10 Agile Tips for Product Managers to Accelerate Team Delivery.
Adopting an agile mindset goes beyond just doing agile practices, it’s about fundamentally transforming how we deliver value to our users swiftly and efficiently.
This article, drawing from my journey for 13 years in Software Development and then as a Product Owner and Manager, aims to share practical insights and lessons learned that intertwine with broader skills in product management.
1. Prioritize Ideas Effectively
Not every idea carries the same weight. Overloading your engineering team with an extensive backlog can be counterproductive unless each item is critical for business success. Prioritizing ensures focus and efficiency.
2. Drive Outcomes, Not Just Features
When developing your backlog or roadmap, adopt an outcome-driven approach. Before moving items into a sprint, changing their rank, or discussing them with the team, highlight the intended outcome to ensure everyone understands the goal.
3. Focus on Quick Wins
Targeting quick wins and low-hanging fruits can prevent overwhelming your team with overly complex features.
These smaller, impactful tasks immediately benefit your product and accommodate unforeseen changes.
4. Minimize Context Switching
Frequent shifts between user stories can lead to inefficiencies. Reducing context switching saves time and helps maintain focus, as constantly adapting to new requirements and tools can be time-consuming.
5. Make Grooming Sessions Productive
Efficient grooming sessions are vital. Learning to work effectively with user stories, such as using the INVEST method, streamlines the process, making tasks easier to estimate, execute, test, and deliver.
Always encourage your team to ask questions! Any inquiry that comes to their minds can help reduce ambiguity.
I’ve found the following questions often spark productive discussions:
Why do we need to implement this story now?
What tasks do we need to complete for this user story?
Can we split the user story into smaller ones and still add value?
How would we test this user story?
Are there alternative implementations that meet the requirements but differ from our preferred approach?
Where do we create technical debt if we implement this user story as planned?
Where do we see dependencies with other user stories or teams?
Do we know any other implementation of a similar solution?
6. Prioritize User Stories Within Features
Even within the same feature, some user stories are more impactful than others. Prioritize those that deliver the most value, and consider deferring less critical aspects to future releases.
7. Encourage Technical Exploration
Allocate time for your engineering team to uncover technical challenges ahead of each sprint. Time-boxed spikes can reveal essential insights, ensuring that chosen solutions align with your business objectives and integrate seamlessly.
8. Write Concise, Clear User Stories
A user story should initiate discussion, not end it. Include just enough detail to spark productive conversations, focusing on the “why” and keeping the “‘how” flexible for team input.
9. Define Clear Boundaries for Each User Story
Clear and well-defined acceptance criteria help scope user stories effectively, simplifying testing and ensuring alignment with project goals.
10. Slice User Stories Vertically for Manageability
Avoid assigning large-sized user stories to your team.
If a story exceeds, say, 8 points, it’s a signal to reassess and slice it into smaller, more manageable segments.
Read my article about Vertical Slicing
This vertical slicing allows the team to implement, manage, and test each part effectively, without the delays often associated with larger tasks.
It’s about breaking down the work into smaller chunks that deliver value while remaining feasible and coherent within the agile framework.
Conclusion
Agile practices in product management are not just about frameworks and methodologies, they’re about fostering a mindset that prioritizes collaboration, efficiency, and value delivery.
By applying these tips, you can enhance your team’s agility and drive more impactful results.