PO and SM Archives - Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast

Jem D’jelal and the temptation of taking on the Product Owner role as well as the Scrum Master Role

As an unlikely Scrum Master Jem went through a journey of adapting to a new industry, and a new role. In his eagerness to bring value to the organization and teams he worked with he focused on taking on more responsibility. But is that a good idea? What happens when the Scrum Master also takes the Product Owner role? Listen in as we discuss the anti-pattern of the Scrum Master that is also the Product Owner.

About Jem D’jelal

Jem trained to be a social worker, but ended up dropping out & joining the dark side instead : investment banking 🙂 In a funny way, Jem was led back to his passion – helping people. This happened when he was introduced to Scrum in 2006, and has been a career Scrum Master since. He calls himself “nomadic”, having had almost 30 roles in 10 + years. He does say that he will be searching for a home at some point. Some of Jem’s other passions involve running, a part time mentoring charity for repeating youth offenders in North London & callisthenics.

You can link with Jem D’Jelal on LinkedIn and connect with Jem D’Jelal on Twitter.

Denis Salnikov on the anti-pattern of the Scrum Master who is also the Product Owner

When we get started with Agile there will be a strong temptation to take shortcuts. One very common shortcut is to remove a few roles and think that all will work fine anyway. But is that really true?

In this episode we discuss what happens when we put the roles of Scrum Master and Product Owner in the same person and how we can avoid making the most common mistakes when that happens.

In this episode we refer to the TV series: Silicon Valley.

About Denis Salnikov

Agile Coach and Scrum Master passionate about creating and fostering happy workplaces and safe environments. Denis calls himself an Agile Mythbuster.

You can link with Denis Salnikov on LinkedIn and connect with Denis Salnikov on Twitter or follow his blog on Medium.

Jonas Allared on the dangers of being both Product Owner and Scrum Master

Scrum made it clear from the start that Scrum Master and Product Owner roles are different and require different mind-sent and therefore also different people. But still many companies want to push for having only one person in both roles. Does that work? Maybe it can work, but in this episode we listen to a story where that did not work and what are the signs to look for if are ever in that position.

About Jonas Allared

Jonas is an experienced Scrum Master and Agile Coach and he is especially passionate about creating effective teams and healthy organizations. With focus on the human side he enjoys raising both the well-being and productivity of those he works with.

You can link with Jonas Allared on LinkedIn and connect with Jonas Allared on Twitter.