Agile Prod Mgmt v. Proj Mgmt

MANAGEMENT: PRODUCT V. PROJECT

by Karen Favazza Spencerfor Agile Coaches

May 24, 2011

Pecha Kucha (20x20)

There are no answers, only stories. ~ Garrison Keillor

THE GENESIS OF AGILE

By Developers & for Developers

Improve communication amongst themselves

Improve communication with the Biz

Eliminate the “noise.”

WHAT THE BIZ HEARD

Do it this way and you’ll get Better Products

Do it this way and you’ll get More Faster

Do it this way and we’ll be responsible for the product

Do it this way and we don’t need to bother with requirement elicitation & documentation

Do it this way and you don’t have to do all sorts of the other Product Management work. It’s MAGIC!

THAT’S NOT WHAT WE SAID

The simplicity of the Agile Development concept masks the complexity of Product Decision Making

based on Rally Chalktalk by Rachel Weston

Level Frequency Owner

1- Vision 6 - 12 mo. Biz

2- Roadmap 6 - 12 mo. Biz

3- Release quarterly Biz & Team

4- Sprint 2 - 4 Wks Team

5- Scrum Daily Team

AGILE PLANNING

Vision

Roadmap

Sprint

Release

Daily Scrum

THE PRODUCT OWNER

The Man or Woman with Two Countries

... with two jobs

... with two constituencies

... with two responsibilities

... SME... PRoduct Mgr... Customer Support....

PRODUCT LINE

A different type of “development”

Strategy & Tactics

ROI

Industry Trends

MISUNDERSTANDINGS

Life Cycle

Product Management ≠ Project Management

Product Management ≠ Software Management

Product Management should come first!

Content is King!

STRATEGY & TACTICS

Product Management requires

Brainstorming

Financial Analysis

Focus Groups

Business Plan

Market Analysis

“...no matter how agile Development is, you’ll never

build a successful product if the work being done isn’t

aligned to the company strategy and market needs.”

Pragmatic Marketing

KNOW YOUR CUSTOMERS

Personas - If it’s about the customer.

1.Round 1: 24-36 1:1 Interviews based on demographics of target, and subsequent analysis

2.Round 2: 5-7 Targeted Interviews per Persona

3. Socialization & Usage: Introduce the Personas

4.Keep in touch and update the Personas.

UNDERSTAND PRODUCT UX

Personas - If it’s about the Product Design.

Surveys

Web Analytics

User Experience

Contextual Interview

Pricing & Placement

BOUNDARIES V. SILOS

Developers need to understand Biz Case, Personas, etc.

Product Management needs to actively participate in Development/Testing.

Collaboration

Communication

Boundaries

THE AGILE BA

Communication in a Collaborative Environment

Not Part of the Agile Team

Part of the Customer Team

Collaborates, as necessary, assisting the PO, when POdoes not have the skills

Acceptance Test Driven Design Cartoon used with expressed permission of ModernAnalyst.com, the premier online community for business analysts.

THE BUSINESS ANALYST

Communication in a Collaborative Environment

Modeling: Capturing the complex conversations around Acceptance Criteria.

Simulations: User Experience analysis using prototypes prior to full development to determine if the vision is the right thing.

Identifying the Right ThingBefore bringing it to the Technical Agile Team!!

TWO TEAMS - DEFINITION OF TERMS

Customer Teamaka

StakeholdersSteering Committee

The BusinessProduct Management

Agile Team (technical)3 RolesCross Functional

Product Owner

Agile BAScrum Master

STAKEHOLDERS

Customer Team

CharacteristicsCross FunctionalBig View SME detailCollaborativeLEAN approach

Product Owner

Agile BA

The What & The Why

STAKEHOLDERS

Customer Team

ResponsibilitiesROIMarket Research Industry ChangesProject CharterPersona DevelopmentCollaborating with the POAuthoring User StoriesProviding Feedback to Tech TeamBacklog GroomingUAT

Product Owner

Agile BA

The What & The Why

PARADIGMS

Some of this is just textbook Agile

Deciding the right thing to build and the RTM strategy doesn't belong on the Agile Team's plate.

All the Agile Team should do is build what they're told to build, how they decide is best.

PARADIGMS & ECOSYSTEMS

Agile is more than a bag of tips & tricks

Systemic approaches fail if parts of the system are ignored.

Child’s Song Fishbone Problem Analysis

SYSTEMS DIAGRAM

Systems Thinking: Senege, Peter. Fifth Discipline. 1990.

Every group has its own story & its own ecosystem.

Product

Mgmt

Agile Team

Process

Marketing

Envir

Industry

Execs

Rivals Backlog

NAMES ARE POWERFUL WORDS

Conclusion: Agile Technical Team + Agile Product Team Agile Project Team

Scale agility within the organization by calling out the Product Team by name and by articulating their unique

role & multiple responsibilities.