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Product Managers, Agile Product Owners and Building Great Products

Rich Mironov

IT@Cork 11 Feb 2014

1 ©  Rich  Mironov,  2014  

•  Veteran product manager/executive •  6 startups, including as CEO •  “The Art of Product Management” •  Founded Product Camp, chaired first

Agile conference product tracks

ABOUT RICH MIRONOV

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•  “Product manager” is a job title •  Org charts, HR category, not necessarily agile •  Mostly in technology-as-revenue firms

•  “Product owner” is an agile team role •  Part of self-organizing team within Engineering or Program Office •  Internal IT or technology-as-revenue

•  Work has to get done, regardless of title •  Sprint-level stories, backlogs, priorities, acceptance… •  Engagement with users, buyers and corporate priorities

THE SET-UP

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market information, priorities, requirements, roadmaps, epics,

user stories, backlogs, personas, MRDs…

product bits

strategy, forecasts, commitments, roadmaps, competitive intelligence

budgets, staff, targets

Field input, Market feedback

Segmentation, messages, benefits/features, pricing,

qualification, demos…

Markets & Customers Development

Marketing& Sales

Executives

Product Management

WHAT DOES A PRODUCT MANAGER DO?

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•  “…represents the customer’s interest in backlog prioritization and requirements questions... available to the team at any time.”

•  Provides intense sprint-level focus: stories, backlog, prioritization, acceptance

•  Gets lots of love from Development •  Feeds the hungry agile beast

WHAT DOES A PRODUCT OWNER DO?

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Steam engine “firemen” need to shovel coal constantly, otherwise the train will stop

FEEDING THE AGILE BEAST

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backlog, priorities, epics, user stories,

personas, demo feedback

product bits

Markets & Customers Development

Marketing& Sales

Executives

Product Owner

‘small p’ PRODUCT OWNER

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showcase customers

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•  Engineering output •  Product features •  Order of delivery

•  Whole product/business model •  Pricing •  Competitive positioning •  Partners and Channels •  Services and Support •  Fit with corporate strategy •  Product split, merge or EOL

PRODUCT MANAGER HAS MORE LEVERS

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Product manager

Product owner

A"er:  Greg  Cohen  

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Analyzed 41 US tech product manager job postings •  76% want previous product manager

experience •  93% want a BS (68% prefer CS/EE) •  93% want excellent verbal and

written communication skills •  32% want MBAs •  88% want experience in that

company’s market segment

WHAT PM HIRING MANAGERS WANT

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•  Naturally look for advanced users (SMEs) •  Huge premium on technical chops, story writing •  Rarely consider market-side experience •  Undervalue “deflection” skills •  Good match for IT project with strong champion •  Sucks for commercial (revenue) products

WHEN DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATIONS CHOOSE THEIR PRODUCT OWNERS…

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•  Most product management teams were already understaffed

•  Product ownership adds 40-60% more critical work •  One product manager can “do it all” for a single

agile team •  But typical Dev:PM ratio is

25:1, not 10:1

PROD MGMT: OVERSUBSCRIBED, OVERCOMMITTED, BURNING OUT

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PRODUCT MANAGER FAILURE MODES

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Product Manager fails agile team when… •  Part-timer, not engaged with team •  Lack of detail on stories •  Stale backlog •  Best of intentions, but pulled in

too many directions •  “Build what I meant”

PRODUCT OWNER FAILURE MODES

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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 •  Trading off company strategy for product features •  Confusing showcase customers with broader market

•  Delivering products that don’t sell •  Outdated plans •  Urgency to start coding

•  Titles don’t create revenue

MARKET FAILURES

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MINIMAL PM/PO “ORGANIZATION”

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VP or Founders

more technical more market-focused

Heroic Single Product Manager/Owner

“management”

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DYSFUNCTIONAL PO/PM ORGANIZATION

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VP Eng

Product Owners

more technical more market-focused

VP Marketing “management”

Product Managers

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PM/PO ORGANIZATIONAL MAP: MARKET MENTORING

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GM / VP Eng / VP Products / CPO

more technical more market-focused

Product Owner

Senior Product

Manager

“management”

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PM/PO ORGANIZATIONAL MAP: PRODUCT PEERS

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PM Director/ Product Strategist

GM / VP Eng / VP Products / CPO

more technical more market-focused

“management”

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CONTACT Rich Mironov, CEO Mironov Consulting 233 Franklin St, Suite #308 San Francisco, CA 94102

RichMironov  

@RichMironov

Rich@Mironov.com  

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