You need to deliver with limited resources.
Your biggest challenge is “the prioritization of the projects with the biggest impact”.
So, how to decide on next quarter’s initiatives when you have tons of ideas!
Amazon’s Backwards Methodology helped me to decide on the projects that I need to focus on.
What’s Amazon’s Backwards Methodology?
- Originally, a product development approach
- Starts with the team imagining the product is ready to ship
- The first step is to draft a press release —Imagine it as an internal-only press release announcing the final product (which we will call as the “deliverable”)
The press release should be including the following:
- Heading. This could be the product’s name, preferably framed in a way that makes it appealing to customers.
- Subheading. What is the core benefit of the product in a single line? (This can be a tough one, but it’s a very powerful way of refining a product vision).
- Summary. As the name suggests, simply summarize what the product does along with its main benefit.
- Problem. What is the specific problem this product exists to solve?
- Solution. How does the product solve the problem?
- Quote from you. Create a fictional spokesperson and ask for a one-liner explaining why this product is a must-have.
- How to get started. Explain why it’s so easy to hit the ground running with this product.
- Customer quote. Break the cardinal rule, and knowingly invent a customer testimonial. Again, this brings the focus back to the customer.
- Closing and call to action. Finish up the press release by letting the reader know how to find out more or start using the product.
The good news, you can apply this methodology even though you are not in the product development area!
Just replace the word “product” with the name of the deliverable or project.
And the “customer” with the name of your stakeholders according to your profession.
(Here, you can find the template for the press release available on the internet)
Why?
- Drafting a press release is easy and helps you visualize the outcome in multiple dimensions
- To look at the deliverables through a customer lens, not feature focus but benefit focused
We organized a team workshop about this method to test the efficiency. Why don’t you give it a try?
After you write the press release, please read it aloud, then ask yourself “should we invest in this?”