I was approached about given a talk for AgileDC–the result is attached.  The topic I choose was Engaging a Product Owner.  I chose this topic because I repeatedly see development teams pursue the latest gizmo in the Agile world, yet what I see holding teams back from creating truly great system is the lack of engagement by Product Owners.  There are some situations unique to the government that I think have caused this situation.  In this talk, I try to convey that a truly great system will be one that the users feel is truly innovative in how it changes what they can do (functional innovation) rather than how they do it (technical innovation).  Such functional innovation will not come from the contractors on the new awarded contract, rather it will come from the government employees with decades of experience within the organization.  From my experience, I list four challenges I see again and again on government projects and provide solutions that have worked for me to address these challenges.

Challenges and Solutions with Product Owner Engagement in the Government Sector