This talk focuses on some of the common mistakes by Product Owners and what should product owners be careful of during project implementation

1. Avoiding Common Product Owner
Mistakes
Prajakta Thakur
2012, September
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2. Product Owner
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3. Common PO Mistakes
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Lack of
Product
Goals and
Vision
Mistake
# 1
Lack of
Product
Priorities
Mistake
# 2
Lack of
Planning
Mistake
# 3
Micro
Management
Mistake
# 4
Lack of
Effective
communication
Mistake
# 5

4. Lack of Product Goals and Vision
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Mistake #1
Image: gmvsajmer.engo.in
“To the person who does not know where he wants to go,
there is no favorable wind.” - Seneca

5. www.agiletour.com
Target Group
Which Market
segment does the
product address?
Who are its target
customers and
users ?
Value
How is the product
going to benefit the
company?
What are the
revenue sources?
What is the cost
structure?
Needs
Which needs does
the product fulfill ?
How does it create
value for its
customers?
Which emotions
does it evoke
Product
What are the three to
five top features that are
crucial for the success
of the product ?
What are its USPs?
What will the product
roughly look like ?
Developing Vision

6. Sharing the Vision
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• Supplement User Stories with Discussions
• Make Product Backlog DEEP
• Progressively Refine Requirements
Cone of
Uncertainty
Image: rsastories.wordpress.com/tag/scrum/

7. Lack of Product Priorities
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Mistake #2
Image: emailclient-expert.blogspot.com
“Good things happen when you get your priorities straight.” - Scott Caan

8. Main Factors in Prioritization
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 Business value of features
- Financial
- Non-financial
( Kano Model )
 Risk mitigated by features : Schedule, Cost, Functionality Risk

9.  Cost of development and support
 Significance and amount of knowledge gained
( Knowledge Increases, Uncertainty Decreases )
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Main Factors in Prioritization

10. Combining Risk and Value
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High Risk
Low Value
High Risk
High Value
Low Risk
Low Value
Low Risk
High ValueDo Last
Value
Low
Low
High
High
Risk
Do 1st
Do 2nd
Avoid

11. www.agiletour.org
Mistake #3
Image: warriorfitness.org
Lack of Planning
“By failing to plan, you are planning to fail.” - Benjamin Franklin

12. Planning
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release plan
product roadmap
product vision
sprint plan
daily plan
Planning Onion
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Quality
Resources
Scope
Schedule
The Iron Triangle

13. Sprints
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• Progressively refine the plans
• Favor scope changes when possible
• Deliver working software and value add each sprint
• Avoid Billiard Ball Sprints
• Keep Timeboxes strict
• Don’t change the goal
• Get Feedback, Learn and Adapt

14. Micro Management
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Mistake #4
Image: economictimes.indiatimes.com
"Micromanaging damages employee engagement, undermines confidence,
squashes innovation and often produces disappointing results."- Karen Miller

15. Effective Team Management
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• Encourage Self-Organization within team
• Encourage Collaboration through
Commitment
• Foster Team Learning
• Delegate Decision Making where apt

16. Lack of Effective Communication
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Mistake #5
“You can have brilliant ideas, but if you can't get them across, your ideas
won't get you anywhere.” - Lee Iacocca

17. Effective Communication
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Tailor Message to
best match the
audience
Establish Rapport with
Team , encourage
Participation
Be a Good
Listener, specially
to the team
Ensure availability,
especially for remote
team members

18. Attributes of an Effective PO
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Available for Team
Business Savvy
Communicative
Decisive
Empowered

19. Recapping the Mistakes
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Lack of
Product
Goals and
Vision
Mistake
# 1
Lack of
Product
Priorities
Mistake
# 2
Lack of
Planning
Mistake
# 3
Micro
Management
Mistake
# 4
Lack of
Effective
communication
Mistake
# 5

20. Thank You !
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Q&A

21. References
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• Succeeding with Agile, Mike Cohn
• http://www.scrumalliance.org/articles/115-the-product-vision
• http://rsastories.wordpress.com/tag/scrum/
• http://www.hennebert.org
• http://www.romanpichler.com/
• google/images