The document discusses the roles and responsibilities of a Product Owner Team in leading Agile program management. The Product Owner Team aims to provide clarity through a well-defined backlog, hold teams accountable for commitments, and demonstrate measurable progress. Key activities of the Product Owner Team include strategic alignment of epics, demand planning, detailed planning with teams, and overseeing execution to ensure accountability. The team works closely with portfolio management and delivery teams throughout the product development process.

1. Product Owner Team:
Leading Agile Program Management

2. Product Owner Team – Why?

3. Team
Database
Report
Screen
Clarity Accountability Measureable Progress
Agile Teams
Keys to Success
Stories

4. Product Owner Team
Key Goals
• Provide Clarity through a well defined Feature
Backlog
• Hold Agile Teams Accountable to make and meet
commitments
• Demonstrate Measurable Progress by facilitating
demonstration of integrated features
• Provide timely information to Portfolio
Management for investment decisions
Product
Owner
Team
Agile
Team
Feature
Portfolio
Management

5. Portfolio Management
Key Investment Questions
Strategic Alignment
• Will this Epic drive business
results identified in
Investment Themes?
• Is this Epic ordered relative to
the other Epics? Is this
prioritization reflected on the
Epic Backlog?
• Are we meeting allocation by
channel in alignment with our
agreements? Is this reflected
in the Epic Backlog?
Demand Planning
• How big is this Epic? Should be
less than 3 months so we can
plan and “see” progress.
• Do we need all the Features to
meet the business goal? Start
thinking MVP.
• Is the forecasted date
acceptable? Should we
reprioritize?
• Start thinking Cost of Delay
Detailed Planning
• Which Epics go into the next
release? Establish release
objectives.
• Are the Epics ready for
Release Planning?
• Have Epic owners considered
MVP?
• What is the confidence in the
release plan?
• Do we have credible release
plans documented?
Execution
Governance
• Is the software demoed?
• Have we solved the
business problem
identified in the Epic
Brief?
• Should we stop building
and get market feedback
to validate our
assumptions?
• Are we making progress
on the epics?
• Are the stories ordered by
cost of delay?
Portfolio
Management

6. Product Owner Team Roles
Product Owner Team Roles Brief Description
Product Manager (PROD) Support the valuable solution and ensure features are ordered
considering epic priorities; usually the leader of the PO Team
Solution Architect (SA) Support the technically viable solution; provide support and
guidance to Tech Leads and other technology personnel
Release Manager (RM) Support an achievable solution ensuring demand is balanced with
capacity and dependencies; facilitate release planning and protect
the release plans
QA Management (QA) Provide support and guidance for the quality of the solution;
ensure quality is considered and coordinated early
Project Manager (PM) Foster effective collaboration of the PO Team to shepherd Features
through the Kanban and ensure effective communication with the
portfolio team; AKA Scrum Master of the PO Team
Product Owner (PO) Serves as Product Owner on a team; often a Business Analyst

7. Enterprise Agile Delivery Approach
Portfolio
Team
Product Owner
Teams
Delivery
Teams
Improve Quality
Reduce Rework
Maximize Strategic Alignment
Increase Transparency
Increase Predictability
Reduce Time to ROI
Minimize Delivery Risk
Teamsand
Collaborations
Continuous
Improvement
Product/
Strategy
Portfolio Team
Production
Ready Release
Story
Refinement
Release
Planning
Solution
Vision
IntegrationDevelop
and Test
Production Ready
Release
Build
Ready To
Build
Release
Viability
Release
Targeting
Investment
Validation
Delivery
Teams
Product
Owner
Team
Sprint
Done
Story DoneDaily ReviewWork In ProcessSprint Plan
Detailed Planning
(Clarity)
Execution Governance
(Accountability)
Accountability
Demand Planning
Strategic
Alignment
Investment
Prioritization
Investment
Alignment
ThreeTierModel
Epic Intake

8. Strategic Alignment
Purpose
• Strategic alignment and prioritization of Epics
• Shared understanding and agreement with portfolio
stakeholders
Activities
• Describe Value and Features
• Consider constraints
Artifact
• Epic Brief
• Strategically aligned Epics in Portfolio Backlog
Strategic
Alignment
Investment
Prioritization
Investment
Alignment
Epic Intake

9. Epic Brief
•Epic Title/ Product Manager
•Investment Theme (and Capability if known)
•Value Statement
Description
•Features/Benefits
•PersonasScope
•Dependencies
•Risks
•Assumptions
Constraints
•Opportunity CasePlanning
PROD articulates the Description & Scope
PROD and SA identify Constraints
Portfolio Management validates alignment to strategy and
priority

10. Demand Planning
Purpose
• Validate Investment and Roadmap
• Provide Clarity through a well defined Feature Backlog
Activities
• Define and validate Features
• Initial planning for risks and dependencies
• Balance demand to demonstrated capacity
Artifacts
• Epic Brief Refined
• Epic Roadmap and Timeline
• Epic Risk Report
Solution
Vision
Release
Targeting
Investment
Validation
Demand Planning
(Clarity)

11. Epic Roadmap
PO Team defines Features
PO Team explores planning options
RM forecasts Epics on the Epic Roadmap
Portfolio Management validates Roadmap

12. Epic Risk Report
PM leads PO Team to assess risks
PO Team works to address and mitigate
significant risks
Epics start at red; PO Team and Agile Team earns
green
Portfolio Team validates responsible planning

13. Detailed Planning
Purpose
• Explore and identify “steel thread”, MVP and other options
• Provide clarity by supporting backlog refinement and planning
Activities
• Story Writing and Mapping
• Release Planning Event
• Backlog Refinement
Artifacts
• Story Map with release options
• Release Plans
• Story Backlog
Story
Refinement
Release
Planning
Ready To
Build
Release
Viability
Detailed Planning
(Clarity)

14. Release Plans
Agile Teams write and estimate stories
PO Team facilitates Release Planning Event
PO Team provides support and guidance
Agile Teams refine the backlog
•Test Approach
•Technical Approach
•Environments & coordinationTechnical
•Release Management Impacts
•Production Services Impacts
•Security Impacts
•Dependency Coordination
Logistics
•Features & Stories Planned
•Go to Market PlanBusiness

15. Execution Governance
Purpose
• Provide support and guidance to Agile Teams to build and test
Stories
• Deliver integrated Features that solve the business problems
Activities
• Release Coordination Meeting
• Hold Agile Teams accountable to make and meet commitments
• Measurable Progress by facilitating demo of integrated Features
Artifacts
• Integrated Features
Production
Ready
Release
Integration
Testing
Develop
and Test
Build
Execution Governance
(Accountability)

16. Execution Governance Strategies
• Facilitate coordination of cross team concerns
• Cultivate and consider options
• Make continue, change, kill decisions
• Provide support, coaching and guidance to Agile
Teams

17. Product Owner Team
Questions?
• Provide Clarity through a well defined Feature
Backlog
• Hold Agile Teams Accountable to make and meet
commitments
• Demonstrate Measurable Progress by facilitating
demonstration of integrated features
• Provide timely information to Portfolio
Management for investment decisions
Product
Owner
Team
Agile
Team
Feature
Portfolio
Management

18. DETAILED GUIDE

19. Strategic Alignment
State Lead
s
Activity APM Tool Artifact
Epic Intake PRO
D
Completes the Description section of the Epic Brief and finds
a Portfolio Team member to sponsor the Epic
Creates Epic Initiate Epic
Brief
Investment
Alignment
PORT Validates alignment with Portfolio Roadmap and Investment
Themes
Facilitator updates Epic
state
Investment
Prioritization
PRO
D
Completes and validates the Features & Benefits section Create Features Epic Brief
Investment
Prioritization
PRO
D&
SA
Completes the Constraints section; action to address any
significant blockers (Requires high level modeling of
candidate architecture)
Create Spikes as
needed
Epic Brief
Investment
Prioritization
PO
Team
Figures Priority Score Record
Investment
Prioritization
PORT Prioritizes Epic in Epic Backlog for Investment Validation Facilitator updates Epic
State
Strategic
Alignment
Investment
Prioritization
Investment
Alignment
Epic Intake

20. Demand Planning
State Leads Activity APM Tool Artifact
Investment
Validation
PROD Validate features leveraging visual specification and
prototypes
Visual
Specification
Solution
Vision
PO
Team
Define Features (Feature Acceptance Criteria, Visual
Specification, NFR)
Update Features
Solution
Vision
PROD Update Capability Catalog to identify and align new features
to current capabilities
Capability
Catalog
Solution
Vision
PO
Team
Identify and initiate planning for risks and dependencies
(Look Ahead Planning)
Risk
Dashboard
Solution
Vision
RM &
SA
Identify Agile Teams to own Features Update Feature Owner
Release
Targeting
RM With PROD and SA, size features and mock plan into Sprints Record Refined
Estimate for Feature
Release
Targeting
RM Updates Epic Roadmap and summarize in Epic Timeline Epic Roadmap
Release
Targeting
PM Moves feature through to Epic Breakdown done Update Feature state
Release
Targeting
RM Identifies Release Objectives for the next Release.
Communicates and validates with PORT & PO Team
Create or update
Release
Release
Objectives
Release
Targeting
PORT Decides whether to authorizes Epic for further investment for
Agile Teams to perform Detailed Planning
Facilitator updates Epic
State
Solution
Vision
Release
Targetin
g
Investment
Validation
Demand Planning

21. Detailed Planning
State Leads Activity APM Tool Artifact
Release
Planning
PO
Team
Introduce Epic to Agile Teams who own the Features;
generally a kick off presenting Epic Brief, candidate
architecture, UI mocks, and other feature modeling
Meeting
Agenda
Release
Planning
Agile
Team
Assesses whether Features are Ready for Detailed Planning;
pulls into Story Mapping when ready
Update Feature state
Release
Planning
Agile
Team
Write Stories and build the story map Create stories Story Map
Release
Planning
Agile
Team
Collaborating with PROD, elicit acceptance criteria Update stories
Release
Planning
Agile
Team
Sufficient technical design and estimate stories Update stories with
estimates
Technical
Spikes
Release
Planning
Agile
Team
Identify the “steel thread”, thin slice that follows happy path
from end to end. Determine scope options for MMF, MVP
and candidate functional releases.
Story Map
Release
Planning
PO
Team
Supports Release Planning preparation and provides
guidance on scope options
Story Map
Release
Planning
Agile
Team
Mock plan the next Release Horizon by moving stories into
iterations
Add to iterations
Story
Refinement
Release
Planning
Ready To
Build
Release
Viability
Detailed Planning
(Clarity)

22. Detailed Planning
State Leads Activity APM Tool Artifact
RP Event RM Prepares Agenda and follow up to communicates preparation
and participation for Release Planning event
Agenda
RP Event Agile
Teams
Plans User Stories for the Release, plan dependencies;
organize team risk reporting
Update Release, PTD,
Iteration, story
dependencies
Initiate Risk
Reporting
RP Event RM Captures release scope plans; prepares Release Reports Validates Features and
Stories in Release Plan
Release Plan
Template
RP Event Build
Eng.
Lead source code branching strategies and planning;
communicate plans
Branching Plan
RP Event QA
Mgr.
Lead Test Planning including Integration and Verification of
features; communicate plans
Test Plan
Template
RP Event Security Lead security planning; communicate plans Security Plan
RP Event SA Define Technical Spikes Create Spikes
RP Event RM &
PM
Reports on release planning; Updates Epic Timeline, Epic
Roadmap and Portfolio Dashboard
Release Plans
Release
Viability
PORT Validates viable release plans to meet release objectives Facilitator updates Epic
State
Story
Refinement
Agile
Team
Begins story refinement Updates stories Specification
Story
Refinement
Release
Planning
Ready To
Build
Release
Viability
Detailed Planning
(Clarity)

23. Execution Governance
State Leads Activity APM Tool Artifact
Story
Refinement
Agile
Teams
Leads Story Refinement Updates stories Specification
Develop &
Test
PO
Team
Provide Agile Teams the environment and support they need
to get the job done, support Agile Team activities
Develop &
Test
Agile
Teams
Build, Test and Demo stories Working
Software
Integration RM Coordinates stories to build end to end functionality as
identified in Story Mapping; prepares PTD list
Export PTD list Story Map
Integration Build
Eng.
Assembles Release Components; Builds Integration
environment; Builds Staging & Production environments
Integration QA
Mgr.
Leads Integration testing for Features
Feature
Complete
PROD Reviews and accepts Features
Feature
Complete
PO
Team
Reviews and accepts release
Production
Ready
Release
Integration
Testing
Develop
and Test
Build
Execution Governance
(Accountability)

24. Execution Governance
State Leads Activity APM Tool Artifact
Execution
Governance
RM Monitor, coordinate and report on Release Progress. Updates
Epic Timeline and Epic Roadmap
Release Burndown,
Release Risk,
Release Status
Report
Execution
Governance
PM Monitor and report on Epic or Milestone Progress. Updates
Portfolio Dashboard.
Milestone CFD,
Metrics, Operations
Review
Epic Status
Report;
Operations
Review
Execution
Governance
PORT Monitors key information to support teams, generate options
and make investment decisions
Status Reports
Execution
Governance
PM Post Launch Hyper-care management; transition to
Operations
Launch Plans