DEV Community

Andrew Park for Edensoft Labs

Posted on • Originally published at edensoftlabs.com

๐Ÿš€ ๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐—ถ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ด๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—”๐—ด๐—ถ๐—น๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ฆ๐—ฐ๐—ฟ๐˜‚๐—บ ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ฃ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ฑ๐˜‚๐—ฐ๐˜ ๐— ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—ด๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ (๐—œ๐—ป๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ด๐—ต๐˜๐˜€ ๐—ณ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—บ ๐—ฆ๐—ถ๐—บ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐˜๐˜๐—ฎ ๐—•๐—ฎ๐˜๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ถ๐—ด๐—ฒ๐—ฟ)

In a recent conversation with product leadership coach Simonetta Batteiger, we examined how Agile and Scrum often fall short in serving the full scope of modern product management. Hereโ€™s a breakdown of the key insights:

๐—”๐—ด๐—ถ๐—น๐—ฒโ€™๐˜€ ๐—ฆ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ป๐˜ ๐—™๐—ผ๐—ฐ๐˜‚๐˜€ ๐—™๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—น๐˜€ ๐—ฃ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ฑ๐˜‚๐—ฐ๐˜ ๐—ฆ๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ด๐˜†

Agileโ€™s focus on rapid, incremental delivery can undermine strategic alignment. โ€œItโ€™s not just about how to ship fast; itโ€™s about solving the right problems and aligning with business goals,โ€ Simonetta emphasizes.

๐— ๐—ผ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—•๐—ฒ๐˜†๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฃ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ฑ๐˜‚๐—ฐ๐˜ ๐—ข๐˜„๐—ป๐—ฒ๐—ฟ: ๐—˜๐—บ๐—ฏ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ง๐—ฟ๐˜‚๐—ฒ ๐—ฃ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ฑ๐˜‚๐—ฐ๐˜ ๐— ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—ด๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜

Simonetta advocates moving beyond the limited Product Owner role to a model that prioritizes discovery, research, and stakeholder alignment. โ€œIf product managers are solely focused on churning out user stories, they miss a significant part of their role,โ€ she asserts.

๐—”๐—น๐—ถ๐—ด๐—ป๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—”๐˜‚๐˜๐—ต๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐˜๐˜† ๐˜„๐—ถ๐˜๐—ต ๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐—ฝ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ฏ๐—ถ๐—น๐—ถ๐˜๐˜†

We agreed that coupling authority with responsibility is essential for effective leadership. โ€œYou cannot hold product managers responsible for outcomes if they lack decision-making power,โ€ Simonetta says. This alignment is crucial for avoiding frustration and boosting innovation.

๐—”๐—ฑ๐—ฑ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—•๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ป๐—ผ๐˜‚๐˜ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐— ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ช๐—ฒ๐—น๐—น-๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด

Burnout rates among product managers range from 40-60%. Simonetta urges delegation of delivery tasks to free up time for strategic work. Iโ€™ve implemented this approach since 2004, which has significantly reduced the workload for product managers in my teams.

๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—™๐˜‚๐˜๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—”๐—ด๐—ถ๐—น๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ฃ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ฑ๐˜‚๐—ฐ๐˜ ๐— ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—ด๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜

Simonetta calls for a shift to a product-oriented delivery model that not only supports rapid delivery but also empowers product managers to drive both customer and business value. โ€œAgile must evolve to include strategic dimensions,โ€ she notes.

๐Ÿ‘‰ Read the full article here: https://www.edensoftlabs.com/post/raspmisb

Top comments (0)