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Medium

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Setting North Star Metrics & Leading Indicators

Identifying which metrics to track can be a challenge for product managers, as not all numbers are relevant to their product. A North Star metric, which describes the core value your product provides to users, can help guide the selection of leading indicators and other metrics. To establish a North Star metric, product managers must articulate the basic facets of their product. They can then isolate the core interaction, such as the cycle of uploading a video and receiving feedback, which becomes the North Star metric. Leading indicators are metrics that your team directly influences, which are predictive of how your product will perform. These metrics should be thought of as driving North Star metric performance. Finally, knowing your product's growth phase will help you determine which metrics matter most at the current time.
North Star metrics should be based on the core value a product delivers to its users, not just any ol' number. For example, if you build a product that allows people to upload videos of themselves exercising and receive feedback from professional athletes, then the number of feedback cycles could become your North Star metric.
Product managers need to know which metrics to track and which are irrelevant. Using a North Star metric can help. A North Star metric is the one core metric that best describes the value a product delivers to its users — feedback cycles in the exercise app example above.
Leading indicators are metrics that the product team directly influences and that are predictive of how the product will perform. So if the product team drives up these metrics, then the North Star metric will get better.
To help determine which metric to focus on, consider where your product is in terms of growth. For a product that has just launched, focus on indicators that get users on to, and using, your product.
A North Star metric is the core metric of a product that best displays value to the end user. When thinking about North Star metrics, it is important to also know which metrics to track that can impact the North Star metric performance. These are called Leading metrics.
Leading Indicators are metrics that the product teams directly influence and predict the performance of the North Star Metric. Knowing the product phase and understanding where the product is more valuable can help determine which North Star and Leading indicators to track.
A North Start Metric is the keystone metric for your business – it's the one metric that determines everything. It's the metric that makes or breaks your business, whether or not users stick around or churn out.
North Star metrics should be based on the core value a product delivers to its user. A North Star metric is a business metric that drives growth and is focused on the customer. Examples include weekly active users and monthly recurring revenue, among others.
Product managers can make creating a North Star metric easier by following these guidelines: understand your product's primary value, identify the critical customer interaction, and then link those to a key metric. From there, Leading Indicators can be determined to guide progress towards improving the North Star metric.

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Scrum

340

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The Benefits Of Agile

Agile provides several benefits including navigating complexity, increasing predictability, delivering value sooner, and boosting team morale.
Despite years of investments in organizational agility, many organizations believe they do not fully gain from Agile's potential benefits.
To address this, it is recommended to create a shared understanding of Agile's benefits, involve management and stakeholders, measure progress, promote continuous improvement, and prioritize organizational needs over specific frameworks.
Open-mindedness and collaboration are key in optimizing the benefits of Agile.

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Scrum

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Descale Your Busy Cross-Product Portfolio By Organizing Around Products

To descale a busy cross-product portfolio, it is important to organize around outcomes.
Empowering product teams by providing decision rights, resources, and skills can minimize dependencies.
Identify constraints and explore options such as product topology and self-service platforms.
Evaluate design options based on the localization of work, change from the current state, risks, and alignment with strategy.

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Medium

291

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Project Management Methodologies Explained: From Waterfall to Agile, Scrum, and Kanban

The Waterfall method is a linear and sequential approach to project management, ideal for projects with well-defined requirements.
Agile is a dynamic and iterative methodology that breaks projects into smaller cycles for progressive delivery and customer feedback.
Scrum is an Agile framework that helps teams work efficiently by breaking projects into smaller tasks called sprints.
Kanban focuses on visualizing workflows and minimizing bottlenecks, making it effective for ongoing task management and process improvement.

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Dev

328

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Definition of Done, Definition of Ready and Acceptance Criteria are not the same darn thing

The Definition of Done (DoD) is a critical factor in successful product delivery.
DoDs are often established but not followed, leading to quality issues and technical debt.
Neglecting a robust DoD results in hidden interest payments on future development.
The DoD is a strategic quality management framework that enhances predictability and reduces technical debt.

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Scrum-Master-Toolbox

Xmas Special: Breaking Down the Wall Between Product and Engineering With Vasco Duarte

The wall between Product and Engineering teams is a persistent divide in software development.
Vasco Duarte challenges the status quo and advocates for seamless collaboration between Product and Engineering teams.
He shares success stories of organizations breaking down barriers and achieving innovation through collaboration.
Vasco envisions a future where Product and Engineering work side-by-side in shared spaces of collaboration and value creation.

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Scrum

18h

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What a Waste!

Applying leadership concepts for simple and predictable environments to an Agile environment can create inefficiencies and waste
The idea of maximizing utilization of people and resources backfires in an Agile environment, where flexibility and cross-skilling is of utmost importance
Velocity is a measure of how much work can be delivered per Sprint and is used for planning purposes only
Velocity is specific to a team and cannot be compared between two Scrum teams, because different teams assign different point values based on their complexity, skill levels and goals
Sign-off requirements, used as controls to limit changes, creates tension and delays. Instead, Agile teams must be nimble, adaptable and prioritize the outcomes over rigid processes and metrics
Agile empowers Product Owners as a single authority for their Product Backlog by enabling swift adjustments that keep the team aligned with delivering the most value
In Agile environments, success depends on adaptability, prioritization, and focusing on outcomes rather than outdated metrics or rigid processes
Agile leaders who want to learn more about Scrum can signup for Rebel Scrum's upcoming Applying Professional Scrum course
Agile leaders who want to signup for Professional Agile Leadership class can learn more about it
By rethinking traditional concepts like utilization, velocity, and sign-offs, organizations can avoid waste and fully realize the value of Agile

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Medium

20h

274

Protecting Against Scope Creep: Essential Considerations for Product Leaders.

To manage scope effectively, establish a structured process for evaluating and approving changes.
Focus on increasing velocity rather than just speed to drive true innovation and product success.
Prioritize ruthlessly by evaluating features, tasks, and change requests based on impact and strategic alignment.
Communicate priorities clearly, set clear acceptance criteria, and foster transparency around trade-offs and decision-making.

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Medium

20h

PMs job in a sentence: Align on Value and Clarity

The Clarity-Opportunity-Debt Matrix is a tool that helps sort through tasks based on clarity, value as opportunities, and cost as unresolved debt.
High clarity leads to predictable execution, accurate estimates, and reliable roadmaps.
The matrix focuses on moving from unclear to clear and understanding the value of opportunities and debt.
The middle zone helps identify and manage low-priority work.

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Medium

21h

Clarity-Driven Prioritization: Stop Playing Product Roulette

Clarity is essential for effective prioritization in product development.
Teams with high clarity are more efficient and successful.
To determine the worth of a task, assess its alignment with goals and impact on key metrics.
Improving clarity can transform a risky feature into a calculated bet.

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Scrum-Master-Toolbox

171

Xmas Special: From Project-Driven to Flow-Driven Software Development in 2025 with Vasco Duarte

Vasco Duarte emphasizes the failure of managing software development as construction projects.
He advocates for an adaptive, flow-based approach to software development.
Vasco identifies flaws in project-driven software development: assumption of stability, front-loaded decisions, and artificial boundaries.
He introduces a three-step framework for flow-based software development: continuous delivery, incremental funding, and goal-oriented teams.

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Scrum-Master-Toolbox

339

BONUS: A Coaching Masterclass – How Our Language Affects Our Leadership Style, And The Culture We Create, With Michelle Pauk and Victor Pena

Language plays a significant role in shaping workplace culture and relationships.
Feedback focuses on the past, while feedforward promotes future-oriented improvement.
Language ambiguity affects communication and decision-making in Agile practices.
Symbols are crucial in Agile practices like visual management to facilitate collaboration.

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Medium

330

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Running AI Prototyping Projects

AI projects benefit from keeping things simple, especially at the beginning.
Low-fidelity prototypes, such as paper prototypes, are effective in conveying the vision of an AI system.
Paper prototypes are easy to make, understand, and prevent misinterpretation.
Software like Figma or Balsamiq can be used to create more complex prototypes.

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Scrum-Master-Toolbox

Karthiga Seturaj: The Isolated Product Owner, Lacking Collaboration and Engagement

Karthiga Seturaj discusses the characteristics of a great Product Owner.
She highlights the challenges faced by the isolated Product Owner who lacks collaboration and engagement.
The article emphasizes the importance of strong relationships with developers and testers for effective Product Ownership.
Karthiga Seturaj urges Product Owners to foster collaboration and active communication with their teams.

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Kanbanzone

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How to Optimize Project Workflow with a Cloud-First Strategy

Optimizing project workflow requires implementing a cloud-first strategy to benefit from flexible, cost-efficient cloud services.
Cloud-first involves prioritizing cloud-based solutions over on-premises tools for storing data, applications, and data activation.
Cloud-based tools allow remote data access, collaboration, and resource scaling, with the ability to adapt to changing business needs.
Implementing a cloud-first workflow involves assessing current workflow, selecting the right cloud-based tools, migration planning, and training and support.
Best practices include defining guidelines for cloud tool use, automating repetitive tasks, creating a centralized storage system, prioritizing security, and embracing agile methodology.
Project management software such as Kanban Zone allows teams to collaborate in real-time, store records of progression, and analyze team performance and productivity.
Communication and collaboration tools include instant messaging, video conferencing, and file sharing and storage solutions provided by cloud-based providers like Microsoft Teams, Dropbox, and Google Drive.
Creating a comprehensive migration plan and offering ample cloud training and support are critical to a successful cloud-first project workflow.
With a cloud-first strategy, businesses can modernize their IT infrastructure and enhance overall project efficiency at lower costs.
Cloud-first strategies are particularly efficient and helpful for remote work, as they enable employees to access data and apps from different devices and locations easily.

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