Ever wondered why scaling agile is so hard? Often it is because of the problems faced executing true Product Ownership with many teams. This presentation contains a deep dive on the causes of problems as well as useful tips to help solve them. This was originally delivered as part of the Agile London meetup, the video for which can be found here https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4WDt3lXqD-XGqlLlopBCjQ/videos

1. HOW PRODUCT
OWNERSHIP KILLS
AGILE AT SCALE
Common problems and some tips to fix them

2. Ben Maynard
Sheev
Coach, Facilitator & Trainer

3. SOME DATA
32%
% of Respondents were Product
Owners/Managers
6%
Lack of business/customer/Product
Owner hinders success
64%
Choose Agile for Business/IT
Alignment
54%
of Organisations use Scrum
1,319No of people responding to the
2019 State of Agile Survey
% of Scaling Frameworks Used
2019 “State of Agile Survey”

4. WHAT WILL BE COVERED
THE PROBLEMS
The problems that emerge when
“Product Ownership Kills Agile at
Scale”
01
DEPENDENCIES
Knee deep in dependencies?
Product Ownership could fix that
03
DA BOSS
Product Owner as a Team Player,
Not a Boss
02
RELATIONSHIPS
Product Ownership = Relationships
04

5. Whenever an organisation increases in size
problems are created that need to be
solved.
The role of Product Owner is valuable and
should be rewarding to the individuals and
organisations alike.
However, when not executed or supported
adequately it can kill dreams of making
agile at scale a success
HOW PRODUCT
OWNERSHIP KILLS
AGILE AT SCALE

6. THE PROBLEMS
LEARNING ABILITY
Agility = Learning & Servant
Leadership
FLEXIBILITY
Reduced flexibility means
working on low value items
DUNNING-KRUGER
We all need to learn
ORGANISATIONAL GOAL
Product Ownership
supports the Organisation’s
goal
TRUST
Trust = Fast
No Trust = Slow
ALIENATION
The PO is a team member
and needs to behave that
way
COORDINATION
Coordination is wasteful
and distracting

7. WHAT WILL BE COVERED
THE PROBLEMS
The problems that causes “Product
Ownership Kill Agile at Scale”
01
PRODUCT BREADTH
Knee deep in dependencies?
Product breadth may be the
answer
03
DA BOSS
Product as a Team Player, Not a
Boss
02
RELATIONSHIPS
Product Ownership = Relationships
04

8. DA BOSS
When the Product Owner is also your boss it makes
things difficult.
As you scale the more people that get involved the more
difficult this conundrum becomes

9. DA BOSS
DISTRACTIONS
Product Ownership
requires focus and
dedication. Having people
to manage pulls you away
from this.
EXPECTATIONS
Are you setting the direction
for the Product or deciding
how much bonus your
sub-Product owners should
get?
CONFLICTS
The tough decisions you
make cause conflict as
you are not impartial

10. SERVANT LEADERSHIP
“Do those served grow as persons? Do they, while being
served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more
autonomous, more likely themselves to become
servants?”
Greenleaf, 1970

11. WHAT WILL BE COVERED
THE PROBLEMS
The problems that causes “Product
Ownership Kill Agile at Scale”
01
PRODUCT BREADTH
Knee deep in dependencies?
Product Ownership could fix that
03
DA BOSS
Product as a Team Player, Not a
Boss
02
RELATIONSHIPS
Product Ownership = Relationships
04

12. PRODUCT BREADTH
The breadth of your Product will affect your ability to
scale whilst keeping waste in structure, policy and
process low.
So if by breadth we mean how many technical
components are within our Product...

13. PRODUCT BREADTH
WHAT’S YOUR
PRODUCT?
Dependencies are the
scourge of many
organisations
consuming time, money
and the will to live.
FEATURE
TEAMS
These are not
possible unless your
Product is broad
enough to allow
teams to work on
whole features with
no dependencies.
DUPLICATION
Who knows what
happens in other
backlogs? Let’s not
increase complexity
to discover, lets
collapse Product
Backlogs to avoid,
PRIORITISATION
Simpler, more robust
prioritisation is
enabled the broader
your product is

14. WHAT WILL BE COVERED
THE PROBLEMS
The problems that causes “Product
Ownership Kill Agile at Scale”
01
DEPENDENCIES
Knee deep in dependencies?
Product Ownership could fix that
03
DA BOSS
Product as a Team Player, Not a
Boss
02
RELATIONSHIPS
Product Ownership = Relationships
04

15. RELATIONSHIPS
When we were just 8 people things were easy, now we
are 800 things are very different.
Without Product Owners taking due care and attention
to the growth and nurturing of 5 categories of
relationships you can embark upon a slippery slope...

16. RELATIONSHIPSHIGHER
MANAGEMENT
To keep the Product funded and the
organisation heading in the right direction
SCRUM MASTER
To help maximise ROI
and achieve
objectives via Scrum
USERS/CUSTOMERS
To serve their needs and wants to
keep the revenue flowing this
relationship must be built on a
deep understanding
TEAMS
A relationship built
upon trust and
empathy is key
TEAMS <-> USERS
The key to realising one of
the most important
agile principles

17. WHAT WILL BE COVERED
THE PROBLEMS
The problems that causes “Product
Ownership Kill Agile at Scale”
01
DEPENDENCIES
Knee deep in dependencies?
Product Ownership could fix that
03
DA BOSS
Product as a Team Player, Not a
Boss
02
RELATIONSHIPS
Product Ownership = Relationships
04

18. THE TIPS
SERVANT LEADERSHIP
___
5 RELATIONSHIPS
___
DEFINE BROADLY
___
Create and nurture the
5 Relationships
essential to every
Product Owner
Serve first and make
the conscious choice
to lead second with
those that depend on
you (and you depend
upon) to be
successful
Eradicate
dependencies, roles &
structure to create a
Product & Customer
Centric Organisation

19. THANKS
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20. CONTACT
Does anyone have any questions?
hello@sheev.co.uk
sheev.co.uk
Ben Maynard
Founder, Coach & Trainer

21. CREDITS
This is where you give credit to the ones who are part of
this project.
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