Demystifying Product Councils for Better Collaboration

Every company is a product company, whether you're selling a physical product, a service, or even an idea. If you're offering something of value, you have a product. And let's face it, making decisions about that product can get complicated, especially when you have many stakeholders and fast-moving markets. 

Are you adding the right features? Are you focusing on the right customers? Are you even solving the correct problems? These questions can quickly pile up, leaving teams overwhelmed or headed in the wrong direction. 

This is where a Product council comes in to help you create products the market actually needs and that your business can deliver.

In this guide, we'll take you through how to form a product council, core responsibilities, questions to ask, and a sample agenda.

What is a Product Council?

Your product's strategy is the backbone of your business success. A product council is a structured forum where stakeholders across the business come together to set and refine that strategy. It's a collaborative space where decisions are made, necessary resources are allocated, and innovation begins.

Creating the product strategy is the primary job for product managers, but aligning it with the overarching business strategy is often a challenge, leading to missed growth opportunities. A product council bridges this gap. In fact, the product council starts with the broader business strategy as a guide. The product strategy must meet both market needs and business objectives. For example, they might decide to prioritize a feature that solves a new, high-value customer problem or invest resources in a new market segment. The impact of this team's decisions directly shapes the future of the business.

What Does a Product Council Talk About?

The discussions in a product council vary based on the challenges of your product. Topics might include:

• Reviewing and approving the product roadmap.
• Evaluating customer feedback and aligning it with business goals.
• Deciding go/no-go for new features or significant product initiatives.
• Addressing risks, such as technical challenges or shifts in market demand.
• Planning for launches, including cross-departmental coordination.

Product Council Responsibilities

As a product council, your job is to coordinate the flow of ideas and keep the product moving from concept to launch. Each step is a checkpoint to confirm the product is viable and meets all customer and business needs before making it a reality. 

The four phases include:

1. Review strategies and roadmaps: The first checkpoint sets the strategic direction. The council reviews proposed product strategies and roadmaps. This is where the vision takes shape, and the council may ask:

• Does the strategy solve the correct customer problems?
• Is it achievable with the available resources, talent, and timeline?
• How well does it align with the market opportunity?
• Does this roadmap reflect our larger business strategy?

This phase often includes opportunity assessments to dig into specific product ideas or release plans.

2. Go / No-Go: Once the opportunity assessment is complete, it's time to decide whether to move forward. Questions to ask might include:

• Is this idea technically and financially viable?
• Do the expected customer outcomes justify the investment?
• Are there red flags we need to address before moving forward?

A green light here signals the team to refine the concept into specs and prototypes, while a "no" can save the company from investing in a risky initiative.

3. Evaluate and test: Prototypes are built, user testing results have provided insights, and costs are more clearly defined. Now, the council assesses:

• Does the prototype address customer pain points?
• Are we staying within budget, or do we need to adjust?
• Have any unexpected obstacles emerged?

This checkpoint ensures that what's proposed is both practical and desirable. The council's decision here determines whether the product moves into full-scale engineering. 

4. Final product and launch plans: At this final phase, all systems should be ready for launch. The council will evaluate the product, QA results, and launch plans. Questions include:

• Is the product stable, functional, and ready for real-world use?
• Are marketing, sales, and customer support prepared for rollout?
• Does this launch impact our existing customers and community and provide a positive customer experience?

If everything checks out, the council issues the go for launch. If not, it's back to the drawing board for refinement.

By breaking down the responsibilities into four phases, the council minimizes risks and gets the right things done the right way.

What Key Stakeholders Make Up a Product Council?

The makeup of the product council depends on the business's size and structure, but the goal is to bring together diverse views. Balance is key as too many participants can derail meetings, and groupthink can sneak in when C-level product council leadership dominates discussions. 

The usual decision-makers include:

• Customers: Representatives from a customer advisory board chosen to align with the meeting focus (e.g., industry or segment-specific).
• Product managers: Directors or VPs of Product Management who act as visionaries, ensuring customer needs and business goals are met.
• Engineering: VPs or directors who validate technical feasibility and keep timelines realistic.
• User experience (UX): Advocates for intuitive product design and seamless user interfaces.
• Customer success: Frontline champions who bring the customer perspective from real-world implementation.
• Marketing: VPs or directors who align messaging and go-to-market plans with the product direction.
• Sales and sales engineering: Leaders who can share real-world insights about customer needs and product value.
• Executive leadership: CEOs, COOs, or GMs who ensure alignment with the company's overall strategic goals.

Too often, companies lean heavily on product engineers to design products without a clear strategy. And, while engineers are necessary council members, they're not engaging with customers or implementing solutions firsthand. You need the other participants to avoid tunnel vision. Organizations capable of deploying cross-functional teams gain adaptability, innovation, and responsiveness, leading to lower operating costs and higher profits.

In fact, sales engineering leaders are some of the most important members of the product council. Sales engineering bridges the gap between product teams and the field with real-world experience with customer needs and implementation. With the right team in place, you ensure every voice is heard, trust is built, and you'll achieve the visibility and oversight that satisfies investors, leadership, and stakeholder expectations.

How Often Does a Product Council Meet?

Consistency is key. Many organizations find that monthly or quarterly meetings work best, depending on the speed of their product development process. These meetings are often scheduled to align with expected milestones, such as sprint planning sessions, product launches, or major roadmap updates.

The goal isn't to overload the calendar but to ensure the discussions maintain rhythm and consistency. It's about quality over quantity.

Why Should You Have a Product Council?

When you're racing ahead with features and deadlines, it's frustrating to hear a rep say, "This isn't what the customer wanted," or realize you just built a feature no one wants. A product council avoids these headaches by creating a space for early informed decisions.

The product council will help:

• Align product teams early and often on new priorities and goals.
• Catch risks before they become problems, saving time and resources.
• Encourage innovation by letting diverse perspectives shape the product.
• Build trust across departments with transparency and collaboration.

When run regularly and with the right members, a product council reduces wasted effort and keeps your product heading in the right direction.

How to Run a Product Council

Product council meetings don't happen daily, so making them count is necessary. Get everyone in the same room because there is unmatched value in face-to-face interactions for building trust, reading non-verbal cues, and collaborating.

The leader, the head of product or company exec, must stay on task, frame issues, and guide the council team toward decisions. 

Here are some best practices for running a productive product council:

Before the Meeting

• Define clear objectives: What do you want to accomplish? Is it alignment on priorities, feedback on a proposal, or a decision on the next big feature?
• Do your homework: Arm yourself with data, user feedback, and a straightforward story to back your case.
• Share the agenda early: Let attendees know what's on deck so they can come prepared.

During the Meeting

• Stick to the agenda: Timebox discussions to avoid rabbit holes.
• Facilitate inclusivity: Create space for all voices to be heard, especially quieter team members.
• Make decisions: Meetings should end with clear next steps, not more questions.

After the Meeting

• Summarize outcomes: Share notes and action items promptly so everyone is aligned.
• Follow-up: Keep the momentum going by ensuring commitments are met.

Sample Product Council Meeting Agenda

Here's a simple structure to inspire your next product council meeting:

1. Opening and context (5-10 minutes): Share a quick recap of the last meeting, current priorities, and any updates.
2. Discussion (30-40 minutes): Dive into one or two main topics—roadmap updates, a new feature proposal, or tackling a specific challenge.
3. Feedback roundtable (10-15 minutes): Open the floor for questions, ideas, and concerns.
4. Next steps and action items (5 minutes): Wrap up with clear ownership and deadlines for all agreed-upon actions.

Deliver Products that are Ready to Succeed

Whether launching brand new products, evaluating the annual roadmap, or responding to a market change, the product council will help keep the entire team aligned and accountable. The result? You’ll release products that solve real-world problems!

Are you ready to align your teams? Check out our Product-Field Alignment Playbook for tips on building stronger team connections.