The PM Vs. PO Flowchart
It's Not 'PM or PO' It Is 'PM and PO'
The #1 training or workshop request I receive is very surprising to me.
It's not related to tricky subjects like Product Vision, Product Strategy and Roadmaps.
No, it's an easy question:
"How do we make our Product Managers and Product Owners work better together?"
The correct answer is: you don't. You're asking the wrong question. You simply prevent the problem altogether.
You can't be a Product Owner without being a Product Manager.
You can be a Product Manager without being a Product Owner.
Here's a simple flowchart to help remind you.
Don't think Product Manager OR Product Owner, think Product Manager AND Product Owner.
It's that simple.
Then the question changes to: how do we make our Product Managers work better together? If it even still is a problem.
If your teams require that much attention that you have to split out talking to customers or being involved with direction of the product, then that's the problem you should fix.
Everything else: hic sunt dracones.
Yep, that’s how it should be. Yet in complex organizations there will always be “other cooks in the kitchen”... By take on that is that still a PO/PM should stick to the premises and elevate their game, and find a useful way to handle the complexity around. Caving is not an option!