Product Development Process
The PM in Agile
Product managers and engineering managers are partners. The PM owns the problem; engineering owns the solution. Trust and collaboration between these roles defines team velocity and morale.
Definition of Ready
A story is ready when:
- Acceptance criteria are clear and testable
- Edge cases are identified
- Design artifacts (mockups, flows) are attached
- Dependencies are called out
- Team has asked questions and is confident
Definition of Done
A story is done when:
- Code is written, reviewed, and merged
- Tests pass (unit, integration, E2E)
- Feature is deployed (to staging or production)
- Acceptance criteria are verified
- Documentation is updated (if needed)
Sprint Rituals for PMs
| Ceremony | PM Role |
|---|---|
| Sprint Planning | Present priorities, answer questions, clarify scope |
| Daily Standup | Listen for blockers, offer context (don’t micromanage) |
| Sprint Review | Demo outcomes, collect feedback, celebrate |
| Retrospective | Listen, identify process improvements, take action items |
| Backlog Refinement | Prepare stories for upcoming sprints, prioritise |
Dual-Track Development
Run discovery and delivery in parallel:
- Discovery track: Research, prototype, test, validate
- Delivery track: Design, build, test, ship
Keep discovery 1–2 sprints ahead of delivery so the team never waits for decisions.
Handling Scope Creep
- Be the shield — protect the sprint commitment
- Use a parking lot for new ideas during a sprint
- Ask: “What would we drop to take this on?”
- Ship smaller batches more frequently