Lean Six Sigma: 10 Takeaways for Product Owners

I recently completed my Lean 6 Sigma Yellow belt (see my article here: Lean Six Sigma in a Digital World). I wanted to capture what I found to be some critical takeaways for Product Owners/Product Managers. See below

1. Be ruthless about value:
   Continuously assess whether each initiative, story or meeting is genuinely adding customer or business value. Always focus on what is expected to drive the most value (see point #3 for this). Cancel, close or simplify anything that doesn’t.
2. Treat backlog hygiene as process improvement:
   Regularly review your Jira backlog and remove stale tickets or low-impact ideas – they create invisible clutter and dilute focus.
3. Use data to drive prioritisation:
   Lean on metrics (conversion, retention, effort, defects, NPS) to make prioritisation less subjective. Challenge gut-based decisions with facts.
4. Reduce decision bottlenecks:
   Simplify approval layers and stakeholder loops. Define clear ownership and empower teams to move faster with fewer dependencies. Note: This may not be in the remit of your role, but keep this in mind.
5. Proactively manage tech debt:
   Recognise tech debt as waste. Prioritise refactoring or automation work that reduces long-term rework and improves delivery efficiency.
6. Focus on the “voice of the customer”:
   Define requirements and success metrics from the customer’s perspective – not internal assumptions.
7. Adopt DMAIC thinking for product problems:
   When tackling recurring issues (e.g., drop-offs, bugs, conversion dips), use a DMAIC-style approach:
   • Define the problem clearly
   • Measure with real data
   • Analyse the cause
   • Improve with targeted changes
   • Control through monitoring
8. Champion continuous improvement:
   Lean Six Sigma isn’t a one-off mindset – it’s a culture. Encourage your squad to share retros, process wins and small tweaks that make a big difference over time.