Transforming Product Strategy at Callaghan Innovation
How Colab helped Callaghan Innovation nail their product management strategy game - our Q&A with Nathan Stantiall
Our approach and impact:
The product team at Callaghan Innovation faced challenges in strategic alignment and execution, identifying product strategy as a pivotal area to develop. They engaged Colab to create a customised, intensive product management strategy training program tailored to their diverse, service-oriented portfolio. This was delivered over three sessions to their team of 14.
The program fundamentally reshaped their approach to developing and communicating product strategy, providing a common framework and understanding for strategy development. Immediate outcomes included enhanced strategic execution, successful project advancements, and improved cross-team communication.
Participant testimonials and feedback highlighted the program’s effectiveness, with an average recommendation score of 8.4 out of 10.
The results were impressive, showing significant improvements across the board:
- Overall Confidence to Lead Creation of Product Strategy: Up by 51.5%
- Understanding of What Product Strategy Is: Up by 51.5%
- Defining Strategic Problems and Opportunities: Up by 35%
- Business and Product Strategy Knowledge: Up by 31.7%
- Communicating Product Strategy: Up by 21.8%
"One of the most telling signs of the program's success came shortly after its conclusion. A team member applied the new strategy framework to her project, leading to a successful review at a critical stage-gate meeting. Her ability to articulate her strategy and back it up with solid data and clear understanding won her the necessary approvals to move forward."
Highlights from speaking to Callaghan Group Leader of Product Management:
Adam Davis: Nathan, describe your team’s initial challenges at Callaghan Innovation?
Nathan: We were dealing with a diverse team of product managers, each managing products at differing productisation maturity levels. The challenge was aligning everyone towards a common strategic direction. During an offsite meeting, we realised that strategy was our biggest opportunity through a self-assessment across eight key skill areas.
Adam Davis: What led you to choose Colab’s strategic training program?
Nathan: We needed a program that was more than just tailored for digital or software-centric companies. Our portfolio is more diverse, so we required something industry-agnostic and flexible. Colab offered a program that could be customised and conducted intensively over a short period, which suited our immediate needs perfectly.
Adam Davis: Can you share more about the training experience itself?
Nathan: The training was awesome, not just in terms of learning new concepts but in reshaping our approach to product management. It provided a common language and framework for strategy development, including diagnosing problems, setting guiding principles, and creating actionable roadmaps. This framework has since become a key part of our strategic planning processes.
Adam Davis: What were some immediate impacts and results of the training?
Nathan: One of the most apparent indicators of the program’s success was when a team member applied the new strategy framework to her project, leading to a successful review at a critical stage-gate meeting. Her ability to articulate her strategy and back it up with solid data and clear understanding won her the necessary approvals to move forward.
“The overall breakdown of the strategic building blocks, so that I can identify where I am in that big picture. Being strong in diagnosis is great, but before the training I found myself lingering there. Now, I have the skills to turn the insights from diagnosis into strategic action and communicate the big picture to different audiences."
Adam Davis: Looking back, how do you view the decision to invest in strategic training?
Nathan: It was undoubtedly the right decision. The benefits extended beyond individual skill enhancement to improve our team’s overall coherence and efficiency. For other organisations considering similar initiatives, my advice is to focus on customisation and relevance to your specific industry and team structure.
Adam Davis: What are your future directions following this training?
Nathan: The journey of enhancing our team’s strategic capabilities is ongoing. The training program was a significant step, but it is just one part of our continuous improvement process. We remain committed to refining our strategies, aligning with organizational goals, and empowering our team members to take ownership of their roles.
This is what some of the participants had to share about the program and learning outcomes:
The overall breakdown of the strategic building blocks, so that I can identify where I am in that big picture. Being strong in diagnosis is great, but before the training I found myself lingering there. Now, I have the skills to turn the insights from diagnosis into strategic action, and communicate the big picture to different audiences. – Participant
Structuring and defining strategic problems, great practical frameworks and examples to work through my product’s problems. – Participant
High-level appreciation of product strategy and what good and not-good looks like.
Connect with Colab Cohorts
Are you keen to collaborate or want to know more about how you can upskill your product teams? Get in touch. We create a training and learning environment for product management professionals that is —
- Focused on helping product professionals connect, collaborate, and prosper
- Deliver targeted, behaviour changing programs
- Engaging, interactive, and memorable
- Results-driven and practical
- Thought-provoking and stimulating.