Minimum Viable Product Owners
Description
Aim to create a product organisation with the least amount of Product Owners in order to maximise the “Scope of Accountability” of each Product Owner and allow for decisions that have a more holistic impact on the value-chain.
Rationale
A system of work with fewer Product Owners will:
- Increase the relative “Scope of Ownership” for each Product Owner
- Reduce the complexity of collaboration and coordination overhead
- Reduce decision latency
- Increase clarity and cohesion of the vision for the value stream
Reducing the number of Product Owners below a viable level for a given scale of programme will breach the Mental Workload and effectiveness of the Product Owners.
Related Principles
- Limit Product Owner Mental Workload - This is a contending principle: the fewer Product Owners there are, the more Mental Workload they will have to bear.