Avoiding Product Owner Anti-patterns

Title: Avoiding Product Owner Anti-patterns

Submitter: Roman Pichler

Abstract:

It sounds so simple: "The Product Owner is the one and only person responsible for managing the Product Backlog and ensuring the value of the work the Team performs. This person maintains the Product Backlog and ensures that it is visible to everyone." (Ken Schwaber, Scrum Guide June 2009, p. 5) The reality is rather complicated. Few agile roles are equally challenging to apply and equally important at the same time. Applying the product owner role properly is key not only to create great software but also to make agile stick. This talk investigates why it can be difficult to play the role well. It discusses common product owner pitfalls and traps such as proxy product owner, distant product owner, product owner committee, and partial product owner. It also points to the causes of the pitfalls and offers advice for avoiding them.

Learning objectives:

• Gain a clear understanding of the product owner role
• Understand common mistakes in applying the product owner role
• Understand how these mistakes van be avoided and overcome 

Process:

Flip chart-only talk, no slides; discussion is encouraged by blending a talk with clinic elements.

The session is based on my new book, Agile Product Management with Scrum: Creating Products that Customers Love.