Agile product owners-what ails them (philly_dayofagile)
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The document discusses the challenges faced by agile product owners within organizations, highlighting issues such as limited engagement, conflicting priorities, and organizational culture barriers that hinder effective product management. It contrasts the roles and operational dynamics of product owners in large corporations versus startups, emphasizing the need for empowerment, clear communication, and alignment of goals. The author calls for a shift towards a more collaborative and innovative mindset that fosters cross-functional teams and mitigates the risk-averse culture seen in many organizations.
Agile product owners-what ails them (philly_dayofagile)
- 1. Agile Product Owners - What Ails Them? -Anupam Kundu
- 2. A Short Story of Business and IT
- 3. Failed Products / Failed Companies 11-Sep-11 3
- 5. Who is a Product Manager? …who investigates, selects and develop one or more products for an organization... …Delivers more value than the competition …Creates a sustainable competitive difference …Generates business benefit to the organization Wikipedia
- 6. World of Product Management strategy, forecasts, budgets, staff, commitments, roadmaps, targets competitive intelligence Executives Field input, market information, priorities, Market feedback requirements, roadmaps, MRDs, Product personas, user stories… Management Mktg & Markets & Development Sales Customers software Segmentation, messages, benefits/features, pricing, qualification, demos… Inspired from Rich Mironov, author of “The Art of Product Management” 11-Sep-11 6
- 7. Product Management in Large Tech Companies Listens to the Market Talks to the Market Builds the Product 11-Sep-11 7
- 8. “We are Agile” Product Managers became Product Owners…who makes decisions about what the product should do while taking into account what people who make buying decisions actually want... Jeff Patton • Assure team is pursuing a common vision • Establish priorities to track business value • Act as ‘the customer’ for developer questions • Work with product management to plan releases • Plan, elaborate and accept user stories and iterations 11-Sep-11 8
- 9. Product Owner Attributes •Subject Matter Expert •Business Advocate – Understand the domain well – Understand the needs of the enough to envision a product organization paying for the software and selects a mix of features that cater to their goals •End-User Advocate •Communicator – Describe the product with – Capable of communicating understanding of users and use, vision and intent to the team and and a product that best serves the stakeholders alike both •Customer Advocate •Decision Maker – Understand the needs of the – Given a variety of conflicting business buying the product and goals and opinions be the final select a mix of features valuable logical decision maker about to the customer what goes into a release 11-Sep-11 9
- 10. Holistic View of Product Management market information, priorities, requirements, roadmaps, wireframes, personas, user stories build know-how alpha launch, beta testing, minimum viable product, ideas / refinement monitoring and listening five whys, product Real-time monitoring, roadmap, forecast, analyze product- alerts, funnel analysis, competitive intelligence, market fit pricing feedback, Stakeholder inputs segmentation
- 11. Challenge#1: Product Owners’ Influence Spheres Portfolio Division level Strategy objectives and goals Product roadmap and Prioritized product business strategy road map Release What business Product objectives will each Business objectives release achieve? fulfilled by the product What capabilities will Product Vision the release offer? Product life cycle Release plan Sprint Daily Planning story What stories must backlog be included in the Story Details sprint to achieve release objectives? Acceptance Tests Iteration Plan Sprint velocity/capacity 11-Sep-11 11
- 12. Spheres of Influence Symptoms Absentee Product Owner -No clear product vision -Limited interaction and showcases -Too many conflicting priorities
- 13. Challenge#2: Organizational Model & Culture • Innovation & Risk taking • Stability & Control • Attention to detail • Outcome orientation • People orientation • Team orientation • Aggressiveness http://www.buzzle.com/articles/primary-characteristics-of-organizational-culture.html
- 14. Organizational Culture Symptoms Un-empowered Product Owner -Decisions are overridden by other departments and individuals -No power to influence technology or staffing choice -This is the way things get done around here
- 15. Challenge#3: Business Model Validation
- 16. Business Model Symptoms •Limited or no engagement by the Product Owner with Strategy team •Too many process / organizational hurdles to get buy-in •No clear product or release vision prepared or shared •Absentee stakeholders •Continually delayed launch dates •Extensive rework just before and after launch 11-Sep-11 16
- 18. Arrogant PO Symptoms •Limited or no engagement with engineering team •Too much hand-waving instead of accepting realities •No respect for any metric •Public reversal of tactical team decisions •Treats humans as machines
- 19. Connect the Challenges No Business Spheres of Influence Model Validation Organizational Model and Culture Arrogance and Ignorance 11-Sep-11 19
- 20. Connect the Dots No Business Spheres of Influence Model Validation Organizational Model and Culture Arrogance and Ignorance 11-Sep-11 20
- 21. Product Owners in large corporations vs. startups Slow to move or change vs. Moving fast Focus on process vs. Focus on outcome Risk averseness vs. Risk adoption Pass the buck vs. Yes, we can Low participation vs. High-impact per person Lack of innovation “soul” vs. Pivoting ideas for new markets Existing business models vs. Searching for new and repeatable ones www.SteveBlank.com No mentoring vs. Constant learning
- 22. Think differently! Blog.stackoverflow.com
- 23. Corporations getting back into venture funding -Start-ups -Incubators -Partner Ventures http://www.mercurynews.com/busin ess/ci_17630231
- 24. Examples
- 25. Spawn Entrepreneurial Culture -Value creation through innovation -Enough freedom to fail and grow for everyone - Build leaders
- 26. Keep focus on business value -Continually balance all stakeholder risks against business value -Execute iteratively and incrementally - Use metric intelligently
- 27. Build Cross-Functional Product Teams -Harness the intelligence of the whole team -Align authority with responsibility - Align responsibility with capability
- 29. Product Centric Development Teams “…high-performing class of “product-centric” development teams that characteristically support their company’s value chain, partner with both their customers and business stakeholders, and own the business results that their software delivers… “ Forrester Research on Product Centric Development 11-Sep-11 29
- 31. People-centred than process centred Customer focused Innovation inclined Move fast Respond to feedback Self-organizing High trust Quality obsessed Collective Ownership (sounds like Agile principles)
- 32. Good Reads
- 33. Questions??
- 34. THANK YOU Anupam Kundu Lead Consultant, ThoughtWorks www.Linkedin.com/in/Anupam #mydibba Tale of Two Product Owners (http://bit.ly/fQMkXR) Plight of Product Owners (http://bit.ly/agileproductowners) 2020 Best CIO Acceptance Speech (http://bit.ly/duxAgy) Product Road-mapping using Agile Principles (http://bit.ly/abfM4X)
- 35. Image Courtesy •Orchestrate, don’t manage (ThoughtWorks Studios) •Build Cross-functional Teams (http://www.flickr.com/photos/activefree/137467210/) •Spawn Entrepreneurial Culture (http://www.geoffsnyder.com/the-entrepreneurial-rift) •Business Model Image (Jason Furnell, ThoughtWorks) / Alexander Osterwalder: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_Model_Canvas •Organizational Culture Symptoms (http://www.blacktomato.co.uk/44035/taiwan-art/) •Focus on Business Value (Life Magazine Photography) •Big Corporations Funding Start-ups (http://www.flickr.com/photos/nichollsphotos/2906834393/) •Lean Start-up Book (www.theleanstartup.com) •Arrogant Bastard Ale (http://sandiegopho.com/menus/beers.html) •Challenge#2:Organization Culture (http://www.designofsignage.com/application/symbol/hands/largesymbols/number- seven-7.html) •Changing Perspectives (http://www.productmarketing.com/productmarketing/magazine/1/2/07sj.asp) • Think Differently (http://blog.stackoverflow.com/2008/07/stack-overflow-private-beta-begins/)