Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast: Agile storytelling from the trenches

The Power of a Vision-Driven Product Owner | Richard Coplan

Sep 27, 2024

Richard Coplan, a savvy expert in product ownership, shares his insights on being a vision-driven product owner. He highlights a successful case from a pharma company where a PO thrived by focusing on user relationships and a clear vision. In contrast, he warns against the dangers of neglecting user input, illustrating how a disengaged PO can lead to disconnect and failure. Richard stresses the importance of storytelling in product development, equating it to crafting a perfect salad, and invites listeners to rethink their approach to leadership in scrum teams.

15:36

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Episode guests

Richard Coplan

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Episode notes

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

A successful product owner must maintain strong user relationships and inspire the development team with a clear product vision.

Poor engagement from a product owner can create disconnects between user needs and prioritized tasks, ultimately harming product effectiveness.

Deep dives

The Role of the Product Owner

The podcast highlights the critical importance of the product owner within scrum teams and organizations. A poorly functioning product owner can negatively affect user satisfaction, as demonstrated by the example of a product owner prioritizing personal convenience over broader user needs. This individual focused on personal success rather than taking a holistic view, leading to essential features being deprioritized for less significant tasks. The emphasis is placed on the necessity for product owners to balance their interests with those of the overall user base to ensure the product serves its intended purpose.

Intro

3min

The Holistic Product Owner

5min

The Challenges of Project Managers as Product Owners

2min

The Importance of Storytelling in Product Development

2min

Overview of the Agile Online Summit 2024: Sessions and Networking Opportunities

4min

Richard Coplan: The Power of a Vision-Driven Product Owner

Read the full Show Notes and search through the world’s largest audio library on Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes.

The Great Product Owner: The Power of a Vision-Driven Product Owner

Richard highlights a positive example of a PO at a pharma company who excelled by focusing on the holistic system and maintaining strong user relationships. This PO inspired both the team and the business by bringing a clear product vision to every planning session.

The Bad Product Owner: When a PO Disconnects from Users, A Recipe for Failure

Richard discusses the pitfalls of a Product Owner who treats their role as a side job, leading to disengagement from both the users and the development team. This PO was more concerned with their personal to-do list than listening to user feedback, creating a disconnect between the system’s true needs and what was being prioritized.

[IMAGE HERE] Are you having trouble helping the team work well with their Product Owner? We’ve put together a course to help you work on the collaboration team-product owner. You can find it at bit.ly/coachyourpo. 18 modules, 8+ hours of modules with tools and techniques that you can use to help teams and PO’s collaborate.

About Richard Coplan

Richard joins us from the UK. He has been a software developer for many years and later became data-centric, eventually transitioning into the role of Scrum Master. Over the past decade, Richard has specialized as a Scrum Master and Agile Coach, with a focus on collaboration tools like Miro and helping firms streamline their team structures.

You can link with Richard Coplan on LinkedIn.

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