In this episode, Kent McDonald discusses the realities of being a Product Owner including what it was like to transition to that role, the pitfalls he experienced, and how you can avoid them.
After listening to this episode, you'll understand:
- What a Product Owner does
- Why a strong network is so important
- How to create a shared understanding within your team
- What Business Analysis skills you can apply in the PO role
Show Notes
The Product Owner (PO) is a critical role on a Scrum team. It’s an extremely complex role and even experienced practitioners stumble at times. While the tools and techniques vary across teams and organizations, the underlying skills and pitfalls are common to the role.
A PO is an individual on a Scrum team who acts as the voice of the customer and is accountable for managing the Product Backlog so as to maximize value.
Click Here to Get Your Free Guide to What a Product Owner Should Be, Do, and Know
As a Product Owner, you’ll need to create a strong network inside your organization to get answers quickly for the team. Any delay in responding to team questions or addressing impediments that slow down or stop progress will mean delays in product delivery.
You’ll also need to establish a clear and compelling vision of the product and create a shared understanding within the team. Use the highest bandwidth form of communication available; ideally, face to face communication with a whiteboard.
Make sure you work towards minimizing outputs and maximizing positive business outcomes.
Listen to the full episode to hear all of Kent’s tips and advice on success as a Product Owner.
Your Homework
Change the way you’re creating a shared understanding. Talk through examples with different perspectives (business, developer, and tester). Be willing to have a conversation about the product, talk through examples of the features, and most importantly, explain why.
Links mentioned in this episode:
- Kent’s Blog kbp.media
- About Kent’s book, Beyond Requirements
- Live lessons on Analysis Techniques for Product Owners
- Get 40% off Kent’s books and training – Use code MBAPODCAST
Kent McDonald
Founder - Knowledge Bridge Partners
Kent McDonald uncovers better ways of delivering value by doing it and helping others do it. His more than 20 years of experience include work in business analysis, strategic planning, project management, and product development in a variety of industries. As the founder of Knowledge Bridge Partners, he helps organizations figure out the right things to do in their IT and product development work. He currently practices those ideas as Product Owner for the Agile Alliance. Kent is also the author of the book, Beyond Requirements.
Get your free guide to What a Product Owner Should Be, Do, and Know.
Related Episodes
MBA102: Product Management – Build the Right Thing
Rich Mironov helps us to better understand the Product Manager role and what we can do to make sure we build a solution that drives success for our organization.
MBA064: Transitioning to a Product Owner Role
In this episode, Angela Wick explains the skills needed to successfully transition to a Product Owner role and how to overcome some of the associated challenges. [smart_track_player url="http://traffic.libsyn.com/masteringbusinessanalysis/MBA064.mp3" title="MBA064:...
MBA046: The Product Owner / Business Analyst Relationship
In this episode, Bob Galen help us to better understand the role of the Product Owner and how Business Analysts can best support the PO and the team. [smart_track_player url="http://traffic.libsyn.com/masteringbusinessanalysis/MBA_046__The_Product_Owner_-_Busines.mp3"...
Thank you for listening to the program
To get more valuable content to enhance your skills and advance your career, you can subscribe on iTunes.
Also, reviews on iTunes are highly appreciated! I read each review and it helps keep me motivated to continue to bring you valuable content each week.
