From Backlog Owner to Product Owner: A Transformative Journey
Are you a product manager or owner feeling stuck in a rut, merely managing a backlog without truly owning the product? It’s time to break free from the constraints of being a backlog owner and elevate your role to that of a true product owner.
The Limitations of Being a Backlog Owner
As a backlog owner, you’re often confined to writing specific backlog items, increasing velocity, and celebrating feature releases. However, this approach can lead to a focus on output rather than outcome, neglecting the true needs of customers and the business.
The Power of Being a Product Owner
A product owner, on the other hand, takes a more holistic approach, focusing on uncovering opportunities to create value, measuring outcomes, and making data-driven decisions. This mindset shift enables you to:
- Treat backlog items like milk, removing them when necessary to keep the backlog lean
- Continuously review features and remove those that don’t create enough value
- Inspire product teams and empower them to solve meaningful problems
- Cause discomfort with company leadership by challenging anti-patterns and pushing for change
Making the Transition
So, how do you make the transition from backlog owner to product owner? Here are some actionable steps:
Things to Do Right Now
- Remove clutter: Delete old backlog items that haven’t made it to a sprint in three months.
- Establish an extreme cleaning routine: Clean your backlog weekly to keep it lean and clean.
- Create room to understand the problem: Write broken backlog items and focus on the problem, not the solution.
Things to Do ASAP
- Establish a product direction: Set goals that business people can support and the team can commit to.
- Remove distractions: Remove backlog items unrelated to the product direction.
- Don’t gather requirements: Talk to customers at least once a week to understand their needs.
- Evaluate current tracking: Tune your tracking to measure outcomes and understand customer behavior.
- Measure live features usage: Evaluate how customers benefit from current features and retire pointless ones.
Things to Do Continuously
- Run workshops: Inspire people with the advantages of an outcome mindset and solid product management.
- Focus on results: Bring results to leadership to build confidence and drive change.
- Ask questions: Master the art of asking questions related to outcomes and help stakeholders move from solutions to problems.
- Ask for support: Find a mentor or consultant to support you on your journey.
The Choice is Yours
Being a backlog owner may be safe, but it’s limiting. As a product owner, you’ll face challenges, but you’ll also have the power to move the needle and make a real impact. Make your choice and start your transformative journey today.