DZone
Thanks for visiting DZone today,
Edit Profile
  • Manage Email Subscriptions
  • How to Post to DZone
  • Article Submission Guidelines
Sign Out View Profile
  • Post an Article
  • Manage My Drafts
Over 2 million developers have joined DZone.
Log In / Join
Refcards Trend Reports Events Over 2 million developers have joined DZone. Join Today! Thanks for visiting DZone today,
Edit Profile Manage Email Subscriptions Moderation Admin Console How to Post to DZone Article Submission Guidelines
View Profile
Sign Out
Refcards
Trend Reports
Events
Zones
Culture and Methodologies Agile Career Development Methodologies Team Management
Data Engineering AI/ML Big Data Data Databases IoT
Software Design and Architecture Cloud Architecture Containers Integration Microservices Performance Security
Coding Frameworks Java JavaScript Languages Tools
Testing, Deployment, and Maintenance Deployment DevOps and CI/CD Maintenance Monitoring and Observability Testing, Tools, and Frameworks
Partner Zones AWS Cloud
by AWS Developer Relations
Culture and Methodologies
Agile Career Development Methodologies Team Management
Data Engineering
AI/ML Big Data Data Databases IoT
Software Design and Architecture
Cloud Architecture Containers Integration Microservices Performance Security
Coding
Frameworks Java JavaScript Languages Tools
Testing, Deployment, and Maintenance
Deployment DevOps and CI/CD Maintenance Monitoring and Observability Testing, Tools, and Frameworks
Partner Zones
AWS Cloud
by AWS Developer Relations

Trending

  • Why You Should Consider Using React Router V6: An Overview of Changes
  • How To Integrate Microsoft Team With Cypress Cloud
  • How AMD's Heterogeneous Systems Architecture Works, and Why
  • Develop Hands-Free Weather Alerts To Ensure Safe Backpacking
  1. DZone
  2. Culture and Methodologies
  3. Agile
  4. A Product Owner's Number One Mistake

A Product Owner's Number One Mistake

Product Owners are specialists in what customer problems need solving, how enhancements to the product can add value, but what is their number one mistake?

Allan Kelly user avatar by
Allan Kelly
CORE ·
Jun. 22, 20 · Opinion
Like (6)
Save
Tweet
Share
3.54K Views

Join the DZone community and get the full member experience.

Join For Free

coffee spilled over laptop

I was once responsible for coaching a Product Owner called Jac. It was the product owner for an "enterprise product" - a product sold to big companies to use internally. Sprint to sprint, Jac got to decide what got done. In my book, Product Owner authority went further: what was to be done in future sprints, what kind of things would be done in months to come, and the "roadmap" where the product was going. But... Jac seldom met customers, Jac might talk to them on the phone when they had a problem but Jac didn't talk to the more senior people who signed the purchase orders.

Being an enterprise product, there were consultants in the mix too: installing the product on-site, configure the product, train customers, and hold their hands. They went to customer sites and they met all sorts of people. Naturally, the consultants had a view on what the product should do, what should be developed next, and what should be done in the coming months.

And all a consultant had to do was name a customer "Anna at Credit..." or "The CFO of first.... told me" and you could just see the product owner being undermined. I used to groan internally, I hated it - I hated it for my PO - but they were right.

When you meet customers you carry extra authority.

Last week I did a webinar entitled to Agile London entitled " Product Owner Common Mistakes" (the PDF). Guess what common mistake number #1 was?

(I also did a webinar with Adrian Reed entitled " Everything you ever wanted to know about the Product Owner but were afraid to ask " which was a great chat and audience Q&A session.)


Product Owner Mistake #1: Not Meeting Customers

And here I mean Customers, and/or Users, and/or Stakeholders, I mean: people - and it is people - who have expectations, needs or wants for your product. Even if they don't know your product could help address those needs and wants.

And when I say "meet," well yes, I really would like you to meet them, shake them by the hand and share a coffee. I think you are both more likely to open up, share more, and understand more. If possible spend some time observing them work.

I'm not stupid, I know we all work from home now, I know physical meetings are more difficult than ever so please substitute "meet" with Zoom, Skype, WhatsApp or plain old telephone. But as soon as you can get out and meet people. In meeting people, Product Owners get two big benefits.

The most obvious benefit is that Product Owners understand their customers and their needs better. They can learn how the product could help more, or where the product trips them up. They can learn how the product is beneficial and valuable and how that value might be increased.

Product Owners will also learn things they might not like to hear, things which might not be said over the telephone: where the product stinks, what alternatives might be considered, and where the product gets in the way.

"What the customer buys is seldom what the company sells." -Peter Drucker

People don't like giving bad news, and it is easier to hide such facts phone call, let alone in an e-mail. The second benefit, as described in my opening story is authority and legitimacy.

Product Owners are specialists in what customer problems need solving, how enhancements to the product can add value, and therefore what needs to be done to the product. They can only do that when they meet customers. Meeting customers brings authority, one can say "Anna at Credit Bank told me..."

Meeting customers brings legitimacy because most other people never interact with actual customers, or only interact with a small subset when they have problems.

And like my example shows: if a Product Owner is not meeting customers they leave themselves vulnerable to those who do. When someone else, like a consultant, comes along and says "Anna from ... says... " they have authority, if the PO can not say "Mez from ... had a different perspective..."

Direct access to customers - speaking to them and visiting them - confers authority and legitimacy. Product Owners need that authority and the knowledge that comes with it.

Sprint (software development) Subset Trip (search engine) Book News agile Sort (Unix) Mix (build tool)

Published at DZone with permission of Allan Kelly, DZone MVB. See the original article here.

Opinions expressed by DZone contributors are their own.

Trending

  • Why You Should Consider Using React Router V6: An Overview of Changes
  • How To Integrate Microsoft Team With Cypress Cloud
  • How AMD's Heterogeneous Systems Architecture Works, and Why
  • Develop Hands-Free Weather Alerts To Ensure Safe Backpacking

Comments

Partner Resources

X

ABOUT US

  • About DZone
  • Send feedback
  • Careers
  • Sitemap

ADVERTISE

  • Advertise with DZone

CONTRIBUTE ON DZONE

  • Article Submission Guidelines
  • Become a Contributor
  • Visit the Writers' Zone

LEGAL

  • Terms of Service
  • Privacy Policy

CONTACT US

  • 600 Park Offices Drive
  • Suite 300
  • Durham, NC 27709
  • support@dzone.com

Let's be friends: