<pre> # Product Owner - Intro Session <hr /> ## Agenda * Introduction * Understand the current situation * Survey * What's next? --- ## Today's quote <hr /> "Hard work will not ensure quality. Best efforts will not ensure quality, and neither will gadgets, computers or investment in machinery. A necessary ingredient for improvement of quality is the application of profound knowledge. There is no substitute for knowledge. Knowledge we have in abundance. We must learn to use it." - Deming, W. Edwards --- ## Who am I? <hr /> I am a seasoned Engineering Lead implementing distributed systems in highly regulated environments that are PCI-DSS compliant in the payments industry, GDPR compliant when processing PII data, PSD2 for online payments and UN compliant for vehicle software. I am a true believer in lean software development, Kanban and permanent engagement with users. I have experience in designing, building and running software systems and REST APIs in e-commerce, online payments, financial services, cloud connected vehicles for B2C and B2B channels. **From full-stack development to back-end distributed systems.** --- ## Today <hr /> ### Engineering Lead - Toyota Connected Europe - Introduced GitHub Copilot to TCEU and setup a pilot team - Introduced Renovate bot for automatic dependency management (TCEU and TME-CT) - Participated to local and global hackathons (from Brussels to Texas) - Initiated Tech Talks in TCEU #### TMC DevStandards team - Participate in setting global development standards for a multi-partner software development setup - Help TMC improve software development standards through continuous improvement on processes, tools and frameworks --- ## Yesterday <hr /> ### Engineering Lead - Toyota Connected Europe #### Data Communication Module Lifecycle Management (TSP) - Focus on code quality, standardisation and continuous improvement of the team performance metrics - Migrate from synchronous HTTP communication to asynchronous message based communication - Create an architecture blueprint to be used when integrating with external interfaces - Lead development of an end-to-end mobile app and backend for an alliance brand **Keywords:** Java 17-21, Kotlin 1.8, Kubernetes, Spring Boot (2.7 - 3.0), SQL Server, MongoDB, AWS, Azure, GitLab, FluxCD, Sonar Cloud, Helm, BitBucket and Bamboo for legacy systems. --- ## Before Yesterday <hr /> ### Lead Consultant - ThoughtWorks UK/DE I worked as a software engineer/tech lead in various domains, from online payments, to ecommerce, to automotive (Mercedes-Benz). **Keywords:** Java 11, Kotlin, Clojure, Spring Boot 2, CI/CD, TDD, Jira, Kubernetes, AWS, Kanban, microservices ### Other companies - I worked in other domains: payments, payments processing, ecommerce - I worked with monolith and microservices architectures --- ## Education <hr /> - MSc (Distinction) - Advanced Computer Science, University of Sussex; - BSc (with Hons) with a year in industry, Computer Science, University of Sussex; - Various industry specific certifications: PDCA, AWS, Professional Scrum Developer, Oracle Certified, Cisco Certified etc.; ### Summary of Technical Skills - Java 8-21, Kotlin 1.8 - Spring Boot, Dropwizard - SQL Server, MongoDB, PostgreSQL, DynamoDB - AWS, Azure, Kubernetes - GitLab, Bamboo, Sonar Cloud, Helm, FluxCD, CI/CD - TDD, Scrum, Kanban - Microservices architecture - PCI-DSS, GDPR, PSD2, R155 compliance - Automotive, e-commerce, payments, fintech domains --- ## Hobbies <hr /> - Visiting places - Cars - Hiking/Treking - Ski --- ## Session Details <hr /> - This is a space for learning - The structure is a series of presentations on various topics from the Product Owner rol - The purpose is to learn and to improve our skills as POs - The target audience is POs who lead large projects delivered by several partner teams/organisations --- ## Interactive Icebreaker <hr /> Before we dive in, let's do a quick round-robin: **Share your name, your current role, and one Product Owner related challenge you're hoping to solve in this series.** - Time: 3-5 minutes --- ## Applying TPS Principles: Understand our Current Situation <hr /> ### Genchi Genbutsu (現地現物) - Go and See for Yourself Before we can improve, we must understand where we are: - **Current State Assessment**: What is the actual situation on the ground? - **Data-Driven Understanding**: Gather facts, not assumptions - **Stakeholder Perspectives**: Listen to multiple viewpoints - **Problem Identification**: What challenges are we really facing? *"You cannot manage what you cannot measure"* - but first, you must observe. --- ## What is our Target State <hr /> ### Vision of Excellence - Where we want to be Our target state as Product Owners: - **Customer-Centric Delivery**: Every decision focused on customer value - **Lean Mindset**: Eliminate waste, maximise flow, respect people - **Effective Collaboration**: Seamless partnership with our delivery partners - **Data-Driven Decisions**: Evidence-based prioritisation and planning - **Continuous Learning**: Adapt and improve based on feedback - **Clear Communication**: Transparent requirements and expectations *The goal is not perfection, but continuous improvement towards excellence.* --- ## Reflection Exercise <hr /> Take 2 minutes to think: **Which of these target state elements resonates most with your current challenges?** Write it down. Now write in the chat box: **What is one barrier preventing you from reaching that element today? ** - Time: 3-5 minutes --- ## Identify the Gap <hr /> Based on the survey results, we'll identify: - **Knowledge Gaps**: What Product Owner concepts need strengthening? - **Process Challenges**: Where do waterfall methodologies create friction? - **Communication Issues**: What causes misalignment with our partners? - **Decision-Making Obstacles**: What slows down value delivery? - **Cultural Barriers**: What mindset shifts are needed? #### Next Steps: - Analyse survey data to prioritise learning objectives - Design targeted sessions addressing specific gaps - Create actionable improvement plans --- ## Survey (Current Situation) <hr /> - This survey helps us understand our current skills, experience, challenges, and learning needs so that we can tailor the upcoming Product Owner tutorial series to be most valuable for us. - Your responses will be treated confidentially. Aggregate data may be used to improve the training program, but individual responses will not be shared. - All answers are collected anonymously - Time required: 15-20 minutes - Language: English (you can use machine translation from your preferred language into English) - Please answer honestly. There are no "wrong" answers - this is about understanding where we are now so I can help you grow. If you don't know something, that's okay and helpful for me to know! - **Survey link will be shared during the session.** - **Survey results will be compiled and shared during the next session.** --- ## What's next? <hr /> ### Our Learning Journey Continues Based on today's survey results, we will: 1. **Analyse Current State**: Review responses to understand our starting point 2. **Design Targeted Sessions**: Create focused learning modules addressing identified gaps 3. **Apply Lean Principles**: Use continuous improvement in our own learning process 4. **Practice with Real Scenarios**: Work through challenges you face with our delivery partners --- ## Future Topics May Include <hr /> * Effective backlog management across methodologies * Communication strategies with delivery teams * Value-driven prioritisation techniques * Stakeholder alignment and expectation management **Remember**: This is a learning journey, not a destination. We'll adapt based on what we discover together. --- ## Thank You! <hr /> ### Questions? </pre>