The past few years have been undeniably tough in the financial sector. With decreasing inventory, increasing rates, and a general sense of apprehension about the future, the landscape has been challenging for everyone. This downturn has significantly impacted my department and employees in the Independent Mortgage Bank (IMB) space. We are a shadow of the workforce we were three to four years ago, having experienced substantial headcount reductions.
Despite these challenges, our products, technology, and leadership have remained consistent, and in some areas, even grown. This leads to a crucial question: How have I and my employees managed to stay positive and productive, finding fulfillment when projects take longer, and some never even reach completion?
Our Journey: From Humble Beginnings to a Broader Footprint
To truly understand where my department and I stand today, it's important to look back at our journey and the obstacles we've overcome. I'm homegrown at PRMI, having started in 2010 in the Trailing Documents department. My career path has been diverse, moving from closing to training, system administration, and eventually product management. I've had the privilege of collaborating with many exceptional leaders within this organization and eagerly anticipate many more years to come.
Currently, I am involved with our entire technology stack including Marketing and Sales, Loan Operations, Business Operations, Data Analytics, QA/Compliance, and AI. The sheer volume of technology we manage is daunting, and our project list is even more extensive.
A little over a decade ago, my department consisted of just two BI Analysts, two System Admins, and two Product Owners. My boss at the time possessed a profound vision, and I now recognize the foundational groundwork he was laying for my team and I. His vision was for PRMI to have a dedicated Product Management team that would consistently interface, collaborate, and partner with the executive team to strategically build, acquire, or partner with the most suitable products, vendors, and software. He envisioned us as an integral part of the Leadership team, not merely order-takers, bringing unprecedented value to PRMI. Whether this was his exact vision or my interpretation, it has guided us through the years.
A few of us from those early days of the "Business Technology" department are still with PRMI. We have not only witnessed this growth but have actively participated in it. While our team is smaller now, our impact and footprint are far larger than I ever imagined. We are a diverse team comprising Product Managers, System Admins, Developers, Analysts, Engineers, Project Managers, Communication Specialists, and more. By necessity, we currently wear many hats and are constantly inundated with tasks, yet we find more fulfillment in our work than perhaps at any other time in our history.
The Paradox of Success: Doing More with Less
This brings us to a paradox: How can we achieve greater success with less headcount, more projects, more responsibilities, reduced funding, and tighter timelines? This is what I want to explore. I don't claim to have all the "right" answers, but I can share what has effectively worked for us.
As we underwent company right-sizing, I quickly realized the imperative for a strategy that would enable us to flourish. I identified three core pillars to our strategy:
- Become a Unified Team
- Simplify the Product Lifecycle
- Increase Collaboration
You might read these and think they're obvious, and you'd be right. The brilliance lies in their simplicity. I needed something straightforward, easy to comprehend, and effortless to rally behind. These three pillars are what have allowed us to thrive! Let's delve into each
Pillar 1: Fostering a Unified Team
Did PRMI lack unity before these challenging times? Absolutely not. Please don't misinterpret this pillar to suggest otherwise. A more accurate, though admittedly verbose title might be "Improve the Unification of Our Already Existing Teams".
I recognized that despite our inherent unity, excessive miscommunication, red tape, bureaucracy, and rigid adherence to hierarchical paths were impeding our progress. So, I initiated a "social experiment": bring together a few influential individuals for a weekly call. During these calls, we discuss the previous week's accomplishments, plans for the upcoming week, urgent or blocked items, and projects currently not under consideration. This beta group initially included individuals from almost every level of the organization, from executives to specific team leaders.
This group now meets bi-weekly and has quadrupled in size. No topic is off-limits; discussions range from minor daily tasks to major strategic initiatives. This single meeting has profoundly shaped the behavior of our leadership team, fostering massive collaboration efforts and ultimately leading to better decision-making. While our velocity might still be impacted, the satisfaction derived from this collaboration far surpasses the ever-present list of projects.
Pillar 2: Streamlining the Product Lifecycle
Years ago, during an interview for a Product Management position at a local credit union, I was astonished by the size of their product team. They had a CTO and CIO, each with Group Product Managers, who had Senior Product Managers, who had Product Managers, who had Product Owners, each with dedicated system admin, development, project management, and change management personnel.
Shortly after that interview, I realized that the strict product culture my manager and I were striving to create was destined for failure. We would likely never achieve the level of documentation, iteration, prioritization, roadmapping, and other elements we desired. The reason was simple: we weren't structured to be productive under a typical product management lifecycle.
I could dedicate this entire blog to the benefits of a true product management lifecycle, detailing the value of each document, process, and step. However, suffice it to say, without the supporting structure, the lifecycle became a source of negative value.
As our team began to shrink, it became acutely clear that we needed to make swift and significant changes to continue providing value to PRMI. The very first step was to meticulously evaluate every single step of our process. We assessed the value of documenting or executing each "thing," identified the time it consumed, and then made the difficult decision to eliminate or defer process artifacts to maintain our organizational value. It pained me to set aside parts of our process, but over time, my team and I discovered that we could be more effective by not spending precious hours on the minute details of the lifecycle.
Pillar 3: Cultivating Enhanced Collaboration
Collaboration is more than a byproduct of another pillar and demanded PRMI actively support and enrich the efforts of unification.
I challenged my team to, in turn, challenge every individual in the organization to bolster their mutual support, enhance their communication, and elevate their decision-making to include others without creating bottlenecks. I believe we still have progress to make on this initiative, but our leadership team has undergone a remarkable transformation.
Now, operations teams consult with one another before implementing changes that could negatively impact downstream processes. Sales enhancement information is immediately shared with Business Development recruiters and Onboarding trainers. Any software changes that will affect our Tier 1 support teams are communicated prior to launch, proactively addressing potential questions. Policies are updated before enhancements are pushed to production. These examples, and many more, demonstrate the increasing collaboration that brings immense satisfaction and joy to our work.
One specific example of increased collaboration that I am particularly proud of is our utilization of our Product Software and its "Portal Cards" feature. This public-facing web portal allows anyone within PRMI to view our ongoing projects. It's also the visual tool used in the bi-weekly leadership meeting I conduct. By visually and categorically presenting all projects, we've been able to defer projects with minimal value in favor of high-value, high-impact initiatives. More eyes on a project's scope, viewed at their convenience, have led to the development of superior solutions. We've also been able to gather feedback from our branch partners, both directly and indirectly, through these Portal Cards.
The Final Pillar: Celebrating Success
There will always be too much work. Some days, that's precisely how it feels. However, that is no longer the norm. By increasing our collaboration, leading to better team unification, and subsequently reducing "busy work" through a streamlined product lifecycle, we have been able to focus more on delivering value to our end-users, faster and better.
"Faster" and "better" might sound simplistic, as if they require pages of explanation. But it truly is that simple: we are faster now than ever before. The quality and quantity of our impact and value have significantly improved. I can see it, feel it, taste it, and I believe my employees can too. We don't get everything done – that's an impracticality – but we prioritize and complete the right things.
I suppose that is the true final pillar of my strategies over the past few years: We celebrate our successes. This isn't about pizza parties or morning bagels; it's about simply acknowledging our daily impact on the organization and the continuous value we bring through delivering enhancements, products, training, and support. We don't wait for a bi-weekly retrospective; we talk, high-five, emote, react, and verbally congratulate each other daily.
My list will never be complete. My team's list will never be complete. The company's lists will never be complete. My daily challenge to myself, and now my challenge to you, is this: find what truly matters, celebrate every "win" no matter how small, and promote a more collaborative team environment. When you do, that ominous list won't seem so daunting.
Your Turn: Share Your Thoughts
How can you find ways to make your "To Do" list seem less of a nightmare? Share your thoughts and comments – I genuinely want to hear them!