Oskar Collin: Why relationships matter in the performance of a Scrum Product Owner

From the control-minded PO to the PO that wanted to learn and co-create with the team. This week’s PO patterns enlighten the need for focusing on the relationship building between the PO and the team, and the PO and the Scrum Master.

The Great Product Owner: The PO that wanted to run experiments

Great PO’s come in many shapes and forms, in this episode, we talk about the great PO that wanted to run experiments, to learn what worked in practice. We also talk about the importance of the relationship between Scrum Master and PO, and how that partnership can drive the success of the PO and the team.

The Bad Product Owner: The Control Freak

There are many reasons why the PO’s may not be able to perform as needed in a Scrum environment. However, the toughest reasons or root causes for that lack of performance are often tied to the PO’s own personality. In this segment, we talk about the reasons why some PO’s can’t give up control, and how that search for control directly affects the team’s ability to perform.

Are you having trouble helping the team working well with their Product Owner? We’ve put together a course to help you work on the collaboration team-product owner. You can find it at: bit.ly/coachyourpo. 18 modules, 8+ hours of modules with tools and techniques that you can use to help teams and PO’s collaborate.

About Oskar Collin

Oskar is a former software developer who became a passionate agile coach and Scrum master. He did so mainly because he was better at helping teams working together than building software. He loves experiments and questioning the status quo. He is passionate about helping teams build digital products and deliver value continuously. 

You can link with Oskar Collin on LinkedIn and connect with Oskar Collin on Twitter

Oskar Collin: Success as a Scrum Master is defined by the team’s behaviors

As Scrum Masters, having a clear definition of success is critical for us to be able to do our own self-reflection and learn how to improve our impact in the team and the organization we work with. In this episode, we talk about what that looks like, and how most of the success signs for Scrum Masters have to do with behaviors, and actions by the team, and not the Scrum Masters themselves. 

Featured Retrospective Format for the Week: The WADE Matrix

Oskar describes the WADE matrix format as a retrospective exercise. How to apply it, the main steps, and why it is a great method to have the team discuss and decide what they can affect. In the end of this segment, Oskar shares a great tip on how to help teams get value out of the Agile retrospective.

Do you wish you had decades of experience? Learn from the Best Scrum Masters In The World, Today! The Tips from the Trenches – Scrum Master edition audiobook includes hours of audio interviews with SM’s that have decades of experiences: from Mike Cohn to Linda Rising, Christopher Avery, and many more. Super-experienced Scrum Masters share their hard-earned lessons with you. Learn those today, make your teams awesome! 

About Oskar Collin

Oskar is a former software developer who became a passionate agile coach and Scrum master. He did so mainly because he was better at helping teams working together than building software. He loves experiments and questioning the status quo. He is passionate about helping teams build digital products and deliver value continuously. 

You can link with Oskar Collin on LinkedIn and connect with Oskar Collin on Twitter.

Oskar Collin: Planning and executing a large scale Agile transformation

Many Scrum Masters are part of, or even responsible for organizing an Agile adoption process in their companies. In this episode, we discuss what such a plan could look like based on a successful Agile adoption process Oskar was a part of.

In this episode, we refer to the Get Kanban game and Modern Agile, a new take on the original manifesto.

About Oskar Collin

Oskar is a former software developer who became a passionate agile coach and Scrum master. He did so mainly because he was better at helping teams working together than building software. He loves experiments and questioning the status quo. He is passionate about helping teams build digital products and deliver value continuously. 

You can link with Oskar Collin on LinkedIn and connect with Oskar Collin on Twitter

Oskar Collin: The Scrum team that didn’t want to be a team

A team Oskar worked with, was complaining about the meetings and wanted to stop some of those. Over time, the team members started not showing up, or showing up and not participating actively in the meeting. As the team was delivering, no one else saw this was a problem, but Oskar knew that this was not a team, it was just a group of individuals. In this episode, we talk about how to motivate a team and the importance of having a Vision that brings the team members together. 

In this segment, we refer to the FREE Create A Compelling Product Vision e-course

Featured Book of the Week: Accelerate by Nicole Forsgren

In Accelerate: The Science of Lean Software and DevOps: Building and Scaling High Performing Technology Organizations by Nicole Forsgren, Oskar found a book that helped him explain the Agile mindset to technical people. He also understood the role of DevOps in an Agile organization. The biggest takeaway? Listen in to learn what was Oskar’s biggest takeaway.

In this segment, we also talk about the #NoEstimates book, and how that influenced Oskar’s career. 

About Oskar Collin

Oskar is a former software developer who became a passionate agile coach and Scrum master. He did so mainly because he was better at helping teams working together than building software. He loves experiments and questioning the status quo. He is passionate about helping teams build digital products and deliver value continuously. 

You can link with Oskar Collin on LinkedIn and connect with Oskar Collin on Twitter

Oskar Collin: The Scrum Master as a status chaser, Anti-pattern

As Scrum Masters, we often want to help the PO, or other stakeholders that ask us questions. This wish to please can sometimes lead to the Scrum Master becoming a “status chaser” for the remote or otherwise absent stakeholder. In this episode, we talk about the dangers of becoming a “status chaser” as a Scrum Master, and how to help the team take ownership of the communication with the PO.

About Oskar Collin

Oskar is a former software developer who became a passionate agile coach and Scrum master. He did so mainly because he was better at helping teams working together than building software. He loves experiments and questioning the status quo. He is passionate about helping teams build digital products and deliver value continuously. 

You can link with Oskar Collin on LinkedIn and connect with Oskar Collin on Twitter

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Down-to-earth, hard-earned Scrum Masters lessons and the Tips from the Trenches e-book table of contents, delivered by email
Enter e-mail to download a clickable PO Cheat Sheet
This handy Coach Your PO cheat-sheet includes questions to help you define the problem, and links to handy, easy techniques to help you coach your Product Owner
Enter e-mail to download a clickable PO Cheat Sheet
This handy Coach Your PO cheat-sheet includes questions to help you define the problem, and links to handy, easy techniques to help you coach your Product Owner
Enter e-mail to download a checklist to help your PO manage their time
This simple checklist and calendar handout, with a coaching article will help you define the minimum enagement your PO must have with the team
Enter e-mail to download a checklist to help your PO manage their time
This simple checklist and calendar handout, with a coaching article will help you define the minimum enagement your PO must have with the team
Internal Conference
Checklist
Internal Conference
Checklist
Download a detailed How-To to help measure success for your team
Motivate your team with the right metrics, and the right way to visualize and track them. Marcus presents a detailed How-To document based on his experience at The Bungsu Hospital
Download a detailed How-To to help measure success for your team
Read about Visualization and TRANSFORM The way your team works
A moving story of how work at the Bungsu Hospital was transformed by a simple tool that you can use to help your team.
Read about Visualization and TRANSFORM The way your team works