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Tag: agile business analyst and scrum prodegree

12 Product Ownership Influencers You Should Know

Posted on by Imarticus Learning

 

Who is a product owner?

A product owner is someone who runs the ABCs of the product. It is generally a role in an agile scrum development team where a person is held responsible for the business of a particular product and the factors which surround it.  He/she decides on the features and the key performance indicators of a particular product and acts as a bridge between the product developers and the customers for whom the product has been made. He ensures that there is a clear establishment of what exactly has to be done to make a product that serves specific purposes. A product owner is the flag bearer of his business, therefore, a product owner needs to know his business inside out.

Who are influencers?

There has been a sudden surge in the number of influencers who are running the market by their name and good-will. Businesses have never been this opinion-oriented before. The ‘influencer-driven’ trend is taking the market by a wild storm. An influencer is someone who has the power to affect and influence the purchase behavior of other individuals.

The product ownership market is no exception. This world too is driven by several influencers whose opinions tend to change how people see the product and the market. Listed below are few of the most popular product ownership influencers who have been playing their part in the product business:

  1. Roman Pichler

Known as the man of the digital product market, Pichler has been influencing the industry for more than 18 years now. He has quite a good hand in training the new age product managers. Also, with his expertise, he helps companies in building a stable platform for their digital products. He is the creator of several well-known tools used for product development. His noteworthy literary product. Creations include “Agile Product Management with Scrum” and “Strategize Product Strategy and Product Roadmap Practices for the Digital Age.”

  • Teresa Torres

When it comes to being well known, Teresa Torres has all coins in her favor. Creator of the “Product Talk” blog, Torres has extensive knowledge when it comes to products. She has expertise in UX design. She has been a product management mentor for years now and also helps the product owners in analyzing the consumer trends which are dominating the market. She has worked for clients like Spotify and Tesco in the product space. Teresa has a degree in Symbolic Systems from Stanford and has taken a master’s degree in Organizational Change from Northwestern University.

  • Marty Cagan

Cagen is the founder of Silicon Valley Product Group as is popular for his standing views on technology and product management. He has experience of more than 20 years and has given his valuable services and expertise to companies like eBay, Hewlett-Packard, etc. He was among one of the leaders of Design and Product at eBay. He guides and helps people who have an evident interest in the product management space and thus helping businesses in establishing a perfect product-market relationship. Cagen is constantly working in this space still for better prospects of the product management space.

  • Cliff Gilley

Cliff Gilley has been working in the Business to Business product space for years now. He has provided his service to a ton of companies who were striving hard to perform well in the product space. A blog named “Clever PM” adds to his gem store on his expertise in Product management and ownership.

  • Rich Mironov

Rich is a well-known mentor in the Silicon Valley product circle.  He gives his insights on the need for efficient and effective product management. Also, he has helped various companies in the technology space to emerge out victorious in this dynamic field of product management. He is ‘the best of his kind’ product management consultant with big and great projects right up his alley.

  • Janna Bastow

Very well known for her product management software, ProdPad, Janna is the product manager who speaks about product management anywhere and everywhere. She is a problem solver, the one who likes to take up challenges and then give a befitting response through her work. She organizes a well-known event on product management known as ‘Product Tank’ which has its reach throughout the world.

  • Martin Eriksson

Being the best in class when it comes to online products, Martin is a startup monster. He has worked with companies like Financial Times and Covestor. ‘Product Tank’ was his brainchild. He has been a mentor to a lot of aspiring and also well-established product managers. He is one of the keynote speakers when it comes to any major product management conferences.

  • Simon Cast

Simon Cast along with Janna Bestow started the great product management software- ProdPad. He has been building products for more than 15 years now with his expertise lying in diverse fields. He helps companies in Product development from its very inception and further in making a process roadmap that will govern a particular product in the future.

  • Jeff Patton

Bringing product management together with other dominant and important functions of the business has always been an area of expertise of Jeff Patton. He has been a product management consultant for more than a hundred years now. He has written various articles on the effective usage of Product management techniques and has a knack towards product design.  He has taken the management of digital products to the next level.

  • Peter Economy

Peter Economy is an experienced product influencer who sold two million copies of his books on product management. His notable work includes- Managing for dummies, Everything I Learned About Life, I Learned in Dance Class, etc.

  • Steven Haines

Haines is the founder of one of the most popular product management and advisory firm- Sequent Learning Networks. He guides companies on the development of various product categories and high performing products that cater to the needs of the market.

  • Mike Cohn

Founder of the Scrum Alliance, Mike has all the product management techniques right up his sleeve. He has worked for various Fortune 40 companies like Google, Nielsen, etc. and also with the small budding startups. He is a credible Scrum Trainer and a well-known agile product owner.

Ten Contracts For Your Next Agile Project!

Posted on by Imarticus Learning

An iterative approach like Agile Project Management, guides a project throughout the production process, just like in Agile Software Development, where several iterations are reviewed and critiqued by stakeholders before moving onto the next step of the project. There are different types of contracts governing various types of agile projects. Such contracts or agreements may seem to be a set of guidelines or rules to be followed, but they hold significance as fixed instruments, which can lead to unfavorable consequences if not obliged to. Agile contracting lets the parties focus on the result of the Agile in a collective manner.
Here are ten contracts for your next agile project:
1. Fixed Price
Here the risk is mostly associated with the developer or supplier who agrees on the deliverables. The customer intends to have this sort of a contract since the target price is fixed; the developer tries to complete the project at a lower cost than the target cost and the satisfaction of the customer is guaranteed. After all, that is the prima facie of developers. However, if the project takes longer or costs more than the fixed price, then the cost is borne by the developer leading less scope for changes in this type of contracts.
2. Incremental delivery contracts
The project is broken down into segments, wherein the customer reviews the development stage at predetermined review points. Both parties evaluate the pros and cons at each review point and then decide on the further steps. At the end of each successful review point, both parties have incentives. Each increment subsequently improves the overall development of the project that ultimately is a result of cooperation leveraged in incremental delivery contracts as opposed to the rigidly fixed price contracts.
3. Time and materials
It is one of the most convenient forms of contracts wherein the supplier makes the payment for the amount of work or service that is done using necessary materials for creation. Since the customer holds the edge of changing minds, the supplier enjoys this type of contracts. However, such agreements sustain firmly on the legitimate efforts of the supplier to cut down the cost for the benefit of the longevity of the arrangements.
4. Time and materials with fixed scope and a cost ceiling
In this form of contract, if the supplier completes the task early, the payment will be made only for the actual efforts. There is no scope for incentives for finishing the project early. Having said that since the cost of the project is capped, the supplier will aim to achieve the maximum capped cost of the project.
5. Time and materials with variable scope and ceiling
As a consequence of the capped limit, the financial risk associated with the customer is less. The variable range and capped budget bring a collaborative approach from both supplier and customer to complete the project. This sort of contract is ideal for budget oriented projects. A constructive relationship upholds this type of contracting in achieving desired business.
6. Bonus/Penalty clause
As the name suggests, the supplier will be rewarded with the bonus upon early completion of the task and will be penalized for late deliveries. Such contracts reduce the potential risk of late deliveries for the customers. Penalty clause makes the supplier forsee the consequences related to delay and drives towards completing the task on time or even early.
7. Joint Ventures
The two parties involved in the agile project agrees upon to invest in a project with mutual interest. Though the development phase of the project may not be rewarding for either of the parties involved. There must be a return on investment for both parties either from the revenue or by the end result of the project. Here the project itself to be considered as a separate company which needs to be developed and marketed for a common benefit.
8. Money for nothing changes for free
This type of contract was created by Jeff Sutherland, which involves two clauses. The first clause is altered for free. This clause essentially leverages space for any new features to be added in a project without charging any fee for the changes made. Secondly, money for nothing clause is a win-win situation for both supplier and customer. Here the supplier separates the different segments of a project and delivers the most prioritized segment first.
9. Fixed profit
Every project ideally has a predetermined cost and profit estimation. By using fixed profit contracts, the parties involved in making the said project, agree upon a fixed amount regardless of the time period of the work completed. Since there is an incentive set for both, parties like the customer save cost, and the supplier has the chance of seeing higher profits.
10. Sprint contract
A sprint contract is ideal for Scrum projects wherein a project is broken down into bits. An agreement between the product owner and a team performing a sprint is known as a Sprint contract. The team tries to convince the product owner by delivering expected quality work in one sprint.
In a nutshell, having proper contracts reduces the risk associated with your clients, as it increases human accountability at both ends. Though your agreement does not serve as your project manager, it certainly acts as a risk mitigation technique. So even if you have a cordial relationship with your clients, a contract in place never hurts!
To know more about the Contracts for your next Agile Project, you can also consider our Business Analyst Certification.