Agile205: Intro to Agile Product Management
•
28 likes•48,575 views
Product owner is a critical role for agile/scrum teams, as a key stakeholder and representative of users, customers or markets. Commercial software companies have a broader role -- product manager -- responsible for identifying market needs/opportunities, making product-level decisions about offerings/benefits/pricing/packaging/channels/financial goals, and managing sales/customer relationships on behalf of executives. Since products often span multiple scrum teams, some products have a mix of product owners and product managers. We'll introduce product owners, map that against software product managers, and talk through approaches to meet all of the product needs for a market-successful product.
Recommended
More Related Content
What's hot
What's hot (20)
Viewers also liked
Viewers also liked (20)
Similar to Agile205: Intro to Agile Product Management
Similar to Agile205: Intro to Agile Product Management (20)
More from Rich Mironov
More from Rich Mironov (20)
Recently uploaded
Recently uploaded (20)
Agile205: Intro to Agile Product Management
- 1. Intro to Agile Product Management Rich Mironov 5 August 2015 © Rich Mironov, 2015 w w w . M I R O N O V . c o m 1
- 2. • Veteran product manager/so<ware exec • “What do customers want?” • Business models, pricing, agile/lean • Organizing product organizaCons • 6 startups, including as CEO/founder • “The Art of Product Management” • First agile product manager/owner tracks About Rich Mironov w w w . M I R O N O V . c o m 2
- 3. • What’s a Product Manager? Product Owner? • Scope and Failure Modes • Starter Organizational Models Agenda w w w . M I R O N O V . c o m 3
- 4. • Commercial software companies • Responsible for technical delivery AND revenue results • Scaled-up agile organizations • At product / portfolio / strategy levels Usually a formal position Focus on jobs-to-be-done and skills, not titles Where Do We Find Agile Product Managers? 4w w w . M I R O N O V . c o m
- 5. Scrum Teams 5ScrumTeam.jpg (from Exploring Scrum- the Fundamentals, by Dan Rawsthorne & Doug Shimp)
- 6. • Usually one PO per team, not one PO per product • Provides intense sprint-level focus: stories, backlog, prioritization, acceptance • Represents the customer’s interest in backlog prioritization and requirements questions... available to the team at any time • Balances interests of competing stakeholders • Feeds the hungry agile beast What Does a Product Owner Do? 6w w w . M I R O N O V . c o m
- 7. Steam engine “firemen” need to shovel coal constantly, otherwise the train will stop Feeding the Agile Beast w w w . M I R O N O V . c o m 7
- 8. Product Backlog Epics & User Stories Release Backlog Epics & User Stories Sprint Backlog User Stories Poten5ally releasable so8ware So8ware release Accepted story (“DONE”) Review Demo, feedback Retrospec-ve Process improvement 1 day Daily Standup Sprint: 1 to 3 weeks No changes in dura5on or goal Release planning Sprint planning Charter Release Retrospec-ve Process improvement N sprints Agile/Scrum: Product Owner Focus w w w . M I R O N O V . c o m 8 product owner focus
- 9. • Drives delivery and market acceptance of whole products • Targets market segments, not individual customers • “What does this segment need/what will it pay for?” • Technical features, acceptance and adoption • Resolves inevitable competing priorities • Motivates/aligns functional groups beyond development (marketing, sales, support, partners, finance…) What Does a Product Manager Do? w w w . M I R O N O V . c o m 9
- 10. w w w . M I R O N O V . c o m 10
- 11. • By definition, commercial software has many customers • Profitability is completely about scale • 2nd copy of identical software costs $0 to build • Customers rarely compute value/ROI for us • We propose value to prospects during sales process • “If you use our ergonomic standing desks, your staff will be 15% healthier and 10% more productive” • We segment markets for similar customers • Exclude those who want very different solutions • Exclude those who don’t accept our proposed value Product Managers Define Value for Specific Target Segments 11w w w . M I R O N O V . c o m
- 12. Conversations, market information, priorities, requirements, roadmaps, epics, user stories, backlogs, personas… product bits strategy, forecasts, commitments, roadmaps, competitive intelligence budgets, staff, targets Field input, Market feedback Segmentation, messages, benefits/features, pricing, qualification, demos… Markets & CustomersDevelopment Marketing & Sales Executives Product Management What Does a Product Manager Do? w w w . M I R O N O V . c o m 12
- 13. • ACTIVITY and OUTPUT (what people see) • Write epics/stories, meet customers, cajole, pitch prospects, call meetings, accept epics/stories, praise teams, distract Sales, present roadmaps, catch arrows • OUTCOME (where we earn our salaries): • Make technical/market trade-offs for revenue and adoption • Deflect interruptions • Turn away poor deals, customers and partners • Think about this quarter and next year; revenue and architecture What Does a Product Manager Do? w w w . M I R O N O V . c o m 13
- 14. • Logic and facts are not sufficient • Engineering demand >> supply • Sales teams paid to close individual deals • HIPPO • Responsibility without authority • Where strategy meets implementation Product Management: Inherently Political w w w . M I R O N O V . c o m 14
- 15. • Business value error bars > engineering error bars • Blending of • Promises of future revenue • Promises of future operational savings • Promises of future development efficiencies (tech debt) • Quality forced onto a linear scale • Simplistic models of buyer behavior • Gaming, logrolling Allocating our scarcest, most valuable resource Someone (some team) must force-rank programs Business Value: Slightly Estimatable 15w w w . M I R O N O V . c o m
- 16. Hypothesis: • Epic/project business value estimates are +/- 70% • 1 in 10 will deliver zero value How would that change your portfolio planning? Your interactions with stakeholders? Discussion/Exercise (5 Minutes) 16w w w . M I R O N O V . c o m
- 17. There’s nothing more wasteful than brilliantly engineering a product that doesn’t sell, or a project that doesn’t matter. w w w . M I R O N O V . c o m 17
- 18. • Pulls into product station every day • From customers, sales, support, execs, engineers, analysts… • Delivers hundreds of “good ideas” each day • Few are new or earthshaking Good Idea Train w w w . M I R O N O V . c o m 18
- 19. • Emotional needs vs. commitment • Japanese “hai” is alternative to “NO” • "Thank you! That's a really interesting idea. Let me put it into the idea backlog. And let’s talk more about the root cause of the problem you have.” • NEVER agree without Dev sizing Humbly Accepting Input w w w . M I R O N O V . c o m 19
- 20. backlog, priorities, epics, user stories, personas, demo feedback product bits Markets & CustomersDevelopment Marketing & Sales Executives Product Owner ‘Small p’ Product Owner w w w . M I R O N O V . c o m 20 showcase customers
- 21. • Engineering output • Product features • Order of delivery • Product/market/business model • Pricing • Competitive positioning • Partners and Channels • Services and Support • Fit with corporate strategy • Product split, merge or EOL Product Manager Has More Levers Product manager Product owner A@er: Greg Cohen w w w . M I R O N O V . c o m 21
- 22. Not what we intended, but… • Most product management teams are already understaffed • Product ownership adds 40-60% more critical work • Urgency of stories, backlog grooming, sprint planning, standups, acceptance • One person can “do it all” for a single agile team • But typical Dev:PDM ratio is 25:1, not 10:1 Product Managers: Oversubscribed, Overcommitted, Burning Out w w w . M I R O N O V . c o m 22
- 23. Not what we intended, but… • Selection (hiring) focuses on SME/BA, technical skills, story writing • Little appreciation for market-side experience • Engineering’s belief in rational/technical customers • Requirements are out there to be “gathered” • No recognition of organizational blocking skills • Short-term assignments or career path? Product Owners: Typically Under-Spec’d, Underpaid, Lacking Clout 23w w w . M I R O N O V . c o m
- 24. Product Manager Failure Modes Product Manager fails agile team(s) when… • Part-timer, not engaged with team(s) • Lack of detail on stories/handwaving • Stale backlog • Best of intentions, but pulled in too many directions
- 25. Product Owner Failure Modes Product Owner fails “the business” when… • Weak on market realities: whole product, competitive dynamics, value error bars, benefits, pricing models • Unable to hold back interrupt stream • Confuses showcase customers with broad market
- 26. Commercial Product Failures w w w . M I R O N O V . c o m 26 Product Backlog Epics & User Stories Release Backlog Epics & User Stories Sprint Backlog User Stories Poten5ally releasable so8ware So8ware release Accepted story (“DONE”) Review Demo, feedback Retrospec-ve Process improvement 1 day Daily Standup Sprint: 1 to 3 weeks No changes in dura5on or goal Release planning Sprint planning Charter Release Retrospec-ve Process improvement N sprints Most product failures happen here
- 27. Shared PO/PDM Scope w w w . M I R O N O V . c o m 27 Product Backlog Epics & User Stories Release Backlog Epics & User Stories Sprint Backlog User Stories Poten5ally releasable so8ware So8ware release Accepted story (“DONE”) Review Demo, feedback Retrospec-ve Process improvement 1 day Daily Standup Sprint: 1 to 3 weeks No changes in dura5on or goal Release planning Sprint planning Charter Release Retrospec-ve Process improvement N sprints product manager focus product owner focus
- 28. Minimal PDM/PO “Organization” w w w . M I R O N O V . c o m 28 VP or Founders more technical more market-focused Heroic Single Product Manager/Owner + team “management”
- 29. Dysfunctional Product Organization w w w . M I R O N O V . c o m 29 VP Eng Product Owners + team more technical more market-focused VP Marketing “management” Product Managers
- 30. PDM/PO Organizational Map: Product Peers w w w . M I R O N O V . c o m 30 PDM Director/ Product Strategist GM / VP Eng / VP Products / CPO more technical more market-focused “management”
- 31. PDM/PO Organizational Map: Market Mentoring w w w . M I R O N O V . c o m 31 GM / VP Eng / VP Products / CPO more technical more market-focused Product Owner + team Senior Product Manager “management”
- 32. • Product management scope includes market success as well as technical delivery • Agile stretches/stresses commercial product organizations • Teaming, collaboration and skills more important than titles • Find balance among collaboration, deflection, buffering, interrupts Agile Product Take-Aways 32w w w . M I R O N O V . c o m
- 33. CONTACT Rich Mironov, CEO Mironov Consulting 233 Franklin St, Suite #308 San Francisco, CA 94102 RichMironov @RichMironov Rich@Mironov.com +1-‐650-‐315-‐7394