Demystifying Agile Product Management

Transcription

1 Demystifying Agile Product Management Rich Mironov CEO, Mironov Consulting January 22, 2014

2 About Rich Mironov Veteran product manager/exec/strategist Business models, pricing, agile Organizing product organiza:ons What do customers want? 6 startups, including as CEO/founder The Art of Product Management Founded Product Camp, chaired first agile product manager/owner tracks

3 Agenda 1. What is a product manager? An agile product owner? 2. Finding and growing product skills 3. Product management/ownership in distributed models Demystifying Agile Product Management 3

4 The Set-up Product manager is a job title Org charts, HR category, not necessarily agile Reports to Marketing, Engineering or executives Product owner is an agile team role Part of self-organizing team Reports to Engineering or Program Office Work has to get done, regardless of title Sprint-level stories, backlogs, priorities, acceptance Engagement with users, buyers and corporate priorities 4

5 What Does A Product Manager Do? For commercial / revenue software Drives delivery and market acceptance of whole products Targets market segments, not individual customers Are we building the right thing? For strategic internal development Drives acceptance and adoption Resolves inevitable competing priorities 5

6 What Does A Product Manager Do? budgets, staff, targets Executives strategy, forecasts, commitments, roadmaps, competitive intelligence market information, priorities, requirements, roadmaps, epics, user stories, backlogs, personas, MRDs Product Management Field input, Market feedback Development Marketing & Sales Markets & Customers product bits Segmentation, messages, benefits/features, pricing, qualification, demos

7 Feeding The Agile Beast Steam engine fireman needs to keep shoveling coal, otherwise the train will stop IMO, agile needs 40-60% more product management than waterfall 7

8 What Does a Product Owner Do represents the customer s interest in backlog prioritization and requirements questions... available to the team at any time. Feeds the hungry agile beast Provides intense sprint-level focus: stories, backlog, prioritization, acceptance Wins adulation of development teams Does portion of product management that developers see

9 small p Product Owner Executives backlog, priorities, epics, user stories, personas, demo feedback Product Owner Development Marketing & Sales Markets & Customers product bits showcase customers

10 Product Owner s Calendar From Catherine Connor, Rally

11 Product Manager Has More Levers Engineering output Product features Order of delivery Whole product/ business model Pricing Competitive positioning Distribution Services Product owner Product manager After: Greg Cohen 11

12 Why is Prioritization Hard? Customer/field demands always far outstrip resources Likely discard 80%+ of enhancement requests Decisions are semi-quantitative Huge error bars on revenue impact, market reactions, development estimates, support costs Short-term vs. long-term Incremental features grow into crufty products Deal-driven vs. strategic curating People and organizations matters Confidential 12

13 Product Manager Failure Modes Product Manager fails agile team when Part-timer, not engaged with team Lack of detail on stories Stale backlog Handwaving and bluster Best of intentions, but pulled in too many directions Build what I meant 13

14 Product Owner Failure Modes Product Owner fails the market when Weak on market realities: pricing, packaging, selling cycle, upgrades, discounting, service models, competitive dynamics Disconnected from Marketing, Sales, Support/Services Trading off company strategy for product features Confusing showcase customers with broader market 14

15 Market Failure Modes Delivering (big) products that don t sell Commitment to outdated plans Urgency to start coding Assuming static markets Independent of titles, how do we reduce risk of catastrophic failures? 15

16 Agenda 1. What is a product manager? An agile product owner? 2. Finding and growing product skills 3. Product management/ownership in distributed models Demystifying Agile Product Management 16

17 What PM Hiring Managers Want Analyzed 41 recent technology product manager job postings 76% want previous PM experience (average of 3.3 years) 93% want excellent verbal and written communication skills 93% want a BS (68% prefer CS/EE) 32% want MBAs 88% want experience in that company s market segment 17

18 How Development Managers Hire Look first for SMEs Huge premium on technical chops, story writing Rarely consider market-side experience Believe in rational/unemotional/technical customers Undervalue organizational blocking skills Can be disastrous for revenue products

19 Look for Balanced Set of Talents Product experience, ideally in multiple markets Technical enough to succeed with your Dev team Demonstrated empathy for customers Can deal with different styles/personality types Confidential 19

20 Agenda 1. What is a product manager? An agile product owner? 2. Finding and growing product skills 3. Product management/ownership in distributed models Demystifying Agile Product Management 20

21 Practical Reality Most development teams are distributed Often in multiple locations Far from Marketing and Sales Agile development, waterfall validation Focus on timely delivery Need winning products, not just code Keep our product decisions agile 21

22 Distinct Product Managers/Owners? One way to split up work Product Manager Program-level responsibility for features, stories, teams Feature-level backlog, review, team-level escalations Intensive daily collaboration with product owners, customer prospects 40% scrum-of-scrums, 40% customers, 20% overhead Product Owner 100% dedicated to 1 or 2 scrum teams Manage/groom team backlog, write/accept all stories, sprint planning and reviews Solid line to product management 22

23 Minimal PM/PO Organization management VP or Founders Heroic Single Product Manager/Owner more technical more market-focused 23

24 Dysfunctional PO/PM Organization VP Eng VP Marketing management Product Owners Product Managers more technical more market-focused 24

25 PM/PO Product Peers GM / VP Eng / VP Products / CPO management PM Director/ Product Strategist more technical more market-focused 25

26 PM/PO: Market Mentoring management GM / VP Eng / VP Products / CPO Senior Product Manager Product Owner more technical more market-focused 26

27 Delegating Stories and Acceptance? Varies with team, project, technical depth Which stories (design choices) are customervisible? Example: extra focus on UI, configuration options? Example: performance goal (epic) versus specific performance improvements (stories) Plan ahead, negotiate a working agreement What kinds of story writing, to whom? Acceptance of which stories, to whom? Check in frequently: where are the bottlenecks? 27

28 Take-Aways Product management is a superset of product ownership Successful products demand real market validation, hard-nosed economic thinking and uncomfortable trade-offs Product managers need to be near customers and markets; product owners need to be near development