1. Avoiding Common Product Owner
Mistakes
Prajakta Thakur
2012, September
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2. Product Owner
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3. Common PO Mistakes
Mistake
Mistake # #3 Mistake #
2 4
Mistake Mistake #
#1 5
Lack of
Lack of Planning Micro
Product
Lack of Management
Priorities Lack of
Product
Effective
Goals and
communication
Vision
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4. Mistake #1
Lack of Product Goals and Vision
“To the person who does not know where he wants to go,
there is no favorable wind.” - Seneca
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5. Developing Vision
Who is the target customer?
product vision
Which customer needs will the
product address?
product roadmap
What will be the product USPs?
release plan
What are our competitors
doing?
iteration plan
How will product evolve ?
daily plan
What is the target timeframe
Planning Onion and budget ?
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6. Sharing the Vision
• Shift from Documents to Discussions
• Make Product Backlog DEEP
• Progressively Refine Requirements
Cone of
Uncertainty
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7. Mistake #2
Lack of Product Priorities
“Good things happen when you get your priorities straight.” - Scott Caan
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8. Main Factors in Prioritization
• Business value of features
- Financial
- Non-financial
• Cost of development and support
• Significance and amount of knowledge gained
• Risk mitigated by features
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9. Combining Risk and Value
High
High Risk High Risk
Low Value High Value
Avoid Do 1st
Risk
Low Risk Low Risk
Low Value High Value
Do Last Do 2nd
Low
Low High
Value
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10. Mistake #3
Lack of Planning
“By failing to plan, you are planning to fail.” - Benjamin Franklin
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11. The Iron Triangle
Scope
(Features, Functionality )
Quality
Resources Schedule
(Cost, Budget ) (Time)
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12. Effective Sprinting
• Progressively refine the Plans
• Favor scope changes when possible
• Deliver working software and some value-add
each sprint
• Avoid Billiard Ball Sprints
• Keep Timeboxes regular and strict
• Don’t change the goal
• Get Feedback, Learn and Adapt
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13. Mistake #4
Micro Management
"Micromanaging damages employee engagement, undermines confidence,
squashes innovation and often produces disappointing results."- Karen Miller
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14. Effective Team Management
• Encourage Self-Organization within team
• Encourage Collaboration through Commitment
• Foster Team Learning
• Delegate Decision Making where apt
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15. Mistake #5
Lack of Effective Communication
“You can have brilliant ideas, but if you can't get them across, your ideas
won't get you anywhere.” - Lee Iacocca
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16. Effective Communication
• Tailor Message to best match the audience
• Be a Good Listener , especially to the Team
• Establish Rapport with Team , encourage Participation
• Ensure availability, especially for remote team members
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17. Attributes of an Effective PO
Business Savvy
Available for Team
Empowered
Communicative
Decisive
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18. Recapping the Mistakes
Mistake
Mistake # #3 Mistake #
2 4
Mistake Mistake #
#1 5
Lack of
Lack of Planning Micro
Product
Lack of Management
Priorities Lack of
Product
Effective
Goals and
communication
Vision
www.agiletour.org

19. Thank You !
Q&A
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20. References
• Succeeding with Agile, Mike Cohn
• http://www.scrumalliance.org/articles/115-the-product-vision
• http://rsastories.wordpress.com/tag/scrum/
• http://www.hennebert.org
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