Analyzing and Improving Product Management – A Case Study on Product Owners in Software Development Teams
Orassaari, Krista (2024)
2024
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2024120332323
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2024120332323
Tiivistelmä
Digital revolution incorporates all areas of business, with people at the heart of successful digital transformation. Central to this transformation are product development and an effective product management process. Product Owners, as leads of development teams, play a vital role in ensuring successful product development.
This action research focuses on examining roles and responsibilities of Product Owners as leads of agile software development teams within the case company. The study aims to identify the current challenges faced by Product Owners in product management and the factors influencing Product Owners workload. Moreover, this study seeks to explore how Product Owners can adapt their working methods and receive better support to enhance product management success.
To address the research questions, a comprehensive review of various theories, literature and articles was conducted to establish a theoretical framework supporting the research area. The framework is built upon the connected roles of Product Owners, product management and product management methods. Data was collected through interviews with ten Product Owners and analyzed using thematic analysis to evaluate and interpret the findings, leading to the identification of key insights.
The conducted interviews within the case company pointed out that Product Owners feel overburdened with their vast job description and area of responsibilities resulting in a need to re-evaluate the role and responsibilities of Product Owners. Building empowered teams would assist in sharing responsibilities related to product development. Additionally, according to the collected data, collaboration, communication, and various ways of working require improvements within the case company. Based on the theoretical overview and collected data, several recommendations were proposed to improve product and workload management for Product Owners in the case company. These insights and recommendations aim to serve as a foundation for enhancing product management practices, as well as motivation and job satisfaction of Product Owners.
This action research focuses on examining roles and responsibilities of Product Owners as leads of agile software development teams within the case company. The study aims to identify the current challenges faced by Product Owners in product management and the factors influencing Product Owners workload. Moreover, this study seeks to explore how Product Owners can adapt their working methods and receive better support to enhance product management success.
To address the research questions, a comprehensive review of various theories, literature and articles was conducted to establish a theoretical framework supporting the research area. The framework is built upon the connected roles of Product Owners, product management and product management methods. Data was collected through interviews with ten Product Owners and analyzed using thematic analysis to evaluate and interpret the findings, leading to the identification of key insights.
The conducted interviews within the case company pointed out that Product Owners feel overburdened with their vast job description and area of responsibilities resulting in a need to re-evaluate the role and responsibilities of Product Owners. Building empowered teams would assist in sharing responsibilities related to product development. Additionally, according to the collected data, collaboration, communication, and various ways of working require improvements within the case company. Based on the theoretical overview and collected data, several recommendations were proposed to improve product and workload management for Product Owners in the case company. These insights and recommendations aim to serve as a foundation for enhancing product management practices, as well as motivation and job satisfaction of Product Owners.