Essential Product Owner - StickyMinds€¦ · making the shift to Scrum and other agile practices....

KT2 Keynote 6/9/2011 10:15:00 AM

"The Essential Product Owner: Partnering with the Team"

Presented by:

Bob Galen iContact

Brought to you by:

330 Corporate Way, Suite 300, Orange Park, FL 32073 888‐268‐8770 ∙ 904‐278‐0524 ∙ [email protected] ∙ www.sqe.com

Bob Galen Bob Galen is the director of R&D at iContact and president of RGCG, LLC., a North Carolina-based firm specializing in strategy development, coaching, and training teams making the shift to Scrum and other agile practices. Bob regularly speaks at international conferences and professional groups on topics related to software development, project management, software testing, and team leadership. He is a Certified ScrumMaster Practicing (CSP), Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO), and an active member of the Agile Alliance and Scrum Alliance. In 2009, Bob published Scrum Product Ownership—Balancing Value from the Inside Out. You can reach Bob at [email protected] or rgalen.com.

The Essential Product Owner: Partnering with the Team

Bob GalenDirector R&D, iContact

President & Principal Consultant RGCG, LLC

[email protected]

2Copyright © RGCG, LLC 2

CustomerBusiness Analyst

StakeholderProduct Manager

Requirement Provider

Anyone tasked with describing and accepting business facing value produced by an agile team

Clearly the reference is Scrum-centric

When I say Product Owner…?

Audience?

Truly not Product Owner centricAgile methodology agnostic

I’m trying to imply a whole-team view, where the entire team:

Collaborates on the workElaborates storiesDelivers on valueDelivers on quality

Copyright © RGCG, LLC 33


Simple Patterns – Good!

Essential Patterns – Collaborative & Better!

Stories from the ‘Trenches’Some patterns, some anti-patterns

My focus:Simple Patterns vs. Essential Patterns


Simple pattern: The Product Owner ‘Owns’ the Product Backlog

Essential pattern

It Takes a Village to ‘Own’ the Backlog

Who owns the Backlog?


Product Organization – Product Owners

Stakeholders

Business Analyst Testers

Software Programmers

Scrum Master

It Takes a Village to ‘Own’ the Backlog


Active in Sprint ReviewsSit with or visit the team; daily interactions!Have courage to “Tell Truth” to Leadership & to the TeamWorking code…reviewed…accepted…deployedShared vision, goals, ownership, challenges, successes & failures

But importantly a singular, decisive voice!Only one?

Injection / InfluencePoints


Simple pattern: Defining a Sprint Goal

Essential pattern

Leading with your Goals

Goal Setting?


Release GoalsSprint GoalsFeature Acceptance

Over Features, Stories, and TasksValue-drivenEnvisioningChartering

Leading with Goal Setting

Goal Setting Stories

A Survival Goal (Michael)Startup, first Scrum sprint, early financing, successful DEMO

A Quality Goal (Jon)Complex errors, $$$, explore ATDD, correct business logic, ‘Stretch’ -- innovation

Release Goals (Rob)New message creation engine; intuitive for SMB customers, Release #1 – MMF / Entry, Release #2 – Stabilization & Templates and Release #3 – Complex Editing



Simple pattern: Backlog Grooming

Essential pattern

Active & Congruent Backlog Grooming

Backlog Management?

12

Influencing Grooming DynamicsStories

PO Influence (Max)eCommerce companyPO was incredibly well-liked; influentialTeam was there to please…to a fault

Leadership Influence (Todd)Start-upCTO was founder, architect, developerPlanning poker with a ‘twist’


Product Owner

Team

Founder


Bring goals & stories to the table; but be open to changeListen actively Don’t predetermine size nor complexity; trust your teamDon’t negotiate…collaborateOrganic explorations of scope and options as you get closer to executionExplore execution dynamics – architecture & design, testing, non-functional, deployment, and riskApply pressure on – value flow, quality & sustainable pace

Active Backlog Grooming


Remembering that the backlog is a shared construct that represents a workflow. It’s not

simply a set of features, but teams need to be able to see the “big picture” and flow from here-to-there

as well.

Visit it often; take your time to gather understanding and determine your path

Active Backlog Grooming


Simple pattern: Release Planning

Essential pattern

Multi-threaded Look Ahead

Big Picture?

A Tapestry that Includes Threads for…

Things to do…

Features Value incrementsArchitectureDesignProcessQualityTesting

In a Context-Based fashion…

DeploymentRegulatoryDependencyRiskFeedbackCustomer timingTempo

…Guiding us towards customer value



PO drops off a listOverloaded priorityToo short-sighted (small) or too robust (long)Dependencies trivialized or not thereSimplistic testing assumedNo consideration for technical debt

Development, testing, legacy code, defect backlogs, etc.

Ignore valueTrivialize deploymentMiss the opportunity for investigation

Unhealthy BacklogsAnti-patterns


Allow the solution to emerge; just-in-time; KISS

Look-ahead, but not too far; iterate

Quality / Debt recovery should result in stories

Thoughtful workflow matters; so trust your teams’ input

Think in terms of ‘Delivery’ to your customer and ‘Done’

Healthy Postures in Creating the Backlog


Simple pattern: Work With The Team

Essential pattern

Cementing a “Creative Partnership”Between PO and Team

Big Picture? Innovation?


Link was a Product Owner in an eCommerce companyConversations around the competitive landscapeTechnology innovation that might be usefulQuarterly presentation on long term strategy; inclusive of teams’ideasTeam included in corporate strategy sessions

What do you think it drove?Shared ‘Ownership’True, Wisdom of Crowds innovation & creativity from the teamTeams’ understanding of value and problem domainKISS solutions

Partnership Story


Allow the team time to Explore

Allow the team to Experiment, Stretch, and FailProudly share failures; stretch points; innovative efforts

Always draw learning from Retrospective,

Know when to ‘Push’ and when to ‘Pull’

Share your ‘Pressures’

Round-trip Exposure


Simple pattern: Of Course, Quality

Essential pattern

Build it Right & Keep it Clean—No Matter the Cost

Built to Last?


Of Course, Quality isn’t a simple pattern, it’s a façade

Jim Coplien responding to a point on Scrum Alliance leadership (paraphrased)…

Value doesn’t matter when examining technical debt. Rather, that cleaning upafter yourself transcended the normal determination of business value and

was simply an inherent part of delivering software. That it is our responsibility and is non-negotiable. The decision-making wasn’t FOR the

business-side, but instead resides within the team.

Listen to your team! Ask the ‘Right’ questions!

Who Decides on Quality?


Intentional vs.We don’t have the time, you’re simply gold-plating, I don’t trust you or your overreacting

UnintentionalMistakes, M&A activity, poor design choices, skill gaps, etc.

Warning signs & termsHacking, Crufty Code, Over complexityFear Factor (FUD), Estimate Inflation

Annual pilgrimage for debt relief (Mark)

Technical Debt


As aspiring Software Craftsmen we are raising the bar of professional software development by practicing it and helping others learn the craft.

Through this work we have come to value:

Not only working software, but also well-crafted softwareNot only responding to change, but also steadily adding valueNot only individuals and interactions, but also a community of professionalsNot only customer collaboration, but also productive partnerships

That is, in pursuit of the items on the left we have found the items on the right to be indispensable.

Manifesto for Software Craftsmanshiphttp://manifesto.softwarecraftsmanship.org


1. It Takes a Village to ‘Own’ the Backlog2. Leading with your Goals3. Active & Congruent Backlog Grooming4. Multi-threaded Look Ahead5. Cementing a “Creative Partnership” Between PO and

Team6. Build it Right & Keep it Clean—No Matter the Cost

Wrapping UpEssential Patterns Review

27

Questions?

Thank You!



Contact Info

Bob GalenRGalen Consulting Group,

L.L.C.

Agile focused training, coaching & consulting

PO Box 865, Cary, NC 27512919-272-0719

[email protected]

Scrum Product Ownership – Balancing Value From the Inside Out published by RGCG in 2009.

Software Endgames: Eliminating Defects, Controlling Change, and the Countdown to On-Time Delivery published by Dorset House in 2005.

Go to www.rgalen.com for purchasing / for order info, misc. related presentations, and papers.

Essential Product Owner - StickyMinds€¦ · making the shift to Scrum and other agile practices....

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