essential product owner - stickyminds€¦ · making the shift to scrum and other agile practices....
TRANSCRIPT
KT2 Keynote 6/9/2011 10:15:00 AM
"The Essential Product Owner: Partnering with the Team"
Presented by:
Bob Galen iContact
Brought to you by:
330 Corporate Way, Suite 300, Orange Park, FL 32073 888‐268‐8770 ∙ 904‐278‐0524 ∙ [email protected] ∙ www.sqe.com
Bob Galen Bob Galen is the director of R&D at iContact and president of RGCG, LLC., a North Carolina-based firm specializing in strategy development, coaching, and training teams making the shift to Scrum and other agile practices. Bob regularly speaks at international conferences and professional groups on topics related to software development, project management, software testing, and team leadership. He is a Certified ScrumMaster Practicing (CSP), Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO), and an active member of the Agile Alliance and Scrum Alliance. In 2009, Bob published Scrum Product Ownership—Balancing Value from the Inside Out. You can reach Bob at [email protected] or rgalen.com.
The Essential Product Owner: Partnering with the Team
Bob GalenDirector R&D, iContact
President & Principal Consultant RGCG, LLC
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CustomerBusiness Analyst
StakeholderProduct Manager
Requirement Provider
Anyone tasked with describing and accepting business facing value produced by an agile team
Clearly the reference is Scrum-centric
When I say Product Owner…?
Audience?
Truly not Product Owner centricAgile methodology agnostic
I’m trying to imply a whole-team view, where the entire team:
Collaborates on the workElaborates storiesDelivers on valueDelivers on quality
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Simple Patterns – Good!
Essential Patterns – Collaborative & Better!
Stories from the ‘Trenches’Some patterns, some anti-patterns
My focus:Simple Patterns vs. Essential Patterns
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Simple pattern: The Product Owner ‘Owns’ the Product Backlog
Essential pattern
It Takes a Village to ‘Own’ the Backlog
Who owns the Backlog?
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Product Organization – Product Owners
Stakeholders
Business Analyst Testers
Software Programmers
Scrum Master
It Takes a Village to ‘Own’ the Backlog
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Active in Sprint ReviewsSit with or visit the team; daily interactions!Have courage to “Tell Truth” to Leadership & to the TeamWorking code…reviewed…accepted…deployedShared vision, goals, ownership, challenges, successes & failures
But importantly a singular, decisive voice!Only one?
Injection / InfluencePoints
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Simple pattern: Defining a Sprint Goal
Essential pattern
Leading with your Goals
Goal Setting?
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Release GoalsSprint GoalsFeature Acceptance
Over Features, Stories, and TasksValue-drivenEnvisioningChartering
Leading with Goal Setting
Goal Setting Stories
A Survival Goal (Michael)Startup, first Scrum sprint, early financing, successful DEMO
A Quality Goal (Jon)Complex errors, $$$, explore ATDD, correct business logic, ‘Stretch’ -- innovation
Release Goals (Rob)New message creation engine; intuitive for SMB customers, Release #1 – MMF / Entry, Release #2 – Stabilization & Templates and Release #3 – Complex Editing
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Simple pattern: Backlog Grooming
Essential pattern
Active & Congruent Backlog Grooming
Backlog Management?
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Influencing Grooming DynamicsStories
PO Influence (Max)eCommerce companyPO was incredibly well-liked; influentialTeam was there to please…to a fault
Leadership Influence (Todd)Start-upCTO was founder, architect, developerPlanning poker with a ‘twist’
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Product Owner
Team
Founder
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Bring goals & stories to the table; but be open to changeListen actively Don’t predetermine size nor complexity; trust your teamDon’t negotiate…collaborateOrganic explorations of scope and options as you get closer to executionExplore execution dynamics – architecture & design, testing, non-functional, deployment, and riskApply pressure on – value flow, quality & sustainable pace
Active Backlog Grooming
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Remembering that the backlog is a shared construct that represents a workflow. It’s not
simply a set of features, but teams need to be able to see the “big picture” and flow from here-to-there
as well.
Visit it often; take your time to gather understanding and determine your path
Active Backlog Grooming
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Simple pattern: Release Planning
Essential pattern
Multi-threaded Look Ahead
Big Picture?
A Tapestry that Includes Threads for…
Things to do…
Features Value incrementsArchitectureDesignProcessQualityTesting
In a Context-Based fashion…
DeploymentRegulatoryDependencyRiskFeedbackCustomer timingTempo
…Guiding us towards customer value
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PO drops off a listOverloaded priorityToo short-sighted (small) or too robust (long)Dependencies trivialized or not thereSimplistic testing assumedNo consideration for technical debt
Development, testing, legacy code, defect backlogs, etc.
Ignore valueTrivialize deploymentMiss the opportunity for investigation
Unhealthy BacklogsAnti-patterns
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Allow the solution to emerge; just-in-time; KISS
Look-ahead, but not too far; iterate
Quality / Debt recovery should result in stories
Thoughtful workflow matters; so trust your teams’ input
Think in terms of ‘Delivery’ to your customer and ‘Done’
Healthy Postures in Creating the Backlog
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Simple pattern: Work With The Team
Essential pattern
Cementing a “Creative Partnership”Between PO and Team
Big Picture? Innovation?
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Link was a Product Owner in an eCommerce companyConversations around the competitive landscapeTechnology innovation that might be usefulQuarterly presentation on long term strategy; inclusive of teams’ideasTeam included in corporate strategy sessions
What do you think it drove?Shared ‘Ownership’True, Wisdom of Crowds innovation & creativity from the teamTeams’ understanding of value and problem domainKISS solutions
Partnership Story
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Allow the team time to Explore
Allow the team to Experiment, Stretch, and FailProudly share failures; stretch points; innovative efforts
Always draw learning from Retrospective,
Know when to ‘Push’ and when to ‘Pull’
Share your ‘Pressures’
Round-trip Exposure
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Simple pattern: Of Course, Quality
Essential pattern
Build it Right & Keep it Clean—No Matter the Cost
Built to Last?
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Of Course, Quality isn’t a simple pattern, it’s a façade
Jim Coplien responding to a point on Scrum Alliance leadership (paraphrased)…
Value doesn’t matter when examining technical debt. Rather, that cleaning upafter yourself transcended the normal determination of business value and
was simply an inherent part of delivering software. That it is our responsibility and is non-negotiable. The decision-making wasn’t FOR the
business-side, but instead resides within the team.
Listen to your team! Ask the ‘Right’ questions!
Who Decides on Quality?
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Intentional vs.We don’t have the time, you’re simply gold-plating, I don’t trust you or your overreacting
UnintentionalMistakes, M&A activity, poor design choices, skill gaps, etc.
Warning signs & termsHacking, Crufty Code, Over complexityFear Factor (FUD), Estimate Inflation
Annual pilgrimage for debt relief (Mark)
Technical Debt
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As aspiring Software Craftsmen we are raising the bar of professional software development by practicing it and helping others learn the craft.
Through this work we have come to value:
Not only working software, but also well-crafted softwareNot only responding to change, but also steadily adding valueNot only individuals and interactions, but also a community of professionalsNot only customer collaboration, but also productive partnerships
That is, in pursuit of the items on the left we have found the items on the right to be indispensable.
Manifesto for Software Craftsmanshiphttp://manifesto.softwarecraftsmanship.org
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1. It Takes a Village to ‘Own’ the Backlog2. Leading with your Goals3. Active & Congruent Backlog Grooming4. Multi-threaded Look Ahead5. Cementing a “Creative Partnership” Between PO and
Team6. Build it Right & Keep it Clean—No Matter the Cost
Wrapping UpEssential Patterns Review
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Questions?
Thank You!
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Contact Info
Bob GalenRGalen Consulting Group,
L.L.C.
Agile focused training, coaching & consulting
PO Box 865, Cary, NC 27512919-272-0719
Scrum Product Ownership – Balancing Value From the Inside Out published by RGCG in 2009.
Software Endgames: Eliminating Defects, Controlling Change, and the Countdown to On-Time Delivery published by Dorset House in 2005.
Go to www.rgalen.com for purchasing / for order info, misc. related presentations, and papers.