Home Sweet Home

 Getting your house constructed does not demand any less skills than steering the product management arena. I elucidate my experiences with my house construction using the analogy of product management.

Let’s look at the one-to-one mappings between Product Management and Construction.

• Product: House

• Product Manager (PM): Owners 

• Designer: Architect

• Engineer: Builder

• Users: Owners

Owners as Product Managers in the construction process:

• The owner owns the house, but is not a manager of anyone. The owner is required to influence the team (read architect, builder, home interiors)  with the product vision.

• The owner is a communicator that puts all the pieces together by getting feedback from everyone else.

• The owner is a communications hub, a prioritizer, a researcher and most importantly responsible for the success of the construction of the house.

A Waterfall Model:

Building a house involves using the Waterfall framework.

• All the features of the product are considered, and are developed at the same time.

• It is harder to adapt to the feedback after you’ve built something.

• The waterfall framework is the opposite of agile.

Product Life Cycle:

The functions of a PM vary over the course of the product life cycle. 

• Idea and Planning Phase

• Brainstormed the size of the house, # of floors, # of rooms subject to the constraints of site dimension and budget.

• We zeroed on the builder and the architect, both being acquaintances, and presented our project proposal.

• We created a cohesive roadmap for the team with a planned move-in date.

• We also defined what success looks like once the project meets its closure.

• Design Phase

• During the life cycle of certain products, the PMs write specs including wireframes. Here, the architect worked on the 2D and 3D floor plans based on our requirements. There were multiple iterations involved.

• A BOQ (Bill Of Quantities) document was prepared by the architect and the builder. This document lists the construction items, their quantities and the price. As owners, we had to make decisions on the items that go into the construction of the building, and also ensure that we do not go overboard on the cost.

• Implementation Phase

• During implementation, one of the most important parts of the job is helping the team work efficiently. This involves on-time payments for labor and procurement of materials.

• We used to check in regularly to learn the progress, and were involved in resolving any issues that would arise occasionally on site.

• We signed-off on our MVP (Minimum Viable Product), bereft of home interiors.

• We outsourced the job of designing home interiors to an interior expert, and looped them in the execution.

• Release and Handover Phase

• We prepared a handover checklist including electrical switch board installation, lighting and fans installation, plumbing fixtures, home interiors, final coat of paint and the like. 

• Ensured that the electrical and plumbing teams are available for support post move-in.

Finally the experience of residing in your house shapes into its true form when your team resonates with your frequency.