Product management vs. SCRUM

What is SCRUM?

SCRUM is more than just a delivery framework. It is designed to create value - value for the customer. Agile teams play a central role in SCRUM because they work flexibly and break down the project planning process into smaller steps to accommodate changing requirements.

The aim of SCRUM is to enable teams to develop solutions to complex problems. This is done in SCRUM through regular introspection of the collaboration.

But SCRUM alone is not enough

The PSPO1 (Professional SCRUM Product Owner) certification is the first and often the only further training available for employees in the field of product management. Unfortunately, however, this is not enough.

SCRUM cannot describe the full scope of tools and methods that really good product managers need. One of the main tasks of the product owner is to ensure that the team implements the product vision. It is also the difference between stakeholders and users and how they influence the development process.

What is missing in SCRUM for good product management?

SCRUM describes how we can work together in the product team, but not exactly which methods we use. These methods and tools from the areas of discovery, customer insights, software engineering etc. are missing in SCRUM and are deliberately absent. Completeness is not the claim here, rather SCRUM is a lightweight basic framework for collaboration in your team.

The development process in SCRUM is iterative and incremental. The product owner plays a central role by implementing the requirements in the development process and interacting closely with the development team in order to realize the product vision.

Many of the other skills and methods that help you in product management do not contradict the SCRUM framework. On the contrary, they can be perfectly combined with it and build on it.

Core competencies in product management

Always be aware that product management is an interface of several disciplines:

• Business - Identify market, customer, problems
• User experience - designing and testing solutions and delivering value to customers
• Core Product - Product Vision, Roadmapping, Stakeholder Management
• Tech - building and continuously developing solutions, working with the development team
• Data - Making the success of solutions measurable
• ... there are even more.

As a Product Manager, you play a central role in development. You bring together the various areas of responsibility and departments to deliver outstanding products for satisfied customers. This is far more than you can achieve with SCRUM alone.

So let's take a look at what other skills, methods or tools will help you achieve the best possible results in the individual disciplines.

1st Business

There are two key skills here: identifying problems and understanding customers. Customer interviews in the problem space are an important part of the business building block in product management. Make sure to actually conduct the interviews in the problem space without getting into the solution space.

A well-thought-out product roadmap is also crucial for successfully convincing development teams and highlighting the importance of the roadmap for agile teams, especially in the SCRUM framework.

In-depth topics such as the "Jobs To Be Done" framework or the Value Proposition Canvas go far beyond the basic SCRUM framework and would be difficult to integrate into it. It is therefore advisable to familiarize yourself with these key methods outside of SCRUM.

2. user experience (UX)

Product discovery is an important tool. Prototyping , for example, reduces the risk of undesirable developments. If you quickly build small prototypes for testing in the solution space, you will understand more quickly which solutions your customers need.

3. core product

In the product area, it is essential to define and communicate a product vision, which is now at least partially taken up in SCRUM in the form of a "product goal". Roadmapping is also an important tool for taking the next steps towards the vision - but it also looks very different in different companies.

Good stakeholder management is another important skill in your toolbox as a product manager. Every day, a number of stakeholders come to you with questions, requests and issues. Since you have no line responsibility as a lateral manager, you need to use good communication skills to moderate stakeholder requests and get the team/stakeholders committed to the product vision. Product Managers play a strategic role here by being responsible for market analysis and the long-term product strategy.

Clear demarcation and communication of the different roles, especially between product managers and product owners, is crucial to avoid misunderstandings and ensure effective workflows.

4. tech

In the tech sector, you need to break down the roadmap into specific requirements for the development team. This is where Jeff Patton's"User Story Mapping" method can help you.

However, your task goes beyond formulating the requirements. As a good product manager, you should also be able to explain WHY the requirements are important, preferably with good data to back it up. Last but not least, it helps to have abasic understanding of the tech stackon which the development team works.

5. data

This is all about making customer feedback measurable and scaling it. How the product or prototype is received by your customers can be measured through interviews, studies or analytics. The latter consist of information about click rates, purchases, orders, etc. - depending on the product.

Short and sweet

• SCRUM is a good basis, but it is not enough.
• Identify your blindspots in the specific product development areas and work on them. (Believe me, everyone has them, including us)
• Take advantage of good further training opportunities for individual modules or methods in product management or holistic further training such as the Product Masterclass.

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