Combining Classical and Agile Product Management

I was asked to present, at an interview, on how I see the role of the product manager working in an agile scrum environment. The key areas that I highlighted were:

• Scope and responsibilities of the product manager in scrum
• Typical product management activities in scrum
• A typical day in the life of the agile product manager
• The agile product management framework
• A case study – the benefits

See full presentation below.

However since the interview/presentation and starting in the new role the company has decided to change direction and combine waterfall with scrum. The idea is that we start off in waterfall mode move into scrum and then finish in waterfall.

Since joining the first thing I noticed was that the current scrum team is being led (as opposed to the team self managing itself) by a contract technical team lead cum product manager who spends part of his time being the scrum master and part being a business analysis.

In order to bring clarity and set expectations from the start I went about working with the head of development and head of product management to define, at a real granular level, the scope of the product manager aka product owner and that of the scrum master who is currently the technical team lead.

The end result was a list of 90+ activities: starting off with documenting the product vision and ending in the release of a sprint. The activities combine classical product management with agile product management – a real hybrid taking the best of both worlds. The roles and responsibilities matrix was signed off by both heads – now the journey begins.

Next week I meet with the development in order to explore the journey we’ll take together in developing the products allocated to us.

How I See The Role Of Product Management

View more presentations from Derek Morrison.

Interview with a Pure Product Manager

In this audio interview I speak with the author of the blog Purist Product Management: Aziz Musa. I had the opportunity to work with Aziz for a year at Reed Business Information and found him to be an inspirational and focussed product manager. During the interview I review Aziz’s:

• academic and professional background before becoming a Product Manager;
• his experiences at Last Minute.com;
• the strategic element of the job;
• how best to interact with the customers;
• the optimum number of products a typical Product Manager should manage;
• how to keep up with the latest trends and technologies and
• the top 3 attributes needed to enter the Product Management arena.

From Technical Support to Product Management

Mark Barnes has extensive experience in facing customers, initially as a customer support engineer and then later in his career as a product manager. Continue reading to learn more about his transition and views about product management.

1. What’s your academic background/training?
BEng in Electronics Engineering from Sussex University.
Postgraduate Diploma in Marketing from Chartered Institute of Marketing.
2. What did you do before you where a product manager?
Field Service > Customer Support > Sales Support > Product Management
3. Where did you work prior to your current position?
Prior to current position at Tektronix I worked for Adherent Systems Ltd, (Digital Broadcast Test and Measurement) as a Product Manager. Adherent was acquired by Tektronix (General T&M) who in turn have been recently been acquired by Danaher (global portfolio of companies) - now my current employer. Prior to Adherent I worked for Radamec Broadcast Systems Ltd as a Customer Support Engineer, Sales Support Engineer and Product Manager. Prior to that I worked in the Oil and Gas exploration industry for Baker Hughes Inteq (aka Exlog) as a Field Service engineer.
4. What inspired you to become a product manager?
The desire to improve the products I was working with. In previous (support) roles I was always dealing with the results of other peoples product development decisions. I felt I could do better and had ideas about how to improve products and services so decided I should put my money where my mouth is and take on that responsibility in a product management role.
5. How did you make the move from being a Support Engineer to becoming a product manager?
During time spent in customer support role I found I gravitated towards sales activities, demo's, trade shows etc. This led me to realise that I needed to be in a position where I could more effectively influence product direction and when a Product Management opportunity in the same company came up, I took it.
6. What do you like best about your job?Getting to the bottom of customers problems and developing solutions that make those people and their companies more successful.
7. What do you least like about your job?
Overcoming the challenges of large company 'inertia' needed to execute with velocity.
8. How do you keep up with the latest technologies?Mostly through working closely with in house development teams on Product Requirement and Software Requirement Specs. Continuous customer engagement, Trade Shows and Standards bodies attendance also help.
9. Describe your Product Management job in one sentence.
Solving customers problems profitably.
10. What’s your dream product to manage?
Great question - something that I am passionate about, is strongly differentiated and targeted at a clearly defined niche segment.
11. How would you describe managing product development before you/your company adopted agile?We don't tend to use agile in teh hardware world. My current company uses a gating process common to many hardware technology companies product introduction processes. A product is researched, defined and business case justified before the main thrust of development commences. Some amount of de-risking by the development team may take place before the project gets the green light.
12. What would be the top three attributes you need to do your job?#Insight into customer needs, current and future.
#Ability to communicate effectively across functions, and at all levels, of the organisation.
#Leadership qualities - necessary to motivate cross-functional teams to deliver outstanding products that deliver value to all stakeholders.
13. What’s the key attribute you need in order to work with the development team?
Credibility in the eyes of the developers - I have seen others fail because of this.
14. What do you do when you’re not managing products (outside interests)?
Young family occupies most time. Also motorcycles.
15. What advice would you give some one who wants to become a product manager?
Product Management can be very rewarding because you control, and are accountable for, the product or service in question. However the Product Manager must be truly passionate about the Product or Service to maximise the rewards. If you do not feel a connection to the Product or Service in question then don't take the position - find one that you care about.

How others have moved into Product Management

How do I become a product manager? There is no one right answer to this question however one thing we do know is that very few if any people enter the realms of technical product management immediately. I have interviewed a number of Product Managers who have shared their background, experiences, likes, dislikes and given tips on how to succeed.


1. From Marketing to Product Management
Ivan Chalif studied psychology and counselling at university as opposed to business studies or technology – however he is a successful technical product manager. Read how Ivan made the various transitions in his career that eventually resulted in him becoming a product manager. Read From Marketing to Product Management for more details.

2. From Web Developer to Product Manager
Patrick was a web developer who produced online products for the travel industry. Patrick took an interest in the business operated become acquainted with the key business stakeholders and eventually made the transition into product managers for the travel products the business went through a restructure. refer to Patrick's interview for more details: Transition from Web Developer to Product Manager

3. From Hardware R&D Engineer to Product Management
Francois Abbe had a strong technical background and worked for an engineer led company. As a result the engineers were used in many client facing activities. This gave Francois the opportunity to perform many of the product management roles while being an engineer. This helped make the smooth transition to product manage many of the products that he worked on as an engineer.Read From R&D Engineer to Product Manager for more information

4. From Mechanical Engineering to Software Product Management
Bikram Gupta has an academic background in Mechanical engineering – he used his engineering degree to get into IT. Bikram has a wide technical background and has read his way into Product Management Follow the link to read Bikram's interview

Moving from Technology to Product Management to increase business skills

5. The man that did all the roles before entering Product Management
Marty Cagan has worked for several hi tech Silicon Valley companies. He has a wide range of experience in many technical roles including Product Management. Marty is a founder of Silicon Valley Product Group a consultation firm that helps companies with all aspects of the product life cycle read the the interview by going to the following link From Software Engineer to Product Manager to Founder of SVPG - Interview with Marty Cagan

6. From Business Analyst to Product Management
Andy started his career as a Business Analyst - the opportunity arose for him to temporary manage a few products. He took up the challenge, impressed his employer and then got promoted. He has since moved onto a new product management role and market sector Andy's interview can be found at Moving from Business Analyst to Product Manager to "Online Product Manager"

7. From Webmaster to Product Management
Daniel worked for a publisher as a webmaster. When his company went through a restructure he applied for a job as a project manager in the IS department. This gave him exposure to Product management and it was just a matter of time before he moved through the ranks and now managers a strong portfolio of online products for the aerospace industry Danile's interview can be found at the following link: Transition from Webmaster to Product Manager via Project Management

8. From Web Applications Programmer to Product Management
Paul Young started life studying Radio-Television-Film at University but quickly moved into web applications programming which eventually led into Product management. Paul is currently a Director of Product Management. Read Interview with a Director of Product Management for more details.

9.From Account Management to Product ManagementBrunella Russo was an Account Management for a Financial Company. She moved into Product Management at AOL. Read Interview with an Ex AOL Product Manager

10. From User Experience Designer to Product Management
Jeff Lash has a strong background in User Experience Designer and has practiced information architecture. Jeff now works as the Product Director for MD Consult, a leading web site providing clinical reference information for physicians and medical professionals.Interview with Jeff Lash: Author of How to be a Good Product Manager

11. The man who read himself into Product Management.
Matt Rowe is one of those Product Managers who is self taught and self read. Matt was a Business Analyst (BA) prior to becoming a Product Manager. As a BA he ran several small projects – this coupled with his BA experience put him in good stead to become a product manager. Interview with a Product Manager

12. from Customer Support Engineer to Product Management
Mark Barnes found him self having to face customers in order to fix and install problems with equipment they had purchased - now he talks to customers with the aim of producing products that will provide them with solutions. Read From Technical Support to Product Management for more information.

Related articles:
How to improve your Product Management career and grow in your job
Interview Questions for Product Managers
How to get into Product Management

From Marketing to Product Management

Ivan Chalif is author of th eblog The Productologist. He is also a founding member of the Silicon Valley Product Management Association (SVPMA). In addition to creating the original logo, and managing the website and forums, Ivan was instrumental in organizing early SVPMA events and establishing the organization’s charter.


1.What’s your academic background/training?
Both my undergraduate and graduate degrees are in Psychology and Counseling. While getting my undergraduate degree, my focus was on working with individuals with severe psychological disorders like Multiple Personality Disorder, Schizophrenia (which by the way, is not the same as MPD, even though they are commonly used interchangeably by the media), Bi-Polar disorder, and Depression. My graduate school work centered on working with young gifted students with behavioral problems. Learning to communicate effectively with both of these populations has gone a long way in contributing to my success as a Product Manager.

2.What did you do before you where a product manager?
Before I settled into Product Management, I worked in a variety of Marketing roles, including competitive intelligence, marketing generalist, webmaster, and application prototyper.

3.Where did you work before you worked for StrongMail Systems?The past few years, I have worked at Email Service Providers like Acxiom Digital and ValueClick. Before that, I was Director of Marketing at a small online agency and before that I worked in the library automation industry.

4.What inspired you to become a product manager?To be honest, I fell into Product Management. It combines many of the business functions that I enjoy (and some I don’t) and it was only through trying out other Marketing roles that I found out what Product Management actually was and started to get more interested in moving into that type of position. I am passionate about the user experience and in many organizations that starts with Product Management.

5.How did you make the move from being in Marketing to becoming a product manager?
I moved into Product Management through a hybrid role that combined Web Producer and Product Management functions.

6. What do you like best about your job?
The part of Product Management that I like the most is solving problems. There isn’t a day that goes by that I am not working on solving a problem for a customer, prospect or internal user. It may be as simple as addressing a customer question or as complex as creating a brand new workflow for users, but it’s the challenge of overcoming the constant onslaught of problems that I find most stimulating.

7.What do you least like about your job?Meetings.

8.How do you keep up with the latest technologies?
I typically let my Engineers bring new technologies to me, but I keep my eye open for new UI features and capabilities in other products that I think might be useful for my users. I also subscribe to a number of usability- and technology-oriented RSS feeds.

9.Describe your Product Management job in one sentence.
Balancing spinning plates on a drinking straw while walking a tightrope as fast as you can with an itch on your nose.

10.What’s your dream product to manage?
In an ideal world, I would love to be the Product Manager of a motorcycle. I’ve been a fan of motorbikes since my youth and with “standard” bikes in particular. My two favorite bikes are the 1984-86 Honda CB700s and the 1986-87 Yamaha Fazer.

11.How would you describe managing product development before you/your company adopted agile?
Most of the companies that I have worked at have used a traditional or modified waterfall development process. There was one company where we used an iterative development process, but that was more a function of lack of development planning versus actually following an agile method. I am not convinced that an agile development process is ideal for every type of product, so I am not driving a change to that from our current process, but I would be interested in working with a development team that uses the agile methodology to see how it works first hand.

12. What would be the top three attributes you need to do your job?
a. The ability to make decisions quickly and effectively.
b. Being able to communicate with both internal and external stakeholders.
c. Comfort with a rapidly changing environment.

13. What’s the key attribute you need in order to work with the development team?The patience to see your plan through to the end. There is a constant tug-of-war between Product Management and Engineering. Product Managers want more features in less time; Engineers want fewer features in more time. There are compromises along the way on both sides, but don’t sacrifice key elements of the product plan because they are difficult or haven’t been done before. Stand up for your ideas, your product and your users. That’s what it means to be a Product Manager.

14. What do you do when you’re not managing products (outside interests)?
Besides spending as much time with my family as possible, I try to fit in a variety of physical and mental activities including, soccer (futbol for the rest of the world ), running, snowboarding, reading hard science fiction and political satire, and occasionally blogging.

16. What advice would you give some one who wants to become a product manager.
Product Management is a broad practice that is, at best, loosely defined. If you are thinking about becoming a Product Manager, try some adjunct roles first. Sales, Corporate Marketing, Support, and Professional Services (or Engineering, if you are technically-inclined) will all give you a good background and the skills necessary to be a successful Product Manager. If you are a new Product Manager, it’s easy to get sucked into doing things that aren’t really product-related. Stay focused on addressing the needs of your users and understanding your market. The rest will fall into place.

Transition from Web Developer to Product Manager

People often ask the question – How do I to get into Product Management [from being a software engineer, project manager, business analyst etc…]. Patrick Jolley is a case in point of a web developer who recognised an opportunity to move into Product Management and took it.

1. What’s your academic background/training?
I studied Business Information Technology at University. When I started I intended to do the full 4 years and come out with a degree. I soon realised that the life of a student wasn’t for me and left after two years receiving an Higher National Diploma (HND).
2. What did you do before you where a product manager?
I’ve worked for Reed Business Information UK (RBI - UK) since I finished University, initially in software support, then software development and then web development.
3. What inspired you to become a product manager?As a developer I always enjoyed getting involved in the requirements gathering, design and specification stages of projects. SEO and especially usability are also areas I am particularly interested in, so it just seemed like the natural progression for my career. That and the fact that I’d had enough of being a developer!
4. How did you make the move from being a developer to becoming a product manager?
The group I was working in was merged with another area of the business. During this time there was a lot of change, I saw my opportunity and took it.
5. What do you like best about your job?
The creativity and innovation aspects of the role are especially enjoyable. It is also very satisfying to deliver something you feel proud of.
6. What do you least like about your job?Every so often things inevitably go wrong and life becomes very hectic!
7. How do you keep up with the latest technologies?By using sites like TechCrunch and eHub. I also really like the ‘Movers and Shakers’ section on Alexa.
8. Describe your Product Management job in one sentence.I’ll use three words instead. Challenging, varied and rewarding.
9. What’s your dream product to manage?
Haven’t got one in particular – although I think I’d really enjoy the challenge of working for a start-up.
10. What would be the top three attributes you need to do your job?Communication, organisation and market knowledge.
11. What’s the key attribute you need in order to work with the development team?
An English to Klingon dictionary. Seriously – I think being able to trust each other is the key.
12. What are the main differences you have found between being a developer and being a product manager?
I can’t be as hands on with the products anymore which can sometimes be tough when things go wrong or aren’t happening as quickly as you’d like.
13.What do you do when you’re not managing products (outside interests)?
I like to travel, play and watch football, cook, eat and sleep.

Related articles:
From R&D Engineer to Product Manager
Moving from Technology to Product Management to increase business skills
From Software Engineer to Product Manager to Founder of SVPG - Interview with Marty Cagan
Moving from Business Analyst to Product Manager to "Online Product Manager"
Transition from Webmaster to Product Manager via Project Management

From R&D Engineer to Product Manager

Francois Abbe has had many years experience designing world beating hi tech equipment. He has had the opportunity to travel the globe both as an engineer and product manager representing the products he has designed and (later on in his career) that he product managed.

1. What's your academic background/training?
After graduating in France, I followed a B.Eng in Electronics and
Communication Engineering.

2. What did you do before product management?I worked as a R&D engineer designing niche video signal processing products that’s used in the television broadcast and film industry. I’ve also worked designing lighting equipment and as a DJ.

3. Where did you previously work?I worked for Snell & Wilcox in the UK, as a Product Manager.

4. What inspired you to become a product manager?I recognised that there were often a gap between the high quality niche products that I designed and the needs of the customers. Designing products that did not offer a complete solution became meaningless. Product Management gave me the opportunity to influence the feature set of the products that we marketed I found this much more enjoyable!

5. How did you make the move from being a R&D engineer to becoming a product manager?Snell & Wilcox often used engineers to assist at exhibitions, customer visits, road shows and product training – this exposure gave me a good introduction and a smooth transition into product management.

6. What do you like best about your job?I enjoy interacting with a variety of people in my specific field.

7. What do you least like about your job?
When the product development cycle is too long.

8. How do you keep up with the latest technologies?
All sorts: chatting, emails, internet...

9. Describe your Product Management job in one sentence.Managing all aspects of the product line and life cycle.

10. What's your dream product to manage?Any product that is used in live broadcast applications.

11. What would be the top three attributes you need to do your job?Ability to listen, flexibility and vision

12. What's the key attribute you need in order to work with the development
team?Trust

13. What do you do when you're not managing products (outside interests)?Cinema and food

14. What advice would you give some one who wants to become a product manager?
Be passionate and focused!

Moving from Business Analyst to Product Manager to "Online Product Manager"

Andy wicks has worked as a Product Manager in two different industries. He currently managers a number of on-line products and services across a number of markets such as road transport and Human Resources. 1. What’s your academic background/training?
I went to university to study geography, but somehow came out with a Combined Honours degree in Computer Science and Business Administration. How that happened is still a bit of a blur really.

2. What did you do before you where a product manager?
For my sins I was a Business Analyst.
3. Where did you work before you worked for Reed Business Information UK?
I worked for 2 years at Alphameric Leisure, a small software house that provided solutions to the Betting and Gaming Industry (initially as a Business Analyst then a Product Manager). Prior to that I spent 3 years working for Ladbrokes.
4. What inspired you to become a Product Manager?
In a moment of madness I thought it would be challenge!
5. How did you make the move from being a Business Analyst to becoming a Product Manager?
I tended to enjoy interacting with people more than analysis so when the opportunity arose to temporarily manage a handful of products I took it. Luckily for me the company thought I was doing a reasonable job and made the role permanent – either that or the Functional Specifications I used to write were rubbish, one of the two!
6. What do you like best about your job?
Having the ability to work Product Management with some cutting edge technologies, and being able to help deliver these to the market.
7. What do you least like about your job?
When it all goes wrong!
8. How do you keep up with the latest technologies?
Google, Google and Google
9. Describe your job in one sentence.
The art of prospering between a rock and a hard place.
10. What’s your dream product to manage?
Online - it’s difficult to say as there are loads of products I would like to manage. It usually changes day to day and depends what side of the bed I get out of! Generally any of the major sports sites would be quite high up the list. Offline - it would have to be the Bugatti Veyron (as long as the job came with one as a company car and the petrol was paid for!)
11. How would you describe managing product development before you/your company adopted agile?
Luckily I joined the company just as agile was being implemented into the department. However if the short transition period was anything to go by it was hard work without a huge amount of delivery.
12. How has using agile (scrum) changed your working day?
Overall it’s increased the number of meetings I go to significantly, however the spare time I do have is better spent. I am able to focus on developing the products and (hopefully) drive online growth.
13. What would be the top three attributes you need to do your job?
The ability to communicate, negotiate and be patient. Also, being able to keep an outlook calendar up-to-date helps!
14. What’s the key attribute you need in order to work with the development team?
Trust. Not being overly technical myself is probably an advantage as I have no choice but to trust the development team to find the best solution.
15. What do you do when you’re not managing products (outside interests)?
Answer questions about being a Product Manager and travel as much of the world as possible
16. What’s the difference between being a product manager for a small company like Alphameric and a large organization like Reed and how did you find the move from being a Business Analyst (BA) to a Product Manager?
The difference between the two is massive – Alphameric produced products that were a mixture of hardware and software for a specific industry – at Reed I’m managing on-line products and services that span a number of industries. The learning curve was steep but you just have to role up your sleeves and get in there and do the job. The challenge of moving from being a BA to a Product Manger was more a cultural change combined with self discipline – at first I found it hard not doing all the analysis myself – I seemed to periodically switch to auto-pilot and revert back to my previous BA role – the change of mind set was the challenge. Also as a Product Manger (both at Reed and Alphameric) you need to have the wider view of the business in mind at all times as opposed to being a BA where I tended to focus on defined bite size chunks of work.

Transition from Webmaster to Product Manager via Project Management

Daniel has over ten years experience working with on-line products in various capacities. He currently works for Reed Business information as a Product Manager for the aerospace product range.

1. What’s your academic background/training?I have a degree in politics - [which has got to be the ultimate qualification for a job in Product Management].

2. What did you do before you where a product manager?I was a Webmaster and then a project manager
3. Where did you work before you worked for Reed Business Information (RBI)?
Local goverment

4. What inspired you to become a product manager?In truth – it was the next logical step in my career at RBI.

5. How did you make the move from being a project Manager to becoming a product manager?
As a project manager I managed one or more projects and then handed the results over to someone else. I preferred to take complete ownership of the lif cycle of the product– something I didn’t get as a project manager – gradually the department expanded and opportunities arose and I naturally made the transition.

6. What do you like best about your job?The challenge and creativity involved in working with new technology and using these technologies to break new grounds and therefore offer increased a better user experience and ultimately with increased business benefit.
7. What do you least like about your job?The unpredictability and risky nature of working with new technology!

8. How do you keep up with the latest technologies?Google reader – RSS means that I can browse an incredible amount of information remembering it and using it is now the problem!

9. Describe your PM job in one sentence.I’m an online consultant to my business, translating business requirements into technical solutions in order to deliver business growth.
10. What’s your dream product to manage?Probably a Google product or a football website.
11. How would you describe managing product development before you/your company adopted agile?
Chaotic and prone to conflict – we didn’t get much done and we agued about it a lot.

12. How has using agile (scrum) changed your working day?
My day now has order & structure and as a result it has freed up the time I need to do the more important aspects of my job that was previously being neglected.

13. What would be the top three attributes you need to do your job?
Good communication skills, be a good motivator, be a diplomat and degree in politics.
14. What’s the key attribute you need in order to work with the development team?
See my answer above. It’s easy to stereotype developers and say they present a particular challenge. In reality, they’re just like everyone else, every individual and team is different with their own strengths and weaknesses.
15. What do you do when you’re not managing products (outside interests)?
Sports, films and books.