My experience of the Product for the People unconference by Buddug Britton

Buddug is a Product Manager at Companies House

After attending my first Product for the People unconference, I thought I would write this blog on my reflections from the day, and what can be expected if you attend one.

Being fairly new to product management within the civil service, and with the limited face-to-face interactions that we’ve had over the last few years, I was intrigued when an email came through promoting a Product for the People unconference that was being held in Cardiff at the end of June. My initial thoughts were, what’s this about? ‘unconference’, how would it run? After reading on, I realised that it’s designed for product people operating in a wide definition of public service. I thought, this would be a great opportunity to meet people, so I registered. I was unsure of what to expect.
To begin the day, we were asked to suggest topics to be discussed and vote on which ones we would like to have discussions on. This is how an unconference works. Attendees self-organise, propose topics, and vote on which ones they’d like to discuss. The eight with the most votes were organised into sessions, and we were able to choose four to attend, this was a tough decision. There were so many great topics, such as:

• Continuous service iteration and its value v’s a brand-new service
• Roadmaps, what does good look like in a high governance org
• How to empower the product role when faced with legislation and policy-led decision making

All sessions were well attended, there was something of interest to everyone. It was a very relaxed atmosphere, with people chatting with coffee and nibbles, and getting to know each other. The informal, relaxed atmosphere continued throughout the day.

With the attendees coming from across the civil service and with varied experiences, this was a great opportunity to learn from others. Sharing stories, whether they were challenges encountered or positive actions and ideas to move forward, everyone was encouraged to contribute. Having a product management-focused day gave me the opportunity to listen and learn.

Personally, the conversation on ways to engage key stakeholders at an early stage and building on that relationship was extremely
helpful. It was a positive atmosphere where all were looking for ways of improving and driving forward the best service for our users.
By the end of the day, I had met people from different public service organisations — DBS, ONS, charities, and more. I had plenty of takeaways from the discussions, and there are suggestions that I will now look at implementing.

So, if you do see an invite to a product for the people unconference, my suggestion would be to go, but be quick, with limited space for a free event, tickets go quickly!