Day-to-Day – Product Management
While Product Management often spends a lot of their time looking forward and planning and coordinating work for future Planning Intervals (PIs), they still have responsibilities in the current PI.
ART Events and Product Management
Product Management is involved in many of the ART events that occur on a regular cadence.
Product Management and PI Planning
Product Management sets the vision and prioritizes the Features of the ART. Product Management will need to be available to answer questions that may arise. They participate in Management Review and Problem Solving and contribute to the Business Value assigned to team objectives and are consulted on plan acceptance by the Business Owners.
Product Management and the ART Sync
At the ART Sync, Product Management is an active participant and helps address and remove any problems and discusses opportunities with the teams.
Product Management and the PO Sync
While the PO Sync may be facilitated by either the RTE or Product Management, we have found that the event tends to be more effective when Product Management owns and facilitates it. This event ensures that the Product Owners and Product Management are aligned on the work being developed, as well as what is coming up in the next iteration.
Product Management and the Iteration System Demos
The Iteration System Demo (not the PI System Demo in I&A) is a key opportunity for Product Management to receive feedback on the current solution. Successful Iteration System Demos are facilitated by Product Management, who can tell the story of what is being delivered by the teams. It highlights and shows the integration of all the work that all the teams have delivered.
Product Management and Inspect & Adapt (I&A)
Product Management is a key player and often leads the PI System Demo portion of I&A. It is important for Product Management to actively participate in the Quantitative and Qualitative Measurement and Retrospective and Problem-Solving workshops. Product Management needs to ensure plans for improvement items are incorporated into the next PI.
Pro tip
Plan and dry run the PI System Demo. While we don’t encourage dry running every demo, especially team iteration demos, the PI System Demo warrants a little extra attention as it is often the only time when some key Stakeholders attend.
Product Management and ART Backlog Refinement
Product Management needs to continually refine the ART Backlog in the same fashion that a Product Owner refines the Team Backlog.
Pro tip
Encourage Product Management to set aside dedicated time each week to work on the backlog. Most Product Managers need at least 3 to 4 dedicated hours per week to stay ahead of the ART.
Part of refinement includes working with the Product Owners to help decompose the Features and Enablers into stories for the teams with appropriate Acceptance Criteria.
Product Management and Preparing for PI Planning
Product Management needs to ensure that they have the appropriate presentations ready for the PI Planning Event. This involves setting and refreshing the product vision, ensuring that Features and Enablers are ready and prioritized for PI Planning, and working with Product Owners to ensure Features are broken down into stories and refined with the teams.
Pro tip
As a Coach, you will want to ensure that Product Management is engaged with the ART and involved in the day-to-day work that is being delivered. Too often we encounter Product Management that doesn’t dedicate the time and effort necessary and we see those ARTs struggle.
Ongoing Activities for Product Management
In addition to attending the ART events, Product Management has five key areas of responsibility they should be continuously working on:
Figure 7.3 – Product Management responsibilities (© Scaled Agile, Inc.)
As a Coach, you will want to support Product Management as they navigate all the various areas and aspects of the role. Product Management gets pulled in numerous directions and often, it is a challenge for them to find enough time to manage and prioritize the ART Backlog – particularly when new to the role.
Pro tip
I encourage Product Management to make a habit of explicitly blocking time on their calendars to work on the backlog, conduct market research, meet the customer, and update roadmaps. This helps ensure that key activities aren’t skipped due to the tyranny of the urgent activities.
