Product Development
Product Development tends to be a bit of a black-hole in most organizations. The area least understood by the other departments. This can challenge the CEO in terms of how leadership team dynamics are managed. Everyone often has a "knowledgeable" opinion about Sales and Marketing but few can have a knowledgeable opinion on building software products. This conflict can be especially strong when the CEO and the Sales VP come from primarily business backgrounds and the technical leader is a type A personality.
The best end results tend to come from development teams that have whole product responsibility. Product Development tends to be the best department name to use although Software Development or Engineering also seem to be used. Using the word Product or Solution in the title helps the team understand it is responsible for more than just the code but the complete package the user is expecting.
Getting Product Development right, ideally from the start, is an essential goal for growing a new business. Other areas can be changed, re-organized, carry new objectives, etc and largely realize results in as little as a few weeks. A poor Product Development capability takes months or even years to properly fix, let alone recover from any damage created in the eyes of the target market. So let's explore Product Development from a variety of angles to make sure it operates with the values of excellence needed. (Product Development Topics)