Agile Product Ownership
Have you ever wondered what Agile Product Ownership really is as a role and what it does on a day-to-day basis? Then this post is for you.
What is it?
Product Ownership as a role can be confusing to understand and even more difficult to assume. Let’s look at what it means to be a good value decision-maker. Many organizations lose sight of the value of their initiatives. Although a series of roles or leaders are theoretically responsible for adding value, the responsibility often ends up being diluted and neglected.
Product Ownership is the act of making decisions regarding a product or service and its increments.
This can be done by providing and receiving information about the product or service and by taking charge of resolving any impact on your backlog (Dependencies and Impediments). The Product Owner is responsible for the product vision, determining if features will be increased, and ensuring that all team members understand the value they increase.
This person must have the ability to make decisions and responsibility for that product or service. The Product Owner is responsible for ensuring that the priorities are suitable for the increase to deliver the maximum possible value. They must contact all the stakeholders involved in the increase and ensure that they are aligned to remove any dependencies and/or impediments.
Agile Product Owners are not autocratic leaders. They are servant leaders who understand value by and for the team and customers they serve.
Here are some questions you should ask yourself when deciding who is responsible for your product:
Which is the product? For whom is it? What problems does it solve? As it does? Who is the public? Who CAN make decisions about this product or service? Who SHOULD make decisions about this product or service?
It is a role, not a hierarchical title
A product or service is simply a hypothetical solution to a problem. This solution can be something tangible like software, or it can be something intangible like customer service. The core of the role of the Product Owner or the value decision-maker is to understand that there is always more to do concerning that hypothesis and that everything that is done must be based on the feedback that is received increment after increment.
Product Ownership is nothing more than the role (without hierarchy that is side by side with the team) in charge of the value that increases iteration after iteration and its decisions. They are the people in charge that the value is understood; They exercise transparency of all available information to ensure that everyone is working on the right thing at the right time.
Even if they aren’t sure where that product will go or what features it will need to stay competitive, they can decide whether the idea is worth pursuing based on the effort it will take to build it. The most important thing is to keep the team focused on building something useful and iteratively.
The best value decision-makers are selfless servant leaders who take pride in what they build and ensure the team succeeds. They know that the most powerful asset they have is the team they have assembled, so they are focused on genuinely serving so that they are successful in whatever they are working on.
Define and Communicate Value
A good product owner’s job is to define the product or service, communicate its value, and bring it to light.
In his book Agile Product Management with Scrum, Ken Schwaber describes the role of the Product Owner as follows: “The Product Owner is ultimately responsible for defining and communicating the Product Value Proposition.”
This positions the value decision-maker as the person in charge of:
- Provide everyone involved with a shared understanding of what they are doing.
- Provide an inclusive environment where people can express opinions on estimates of tasks and their development.
- Help make decisions based on business value, not schedule pressure.
- Ensure that all stakeholders understand their role in increasing customer value and their closeness, eliminating silos or dependencies.
- And more importantly, they are responsible for communicating why a feature is essential to users and how it will benefit them. This is achieved by taking a holistic look at needs characteristics and determining how they fit into an overall value-add vision.
What makes it “Owner” or owner?
Defending the product backlog is what makes him an Owner, and it is nothing more than the act of becoming a warrior who protects the value and its increase. He understands that he is in charge of making this backlog coherent; coherence is nothing more than the backlog can be addressed (because it is prioritized according to value and continuous feedback, estimated and without dependencies or impediments).
Then?
Good decisions made by a value decision-maker can become reason enough for an organization to continue to survive in an increasingly uncertain business ecosystem. Good choices help a team increase the correct value at the right time for customers and the organization.
Making decisions regarding value is a constant discipline full of complex tasks that involve the art of balancing value between the business and the customer. For this, it is necessary to understand that it is a role at the service of value and the team at all times.
