How IIBA’s POA framework helps Product Owners to deliver the right value
Guiding product Professionals from their accountabilities, tasks, and techniques
Product Owners keep facing many challenges. The scope of their responsibilities has long gone passed beyond the Scrum Team. The 4-Quadrants of Product Ownership shows it. Why do they struggle to keep up? Why do they have a hard time structuring their work for maximizing the product’s value?
This article introduces how the Product Ownership Analysis (POA) framework helps Product Owners deliver the right value. It guides Product Owners in their plethora of accountabilities, tasks, and techniques. It is not a framework that will solve all the Product Owners’ problems but will provide useful guidance for their tasks at hand.
The accountabilities in product management
Agile Software Development (ASD) has focused on “…better ways of developing software…”, and, because of that, some approaches focused on “delivering the product right” (e.g., Scrum, XP, etc.). ASD introduced short cycles, getting feedback, learning and adapting.
The product orientation that came along with ASD also brought focus on “delivering the right product”. In Scrum, this is where the Product Owner role takes crucial responsibility. This role “is accountable for maximizing the value of the product resulting from the work of the Scrum Team” (Scrum Guide 2020). This chase for maximizing the value escalated out of the Scrum Team’s scope.
Then, the Lean Startup shifted how organizations define product strategy and product management. Many approaches and techniques emerged to help Product Owners get the greatest outcomes while working in an agile way.
(Side note: for a matter of simplicity, we use only the role of Product Owner throughout the article. But it includes Product Managers, Product Owners, Proxy Product Owners, or Agile Business Analysts.) (Side note 2: I know some of these names are not consensual, but let’s not deepen that discussion now 😇 ).
Marty Cagan’s book “Inspired” provides many tools that align with agile and lean product development. So, it was almost consensual that is a “bible” for everyone that plays a role in product management. Techniques from Cagan’s book encompass:
- Discovery Framing;
- Discovery Planning;
- Discovery Ideation;
- Discovery Prototyping;
- Discovery Testing; and
- Transformation.
There are many other great books on product management and value orientation. But, so many possible directions may be overwhelming for Product Owners.
Yet, the business analysis discipline provides ways to structure the product management data. The use of analysis includes a mindset, approaches, and techniques. This is where Product Ownership Analysis comes to play.
IIBA’s Product Ownership Analysis
The IIBA (International Institute for Business Analysis) is a recognized institute for business analysis. Their work focuses on standardizing the role of business analysis and business analysts. A few months ago, IIBA released its Guide to Product Ownership Analysis (POA).
There, they introduced inputs from business analysis in product ownership. The framework helps focus on value with an agile mindset. Its goal is preventing “…to create a great product that nobody wants.” (POA Guide)
The framework defines any of the roles from the side note above as POA professionals. For that reason, this article is for anyone from one of these roles.
Some key subjects are exclusive to business analysis and product ownership accountabilities. Yet, there are others much valuable when combining product ownership with analysis techniques.
So, let’s dive a bit into the POA framework. It encompasses 7 knowledge areas:
1: Apply Foundational Concepts
2: Cultivate Customer Intimacy
3: Engage the Whole Team
4: Make An Impact
5: Deliver Often
6: Learn Fast
7: Obsess About Value
The next table summarizes what sections and sub-sections compose each knowledge area:
So, now that we introduced the POA framework…
How can Product Owners use the POA framework?
Besides the 7 knowledge areas listed above, the POA framework also includes 29 techniques. The techniques are suggested to be performed within the scope of each knowledge area. One technique is not exclusive to one knowledge area, but the usefulness of the technique is different depending on which knowledge area is being performed.
Additionally, the POA framework also suggests using other techniques from the BABoK, Agile Extension to the BABoK, and Business Data Analysis Guide.
This combination of tools and techniques, applied according the POA’s sub-sections, is one of the things that make the POA framework such a usefull one for Product Owners.
Foundational Concepts — It shows how to create an environment for successful product delivery. Techniques such as Visioning, Kano Analysis, and Purpose Alignment Model help build a shared understanding of the position of the company to that product.
Cultivate Customer Intimacy — To develop a deep understanding of customers. Afterward, apply learnings to help build a stronger product. Techniques such as Personas, Empathy Map, and Customer Journey Map help collect and empathize the information around customers, while Cynefin Framework, Problem framing, and the Value Proposition Canvas help understand the problem customers are facing.
Engage the Whole Team — Promotes communication and collaboration with the “whole team”. Plus, the creation of a safe and positive work environment. Techniques such as Collaborative Games, Retrospectives, Visioning, and Story Decomposition engage the team into slicing requirements aligned with the product vision.
Make an Impact — Clarifies the impact of a product. Identifies target customers’ under-served needs, aligns organizational objectives, and designs for impact. Techniques include Product-Market Fit, Minimum Viable Product (MVP), Value Proposition Canvas, Product Roadmap, Story Mapping, Purpose Alignment Model, and Stakeholder Map.
Deliver Often — Focuses on helping Product Owners at the team level. The goal is to deliver the product in small, high-value increments, and generate valuable customer feedback. Techniques include Relative Estimation, Story Mapping, Value Stream Mapping, Backlog Refinement, Planning Workshops, Reviews, Behaviour Driven Development (BDD), and Definition of Done.
Learn Fast — Encourages team learning through ongoing measurement and assessment. Its goal is to identify desired changes. Techniques include Real Options, Metrics and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), Exploratory Data Analysis, and Hypothesis testing.
Obsess About Value — Focuses on how to maximize the value created through the delivered product and the team process. For the delivered product, techniques include Real Options and Minimum Viable Product (MVP). For the team process value, techniques include Retrospectives and Capacity Planning.
The artifacts existing in the POA framework are only 8: Organization Mission & Vision; Business Strategy; Initiatives; Product Vision; Product Roadmap; Release Plan; Iteration Plan; and the Daily Work Plan. The POA Artifacts relate to the Agile Planning Horizons (described below) as depicted in the following image:
In this sequence, the information starts by being too broad. Then, the Product Owner slices the information and refines it, towards the next artifact. Additionally, the scope of these artifacts depends on the Agile Planning Horizons.
Also, by analyzing it from the 4-Quadrants of Product Ownership perspective:
Product Management — by applying the Make an Impact knowledge area. Product Owners define the product vision in a customer-centric way. It can be by developing artifacts like the Product Vision and the Product Roadmap. And with the use of techniques like the Value Proposition Canvas, the Product Roadmap, Story Mapping, and the Purpose Alignment Model. Also, the Learn Fast knowledge area contributes to this quadrant by analyzing Strategy-Related Metrics (Return on Investment, Net Present Value, Time-to-Market, etc) and Product-Related Metrics (Net Promoter Score, Adoption Rates, Retention/Churn, etc).
Project Management — by applying the Deliver Often knowledge area. Product Owners have the landscape of the product delivery in small increments. Also, the Learn Fast knowledge area contributes to this quadrant by analyzing Delivery-Related Metrics (Sprint Goal Success, Velocity, Burndown Chart, etc).
Leadership — by applying the Engage the whole team knowledge area. Collaborative Games and Retrospectives help create a safe and positive work environment.
Business Analysis — by applying the Cultivate Customer Intimacy. Product Owners apply customer-facing techniques, like Observation, Interviews, and Personas for customer empathy. Which then leads to solving customers’ main issues in the Make an Impact knowledge area. The ability for shared understanding with the team, from the Engage the whole team knowledge area, is also present.
In which period can Product Owners apply the POA’s Knowledge Areas?
The POA framework doesn’t define any sequence or cadence for applying any of the POA’s Knowledge Areas, their sections and subsections, or the presented techniques. The exception may be “1: Apply Foundational Concepts”, as this work is generally performed at the beginning of a new project/initiative or a new Product Owner is assigned to the team — and even this can’t be strict (e.g. Product Owners may start implementing the POA framework in an ongoing initiative and thus start applying the foundational concepts). It is expected that all the application of the knowledge areas is done constantly and with overlaps between them.
Another strength is the different usage perspectives depending on the Agile Planning Horizons.
They were defined in the Agile Extension of the BABoK®: Strategy, Initiative, and Delivery.
In a nutshell, in the Strategy, you work together with strategic roles (directors, sponsors, etc) on a wider period. In the Initiative, you work together with a project/product/initiative responsible (e.g. a Product Manager) on some weeks. And, in the Delivery, you work closely with the delivery team daily.
Between each horizon, there are upstream and downstream feedback loops. This means that the outcomes within the three horizons are in constant movement.
Final notes
As final notes, POA professionals will have their agendas full for sure. Starting from the daily work with teams in the Delivery Horizon. They analyze what they learned from using the applied techniques. They make sure that the feedback has gone through the Initiative and Strategy Horizons.
But, if they make sure that any knowledge area was not left out, the POA professional likely has all the tools at their hand. This will benefit both the delivery teams and the organization. Of course, no POA professional must define their way of working because of using the POA framework. Neither the use of the POA framework is the same for every situation. No framework is a silver bullet. Having the knowledge areas in mind is of great usefulness. Product Owners should experiment and use the framework the way it best suits them.
