POV on Product Ownership from the Director of Product at Google with Richard Seroter
01/12/23 • 16 min
Today, we feature the best moments of our conversation with Richard Seroter, Director of Developer Relations and Outbound Product Management at Google Cloud. He discusses what it means to be a product owner and how to work with engineers, end users, and everyone in between.
Richard shares how to exercise leadership as a product owner and work with stakeholders not as a boss but as a member of the team. He also talks about using data points to prioritize feature decisions, instilling self-governance and accountability, and promoting continuous improvement in the team.
HIGHLIGHT QUOTES
A product owner leads through influence - Richard: "A good product owner leads through influence. They don't have direct authority. They don't have a management staff of people. The engineers don't report to them. But you are leading often by showing that you have their back. And, for me again, that was a very underrated aspect that if you're a good product owner, the engineers think you are covering for them in a good way."
Don't procrastinate and always ship at the end of each release - Richard: "I don't think you're going to have a good time if you don't force your team to ship after the end of each release, each sprint, because if you don't ship, what's really easy to do? Let's just roll it into the next one. If you have that failsafe, you're going to use it versus like nope, we ship at the end of each release."
Get to know Richard and what he’s up to:
Connect with Vivek and find out more about what he’s up to:
If you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:
Today, we feature the best moments of our conversation with Richard Seroter, Director of Developer Relations and Outbound Product Management at Google Cloud. He discusses what it means to be a product owner and how to work with engineers, end users, and everyone in between.
Richard shares how to exercise leadership as a product owner and work with stakeholders not as a boss but as a member of the team. He also talks about using data points to prioritize feature decisions, instilling self-governance and accountability, and promoting continuous improvement in the team.
HIGHLIGHT QUOTES
A product owner leads through influence - Richard: "A good product owner leads through influence. They don't have direct authority. They don't have a management staff of people. The engineers don't report to them. But you are leading often by showing that you have their back. And, for me again, that was a very underrated aspect that if you're a good product owner, the engineers think you are covering for them in a good way."
Don't procrastinate and always ship at the end of each release - Richard: "I don't think you're going to have a good time if you don't force your team to ship after the end of each release, each sprint, because if you don't ship, what's really easy to do? Let's just roll it into the next one. If you have that failsafe, you're going to use it versus like nope, we ship at the end of each release."
Get to know Richard and what he’s up to:
Connect with Vivek and find out more about what he’s up to:
If you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:
Previous Episode
The Role of Empathy in Negotiation and Communication with Banu Raghuraman
Today, The Agile Coach looks back on our conversation with Banu Raghuraman who is now a Course Instructor with The Agile Coach and Digital Project Manager at EY. In order to lead, you need empathy, and being an emphatic leader has positive implications for how well you resonate with team members and stakeholders alike.
Banu provides tips on relationship building and digs into the actual ways to communicate with stakeholders. She gives tips on influential leadership which informs how to negotiate with other people, how to open to new ways of thinking to resolve unprecedented problems, and how to be upfront about risk.
HIGHLIGHT QUOTES
Create trust by following through with promises - Banu: "Trust comes from how much of what I say lines up with what I do. It's a massive input of integrity that you have to show because obviously when you're coming in and talking to a person for the first time, we can all be nice. There are plenty of internet articles out there that tell you how to make a good first impression. But after that, how much you follow through is what's important, and that sense of integrity is what people need to understand."
Document when decisions are made so everyone understands the why - Banu: "If you don't understand the why behind a specific decision, then it really becomes a political game. And there are different ways of dealing with the political side of things, but if there was a rational decision that was being made and generally in product management, I've been fortunate enough not to get into the political side of things but really understand why a certain decision was made. Document that and make sure everyone understands the why."
Get to know Banu and what she’s up to:
Connect with Vivek and find out more about what he’s up to:
If you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:
Next Episode
Agile Coach's Role Going Into a New Team with Joe Ziadeh
The Agile Coach sits down with Joe Ziadeh, Chief Story Teller and Innovation Artist at Balanced Agility, as he shares how to approach and engage teams as an agile coach. Joe breaks down his insights when working with new teams, from entering the team with mutual respect to the very mindset that makes an agile coach effective.
Joe gives tips on how to create psychological safety to encourage transparent conversation and shares some activities he does with new teams. He also discusses how he aligns with stakeholders and leadership and how key metrics are based on goals that leaders must first define. Lastly, Joe provides expert tips on hiring agile facilitators and some qualities to look for in product owners.
HIGHLIGHT QUOTES
Create psychological safety by bonding with the team - Joe: "The first thing that you need to do is, as a coach, you need to connect with every person on that team. And there are going to be people who don't necessarily want to connect with you. And you have to set up one-on-ones. You have to bond with these people. You have to connect with them as human beings."
Deal with leadership through expectation management - Joe: "The higher up in the organization you get, it's a question of, hey stakeholder, what is it that you want to see from this? What does this team need to do to make you happy, to be successful? In your mind, what are the things that you can see that would keep them from being successful, and how can we prevent them? And then what can we do so that in the future when the team needs help, you are in a position to help them?"
Providing air cover for supporting difficult decisions - Joe: "You'll run into situations, where as a leader, your job isn't to make sure that the organization runs clockwork the way it's supposed to. The vast majority of your time is spent on when stuff goes wrong, how do I pick up the pieces and get us back to what we should be doing?"
Get to know Joe and what he’s up to:
Connect with Vivek and find out more about what he’s up to:
If you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:
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