Hans Samios' Personal Lean-Agile Knowledge Base

... absolutely #noabsolutes ...

User Tools

Site Tools

Trace:
what_are_the_characteristics_of_a_great_product_owner

Differences

This shows you the differences between two versions of the page.

Link to this comparison view

Both sides previous revisionPrevious revision
Next revision		Previous revision
Next revisionBoth sides next revision
what_are_the_characteristics_of_a_great_product_owner [2018/09/19 05:26] – Added "understands and wants the role" hpsamioswhat_are_the_characteristics_of_a_great_product_owner [2019/09/19 04:50] – Added “clarifiers” idea hpsamios
Line 6: Line 6:
   * Knowledgeable and Customer Focused: The Product Owner has extensive industry experience / knowledge of our solutions and deeply understands the voice of the customer. He / she spends a significant amount of time talking to actual users using both informal and structured interviews, focus groups, and conceptual layouts. He / she uses his / her findings to sell the project priorities to senior management and uses the stories to motivate the team.   * Knowledgeable and Customer Focused: The Product Owner has extensive industry experience / knowledge of our solutions and deeply understands the voice of the customer. He / she spends a significant amount of time talking to actual users using both informal and structured interviews, focus groups, and conceptual layouts. He / she uses his / her findings to sell the project priorities to senior management and uses the stories to motivate the team.
   * Respectful of the team and of the process … and properly blunt. He / she does not take things at face value. Instead, he / she engages the team in genuine conversation, treating them as professionals. And, he / she is unafraid to speak bluntly about his / her frustrations. When it came to matters about this new Scrum process, he / she is willing to defer to others (Scrum Masters, external consultants), demonstrating that it is OK to learn.   * Respectful of the team and of the process … and properly blunt. He / she does not take things at face value. Instead, he / she engages the team in genuine conversation, treating them as professionals. And, he / she is unafraid to speak bluntly about his / her frustrations. When it came to matters about this new Scrum process, he / she is willing to defer to others (Scrum Masters, external consultants), demonstrating that it is OK to learn.
-  * Makes decisions: When he / she have to decide, they decide. The Product Owner often accepts that there is no "perfect" answer and will make the decisions, the "dirty compromises" required. Once a decision is made he / she will stand up and fight for his decisions and not cave in at the first disgruntled user and then change his mind at the second? There is a need for this sort of self-confidence and strength of character; it will be tested often when executing a Scrum project.+  * Makes decisions: When he / she have to decide, they decide. The Product Owner often accepts that there is no "perfect" answer and will make the decisions, the "dirty compromises" required. Once a decision is made he / she will stand up and fight for his decisions and not cave in at the first disgruntled user and then change his mind at the second? Further Product Owners need to be comfortable making decisions on how to do less, not more. There is a need for this sort of self-confidence and strength of character; it will be tested often when executing a Scrum project.
   * Presence: The Product Owner makes it powerfully clear how important the planning week is by being present at every session. He / she re-schedules other meetings, sits in the room or is on video conference with the Team, and does not check e-mails or phone messages during the sessions. In other words, he / she backs his / her words with his / her actions.   * Presence: The Product Owner makes it powerfully clear how important the planning week is by being present at every session. He / she re-schedules other meetings, sits in the room or is on video conference with the Team, and does not check e-mails or phone messages during the sessions. In other words, he / she backs his / her words with his / her actions.
   * “Just ask me.” The Product Owner knows how to marshal resources and is unafraid to break organizational rules when necessary. Every time the team gets hung up on some obstacle, he / she keeps reminding them, “Just ask me for help. Tell me what you need” and will help work the issue.   * “Just ask me.” The Product Owner knows how to marshal resources and is unafraid to break organizational rules when necessary. Every time the team gets hung up on some obstacle, he / she keeps reminding them, “Just ask me for help. Tell me what you need” and will help work the issue.
Line 13: Line 13:
   * Motivational: The Product Owner engages with the Team in a way that really motivates the team. We want teams that are excited about the work they are doing and this is an important part of the Product Owner's role.   * Motivational: The Product Owner engages with the Team in a way that really motivates the team. We want teams that are excited about the work they are doing and this is an important part of the Product Owner's role.
   * Works to understand everything that is required to release to product. He / she does not just worry about the new features but is interested in whatever it takes to get the release to the customer. In particular the Product Owner is interested in prioritizing issues appropriately where the Team is telling him / her that they can improve their work process and quality of the product.   * Works to understand everything that is required to release to product. He / she does not just worry about the new features but is interested in whatever it takes to get the release to the customer. In particular the Product Owner is interested in prioritizing issues appropriately where the Team is telling him / her that they can improve their work process and quality of the product.
 +  * Anthropological-attitude: The Product Owner needs to work closely with the customer but there is a nuance with this. The idea here is that the Product Owner must not just hear what the customer says he wants, but also needs to discover what the customer actually wants. 
 +  * Clarifiers Great Product Owners are clarifiers, not confusers. They need to be able to take complexity and distil out what really matters.
   * Wants, and understands, the role: Many organizations assign the role of Product Owner. Many Product Owner become the role without really understanding the role. And as a result, many Product Owners fall back on to their old comfort zone rather than really embrace the role. So, for example, is the Product Owner used to be a supervisor, then they fall back to assigning work to the team rather than collaborate with customers and the Team to really help how to deliver maximal value. So the Product Owner should understand the role and more importantly wants the role.   * Wants, and understands, the role: Many organizations assign the role of Product Owner. Many Product Owner become the role without really understanding the role. And as a result, many Product Owners fall back on to their old comfort zone rather than really embrace the role. So, for example, is the Product Owner used to be a supervisor, then they fall back to assigning work to the team rather than collaborate with customers and the Team to really help how to deliver maximal value. So the Product Owner should understand the role and more importantly wants the role.
  
Line 22: Line 24:
  
 {{tag>Consultant Tools Team Role ProductOwner Great FAQ RequiresAttribution}}~~LINKBACK~~~~DISCUSSION~~ {{tag>Consultant Tools Team Role ProductOwner Great FAQ RequiresAttribution}}~~LINKBACK~~~~DISCUSSION~~
- 
  
/home/hpsamios/hanssamios.com/dokuwiki/data/pages/what_are_the_characteristics_of_a_great_product_owner.txt · Last modified: 2020/12/17 07:54 by hans