Key Practices for Becoming Effective SAFe® Product Owner
A Product Owner having the SAFe® Product Owner and Product Manager certificate in a Scrum team ensures project success by maximizing product value through efficient management of the backlog. Scrum, an Agile framework, promotes team communication, self-organization, and quick action aligned with Agile principles.
The Product Owner envisions the product’s function and operation, enabling them to define features and organize them into backlog items for the Scrum team.
The Product Owner performs the following responsibilities:
- Shapes product features and objectives.
- Generates backlog items aligned with product goals.
- Prioritizes backlog items for clarity and visibility.
- Acts as a bridge between stakeholders, the Scrum team, and users.
Ways to become an effective SAFe® Product Owner:
Stay calm and embrace automation
Being a SAFe® Product Owner involves juggling various stakeholders and their demands, alongside overseeing the entire product backlog. This responsibility is demanding and time-intensive. So, it is natural to occasionally feel stressed. If that happens, give yourself a breather. Step back, assess the larger context, and don’t hesitate to seek assistance from team members.
Stay engaged
The most crucial practice for a successful SAFe® Product Owner who has completed the SAFe® 6.0 POPM training is active engagement. From project initiation through its completion (and often even afterward), the Product Owner’s involvement is paramount. It’s essential for the PO to grasp the complete range of system features, track current and upcoming feature developments, and consistently review daily builds and demonstrations to verify alignment with the intended user stories. Consistently staying engaged in the project guarantees that the project team remains dedicated to delivering tangible business value.
Understand the business model canvas
Embrace the Lean startup methodology when creating your products. It offers valuable insights into providing value, identifying your target customers, and clarifying your unique value proposition.
Shift the focus to value enhancement, not just speed
Numerous Product Owners even after completing the SAFe® 6.0 POPM training often concentrate on enhancing the speed of their team(s). It’s important to reconsider this approach. Team velocity is determined through a relative estimation technique, making story points a relative measure. It’s remarkably simple for teams to quickly double their velocity. If you urge them to do so, they can inflate their estimates in seconds, resulting in apparent growth. Hence, avoid comparing teams solely based on velocity and resist excessive emphasis on improvement. Instead, redirect your attention towards value. Evaluate the value contributed by the team, assess the influence of new releases on your Products’ KPIs, gauge customer satisfaction, and more.
Adopt a ‘product-centric’ approach, not just ‘project-centric’
Unlike projects, which have a defined endpoint, a project is a temporary structure designed to achieve a particular scope within a specific timeframe and budget. As a Product Owner who has completed the SAFe® 6.0 POPM training, your emphasis should be on delivering an ongoing product. Interestingly, product development doesn’t conclude as long as the product remains relevant. Moreover, the metrics for determining project success differ from those used for measuring product success. A project is typically considered successful if it adheres to the predefined scope, time, and budget. However, a product achieves success when it is embraced, utilized, and valued by its user base.
Incorporate market research, sales, and marketing as a part of the role
Many Product Owners having the SAFe® Product Owner and Product Manager certificate are assigned to oversee a system or a specific component. However, this approach falls short of fully embodying the concept of a Product Owner as a true custodian of a product. To achieve the highest level of Product Owner maturity, a profound sense of ownership is essential. An entrepreneurial Product Owner assumes ultimate responsibility for the product’s triumph, which extends to tasks such as market research, sales, marketing, and more. This holistic approach encompasses all facets essential for the product’s success.
Adopt a continuous learning approach
Alongside your proficiency in a novel system, the role of a Product Owner involves active participation in the software development project. This necessitates an openness to acquiring fresh methods and approaches. You might encounter requests to utilize specialized requirement tools or adopt work management systems employed by the project team, which may be unfamiliar. Adapting to new modes of operation could be expected. Moreover, your familiarity with business processes could deepen, as you keenly oversee them to guarantee alignment with the evolving system you’re contributing to.
Master tactical responsibilities with SAFe® Product Owner and Manager (POPM) Training
Enroll in the SAFe® 6.0 POPM training to delve into the tactical duties within the Agile Release Train (ART). This comprehensive SAFe® POPM online training, coupled with the ensuing certification, equips you with the necessary insights and resources to excel in remote settings alongside dispersed teams. Through the SAFe® Product Owner and Product Manager certificate, you’ll grasp the art of embracing a customer-centric mindset when crafting products, all while harnessing the power of the SAFe® to accelerate value delivery.
Achieving excellence in product ownership is challenging. It demands dedicating time to external aspects such as customers, users, competitors, and industry trends, as well as internally focusing on team collaboration and addressing their queries.
Are you ready to take on the responsibilities of a SAFe® Product Owner?
Register for the SAFe® POPM online training at AgilityPAD today to begin your journey for the SAFe® Product Owner and Product Manager certificate. For more information about the SAFe® 6.0 POPM training, get in touch with AgilityPAD today.
