Agile Product Manager, Agile Product Owner (@ Agile Bazaar)

Product Managers and Product Owners: Which Do We Need, What Do they Do? Agile Bazaar, Feb 26th Rich Mironov, CMO, Enthiosys [email_address]

An Unapologetic Product Guy
CMO at Enthiosys, agile product mgmt consultancy
Business models/pricing, roadmaps
Innovation Games ® and customer needs
Agile transformation, interim PM executive
Chair of Agile ‘09 track for product mgrs/product owners
Repeat offender at software prod mgmt
Tandem, Sybase, four start-ups
“ The Art of Product Management”

My Biases
Product management is a professional role
Experience-based, not learned overnight
Most products fail in the market, not the lab
Revenue is best success metric for “products”
Versus IT and internally consumed software
There’s no substitute for frequent face-to-face interactions with customers and prospects
“ Product Owner” partly grew out of frustration/ unfamiliarity with product management

Agenda
Why talk about product managers versus product owners?
What does a product manager do?
What is a product owner? How did we get here?
Recommendations

Product Owner? Product Manager?
Most agilists think only about product owners
Formal part of agile team
Needs to be physically present
Driving user stories and sub-iteration decisions
No selection bias for field experience or PM training
Most product managers are not agilists
Late adopters
Servicing multiple inbound and outbound
Own market success, long-term strategic issues
Socially isolated, nomadic

Possibly Incompatible Viewpoints
Product owner
Must be available to the team at any time, especially during the sprint planning and review meetings
Showcases provide customer input for prioritization
Product manager
Majority of work to deliver products (revenue) happens outside Engineering
Markets must be experienced directly, frequently, and not filtered through Sales or execs

Where Does Product Management Fit? market information , priorities, requirements, roadmaps, MRDs, personas, user stories… software strategy, forecasts, commitments, roadmaps, competitive intelligence Budgets, staff, targets Field input, Market feedback Segments, messages, benefits/features, pricing, sales support, demos… Development Marketing/Sales Customers Executives Product Management

Product Management Planning Horizons Daily Sprint Strategy Portfolio Product Release Exec PM Dev Team 2 wk 2-9 mon many mons years many years

Pragmatic Marketing ® Framework Strategic Tactical Less Technical More Technical © 1993-2009 Pragmatic Marketing, Inc. All rights reserved Pricing Buy, Build or Partner Operational Metrics Business Case Sales Process Product Portfolio Market Requirements Market Sizing Marketing Plan Product Roadmap Customer Acquisition Market Research Market Problems Distinctive Competence Product Performance Customer Retention Positioning Launch Plan Thought Leaders Use Scenarios Innovation Success Stories Presentations & Demos Win/Loss Analysis Competitive Write-Up Event Support Channel Training Collateral & Sales Tools White Papers User Personas “ Special” Calls Release Milestones Answer Desk Technology Assessment Competitive Analysis Lead Generation Buyer Personas Market Analysis Product Strategy Program Strategy Product Planning Quantitative Analysis Channel Support Sales Readiness

Pragmatic Marketing ® Framework © 1993-2009 Pragmatic Marketing, Inc. All rights reserved Pricing Buy, Build or Partner Operational Metrics Business Case Sales Process Product Portfolio Market Requirements Market Sizing Marketing Plan Product Roadmap Customer Acquisition Market Research Market Problems Distinctive Competence Product Performance Customer Retention Positioning Launch Plan Thought Leaders Use Scenarios Innovation Success Stories Presentations & Demos Win/Loss Analysis Competitive Write-Up Event Support Channel Training Collateral & Sales Tools White Papers User Personas “ Special” Calls Release Milestones Answer Desk Technology Assessment Competitive Analysis Lead Generation Buyer Personas Market Analysis Product Strategy Program Strategy Product Planning Quantitative Analysis Channel Support Sales Readiness Dir, Prod Strategy Tech Prod Mgr Prod Mktg Mgr

What Does a Product Owner Do?
Responsible for
Defining the features of the product
Deciding release date and content
Profitability of the product (ROI?)
Prioritizing features according to market value
Changing features and priority between iterations
Accepting or rejecting work results
“ In Scrum, a single person must have final authority representing the customer's interest in backlog prioritization and requirements questions. This person must be available to the team at any time , especially during the sprint planning meeting and the sprint review meeting.”

Product Owner’s Calendar Borrowed from Catherine Connor, Rally

Two Sizes of Product Owner
“ small p” product owner
Focus on iterations (rather than releases)
User story elaboration, backlog management
Available to dev team hour by hour
Customer showcase (rather than market research)
Internal recruit, little product management experience
“ Big P” Product Owner
Strategic view of customers, profitability, markets
Sets broad direction, allocates resources
Deep experience with customer segments
I see very few “Big P” Product Owners in the wild

“ small p” product owner Development customer information, priorities, requirements, roadmaps, personas, user stories… software Marketing/Sales Customers Executives product owner

“ small p” product owner product owner Pricing Buy, Build or Partner Operational Metrics Business Case Sales Process Product Portfolio Market Requirements Market Sizing Marketing Plan Product Roadmap Customer Acquisition Market Research Market Problems Distinctive Competence Product Performance Customer Retention Positioning Launch Plan Thought Leaders Use Scenarios Innovation Success Stories Presentations & Demos Win/Loss Analysis Competitive Write-Up Event Support Channel Training Collateral & Sales Tools White Papers User Personas “ Special” Calls Release Milestones Answer Desk Technology Assessment Competitive Analysis Lead Generation Buyer Personas Market Analysis Product Strategy Program Strategy Product Planning Quantitative Analysis Channel Support Sales Readiness

Product Owner Focus
Intensive focus on iterations and daily processes
Frequent backlog prioritization
Detailed user stories and acceptance criteria
Blocking issues
Iteration content and release content
Prioritizing features according to market value ( not really ROI )
Accepting or rejecting work results
Very limited time for cross-functional activities..
Review (or write) product descriptions and data sheet copy
Unit/revenue forecasts, sales analysis for exec team
Review (or design) sales qualification checklists
Pitch product to customers onsite or in the field
Help with pricing “specials” that reflect market’s value perception
Repeatedly brief Support, Legal, Channel Sales, PR, Marcom

Solo Models?
A seasoned Agile Product Manager can also be a Product Owner
Cover both roles for one moderately complex product
Heroically for two products?
A Seasoned Product Owner can not also be a Product Manager
Outbound coordination and Sales/Marketing/Field role don’t fit into schedule
Must apply some paired or hybrid solutions

Product Manager Failure Modes
Solo Product Manager fails the agile team
Part-timer, not fully engaged in team
Lack of detail on stories, acceptance tests
Stale items in backlog
Handwaving and bluster
Best of intentions, but pulled in too many directions
“ Build what I meant”

Product Owner Failure Modes
Solo Product Owner fails the market
Weak on actual economic value: pricing, packaging, upgrades, professional services, discounting, competitive dynamics
Disconnected from cross-functional teams that turn software into products
Trading off company-wide product strategy in favor of product-level features
Assuming showcase customers represent market

A Scalable PM/PO Model
Small product, co-located team
Agile product manager also acts as product owner
Complex product
PM covers strategic/outbound, PO for tech/inbound
Report up through same PM management chain
Distributed teams
One or more PMs at main Eng location
Every remote team has a PO
Frequent, intense collaboration among all PMs/POs

Agile’s Inner Loop (Development)

Agile’s Strategic Outer Loop (PM)
Markets
Customers
Biz Models
Strategy
Portfolios
Funding
Customers
Sales
Marketing
Support
Upgrades
EOL/EOS

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Agile Product Manager, Agile Product Owner (@ Agile Bazaar)

by Enthiosys Inc on Apr 21, 2009

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Agile Product Manager, Agile Product Owner (@ Agile Bazaar) — Presentation Transcript