach

Our workshop approach is highly practical — we ensure you have a solid grounding in the key aspects under discussion, and we provide real-world examples of successful implementations. More importantly, the practical labs means you will work on the concepts for real — you can choose to use our scenarios, or you can bring your own project.

You will also receive valuable feedback and suggestions for improvement for your lab results after the workshop has been completed.

Contact us for private workshops

QPBs and Fluid Roadmaps

Module 1
  • The value of the QPB Approach
    Presentation
  • Goals of the QPB

    Presentation

  • The research and insights section
    Presentation
  • Swim lanes in the QPB
    Presentation
  • The issues and actions section
    Presentation

Planning QPBs

Module 2
  • Engaging stakeholders
    Presentation
  • Creating QPB templates

    Presentation

  • Delivering valuable research and insights
    Presentation
  • Planning effective swim lane presentations
    Presentation
  • Coaching swim lane leaders
    Presentation
  • Creating a QPB template
    Lab

QPB Outputs and Actions

Module 3
  • Tracking open issues during a QPB
    Presentation
  • Managing 'So-Whats'

    Presentation

  • Managing 'Go-Dos'

    Presentation

  • Tracking outputs and actions
    Lab

Driving Fluid Roadmaps

Module 4
  • When and how to adjust PR/FAQs
    Presentation
  • Re-prioritization of roadmaps

    Presentation

  • Making major changes to roadmaps

    Presentation

  • Communicating roadmap changes

    Presentation

avatar

Martin Harwar

Product leader, conference speaker, lead instructor, successful entrepreneur

About Martin

Martin Harwar has a successful track record of founding Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) companies, defining product visions, putting in place execution stratgies, and taking software companies to successful exits.

He received the 'Microsoft Most Valuable Professional' (MVP) award for seven consecutive years, and has spoken at international conferences on behalf of the SharePoint and Office 365 product teams. When he is not delivering training classes for Oxford Product Group, he leads the Skills Copilot for Microsoft 365 team as Product Director.

Assembling Product Teams Workshop

Successful products are built by successful product teams. But what does a successful team look like? What skills does a Chief Product Officer need? How about Heads of Product and Product Managers? And how do Product Owners, Product Designers, and Agile Delivery Managers excel in their roles?

By planning the shape of your product team and identifying the skills each role needs, you put your organization in the best possible position to deliver on product visions, strategy, and execution.

In this workshop, you will explore each of the roles in a product team, identify the skills, knowledge, competencies, behaviors and attitudes of each role, and work through the process of assembling a successful group of professionals who can deliver on your organization’s goals.

What you will learn about

  • The strategic and tactical roles in a product team
  • What ‘good’ looks like for Chief Product Officers
  • Effective skills required by Heads of Product and Product Managers
  • Critical differences between the skillsets of Product Managers and Product Owners
  • Specialized skills required by Product Designers
  • Ensuring Agile Delivery Managers complement the skills of the team

About the workshop approach

Our workshop approach is highly practical — we ensure you have a solid grounding in the key aspects under discussion, and we provide real-world examples of successful implementations. More importantly, the practical labs means you will work on the concepts for real — you can choose to use our scenarios, or you can bring your own project.

You will also receive valuable feedback and suggestions for improvement for your lab results after the workshop has been completed.

Contact us for private workshops

Typical Product Roles

Module 1
  • The Chief Product Officer
    Presentation
  • Heads of Product and Product Directors

    Presentation

  • Product Managers
    Presentation
  • Product Owners
    Presentation
  • Product Designers
    Presentation
  • Agile Delivery Managers
    Presentation
  • Exploring and clustering product roles
    Lab

Successful Chief Product Officers

Module 2
  • What does 'good' look like?
    Presentation
  • Growing into the CPO role

    Presentation

  • Challenges facing most CPOs
    Presentation
  • Typical interactions with other roles
    Presentation
  • Creating a CPO role
    Lab

Heads of Product and Product Directors

Module 3
  • What does 'good' look like?
    Presentation
  • Growing into the leadership roles

    Presentation

  • Challenges facing most Product Leaders
    Presentation
  • Typical interactions with other roles
    Presentation
  • Creating a Head of Product role
    Lab

Successful Product Managers

Module 4
  • What does 'good' look like?
    Presentation
  • Growing into the Product Management role

    Presentation

  • Challenges facing most Product Managers
    Presentation
  • Typical interactions with other roles
    Presentation
  • Creating a Product Manager role
    Lab

Successful Product Owners

Module 5
  • What does 'good' look like?
    Presentation
  • Paths into the Product Owner role

    Presentation

  • Challenges facing most Product Owners
    Presentation
  • Typical interactions with other roles
    Presentation
  • Creating a Product Owner role
    Lab

Product Designers

Module 6
  • What does 'good' look like?
    Presentation
  • Mixing creativity and technical aptitudes

    Presentation

  • Challenges facing most designers
    Presentation
  • Typical interactions with other roles
    Presentation
  • Creating a Product Designer role
    Lab

The Agile Delivery Manager

Module 7
  • What does 'good' look like?
    Presentation
  • Leading without authority

    Presentation

  • Challenges facing most Agile Delivery Managers
    Presentation
  • Typical interactions with other roles
    Presentation
  • Creating an Agile Delivery Manager role
    Lab
avatar

Martin Harwar

Product leader, conference speaker, lead instructor, successful entrepreneur

About Martin

Martin Harwar has a successful track record of founding Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) companies, defining product visions, putting in place execution stratgies, and taking software companies to successful exits.

He received the 'Microsoft Most Valuable Professional' (MVP) award for seven consecutive years, and has spoken at international conferences on behalf of the SharePoint and Office 365 product teams. When he is not delivering training classes for Oxford Product Group, he leads the Skills Copilot for Microsoft 365 team as Product Director.

Online Classes

Product Vision and Strategy

When it comes to product discovery and vision, the most successful technology companies in the world take an approach called ‘PR/FAQ’ (Press Release/Frequently Asked Questions).

By formalizing the PR/FAQ as the FIRST real artifact in any product lifecycle, you are able to ‘work backward’ from a high-probability of market fit, while ensuring all stakeholders are on the same journey as your product team.

In this workshop, you will learn why the PR-FAQ approach works in the real world, and you will see how to construct the three sections of ‘Press Release’, ‘External FAQ’ and ‘Internal FAQ’.

What you will learn

  • What the PR/FAQ approach achieves
  • What form a PR/FAQ takes
  • Who the PR/FAQ is targeted at
  • How to create the PR section
  • How to create the external FAQ section
  • How to create the internal FAQ section
  • How to communicate the PR/FAQ
  • How to maintain a PR/FAQ when external factors change

About our online classes

Our approach to online classes is not just based on you watching videos and consuming content. We provide a series of engaging presentations to give you the foundations you will need — but just as importantly, the practical labs mean that you will work on the concepts for real. You can choose to use our scenarios in these labs, or you can bring your own real-world projects.

You will submit your labs when you are happy with them, and you will then receive valuable feedback and suggestions for improvement from a real expert.

Contact us for private classes

Foundations of the PR/FAQ Approach

Module 1
  • What the PR/FAQ approach achieves
    Presentation
  • What form a PR/FAQ takes

    Presentation

  • Who the PR/FAQ is targeted at
    Presentation
  • Reviewing a real-world PR/FAQ
    Lab

Constructing a PR/FAQ

Module 2
  • The PR section
    Presentation
  • The external FAQ section

    Presentation

  • The internal FAQ section
    Presentation
  • Creating a PR/FAQ
    Lab

Communicating the PR/FAQ to stakeholders

Module 3
  • PR/FAQs and the product team
    Presentation
  • PR/FAQs and the business stakeholders

    Presentation

  • Creating PR/FAQ communications
    Lab

Maintaining PR/FAQs

Module 4
  • Opening Up the PR section
    Presentation
  • Opening Up the internal FAQ section

    Presentation

  • Incorporating external feedback

    Presentation

  • Driving quarterly product boards (QPBs)

    Presentation

avatar

Martin Harwar

Product leader, conference speaker, lead instructor, successful entrepreneur

About Martin

Martin Harwar has a successful track record of founding Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) companies, defining product visions, putting in place execution stratgies, and taking software companies to successful exits.

He received the 'Microsoft Most Valuable Professional' (MVP) award for seven consecutive years, and has spoken at international conferences on behalf of the SharePoint and Office 365 product teams. When he is not delivering training classes for Oxford Product Group, he leads the Skills Copilot for Microsoft 365 team as Product Director.

Fluid Roadmaps

When it comes to managing product direction and roadmaps in response to changing market conditions and unanticipated events, the most successful technology companies in the world run Quarterly Product Boards (QPB).

By formalizing the creation, management, and feedback cycles of QPB events, you continually ensure a high-probability of market fit, while keeping all stakeholders engaged on the same journey as your product team.

In this workshop, you will learn why the QPB approach works in the real world, and you will see how to run the events, engage stakeholders, and adjust your living roadmaps in a way that your entire organization and customer base can understand.

What you will learn

  • What the QPB approach achieves
  • What form a QPB takes
  • How to engage stakeholders in QPBs.
  • How to run a QPB.
  • How to manage and validate outputs from QPBs
  • How to drive a living roadmap by QPB outcomes

About our online classes

Our approach to online classes is not just based on you watching videos and consuming content. We provide a series of engaging presentations to give you the foundations you will need — but just as importantly, the practical labs mean that you will work on the concepts for real. You can choose to use our scenarios in these labs, or you can bring your own real-world projects.

You will submit your labs when you are happy with them, and you will then receive valuable feedback and suggestions for improvement from a real expert.

Contact us for private classes

QPBs and Fluid Roadmaps

Module 1
  • The value of the QPB Approach
    Presentation
  • Goals of the QPB

    Presentation

  • The research and insights section
    Presentation
  • Swim lanes in the QPB
    Presentation
  • The issues and actions section
    Presentation

Planning QPBs

Module 2
  • Engaging stakeholders
    Presentation
  • Creating QPB templates

    Presentation

  • Delivering valuable research and insights
    Presentation
  • Planning effective swim lane presentations
    Presentation
  • Coaching swim lane leaders
    Presentation
  • Creating a QPB template
    Lab

QPB Outputs and Actions

Module 3
  • Tracking open issues during a QPB
    Presentation
  • Managing 'So-Whats'

    Presentation

  • Managing 'Go-Dos'

    Presentation

  • Tracking outputs and actions
    Lab

Driving Fluid Roadmaps

Module 4
  • When and how to adjust PR/FAQs
    Presentation
  • Re-prioritization of roadmaps

    Presentation

  • Making major changes to roadmaps

    Presentation

  • Communicating roadmap changes

    Presentation

avatar

Martin Harwar

Product leader, conference speaker, lead instructor, successful entrepreneur

About Martin

Martin Harwar has a successful track record of founding Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) companies, defining product visions, putting in place execution stratgies, and taking software companies to successful exits.

He received the 'Microsoft Most Valuable Professional' (MVP) award for seven consecutive years, and has spoken at international conferences on behalf of the SharePoint and Office 365 product teams. When he is not delivering training classes for Oxford Product Group, he leads the Skills Copilot for Microsoft 365 team as Product Director.

Product Team Skills

Successful products are built by successful product teams. But what does a successful team look like? What skills does a Chief Product Officer need? How about Heads of Product and Product Managers? And how do Product Owners, Product Designers, and Agile Delivery Managers excel in their roles?

By planning the shape of your product team and identifying the skills each role needs, you put your organization in the best possible position to deliver on product visions, strategy, and execution.

In this workshop, you will explore each of the roles in a product team, identify the skills, knowledge, competencies, behaviors and attitudes of each role, and work through the process of assembling a successful group of professionals who can deliver on your organization’s goals.

What you will learn about

  • The strategic and tactical roles in a product team
  • What ‘good’ looks like for Chief Product Officers
  • Effective skills required by Heads of Product and Product Managers
  • Critical differences between the skillsets of Product Managers and Product Owners
  • Specialized skills required by Product Designers
  • Ensuring Agile Delivery Managers complement the skills of the team

About our online classes

Our approach to online classes is not just based on you watching videos and consuming content. We provide a series of engaging presentations to give you the foundations you will need — but just as importantly, the practical labs mean that you will work on the concepts for real. You can choose to use our scenarios in these labs, or you can bring your own real-world projects.

You will submit your labs when you are happy with them, and you will then receive valuable feedback and suggestions for improvement from a real expert.

Contact us for private classes

Typical Product Roles

Module 1
  • The Chief Product Officer
    Presentation
  • Heads of Product and Product Directors

    Presentation

  • Product Managers
    Presentation
  • Product Owners
    Presentation
  • Product Designers
    Presentation
  • Agile Delivery Managers
    Presentation
  • Exploring and clustering product roles
    Lab

Successful Chief Product Officers

Module 2
  • What does 'good' look like?
    Presentation
  • Growing into the CPO role

    Presentation

  • Challenges facing most CPOs
    Presentation
  • Typical interactions with other roles
    Presentation
  • Creating a CPO role
    Lab

Heads of Product and Product Directors

Module 3
  • What does 'good' look like?
    Presentation
  • Growing into the leadership roles

    Presentation

  • Challenges facing most Product Leaders
    Presentation
  • Typical interactions with other roles
    Presentation
  • Creating a Head of Product role
    Lab

Successful Product Managers

Module 4
  • What does 'good' look like?
    Presentation
  • Growing into the Product Management role

    Presentation

  • Challenges facing most Product Managers
    Presentation
  • Typical interactions with other roles
    Presentation
  • Creating a Product Manager role
    Lab

Successful Product Owners

Module 5
  • What does 'good' look like?
    Presentation
  • Paths into the Product Owner role

    Presentation

  • Challenges facing most Product Owners
    Presentation
  • Typical interactions with other roles
    Presentation
  • Creating a Product Owner role
    Lab

Product Designers

Module 6
  • What does 'good' look like?
    Presentation
  • Mixing creativity and technical aptitudes

    Presentation

  • Challenges facing most designers
    Presentation
  • Typical interactions with other roles
    Presentation
  • Creating a Product Designer role
    Lab

The Agile Delivery Manager

Module 7
  • What does 'good' look like?
    Presentation
  • Leading without authority

    Presentation

  • Challenges facing most Agile Delivery Managers
    Presentation
  • Typical interactions with other roles
    Presentation
  • Creating an Agile Delivery Manager role
    Lab
avatar

Martin Harwar

Product leader, conference speaker, lead instructor, successful entrepreneur

About Martin

Martin Harwar has a successful track record of founding Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) companies, defining product visions, putting in place execution stratgies, and taking software companies to successful exits.

He received the 'Microsoft Most Valuable Professional' (MVP) award for seven consecutive years, and has spoken at international conferences on behalf of the SharePoint and Office 365 product teams. When he is not delivering training classes for Oxford Product Group, he leads the Skills Copilot for Microsoft 365 team as Product Director.

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