CRACK

A good product owner represents the voice of the customer and creates a product vision together with the stakeholders. The product vision is kept in mind with every decision. This ensures sustainable product development, creates clarity for the development team and immensely increases the chances of product success.

Subject

Agile Roles/Product Owner

Definition

CRACK:

Collaborative: Works fine with development teams and stakeholders. Is fully available to the team.
Responsible: Has a good understanding of the product vision and takes responsibility for the outcome.
Authorized: Is empowered to make decisions about the product.
Committed: He/she is fully engaged with the work.
Knowledgeable: Understands and is experienced in the specific domain and aims to fulfill the business purposes.

Motivation

The basic building block and the central structural element of self-governing organizations is the role. It is the guarantee that the positive effects of self-organization unfold because it enables the definition of clear responsibilities in a 'non-hierarchical group'.

Benefit

The agile roles must be defined very clearly so that people can work well together on the same goals. Once the roles are taught and lived, people will fill them completely.

Procedure

The agile coach or agile master explains and sharpens the CRACK acronym to the product owner during a 1-on-1 conversation or during a role model canvas workshop with the entire agile team.

Participants

Agile coach/agile master, Product Owner, the entire agile team

Tools

Flipchart/whiteboard

See also

Lyssa Adkins 'Coaching agile teams',Barry Boehm, Richard Turner: CRACK