Growth is great. Until it breaks your team.
More products. More teams. More tools. More meetings.
But not necessarily more clarity.
If your organization has ever said, “We need product ops,” odds are you’re already in the weeds. Growth adds complexity, and if you scale without a plan, you don’t just end up working harder—you end up working against yourself.
In our recent Productside Stories webinar, Ryan Cantwell (Principal Consultant & Trainer) at Productside) joined our COO Cynthia Petti to break down what product operations (ProdOps) actually is, how to spot when you need it, and (just as importantly) how to avoid turning it into another layer of process that slows everyone down.
Let’s walk through how teams stall, where product ops fits in, and how to build it with intention.
The Hidden Cost of Growth: Misalignment
“What worked for 10 people won’t work for 100. But throwing more tools or roles at it just creates noise if you don’t solve the root problem.”
Growth reveals cracks in your product organization. More PMs, more tools, more roadmaps—and less alignment. You end up with:
- Multiple roadmaps but no shared priorities
- PMs stepping on each other’s toes
- Dashboards galore, but zero signal
Before long, you’ve built what we call a meeting maze. Everyone’s busy, but no one’s clear. And that’s when someone says, “Maybe we need product ops.”
But here’s the thing: if product ops is a reaction to chaos, and not a solution to the right problem, it just becomes a Band-Aid. You need to treat the root issue, not the symptoms.
So, What Is Product Operations (or Just “Product Ops”)?
Nope, it’s not project management in disguise.
Product operations is a strategic function, not a tactical support role. Think of your PMs as drivers and product ops as the pit crew. PMs don’t win races by driving harder—they win when someone’s removing friction, refueling the engine, and handing them the data they need to stay ahead.
Done right, product operations:
- Establishes consistent rituals and reusable workflows
- Bridges go-to-market and product
- Makes data actionable—not just accessible
- Accelerates strategy by enabling clarity and execution
- It’s not about owning the process. It’s about removing drag.
Where Product Operations Delivers Real Impact
Through years of working with product teams, we’ve seen three areas where product operations consistently unlocks value: discipline, translation, and insights.
1. Discipline: Standardizing for scale
When every PM is running their own sprint ritual and backlog format, you don’t have autonomy—you have entropy. Product ops brings order to the chaos by introducing:
- Shared cadences
- Standard rituals
- Reusable templates and tools
- This isn’t about stifling creativity—it’s about freeing PMs from reinvention so they can focus on strategic work.
2. Translation: Aligning across functions
Without product ops, go-to-market often feels like broken telephone. Sales doesn’t know what’s launching. Marketing asks, “What is this feature even for?”
Product ops fixes that by:
- Creating GTM checklists
- Leading roadmap previews with cross-functional teams
- Turning features into clear, customer-facing narratives
When product, sales, and marketing speak the same language, launches land—and revenue follows.
3. Insights: Turning data into direction
Most PMs are drowning in dashboards but starving for clarity. Product ops doesn’t add more data. It makes what you already have usable.
It helps teams:
- Define trusted metrics
- Clean up the tooling mess
- Use data in prioritization, not just retros
- Because metrics should fuel better decisions—not just decorate slides.
What to Focus on in Your First 90 Days
You don’t need to fix everything out of the gate. You just need to prove that product operations creates lift.
Start by identifying one high-friction point in your product process (launch chaos, roadmap misalignment, inconsistent rituals) and solve it. A few practical steps:
- Conduct empathy interviews with PMs and stakeholders
- Shadow planning sessions to spot inconsistencies
- Roll out one lightweight, high-impact solution (like a shared roadmap template or GTM checklist)
“The moment PMs feel enabled (not policed) product ops earns its place.”
When people start breathing easier, you’ll know you’re on the right track.
How to Scale with Intention: The Product Ops Maturity Model
Growing product ops isn’t about adding headcount. It’s about increasing clarity.
Here’s the 4-stage model we use to help teams scale with purpose:
|
Stage |
What It Looks Like |
Risk |
Level-Up Move |
|---|---|---|---|
|
1. No Ops |
Every PM manages their own process |
Chaos, burnout, inconsistency |
Appoint a central ops lead with clear scope |
|
2. Shadow Ops |
Someone owns ops part-time, off the side of their desk |
Fragility, role confusion |
Focus on one workflow and prove value |
|
3. Tactical Ops |
Dedicated team, but stuck in execution |
Strategic blind spots |
Embed ops in planning, discovery, and GTM |
|
4. Strategic Ops |
Ops is upstream, accelerating strategy |
— |
Use metrics to scale what’s working |
Talking About Product Ops with Stakeholders
When you’re selling product ops internally, don’t pitch it as a job description. Pitch it as a force multiplier.
Instead of saying, “We need someone to manage templates,” try:
“Right now, our PMs are making judgment calls with bad data and spending more time in meetings than with customers.”
In other words: don’t sell activity. Sell acceleration.
3 Common Traps to Avoid
-
Tooling without intent
New software won’t fix your alignment problem. Start with friction, not features.
-
Metrics without decisions
If a metric doesn’t change how you act, it’s just noise. Anchor on what drives decision-making.
-
Ops as a cop
Product ops isn’t there to enforce process purity. It’s there to create space for strategy. Be a coach, not a gatekeeper.
Final Thought: Treat Product Ops Like a Product
The biggest mistake teams make? Launching product ops like it’s a role to fill, not a system to build.
Use your product skills:
- Define the pain
- Build the smallest solution
- Test its value
- Iterate and scale
“Most failed ops functions didn’t fall apart from incompetence. They collapsed under the weight of good intentions and zero clarity.”
So start small. Remove drag. And build a system where great product work actually has room to happen.
Want to put these ideas into practice?
- Watch the full webinar to hear how real teams are using product operations to scale without chaos.
- Download the Product Management Leader First 90 Days Template Pack—your jumpstart guide for setting priorities, aligning stakeholders, and leading with clarity from day one.
- Explore the Optimal Product Management course if you’re ready to sharpen your strategy, improve team alignment, and lead product work that actually works.
Is product ops unlocking your team’s best work—or just another layer of noise? We’d love to hear your take. Join the conversation on LinkedIn.
Let’s make product work… actually work.
