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A Comprehensive Guide to Agile Product Management

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Product owners and managers are constantly looking for ways to improve the product development process. This constant search has brought to light many different techniques and tools to make the process easier and more manageable. Out of these, Agile product management has gained popularity.

Agile product management gives product managers a flexible framework to develop and manage user-centric products. It challenges traditional product management methods such as the Waterfall model. It aims to help teams maximize efficiency, adapt to changing conditions, and build make better products.

Implementing agile principles for your business can be complicated as it may disrupt the usual workflow businesses are used to. In this guide, we’ll cover what agile product management is, how it’s different from other methods, and the best way to apply it to your business.

What is Agile Product Management?

Agile product management is an adaptive approach to the product development process where feedback from stakeholders is gathered and incorporated into the product strategy to ensure the optimal user experience. Agile is an innovative way to create products that are tailored solutions for specific customer needs and requirements.

Agile product management teams work together to reach product goals that are set by the product owner or manager. This user-focused methodology helps the product team make well-informed decisions backed by customer feedback. As a result, the end product offers better value to customers.

Since agile principles keep the customers in the mix through sprints it provides a way for companies to be more responsive to markets and technologies.

It should be noted, however, that the Agile process isn’t a system or software, it is a philosophy that helps businesses embrace change rather than fear it. Agile promotes adaptability which, given the competitive business landscape, guarantees success in the long run.

The Agile Manifesto

The Agile Manifesto (2001) is a publication detailing the principles of Agile Software Development. It was created by 17 software developers representing many methodologies including Extreme Programming, Scrum, DSDM, Adaptive Software Development, and more. Together they created a document that revolutionized the software world. The Agile Manifesto states the foundation upon which Agile product management is built. Specifically, it prioritizes:

The above four points are the bread and butter of Agile product development and summarize its philosophy.

Principles of Agile Product Management

The Agile Manifesto contained a set of principles that guide Agile development.

The 12 principles of Agile Product Management:

  1. Customer satisfaction by early and continuous delivery of valuable software
  2. Welcome changing requirements, even in late development
  3. Deliver working software frequently (weeks rather than months)
  4. Close, daily cooperation between business people and developers
  5. Projects are built around motivated individuals who should be trusted
  6. A face-to-face conversation is the best form of communication (co-location)
  7. Working software is the primary measure of progress
  8. Sustainable development and ability to maintain a constant pace
  9. Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design
  10. Simplicity, the art of maximizing the amount of work not done, is essential
  11. The best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self-organizing teams
  12. Teams regularly reflect on how to become more effective and adjust accordingly

Although Agile was primarily focused on software development, it didn’t take long before other industries started to implement Agile practices. The 2018 “State of Agile” report stated that 49% of business owners used Agile and 55% said that productivity increased as a result.

According to Ambysoft’s IT Project Success Survey, development teams that used the Agile methodology were 15% more successful compared to those who used Waterfall. So, what’s the difference between Agile and Waterfall and why does one dominate the other?

Differences in Agile Product Management and Waterfall Approach

Agile project management challenges traditional methods, such as the Waterfall approach, but what makes it different? The main differences between the two include how teams organize and test.

Before Agile became popular, Waterfall was a common way of managing the product development process. It involved teams working separately under the product manager and breaking the process down into multiple stages.

The Problem With the Waterfall Approach

With the Waterfall approach, the software development life cycle reigned supreme. It had a set rule that the product could not transition to another phase until it passed through the previous phase. These stages were:

  1. Requirements
  2. Design
  3. Implement
  4. Verify
  5. Maintenance

It’s a simple approach and puts the whole process in sequential order. It worked for many years but nowadays, it poses many problems – primarily due to rapidly changing product requirements, customer tastes, and stakeholder concerns.

The Waterfall approach to products was rigid and the testing phase was carried out only at the end of the process. The Waterfall method demanded order and was resistant to change which gave rise to customer complaints and high costs to fix those issues. Since features weren’t tested and validated before moving to the next stage, it was inevitable for the product to have many issues.

How Agile Product Management Helped Overcome These Challenges

Agile is an iterative approach where work is done in sprints allowing the product to be tested and verified constantly. These sprints are broken down chunks of work that are time-bound and usually span around two to three weeks.

The completion of each sprint results in a new outcome which is then tested via a minimum viable product (MVP) for customer feedback and validation. After each sprint, the team conducts a retrospective session to adjust the plan to the new demands.

Testing after each new feature launch, combined with customer feedback, helps companies build value-packed products. These Agile practices help product managers make informed decisions about what to include in the product as they have reliable, first-hand data from customers. This also leads to fewer problems in the future which ultimately keeps maintenance costs low.

The Agile methodology is much more flexible and responsive to change compared to Waterfall, allowing the process to evolve according to changing business dynamics.

Benefits of Agile Product Management

Agile practices introduced a way to work more efficiently which is why so many businesses adopted them. Due to its flexible approach, product managers can adapt to changing customer demands.

Encourages Collaboration

Agile project management promotes transparency between departments. With daily meetings, sprint reviews, and cross-functional teams, product and development teams work together rather than separately. Agile methodologies such as Scrum and Kanban take into account all stakeholders and make sure they are aligned with the product vision.

Under Scrum management, regular meetings and sessions take place where everyone sits together and discusses their ideas and concerns. These closely joined, usually face-to-face, sessions lead to a shared understanding of different perspectives and promote a better work culture.

Maximum Optimization

Many businesses choose Agile over other traditional methods due to its effectiveness. Agile practices ensure maximum optimization of a product as user feedback is incorporated into the mix. This means product features can be validated before release to ensure optimal quality. Working like this leads to fewer complaints or problems in the future.

The Agile workflow leads to higher customer satisfaction and an overall more valuable product since anything the user doesn’t like is not developed.

Adapts to Change

One of the main issues of the Waterfall approach was that it was predictable and hesitant to change. In today’s fast-paced world, what’s popular today might be outdated tomorrow. This makes it necessary to adopt a flexible, adaptive approach such as Agile to allow adjustments in the strategy.

After every sprint, a product feature is tested and verified, including reviewing customer feedback. These newer suggestions give product teams clear direction on what to include and exclude, reducing the risk of an unsuccessful product.

Quicker Launches

Under Agile product management, work is broken down into sprints. These sprints last around four weeks at most, which forces the development team to roll out a new feature within a short time frame.

This quick way of working makes the team more productive and efficient, reducing the time to launch and shortening deadlines. Quicker launches will keep your customers engaged and your competition on their toes.

While Agile offers many benefits, product owners and managers need to be aware of how much their team can handle. Expecting too much work in a short amount of time can lead to developer burnout. Product owners need to cooperate with Scrum masters to get a good idea of the team’s capability and make sure not to overwork them.

Increased Productivity

The Agile Manifesto states that self-organized teams are efficient in producing better, more innovative products. Product teams are empowered to make their own decisions and incorporate customer feedback into the product development process the way they see fit.

Self-organized teams tend to be more motivated and ultimately more productive. Since Agile teams are keenly aware of their skills and talent, they can better judge the most effective course of action.

Challenges of Implementing Agile Product Management

As with any management technique, Agile doesn’t exactly offer a smooth transition from the status quo. It can be difficult for organizations to shift from a project-focused mindset to a product-focused one. This is partly why product managers might be hesitant to transition from traditional methodology.

Lack of Control

The dynamic nature of Agile workflow makes it flexible, whereas the Waterfall approach keeps things under control. Product managers need to feel in control as they are ultimately responsible for the success or failure of the product.

With an Agile framework, product managers often don’t have the authority to adjust strategies, make strategic decisions, and take full control of the product roadmap. In addition, because Agile doesn’t follow a rigid strategy, the possibilities to add features could be limitless – meaning product development might move from sprint to sprint with the product never getting completed.

Insufficient Training

According to a report by VisionOne, lack of proper training was one of the most common reasons for failed Agile management. 

Product teams may feel the Agile process was forced on them without adequate training. Without proper training, they are unaware of the process which leaves them confused about what to do.

Training teams can be costly and time-consuming. However, without it, team members may not be able to adapt to the continuous inflows of feedback and strategic adjustments. It’s crucial to educate your team on the process before implementing Agile across the whole organization

Dynamic Changes in the Workflow

Agile thrives on customer feedback, but its incorporation can lead to changes in workflow, SOPs, and software, which may disrupt team members. This makes it difficult to respond to ever-changing requirements.

These major changes during the production process can also make it difficult to track progress. When implementing Agile, product managers need to check on progress and keep stakeholders aligned with business goals to ensure everything stays on track.

Lack of Sustainable Pace

The Agile manifesto calls for sustainable development where product teams can keep a stable pace. However, Agile practices crave faster launches to gather customer feedback quickly. Not to mention people have to regularly interact with stakeholders, work in sprints, and provide feedback through sprint reviews.

Product managers need to understand their team’s capabilities to ensure they can keep a steady pace, while fulfilling requirements. Trying to pump out as many features as you can in the shortest time possible is never a good long-term strategy.

Poor Long-term Planning

Although Agile demands quicker launches, it isn’t something that is used only for small or short-term projects. Agile product managers believe that Agile practices don’t make an efficient long-term strategy and are better suited for short-term strategies.

This is true even for larger organizations. You’ll see countless examples of businesses achieving success with agile in the short-term. But, for larger enterprises, agile may contribute to its downfall. Agile frameworks such as SAFe are tailored to enterprises but it may clash with the business’s long-term strategic planning – making it perform poorly in the long-run.

If you plan on implementing agile it might be better for the short-term and you may have to adjust your strategy once you expand. As you expand you may have to move away from traditional methods of planning if you wish to implement agile at scale.

What are the Best Agile Product Management Methodologies?

It’s no secret that Agile product management works. Using the framework best suited to your business will give you maximum results in your Agile transformation.

There are two main Agile methodologies to consider. Scrum and Kanban have proven the most successful through extensive trial and testing. SAFe is a useful enterprise solution for larger organizations.

Scrum

Scrum is the most popular Agile software development framework. It’s so popular that many people incorrectly assume that Agile and Scrum are the same.

Scrum falls under Agile product management and is an iterative and incremental framework. Under Scrum, development is done in short sprints lasting about two to three weeks. These sprints are repeated (iterated) and incremented until a final product emerges.

Agile methodology hopes to shift from a traditional sequential approach to development and break down complex tasks increasing efficiency.

In Scrum, there are no specific titles and every person is considered a “developer.” Such cross-functionality can enable workers to complete multiple tasks in a shorter amount of time and improve collaboration.

Defining the Scrum Workflow

To implement Scrum effectively, you need to be familiar with the factors that make up the methodology. In Scrum, a product development project goes through the following stages:

  • Scrum Planning – All team members sit down and discuss what to work on in each sprint.
  • Demo Review – A short session where the Scrum Team presents their accomplishments during sprints for stakeholders to review. This helps in inspecting and adjusting the product backlog.
  • Sprint Retrospective – After each sprint, team members get together to review what worked, what didn’t, and where to improve.
  • Backlog Revision – The product backlog changes often and this is a good time to adjust it to incorporate any revisions, changes, or prioritizations.
  • Stand-ups – These are daily meetings often around 15 minutes to share their daily progress and problems.

Under Scrum, development teams might work on user stories and have a set goal to achieve. The completion of these user stories is measured to track the overall progress of the sprint.

Kanban

Kanban is a lean production methodology. It simplifies product management through the use of Kanban boards. It originated in the 1940s at Toyota. Their huge success prompted them to apply the Agile methodology to their production plant which helped them produce a large volume of vehicles in a short time.

The Kanban board visualizes the tasks that need to be done. Although Kanban boards vary for different organizations, it usually has three steps: To-Do, Work in Progress, and Done. This makes it easier for product teams and managers to grasp what tasks are to be done, are being worked on, and are finished.

Since Kanban is a simplified way to manage the delivery of product features, some complex or larger-scale projects may include more than three levels.

Teams may use the following metrics to measure the effectiveness of Kanban:

  • Team Velocity – knowing how many tasks can be delivered within a given time frame
  • Cycle Time – average time to complete a given task
  • Actionable Agile Metrics – refers to the cycle time to predict when a task will be done

Kanban is used to effectively prioritize tasks and improve resource allocation among team members.

Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe)

SAFe or Scaled Agile Framework is a set of workflow patterns practiced for Agile development at scale. It is popularly used by large-scale enterprises to manage complex tasks.

For most larger organizations it isn’t possible to break down every task into Scrums. This reduces the efficiency of the sprints as teams aren’t exactly “sprinting” when they’re bombarded with so much work. That’s why SAFe involves the collaboration of multiple teams divided into Scrums.

This cross-functional workflow improves efficiency and helps teams stay productive even on a larger scale.

The SAFe model is constantly updated and divided into levels to maintain its efficiency. The latest SAFe version consists of 4 levels:

  • Essential – This consists of the main and most critical workflows including technical ability, lean-agile leadership, and Agile Product Delivery
  • Large Solution – Expands on the previous level with the inclusion of Enterprise Solution Deliveries
  • Portfolio – Integrates strategic direction, Lean methodology, investment funding, and lean governance
  • Full – Combines all three levels, providing a comprehensive Agile framework at scale

SAFe provides an ideal framework for different sized enterprises. The above levels provide guidance for larger-scale projects and what can be implemented given the specific context of the business.

What are the Roles and Responsibilities in an Agile Team?

The shift from Waterfall to Agile can be bumpy. To ensure proper implementation, Agile product development calls for additional roles. Establishing these roles early on can help overcome product challenges and prevent confusion in the future.

Additional roles include:

  • Product Manager
  • Product Owner
  • Stakeholders
  • Development Team
  • Scrum Master

Product Manager

The product manager is responsible for identifying customer needs, pain points, and strategic goals that a product or feature would aim to fulfill. They are typically involved in creating product strategies, roadmaps, and in product discovery.

Product managers have a general role in the product development process. Their job is to supervise the whole process and are ultimately responsible for the success or failure of a product.

Some responsibilities of a product manager include:

  • Defining product vision that fulfills customer requirements
  • Understanding and identifying customer needs and pain points
  • Aligning stakeholders with the product vision
  • Prioritizing features

Product Owner

The product owner is part of the Scrum team and responsible for translating customer needs into user stories or features, refining the product backlog, and ensuring alignment between cross-functional teams.

Where the product manager is responsible for the overall product development process, the product owner has a more defined role.

Some responsibilities of a product owner include:

  • Maximize efficiency by reducing the time taken for output
  • Creating, revising, and managing the product backlog
  • Aligning product stories with product vision and prioritizing the execution of features

Stakeholders

Stakeholders are individuals or groups of individuals that are affected or interested in the business/ activity. Although stakeholders, especially external ones, may not be directly involved in the process, they play an important part in creating the product roadmap. Stakeholders include Scrum employees, end-users, senior executives, and investors.

In Agile product development, stakeholders meet together for brief periods to discuss, review, and revise decisions. Customers are also crucial stakeholders as they shape the product strategy by giving consistent feedback on the MVP.

Development Team

The development team takes the idea of the product and makes it a reality. This group consists of developers who plan, design, and implement strategies to create the final product or feature. Under Agile Product Management, the development team works in sprints.

For each sprint, they are responsible for creating and designing the product, ensuring proper functionality, and validating features from customer feedback. They also coordinate with stakeholders to make sure the product is aligned with business objectives and that everyone is satisfied. 

Scrum Master

Scrum masters are appointed specifically for Scrum teams and are responsible for managing communication and updates with Scrum employees. They’re also responsible for assisting product owners by keeping them updated regarding the Scrum team, including informing them about the team’s capabilities, progress, and roadblocks they may face.

Scrum masters are appointed to help self-organizing teams use the methodology more effectively.

Adding these roles as you shift into Agile product management will ensure better team management and make you better prepared to face challenges.

Conclusion

Thanks to its adaptive approach and flexibility, Agile is here to stay. It is a better driver of efficiency when compared to traditional management techniques such as Waterfall. Agile helped revolutionize how businesses work by incorporating customer feedback to ensure products are built for optimal user experience.

Business dynamics shift rapidly, and traditional management approaches become outdated, which encourages an Agile approach.