Building product management capability at HMCTS

Challenge

His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) has been a long standing client of Methods, partnering with us over several years on a range of digital transformation initiatives. Recently, HMCTS initiated a new engagement focused specifically on strengthening its product management capability. With a growing emphasis on a product led culture and the introduction of the Objectives & Key Results (OKR) framework, HMCTS sought structured training and targeted one to one coaching to support the development of confident, capable product managers across its digital teams.

HMCTS was evolving toward a product-led operating model across its digital portfolio. This change brought about several key challenges that needed to be addressed to ensure a successful transformation:

• A shared understanding of the product manager role
• Confidence and clarity in applying the new OKR framework
• Professional coaching to strengthen capability and leadership behaviours
• Greater alignment across product teams to ensure consistency in delivering user-centric value

Solution

Methods partnered with the HMCTS product leadership team to design a scalable capability building programme that addressed both collective development needs and personalised support for individual product managers.

Our approach brought together structured learning, practical application and targeted coaching:

An interactive series of “Vision to Value” workshops 
A curated set of interactive sessions delivered by experienced Methods product practitioners, covering:

• The principles and practices of modern product management

• Clear, industry aligned definitions of product roles and responsibilities

• How to design, articulate and embed meaningful OKRs across product areas

The modular format enabled consistent delivery at scale while remaining adaptable to teams at different levels of maturity.

Individualised one to one coaching

Alongside the workshops, product managers received personalised coaching from a senior product specialist. These sessions focused on helping individuals:

• Build confidence in their role and decision making

• Apply their product skills in day to day contexts

• Strengthen leadership behaviours that support a product led culture

Initial coaching was offered to a small group of product managers; however, demand grew, and the programme was expanded to support additional participants following strong feedback and observable improvements in confidence and capability. This growth highlighted the practical benefits of tailored coaching and indicated a strong interest in further developing skills within the product community.

The combination of workshops and 121 coaching ensured that organisational learning was reinforced through practical, real world application.

Flexible delivery to maximise engagement

To increase reach and accessibility, the programme was iterated in response to early attendance patterns. The workshop format was refined to enhance interaction, and multiple delivery windows were introduced to ensure full team participation.

The programme delivered a clear uplift in confidence, capability and alignment across the HMCTS product community, resulting immeasurable improvements in both individual performance and team‑wide consistency.

Key outcomes

• Full participation in training: All product managers attended the workshop series or accessed recorded sessions, ensuring a baseline of shared understanding across the community.
• Increased capability and alignment: Teams gained a clearer, more consistent view of product roles, responsibilities and modern product management practices.
• Successful OKR adoption: Product managers developed the skills to create and communicate meaningful OKRs that support a product‑led operating model.
• Strengthened individual performance: Coaching participants reported greater role clarity, improved decision‑making confidence, and a stronger ability to deliver user‑centred outcomes.
• Growing demand for support: The coaching cohort expanded following strong feedback and visible improvements in confidence and capability.
• Sustainable capability uplift: The combined approach of structured learning and personalised coaching contributed to a more confident and future‑ready product management function within HMCTS.

Summary
Through a structured combination of learning, coaching and expert guidance, Methods helped HMCTS embed a product led culture, build capability across its product community, and successfully adopt the OKR framework. The engagement has created long term value by strengthening role clarity and enabling product managers to deliver measurable, user focused outcomes.