Coaching: Design · Core
Design the target way of working for product
Describe how product teams should be set up and work together: who owns what, how decisions are made and how teams relate to each other.
About 5-15 daysEvergreenLast reviewed 5 November 2026
Who this applies to
- Skills it builds
- Leadership and coachingStrategy and vision
- PM types
- All
- Product types
- All
- Starting points
- All
- Ways of working
- All
- Experience
- Intermediate (1 to 4 years)Experienced (5+ years)
- Size of organisation
- All
Steps, by experience
Beginner (under 1 year)
- Describe how product teams are set up today.
- List the problems this causes, from your interviews.
- Sketch a target setup that fixes the biggest problems.
- Check it with a few leaders and PMs.
- Write it up in plain language.
Intermediate (1 to 4 years)
- Decide whether teams are given problems to solve or features to build.
- Define team types and how they work with each other.
- Plan the move from today's setup in steps.
Experienced (5+ years)
- Design the operating model across product, engineering and design.
- Align funding and planning with the new team setup.
- Agree the leadership roles the model needs.
Who can do this
Owner: Product manager
Can be delegated to
- Senior leader / sponsor: Agree the target model and its funding
- Tech Lead or Architect: Advise on team boundaries and architecture
Reviewed by: Senior leader / sponsor
Tool examples
- Miro
- Draw today's and the target team setup side by side.
- Confluence
- Publish the target model with the reasons.
Definition of done
- Current and target setups described
- Target agreed by the sponsor
- Steps to get there planned
Common pitfalls
- Copying another company's model whole
- Changing structure without changing how decisions are made
- Redesigning everything at once