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.
1. Intro to Agile Product
Management
Rich Mironov
5 August 2015
Š
 Rich
 Mironov,
 2015
Â
w w w . M I R O N O V . c o m 1
2. â˘âŻ Veteran
 product
 manager/so<ware
 exec
Â
â˘âŻ âWhat
 do
 customers
 want?â
Â
â˘âŻ Business
 models,
 pricing,
 agile/lean
Â
â˘âŻ Organizing
 product
 organizaCons
Â
â˘âŻ 6
 startups,
 including
 as
 CEO/founder
Â
â˘âŻ âThe
 Art
 of
 Product
 Managementâ
Â
Â
â˘âŻ First
 agile
 product
 manager/owner
 tracks
Â
About Rich Mironov
w w w . M I R O N O V . c o m 2
3. â˘âŻ Whatâs a Product Manager? Product Owner?
â˘âŻ Scope and Failure Modes
â˘âŻ Starter Organizational Models
Agenda
w w w . M I R O N O V . c o m 3
4. â˘âŻ Commercial software companies
â˘âŻ Responsible for technical delivery AND revenue results
â˘âŻ Scaled-up agile organizations
â˘âŻ 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
6. â˘âŻ Usually one PO per team, not one PO per product
â˘âŻ Provides intense sprint-level focus: stories, backlog,
prioritization, acceptance
â˘âŻ Represents the customerâs interest in backlog
prioritization and requirements questions... available
to the team at any time
â˘âŻ Balances interests of competing stakeholders
â˘âŻ 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
âďŹremenâ 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
Â
Backlog
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Epics
 &
Â
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User
 Stories
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Release
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Backlog
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Epics
 &
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User
 Stories
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Sprint
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Backlog
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User
 Stories
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releasable
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so8ware
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So8ware
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release
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Accepted
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story
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(âDONEâ)
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Review
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Demo,
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feedback
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Retrospec-ve
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Process
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improvement
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1
 day
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Daily
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Standup
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Sprint:
 1
 to
 3
 weeks
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No
 changes
 in
 dura5on
 or
 goal
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Release
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planning
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Retrospec-ve
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 sprints
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Agile/Scrum: Product Owner Focus
w w w . M I R O N O V . c o m 8
product owner focus
9. â˘âŻ Drives delivery and market acceptance of whole
products
â˘âŻ Targets market segments, not individual customers
â˘âŻ âWhat does this segment need/what will it pay for?â
â˘âŻ Technical features, acceptance and adoption
â˘âŻ Resolves inevitable competing priorities
â˘âŻ Motivates/aligns functional groups
beyond development (marketing, sales,
support, partners, ďŹnanceâŚ)
What Does a Product Manager Do?
w w w . M I R O N O V . c o m 9
11. â˘âŻ By deďŹnition, commercial software has many customers
â˘âŻ ProďŹtability is completely about scale
â˘âŻ 2nd copy of identical software costs $0 to build
â˘âŻ Customers rarely compute value/ROI for us
â˘âŻ We propose value to prospects during sales process
â˘âŻ âIf you use our ergonomic standing desks, your staff will be 15% healthier
and 10% more productiveâ
â˘âŻ We segment markets for similar customers
â˘âŻ Exclude those who want very different solutions
â˘âŻ Exclude those who donât accept our proposed value
Product Managers DeďŹne Value for
SpeciďŹc 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, personasâŚ
product
bits
strategy, forecasts,
commitments, roadmaps,
competitive intelligence
budgets, staff,
targets
Field input,
Market feedback
Segmentation, messages,
beneďŹts/features, pricing,
qualiďŹcation, demosâŚ
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. â˘âŻ ACTIVITY and OUTPUT (what people see)
â˘âŻ Write epics/stories, meet customers, cajole, pitch prospects, call
meetings, accept epics/stories, praise teams, distract Sales, present
roadmaps, catch arrows
â˘âŻ OUTCOME (where we earn our salaries):
â˘âŻ Make technical/market trade-offs for revenue and adoption
â˘âŻ DeďŹect interruptions
â˘âŻ Turn away poor deals, customers and partners
â˘âŻ 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. â˘âŻ Logic and facts are not sufďŹcient
â˘âŻ Engineering demand >> supply
â˘âŻ Sales teams paid to
close individual deals
â˘âŻ HIPPO
â˘âŻ Responsibility
without authority
â˘âŻ Where strategy meets
implementation
Product Management:
Inherently Political
w w w . M I R O N O V . c o m 14
15. â˘âŻ Business value error bars > engineering error bars
â˘âŻ Blending of
â˘âŻ Promises of future revenue
â˘âŻ Promises of future operational savings
â˘âŻ Promises of future development efďŹciencies (tech debt)
â˘âŻ Quality forced onto a linear scale
â˘âŻ Simplistic models of buyer behavior
â˘âŻ 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:
â˘âŻ Epic/project business value estimates are +/- 70%
â˘âŻ 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. Thereâs nothing more wasteful
than brilliantly engineering a
product that doesnât sell,
or a project that
doesnât matter.
w w w . M I R O N O V . c o m 17
18. â˘âŻ Pulls into product station every day
â˘âŻ From customers, sales, support, execs, engineers, analystsâŚ
â˘âŻ Delivers hundreds of âgood ideasâ each day
â˘âŻ Few are new or earthshaking
Good Idea Train
w w w . M I R O N O V . c o m 18
19. â˘âŻ Emotional needs vs. commitment
â˘âŻ Japanese âhaiâ is alternative to âNOâ
â˘âŻ "Thank you! That's a really interesting
idea. Let me put it into the idea backlog.
And letâs talk more about the root cause
of the problem you have.â
â˘âŻ 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
âSmall pâ Product Owner
w w w . M I R O N O V . c o m 20
showcase
customers
21. â˘âŻ Engineering output
â˘âŻ Product features
â˘âŻ Order of delivery
â˘âŻ Product/market/business model
â˘âŻ Pricing
â˘âŻ Competitive positioning
â˘âŻ Partners and Channels
â˘âŻ Services and Support
â˘âŻ Fit with corporate strategy
â˘âŻ Product split, merge or EOL
Product Manager Has More Levers
Product
manager
Product
owner
A@er:
 Greg
 Cohen
Â
w w w . M I R O N O V . c o m 21
22. Not what we intended, butâŚ
â˘âŻ Most product management
teams are already understaffed
â˘âŻ Product ownership adds
40-60% more critical work
â˘âŻ Urgency of stories, backlog grooming,
sprint planning, standups, acceptance
â˘âŻ One person can âdo it allâ for a single agile team
â˘âŻ 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, butâŚ
â˘âŻ Selection (hiring) focuses on SME/BA, technical
skills, story writing
â˘âŻ Little appreciation for market-side experience
â˘âŻ Engineeringâs belief in rational/technical customers
â˘âŻ Requirements are out there to be âgatheredâ
â˘âŻ No recognition of organizational blocking skills
â˘âŻ Short-term assignments or career path?
Product Owners: Typically Under-Specâd,
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) whenâŚ
â˘âŻ Part-timer, not engaged with team(s)
â˘âŻ Lack of detail on stories/handwaving
â˘âŻ Stale backlog
â˘âŻ Best of intentions, but pulled in
too many directions
25. Product Owner Failure Modes
Product Owner fails âthe businessâ whenâŚ
â˘âŻ Weak on market realities: whole
product, competitive dynamics, value
error bars, beneďŹts, pricing models
â˘âŻ Unable to hold back interrupt stream
â˘âŻ Confuses showcase customers with broad market
26. Commercial Product Failures
w w w . M I R O N O V . c o m 26
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Most
 product
 failures
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happen
 here
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27. Shared PO/PDM Scope
w w w . M I R O N O V . c o m 27
Product
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 &
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User
 Stories
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(âDONEâ)
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Process
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improvement
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 day
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Daily
Â
Standup
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Sprint:
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 to
 3
 weeks
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No
 changes
 in
 dura5on
 or
 goal
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Retrospec-ve
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Process
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improvement
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sprints
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product manager focus
product owner focus
28. Minimal PDM/PO âOrganizationâ
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
âmanagementâ
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
âmanagementâ
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
âmanagementâ
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
âmanagementâ
32. â˘âŻ Product management scope includes market success
as well as technical delivery
â˘âŻ Agile stretches/stresses commercial
product organizations
â˘âŻ Teaming, collaboration and skills more
important than titles
â˘âŻ Find balance among collaboration,
deďŹection, 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
Â
@RichMironov
Rich@Mironov.com
Â
+1-Ââ650-Ââ315-Ââ7394
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