Dmitry Zlokazov is the Head of Product at Revolut

Key Concepts:

• Line Manager: Direct supervisor responsible for performance management and career development.
• Functional Manager: Manager responsible for a specific function or department.
• Product Owner: The individual responsible for maximizing the value of the product resulting from the work of the Development Team.
• Domain Expertise: Deep understanding of the specific industry, market, or subject matter.
• Autonomy: The freedom and independence to make decisions.

Role of the Product Owner as Line Manager

The core argument is that the Product Owner should always be the line manager for everyone on the team. This is because the Product Owner defines what needs to be done.

Responsibilities of the Product Owner

• Domain Expertise: The Product Owner is an expert in the domain, understanding customers, their pain points, and the problems they face.
• Value Delivery: They are responsible for understanding the value that needs to be delivered to customers.
• Translation of Information: The Product Owner translates customer needs and business requirements into actionable tasks for the team.
• Task Assignment: They assign tasks to team members based on the defined requirements.
• Assessment: The Product Owner assesses team members against business results, product results, and customer satisfaction.

Rationale for Product Owner as Line Manager

The reasoning behind this structure is that ownership requires the necessary tools, resources, freedom, and autonomy to make decisions. "If you're required to be an owner of something then you need to have tools and resources to deliver this and then you need to have certain freedom and autonomy to make these decisions."

It is logical for the person defining the work to also be responsible for assigning tasks and evaluating performance against the achieved results. This ensures accountability and alignment between the defined goals and the team's output. "It also makes sense for someone who defines what needs to be done to give tasks to people right and assess them against the results the business results and the product results and how satisfied our customers and how we're helping them."

Conclusion

The video advocates for a structure where the Product Owner acts as the line manager for the development team. This is based on the premise that the Product Owner's deep understanding of the domain, customer needs, and business value, combined with the authority to assign tasks and assess performance, leads to better alignment, accountability, and ultimately, more successful product outcomes.