Challenges of Scaling Product Ownership
Having team with a Product Owner is easy. Having five teams is hard. Let'ts talk what it means to scale and where problems come to play.
This post is part of a series of blog articles to explore the concept of scaled product ownership through Enterprise Value Teams. Subscribe to the Agile Completed newsletter to get the next parts pushed to your inbox. (Part 1: Understanding the Layers of Product Ownership)
Scaling is essential for organizations to stay competitive in the market and effectively meet customer needs, regardless of their size. Scaling enables businesses to operate while growing, yet still move swiftly, and adapt to evolving market dynamics. However, scaling also introduces its own set of challenges that need to be addressed, including supporting teams of teams, shifting mindsets, and managing cross-team dependencies.
To provide a clearer understanding of what scaling means, let's discuss four different variations.
Scaling a product by having multiple teams working on the same thing: This approach involves expanding the capacity and capabilities of a product by distributing the workload across multiple teams. Each team focuses on a specific aspect or feature of the product, working collaboratively to deliver value. For example, an e-commerce platform may scale its product by having separate teams responsible for front-end development, backend infrastructure, payment systems, and customer support.
Scaling multiple products to create a platform or suite: In this scenario, organizations expand their product offerings by developing a suite of interconnected products or a platform that integrates various services. By scaling horizontally, they can leverage synergies between products, share resources, and provide a more comprehensive solution to customers. An example of this is the aforementioned Adobe Creative Cloud, which includes a suite of software tools like Photoshop, Illustrator, and Premiere Pro, all interconnected and providing a unified creative workflow.
Scaling an organization horizontally without adding new levels of hierarchy: This approach involves expanding the organization's capabilities by horizontally scaling departments or teams without introducing additional levels of hierarchy. It creates a network of interconnected departments or teams that collaborate closely to achieve common goals. For instance, a technology consulting firm may scale horizontally by establishing specialized departments, such as software development, data analytics, and cybersecurity, all working together to deliver comprehensive solutions to clients.
Scaling an organization vertically by dividing a problem into manageable parts: Vertical scaling focuses on breaking down complex problems or projects into smaller, more manageable components. This allows for specialization and the creation of specialized teams or departments that are responsible for specific parts of the problem. For example, in the automotive industry, a car manufacturer may vertically scale its organization by establishing separate teams for design, manufacturing, marketing, and sales, each focusing on their respective domain to ensure efficiency and expertise.
These variations of scaling highlight the different strategies organizations can employ to expand their operations and product offerings.
Challenges of Scaled Product Ownership
Scaled ways of working bring their own unique set of challenges that must be addressed. These challenges become apparent when we move beyond small companies or single teams and enter the realm of scaling to larger departments or enterprises. At this point, it can become difficult to fully grasp current state of deliverables and keep the system in an overseeable and manageable state. The major challenges one will encounter are:
1 A growing number of communication channels is the first of the main challenges we encounter when we scale up. As the organization grows, so does the complexity of communication between teams, departments, and stakeholders. It becomes crucial to establish effective communication channels and practices to ensure information flows smoothly and everyone stays on the same page.
2 Increasing cognitive complexity is another challenge that arises through scaling. With numerous teams, products, and initiatives, the level of complexity within the organization grows exponentially. With every part we scale up, it becomes harder to keep all the moving bits and pieces contained in your head. In order to keep an overview, it becomes essential to reduce complexity by simplifying the organization, product, or team setup. By doing so, we can enhance clarity and understanding, making it easier to navigate and make informed decisions.
3 Facilitating increased workloads is a challenge that accompanies all of this. As the organization grows, the volume of work and responsibilities also expands. Not dealing with an increased workload to the teams will lead to a clogged up delivery pipeline, as well as overburdened or possibly burnt-out teams. It becomes necessary to establish efficient workload management strategies to ensure teams can handle their tasks effectively and maintain a sustainable pace.
4 Maintaining business innovation while scaling, in addition, presents its own set of challenges. It's essential to strike a balance between scaling operations and fostering a culture of innovation. Organizations must find ways to continuously explore new ideas, technologies, and market opportunities, while still meeting the demands of scaling. If we don’t, we will start to lag behind competition and be out of business regardless of our scale.
5 Resolving dependencies will eventually become a quick deal-breaker in larger setups. With multiple teams, products, and initiatives, interdependencies arise, and the success of one part of the organization may rely on the effective collaboration and coordination of others. Being able to manage these dependencies ensures smooth workflow and minimizes bottlenecks.
Overseeing the whole system at all becomes a challenge in itself. It requires having a holistic view of the entire operation, understanding how different parts interact, and ensuring alignment with the overall strategic objectives. This oversight helps identify areas that may require adjustments, optimizations, or realignment to maintain the desired outcomes. All of this makes handling risks and constraints critical when scaling. As the organization expands, the number of potential risks and constraints also increases. It's crucial to have a robust risk management approach in place and be proactive in identifying and mitigating potential risks that could impact the overall success of the scaled operation.
It's important to note that these challenges are interconnected and often stem from the inherent complexity of the delivery system itself. They are not caused by an external force, but just by the fact that we want to scale up and increase our volume of outcomes delivered .
Working at the Strategic Level
Now, let's turn our attention back to the strategic level and explore how we can effectively address these issues of scaling and complexity within the organization.
Scaling, as a matter of fact, is often the root cause of many challenges faced by organizations today. The larger the organization and the more teams involved, the harder it becomes to align on a common vision and goals. That's why it's crucial to tackle these challenges at the highest level available in Product Ownership.
To navigate the complexities of a scaled environment, we need to establish a clear direction. This starts with the responsibilities at the strategic level, which of the most relevant to deal with the scaled complexity are:
1.    Thinking holistically. This means considering what's in the best interest of the entire company, rather than focusing solely on individual teams or products. By taking a broader view, we can make strategic decisions that align with the overall objectives and bring value to the organization as a whole.
2.    Understanding stakeholders and identifying value. To satisfy the needs and demands of our users and customers, it's essential to have a deep understanding of their requirements. By actively engaging with stakeholders, gathering feedback, and continuously assessing the value we provide, we can ensure our products and services meet their expectations.
3.    Seeing the big picture. In a scaled environment, initiatives need to be carefully sliced and coordinated across multiple teams. This requires a comprehensive understanding of how various initiatives and teams interact and collaborate to achieve great results. By seeing the big picture, we can identify dependencies, streamline workflows, and foster effective collaboration among teams.
Eventually, we have to recognize that these tasks, on a large scale, cannot be fulfilled by one person making all the calls. Considering large-scale product development, the cognitive load and scaling complexity is much bigger than any individual can carry in the heads.
In order to deal with the increasing load, that quickly grows beyond a single individual, setting up a well-designed Enterprise Value Team (EVT) helps to distribute Product Ownership across multiple roles. This dedicated team is specifically designed to tackle the challenges of product ownership in a complex, scaled environment. The EVT brings together experts from different disciplines, including product management, design, and technical leadership, to provide a centralized focus on maximizing value across the organization. This team acts as a driving force for innovation, aligning the efforts of various teams, and ensuring a cohesive product strategy.
Understanding these strategies, especially the Enterprise Value team, as foundations of the strategic level, we will establish a solid foundation for product ownership in a scaled product environment. It allows us to address the challenges arising from scaling and complexity, enabling us to navigate the ever-changing landscape with clarity and purpose.