The other week, when the new company goals were shared on InsideJMP, my natural inclination, probably like most of you, was to figure out where I belong and to ensure that what I do aligns with these new goals.
But also like most of you, we quickly realize that’s only the first piece of the puzzle. In order for JMP to be the most effective, we also need to understand the different network of teams, and how they are coordinating/aligning to achieve that company vision. And once again, we realize, that alignment is incredibly hard.
To fully explain my thoughts on the alignment piece, let’s back up to a few weeks ago…
Mid-February, my husband sent me this twitter thread that talked about the importance of company alignment (freaking great thread btw - worth a read). And it had this image in it.
I had a meeting a few days later, shared this image with a larger group where I reiterated my excitement and passion to move towards a flavor of company B.
The reaction was essentially…. silence. Sooo…. I wasn’t sure how to take that (lack of) response. Does no one agree with this concept? Am I the only one feeling out of place and misaligned? Or does everyone agree so there is nothing to react to? What was I missing?
Either way, I am going to double down on this concept because it’s important, and its even more important to talk about. Particularly, with this new set of goals and as JMP develops into a new company, we have an opportunity to think differently, to think bigger about how we can better align not only internally, but also with our customers.
So, in true Sara fashion, I critique myself asking where do I fall? Am I a part of the problem or the solution? The answer: Both.
Being A Part of the Problem
My job, while I love it, its straight up weird. Google ‘product marketing’ (yes, I have googled my job before 
) and you will get various results. It can be a lot of different things in different organizations. I am not in marketing, not in sales, technically in product management at JMP but do some sales enablement stuff and marketing stuff…. So yeah, you can see the issue. And when you sit in this grey area it’s hard to know where to focus and how to best align. And if I’m honest, can be one of the hardest parts of the job.
The other side of that same coin is that I need to step up my game of internally communicating how product marketing relates and aligns to other groups and overarching goals. Now, after a few years of being in the role, being more confident in where I fit, this is something I have started trying to do more of, but it’s definitely an area of improvement for 2022 (this article being an example of that).
Being A Part of the Solution
While sitting in that middle ground can create confusion, it also provides ample opportunity to help connect and build alignment. Not only between these three groups, but also with customer needs and company goals.
Alignment on how we position JMP.
Even though the workflow has existed since the very first version of JMP, there was never a standard framework on how to show or to talk about it (top image). Since last year’s Beyond the User training, it has essentially become a central element of how we can position JMP and is regularly shown as a central element of sales team’s strategies. Global teams have adopted it in various ways, it’s on our homepage, the community is aligning their content around it, we are promoting it at discoveries, and we continue to develop more and build out this overall JMP capabilities framework and story.
Alignment to customer’s needs.
JMP is in the process of developing what I believe is our first legit taxonomy – mapping our core market’s needs and challenges to our products and capabilities at a global, company-wide scale. Providing this clear classification, along with several other projects, will be critical to how our company scales by ultimately driving consistency across the organization. This can help align everything from field marketing initiatives, content development, product feature prioritization, onboarding new sales members. The list could go on…
Alignment to company goals and initiatives.
This brings us full circle, back to where this all started with the company goals. Now, this is an old slide, but does a decent job of showing where product marketing efforts seem to align.
Most, if not all, of the projects have centered around these 5 strategies: drive awareness, sell beyond the user, enable advocates, penetrate core markets, and find new ways to talk higher, bigger. Things that point directly to the company goals.
Reaching for the Same Things
As I showed this image in that meeting back in February, I also made sure to point out what I considered to be THE MOST IMPORTANT PART: That the lines for company B aren’t straight intentionally. There's more than one line /endpoint intentionally. There are unique paths, that bend and turn in different ways. The key is that they are all pointing in the same direction.
What this tells me is that there is more than one answer. There is more than one way to achieve success. There’s more than one voice, more than one group. That alignment isn’t about control or micromanaging, but rather reaching for the same things.
A lot of times I feel like I am my own island, asking myself, where does this fall with other’s work? Is this going to help our company develop into something stronger, better? Unfortunately, I don’t always have answers.
These new goals provide new opportunities and plus there’s just SO MUCH GOOD happening in all departments. And I am sure there is more to come.
In the meantime, my ask is: Please don't let there be silence here. Let there be a conversation. A continual conversation. Where do you see yourself/your team in the company goals? Where can product marketing (or product management for that matter) better align with your goals, your team’s initiatives, and strategy? And ultimately, how can we better connect our individual projects and team strategies in how they map to company goals? How do we get our own version of Company B?
