#104: Mastering Product Ownership with Mike Cohn

06/26/24 • 39 min

Join Brian and Mike Cohn as they dissect the vital roles and responsibilities of the product owner, from story mapping to stakeholder management. This episode is a treasure trove for anyone looking to sharpen their Agile skills and understand the nuanced demands of a product owner.

Overview

In this insightful episode, Brian and Mike Cohn explore the multifaceted role of product owners in Agile development, discussing everything from market analysis and vision creation to the nuts and bolts of sprint planning and retrospectives.

Emphasizing flexibility and adaptability, Brian and Mike offer a comprehensive look at how product owners can excel by focusing on strategic planning and fostering strong team dynamics. This episode is essential for product owners seeking to enhance their impact in Agile environments and drive successful outcomes.

Listen Now to Discover:

[1:07] - Brian welcomes special guest Mountain Goat Software and Agile Alliance founder Mike Cohn.
[1:31] - Brian introduces Mountain Goat Software’s What Happens When for a Product Owner, and Mike flips the script, setting Brian, as the creator, into the guest seat on this episode.
[3:16] - Join Brian as he explores the vital, behind-the-scenes efforts of product owners that set the stage for Scrum success, all before the first sprint begins.
[6:24] - Brian explains the dynamics of crafting a product vision, clarifying how much responsibility lies with the product owner and how much is shared with the team.
[7:46] - Brian offers expert guidance on the optimal timing for creating a story map within the Scrum process.
[9:46] - Brian and Mike explore the optimal quantity of backlog items to have ready before adding them to a sprint.
[13:45] - Join Brian as he explains the importance of setting a product goal in Scrum, detailing how it enhances functionality and guides the development process.
[17:03] - Brian invites you to download Mountain Goat Software’s What Happens When for Product Owners, a comprehensive guide designed to support your Scrum journey.
[17:43] - Brian explains how to effectively integrate road mapping into the Scrum process, ensuring it adds valuable foresight and preparation without causing shortsightedness.
[19:55] - Mike suggests a strategy for managing stakeholders who overemphasize the product roadmap, offering a creative approach to preserve the flexibility and adaptability that effective road mapping allows.
[22:48] - Brian delves into the critical role and strategies of effective sprint planning, essential for driving successful Scrum projects.
[24:20] - Brian offers his perspective on the significance and involvement of the product owner in the daily scrum, detailing their role and contributions.
[26:15] - Mike recounts a memorable story about receiving exceptionally impressive customer feedback at trustworthy.com, highlighting the impact of genuine client interactions.
[28:30] - Brian emphasizes that the product owner is an integral part of the team and its goals, underscoring their collaborative role rather than being separate.
[29:18] - Brian explores the crucial involvement of the product owner in the backlog refinement process, detailing their responsibilities and impact.
[30:48] - Brian explains why he views the sprint review as the product owner's event and offers strategies for executing it effectively.
[32:17] - Brian delves into the product owner's essential participation in the retrospective, emphasizing that their insights and experiences are crucial for the team's growth and improvement.
[34:10] - Brian outlines ways the product owner can proactively prepare for the next sprint, ensuring a smooth transition and effective planning.
[35:27] - Brian discusses a key pitfall that product owners should avoid to ensure success in their role.
[37:35] - Brian shares a big thank you to Mike for taking over this episode of the show.
[37:57] - Do you have feedback or a great idea for an episode of the show? Great! Just send us an email.
[38:08] - We invite you to like and subscribe to the Agile Mentors Podcast and share the episode with a friend who could benefit.
[38:56] - If you’d like to continue this discussion,

Overview

Listen Now to Discover:

Previous Episode

#103: Developer Relations and SQLMesh with Marisa Smith

Join Brian and Marisa Smith as they dive into the world of developer advocacy, the challenges of agile methodologies in data engineering, and the vital role of open-source communities. Discover how to better support and communicate with your developers in this insightful episode!

Overview

In this episode, Brian Milner interviews developer relations expert Marisa Smith to explore the vital role of developer advocates in bridging the gap between companies and their users.

Marisa shares her insights on the challenges of communicating with developers, emphasizing the need to create a welcoming environment for questions and feedback. She also discusses the unique difficulties developers face when implementing agile methodologies, particularly in the realm of data engineering.

They highlight the significance of open-source communities in fostering innovation and collaboration and provide a preview of Marisa's upcoming talk at Agile 2024 on enhancing data pipelines with SQLMesh.

Listen Now to Discover:

[1:08] - Join Brian in an engaging conversation with Dr. Marisa Smith, PhD, Developer Relations Expert, Developer Advocate, and Speaker.
[2:43] - Marisa Smith sheds light on the crucial role of a developer advocate, explaining how they bridge the gap between developers and the wider community.
[3:49] - Brian digs into common mistakes in how we communicate with developers and poses the question: what are we getting wrong in our interactions?
[5:57] - Marisa outlines the hurdles developers face in a Scrum team environment, shedding light on common obstacles.
[12:00] - Marisa explores the hurdles in developer communication, offering insights into improving dialogue and understanding.
[12:55] - Mountain Goat Software offers Working on a Scrum Team, a private class to help Scrum teams foster a team dynamic that supports the whole team, including bridging the gap in communicating with developer teams.
[15:00] - Marisa discusses how SQLMesh has empowered data engineers to streamline their tasks, sparking a sense of 'Marie Kondoing' their work.
[24:11] - Marisa emphasizes the vital importance of open-source developer communities for fostering innovation and teamwork.
[26:51] - Brian shares a big thank you to Marisa for joining him on the show.
[27:50] - We invite you to subscribe to the Agile Mentors Podcast. Do you have feedback or a great idea for an episode of the show? Great! Just send us an email.
[27:54] - If you’d like to continue this discussion, join the Agile Mentors Community. You get a year of free membership into that site by taking any class with Mountain Goat Software, such as CSM or CSPO. We'd love to see you in one of Mountain Goat Software's classes, you can find the schedule here.

References and resources mentioned in the show:

Dr. Marisa Smith, PhD
Join the SQLMesh Community
Agile 2024
SQLMesh
Working on a Scrum Team
Subscribe to the Agile Mentors Podcast
Mountain Goat Software’s Private Training
Certified ScrumMaster® Training and Scrum Certification
Certified Scrum Product Owner® Training
Mountain Goat Software Certified Scrum and Agile Training Schedule
Join the Agile Mentors Community

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Next Episode

#105: Scrum Conferences & Neurodiversity with Brian Milner

Join Brian as he delves into the powerful response to his talk on neurodiversity at the Global Scrum Gathering in New Orleans, which emphasized small but significant changes to make environments more accommodating.

Overview

In this episode, Brian shares his memorable experience at the Global Scrum Gathering in New Orleans, emphasizing the event's stellar organization and inclusive atmosphere. He reflects on the success of his talk on neurodiversity, which resonated deeply with attendees and sparked meaningful conversations.

Brian also underscores the importance of attending conferences for networking, learning, and expanding professional connections. Encouraging listener feedback and engagement, Brian hopes to inspire more inclusive practices within teams and the broader Agile community.

Tune in for insights on fostering inclusivity, the value of professional gatherings, and much more.

Listen Now to Discover:

[1:08] - Brian warmly welcomes listeners and invites you to join an engaging conversation about the value and insights gained from Agile conferences.
[2:45] - Brian kicks off with heartfelt gratitude to the behind-the-scenes teams whose hard work and dedication ensure these conferences run seamlessly and effortlessly.
[5:04] - Brian celebrates the often-overlooked joys of conferences, from hearing fresh voices and engaging in hallway conversations to making meaningful connections and sparking innovative ideas.
[9:57] - Brian highlights and commends the Scrum Gathering for its intentional efforts to accommodate and include attendees with neurodiversity and those with additional needs.
[14:15] - Brian shares that the goal of his talk was to demonstrate how small changes can create a more inclusive environment, such as playing neurodivergent-friendly music, dimming bright lights, and establishing quiet spaces.
[20:18] - Brian discusses the overwhelmingly positive response to his talk and expresses his hope that these inclusive practices will be adopted widely, transforming the way we all work with our teams.
[23:08] - Brian encourages listeners to attend future conferences to gain new insights, broaden their horizons, and forge valuable connections.
[24:20] - Do you have feedback or a great idea for an episode of the show? Great! Just send us an email. If you’d like to continue this discussion, join the Agile Mentors Community.
[24:33] - We invite you to like and subscribe to the Agile Mentors Podcast and pass this episode along to a friend.

References and resources mentioned in the show:

Slide Deck From Brian’s Talk
#76: Navigating Neurodiversity for High-Performing Teams with Susan Fitzell
Scrum Alliance’s Global Scrum Gathering
AJR Brothers
Subscribe to the Agile Mentors Podcast
Join the Agile Mentors Community

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This episode’s presenters are:

Brian Milner is SVP of coaching and training at Mountain Goat Software. He's passionate about making a difference in people's day-to-day work, influenced by his own experience of transitioning to Scrum and seeing improvements in work/life balance, honesty, respect, and the quality of work.

Auto-generated Transcript:

Brian (00:00)
Agile Mentors, how the heck are you? How's your week going? Hope it's going pretty well for you. I wanted to spend some time with you on this week's episode because I just had an event that took place that was really, really a phenomenal event. And I wanna kind of share with you some personal insights that I had from it and just sort of give you a picture of what it's like. If you've never been to a conference before, Maybe I can entice you to maybe go to one. I think you'll benefit from it. And I think you'll kind of see your career maybe even go in...