Product OwnerWhat the product owner role is in an

empowered agile organization

An Agile OrganizationIs structured to maximize accountability and empowerment

A product owner role fits into this by being fully accountable for the product that is being built

A product owner must therefore be empowered to work with external and internal customers and stakeholders

A great product owner sets clear product priorities and in turn empowers their team - while having the final call on product decisions

The Product Owner....•Obsessed with WHY and

maximizing ROI

• Knows the market

• Champions product externally

• Voice of the customer internally

•Has final say for product, with that comes final accountability

• Knows what constitutes success

• Has deep knowledge of different tools:Opportunity Assessment / Lean CanvasMarket Analysis / PersonasUser Story MapProduct RoadmapMVP / Validation PlanProduct BacklogLaunch Plans

PO must switch planning levels effectively

PO needs to work effectively with all teams

A Great RoadmapIs the result of a disciplined and collaborative processVersionOne and Rally = top of the line tools for product portfolio traceability1)What are the strategic business goals? Don’t just discuss them – record them, rank them, and schedule time to update them monthly2)Which product initiatives and product features relate to these goals and which have the highest impact and the lowest cost (size)? 3)Is the portfolio roadmap balanced for the right amount of innovation? Re-rank to balance properly4)What are the minimally marketable features? Define and record how success will be measured. 5)Release –> Measure (Record the results) -> Analyze - Repeat

Keys to Managing a Mature Product•Maximize ROI

•Be very responsive to market issues – don’t give customers a reason to leave – Enhance customer support tools, monitor social channels

•Maximize existing customer usage, find adjacent segments, analyze patterns in the usage metrics

•Maximize distribution – sales channel support, expose API layer to attract more sophisticated customers

•Make smart efficiency investments – self service tools, streamlined onboarding

Keys to Managing a Young Product• Release value iteratively – stay focused on your target segment

• Very careful about picking features that support your differentiators

• Conscious MVP decisions

•Usability testing

• Value proposition testing

• At a portfolio level minimize investment in defensive / maintenance

Credit: Henrik Kniberg